Once Upon a Chance

Once Upon a Chance

"Cicero! Where are you boy? Ciceroooo!"

Cassie was irritated. Her dog, Cicero, had escaped the yard three times this week. She loved him too much to beat him as the mailman suggested, so she hoped one of the neighbors would send him home.

"Cicero! You get back here, do you hear?"

"A little brown dog?"

Cassie had not noticed the man standing at her gate. He was dressed all in beige and brown and almost melded into the colors of the fence and fall background.

"Yes. Have you seen him?"

"I saw him high tailing it down Main Street just a minute or so before you came outside calling."

"Oh, that scoundrel. If you see him, please send him home." She turned to go inside but hesitated. "I'm sorry, my name is Cassie. And you are?"

"Jake."

"Nice to meet you, Jake. Are you new to Woodstock?"

"Just passing through unless I can find a job." As if to emphasize that fact, he lifted a battered piece of luggage and shrugged.

"Oh. Good luck then, but there is not much work in Woodstock. Most of the young men seem to end up in the Army, then the Korean war. You might check for work at the courthouse downtown. It's only about ten blocks from here."

"Thanks, I will. I survived Korea myself." He touched his forehead as if removing a hat and then began walking towards the center of town.

She was surprised as he did not seem old enough to be a veteran. She noticed that he was quite thin but well built in a wiry sort of way, and he had the nicest light brown hair with just a touch of a wave. She quit staring at him and waved goodbye, went inside and latched her door. She didn't get any bad sensations, but one must be careful, she thought.

She fixed herself a cup of tea and wondered why she didn't offer him the job as handyman. She needed someone to rake the yard. The gutters needed cleaning; the windows needed caulking. Since her husband died, she had managed to exist but that was about it. She and Jonas had been married a few months before he had to leave for Korea. I wish we had made a baby. I would not be so alone, she thought. She arose and rinsed her cup. Dwelling on the past wouldn't help her. She knew because she had been dwelling on the past for months.

She stood in the middle of the room for a moment and then went to the telephone. She called her friend, Janet, at the courthouse and told her of her need for a handyman. Maybe fixing the place up is just what I need, she thought. Thank God for the insurance money. I couldn't afford to get the work done otherwise..

She decided to shower before anyone else visited today. While bathing, she noticed she had lost weight. At one time, she would have been happy to lose a few pounds, but her hip bones were beginning to protrude. She promised herself she would eat better as she shampooed her long, auburn hair which reached to her waist. Later, as she was getting dressed, she heard the doorbell ring. Grabbing her robe, she ran down the stairs to the door.

"I'm coming," she yelled She thought it might be the new guy for some reason, and she wanted to find out more about him. Instead, she found Sheriff David at the door, and he had Cicero in his arms. The little dog was covered in blood.

"What happened?" She reached for the dog, but the Sheriff turned away with him;

"Careful, Cassie. He might snap at you. Someone hurt him. At first, I thought he had been stabbed. It looks worse than it is though. Let's get him cleaned up a bit."

After cleaning the wounds, it appeared Cicero had been choked with a rope, perhaps tied up. The dog didn't snap at her but licked her hands as she tended to him. She and the Sheriff sat at the dining room table, drinking coffee. When Cassie's tears had subsided, and her hands quit shaking, she could feel herself getting angry. "Who would do such a thing?"

"I don't know, but lots of strange things have been happening in Virginia lately. Two women have been found dead near Staunton, and several animals have been injured.. That's why I was headed this way when I found Cicero. I wanted to warn you."

"Warn me?"

"I heard you might be hiring Jake McCormick, and I want you to be careful. What do you know about him? He has no driver's license, no public record of any kind that I could find."

"You're investigating a man just for entering town?"

"I'm not really investigating him. I am just curious, and I worry about you, living here alone at the mercy of anyone."

"Well, you have worried for nothing since I haven't heard from him about the job. Anyway, I am alone and have to get used to it and take care of myself and you're not my keeper." She smiled to remove the sting from the words. The Sheriff was about ten years older than her 22 years. He was thought to be a lady's man. He is good looking but sort of bossy, she said to herself and tried not to smile. "He told me he survived Korea, so there must be a record of that somewhere."

He arose and pushed his chair back, obviously irritated. "I consider myself the keeper of everyone in the county, part of my job. I'll be off on the county's business. If you ever need me, you know where I am. I'll show myself out."

Great. I've pissed off the county sheriff; my dog has been attacked, and a possible serial murderer may be applying for my handyman job. Way to go, Cassie. She sighed. It seemed she always got on the Sheriff's bad side.

Cassie checked on Cicero who was resting quietly. On the way back to the kitchen, the door bell rang. When she answered the door, there stood Jake.

"Miss Cassie, I just came by to say I'm interested in your handyman position." He had his hat in his hand and a shy smile on his face.

"I have enough work for about three months only, Mr. McCormick, and it's mostly outdoors. It would be hard work done in the cold air I'm afraid. Are you sure you're still interested?"

"Yep. I am. I'm no stranger to the cold. Is there any heat in that shed out back? And how did you know my last name?"

"Actually, the Sheriff told me. He's an old friend. There's a coal stove in the shed and a cot. You would be welcome to rest there or sleep there, for that matter." There is no way this nice man is a murderer, she thought.

"In that case, I'm your man. I'm ready to begin now if you wish."

"Let me get properly dressed, and I'll join you and show you around. You can wait there on the porch swing."

"Sure thing." He looked at her as she clasped her robe close to her body and she thought he was forcing himself not to smile.

***

The days grew colder and Jake worked every day on some chore or another. Cassie often followed him around as did Cicero who now acted as if he was her personal bodyguard. Jake tolerated the dog well enough. Cassie often fixed Jake's lunch or a snack and took it to him at the shed or on the porch, never inviting him inside her home. She had not quite forgotten Sheriff David's warning and felt a little ashamed of herself for doubting Jake.

***

In mid December, Jake came to her front door early in the day. "Miss Cassie, I believe I've done all the repairs you needed done, and I am feeling a little guilty staying on when I'm not really needed anymore. I have come to say goodbye and thank you for employing me. Living in the shed plus my earnings have allowed me to get back on my feet. I am very grateful."

Cassie felt like the bottom had fallen out of her world. She liked him, really liked him. Why didn't you ever tell him that?, she wondered. "I am very sorry you feel you have to go. I will miss you."

"You barely know me, Miss Cassie. I had hoped that you would by now, but ..."

"I was just afraid." Wringing her hands, she looked in his eyes, hoping he would understand.

"Afraid of me?" Jake looked perplexed.

"Well, after Sheriff David warned me about you, I just could never feel one hundred percent safe. You did nothing wrong at all. I am afraid I misjudged you in my cowardice."

"The Sheriff warned you about me? Why?"

"It was about the murders near Staunton and other crimes in the county. I told him he had no right to investigate you, but I'm just as bad, listening to him."

"That explains some of it I guess. Has he been keeping an eye on me since the very beginning?"

"I don't know, Jake. He has come by a few times since then but never mentioned your name. He did say that people in town were talking about us, your living here part of the time that is."

"He's just full of good will, isn't he? I'll have to have a word with him, but I suspect he's just jealous. Maybe he's interested in you himself." Jake smiled but she thought he looked angry.

"Are you going to stay in Woodstock?" Cassie looked as if she could cry but pulled her shoulders back, reached out her hand to shake hands. "I hope I'll see you around, Jake."

Jake ignored her hand and turned abruptly and walked off the porch and out of the yard. Cassie watched him walk away, wanting to call him back but too shy to do so.

***

A week before Christmas, the Sheriff was found dead in his car on one of the many rural roads in the county. During the investigation, as to the cause of his death, the deputies found items belonging to one of the girls who had been killed in the fall in the Sheriff's car, and many believed the Sheriff was the county's killer. Cassie was stunned at the news and didn't know what to believe anymore. She wondered if one ever truly knew another.

On Christmas Eve, she heard a knock at the door. She answered and there stood Jake McCormick with a small gift in his hand. "Oh! I didn't expect you. I didn't buy you anything but come in." Cassie held open the door.

"I've missed you, Miss Cassie. How are you and how's Cicero?" Jake took off his coat and sat down across from Cassie who had fixed them a cup of tea.

"I'm afraid Cicero is running around again. I haven't seen him in hours." She smiled.

Jake smiled back. He was thinking of the irritating dog who was now lying dead in a gutter a few blocks away. "It's so good to finally be admitted to the inner sanctum."

"Yes," agreed Cassie. "I don't know why I didn't invite you in sooner."

***

Word Count: 1,901