Mystery at Devil's Elbow

Tammy Jenkins stopped by the hospital, but Lisa’s parents were both adamant that she couldn’t speak to their daughter. Tammy was a little frustrated but didn’t know of a way she could get around the parents. It seemed her fourth installment would be the final installment of her Bigfoot series.

The next morning JD exchanged greetings with Martha and Lisa. Lisa was wearing a bright red pair of pants, and a flowered long-sleeved shirt with a down jacket. Martha held Lisa’s bag. They were about to leave to meet Lewis at the front door of the hospital.

“What I heard is true then you’re going home,” said JD.

“Yeah, I’m glad I can play with Mary again.”

“I see your hair, and eye color are already coming back to normal.”

“Yeah, and those lines near the surface of her skin are fading too,” said Martha.

“I’m glad to see it. You’re going back to be a normal young girl now.”

“I hope so.”

“I just came by to see you before you went home.”

“Thanks again for all you’ve done, Sheriff,” said Martha.

JD smiled and chuckled, “Think nothing of it, Martha. I’ll come by the house sometime for a glass of iced tea.”

“We’ll see you then.”

The Fisher family rode home in the car. On the way, Lisa and Mary played Slug Bug in the back seat while Lewis and Martha sang along to an old song on the radio. Occasionally the girls would laugh and yell. They were hoping to put all of this behind them and get back to normal.

Later that night, Martha heard one of the girls crying in her sleep. She quickly ran to Lisa’s room, where Lisa was sitting up in bed. Martha sat down next to her.

“I had another dream, Momma,” said Lisa as she climbed into her mom’s arms. Martha rubbed her back.

“I can see that. Are you okay?”

“I’m okay now, Momma.”

“Try to go back to sleep, and I’ll make your favorite breakfast in the morning.”

“I’ll try, Momma.”

A few hours later, Martha got up, as usual, to make breakfast for Lewis and the girls. She could hear Mary and Lisa playing upstairs like they always did. As Lewis reached the bottom step, he called up to the girls to come down for breakfast. He could smell the hot coffee brewing.

“Ready for breakfast, honey?” asked Martha.

“I’m ready. We have a hard day planned for work,” said Lewis.

“Here you go.” Martha handed him a plate full of hash browns and scrambled eggs.

“Thank you, dear.”

“You girls better get down here before your breakfast gets cold,” Martha called.

“We’re coming, Momma,” said Lisa.

The two girls came down the stairs and over to the kitchen table. They both sat in chairs and their mother handed them their plates. Both girls drank down the orange juice and began to eat.

“Momma, do you know a lady named Tammy Jenkins?” asked Lisa.

“Not really,” said Martha as she looked over at Lewis.

“Where did you hear that name?” asked Lewis.

“The Watchers and my new friend want me to talk to her.” Lewis and Martha looked at each other with their eyes wide open.

“When did your friend tell you that?” asked Martha.

“In my dream last night, Momma. He wants me to talk to her and her three friends.”

“What does he want you to talk to her about?” asked Lewis.

“He just wants me to tell her the story I told Doctor Taylor.”

“Why can’t he tell her?” asked Lewis.

“He can only talk to a few people like me. He talks to me in my head, not like you and Momma talk.”

“Me and Momma need to talk about this,” said Lewis.

“Let me and Daddy talk, and I’ll let you know,” said Martha.

“Okay, Momma. Can me and Mary go outside and play before the bus gets here?”

“Yeah!” Mary’s face lit up.

“Finish your breakfast first, girls,” said Martha.

Both girls finished quickly, put their coats on, and went to the backyard. Martha sat down next to Lewis.

“What do you think about letting her talk to Tammy?” asked Martha.

Lewis stood there for a moment and then threw his arms in the air. “She’s a newspaper reporter! She’s going to put this in the newspaper!”

“Maybe not.”

“Why wouldn’t she?”

“Maybe this has something to do with her, not the newspaper.”

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe this is about Tammy’s friends too, like Lisa said.”

“We don’t even know who they are.”

“I think we should let Lisa talk to Tammy with the understanding that she never mentions Lisa’s name in anything she writes.”

Lewis put his hands in his pockets. “I’m against it, but as long as you think it’s okay, go ahead and make the arrangements.”

“Okay. I’ll call Tammy today and see if we can set something up.”

Lewis grabbed his thermos and lunch. He kissed Martha on the cheek and left for work. Martha collected all the dishes and started washing them in the sink. As she worked, she could see the girls looking around rocks and under branches. After she was finished with the dishes, Martha went into the living room to call Tammy.

“Tammy here.”

“Tammy, this is Lisa’s mother, Martha.”

“I didn’t think I’d ever hear from you. What can I do for you?”

“Our daughter wants to speak to you. She apparently has a message to give you.”

“What message?”

“I have no idea, but you also need to bring your three friends.”

“What three friends?”

“I don’t know that either. You’ll have to figure that out.”

“I can come by tomorrow.”

“I have to leave for work just after 4:00 PM. So be here at least a half hour before that. The girls will be getting home from school at 3:30 PM.”

“I’ll be there, thank you again for calling.”

Tammy hung up the phone. She tried to think who her three friends might be. Could they be friends in this town or people from college? Why three?

Then it hit her, and she chuckled at herself. She didn’t think of the Bigfoot hunters as her friends, but why not?

Tammy went down to her car and drove out to the campground to speak to them.

“Hey there,” said Gunner.

“You know where Casey and Sunny are?”

“Yeah, they’re down at the river.”

“There’s a little girl that wants to speak to me and the three of you tomorrow.”

“She a fan of ours?”

“No, I think this is far more important than that. All I know is that she wants to speak to all us.”

Gunner stood up as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Okay, I’ll let the other guys know. What time do you want to meet?”

“I’ll pick you guys up at 3:20 PM. The girl doesn’t live far from here.”