Skinwalker Valley - Chapter Three

THREE

The room was small but the bed comfortable enough. There was a small desk, a chair and a radio. The Waldorf Astoria it was not, but the boy had slept on park benches and under bridges during his travels, so it was just fine with him.

“Get yourself comfortable. I’ll fix some dinner after my shower,” Glory said.

The boy massaged his stomach. “Sounds great. I have to admit I’m a bit hungry.”

Glory left his room and entered the bathroom. It held a toilet and a shower, nothing more. She took off her clothes and stood under the shower head. She put on the tap and let the warm water run down her body, cleaning her of the sand that clung to her body after a day of hard work outside.

As she washed her body she thought of the boy. For a kid barely allowed to drive a car he seemed pretty smart and strong. And eager to work. She had a good feeling about him. Hopefully he would stay for a long time. Well, of course she was going to have to see him work. She usually was a pretty good judge of character though.

She put some shampoo in her hair, massaging it into her scalp. As she rinsed it out of her long hair she was suddenly startled by a noise. She stopped washing her hair and strained her ears to hear exactly what the noise had been. Was somebody at the door? There was the sound again. It was as if someone was at the door, indeed. She turned off the shower and walked to the door. She opened the door just a little bit, peeking through it. She saw the boy just turning around the corner in the hallway. Had he been at her door? Had he been… watching her shower?

She shuddered. No, she was imagining things. The boy seemed like such a nice kid. She had to be wrong. She didn’t feel like continuing her shower though. She quickly toweled off and got dressed. Time to fix some dinner.

*

The boy had just put on another shirt, this one sporting the Thrasher logo. He always traveled light, alternating between three shirts and two pairs of pants. That made sure his backpack was light so it was easy to travel and nobody would mind him hitching a ride because he had to much with him. He felt he should look clean for dinner. Especially to a lady as nice as Glory.

There was a knock on his door. He opened it and Glory was standing there. Her hair was a bit damp and she was wearing a dress and cowboy boots. She looked good in a dress.

“Dinner is ready,” she said.

“Awesome!”

“Did you maybe want to take a shower?” Glory asked.

“After dinner that would be great, thanks.”

“So not just now. Half an hour ago?”

“Half an hour? No, I was still resting on the bed.”

“Oh, that’s strange.”

“Strange?”

Glory shook her head. “Never mind, let’s have dinner.”

*

Glory turned out to be not only a beautiful woman but a great cook as well. The chicken, mashed potatoes and vegetables were great. The boy had a big glass of iced tea to go with it. The table was shared with Caleb and Glory. During dinner Caleb explained him what he was expected to do tomorrow. It sounded like a day of very hard work. He noticed Glory was a bit absent-minded though. He wondered what was bothering her. He decided to ask, no fear of course.

“Are you okay, Glory?”

The young woman blushed. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“You seem… Preoccupied by something.”

“My mind just wanders sometimes, never mind,” Glory said.

“Preoccupied. You use fancy words for a kid,” Caleb noted.

The boy shrugged. “I read a lot when travelling.”

“Well, fancy words won’t get any work done. You’d better go to sleep right after dinner. There’s a day of hard work waiting for you tomorrow.”

“I will,” the boy agreed. He was also pretty sure something was bothering Glory, even if she said it wasn’t the case.