Beautiful Souls (14 page)

    
              “You okay, Becca? Did you get hurt?” he asked, as his eyes scanned my body for any sign of harm or injury.

    
              “I think I’m all right,” I responded with a quivering voice, obviously shaken.

    
              “Are you sure? What happened?”

    
              “There was a, a coyote. I, I think it’s dead now,” was all I could muster.

    
              “Dead? How did it…?” Leo hesitated.  “Becca? What happened?” Leo was frantic but beginning to calm down now that he had fully inspected me and had seen for himself that I was only frightened.

    
              “Can we go inside, please?” I asked. I had begun to feel the adrenaline clear from my body and exhaustion took its place.

    
              Leo opened the back door for me, followed me through the kitchen and into the living room where I plopped down on the couch. Leo followed suit.    

    
              “Do you need a glass of water?” Leo asked attentively.

    
              “No, I’m fine. I’m just tired now,” I responded weakly.

    
              “Becca please! Don’t torment me anymore by making me wait for an answer. Now what happened?” Leo asked, as he grew understandably impatient.

                  I sat up a little straighter, contemplating what really did happen. “There was a coyote, in the woods, behind me. It tried to attack me,” I  explained in choppy bits and pieces.

    
              “It didn’t actually attack you, did it? You said you thought it was dead? How’d that happen?”

    
              “It didn’t attack me.” I shook my head.  “It started to, but then…I don’t know. I didn’t kill it, and the other animal didn’t kill it. It just…well, I don’t think that killed it.” I had begun to calm down and process my thoughts more clearly now even though I was still speaking in choppy sentences.

    
              “What do you mean, you don’t
think
you killed it? How did you get out of there without getting hurt?” Leo asked, as he lowered his brows, casting me a knowing look with his eyes.

    
              I sat up all the way, fully taking in the sight of Leo for the first time this evening. “What is this?” I asked, as I plucked a tuft of fur off his gray hoodie.

    
              “Nothing,” he answered quickly, pulling the fur from my hand and pocketing it. “I just came from the barn. I was brushing the horses before I headed out to the woods.” Leo paused momentarily. “Can you give me any details about what happened?”

    
              I explained the entire story to him of how the coyote appeared behind me in the woods, then I described the little I knew about how the mountain lion stepped in front of me just in the knick of time to save me from my attacker. I related how the coyote came barreling toward me after being thrown into the rock by its opponent, and how it was either zapped or shocked by some unknown force as it rolled off me, crumpling to the ground either unconscious, dying, or maybe even dead.

    
              I tried to study Leo’s eyes and his expression as I told my story. I thought that since he had been so close to the woods when I had come running out of them, then maybe he'd known more than he'd been letting on. I needed to figure out if maybe he had seen some or any of it happen. His behavior was turning a bit strange, and I couldn’t figure out his sudden uneasiness. I couldn’t tell if he was even paying attention to me at all now, as he stared from the living room window almost as if he already knew the story and wasn’t interested in hearing a recap. He had found that I was not injured and apparently didn’t need to hear anything else. He was hiding something from me, I was sure.

    
              “Leo?” I asked, and the sound of my voice must have broken his stare.

    
              “Yeah?” He jumped when I said his name.

    
              “Did you see anything tonight? You know, either the coyote or the mountain lion? Before I ran out of the woods, I mean.” Leo’s distant expression had already given me the answer I was searching for, and he knew it.

    
              “Becca, this isn’t really the time. I just wanted to make sure that you were going to be okay. You should go upstairs and get some rest now, and I should probably go home.”

    
              “What are you talking about? What does that mean,
“this isn’t the time”
?” This isn’t the time for what?” I asked, as I stood from the couch.

    
              “Never mind, Becca,” Leo said, and he stood and headed out of the living room toward the kitchen and back door. “I really should get home. You sure that you’re going to be okay?” he asked one last time.

    
              “Forget that, I’m fine. I want to know what you’re talking about,” I demanded and followed him to the back door.

    
              He was about to open the door and escape into the cold night air when I stopped him.

    
              “Leo, you can’t just say something like that, then leave me hanging. What did you mean by “
this isn’t the time”.
What were you going to say? I know you’re hiding something.”

    
              Leo let out a sigh. “Bec, you’re not going to just let this go, are you?” he asked in a huff, slightly agitated, but clearly closer to giving in than he was before.

    
              “Not a chance,” I answered quickly and stubbornly.

    
              “You’re not ready, Becca. I’m sorry. I can’t no matter how badly I want to. Your parents, my parents, it’s just not the right time, and it’s not my place.” He was frantically running his hands through his hair at this point, letting me know that I had him thoroughly frustrated. He wasn’t angry. He actually looked sad that he couldn’t explain it all to me.

    
              “After all that has happened tonight, and then the things you just said…I can’t wait till another time that you think is
“the right time”
for an honest answer or explanation, Leo. It’s gonna drive me crazy. You know how I am. Please,” I begged. “Just tell me.” I paused, considering his words. “What do our parents have anything to do with this?” I asked, completely and wholly confused.

    
              At that very moment --- speak of the devils --- I unfortunately heard my parents minivan pull into the driveway, and I knew that their arrival would put an end to our conversation. There was no way that Leo would ever answer my questions now that my parents had returned home from their evening out.

    
              I also didn’t believe that I could confront my parents with the story of tonight’s events, for fear of their reaction and possible over-protection. News of an attacking coyote and mountain lion on th
e
loose would definitely hinder my freedom, and I didn’t want to take that chance. I was obviously fine, and the probability of a second round with the dying coyote was highly unlikely.

    
              I tried to convince myself of all these things, but knew that I would inevitably have to tell my parents --- especially my father --- about my sightings and attempted attack. I still wasn’t certain if the coyote had died, and my dad really did need to know about the animal in order to remove its body before the rotting flesh attracted every other animal from miles around, making the area even more dangerous for all of us. That was, as long as the coyote really was dead.

    
              “We’ll continue this when the time is right,” Leo whispered in my ear, as he placed a comforting hand along my waist, then kissed me lightly on my flushed cheek.

    
              My parents approached the back door, and Leo said goodnight to all of us. He took off into the unknown darkness, disappearing only halfway across the field due to the degree of blackness caused by the cloudy, moonless night.

    
              My parents and I chatted for a while that night about my day out with Emmy. We sat together in the living room, snacking on a shared bowl of kettle corn and watching our rented, family-night movie. I didn’t watch much of the show, even though my eyes remained locked on the television screen.

    
              My head flooded with replays of the attack, and the pressing issue of whatever Leo wasn’t telling me. I wondered how long it would take before he let me in on whatever it was that he felt so necessary to keep to himself.

    
              I also knew that at some point tonight, I would have to tell my parents about the attack in the woods. I took a deep breath and figured there was no time like the present.

    
              “Hey, Mom and Dad. Um, something happened today that I think I should tell you about. It’s not that big of a deal and I’m perfectly fine, but…”

    
              As soon as my mom heard those words, she immediately sat up in her chair and anxiously asked, “Oh my goodness, what happened?” I could tell she was trying to calm herself down by taking deep breaths while awaiting my answer. This seemed like an over-reaction on her part considering it wasn’t her normal style or personality.

    
              My dad listened attentively as I continued, “I’m okay. See, I was supposed to meet Leo out by the woods earlier to go for a walk, and while I was out there waiting for him I saw…a coyote.” I squinted, waiting for my mom to freak out again.

    
              “Okay?” My mom sounded a little confused as to why the big confession over seeing something that was a semi-common occurrence around here.

    
              “Out with it, Bec. There must be more to it than that,” my dad stated the obvious.

    
              “Yeah, okay. Well, the coyote kinda came after me.”

    
              “Oh my,” my mom gasped.

    
              “And,” I stretched out the word. “Then a mountain lion sorta jumped in and fought it off. It actually saved me,” I explained hesitantly, still astonished at the words actually coming out of my mouth.

    
              “A mountain lion?” my dad asked. “Are you sure? We usually don’t see those around here, you know?”

    
              “Yeah, I know, but I’m sure. It was definitely a mountain lion,” I restated.

    
              “Well, I’m glad that you’re alright. But no more being alone in the woods for you, all right? Not for a little while at least,” my dad said, as he walked toward me and planted a kiss on my forehead. “Tomorrow morning, when we have better light, I’ll need you to show me exactly where the coyote was killed. I’ll take care of the rest,” he said matter-of-factly. Then he went to my mom to console her from her obvious state of shock. Why was she so upset? I understood her worry, but this?

    
              “Okay, but I’m not sure it’s actually dead. I mean, I ran out of the woods so fast that I think it was dying when I got out, but I don’t really know for sure. That was when Leo found me…when I was running back to the house, and he helped me inside,” I explained further.

    
              “That’s all right. I’m sure that a coyote didn’t have much of a chance going up against a mountain lion. So, you’ll just show me the spot in the morning and I’ll take care of it. Now, I think we’ve all had enough for one evening, and you should probably head up to bed now,” my dad motioned toward me to head on upstairs.

    
              I knew that my parents just wanted to talk in private, so I told both of them
goodnight. As I climbed the stairs to my room, I could hear them whispering
from downstairs in the living room. Apparently, from what I could make out of my dad’s whispers, he was more concerned --- or even disturbed --- by my news than he had expressed.

As I laid in bed that night, not able to fall asleep, I grasped the antique key in both of my hands and held it close to my chest in hopes that it would protect me from the nightmares sure to come. Certainly bad dreams would be brought on by my close encounter just hours earlier.                   I shoved the thought into the back of my mind when it had come to me earlier this evening, but now I was considering whether it could possibly be true. Had the necklace really protected and saved me from my attacker, as Leo claimed it would? I protected it at all costs, so had it protected me in return? I eventually fell asleep with unexplainable thoughts floating around inside my cluttered mind.