Chapter 8
"Scott?"
The man behind the desk looked up to see a tall, slender woman standing in the exterior doorway. Sidney Southington, now Sidney Lyndon, had grown up to be a beautiful young woman. Ten years had passed since he had first encountered the little girl. Much of that part of her childhood was erased from her memory now. The fall after she had come to live with Steve and Scott Lyndon, torrential downpours had created massive rockslides to the northeast and the skeletons of Steven and Susan Southington were buried under millions of tons of rock. The two hundred foot deep gorge was now barely one hundred feet deep. He wondered if they hadn't been watching over their daughter and once she had found her new home they were finally able to rest peacefully. The next spring, Scott and Sidney had gone through the motorhome, taking what Sidney wanted to keep. That evening, after the little girl was tucked into bed in her own bedroom, Scott had returned to the motorhome and found the hidden panel the letter had mentioned. He had followed the instructions in the metal box and logged onto the internet and went to the obscure website and downloaded the files the letter instructed him to. He had filled out the information requested then sent the letter to the address in England. To his surprise, four weeks later, he had received a manila envelope back with a stack of very legal-looking documents that stated Sidney Lyndon was the sister of Steven and Scott Lyndon. He had not been sure about the 'sister' idea but after talking it over with his brother they both agreed it would be much better than daughter or niece. Since their parents were both dead and they had no living relatives there would be no family to refute it. Scott had removed all items from the motorhome and had packed them away in boxes in the small attic above the office with the idea that, one day, after Sidney grew up, he would pull them out and give them to her; allowing her to make the choice as to whether to keep them or not. The motorhome had been dismantled then buried in a deep ravine in the far reaches of the western slopes of the Lyndon property. Two weeks later, an earthquake had buried the red and white vehicle pieces under more than fifty million tons of rock and Scott had been sure it was the Southington’s way of keeping the secret about their daughter hidden forever.
It had not been easy raising a little girl but with the help of the internet and a lot of books they managed and Scott thought they had succeeded quite well. Today she was dressed in a dark blue, long sleeved shirt that was tucked into her tight jeans that were tucked into her high black work boots. The collar of the shirt, as usual, was turned up and brushed against the bottom of her short curly blonde hair. A gold, heart-shaped locket hung on a gold chain around her neck. He smiled at her. "Yeah Sid?"
The smile she gave him alighted her blue eyes. "Doug wants to know if you want him to bring those logs down from the south slope."
Scott's gaze jetted to the calendar then up to the map that covered half of the wall of the office. "Yeah, he'd better. Harwick will be coming to get them Monday. Might as well do it now since we've got rain in the forecast."
She nodded and was gone.
Sidney had come a long way in ten years. She had chosen to take home school, an option in this remote county and had learned more than Scott thought she could have learned in any classroom. By the time she was fourteen she was reading and understanding senior high school information and had passed the GED the month after she turned sixteen. But her studying had not stopped there. She had, with the help of the internet, sought out and absorbed almost everything she could find on forestry, logging, the environment, and anything else to do with nature. If it involved the outdoors and summer, Sidney knew all there was to know about it. What had surprised the Lyndon boys the most was her desire to learn the logging business. It was shortly after her sixteenth birthday that she had gotten her regular driver's license and, three months later, received her commercial and logging licenses. By the time she was seventeen Sidney could drive any vehicle they had, from the largest logging truck to the bulldozer. Scott looked up to see his brother come in from the hallway and go straight to the coffee pot. "Doug's going to bring down those logs from the south slope," he informed as he watched Steve pour two cups of coffee.
"I saw Sid cross the yard at a full gallop. I figured Doug had sent her."
Scott chuckled as he accepted one of the cups before he turned back to his book work. Sidney had not lost her ability or desire to run either. And she still loved the hills and was on them at every opportunity. A low throaty growl lifted Scott's gaze to the door and he saw a silver coyote framed in the doorway. "Hello Duke," he said with a smile. "She's in the big shed." The animal yipped its thanks then bounded off the porch toward the designated building. That had not changed either. Sidney had retained her friends who had become permanent fixtures around the Lyndon Logging camp. Actually, the number of animals had grown. Three years after Sidney came to live with them Duke came into camp one day with two coyote pups. Sidney had learned that their mother, Duke's mate, had been killed and the pups were motherless. Sidney had taken them in and raised them. Midnight, the blackest of the pair, was a hellion and, more than once, Sidney'd had to set him in his place. Princess, was a white female and lived up to her name perfectly. It was rare for her to step in anything that even closely resembled mud and spent most of her time laying on the porch waiting for Sidney. In the evening when all of the machinery had been turned off and the crew had went home to their respective families, it was common for Sidney to go out into the yard and romp and play with the three coyotes, often rolling on the ground with them bouncing on and off her playfully. Tongo would lay on the fringes of the yard and watch quietly, waiting his turn with as much patience as any four hundred pound black bear could have. When Sidney had tired the coyotes out she would get to her feet and look over at Tongo and he would raise up and bound toward her, knocking her off her feet when he pounced on her. They would wrestle for a time before the massive black bear would lay down, totally exhausted and Sidney would lay down beside him and they would cuddle together. Indeed, it was quite a remarkable family.
In the wintertime, when the yard was closed, the Lyndons would move their base of operations into Goldville where they owned property on the outskirts of town. During the winter they would make deals and plans for the following season. For the last six winters the three coyotes had joined them and lived with them throughout the winter months, sleeping in a shed that was attached to the back of the heated garage near the rear of their fifty acre lot. They hunted in the forest that covered most of the back half of the Lyndon land, never bothering neighbors or townsfolk. Tongo hibernated in a cave known only to him, Sidney and Duke, hidden somewhere in the western slopes of the Lyndon property. Each spring when they would return to the logging camp Tongo would be waiting.
Scott heard all three coyotes sound their howl-style bark and knew someone was coming up the road. They made a good doorbell. It was at least ten seconds later before Scott heard the car and looked through the open office door to see a sheriff's squad come into view. He got to his feet and went out on the porch to greet the man they all called friend. Scott had never had to tell the sheriff what he had found in that gorge and he was glad for that. Thanks to the information and website he had been directed to, Sidney had become a Lyndon and that had never been questioned, even when the Social Security Administration had asked for a copy of her birth certificate so she could be issued a Social Security number. Scott had always been thankful to whoever had the ability to make such legal-looking documents and was even more thankful to Steve and Susan Southington for having such a beautiful daughter and gracing the Lyndons' lives with her. He hoped they were pleased with the way their daughter had been raised.
Scott focused on the sheriff. Even though the Lyndons were good friends with Josh Logan, it was unusual for the man to come up to the camp.
"Howdy Scott." The tall, lanky former Texan who was dressed in the typical tan uniform extracted himself from the squad car. He looked across the roof of the car at the three coyotes that were watching him and grin
ned. "Hey there Duke."
The silver coyote let go with a yipped reply before the three returned to their places; Princess on the porch, and Midnight and Duke wherever Sidney was.
Scott was all smiles at the sheriff's lack of fear of the coyotes. The sheriff had protected the coyotes from more than one concerned Goldville citizen and now all of the townspeople had accepted the coyotes as a permanent part of the community's 'dog' population. It wasn't uncommon for Sidney to walk down the streets of the small town with any of the coyotes beside her and receive no different of a look from the townspeople than if she'd been walking with a German Shepherd or hound; the two most popular dogs in the town. He shook the man's hand. "Got time for coffee Josh?"
"I'll make time," the man grinned and followed Scott into the office. "Howdy Steve," he nodded to the man at the other desk.
"Hi Josh. What brings you out this way? We usually don't see you till the snow flies."
Josh Logan took the coffee Scott handed him then sank to the chair nearest the front door as he shoved his wide brimmed hat back on his head, revealing a crop of graying hair. "I'm afraid this ain't exactly a social call fellas."
"Oh?" both Lyndons said in unison.
The sheriff felt his hat being lifted off his head and he looked up as the slender blonde who was standing in the doorway plopped it down on top of her golden curls. He laughed. "Hello darlin'." One winter, when Sidney was twelve, she had shyly asked the sheriff if she could wear his hat. Josh Logan, whose grandchildren lived on the other side of the country could not resist those beautiful blue eyes and he had lifted his hat and plopped it down on top of her blonde curls. From then on, whenever she would see him she would put his hat on her head. That had not changed as she'd grown older. Josh still got a kick out of it and how she looked in the too-large of hat.
Sidney bent down and gave the man a kiss on the cheek, her eyes alighting with devilishness as she crossed the room to the coffee pot.
"What do you mean Josh?" Scott prompted.
"Well, you know that new guy who bought out the old Cummings ranch?"
"Jansen, isn't it?"
"That's the one," the sheriff confirmed. "Somehow he found out about Duke and he's claiming that Duke is leading a pack of coyotes and attacking his cattle."
"Duke wouldn't do that," the woman said matter of factly as she turned and leaned against the counter with a cup of coffee in her hands.
"I know that darlin'. But you know how these new people are. They got to be drawn a map."
"So send him over," Sidney told him. "I'll draw him a map he won't ever lose."
The sheriff chuckled. "I'll bet you would too darlin'." The man's smile melted. "I just wanted y'all to know that this guy might be trouble and for you to keep a close eye on Duke and his kids."
"We will Josh," Scott assured. “Thanks for letting us know."
"Why didn't Jansen just come over and talk to us himself?" Steve wanted to know.
Josh ran his fingers through the thick bush of gray hair that covered the top of his head. "Damned if I know. Big city boys got big city ideas." He took a gulp of his coffee. "They come out here to hicksville and think they can bring their big city ideas with 'em. That's when my paperwork doubles and stays that way till they either settle down to country life or go back to their big cities." He grinned. "I'll tell him to get his saddle over here and talk to you if he makes any more noise."
"Thanks Josh," Scott smiled. "I'm sure Sid could set him in his place."
The sheriff almost choked on his coffee when he started to laugh. He looked at the woman’s beautiful face and hourglass figure then winked at the two men. "That little filly could set half the county in their place and not even half try."
Sidney Lyndon was used to this kind of ribbing. She got it from the crew, especially her brothers, all the time. She downed her coffee, turned the powder blue cup upside down on the towel beside the pot then strode across the room and up to the man she could almost see eye to eye with. "Now sheriff," she said in her typical soft, angelic tone. "You know I'm just waitin' for you."
Josh Logan laughed outloud then grinned as he lifted his hat from her head and stuck it back on his own. "Ya' got a mighty long wait darlin'," he teased as his eyes twinkled.
The blonde gave the sheriff a kiss on the cheek, tossed a wave at Scott and Steve then disappeared out the door.
The uniformed man looked after her then shook his head. "That girl is absolutely remarkable."
Scott and Steve exchanged glances before Scott smiled. “That she is.”