Free Stranger on the Shore by Carol Duncan Perry

think you're as paranoid as I am."
    "Nothing crazy about being careful," he told her. "But I guess you know what you're doing. What kind of fellow is he? Did you like him?"
    The last thing Sarah wanted to discuss was her reaction to Jordan Matthias. Her mind recreated the image of his face. She dropped her eyes in confusion, hoping she was still sunburned enough to hide the blush she could feel creeping up her cheeks.
    He seems nice enough, I guess. I don't think I'd like to be on the wrong side of him, but he's polite enough. Mostly we talked about Monte Ne."
    "Well, you just be careful. From what T.J said, you have enough of a problem with your aunt to keep you busy this summer. You don't need to go around importing new ones from outside."
    She'd known, of course, that her efforts to get Aunt Cinda off her mountain were common knowledge in the valley. "If you've got any suggestions on that one, I'd appreciate them. Getting her to move is going to be a tough one."
    "I know," Sam agreed, "but she's lived up there all her life. It's her home. Lord, I couldn't even get her out of there last fall when we had all that flooding.
    Sarah grimaced. "How far did the water come up?"
    "Right to the edge of that old sycamore and it takes a real gully washer to get that high so near the top of the mountain. I went up the next day to make sure she was all right. There she was, sitting on the front porch, rocking just like she hadn't come within fifteen feet of being completely flooded out. I tell you truly, I don't envy you that job. It's about as likely as Mammoth Spring running dry."
    "I'll think of something," Sarah told him. "I have to. No one else in the family can do anything with her."
    The sheriff grunted and changed the subject, asking her how her contact with the police detective in St. Louis was working out.
    "All right, I think. Detective Hoyston is not particularly enthusiastic, but he's keeping his part of the bargain."
    "I expected that, Sam told her. "Hoyston is one of those I-believe-what-I-can-see men."
    Sarah couldn't help but laugh. "Don't be so hard on him. After all, not everyone had the advantage of having a Cherokee great-grandmother.
    "Is that why you picked me to confide in?" he asked her. "I always wondered. You were just a child, 'bout knee-high to a grasshopper, as I remember, and there must have been half a dozen adults standing around. How old were you that day? About thirteen?"
    "Eleven. And yes, I guess that's why I picked you. Of course, I didn't know about the great-grandmother then. I just knew that you were the only one who might believe me. And I had to tell someone besides family. Except I never had. I mean, no one else knew that I could," Sarah let her voice trail off, reluctant even now to talk about it.
    "Anyway, I looked around and knew you were the one I should tell. Now I realize why. Because of your grandmother's talents, you wouldn't automatically dismiss me. You were at least predisposed to accept the possibility of knowledge you couldn't prove or explain."
    Sam nodded. "I remember at the time I thought I was just humoring a little girl with pigtails as soft as corn silk. Besides, I didn't have anything to lose. We had no idea where the kid was."
    "Sometimes things work out right."
    "Yes, they do, don't they?" The sheriff cleared his throat. "You'll end up making a believer out of Hoyston. Wait and see."
    "I don't really care if he believes me or not. Just as long as he acts on my information and keeps the vultures away," Sarah said.
    "Well, watch yourself. And be careful with that stranger fellow, too. You have any problems, you come to me."
    "I will. I promise, Sam. Haven't I been running to you for years?"
    "See that you keep on doing it, too," he told her gruffly. The sheriff pulled into the parking area behind the café and parked next to Sarah's Volkswagen.
    "Thanks for coming when I called, Sarah. Remember, you take care now, you hear?"
    "I will, Sam. I promise."
    * * *
    Despite her