Chapter 31 | LOUD LAUGHER, HALF AND HALF, AND THE WEEK

Since it is now later in the day, people are filtering in for an early Friday Fish Fry dinner, and the absolute loudest people just sat down at the table behind me.

I have not bothered to turn around to see what they look like, but I know for a fact that one of them enjoys laughing to the fullest. And hey, props to this guy. He's living his life happily, and that's great. Good for him. However, I'm pretty sure no one else particularly likes it when he laughs. I swear, his laugh is just booming, thunderous, and kind of scary, actually. And the first time I heard it, I accidentally jumped slightly.

No one else but Vaughn noticed, and the corner of his mouth actually lifted the tiniest bit.

Glad to see he finds amusement in me being startled.

"Now, Jane..." Richard starts, effectively shutting Roan up for the time being. "I'm thinking..."

Is Roan trying to impress his father with these stories? That's actually kind of sad if it's true.

In all honesty, I'm not really paying all that much attention to the current situation. Yes, I came back out ready to act interested, but then I accidentally just kind of...zoned out again. However, that changes when I silently receive a soft but swift nudge from underneath the table.

I look up quickly from where I was absentmindedly scrutinizing my fingernails. "Hm?"

I purse my lips awkwardly as the three pairs of men's eyes stare at me. One looks a little confused, the other is screaming, 'mindfulness, Mikaere,' and the other merely is just choosing to remain unbothered.

I'm a bit confused at first, too, just like Roan. But, as soon as I make eye contact with Vaughn, I remember.

Oh. That's right. I'm Jane.

Smiling apologetically, I turn to Richard. "Yeah?"

I silently thank Vaughn in my mind, grateful for him nudging me. Otherwise, it would have been much more awkward if I didn't respond to my own fake name.

"We're going on a winter vacation of sorts with my other son, Dean, and we'll be gone for three weeks or so. But afterward, if you're still around, we all should do something. You and Vaughn could come over for lunch, maybe."

"Oh, sure, I'd love to, bu-"

"Wonderful," Richard nods, and I take the opportunity to avoid Roan launching into his spontaneous story-telling mode by asking about their vacation plans.

"We're leaving tomorrow for British Columbia," Roan answers.

"Oh, I've never been there," I lie, "But I've always wanted to. It looks beautiful."

"It most certainly is," Richard replies. "It's where we've always vacationed."

"Oh, nice," I say, successfully managing to sound convincingly interested.

Back at it again with my epic conversational skills.

"HAHAHHAHAHHAH," the loud guy behind me cracks up, tearing the three men's attention away from me, and while I'm thankful for that, he also manages to make my BPM go way, way up.

Deciding to finally turn around and get a good look at the guy, all I end up seeing is the back of him and his group's apologetic glances.

"Well," Richard stands up, and Roan immediately follows. "We're going to go pay and then we're heading out. When we get back, we'll have to schedule something."

Vaughn nods, shaking Richard's hand. "Great."

I smile, "Alright, sounds good."

And with that, I wave goodbye back to them both as they walk towards Nina.

Once they're out of earshot, I immediately turn to Vaughn and ask: "Okay, what now?"

He shakes his head slightly, thinking as he leans back in his seat. "Now, you talk to all the people you can, inconspicuously, about John. The people can't know who you are until the Wilsons have left for Canada. Otherwise, there might be a chance that Roan and Richard find out who you are."

"Is there something that you know about Richard that you're not telling me?" I ask as randomly as the question pops into my head. "Did Henry tell you something else?"

Vaughn tilts his head to the side, German Shepherd style. "What makes you ask that?"

"Answer the questions," I say stubbornly.

He stares at me for a moment, trying to read me. If I didn't know better, I'd question if he could be any good at reading people, considering he's usually not around many of them. However, I already know how surprisingly observant he can be.

Either way, I hope I'm okay at hiding my emotions. I don't really know if I am or not.

"All I know is that he did not like or respect your uncle, regardless of what he claims. And, about five or so years ago, he got a lot of money all of a sudden."

"How do you know he definitely didn't respect John?"

"That's what Henry told me."

I nod, "You really trust Henry, don't you?"

"He's one of the two people in this town that I actually like...do you honestly not trust him at all now?"

"And Nina is the second," I conclude, ignoring his question, and he nods before taking a sip of his water. "You said he got richer all of a sudden?"

I already know this, but for the sake of conversation.

Vaughn nods twice slowly, his eye contact telling me he noticed my very noticeable avoidance of his earlier question. "Had an immense amount of home renovations done."

I don't know if I trust Henry or not, though. So, I can't answer the question.

"So is that why you wanted an invite? Dying to see his new place?" I joke lamely, my voice sounding partly sarcastic.

He raises an eyebrow and replies, his tone sounding dry: "How'd you know?"

I smile slightly, but then immediately frown after. Thinking out loud, I say, "I think I know where Richard got the money."

"Where?"

"Roan told me his grandma was killed a little over five years ago. It was probably inheritance money."

Vaughn frowns, thinking, but before he can say anything in reply, Nina comes walking over. She completely ignores a short, pale guy who snaps his fingers at her rudely.

She scans over Vaughn, raising an eyebrow. "Well, that's different."

He doesn't say anything; he simply just raises an eyebrow right back at her. Although, at the moment, he does kind of look like he wants to escape the current situation he's in.

"What's different?" I ask once I see that he's not going to say anything.

She glances at me, "I've never seen him with such a lack of hair on his face. One week and you've already got him cleaning up, huh? ...Color me impressed."

And, before I can reply, she swiftly scurries away, reminding me of a sly little mouse.

That was weird.

"When are you leaving?" Vaughn asks, completely ignoring what Nina said.

I should play it safe and just leave on Friday. So, that's what I tell him. "Friday."

Vaughn nods and then stands up, beginning to walk away without another word.

"Wait," I stop him, confused. "Where are you going?"

He pauses, "To where I'm staying for the night. I'm leaving early tomorrow."

Oh, well, okay. "See you Friday, then."

He nods once, and then he's heading to and out the door.

For just a moment, I think I'm finally alone with my thoughts. However, as soon as Vaughn's completely gone, the Loud Laugher turns around and pokes me on the shoulder to get my attention.

Except for this time, he's not laughing. He certainly looks happy, though. He also looks quite surprised.

"Was that Vaughn Westergaard?" The man with dark hair and tan skin asks, voice laced with a bit of disbelief. He's got a circular-shaped face, a few wrinkles near his eyes as a result of smiling so much, dimples, and happy looking eyes.

I immediately dislike him. I know it's wrong of me to do so, but how can someone seem that happy for that long?

It's unrealistic.

"Um, yeah, it was...why?"

"We're all just kind of surprised, is all. I mean, we knew that guy was good looking, but now without that beard? Almost feel bad for him, actually. Imagine how many women are going to try and follow him this time."

Huh?

I move my seat to the side more, so I can fully face him. "Girls...follow him?"

He nods, laughing, and I manage to not actually get startled this time. "Yeah. Last time he came to town, a few tried to follow him back to see where he lived."

My brows come together as I internally cringe at that thought. "That's...not okay. Quite stalkerish, actually. Very desperate."

He nods, "Tell me about it. But hey, I mean, now I get why he stays out in the middle of nowhere. Just imagine if he lived in town! He'd never get away from them all."

Before I can say anything in reply, he holds out his hand, and I hesitantly shake it. "I'm Hector."

"Mi-" I cough as soon as I catch myself, gaining odd looks. Then, I answer with a random name. "Jane."

"I'd introduce you to my friends here, but, uh, I usually assume people have just as bad a memory as I do, so you'll probably forget their names shortly after you learn them." He starts laughing again.

I nod, smiling tightly, really confused. "Well, it...was nice to meet you," I say awkwardly, standing up.

"Yeah! You too."

Walking up to the bar, I take the last empty seat in between a pale old guy dressed like a cowboy and a pale woman bundled up in cozy winter clothes from head to toe.

Nina comes over, "Hey, you want anything? Fish fry?"

I nod, "Sure, that sounds good."

"Deep-fried, broiled, or half and half?"

"Half and half, please."

She nods, walking off to the kitchen.

Sighing softly, I steal little glances at the two people next to me.

I'm...honestly exhausted and don't feel like saying anything at all.

Like, I just feel...burnt out.

However, I know that I've got to speak with as many people as possible while I'm here, so I turn to the woman at my right.

She's got shoulder-length, dark brunette hair. Younger than most around here, maybe 22 if I had to guess. Thin eyebrows, long eyelashes, oval-shaped face.

"You know a John Agner?" I ask her point-blank.

I'm too tired to really be very inconspicuous, at the moment. And, I just know Vaughn would probably give me a very fed-up look if he were here.

Well, good thing he's not.

The woman glances at me coolly. "Nope."

"Have you heard of one?"

"Nope."

"Great, thanks," I say, then turn to the old cowboy at my left. "You know a John Agner?"

He takes a sip of what I'm assuming is whiskey and looks at me. "No, do you?"

I ignore his question. "Have you heard of a John Agner?"

He doesn't say anything for a few seconds as he gives me one of those contemplative, almost judgemental looks that older people seem to have nailed completely. "Everyone who's been around here for the past six years has heard of the man."

"Wait, really?"

He nods slowly. "O' course. He made quite the mark when he showed up out of the blue. Back then, we got even fewer visitors than we do now. I mean, no one comes to Chickaloon. But, he did. And, he photographed just about everything and everyone who'd let him. When he disappeared just like that, nearly everyone was spooked, to say the least. But after a while, everyone just kind of figured the wolves took him."

Seriously?

"Is that how everyone writes off disappearances here?" I ask. "They just automatically blame the wolves?"

He shrugs, "I suppose so."

"That...doesn't sound very smart. Where's the nearest police station? Don't they investigate the disappearances?"

"Forty-five minutes from the Palmer Police Department to here. And, of course, they always look into it all. But, they always come up empty. And, they know how bad the wolves here get, so that's the conclusion they usually come to."

I nod, absentmindedly, thinking.

What if it really was just the wolves who got my uncle, along with Nina's niece, and there's nothing more to the story?

But what if it wasn't?

And if wolves are such a problem here, why hasn't the DNR taken care of it?

The man to my left pays Nina as she comes out, setting my food down in front of me. Nodding goodbye to me, he then walks out the door.

As I start eating, I can't help but let my thoughts about all of this consume me, forcing out all of reality to consider what I've learned so far.

I playback the conversations I've had over and over until they're practically ingrained in my mind.

And now, more than ever, I feel like I'm in way over my head.

The week passes by very slowly and very painfully.

I spent the whole first two days in bed. And, I think Nina knew I didn't feel too good because she was always so nice about everything.

And to think...I thought she was rude when I first met her.

On the third day, when she inevitably asked about the whole I'm-Not-Mikaere-I'm-Jane thing, I told her the truth. I explained to her that I was trying to find out what happened to my uncle, and people couldn't know who exactly I was just yet.

Well, the people besides the ones who already know. Oops.

She got a solemn look on her face like she thought I was wasting my time and energy. After all, it's already been quite a few years. But she didn't say anything. All she did was wish me good luck.

And, for the rest of the days, I didn't have it at all.

I just aimlessly wandered around town, chit-chatting with whoever would talk to me. And everyone that I spoke with all basically said the same exact thing regarding John. 'Yeah, I've heard of him...Yep, I talked to him...No, I didn't really know him...Terrible how he disappeared...wish we knew what happened...Probably those wolves, though.'

Only a few really told me about their conversations with John, which were all kind of irrelevant.

However, one person did tell me that the last person she saw my uncle with was Henry. I made a mental note to ask him about it later but never got the chance to because he had to leave town for Anchorage for whatever reason.

But for the most part, all were generic, awkward responses. It got discouraging, really.

Which is why I'm glad it's finally Friday.

Although, today didn't really start off too well. I meant to wake up early, early being 8:30 in the morning, which would give me plenty of time to actually wake up and pack up my original duffle bag and the second one that I bought the other day. It would've also gave me time to eat breakfast and have a cup of coffee with Nina, which is what I'm currently finishing up right now, just in time for the sun to rise.

However, my alarm didn't go off, so I ended up sleeping in, waking up a little after 11:30. Which, by the time I packed and ate breakfast, it became a little after 12. I still decided to have coffee with Nina, though, even though it might cause me to rush back to the cabin, as sunset is around 3:40. I mean, it would be preferable to be able to walk to the cabin in daylight.

Though, I'm not even sure if I'll be able to make the trip alone in the light. I'll probably still find a way to get lost.

Putting a pause on my anxious thoughts for the moment, I take my final sip of plain black coffee. Jack never let us buy creamer since he didn't like it, and so I just got accustomed to drinking it without anything in it.

"Can't believe tomorrow's the last day of November. It's practically 2020 already," I say because I really have no other points of conversation. "This year's gone by so quickly."

Nina takes a sip of her coffee, "Not for me. The days here are long and boring. You'll realize that soon enough."

I frown, "You don't like it here?"

"I love it in the summertime," is all she says from where she sits next to me at the bar.

"But you hate winter," I conclude, and she nods.

"So, you said you're planning on walking back to the cabin?" She changes the topic. "Are you sure you don't want a sled ride? Or even for someone to walk with you? We all know it's not the safest thing to walk in the woods alone."

I shake my head, "I'll be fine, really. Thanks, though. I can always climb a tree if I run into a wolf or something." Plus, I want to continue avoiding Matthias.

It's a tiny village, but I've somehow managed to avoid him for the entirety of my stay so far.

"But how long can you honestly stay in a tree for?"

I shrug, changing the topic. "So, I've been meaning to bring this up, but there just hasn't really been a good time."

She looks at me patiently, waiting for me to continue.

"Someone told me that Henry was the last person they saw John with."

Before Nina can reply, though, a customer walks in, and when I turn to see who it is, I automatically stiffen.