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Authors: Francene Carroll
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American .”
“That’s right. He was never accepted in the town either , but his son, Jesse ’s father , was only part Native American and he completely ignored this side of his heritage. He also became very rich and this made him acceptable in the eyes of the upstanding community. Jesse and his brother wer e not allowed anywhere near us as kids when they visited the cabin in summer . W hen Jesse started coming out to the lake on his own he became interested in his grandfather’s background and he began asking questions. He wa s seen a ssociating with the wrong people a few too many times and that was it. He was persona non grata from then onwards , and the rumours began to fly.”
“Was that why he began hanging out with the kids after school , to find out about his grandfather ?” a sked Amber, still not convinced by his explanation.
“ No. Before he began writing full-time Jesse was a teacher and youth worker. He’s do ne really great things for the young people in this town, especially the ones in danger of going off the tracks, but I bet you’ve never heard about any of this.”
“No,” she admitted.
“The reason he was in town on the night Tehya disappeared was because he was at the same eighteenth birthday party as her . It was for a kid he helped t o get away from drugs. We were all there, and there w as nothing suspicious in it . Jesse is no more a suspect than anyone else at that party. The shame of it all is that since that night Jesse doesn’t even come into town anymore , and he’s stopped seeing the kids. They really miss him. My advice to you is don’t believe everything you hear because people around here have their own agendas .” They had been walking back towards the main street as they talked , and when they reached the corner the man lifted his hat. “It was nice meeting you anyway .”
“Wait,” called Amber as he walked away. “I don’t even know your name.”
“I’m Tom , and Tehya is my niece. Take care. ”
“You too. And I hope Tehya comes home soon.” He waved once before disappearing around a corner, leaving Amber feeling very confused. Tom had given her an entirely differ ent perspective on Jesse , and what he said did seem to ring true with what she had seen of the man. Apart from their one bizarre meeting at his cabin when he seemed to be hitting on her , he cam e across as quite shy. I t must have taken a lot on his part to ask her to dinner. When he found out she had lied to get out of it his feelings were obviously hurt, but that was probably all there was to it. As for her s trange experience in the woods, she w as more convinced than ever she had dreamt the whole thing up .
Everything Sharon and Bob had told her had been distorted , and she couldn’t help feeling a little angry with them. She was tempted to cancel dinner that night , but then she remembered that Chris might be arriving and decided against it. One thing she was certain of now was that she didn’t need a gun to protect herself. She walked back to her car, planning to get as much work done as possible at the cabin before Bob picked her up that evening.
Amber was very glad she had met up with Tom and heard another side of the story when she pulled up and saw Jesse on the jetty with his fishing gear . If they had not had that chance conversation she would have been completely terrified at the sight of him. Now she knew he was a decent person, the type of person she would like t o get to know a little better in fact, and s he was sorry she had dismissed him so quickly when they first met. She walked down to meet him with a smile
“ Hi, how are you? ” Jesse seemed surprised by her warm greeting .
“I’m great , and I’m glad to see you’re still here and haven’t let the local gossips mongers scare you away.”
“What do you mean?”
“I figure the Crow s have told you all about me. Apparently I’m a pervert who kidnaps young girls , and I’m possibly even a werewolf. I wanted
“That’s right. He was never accepted in the town either , but his son, Jesse ’s father , was only part Native American and he completely ignored this side of his heritage. He also became very rich and this made him acceptable in the eyes of the upstanding community. Jesse and his brother wer e not allowed anywhere near us as kids when they visited the cabin in summer . W hen Jesse started coming out to the lake on his own he became interested in his grandfather’s background and he began asking questions. He wa s seen a ssociating with the wrong people a few too many times and that was it. He was persona non grata from then onwards , and the rumours began to fly.”
“Was that why he began hanging out with the kids after school , to find out about his grandfather ?” a sked Amber, still not convinced by his explanation.
“ No. Before he began writing full-time Jesse was a teacher and youth worker. He’s do ne really great things for the young people in this town, especially the ones in danger of going off the tracks, but I bet you’ve never heard about any of this.”
“No,” she admitted.
“The reason he was in town on the night Tehya disappeared was because he was at the same eighteenth birthday party as her . It was for a kid he helped t o get away from drugs. We were all there, and there w as nothing suspicious in it . Jesse is no more a suspect than anyone else at that party. The shame of it all is that since that night Jesse doesn’t even come into town anymore , and he’s stopped seeing the kids. They really miss him. My advice to you is don’t believe everything you hear because people around here have their own agendas .” They had been walking back towards the main street as they talked , and when they reached the corner the man lifted his hat. “It was nice meeting you anyway .”
“Wait,” called Amber as he walked away. “I don’t even know your name.”
“I’m Tom , and Tehya is my niece. Take care. ”
“You too. And I hope Tehya comes home soon.” He waved once before disappearing around a corner, leaving Amber feeling very confused. Tom had given her an entirely differ ent perspective on Jesse , and what he said did seem to ring true with what she had seen of the man. Apart from their one bizarre meeting at his cabin when he seemed to be hitting on her , he cam e across as quite shy. I t must have taken a lot on his part to ask her to dinner. When he found out she had lied to get out of it his feelings were obviously hurt, but that was probably all there was to it. As for her s trange experience in the woods, she w as more convinced than ever she had dreamt the whole thing up .
Everything Sharon and Bob had told her had been distorted , and she couldn’t help feeling a little angry with them. She was tempted to cancel dinner that night , but then she remembered that Chris might be arriving and decided against it. One thing she was certain of now was that she didn’t need a gun to protect herself. She walked back to her car, planning to get as much work done as possible at the cabin before Bob picked her up that evening.
Amber was very glad she had met up with Tom and heard another side of the story when she pulled up and saw Jesse on the jetty with his fishing gear . If they had not had that chance conversation she would have been completely terrified at the sight of him. Now she knew he was a decent person, the type of person she would like t o get to know a little better in fact, and s he was sorry she had dismissed him so quickly when they first met. She walked down to meet him with a smile
“ Hi, how are you? ” Jesse seemed surprised by her warm greeting .
“I’m great , and I’m glad to see you’re still here and haven’t let the local gossips mongers scare you away.”
“What do you mean?”
“I figure the Crow s have told you all about me. Apparently I’m a pervert who kidnaps young girls , and I’m possibly even a werewolf. I wanted
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