Page 19 of Her Big Bad Wolf

Maybe I should have gone after the culprits, but my instincts were to salvage what was left of my stuff.

I plowed right through the stack of hay bundles hearing a crunch beneath my feet and feeling something cold and slimy squish between my paws.

Jumping back, I looked down to find a stack of eggs nestled in the hay. The way they were stacked, I knew it wasn’t my girls doing it.

Trying to calm myself down, I took a good look around.

Someone was living here.

I couldn’t have that.

While I was still in my fur, and careful not to break anymore eggs, I jumped around destroying the carefully built fort like structure. Once I was satisfied, I howled in victory. Then I shifted and went to get a rake and wheelbarrow to recover my hay. At least I wasn’t going to have to drive down the mountain to pick up more again.

Feeling a little calmer now, I looked around, trying to figure out just who was doing this. There was a small fire pit, the eggs, one little pan, and a toy truck. That was it.

I scratched my head, then I remembered Kyle and his team were looking for a couple of young boys. I stared down at the things before me and shook my head.

No way was this a couple of kids.

From what he’d said they were little. A six-year-old isn’t going to be this sneaky or know how to start a fire and cook my eggs.

No, this was someone else.

My need for the security system to get installed just became my number one priority.

It took me a while to clean up the mess and get the hay restocked. I worked up a sweat and a lot of frustration in the process.

My one satisfaction was that I’d run them off and destroyed their hideout. There was no reason for them to return.

The vagabonds stealing from me were gone for good and it felt great.

Vanessa

Chapter 7

Unfortunately, life just keeps chugging along. Within a few days it felt as if everyone had forgotten about Noah, Mason, and Cameron. It weighed heavily on me, but I had several dozen other kids that deserved my full attention.

While I didn’t stop praying and asking about them and I still took a longer route varying my path each time to and from the school, I did let go enough to allow Kyle and his teams to handle it. It broke my heart to even think about it.

Instead, I focused on my other kids.

“Good morning, boys and girls.”

“Good morning, Ms. Vanessa,” they replied.

“Who’s excited for today’s field trip?”

Four-year-old hands shot up all around the room.

I smiled happily at them.

Emma and Mary had agreed to stay with the baby and toddlers for the day while I took our pre-school kids out for the biggest field trip of the year.

It was the day I introduced them to big school, followed by playtime and lunch in the park. It was one of my favorite days of the year and began the excitement and confidence towards leaving pre-school and entering Kindergarten.

It was an exciting time for them. Some would be nervous, others terrified even, but by the time the day was over they would all feel more confident and look forward to next year.

When the bus arrived to pick us up, I could easily hear it with my heightened hearing and I smiled.