Chapter 1

Since I didn’t have any family left, after my very early retirement at the age of 39, I had plenty of spare time. I got a pension for 20 years in the service. Years before, I inherited the house and half a million dollars, and invested very wisely. I didn’t need to work if I didn’t want to. I was considering starting up a security company. I kept the yard in good shape and thought about planting a garden the next year. After I ate each night, I would fill the birdfeeders and put any leftover food on the back patio before I watched the news and went to bed. I had a light and security camera by the back door, so I could watch the recordings of animals enjoying what I left them. A possum and a racoon visited nearly every night, plus the occasional stray cat or dog. Birds ate what was left in the morning.

A neighbor from two houses down walked past as I was getting the mail. I greeted him, “Hi Bill, how’s it going?” “Hey Andy. I’m having trouble with rats in my shed. A big bag of birdseed was ripped open. Something ate most of the sunflower seed and left the rest. Mice or squirrels would have eaten the rest of the seeds too, but rats love sunflower. I need to get a couple rat traps.”

“Good luck catching the rats.” I checked my shed and garage, but everything was fine.

One night a few days later, I undressed for bed and looked out the window as I returned from the bathroom. All the food on the patio was gone and two of my four birdfeeders were empty! Squirrels and birds usually slept at night, and it would take a bunch of them to eat that much birdseed in only half an hour. I didn’t think a possum or racoon could eat that quickly, and a dog wouldn’t care about the three overripe bananas or sunflower seed. It must be something big, like a wild hog or maybe a bear. I hurried to throw on a bath robe, then got out my shotgun and a flashlight. I looked out the windows, then walked around the outside of the house searching. The only things I found were an owl hooting in a tree, and a few bats high above.

When I watched the back yard video I was astounded. The door of my tool shed slid open and two girls walked out. The video was grainy, so it was hard to tell their ages or how tall they were. I could see that one was much bigger than the other, but still quite skinny. Both carried empty plastic grocery bags. One picked up the baked potato, bananas, and piece of leftover meatloaf from the tray on the patio. The other opened my birdfeeders and dumped the sunflower seed into her bag.

The two of them set the food in the shed and walked over to the other side of the yard. Both dropped their panties, squatted, and peed by the fence at the back corner. They drank some water from the garden hose, then filled a jug with water and walked back into the shed.

I wondered what I should do. I hadn’t seen anything about missing kids on the news in the last few days. From the video, I couldn’t tell whether they were women or little girls. Were they thieves or drug addicts? I didn’t think so. All they took was the food. They could have stolen my yard tractor or motorbike, or broken into my car. If they were desperate for drug money, they could have broken a window and tried to rob my house.

I felt bad for them, so I decided to leave them something nice. I put a 6 pack of cola and a bag of cookies on the patio. Half an hour later they came out and got the cookies, but left the cola and the empty cookie bag. About 3 am they left the area together. They returned and went back in the shed a few minutes before the sun came up. It continued for 2 more nights. I left food on the patio and a little while after I turned off all the lights in the house, the two girls would come get it. They would leave about 3 am and return just before dawn. Each night, I made sure to leave enough on the patio for at least two meals. I was glad they only peed on the lawn. They must have used a bathroom somewhere else too.

The fourth night, I left food out again and set my alarm for 2 am. I watched the girls leave, and a little while later I walked out to their ‘home’ in my shed. There was a big pile of sunflower shells in a corner, and two large pieces of cardboard on the concrete floor. Apparently, all the possessions they had were a dirty blanket with a big hole in it, an old milk jug half full of water, and a paper bag with two stale donuts. Even if they were bad people, nobody should have to live like that. Jail would have been far better.

I quickly got 2 sleeping bags and 2 extra pillows from the attic and left them in a corner of the shed. When the girls returned, they ran out of the shed and nervously looked around the yard. After a few minutes, they went back in smiling.

I went on my weekly shopping trip the next day. In addition to groceries, I picked up two better security cameras. They were wireless and had sound. When the girls left, I hid one in a corner of the shed. In the morning I replaced the old one above the back door. I also dragged my picnic table from the front yard and placed it near the patio in back.

I watched the shed camera a little while during the day. I only heard snoring and saw the sleeping bags move a little as the girls tossed and turned. For a moment, I could see the back of one’s head. Her hair was light brown and had bits of leaves or other debris in it.

That night, I put two big bowls of chicken soup and a box of crackers on the picnic table. Hopefully they wouldn’t want to carry the soup and would be near the back door camera eating long enough for me to get a good look at them.

Their hair and faces were dirty and they were quite thin from malnourishment. The taller one was around 25 years old, with light brown hair and green eyes. From the shape of her shirt, I could see she had small to medium breasts, maybe “B”s. The other was about 14, with blue eyes and fine blonde hair. I thought they’d be quite pretty, once they were clean and had decent food for a few weeks. I worried about them being so thin.

They sat at the table and ate the soup quietly. The small one reached for the box of crackers but the other pushed her hand away. “It has to look like animals are eating. A dog or a possum wouldn’t bother with a box. I know you’re still hungry, but maybe we’ll get donuts from the gas station trash again, if the guy throws out any old ones today.” I had been curious about where they went every morning.

The younger one said, “I hope so, Sissy.” Sissy comforted the little one by putting her arm around the little teen’s shoulders and said, “I’m hungry too, Sherry, but nobody hurts us now. And we have each other.”

The younger one looked sad and afraid as she said, “That was so bad! At least we’re safe now, kinda.”

When the girls left, I went out to the shed with the box of crackers, a comb and hairbrush, and jars of peanut butter and grape jelly. I felt very bad for them and wanted to help. When they came back, they saw the items and got nervous. They looked around the yard again, then Sissy sadly said; “This place isn’t bad, but somebody found us. We better leave, before we get caught.” The girls packed up the food and their few belongings, and walked away.

I was very upset that I scared them off. I hoped they would come back. I kept putting food on the patio every night but didn’t see them for a few weeks. At one am one night, they timidly returned. Both looked around my yard, quickly grabbed some food, and ran off. They must have found somewhere to live nearby. I was glad they were still around and getting some food.

A week later Sissy cautiously peeked in the shed a moment, then helped Sherry gather up their nightly meal. They walked off more calmly than before. The next night I left the usual two meals worth on the picnic table, along with a $50 bill under the edge of the plate. They took the food and talked about the things they could get with 50 bucks, but they left the money. I put the $50 bill out again the next night, and they reluctantly left it again. That proved to me they weren’t thieves or addicts. Their situation was so awful I wished they had taken it.

Two weeks before Halloween there was a strong thunderstorm. It rained intensely and the wind howled. The awning over the patio did almost nothing to block the rain. I wondered what food I could give the girls that would survive the storm. I left them a heavy pan with the lid on, containing half a dozen boiled eggs, a few apples, and a bag with a couple of peanut butter sandwiches.

On camera, I could see them standing in the rain, arguing if they should take it or not. The storm noises kept me from hearing them. Sissy turned and walked away, and Sherry started to. She turned and quickly put an apple and a few eggs in her jacket pockets. She closed the kettle, then followed. I was glad she took at least something.