Jesse

There were claw marks ahead of the toes, four short gouges in the mud where something sharp had dug in with each step.

The tracks led from the creek up the game trail and into the trees.

I followed them for about 50 yards.

Then I stopped.

The smell was there.

i hadn't expected it because i'd never smelled it before but i recognized it instantly from descriptions i'd read wet decay and something chemical and bitter it was coming from uphill from deeper in the trees from whatever direction the tracks were leading

i turned around and went back to the house friday night i didn't want to be in the back bedroom i moved my things to the living room and sat up on the couch which put me closer to mamma's room and further from the back door mamma salted the thresholds again

She opened the Bible on the table.

We sat in the living room together.

She knitted.

I pretended to read.

Captain lay on the rug between us, awake, ears up, eyes on the front door.

At 9.30, Mama said she was going to bed.

She put her knitting in the basket, touched my head as she passed the couch, and went to her room.

I heard her close the door.

I heard the bed creak as she got in.

I turned off the lamp and lay on the couch in the dark.

The only light was the faint yellow glow from the barn security light coming through the front window curtains.

I waited.

It came at 11.