ACT II 

“This isn’t the cabin from the photo,” Jill stated assuredly as she stared out of her car window at a small wooden house that stood underneath several overgrown trees, their limbs standing out at odd angles and looking as if they were all having a bad hair day.   A tiny but clean-looking pond sat off to one side, about 50 yards from the house, and was nowhere near the size of the lake Jill had expected to see.  “You must’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere, Linz.”

Lindsay stared down at the hand-drawn map she’d been given by Claire when they’d turned off the Interstate and onto a deserted farm road that had dumped onto a narrow gravel road that had then led to an even narrower dirt path that had eventually dead-ended at their current location.  She visually retraced every curve along the way and was satisfied that she’d not made a wrong turn anywhere.

“No, this should be the place,” she said as she ducked her head and looked over Cindy’s shoulder and through the passenger-side window.  “But you’re right, Jill.  This doesn’t look anything like the picture we saw in Claire’s office.”

Leaning an elbow on the seat, Claire rested a chin on Jill’s shoulder.  “Okay, it’s not exactly the same, but it doesn’t look so bad.”

“Yeah, Claire’s right; so it’s a little smaller and it’s made of boards instead of logs.  Where’s your sense of adventure?” Cindy asked as she reached for the door handle and pushed her way outside.  “Besides, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.  I’m sure the inside will be perfect for the four of us.  C’mon, let’s go check it out.” 

Grinning widely, Claire jumped from the car and hurried around to join Cindy.  Together, the pair linked arms and started for the house, leaving their more skeptical friends behind.

The forest felt pleasantly cool and damp, the scents of pine and earth mingling and making the air a delight to breathe through the open driver’s side window.  Lindsay took it in as she watched Cindy and Claire murmuring excitedly to each other.  Peace stole over her and she closed her eyes, welcoming the almost unfamiliar sensation.

“Is she always so perky?” Jill asked as she watched Cindy move ahead of Claire and practically skip up the front steps.  Sliding from the car with a pitiful moan, Jill stretched her arms high overhead to work out the kinks as she turned a discerning eye on the surrounding property.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Lindsay groaned as she climbed out of the car and moved toward the back to let Martha out.  If the inside of the house didn’t have two bedrooms, she was heading back to San Francisco first thing in the morning.

“Lindsay!” Jill’s shriek had Lindsay reaching for the small of her back where her gun usually resided and Martha jumping out of the Jeep and racing to come to the blonde’s defense, a sharp bark announcing that she was on her way.  The Border Collie nearly took Jill’s legs out from under her.  “Whoa, where’s the fire, Martha?”

Martha moved in front of Jill and scoured the area for any sign of trouble, a low growl signaling that she was prepared to take on the danger that threatened one of her people; however, nothing seemed amiss.

“What in the hell?”  Lindsay asked, having arrived at her friend’s side moments after Martha.  She, too, scanned the immediate vicinity looking for whatever had spooked Jill.  Movement at the edge of the cabin caught her focus just as Martha zeroed in on it.  The dog shot forward and went in pursuit of the trespasser, barking with each and every step.  Lindsay started to follow but pulled up short when she spied the culprit.

“A raccoon?  You’re scared of a little ol’ raccoon?” Lindsay sighed tiredly, the burst of adrenaline at hearing Jill’s yell zapping what little energy she had left after a very long and trying drive. 

“What?” Jill asked in confusion as she tracked Martha’s progress and finally spotted the masked critter as it slipped into a narrow opening underneath the house.  She listened to Martha voice her frustration at being too big to follow.  “I wasn’t talking about the raccoon,” she explained.  “I was talking about that.”  Jill pointed past where Martha was still barking to a rickety-looking structure located a short distance from the corner of the cabin.

Lindsay crinkled her brow into a frown, her other features quickly following suit.  “Is that what I think it is?”

“If you think it’s an outhouse, then you win the prize for the day,” replied Jill, her focus still on the rundown shack.  “I am not using an outhouse.”

“Well, I’m not driving back tonight, so unless you can hold it until tomorrow, you’re going to have to make a choice,” Lindsay said with a jerk of her finger toward a thick grove of trees on the other side of the house.  “I think I’ll take my chances in the wilderness.”

Jill looked back and forth from the outhouse to the woods as images of snakes, spiders, and other creepy-crawly creatures flipped through her mind like a Rolodex.  Holding it was sounding better and better.

“Hey, you two!”  Cindy called out from the porch.  “What’s taking so long?”

Lindsay glanced over at Jill.  “We were just enjoying the scenery,” she replied, stretching the truth to its limits as she started toward the front steps of the cabin.  “So, how’s the inside look?”

“Clean,” Cindy reported quickly, her smile not quite reaching her eyes.  “Ready to unload the Jeep?” she asked in an enthusiastic tone that sounded as phony as a politician’s promise.  Lindsay wasn’t fooled.

“What’s wrong with the cabin?  No indoor plumbing?” she guessed, having already come to that conclusion the moment she eyed the outhouse.  They’d just have to leave in the morning and spend the rest of their vacation back in the city.

“Oh, there’s indoor plumbing alright,” Cindy said, vividly remembering the tiny room where it would be virtually impossible for more than one person to fit inside.  She’d had to turn sideways just to get to the toilet.  “There’s an itty-bitty problem with the bedrooms.”

“Bedrooms?” Lindsay questioned, not really seeing a problem as there was actually more than one.  “What?  There’s only one bed in each?”  She didn’t see a problem with that either.

Cindy scratched her nose nervously.  “Kind of.”

“A twin bed?”  Jill asked for clarification.  It wasn’t what she preferred, but she’d willing trade a few nights sharing a narrow bed with Claire in exchange for indoor plumbing.

“Yep, two in each room actually, one stacked on top of the other,” Cindy nodded at Jill, grateful to have had a little help in explaining the problem to her lover. 

Lindsay didn’t bother to suppress a groan.  “Bunk beds?”  That wasn’t exactly what she had in mind when she visualized being on top.  The look on Cindy’s face left no doubt in Lindsay’s mind that her lover felt the same way.

“So, two beds in each room and indoor plumbing,” Jill listed the house’s inventory as reported by Cindy.  “If there’s a kitchen, we’re in business.”

“Claire’s in love with the kitchen.  We may never get her out of there,” Cindy reported, smiling in memory of her friend’s expression when Claire first saw the largest of the rooms.  It was as if they’d walked into the 1940s.  “There’s one of those antique gas stoves with four burners and a griddle in-between.  It’s got an oven on one side and a broiler on the other.”

A grin split Jill’s face.  “So we’re not going to starve either.  You were right, Cindy.  This isn’t going to be so bad after all.” 

“This isn’t going to be so bad after all,” Lindsay mimicked her blonde friend after Jill had followed Cindy back inside.  She looked down at the dog as Martha came up and plopped down beside her on the fresh soil.  “It’s just a few days,” Lindsay said.  “How bad could it be?”

Martha barked and wagged her tail.

“Who asked you, anyway?” Lindsay groused before steeling herself and heading inside.

***

 

“Has anyone seen my cell phone?” Jill yelled from the bedroom she and Claire would be sharing.  The group had finally managed to unload the Jeep and all their bags were now in their appropriate places.  She was almost finished unpacking her things into a small chest of drawers when she realized what she was missing.  “I could’ve sworn I put it in my… damn it…  Lindsay!”

“What?” Lindsay asked innocently as she dared to take a step inside the room.  She’d just been passing by when she heard ‘damn it’ and then her name – two words that, when used together, usually didn’t bode well for her, especially if they happened to be spoken by Cindy.  Poking her head inside the doorway, she wondered what it was that she’d supposedly done now.

Jill whipped around, placed her hands on her hips and readied to lay into her friend.  “What did you do with my Python Cortina boarding tote?”

Lindsay frowned and tilted her head in confusion.  “Your what?”

“My tote.  The one that looks like a big purse,” Jill explained in frustration, watching as her friend’s gaze moved to the large Dooney purse that sat on the pillow of her bunk bed.  “The silver and black print that looks like a python,” Jill elaborated further, hoping that the bag had somehow ended up in Lindsay and Cindy’s room.

Lindsay’s expression brightened in understanding.  “Oh, the snake bag.  I put it in the pile with the rest of the bags that needed to be returned to your apartment.”

“But I had it with the bags that you were to pack to bring with us.  Why would you move it?”  Jill asked, trying to remain calm.  She didn’t remember seeing the bag amongst the ones she’d taken back upstairs to her apartment, but she’d been in such a hurry she’d not paid much attention.

“I figured you’d already decided on the purse you wanted to bring since you tossed it in the backseat,” Lindsay said with a shrug, not seeing the reasoning for bringing two purses along.  One purse already seemed a bit much to Lindsay for anyone to take on a camping trip.  Who was Jill trying to impress anyway?  The wildlife?  Lindsay suspected some of the creatures might actually take exception to the accessory. 

“It isn’t a purse, Lindsay.  It had my cell phone, my iPod, some books, my journal, my hair dryer and my hair products,” Jill replied testily, her upset escalating with each mentioned item.  The tree limbs outside would have nothing on her after a couple of days without her sculpting foam.

“Look, I’m sorry, Jill, but I’m not the one who brought your things upstairs,” Lindsay pointed out just as crossly, her patience starting to wear thin.  If Jill had packed more sensibly in the first place, they wouldn’t be having this conversation and the snake bag would be sitting beside Jill’s other purse.

Jill eased a hand to her hair and began to rake her fingers through blonde tresses, but froze her motion before she could sweep completely through.  Very gently, she extricated her fingers and smoothed her hair back down.  Lindsay was right; it would be Jill’s own fault if she ended up looking like Madeline Kahn’s character in Young Frankenstein.   

“Hey, you two ready to take a little hike?”  Cindy stepped beside Lindsay and wound an arm around her lover’s waist, giving a light squeeze to try to calm the tension that had begun to radiate from her partner.  She’d overheard Jill and Lindsay’s minor altercation and thought a little distraction might be just what the two needed. She’d also made a mental note about how easily voices carried from one part of the cabin to another.

Lindsay exhaled tiredly and looked down at the redhead attached to her side like a limpet clinging to a rock.  If she had her way, that’s exactly how she’d spend the rest of her weekend.

“I’m game,” she said, directing a smile and a wink at her lover in thanks for diffusing the tense situation and brightening the gloomy mood that had hovered like a ground fog threatening to engulf the two friends.  “How about you, Jill?  Ready for some fresh air?”

“I think some fresh air would be wonderful,” Jill agreed, returning Lindsay’s smile.  “Just let me change my shoes; I’ll meet you on the front porch.”

Jill watched with a bit of envy as her two friends turned and moved away, neither woman willing to let go of the other.  She thought of Maggie, of her arctic blue eyes and charm but, before an image of the two of them together could solidify, her thoughts abruptly shifted to Denise, the woman who was all cold steel and fiery determination.  Apparently she didn’t fall for the warm and friendly type of woman, Jill realized, but she did know how to pick interesting ones.

“Someday, Jill, someday,” she whispered as she slipped off her mules and reached for her tennis shoes.  If Lindsay had gotten lucky enough to find someone special like Cindy, then Jill had to believe that there was someone out there waiting just for her, too.  Whether that person was Maggie or Denise was yet to be seen.

***

 

“Wow, what a view,” Claire remarked from behind her camera lens as she zoomed in to capture the setting sun just as it tipped a mountain on the other side of a vast canyon that separated the spectacular scene from the ledge where she stood with Jill.  Their cabin was truly the perfect getaway; located miles and miles from the actual park, they had the best of both worlds: amazingly gorgeous scenery without having to share it up close and personally with strangers.  It certainly made Claire appreciate the beauty all that much more knowing she’d be able to share her photos with Ed when she returned home.   

Jill sighed in contentment at the beauty in front of her.  She wished she could bottle up the feeling and recall it whenever she needed it, like every time she walked to a crime scene where some senseless act of violence could have been avoided.  Kelly Yung’s sweet face came to her mind and Jill had to force herself to focus on the tall, majestic trees across the canyon.  Slowly, very slowly, she was seeing only the colorful autumn leaves of the Sequoias.

“You okay?” Claire asked softly, having noticed Jill’s melancholy look when she’d turned to ask if her friend was ready to head back.  “Want to talk?” she offered as she eased a hand to the middle of Jill’s back and gently rubbed up and down the other woman’s spine.  She knew her friend had been conflicted about her feelings for Maggie Snow and Denise Kwan and, even though Claire knew there’d be major problems should Jill hook up with either woman, she really wanted to be there if Jill needed someone to listen.

Jill stared down the trail that led back to the cabin and watched as Lindsay and Cindy walked, hand in hand, away from the two of them.  She knew what Claire was asking, but she wasn’t ready to discuss her love life, or lack of, with her friend.  She hadn’t figured out herself how she felt or what she wanted to do but, when she did, Claire would be the first person she’d tell.

“Nah, I’m just feeling a little down.  I’m sure after a good night’s sleep in this fresh mountain air, I’ll be good as new,” she said, glancing over her shoulder and offering Claire a smile.  “So,” she began and turned around to face her friend.  “You want the top bunk or the bottom?”

Claire looked into teasing blue eyes and broke out in laughter.  “Your skinny ass is climbing up that little ladder.”  Looping her arm through Jill’s, she started forward and steered them down the path.  “I wonder which one Cindy will choose?” 

Intermittent chuckles kept them company as Martha brought up the rear.  Her humans were acting more than a little strange tonight, but the one called Claire had promised her a juicy bone so she could overlook any weirdness for a while.  She barked when a voice shouted out from below.

“Hurry up, slowpokes!  I’m hungry,” Cindy called back playfully to her friends.  She and Lindsay had stopped at the bottom of the path to see what was keeping Claire and Jill, and Lindsay had insisted on waiting for them.  She’d used the excuse that she had to make sure nothing happened to their cook but Cindy knew better.  After everything they’d been through, Lindsay wasn’t about to let anything happen to any of them on her watch.  Cindy didn't blame her.  There was something about having all her friends around her right now that was soothing over some rough patches on her soul.  If this little getaway was doing wonders for her, she could only imagine the effect it was having on Lindsay.   

“Us, too!” Jill yelled back as she picked up her stride and forced Claire to match her step for step.  It was definitely much easier to walk down the inclined path than it had been to walk up, but Jill could feel her calves burn just the same and it felt great.  She’d be famished by the time they made it back to the cabin.  “Um, Claire?  What are we having for dinner?”

“Roast, potatoes, and carrots.  I put them in one of those roasting bags before we left,” Claire replied, sparing a quick glance at her watch.  “And they should be ready right about now.” 

Pulling her arm free from Claire’s loose grasp, Jill increased her pace and blew right past Lindsay and Cindy.  She loved those tender baby carrots Claire prepared with garlic and thyme.  “Last one to the cabin has to wash the dishes!” she shouted over her shoulder just as she hit her maximum sprinting speed.

Lindsay, Claire, and Martha took off like a shot after the retreating blonde, while a stunned Cindy could only stare at their backs.  It took her a few seconds before she realized what was in store for the loser.  “That’s cheating!  Wait for me!”  She hurried down the path but made it to the cabin well behind her long-legged friends.

“That was so not fair,” Cindy huffed in-between deep gasps for breath.  She bent over at the waist and struggled to push more air into her lungs. 

“You snooze, you lose,” Lindsay teased her lover as she eased beside Cindy and rubbed her back.  “Next time, I’ll give you a little more warning.”

Still a bit breathless herself, Jill walked over and joined the pair, while Claire just tsked heavily and headed for the kitchen with Martha on her heels.  She’d have to remember to insist later that since she was doing all the cooking, she should be exempt from cleaning duty.  She was sure the others would see it her way, especially if she threatened to go on strike.

“Sorry, Cindy, but when it comes to chores, there’s no such thing as fair play,” Jill explained her version of all’s fair in fun and games, especially if the grand prize was to avoid work.  She tousled her friend's red hair earning a scowl from the reporter that made her chuckle.

Cindy dug her fingers into her sides and stood slowly.  “I’ll remember that next time.”   She exhaled a long, deep breath and moved to lean against the front porch railing.  “Okay, that’s weird,” she said as she searched the top of the wooden rail.  “I could’ve sworn I left my iPod right here when we left for our hike.”  The media player had fallen out of her pocket when the four of them had started away from the cabin, and she’d left the player on the railing when she’d discovered a nice size hole in her jacket pocket.

“You did,” Lindsay confirmed, jogging down the steps to check the ground below.  A glint of metal caught her eye and she squinted toward the base of the house just as the raccoon they'd seen on their arrival raced away.  “Shit!  The raccoon has it!”  She hurried toward the bandit but was too late.  The raccoon slipped under two long boards and disappeared beneath the house.

“Did you get it?” Cindy asked as she started down the front stairs.  She studied Lindsay’s hands for the missing iPod but found only long, slender fingers and empty palms.  “Do you know how long it took me to load all that music?” she whined pitifully.  Not only would she have to clean the kitchen but now she’d have to do it without her music.

“A very long time,” Lindsay answered knowingly, having been ignored on more than a few occasions when Cindy had been absorbed in downloading songs she just had to have.  Casting one last look at the spot where the raccoon had disappeared, she walked back toward the porch and met her lover at the base of the steps.  “Sorry, Cindy, he was just too quick.”

“I really loved that iPod,” Cindy whispered sadly as she allowed Lindsay to take her by the hand and lead her back to the porch.  “I can’t believe I’ll never see it again.”

Jill edged closer to the pair to extend her condolences.  “I’m sorry, Cindy.  I’d offer to let you borrow mine, but...” she said, leaving her sentence hanging in the thin air between them as she glared at Lindsay.

"It's an iPod, not a dearly departed uncle," Lindsay groused.  She looked at Jill.  "And you can shove yours up your..."

“Food’s on the table!”

"Saved by the bell," Jill declared, pivoting on one foot and hurrying away from Lindsay's ire.  "Coming!"

Placing her hand in the small of Cindy’s back, Lindsay shook her head as she directed her lover toward the door.  “Let’s have some dinner and then we can see if we can find the little varmint’s hiding spot.  Maybe he’ll be willing to trade for some food.”

“You really think so?”  Cindy asked hopefully, her wishful tone sounding eerily like the Scarecrow questioning Dorothy as to whether she thought the wizard could find him a brain.

“It’s worth a try, isn’t it?”  Jill called over her shoulder, unwittingly responding with the next line in the script as she moved ahead of the couple to open the door.

Lindsay deviated sharply from the well-known dialogue.  “If that doesn’t work, I’ll shoot his ass.”

With one foot just inside the door, Cindy whipped around to face her lover.  “You are not shooting Rocky!” 

“Rocky?”  Lindsay voice rose with her question.  She wouldn’t dare look at Jill. 

“Yes, Rocky.  Rocky Raccoon,” Cindy clarified, solidifying the hunch Lindsay and Jill already had as to what Cindy had been referring:  the Beatles inane song.

Jill stood by silently and refused to explain to her much younger friend that not only had Rocky not been a raccoon but that he had indeed been shot, although it hadn’t been made clear in the song whether he’d been hit in the ass or not.  Her blue eyes met Lindsay's brown ones over the top of the reporter's head.  She didn't bother to disguise her amusement and Lindsay merely glared in response.

Cindy turned toward the kitchen and huffed away, drawing Lindsay's attention off a smirking Jill and back onto her lover.  Only five minutes earlier, Cindy had been devastated that her iPod had been stolen and now she was protecting the very critter who’d stolen it.  It was such a... Cindy thing to do that Lindsay felt a twinge of bemusement, even if she suspected she'd just landed in the dog house.

“You were screwed the moment she named that raccoon,” Jill said softly, barely able to keep the mirth out of her voice.  She hooked her arm through Lindsay’s and tugged the other woman forward.  “C’mon, the food’s going to get cold.”

Lindsay sighed and followed alongside her friend.  She’d be lucky if she got to sleep in the same room as Cindy tonight, much less a separate bunk bed.

***

 

Martha raced past her mistress and leapt from the ground to the front porch in a single bound.  Their run had been wonderful:  the air had been cool and crisp, the trail packed solid and free of debris, and Lindsay had waited patiently while Martha chased the odd rabbit or two.  The dog settled in front of the door and lolled out her tongue just as Lindsay made her way up the steps.

“Have fun, girl?” she asked Martha as she lifted her long leg and hooked her heel over the railing.  Leaning forward, she stretched out sore sinewy muscles.  “Ugh,” she complained aloud.  “I’ve got to get back into a better routine.”  Switching legs, she readied to stretch out her soreness when she spotted her running pants lying on the ground below the railing. 

“What the...” she began, cutting off her words as she decided to investigate.  She skipped down the front steps and headed toward the pants she’d ditched earlier, having figured that her jacket and shorts would be sufficient to keep her warm enough on her morning jog.  Scooping them from the ground, she held them up in front of her just as something slipped out of one of the pockets and fell to the ground, a hot pink something:  Cindy’s iPod.

Taking the media player in her hand, Lindsay’s eyes grew huge and she quickly scrambled to dig in each pocket, turning them inside out and coming up empty.  Rocky had not only taken her cell, he’d grabbed her keys as well.

“Why didn’t you wake me?  I could’ve used the exercise, too,” Cindy said as she shuffled toward the edge of the porch and yawned widely.  Dressed in a worn, oversized San Francisco police shirt, a pair of gray sweats that had seen better days and fuzzy pink slippers, she cradled a mug of coffee and sipped from it, savoring every drop of Claire’s freshly-made brew. 

Lindsay recognized the moment Cindy spotted her iPod as her lover’s eyes opened wide from their previous slits and a smile spread on her face until she was practically beaming.  Abandoning her precious elixir on the porch railing, Cindy hurried down the steps as quickly as her oversized slippers would allow.

“He brought it back!” she said excitedly.  “The food idea worked.  You’re a genius, Linz.”  She gave her lover a quick peck on the lips and gently extricated her cherished iPod from Lindsay’s hand.  Staring down at the media player, her smile grew. 

“Apparently Rocky had something else in mind in the way of negotiation,” Lindsay grumbled unhappily.  Before her run, she’d checked the edge of the porch where they’d left food for the animal and had found that they’d been had.  The raccoon had eaten the food, but he hadn’t held up his end of the bargain.  He hadn’t left anything in its place.

Cindy brushed the iPod against her pants leg to knock off the bits of dirt that clung to it.  “What?  He gave it back and didn’t eat the food?”

“Oh, he ate all the food,” Lindsay reported petulantly, sounding every bit like a spoiled child who hadn’t gotten her way.  “He gobbled it down and left without leaving so much as a thank-you note.”

“Who cares about a thank-you note,” Cindy said gleefully.  “He left something better.  See?  He’s not such a bad little raccoon.”  She cradled the iPod gently in her hands.

Lindsay thrust her pants toward her lover and held them up high to show the empty pockets that she’d yanked out, the white lining a stark contrast against the shiny black material of her pants.

“The little shit took my phone and the car keys, too!”  She shook her pants vigorously during her diatribe, startling Cindy and causing her to take a step back.  When the words finally filtered into the reporter’s brain, she quickly glanced over to where Lindsay had parked the Jeep, as if expecting to see it missing or, at the very least, Rocky sitting behind the steering wheel revving the engine.

“Why would he take your keys?” Cindy asked out loud, realizing her mistake almost immediately.  She scrunched up her shoulders and cringed in preparation of Lindsay’s reply, just in case her lover blew a fuse.  Her precaution was well warranted.

“Because he’s a little shit!” Lindsay growled, her opinion of the resident raccoon well-represented by her obsession with her new pet name for the animal.  She glared at the hole that provided a safe haven for the raccoon.  “That’s it,” she said angrily.  “I’m getting my gun and blowing him away.”  Throwing her pants down hard enough to stir up some dust, Lindsay stomped toward the cabin steps.

“Wait!” Cindy exclaimed, reacting much more quickly than she had the evening before when the others had taken off and left her standing clueless on the mountain trail.  She grabbed hold of Lindsay’s arm and allowed herself to be jerked into her lover’s body.  She held on tightly.  “If you shoot him,” she started, careful not to call the raccoon by name, “we’ll never get your phone and keys back.”

Lindsay stopped trying to pull free of Cindy and paused to contemplate her lover’s words.  It would be kind of hard to retrieve her phone and keys if the raccoon was no longer able to return them.  “Okay,” she grudgingly agreed.  “But if I have to call Jacobi to come get us, I’m shooting the annoying little bastard.”

Cindy nodded in mock agreement.  At least Lindsay was thinking of the raccoon in different terms. 

“What’s all the ruckus about?” Claire asked, a bit surprised to find the couple in an embrace.  From the loud conversation that had sent her and Jill hurrying outside, she’d figured to find her two friends feet away from each other with Lindsay standing with her hands on her hips and Cindy with her arms crossed in anger. 

“Cindy got her iPod back,” Lindsay replied as she slid her arms around her lover and hugged her close. 

“Really?” Jill said with a smile.  “That food trick worked?”  She’d been skeptical about whether the raccoon would consider the offering a trade.  She’d just figured the animal would think it was food they’d thrown out and was free game for whomever or whatever came across it.

“It didn’t work,” Cindy said simply, not offering any more details.  She’d let Lindsay explain what had happened. 

“But...” Jill gestured toward the hot pink iPod Cindy held in her hand.

“He took my cell phone and keys,” Lindsay interrupted before Jill could voice her next question.  “At least we still have Cindy’s and Claire’s phones in case of an emergency.”

“Not having transportation doesn’t constitute an emergency?” Jill asked with a touch of sarcasm.  “What would then?”

Claire cleared her throat but not to stop the likelihood of bickering between her friends, rather to clarify a misconception Lindsay seemed to have.  “Um, I have my cell, but the battery is dead.”

“So, just charge it,” Cindy supplied helpfully, although she did wonder why Claire hadn’t already thought of the obvious solution.

“Normally I would, but I accidentally picked up Ed’s charger instead of mine.  My cell isn’t compatible,” Claire reported the little ditty she’d discovered last evening when she’d tried to plug the adaptor into a port that was much too small.

“Well, we’ve still got mine,” Cindy said, grateful that they weren’t stranded in the middle of nowhere without transportation and a means of communication.  That had all the makings of a bad slasher film.  “I used it this morning to check my messages, so there’s definitely a signal.”

“Okay, now that we’ve got that settled, why don’t I whip up some pancakes and we can discuss how to trick Mr. Raccoon into giving back the keys?” Claire suggested, figuring they may as well make the most of things.  Besides, they still had a couple of days before they had to worry about leaving.

“Chocolate chip pancakes?”

“Banana pancakes?”

Jill and Cindy voiced their preference at the same time, their pitch almost identical.  Laughing, Claire motioned the two toward the cabin door.

“If I’m making more than one kind, I’m going to need some help.”

The medical examiner was almost mowed down as Jill and Cindy raced past her and into the cabin.  Chuckling, Claire started for the door but stopped before she stepped inside and turned toward Lindsay.

“You coming?”

Lindsay shook her head.  “You go on ahead.  I’ll be there in a minute.”  She waited until Claire had closed the cabin door before she turned her attention back to the raccoon’s hidey hole.

“Those keys better be on this porch sometime today,” she threatened in a low, gravely voice.  With one last glare, she headed for the cabin and whistled for Martha, holding the door for the canine to pass through. 

Underneath the house, a pair of tiny hand-like paws fiddled with their shiny new toys.

***

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