Forest Guardians Chronicles: A Matter of Humanity by Beth Roose (smart ebook reader TXT) 📗

or anyone to stand with us. In fact, I kind of wanted a wedding in the shelter at the Ledges. The one with the two-sided fireplace. It is so romantic. This is sort of rushed.”

“Come on, Bev. We should go dress shopping this afternoon.”

“Well, Travis, I was going to go with my friend Marsha.”

“Are you saying that I am not good enough, or that my opinion is not worthy?” asked Travis.

“No, Travis. It is not that. This is so hard without my parents. I am surprised at how much I miss them right now, which makes this whole process even harder for me.”

“Look, you need a break from the farm. Frankly, the sooner we are married, the faster I will be here to help you.”

Bev looked into Travis’s eyes. Tears welled in her eyes. She was sensing something not quite right. Red Flags began to wave. She did not know what it was. “Travis, I just need a day to pull myself together. We can go shopping tomorrow. Do you mind if Marsha is along, too?”

“Of course not. Then we will have lunch. Appears we have a clear plan for tomorrow. You will look amazing in whatever you pick out. Personally, I like a pinch of color on part of the dress. You look stunning in pink. How would you feel about a small amount of pink with the white or ivory?”

“Well, what the heck, Travis. Do you watch those Bridal TV shows? I promise I am not a bridezilla nor am I spending a fortune for a dress. The farm needs a new tractor.  I have a budget to think about.”

“Bev, I will buy you the dress of your dreams. Don’t worry about the cost,” said Travis.

“OK, it is green and says John Deer with giant wheels and I want an air-conditioned cab.”

They both laughed. Travis stood up and took Bev by the hand and pulled her into him and gave her a loving kiss. “See you tomorrow at 9am SHARP!”

“I will be ready. Don’t forget we need to pick up Marsha, too.”

“Yep. Got it!

As Travis drove away, Bev ran up the stairs to see how Freda and Hazel were doing. When she opened the attic door, there was Freda cradling a wiggly little newborn. “Aw, Freda that is a Kodak moment for sure.”

“What is a Kodak?” asked Freda?

“A maker of an instant camera to take pictures with.” Freda tilted her to the side to understand. Bev laughed and asked Freda if she thought Hazel was hungry. She nodded her head up and down. Bev turned and went down the steps deep in thought. She went through everything in her head from the proposal to the wedding dress shopping. She wondered if she was making something out of nothing. Travis loved her and he just wanted them to start their life together now. She thought he handled today with ease, cleaning up the slaughter and then burying the rabbits. Some people could not handle something like that. He handled it with such ease. It was like he knew about life on a farm. The good, bad, and ugly.

It was almost like Freda was Hazel’s real mom. It was something she hoped to experience someday. The motherly instinct was on overdrive in Freda. She never left Hazel for even a second. Bev told Freda to get some sleep and she would take care of Hazel.  Freda shook her head no and told Bev she could sleep while she sat on the nest. Bev told Freda after she was done feeding, she was going to go down in the kitchen and make a sandwich then run to the market and pick up some fresh fish for her. Freda said thank you. It took about half an hour to feed Hazel this time. She was terribly slow taking the formula. Bev made a mental note to pick up a jar of honey to put in the formula to encourage her to take the formula. Bev told Freda, “I believe Hazel is full, and she is sleeping as we are trying to feed her.” Bev placed Hazel back into the nest and Freda sat back down. “OK, Freda, I am going to grab a sandwich and be on my way to the market. Is there a certain type of fish you like?”

She smiled and told Bev whatever they have. Bev turned, and as she was going down the steps, told Freda she would see her in an hour or so.

Bev could not believe how crowded the parking lot was at the grocery store. She had to park almost to the street. She thought to herself, they must be giving away stuff.  As she walked across the parking lot, her mind drifted back to the poor rabbits and, in particular, Coco. She had to have been carrying at least 4 babies, yet she only found one. She figured that whatever killed the other rabbits must have devoured the babies. She was glad that Coco was able to hide one of the babies. She was sure it had to be Vue or Tas. She picked up 14 whole fish. The butcher wanted to be invited to Bev’s fish fry. She laughed. She had also grabbed two jars of honey. Back across the parking lot with her bags. She was just about to get into her car when a woman approached her. Bev was startled.

“What do you want?” Bev asked. The woman got within inches of her face. Bev felt fear and could feel the hair on her arms go up. But the woman just stood there. Then she noticed something that made her skin crawl. Her eyes were like a snake and her skin began to look like scales on a snake. Bev took a step back in pure terror. “

You need to leave the Park immediately or you will die,” the woman told her. Bev started to cry and backed into her car door. She pressed the unlock button and almost dove into the