Harry
“It’s still early enough if you want to get a canoe lesson in before tomorrow’s trip,” Harry said, pulling into the driveway. The cabin was situated at the end of a winding, overgrown two-track. An early spring made the trees and shrubs lining the lane dense. They covered the road like a canopy. Strawberry patches at the mouth of the driveway were starting to get fruit on them.
“I didn’t know we were going canoeing,” Brayden said.
“We’ll travel up the river a bit and there’s a good-sized beach with the best fishing spot.”
“Cool!” Brayden leapt from the car before Harry had put it into park.
Harry’s heart lurched. “Jesus!”
“Oh, relax, he’s excited. I don’t remember ever having that much energy,” Cedric said. He groaned while getting out of the car.
Harry grabbed his and Brayden’s bags from the trunk.
“I can get mine,” Cedric said.
“Good, because I’m not your butler.” Harry met Brayden on the porch of the green-stained A-framed cabin. A well weathered and faded sign hung next to the door. The only letter you could still make out was the ‘M’ in ‘The McGregors’. He unlocked the place and Brayden ran inside. Harry headed straight to the bedroom on the right to deposit his bag. The bed had a sheet and blanket laid out on it. He could have sworn he and Natalie stripped the beds before they winterized the place. But heck, Natalie had taken care of the beds while he’d shut off the water. He’d never gone back and checked her work. Why would he? Man, the water pump needed priming. Aw, screw it, he’d do it in the morning. They were all guys, weren’t they? They could survive one night without a toilet. And they had only so much time in the evening left for a canoeing lesson.
After Harry came out of the bedroom, Cedric was parked on the sofa.
“I don’t think I can do them stairs. I can sleep right here if you don’t mind,” Cedric said.
“Fine by me. I was planning on sleeping in the bedroom. Brayden, you get the loft.”
“I get the whole upstairs to myself? Cool!” Brayden bounded up the steps. The ceiling creaked above the kitchen area where the loft was. His feet shuffled and then he came back to the first floor.
“Bray, come on out back with me,” Harry said.
Cedric followed them to the door. “While you’re boating, I’m gonna take a ride into town for some snacks.”
“Good idea.” Harry handed him the keys to his car.
Brayden ran around the house toward the river. Harry went to the rack which held four steel upside-down canoes. It always amazed him they weren’t stolen while no one stayed there most of the year. “Hey, why don’t you call your dad and let him know we made it all right.”
“Can I call when we get back? I left my phone in my bag.”
Just as Harry nodded, his phone rang. “Hey, Nat.”
“Hi, I take it you made it to the cabin?”
“Yeah, Bray and I are canoeing for a bit before it gets dark. Can you do me a favor and let Mikey know we’re here?”
“Sure. Harry, I…”
“Did you see the news last night?”
“You know I never watch the news. It depresses me.”
“The Feds are looking for a suspect in my case.”
Brayden stared at Harry with his steel-blue eyes with his hands on his hips.
Natalie inhaled deeply into the phone. “Don’t talk to me about your case while you’re on vacation.”
“Okay, did you see—”
“I’m not listening. The reason I called is I’m sorry.”
“What could you possibly have to be sorry about? I’m the one that should be sorry. You never let me apologize for what happened with Rudy.”
“We can talk about that later, I forgive you.” Even though she had told him she forgave him, he knew she wouldn’t forget so soon. He deserved it.
“We canoeing or not?” Brayden asked.
“I gotta get going, Bray’s giving me the stink eye. But hey, when we closed up the cabin last fall, did you leave some bedding on the bed in the master?”
“Um,” she paused, “I don’t think—maybe, it’s possible. Why?”
“A blanket and sheet were left out on the bed.”
“Huh? I guess I must’ve then.”
“All right, well forget it. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“I know you’re doing your thing right now but can you call me later? I still need to talk to you.”
“Is there something I should be concerned about?”
“No. Just call me later.”
“Okay, talk to you soon.” Harry hung up after saying goodbye. “Grab an end of a canoe and help me carry it to the water.”
They took one from the bottom of the rack and hefted it to the edge of the water and flipped it over. The paddles were missing.
“How deep is it?” Brayden asked.
“It’s about four feet in the deepest part. You can swim, right?”
“Yep. My mom used to say I must’ve been a fish in a past life. Don’t we need oars or something?”
“Paddles. They’re in the house.” Harry jogged back inside, leaving the door open. The paddles weren’t behind the bedroom door. He searched the closet. A mothball smell smacked him in the face, reminding him of his grandmother’s house as a kid. Breathing through his nose, he located two paddles. He breezed out of the bedroom only to stop when the glass in the gun cabinet hadn’t rattled.
That’s odd.
Normally when someone walked by, the giving floorboards rattled the cabinet. Harry stuck his hand through the door where the glass should be. Shit! Now he understood why no one bothered to steal the canoes. Natalie’s ex, McDingleberry had had two guns stored in the cabinet. One was missing. He looked on the floor for pieces of glass, and nearly overlooked the two fragments against the base molding on the wall. He leaned over…
“Did you find them?”
Harry snapped upright, instinctively reaching for his gun that he had left in the trunk of his car, which Cedric was driving into town. He pivoted. Brayden stood inside the cabin by the door. “You startled me.”
“Yeah, okay, please don’t shoot me with your imaginary gun.”
Harry smirked. “I’ll try not to, deal?”
“Deal.”
They returned to the canoe. Harry instructed Brayden to sit in the front of the canoe. He pushed them away from the shore and only got his feet a little wet. The kid learned how to paddle quickly and before too long they were cruising along, close to the river bank. They wound around a few of the lazy bends. They neared the sandy beach, which really wasn’t a beach but a part where the river had once been wider. The water had long since dried up, leaving behind the sand from the riverbed. Harry steered them toward the beach.
They got out of the canoe and Harry pulled it halfway on the shore. “Let’s park it on the sand for a while.”
Brayden took his shoes off and plopped down. Harry sat next to him. The place was so damn peaceful, he laid back with his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, letting the sun warm his face.
Water splashing surprised Harry. He sat up and Brayden was wading in the water with his pants rolled up above his knees. He looked up from the river. “Oh, you’re awake.”
“Was I sleeping?”
“Yeah. Snoring too.”
“Sorry. What time is it?” he muttered, pulling his cell from his pocket. Damn, it was almost 7:00 and they needed to get back. “Come on and get your shoes back on. We’ll walk back along the edge.”
“We’re not canoeing back?”
“Not upstream. See the rope at the front?”
“The red one?”
“We’re going to use it do tow the canoe back to the cabin.”
“Cool.”
“Sure is, unless you wanna carry it back.”
“Yeah right. No, I’m good.”
Harry chuckled.