The Mysteries of Brambly Hollow

Meli’s every move with avid interest. Maybe she’d been there all the time?
    “It’ll just be our little secret,” she told the puss, as, taking a deep breath, she stepped forward into the mouth of the doorway. The bank of daylight, that had been reluctantly wavering just within the hall, helpfully pushed forward, peeling back the edges of darkness as if it too wanted to see what was there. By its light, Meli had to check that her eyes, which had started to water from the onslaught of ammonia based eau de cologne of tomcat wee, weren’t deceiving her. Dabbing at them frantically, she looked again. Her stomach tightened into a ball. Her eyes hadn’t deceived her. Propped against the wall, just beyond the threshold, was a rifle. Not being an expert in the field of weaponry, Meli still knew a damn huge beast of a rifle when she saw one. And this was one huge beast to her stalked eyes, surely big enough to bring down an elephant, and one shot would certainly blow a rabbit, or a small dog or a child for that matter, into smithereens. What was Elsa doing with a gun? Unable to hold her breath any longer, she was forced to withdraw, her eyes damp and stinging.
    “Cal,” she was on him before he could lay a foot through the door that evening. Grabbing his arm she dragged him back towards his car, out of earshot of any prying children.
    “Whatever is the matter?” He asked in bewilderment.
    “Elsa has a gun, a rifle to be exact. No a HUGE rifle,” she expounded. She waited expectedly for the look of horror to wash over his face. His sallow skin and drained blue eyes didn’t flinch, as he regarded her.
    “So? Lots of farms have rifles.”
    Meli gaped at him open mouthed for a moment. He was right, damn him. She had been fretting over it all afternoon, and it had never dawned on her that farms often had rifles for killing vermin. But was he right? Doubts flashed through her emerald eyes, highlighting the hazel flecks to startled hues of amber as the image of what carnage the rifle could inflict on small animals and children ran amok through her mind. “I know, but we’re talking about Elsa here, not some sane, responsible farmer. Besides, it really is a huge weapon. Aren’t you the least bit worried?”
    It was Cal’s turn to take her firmly by the arm, and he led her back indoors. “It’s none of our business. Let’s just keep out of it.”
    Meli took her husband’s dinner from the oven, where it had been keeping warm, and placed it in front of him. “You’re welcome,” she told him, when he thanked her politely. She watched him tuck ravenously into the plate of sausage casserole and the mound of creamy mashed potatoes. Quassi, drawn by the rich aroma of the onion gravy, appeared from nowhere, and placing himself beside Cal, nudged him with his paw, just to let him know he was there.
    Automatically, Cal petted him. “Have you bathed him again?” he asked Meli, noticing the ripple to his black coat, that seemed to react badly to contact with shampoo.
    “Yes, he disappeared earlier and came back all smelly. I couldn’t leave him.” Meli was feeling slightly dazed. How could they both be acting so normally, when potentially there was a gun-totting Ma Baker, who was probably creeping up on them right this minute, preparing to slay them all this evening as they slept?
    “Mel,” Cal’s loud protest drew her attention. “Can’t you do something about that? That’s disgusting.” Following his line of vision, Meli saw the cause of his distain. Quassi was gazing up at him, his large brown eyes all slushy, while Victoria Falls cascaded in great foaming torrents from his jowls. “It’s enough to put you off your dinner,” Cal complained, twisting away in his seat, although his actions belied his words as his fork barely faltered as it continued to shovel food to his mouth.
    “I know,” she heard herself agreeing limply, but she didn’t even attempt to move, she didn’t feel like her body belonged to her.
    “Quassi, come here boy,” David yelled from the French door.
    “Hey, there’s no need to shout like that,” Cal admonished. “He’s not a million miles away.”
    “But I have to shout, or he ignores me,” David commented as he dived across the room, and grabbing Quassi by the collar lugged him out the door.
    Meli watched all this normality happening around her. No one else looked in the least perturbed. The world hadn’t changed. Maybe she was worrying unnecessarily?
    “They’re