Excerpt: Eaves of Autumn

An excerpt:
Coyotes used to be rare in his district, but recently, the complaints had increased. Jason detailed the reports and investigated the sightings, but had yet to see one himself. However, he'd seen the damage and it was vicious and ugly. It would not be long before they tired of chickens and cats and moved on to small dogs and who knew what else.
The latest slaughter took place at the chicken coop near the old barn. No one was there to greet him when he arrived, so he surveyed the scene and took notes and photographs. There were a few paw prints, definitely coyote. The scene was a gruesome disaster, and he was glad to leave and head to the pub at the end of the day.
He grabbed his usual seat at the bar and waited for Niles to slide him an ale. The game had not started yet, and there were only a few customers there ahead of him. The seats around him were empty. Niles served the drink, collected the ten dollar bill, and bustled about polishing the bar. The Chilton was the cleanest pub in town, pricey, but worth it. The atmosphere was pleasant and inviting, not stuffy as one might expect. Niles kept the brass at a high polish, and his partner, Walter, kept the patrons in smiles.
Jason liked them both, and that's why he came back several nights a week. He told himself it wasn't for the beer, or because he had no where else to go. Home was lonely, but he did not spend too much time thinking about it.
Other customers started to trickle in before the game, but the seats around him remained empty for a while. He started his second ale as Walter arrived and began to schmooze the crowd. Walter was a connector. If you told him what you did for a living, he would identify someone else in the room who had something in common with you. A social genius, he was. Jason liked to watch, but so far, Walter had yet to connect anyone with him. His life was exceptionally dull and incomprehensible to many.
He was about to leave, when a girl stumbled into the bar and sat on the stool next to him. She was wearing a blue rumpled men's business shirt with the buttons out of alignment. Her pants were rolled up and her hair was a tangled mat in the back. She smelled as bad as some of the animals he had scraped from the road. He was fascinated.
She scratched her chest and reached awkwardly over her shoulder to get at an itch near the middle of her back. Instinctively he reached out to help her, and she jumped from her stool and backed away. Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you. Just looked like you could use some help, that's all.
She breathed heavily for a bit and then shook her head and apologized. Niles walked up and glanced at the two of them as he set down a coaster in front of the girl's stool. She pulled a platinum card from her back pocket and asked for a whiskey as she settled back onto the stool. Her shoulders collapsed and she rubbed dirty fists on her eyes.
Are you okay? He did not know what else to say. She was an enigma.
I'm fine. That's it.
Niles brought her whiskey and raised his eyebrow at Jason, who nodded the sign for another drink. He had to stay now. When Niles brought the drinks, Jason asked for a veggie platter and a seafood platter. The girl looked hungry. She was done with her drink before he lifted his. I'm Jason. He tried to give his gentlest smile, the one he gave to children who had seen their pets tragically killed.
The girl seemed to respond. Her eyes lost a little bit of the squint and her chin tilted up slightly. But she held onto some strong pride and suspicion. Amalie, she said, but if it had not been an unusual name, he would not have believed her. It was not a name you could easily pull from the air, yet it sounded vaguely familiar.
Niles set the food between them with two empty plates and Jason placed one in front of Amalie and began to load it up. Her eyes filled and tears bled streaks down her dirty face. Don't let them kick me out. She could not hide her desperation. Please.
Nah. These guys aren't like that. You're a customer. He smiled. She reached for a shrimp and it quickly disappeared. Amalie cleaned her plate and thanked him as he loaded it again. He was still waiting for her story. It did not look like it was going to come. So he started to talk, instead.
There was this one time, he cleared his throat and started a story, I got a call for a bear sighting out at this house pretty far back in the woods. This woman said a bear had come out of the woods and thrashed the family dog. She was worried about her kids. I got there, and the dad, this big guy with a look like the Devil, told me he saw a bear come into the yard and just swat the dog against a tree and then run off. The woman was on the couch with a pile of kids. A few of them were crying and they all looked scared. She asked if I was going to kill it if I found it. I told her I don't usually handle things that way, but I needed to investigate. I asked to see the dog, and told the man I needed to investigate where it happened.
Amalie stopped eating and listened attentively with her head on her hands, so Jason took a drink and continued. I walked around the house and he showed me the dog flopped on the ground under a tree. I did not need to see that dog to know the dad had done it. He just looked mean. He shook his head. Man, I felt bad for that woman and her kids. Then he said, 'You should probably kill that bear,” and he walked back inside. There was no bear. That little yard was all torn up. There were chewed up boards and all these holes, kid toys all torn to shreds. The dog was young. Looked like a Husky mix, rope burns around its neck. Sad, sad sight. I went back in and told the family I was going to grab my gun and go hunt for the bear. I looked that man right in the eye and wished him to hell. Jason shook his head some more and finished the ale.
So what happened? What did you do? Did you report the guy? This was the most she had said all evening. Now he did not want to tell her the truth, but felt he needed to maintain honesty and gain her trust.
Nah. I wandered around for a few hours, fired the gun and came back and told them I got the bear and someone would come get it later. The mom and kids were so relieved. I could see the fear lift from her body. But that man, that evil man, seemed to enjoy it, you know? He had never even met me, and I felt like he liked playing with my head. I had to take the dog with me. That was so messed up. Those poor kids. The food and drinks were gone and the crowd was getting louder cheering for the game.
Jason wanted to ask Amalie if she wanted to go someplace quieter, but he really could not think of another place. Of course, she would not go home with a stranger. He asked anyway. Look, I don't know what your story is, but you look like you could use a little help. I live over my office down the road. You are welcome to come over and clean up and rest. There is a bathroom with shower and a couch downstairs. I won't bother you. He thought he sounded insane. They were strangers.
All right. She said it and stood up, brushing her behind as if the seat had been too dusty for her precious rear end. He led the way, a short walk under bright street lamps to his small bungalow that served as both home and office. Jason showed her around and went upstairs to grab her some fresh towels and something to wear. When he came back down, she was asleep in her own filth on the office couch. He left the towels and clean gym clothes in the bathroom and covered her with a quilt, dimmed the lights and went upstairs to his own room.
Some time during the night, he heard the shower running, but he drifted back to a dreamless sleep. When he awoke the next day and went downstairs, she was gone. He did not discover her note until later in the day when he opened the fridge to make his lunch. A yellow sticky note with a lightly scrawled, “Thank you,” was hanging from the side of the milk carton. He slipped the note into his pocket and emptied the last of the milk into a glass. Leaning back against the counter, he tried to convince himself the night really happened.
Who was she? He thought about visiting Niles to see if he would be willing to give her the name off the credit card slip. Would that be too invasive? If she needed his help, surely she would have asked. She had cleaned up after herself. There was not a speck of dirt in the shower or sink, and she must have taken her dirty clothes with her as well. The quilt was folded neatly on the couch.