INTRUSION (Whitney Holmes Series) (7 page)

After Gretchen did her business, we went inside. She sniffed everywhere, she was really funny.

I wanted so badly to take her in my room but she was a family dog and I knew I couldn’t hog her to myself.

We had lunch and she didn’t beg at all. We all said what a good dog she was to be so controlled.

After lunch, the boys lost interest in Gretchen. After all, she didn’t carry a bomb or get blown up and they went to their video games.

I called her and she knew her name she came to me. I went in my room and she followed me. My mom had already said that she couldn’t sleep on our beds but we got her a big dog bed. I had already sneaked it in my room because I wanted her to sleep in my room so I would feel safe, and because I already loved her. She immediately walked onto her new dog bed and wagged her tail.

I felt bad that her family had left her when they moved and I laid down beside her and petted her. I took a nap and so did Gretchen. My phone woke me up. I got a text. All it said was, “Nice dog.”

I got up and showed my dad the text.

“This is terrible. He’s watching our house? Who is this guy?”

“
I don’t know, but I am so glad we have Gretchen.”

Dad said he hoped Gretchen would keep this guy away from our house and I said I hoped so, too.

Gretchen had gone out of my room and was laying between the boys, it was so cute that I had to have a picture, I got my camera and took a few shots.

That night, Gretchen slept on her dog bed in my room she snored a little and it was comforting. We had decided she would be an inside dog. That way, she could protect the household and bond with all of us. We might eventually put her out at night, but I didn’t want to I loved her already and I wanted her near me. I moved her bed next to my bed so I could pet her by dangling my hand off the bed and it gave me confidence to know she was right there.

The next day, Gretchen woke me by rubbing against the bed and putting her face in mine. Her cold, wet nose on my cheek woke me instantly. I looked at the clock it was too early we were going to go to church but five o’ clock was so early for me to get up. I got up and let her in the back yard to do her business. I waited until she was finished and let her back in. I then went back to bed and fell back to sleep.

When my mom woke me, I was still tired, but I got up and got dressed. The boys had their Royal Ranger uniforms on. They were going to do some sort of presentation at church.

We put Gretchen outside while we were gone and then we went to church. I hoped she wouldn’t be scared without us.

The boys’ presentation was cute. They did a Bible sword drill where their teacher would yell out a Bible verse and then the troop would look it up very fast in the Bible and whoever found it would stand up and start reading. Sometimes, two people found it at the same time and would read it. That was funny.

After church, we went for our usual pizza lunch. I was really tired, so I didn’t eat much. I don’t know what it is about church, but I always get so sleepy afterward.

When we got home, Chanda came running over. She said that Gretchen kept barking at something while we were gone. She couldn’t see what it was but she wanted us to investigate.

All of the family and Chanda went into the backyard. When we got there, we were shocked to see a bone beside Gretchen’s dishes. It looked thrown because it wasn’t straight.

“
We didn’t give her that. I hope that Gretchen didn’t touch the bone because I am taking it to the police station. Hopefully, it will show some sort of fingerprints,” my father said.

He went into the house and got a big baggie and slipped the bone in without touching it.

We all went in the house and I petted Gretchen, I was so nervous, I kept feeling like someone was watching us.

The next evening before he came home, my father took the bone to the police station. He said they would run a fingerprint test on it and I was glad.

That night, my parents were going to a meeting so my brothers could sign up for Little League. It was quite serious. My mom asked me to watch the boys so they wouldn’t be a distraction at the parents and coaches meeting and I said okay.

I got the first call on our landline at 8:00 p.m. All the caller said was, “Your parents aren’t home.”

I hung up on them and looked at the caller I.D., which showed that the number was unavailable and out of area. The second call came at 8:30 p.m. and they said the same thing. It went on all night, with me not answering and the phone just ringing and then hanging up when the call went to the answering machine.

The boys came out of their room where they were looking at baseball cards and asked why the phone kept ringing.

I said it was the creeper and we all got scared.

I needed to take a shower, but I wasn’t about to do that until my parents came home. I went around the house, making sure all the windows were shut tight and the curtains closed. I made sure all the doors were locked, too.

When my parents came home, they saw three very scared kids waiting for them, with a big dog guarding us with her tongue hanging out and a wagging tail.

My father, who was so happy after the meeting, got angry at the caller, really angry. He slammed his fist on the table and said he was sick of the whole thing.

That night, I slept next to Gretchen on my floor. I was glad we had given her a bath; she smelled nice. Her fur was soft and warm and I could hear her breathing softly, sleeping, but always ready to defend me. It was the only place where I felt safe.

CHAPTER FIVE

During the night, I noticed that the back of my neck kind of hurt. I rubbed it and I was shocked to feel a large bump. It was under the skin and about the size of a nickel. I didn’t remember feeling anything like this before on my neck. I started worrying about the lump. I was afraid it might be cancer.

I was glad I had Gretchen to lie near. I listened to her soft snore and fell back to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up with a nervous stomach. I have been having them since this stalker guy had been bothering me.

This one was worse, I tried to remember what was wrong and I remembered my neck, I felt my neck in the back and felt the lump. I jumped off the floor and threw my blankets on my bed. I ran into the kitchen where my mom was making scrambled eggs.

“
Mom, I have a lump on my neck,” I almost shouted at her.

My mom laid down the spoon she was using to stir the eggs.

“Let me see,” she said.

She looked at my neck and rubbed the area that had the lump.

“I want your father to see this,” she said concerned.

We went into the back of the house where my father was shaving.

“Honey,” my mother called to my father, knocking at the bathroom door.

My father opened the door with shaving cream still on his face where he hadn’t shaved.

“What is it? I’m shaving,” he said.

“
Whitney has a lump on the back of her neck and I wanted you to look at it,” my mom said.

“
Let me wash my hands,” Dad said.

He washed and dried his hands and brought me over to the light in the bathroom.

He felt the lump, which was starting to hurt because my mom and dad kept touching it.

“
Wow, Whitney, how long have you had this?” he asked me.

“
I don’t know. I just felt it last night,” I said.

“
I don’t like how big it is,” my father said and I started to cry.

“
Aw, sweetie, it is going to be okay. We will take you to the doctor. It is going to be fine,” my dad said, hugging me and getting shaving cream in my hair.

“
Let’s let your father finish shaving and I will try to make a doctor’s appointment,” my mom said.

My mom and I left my parents’ bathroom and went into the kitchen. I sat down on one of the chairs.

My mom got out her phone book and called the doctor. She waited on the line for an emergency nurse. She said, into the phone, that she had a semi-emergency and would like to see the doctor today with her daughter. She had to explain the lump and describe it.

“
Did you ever have a mole back there?” my mom asked me.

“
I don’t know, I never felt back there,” I said.

“
She doesn’t know if she had a mole on her neck but she wears her hair up sometimes, and I never noticed a mole,” my mom said into the phone.

I guess the nurse on the phone thought the lump was serious because she made an appointment for that day to see Dr. Sherrill, I liked him so I was glad.

“I guess you are staying home today,” my mom said.

I was glad about not going to school, but nervous about the doctor.

I called Chanda and told her about my lump. I told her she could go with my dad still if she wanted a ride to school. She thanked me and said she would be right over as soon as she was dressed.

When Chanda came over, she immediately wanted to see my neck, but first she had to pet Gretchen. Finally, Gretchen was satisfied that Chanda was part of our extended family and she lay down and thumped her tail on the floor. She even rolled over for Chanda to give her a tummy rub, which she did.

I showed my neck lump to Chanda.

“
I never noticed this before. We were just looking at bathing suits a little while ago and you would think I would have noticed something of this size,” she said.

“
I never felt it before either,” I said.

My dad asked Chanda if she was ready to go and she said she was ready as she would ever be, we all smiled.

My appointment was at ten’ o clock so I went to bed. I had forgotten to take Gretchen out to potty, so I had to get up and take her. After she was finished and had eaten, I let her back in. I was really nervous so I stayed up and watched cartoons.

I got dressed around nine and then when nine-thirty rolled around, Mom said we may as well go.

I had put my hair in a ponytail so the doctor could easily see the lump.

My mom had already driven the boys to school so I didn’t have to hear their usual chatter that would have made me more nervous. My mom and I left to go and I had butterflies in my stomach.

“Don’t be nervous, sweetheart, it is probably nothing.”

“
I don’t know why there is a lump though,” I said.

“
Well, we will find out soon,” she said pulling into the doctor’s parking lot. She found a spot and parked.

I opened the door and shut it and waited for her to lock the car door. We walked up to the doctor’s office and opened the doctor’s door.

The nurse sitting at the front desk smiled at us. I smiled back. My mom signed me in and we sat down.

After about an hour, they finally called my name. By that time, I was biting my nails.

The nurse who called me, weighed me. I had gained about five pounds. That made me upset because I had thought I wasn’t eating that much with the stalker bothering me. She also took my temperature and I didn’t have a fever. She led us to a room and told me to sit on a bed that had a paper sheet on it. My mom sat down in the chair beside it and she took my blood pressure and said it was a little high. I told her I was nervous and She said they would take it again before I left.

She asked why we were there and my mom told her about the lump on my neck. The nurse was the only one who didn’t look at it. She thanked us and said the doctor would be right in and she left.

“I hope he hurries,” I said.

“
Try and read a magazine so you will calm down. I am worried about your blood pressure, now,” Mom said.

I took a boring golf magazine off the magazine rack in the room. I was scanning the pages when there was a slight knock at the door.

My mom and I both said, “Come in.”

Dr. Sherrill was a man about fifty or so and he had gray hair and was very tall.

He came in and sat on a stool that goes up and down.

“
Whitney, it says here in the chart that you have a lump on your neck,” he said.

“
Yes,” I said.

“
I would like to look at it,” he walked over and washed his hands.

The doctor came over to me where I was sitting on the bed. He asked what area was a concern for me. I turned my head and showed him the back of my neck. He looked at the area, and then he prodded it.

“This is definitely a lump,” he said.

“
Yes,” I said.

“
Do you know if you ever had a mole back here?” he asked me.

“
I don’t think so,” I said.

“
I am going to be honest with you. I don’t like the looks of this. I also don’t like the way it feels,” he said.

“
Do you think it is cancer?” my mom asked, scared.