Mike Lawson had finished packing all he could. The moving team wouldn’t be there until Monday, so all he had to do now was wait. He grabbed the bags he filled with his more personal belongings, clothing, his collection of antique firearms, and old photo albums, and headed to his truck.
“Wonder how things are back there?” Mike wondered as he gently tossed his bags into the back seat of his truck before he himself climbed in. When he left earlier that morning, Spencer and Eric were playing chess in Evan’s office. They offered to let him play too, but Mike was never one for “mind games”.
Twenty minutes later, and Mike was past the town border. It didn’t take long for him to spot that same black sedan parked on the side of the street. Mike slowed as his car rolled up. There was no driver.
“That weird guy back here again?” Mike looked around for any sign of the guy. It was the middle of the day, Mike knew he couldn’t just break into the guy’s car to snoop around. He decided to drop his stuff off at Evan’s, and maybe come back later. The only things he could see in the car worried him.
A pair of binoculars, what looked like an empty clip from a gun on the floor, and a map of the area. Either the guy was a hunter, or he was up to something he shouldn’t be. There was no point in getting worried about it now, so Mike headed back to Evan’s house.
“Hello? Anyone home?” Mike called when he finally got back.
“Up here Dad.” Evan called back. He sighed, unhappy his father had come back so quickly. He’d hoped Mike would need to spend the night to finish packing. But that was too much to hope for. Mike didn’t have a lot of stuff in that tiny apartment of his in Seattle.
Mike set his bags down in the living room and found Evan reading in his study playing chess by himself.
“Who’s winning?” Mike asked with a laugh.
“At the moment, no one.” Evan said.
“Huh, well I’d offer to play, but you know I’ve never been good at chess. Rod was pretty good, guess you two inherited that skill from your mom.” Mike said, a bit of a dip in his voice.
Evan looked up from the board, surprised to hear his father mention his mom or brother. Mike rarely spoke about his late wife, or son. Evan decided to change the subject, and said that he unfortunately got more from Mike than his mother. That little comment reignited the spark in Mike’s eye, and he was quick to shoot back a snide remark.
“You should be grateful. You could have winded up looking like your grandfather, not the best looking of wolves. Pretty sure Dad had mange close to the end. Don’t know how he got it, but he did.” Mike said.
“Dad, no were ever got mange.” Evan dismissed the comment and went back to the game.
“Says you. Anyways, where are the kiddies?”
“Out for a walk.”
“Just a walk…?”
“Dad.” Evan rolled his eyes.
“Okay, just thought I’d ask. By the way, you have any idea regarding that. Eric’s got his mind set on panther, for whatever reason.” Mike only added that last bit because he personally didn’t stand the thought of being a feline.
“I dunno. Just keep an eye out in case someone eligible shows up. And what’s wrong with Eric’s choice? You’d rathe he chose wolf?”
“Frankly, yes. But that’s just me. He wants to join the kitten club, that’s fine by me. Just find it funny how you and your daughter both go after cats.” Mike chuckled.
“You do realize that Spencer’s part cat.”
“Eh, she gets more from you in that department. Might look like a cat, but she’s got plenty of that Alpha-Lawson blood.”
“Oy-vey.” Evan turned his attention back to his game, while Mike went back downstairs to find something to eat.
Luck for him, Maggie pulled into the driveway just as Mike was making his way downstairs. She opened the front door and found the living room full of bags and a few boxes.
“Guess Mike started packing.” she thought.
“Hey, look who’s back!” Mike said upon seeing his daughter-in-law entering.
“Hi Mike. Finished packing?”
“Nah, this is just the small stuff. Moving guys will be round Monday to get the big stuff. So, you need any help with dinner?
Maggie was surprised Mike was willing to help with dinner, but didn’t object. And she soon found that Mike was a much better cook than Evan. Not by much, but still better. Evan came downstairs and found his father and wife standing over a large pan of not-yet-baked ziti.
“Having fun?” Evan asked, leaning against the doorframe, extremely amused by the sight before him.
“You should take lessons from your father Evan. He knows what he’s doing.”
“Not really. I’m good for boiling water, and pounding things.” Mike shrugged as he applied another layer of sauce to the pasta.
“More than I can say.” Evan snuck a piece of ziti into his mouth before Maggie batted his hand away.
“No snacks. Where is Spencer?”
“Here!” Spencer appeared at the back door with Eric by her side. Which was no surprise to Maggie. It would have been more of a surprise to see her without him. The two were smiling and holding hands as they did so often. But what caught everyone’s eye was the sight of something pink against Spencer’s black fur. Each made a note to ask Spencer about it when Eric left. If he left.
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Elsewhere….
Sean Walker was wandering the trails of Moon Lake, with a high powered flashlight for a light source. He was determined to find out the town’s secret. But they were awfully good at keeping it. Nothing approved out of the ordinary. Aside from the fact that every one looked like they were in their twenties or thirties with perfect bodies, the place was like every other small town Sean had been through.
He’s spoke to a local earlier. Asked if they got a lot of wildlife around here. He pretended to be an landscape photographer, it seemed the best cover. The guy told Sean that they saw what you’d expect to see in the area.
“Bears, bobcats, nothing too out of the ordinary.” Sean repeated the man’s words in his head. The first place he went after that was into the woods.
“Not nuclear stuff. Probably some weird cult. Like ’The Village’, except without the monsters.” Sean grumbled. He was walking up a hillside, when he saw something running through the trees behind him. He only caught a glimpse of whatever it was. A very, vey large fox?
Radioactive animals? Sure why not.” he thought. Sean decided against going after the fox, and continued his hike. But if he had any doubt left that Moon Lake wasn’t weird, it was gone now.