Momma Grizzly by Kevin Hensley

Author:Kevin Hensley [Hensley, Kevin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

I stirred from fitful sleep at a stubbly face kissing my cheek. Despite my anxiety, I couldn’t help but smile. “Hey.”

Garrett grinned back at me with his slightly crooked stare. “You were out for a long time.”

I rolled over and brushed my hair out of my face. “I haven’t been sleeping well lately. What time is it?”

“Five thirty. I called my parents on the way and they asked me to meet them at the library when I arrived. I joined them around four, but I didn’t hang around long. Oh, and Branchett showed up at our front door the same time I did.”

I sat up sharply. “What did he want?”

“He asked me to tell you that Cotton and about a hundred people swept every inch of the forest for miles and found nothing. They’re calling the county and kicking this up the chain. There’s no trace of Laylah anywhere.”

I shook my head. “No. They’ve got to search at night. When the darkness comes.”

“That was never going to happen. And that’s why I’m here.”

I rubbed my face. “What did your parents say?”

“They just gave me this.” He reached into the pocket of his work pants and pulled out an old photograph, yellowed at the edges. He handed it over facedown. Someone had written in pencil: “Muriel Greaves, 11/17/1915.”

I flipped it over and gasped. It was a pencil sketch, faded and blurry but unmistakable. I recognized that thin face, that pointed chin, that flop of black hair.

“My mom wanted to see if you recognized that person.”

“It’s him,” I managed to say. “It’s the forest boy. He really has lived there a long time. Everything he told me was true.”

Garrett frowned. “Who’s Muriel Greaves?”

“The bruja from the story of the Axe-Man. We found a letter she wrote while she was in jail. The letter mentioned this drawing. I’m so glad they found it.”

“The witch…” Garrett’s face turned to a fearful expression I hadn’t seen him make in a long time. “So she wasn’t crazy. You’re seeing what she saw.”

I touched his arm. “The boy told me that up until the night Emma Lee and I saw the bear, she hadn’t appeared in the woods since before the Texas War for Independence. That was, what, a hundred and eighty years ago?”

“Something like that. So Momma Kodi never appeared to protect the forest or the people when the Axe-Man was doing his thing in 1915.”

“Because Muriel Greaves would have brought her if she hadn’t been thrown in prison a hundred years ago.”

Garrett sat up straighter. “The Axe-Man will sleep a hundred years,” he said in the exact same tone as his father. “We better get ready. I think it’s become more important than ever that Momma Kodi makes an appearance in the woods tonight.” He stood. I didn’t follow.

Seeing my hesitation, he touched my shoulder. “I won’t let you get hurt.”

I thought about what Pastor Cotton had told me. “It’s not that. When we get back… I want to talk about you staying home. Or at least spending more time here.

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