The old man nodded. When she was through talking, he shook his head. “There are a few cabins it could be. A lot of cabins by the lake, and a few that border this farmland too. Could even be one or two I don’t know about.”
“Maybe you’ve met the man who’s staying there?” Nicole said, grasping at straws now. “He’s definitely not from around here. He’s in his early thirties, curly dark hair, kind of exotic looking—“
Suddenly the old man’s eyes lit up in recognition and he clapped his hands. “Oh, shoot—I know exactly who you mean. I must be losing my mind after all, I should have thought of him right away.”
Nicole’s heart was galloping again, practically pounding through her chest.
The old man continued. “He came in here about a week ago and asked about getting himself a fishing license. We talked a little about that, I gave him the lay of the land. He seemed to be growing a new beard.” The old man chuckled about that. “He kept scratching at it like it was bugging him.”
“And he told you where he’s staying?”
“I’m sorry, us old folks get sidetracked too easily,” he said, putting a gnarled old hand on her shoulder. “Yes, he mentioned that his cabin’s over near our apple trees, just on the outskirts of our farm. I can show you how to get there.”
“Thank you so much,” Nicole gushed.
“Glad we could help.”
Nicole and the old man went outside the store and he told her how to get to the cabin. It was just back up the road about half a mile, and then she was to turn right onto an unmarked dirt road next to the big red barn.
The whole thing was like something out of a movie, she thought.
She gave the old man a hug and he smiled at her, told her good luck.
Then Nicole was back in her car, driving faster than she should have been, her hands gripping the steering wheel as if it might decide to fly away. Her stomach was tight with anticipation, and fluttering. The fluttering reminded her of what was inside of her, and Nicole slowed down a little.
I’m going to be a mother, she thought. For the first time, the notion didn’t completely terrify her.
Soon, she found the turnoff onto the long, dirt road. It was wide and relatively well maintained, surrounded on both sides by forest. Through the trees on the right side, she could still make out the farmland, and as the road curved, she thought she could even catch a glimpse of the lake in front of her.
As told to her by the old man at the farm store, the road would start to snake off to the left, but just before that, there was another small turnoff. This small turnoff, he’d said, should take her to the cabin in question.
Nicole’s mouth was completely dry, like it had been the first day she’d met Red in his huge top floor office.
She was leaning forward, her face practically touching the windshield as she drove the last ten or twenty yards down the more narrow, bumpy road that took her to a small one-story cabin.
The cabin was surrounded by trees on all sides, and right behind it, the beautiful blue lake, which stretched magically out into the distance like some desert mirage.
The whole area was so peaceful. Nicole parked the car and turned it off, heard almost nothing but the engine ticking loudly for a long moment.
And then she heard something else.
It was a loud rapport, like someone clapping. Except the clapping, clopping sound was rather slow and rhythmic. Occasionally it would cease and then resume once more.
It was coming from just behind the cabin, Nicole thought. And she had a feeling she knew who and what it might be.
She got out of the car, almost delicately, as if her feet might break. She felt unsteady and trembling, but forced herself to be brave.
The thought of Red screaming at her to leave was a strong image, and she tried desperately to shake it from her mind. If it was really even him back there. Truly, it could be anyone.
And then she was approaching the house.
The sound was getting louder. Occasionally there would be pause, and you could hear something being thrown, clattering into pieces. And then the thunking, clopping sound would resume.
When Nicole finally reached the backyard, she knew she’d been right all along.
Red was standing there in blue jeans and no shirt, chopping wood. There was a huge stack of logs nearby—cords and cords of them. He’d obviously been at it for a long time, from the looks of it.
His back was facing her and he was covered in sweat. She could see, even from this angle, that his thick, curly black hair had grown out a little and wasn’t styled at all. Pausing for the moment, he wiped sweat from his forehead and took some deep breaths.
The axe was gripped in one hand. With his free hand, he reached down and grabbed a huge piece of wood and placed it on the ground in front of him, then in a single motion, swung the axe in a high arc and split the wood with one slice.
CHUNK.
The pieces fell to the side. Red picked them up one a time and threw them into a pile, presumably to be stacked like all the rest at some later point.
Nicole knew she had to get his attention, but her throat didn’t seem to be able to emit sound.
“Red.”