Nobody's Fool Y'all

4

 Hadley lurched forward, dropping Harry's rod onto the bank, and stumbled out of the stream. She ran back to her car, tears streaming down her face, her breath coming in ragged gasps. 

She fumbled with the door handle, finally jerking the driver's side open. As she reached into the glove box and removed her cell phone, her breathing slowed. 

She was still winded, partly from the slog up the hill in heavy rubber waders and partly from the shock of seeing a hand pop out of Harry's stream. She flipped her cell open and frantically dialed 911.

"Hope Rock County Sheriff's Department, what's your emergency?"

"Elwin, is that you?" Hadley asked in between gasps for air. "Elwin!"

There were three members of the Hope Rock County Sheriff's Department. Bill Whittaker, Hadley's brother-in-law, was the sheriff. Bill had two deputies on the force, Wayman Hoke and Elwin Dollie. Hadley could recognize Bill's voice in her sleep.

Wayman was a tall, skinny man whose masculinity was underscored by his deep voice. Elwin, on the other hand, looked like an ex-Marine, but his voice would never reach the depths of Wayman's.

"This is Deputy Elwin Dollie. How may I assist you?"

"Elwin, this is Hadley Pell. I've found a dead body on Harry's land. Get Bill out here! Hurry up!"

"Don't hang up, Hadley. I'm calling for assistance, now. I have to ask you some questions. Are you with the person?" Elwin said, calmly.

"No, Elwin," Hadley said. "I'm not. I'm in the car. The body's in a deep pool of water. It's a dead body, Elwin, and I can't reach it. I wouldn't try if I could. Get Bill up here! Hurry up! Elwin, where is Bill? Is he at the office?"

"Hadley, are you alright? Are you injured?" Elwin said. "Do you need an ambulance? You sound like you are having trouble breathing!"

"I'm fine, Elwin!" Hadley said. "I had to run back to the car to call you."

Hadley was so nervous, she almost dropped the phone.

"Get Bill out here quick!" she said. "And forget the ambulance. You better tell Bill to bring Finley Eubanks and his meat wagon. Oh, shoot. I don't care what you tell anybody! Just get Bill out here, Elwin! Quick! I don't like being in these woods all by myself with a corpse for company! It may be trespassing on my land, but a corpse is still a corpse. What am I saying? Just get out here!"

Hadley snapped her flip phone shut and waited for help to arrive. She sat in her car with wet waders. She looked down at the growing puddles on the interior carpet.

Harry would have been furious with her. But a little water never hurt anything.

Then, she thought of the hand rising out of the deep pool. She shuttered. There they were before her eyes – the painted fingernails and the discolored hand.

The fingers looked like they were reaching out for her, but she knew it was probably just the way the fishing line had entangled them when she had given that final tug.

***

It seemed to take an eternity for Bill and the others to arrive. Hadley was weak with relief when the flashing blue lights of his car came into view. 

Before today, she'd never given a minute's thought about going anywhere in these mountains alone. Danger lurked behind every building in the big cities but not behind the trees and boulders of the Blue Ridge. Home was a safe haven, and these hills were her home.

Now, it hit her. Danger was a stranger nowhere on Earth.

Her senses were in overdrive. Every snap of a twig made her jump. Her nerves were shot. She scanned the forest. Shadows made her ill at ease. The trees seemed to be closing in. She felt violated and afraid. Her body trembled. She was definitely in shock.