Search for Treasure by Mary Alice Monroe

Author:Mary Alice Monroe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 2022-06-14T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

Seek and ye shall find

HONEY WOKE US UP WITH a hot breakfast of cheesy grits and bacon. Then, after our bellies were full, she rushed us out the door to take care of chores.

“I have a grocery delivery arriving at the ferry landing at nine-thirty this morning. You can’t be late,” she warned. “And there’s Neapolitan ice cream in that order.”

“Got it! We’ll be speedy,” I said as I headed for the door.

“Always protect the ice cream,” Macon said, making Honey laugh.

Macon helped me load up the golf cart with the garbage and recyclables before we headed over to the dump site, which was right next to the island fire station. We looked for Chief Rand as we drove by, but there were two younger firefighters on duty. We still waved hello.

Macon poured all the recycled items into an enormous blue bin and grimaced. “So noisy!”

I carried a smelly, heavy trash bag in one hand to the nearby metal bin with the word GARBAGE spray-painted in stenciled lettering. I sucked in a big lungful of air, holding my breath for the toss and run. With my free hand, I lifted the black plastic lid. Just as I released the bag onto the heap of other bags, out popped a raccoon head.

I yelled and jumped back, throwing my fists up. At the same moment, the furry masked bandit hissed at me and jumped out, tumbling to the ground. Then, without a backward glance, it darted off. I held a fighter stance as I watched the raccoon’s bushy black-and-gray striped tail disappear beneath some bushes.

“You should have seen your face.” Macon howled with laughter. “And why are you standing like that? Were you gonna punch a scared little raccoon?”

I suddenly realized how ridiculous I looked and lowered my fists, but I was still on high alert.

“Dude! I think I know what a heart attack must feel like.” I pressed one of my hands to my chest. Macon just kept on belly-laughing.

“It popped up faster than a whack-a-mole game! I thought that thing was going to jump on me!”

“This moment is totally going in my nature journal!” Macon said. “Beware of dumpster-diving raccoons!”

I gave him a playful jab. “Come on, let’s go. The boatload of groceries is going to be here soon.”

As we hopped back on the cart, he looked at me, shook his head, and chuckled one last time.

“I can’t believe you were scared of a cute little raccoon.”

“I wasn’t scared. Just caught off guard,” I defended myself.

“Uh-huh. Sure.”

When Macon wasn’t looking, I took a final glance behind me. That raccoon had me feeling jumpy now.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.