Frank Bennett Adirondack Mountain Mystery Box Set by S W Hubbard

Author:S W Hubbard [Hubbard, S W]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: S.W. Hubbard
Published: 2018-09-29T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Bear mania gripped Trout Run.

The bear on Corkscrew had apparently had his fill of bacon grease, because the trap the DEC set for him came up empty. With the rogue still on the loose, everyone who had ever hunted bear, chased bears out of their garbage, or just seen a bear minding its own business had developed a theory about what had prompted the attack. More worrisome, everyone seemed to have a defense plan involving heavy-duty firepower should the bear show its face on their property.

The fear surprised Frank. After all, these were Adirondackers, not suburbanites freaked out by a raccoon rummaging in their trash. But the general population didn’t know about the bacon grease yet, so to them, the bear had violated all the normal rules of human-ursine engagement. Releasing the information about the bacon grease might calm people’s fear of the bear, but it would start a second round of speculation about how the grease had gotten there. Until they were ready to say definitively either that the death was accidental or sabotage, Frank and Rusty had agreed to keep quiet about the grease.

Frank had slept in on Sunday and arrived at Malone’s for breakfast as church was letting out. Caught in the confluence of the early breakfasters leaving and the late breakfasters arriving, he answered more questions about the bear than he would have if he’d been at work. His eggs grew cold as he counseled Vivian Mays not to buy a hunting rifle if she didn’t know how to shoot, and Dee-Dee Peele not to organize a team of armed parents to sit outside the grade school, even though bears had occasionally been sighted in the woods near there.

During a lull, he propped a book up in front of him to ward off further bear theorists. So far Jane Eyre had driven off Augie Enright, Jack Harvey, and Bernice Mays, and Malone’s had settled into silence. As he turned the page to read about the young Jane’s arrival at Lowood School, a blast of cold air on his back and the sound of girlish squealing made him look up. A pack of teenagers had tumbled through the door and were now getting themselves seated in the largest booth.

“I’m not sitting next to Bra-ad, not after what he did to me on Friday.”

“Lay off, Alison—you deserved it.”

They piped down once the waitress went to take their order, and Frank returned to reading. But before long, the giggling and teasing escalated again. Frank glanced up and observed them in the mirror above the counter. Brad Fister, Rollie’s grandson, sat in the middle of the crowd, with Alison Munro, despite her protests, right beside him. Rachel Portman, Matthew’s older sister, sat on the other side, hemmed in by two boys whom Frank recognized but couldn’t name. Across the table were Jessica Powers, and Kelly Davis, another cousin of Earl’s. They were nice-looking, happy kids—not a tattoo or pierced eyebrow in sight. They must be sixteen or seventeen—the same

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