The high-pitched scratching sound of her rake as it scraped against the wheelbarrow sent shivers down Lotty’s spine. She incorporated the last bit of the dry mix and hoped it was the last time she’d have to endure that awful sound before her cement was ready.

“Mom, look at my cake,” Ty yelled, proudly pointing to his sandy creation covered in sticks and leaves. Aiden looked up from the sandbox long enough to smile at Lotty and then poured a cup of sand over his head. His whole body shook as he laughed.

“He took my cup, Mom,” Ty said, while trying to steal the measuring cup back from Aiden. Aiden responded by hitting Ty over the head with it.

“Mom, Aiden’s pouring sand on himself,” Ty yelled. “And now he’s getting it on me.” 

“Yep,” she answered, focusing on her cement; the beautiful, perfect cement created by her and her alone. A satisfied grin spread across her face. Even Ty’s yelling and Aiden’s screams weren’t going to take away from this moment. If she focused enough on her accomplishment, the sounds were almost endearing. It was as if they were cheers for her.

“It’s still a tad too early to have little ones outside making noise,” Trinity sang over the front fence. Lotty realized there was a sound worse than the scraping of the rake against metal. “As you know, my Dan often works late at night and he appreciates some quiet in the morning so he can get a little rest.” She put her finger over her lips and finished with a “shh.” 

Lotty glanced at her watch. 10:06.

“Oh, it wasn’t so much the little ones as it was you,” Trinity said with an innocent smile, pointing to the rake in Lotty’s hands. “What on Earth are you trying to do?”

“I made cement,” Lotty said, holding eye contact with Trinity. “It’s for the corner posts so they’re sturdy.”

“Your fence really has needed updating. If only Jason were around a little more, he could do those kinds of jobs.” Her perfectly curled hair whipped around her shoulders as she turned to walk away. 

“It’s not for the fence,” Lotty said.

Trinity acted like she hadn’t heard Lotty, but yelled, “Oh, and your baby has snot running down his face.”

Lotty turned away, hoping Trinity couldn’t tell she’d gotten to her. She tried to force Trinity’s words about Jason from her mind, but their truthfulness sank in. Jason had been home less and less over the past fourteen months. When he did come home, it was to play with the boys. However, the last week had seemed slightly better. They had actually spoken to one another. She’d been so scared the past two nights that she’d crawled into their bed after Jason was asleep and both times awakened with his arms around her. She felt like maybe the future she hoped for wasn’t an unattainable dream. Maybe she and Jason could make things work, and not just for the boys.

Ty ran by Lotty and Aiden pumped his chubby legs trying to catch him. He carried a cup of sand, which was flying everywhere as he ran. Lotty moved the wheelbarrow over next to one of the holes she’d dug last night. She needed to hurry and get the cement poured and the posts set before the cement got any harder.

“Mom, I need to go potty,” Ty said as he danced around in front of the wheelbarrow.

“You just went.” Lotty hauled the first post to the hole and poured cement around it. Ty continued to dance. “Okay, run inside and go.”

“But I’m not allowed to go inside with sand on me.”

“Can you wait a couple of minutes? I really need to get this cement into these holes and then I can help you.”

“I don’t know, Mom. It’s gonna be a close one.”

Lotty eyed Ty as she moved the wheelbarrow to the second hole. Sand was caked on him from head to toe. His face and neck had smudges of mud and even from several feet away, she could see sand in his hair. She checked the consistency of  the cement. The article “How to Pour Cement Like a Pro” emphasized the need to use it within ten to fifteen minutes to keep it from drying out. However, the article didn’t seem to have a section on what to do when your child has to go potty in the middle of your project. “Ty, you always have to go at the worst times,” she hollered. “I just want to get this finished.” His face fell and guilt worked its way into her gut. It wasn’t his fault his bladder was the size of a pea. 

“Come here, buddy.” Lotty motioned for Ty to come close. When he was near enough that she could talk to him without being overheard by neighbors, she pointed to the back corner of the yard. “Just go over there.”

“Really? I can do that?”

“For today you can.” Lotty poured cement around the second post, but jerked to a halt when a loud scream pierced the air.

“Woooo hoooo, I get to pee in the yard.” Ty continued screaming as he ran a lap inside the fence. His outburst turned into a song. “Mama said I could pee outside, pee outside, pee outside...”

Lotty prayed no one was within earshot of his outburst, especially Trinity. If any of her neighbors were in their yards, they were surely enjoying Ty’s melodic talents and judging her horrible parenting. She grabbed Ty as he ran by. “Okay, bud, go ahead and go and please do it quietly. We don’t want to disturb Mr. Tucker. He works late and doesn’t like it when we wake him up early.”

Ty beamed as he walked to the corner of the yard. Lotty filled the third hole just as Aiden discovered the first two and how much fun it was to draw in cement. She had to swallow back the scream threatening to break through her lips as she pulled him away and wiped his hands in the grass. A smile spread across his face. Snot mixed with sand ran down his lip and onto his chin. She looked around for something she could use to wipe his face as the time she had left to pour her cement ticked away. She grabbed the bottom of her shirt and wiped his face. There, he looked so fresh and clean. That is if you ignored the sand all over him. And the mud in his hair. Had every ounce of personal hygiene disappeared along with her sanity when she’d become a mother? 

She let out a sigh as she hauled the fourth post to its hole. Somehow the fun of this hobby was vanishing quickly. Her body was tense and a headache teased at the back of her skull.

“Uh, Mom?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry, but my pants got in the way. They got a little bit of pee on them. And I’m really hungry too. Maybe we could go in now?”

Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. It shouldn’t be this hard, should it? Her friends had hobbies. How did they do it? Maybe if she were more organized or better with time management. She put her hand on her face to wipe away tears before realizing there was cement on her fingers. “Ahhh.” She let out a muffled scream into her hands. 

“Oh, and Mom?”

“Yeah?”

“I got these for you.” Ty handed her a crumpled fistful of buttercups. “They look like your shirt today.” He rubbed her yellow shirt with his free hand. 

She stared at the beautiful mess of flowers. “They do look like my shirt. Thanks, bud.”  She pulled the wilting flowers from his hand and he threw his arms around her.

“Thanks for letting me pee in the yard, Mom. You’re the best.”

She wrapped her arms around him. Her cement was drying out and the fourth hole wasn’t filled yet, but it was going to have to wait. Hugs and compliments from Ty were sparse so she was savoring the moment, even if it was a result of letting him pee in the grass.

“Mrs. Brooks?” A man’s voice carried through the yard.

Officer Carlson stood at the fence. “Hi, come on back,” Lotty said, wiping any leftover tears off her face. She tried to hide the sand-mixed-with-snot spots on her shirt with her hands. It made for an awkward stance, but at least she didn’t look quite as disgusting.

“Thanks,” he said, opening the gate. “I tried the doorbell, but then I heard voices back here.”

Lotty smiled. That probably meant he’d heard Ty’s song. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, we’ve finally figured out a few details I thought you’d be interested in.” He watched the boys throw sand at each other. “I tried to call you and your husband, but couldn’t get either of you. I was by the south side of the lake anyway, so I figured I’d stop by and make sure everything was okay.”

“That’s nice of you.” She nodded toward the yard. “I’ve been out here all morning and Jason’s probably busy with a case. Sorry about that.” She waited for him to respond, but he was staring at the posts in the yard. She thought about explaining the three posts set in cement, along with a wheelbarrow and a bunch of random tools, but was more excited to hear what the police had figured out. “What did you guys find?” She prompted.

“What are you working on over here?” He unwrapped a piece of gum and placed it in his mouth.

“Oh, well it will be a chicken coop. Those are the corner posts.”

“Very nice. You probably want to set that fourth post before your cement dries.”

“Uh, yeah.” She tipped up the wheelbarrow, but the cement didn’t pour out.” She smiled and waved at it. “I’ll figure it out later. What did you guys figure out about the bodies?”

“Right, the bodies.” He locked eyes with Lotty. “Well, it seems there weren’t any murders here after all. It was nothing but a case of grave robberies.”

“Grave robberies?” That didn’t make any sense.

Officer Carlson’s intent stare caused her to look away uncomfortably. “You don’t seem relieved,” he said.

“I am. I think I am anyway. I’m just confused. Why would someone dig up bodies and then leave them in this neighborhood? And how is it connected to the fires and the robberies? Or is it?”

He shook his head. “Unfortunately, we don’t know.”

“Are you sure they’re grave robberies?”

“One hundred percent. We were finally able to I.D. all three bodies as people who died in Polson and Missoula in the last couple of weeks. They were all buried in a cemetery just outside of Kalispell. We sent people to check out their gravesites and sure enough, the bodies were missing.”

“Why didn’t someone like the caretaker at the cemetery notice before now?”

“It’s a small cemetery. The caretaker is also the pastor and he just walks around the place every week or so to make sure everything is okay.”

Lotty shook her head as she tried to make sense of the turn of events.

“We were hoping this might spark some memory or give you an idea about what was happening.”

Lotty stared at him. “Me?”

“Well, seeing as how you were the target of the robberies and all.” He stopped and wiped sweat off his brow and looked away. “We thought you might have remembered a reason as to why people would be after you.” 

She shook her head, but tried to keep the anger out of her voice. “I think you’ve been around Netley a bit too much lately, Officer Carlson.” Even the people she thought were on her side seemed to think she was involved.

“No, no, no, Ma’am. I don’t think you’re hiding anything. I just thought this might have reminded you of something you’d maybe missed before.”

“It doesn’t.”

“Okay.” He backed away as if Lotty might attack him at any moment. “How would you feel about coming down to the station a little later?”

Lotty stared at Officer Carlson, hoping she could see more in his facial expressions than she was getting from his words. He looked at the ground. “Why?” she asked.

“Just to help us, Mrs. Brooks. We identified that truck from the video and we brought in the guy who owns it. We thought you might be able to verify that he’s our man.” Carlson chewed his gum quicker and quicker as he spoke.

That didn’t sound too bad. Maybe they really did see her as an ally. “Oh. I can try. I didn’t get a very clear look. I mean, what I saw is already on the video, but I can come down if you guys want me to.”

“That’d be great. How about in an hour? That’ll give you a chance to a...” he stopped as he looked her up and down. “You know, finish what you’re doing.”

“Thanks. An hour will work.”

He turned and walked away. When she heard his car door slam, she pulled the fourth post back up and tried to scoop the last of the cement around it. A few gooey chunks came out of the wheelbarrow. She positioned them around the post and poured in the leftover sand. The post leaned several inches to one side. Three straight posts and one kind of straight post would have to be good enough. The chickens wouldn’t mind.

She picked up her phone and texted Nikki and Jocelyn. I have to run down to the police station this morning. Won’t be able to make our workout. She hoped her frowny face emoji really portrayed sadness at missing the weights class Jocelyn had signed them up for and not the jubilant relief she actually felt. Besides, all the cement mixing and post hauling had her famished so she grabbed one of the scones Jason had brought home last night, along with a generous dab of butter, and filled the bathtub for the boys.