White Trash at Flat Rock

Start at the beginning of the story if you’re new to the scene. Just scroll down to CH.1

“Karen! Grab a tree. Dolly’s coming.” Goodnaturedly she grabbed hold of a convenient trunk with one hand and braced herself by the cane in her other hand. We waited for the hellion to streak by. I swear I could feel the vibrations set up by her thudding paws.

“Do you carry a cell phone or something?” I asked her. She would not be able to escape if she were threatened. Being alone in the woods can be risky. There are plenty of nutcases in our fair city, and the Flat Rock area is very accessible to the downtown area. Fitchburg is home to many of the disenfranchised. Like I told Peter, just because someone’s a whack job doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.

“Oh, no,” she said, “I have a gun. I know how to use it.”

“Well, that’ll do the trick.” I might have blinked.

“Karen’s a master marksman,” Wendy told me. “She has awards.”

“Yeah, I have a license to carry,” Karen said. “You don’t have to worry about me.

“I was up here alone one day with Lulu and this guy came by and kicked her for no reason. She rolled down the hill and I couldn’t go down and get her.

“It was awful. I could hear her crying and she couldn’t get up the hill. It took her about 45 minutes before she made it. I carried her to the car. We went right to the vets. I had to call Chuck.

“That was really bad.” Karen shook her head.

“Call your dog!” we heard an imperious voice demand from further down the path.

“Oh, shit. DOLLY! DOLLY!” I took off at a run. “Dolly, come on. Don’t be a pill.”

Dolly and a large pale dog were barking and exchanging spit. I grabbed her by the collar and yanked her up and off her feet, away from the other dog.

“There are too many dogs up here,” the woman with the pale dog said to her friend who was similarly accompanied by her own large dog. “Let’s go. This used to be a nice place to go.”

She walked off in a huff.

I looked at Wendy. She knows all. “Huh?”

 “Oh, don’t worry about her. She just can’t control her dog,” Wendy reassured me.