TREASURES OF THE HEART
by
Carol W. Hazelwood
Copyright 2013 Carol W. Hazelwood,
All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-1978-7
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Cover by Art A. Hazelwood
Acknowledgement
Thanks to Nancy Poss-Hatchl for her stories of living in Mexico and having an armadillo for a pet.
Chapter 1
Beth Sorenson’s hands shook as she attached a thin wire to the window latch in the back storage room of Sam’s Pet Store.
Sam Ellison, the elderly owner, called out in a gruff voice from his small office, “What’s taking you so long? I’m closing for the night.”
“I’m just tidying up. Won’t be a minute.” Beth finished curling the last loop of the wire around the window’s latch just as Raymond had shown her. She eased the window shut and left a strand of wire threaded to the outside. Without a backward glance, she walked out to where Sam waited by the front door. He stroked the breast feathers of Henry, the Parakeet, who perched on his finger.
“You’ve been fidgety all day,” Sam said to Beth. His pale gray eyes sparkled and his thin skin crinkled into a thousand lines when he smiled. “Even though you’re only sixteen, you’re a good, conscientious employee. The best I’ve ever had.”
As if in disagreement, Samson, Sam’s favorite monkey, chattered and jumped up and down in his cage. “Hush!” Sam scolded. “It’s closing time. Be a good monkey and don’t keep the other animals awake.” Sam put Henry back in his cage, switched on the alarm, flipped off the lights, and locked the front door. “Want a ride home, Beth?”
“No. I have my bike. See you.” Beth avoided looking at Sam and hurried around the corner to fetch her bike. Had she done the right thing? Raymond knew exactly what should be done and how to do it. After all, he was twenty. Animals shouldn’t be in cages. They should be free. That’s what Raymond’s friends believed, and Beth agreed. Her head pounded. After the traffic light turned green, she pedaled frantically. Raymond would be waiting.
Her after school job made her miss some of her school’s events, but she liked the extra money and she liked animals. But, best of all, she’d met Raymond when he’d visited the store two months ago. Since that meeting, she’d attended several animal rights’ meetings with him. She hoped he’d ask her out on a real date.
Soon she arrived at the gas station near her high school. She dismounted from her bike, set up the kick stand, and turned to hug Raymond, who was leaning against his pickup truck. He laughed, hugged her, then pushed her away. “Well? How’d it go?”
“I did just as you said. It should work.”
“It always works.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked down into her solemn face.
She felt the warmth from his hands. “The animals will be safe, won’t they? You promise? Sam’s a nice old man.”
“Beth, we’ve been through this. You were at the meeting and saw the film on caged animals. Do you want that monkey to go to a laboratory and be used in experiments? Remember that puppy that died and all the pictures of those horrible puppy mills.”
“I know, but…but—”
“Come on.” He slid his arm around her waist. “Sure, Sam’s a nice old guy, but he doesn’t understand the evil he’s doing by running a pet store. You go on home now.”
“When will I see you again?”
“I’ll call you next weekend when your parents are out.”
Her parents didn’t know about Raymond. She’d been afraid they wouldn’t approve of him because he was so much older. On the nights she’d gone to the meetings with him, her parents thought she’d been at the movies with her girl friends. She’d hated the deception, but Raymond was special.
He got in his truck, waved and drove off. Suddenly it seemed very lonely at the gas station. On her bike ride home, she told herself everything would be all right, but a nagging worry gave her a headache.
***
The headline had read:
GANG TRASHES PET STORE
OWNER HAS HEART ATTACK
Beth felt nauseous whenever she thought about the store. Some of the animals were found wandering in the neighborhood. Others weren’t so lucky. Samson was run over by a car. Raymond disappeared and never even called to say good-bye. She convinced herself that it wasn’t her fault. It was Raymond’s and he’d deserted her.
Although she’d been accused of aiding the gang in the break-in, Sam refused to bring charges. She’d sworn to her parents that she was innocent. After all, she hadn’t committed the act, and Sam had understood it wasn’t her fault, hadn’t he? Once the initial confrontation with her parents passed, they avoided the subject. Of course, she’d lost her job. If Raymond hadn’t told her all those lies, she’d still be working at Sam’s, and Sam wouldn’t have had a heart attack and Samson would still be alive. Her classmates gossiped about her and eventually she quit the Spanish Club, where she’d always been the leader. Everyone blamed her, but she kept telling herself that she hadn’t done anything wrong? Raymond’s gang would have trashed the store whether she’d opened the back window or not. Her motive had been for the good of the animals, but she couldn’t talk to anyone about it. No one would understand.
She started hanging out with another group. Her parents refused to allow her to go on a weekend to Lake Arrowhead with them. No chaperons, no trip were her parents’ rules. Today even the weather conspired against her. It was one of those California spring days when a heavy marine layer shrouded the Orange County coastline.
Ever since her parents unwavering big NO about the weekend trip to Arrowhead, she’d moped in her bedroom after school. What would her new friends think? Here she was stranded with no friends and nothing to do.
Her mother knocked and stuck her head in the door. “I’ve got a meeting with the school board, and your father won’t be back from his tennis game until five. Feed Muffin at two o’clock. I left her dog food on the counter.”
“What’ll I do all day?” Beth flopped on her bed.
“For starters, you can clean up your room.”
Beth made a face and sighed. “Mom, how come you and dad don’t do anything together any more?”
“What makes you ask that?” Her mother leaned against the door jamb, her expression stuck between a grin and a frown as she pushed her auburn hair away from her face.
People said Beth was just like her mom. They both had olive complexion and dark flashing eyes and an exuberant nature, but lately her mother’s vitality had waned. Her parents seemed to be waiting for something.
“It’s true,” Beth said, before her mother could shut the door. “You used to play tennis together, laugh a lot…you know.” Beth fiddled with her pink bed comforter. “Now the house is like a morgue. Is it because of me?”
“You’re exaggerating. It’s not you, Beth. Your father has his business, and I have mine, that’s all. His photography assignments have increased, so he wants to relax with his