Read Online Smoky Mountain Mystery 01 - Out on a Limb by Carolyn Jourdan - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Carolyn Jourdan
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can figure out what’s happened,” he said. “If nobody’s been hurt, we can bring em back and release em to go about their business.
“But first, we need to get that crowd dispersed, and second, we need to get that backpack.”
***
Dispersing the crowd and tranquilizing the cubs with a dart pistol didn’t take long. When Henry was able to examine the remnants of the mangled backpack he agreed with Bill that it had what appeared to be dried blood on it, which was not a good sign.
“I’m so sorry to have gotten you into this,” Henry said, looking back at Phoebe. “I hope you’ll give me another chance on that trip to Cataloochee .”
“It’s no problem,” said Phoebe, “I’ve seen more than enough for one day.”
“Where’s your car?” Bill asked her.
“At the parking lot for the old McBride graveyard,” Phoebe said. “Do you know how to get there? I’m so turned around I have no idea where it is from here.”
“Oh, sure.”
“Thanks Bill,” Henry said, “and Phoebe, I’ll be seein you later.”
“Okay Henry. Be careful.”
Bill and Phoebe began picking their way across the trampled trash-filled grass. “What a mess,” Bill said. He leaned down to pick up a partially-eaten biscuit and put it in the bear proof dumpster. “The people who did this were upset about how the bears were being treated, but now the Park Service is gonna have to send rangers to clean up all this right away or more bears’ll be comin down here to eat the garbage they left.”
“I’ve seen people like this before,” Phoebe said. “I used to work in Washington .”
“You did?” Bill said, looking at her with surprise. “You sound local.”
“I am local,” Phoebe said, smiling. “I left here after college, chasin a dream I got from watchin too much television. Took me a long time, but one day I woke up and realized I wanted to come back home. Anyway, you meet a lot of activists in Washington . They’re usually angry people. When you fix one issue, they immediately switch to another. It’s endless. No satisfaction can ever be had. They’re chronically enraged and looking for a place to vent it.”
“Psychologists call that projection I believe,” said Bill. “How do you know Henry?”
“We grew up together,” Phoebe said. “Hadn’t seen each other in thirty years til we ran into each other a coupla hours ago. When we figured out who each other was, he was kind enough to offer to let me ride around with him for the rest of the day.”
“He’s a good man,” said Bill. “Those people have no idea that the man they’re throwing things at is the very last person in the world they should be mad at. Ignorance is not pretty. The guy’s a legend around here.
“He’s a martyr to the wildlife in the Smokies . The Park Service forces rangers to rotate to different parks so they don’t get attached to any particular place, but Henry refused to do it.
“He loves it here too much to leave. Unfortunately the NPS is run like a military organization and Henry’s too strong-minded to follow rules that don’t make sense. So he doesn’t get along very well with the Park Superintendent. His refusal to knuckle under means he’s always on the verge of getting court-martialed. So he’s been kept in a subsistence-level job for most of his career.
“There’s not much money allocated to wildlife management, but everybody knows Henry so they’ll call him and he’ll go out all hours of the day and night if an animal’s in trouble or causing problems anywhere in the park. He’ll go find it and take it to the vet hospital or move it to a safer area. He’s been living like that for most of his life. Not many women would put up with that, which is probably why he’s never gotten married. He’s married to his job.”
Chapter 14
Ivy’s attacker moved her car, then he backtracked a few miles and recovered his own vehicle. Next on his to-do list was searching her apartment. He mused
“But first, we need to get that crowd dispersed, and second, we need to get that backpack.”
***
Dispersing the crowd and tranquilizing the cubs with a dart pistol didn’t take long. When Henry was able to examine the remnants of the mangled backpack he agreed with Bill that it had what appeared to be dried blood on it, which was not a good sign.
“I’m so sorry to have gotten you into this,” Henry said, looking back at Phoebe. “I hope you’ll give me another chance on that trip to Cataloochee .”
“It’s no problem,” said Phoebe, “I’ve seen more than enough for one day.”
“Where’s your car?” Bill asked her.
“At the parking lot for the old McBride graveyard,” Phoebe said. “Do you know how to get there? I’m so turned around I have no idea where it is from here.”
“Oh, sure.”
“Thanks Bill,” Henry said, “and Phoebe, I’ll be seein you later.”
“Okay Henry. Be careful.”
Bill and Phoebe began picking their way across the trampled trash-filled grass. “What a mess,” Bill said. He leaned down to pick up a partially-eaten biscuit and put it in the bear proof dumpster. “The people who did this were upset about how the bears were being treated, but now the Park Service is gonna have to send rangers to clean up all this right away or more bears’ll be comin down here to eat the garbage they left.”
“I’ve seen people like this before,” Phoebe said. “I used to work in Washington .”
“You did?” Bill said, looking at her with surprise. “You sound local.”
“I am local,” Phoebe said, smiling. “I left here after college, chasin a dream I got from watchin too much television. Took me a long time, but one day I woke up and realized I wanted to come back home. Anyway, you meet a lot of activists in Washington . They’re usually angry people. When you fix one issue, they immediately switch to another. It’s endless. No satisfaction can ever be had. They’re chronically enraged and looking for a place to vent it.”
“Psychologists call that projection I believe,” said Bill. “How do you know Henry?”
“We grew up together,” Phoebe said. “Hadn’t seen each other in thirty years til we ran into each other a coupla hours ago. When we figured out who each other was, he was kind enough to offer to let me ride around with him for the rest of the day.”
“He’s a good man,” said Bill. “Those people have no idea that the man they’re throwing things at is the very last person in the world they should be mad at. Ignorance is not pretty. The guy’s a legend around here.
“He’s a martyr to the wildlife in the Smokies . The Park Service forces rangers to rotate to different parks so they don’t get attached to any particular place, but Henry refused to do it.
“He loves it here too much to leave. Unfortunately the NPS is run like a military organization and Henry’s too strong-minded to follow rules that don’t make sense. So he doesn’t get along very well with the Park Superintendent. His refusal to knuckle under means he’s always on the verge of getting court-martialed. So he’s been kept in a subsistence-level job for most of his career.
“There’s not much money allocated to wildlife management, but everybody knows Henry so they’ll call him and he’ll go out all hours of the day and night if an animal’s in trouble or causing problems anywhere in the park. He’ll go find it and take it to the vet hospital or move it to a safer area. He’s been living like that for most of his life. Not many women would put up with that, which is probably why he’s never gotten married. He’s married to his job.”
Chapter 14
Ivy’s attacker moved her car, then he backtracked a few miles and recovered his own vehicle. Next on his to-do list was searching her apartment. He mused
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