Free Keepers of the Cave by Gerri Hill Page B

anything, but that whole place gives me the creeps,” Gayla said with an embarrassed laugh. “In fact, I haven’t been there in two years, at least. If we need gas, we make a point to drive to San Augustine and do our grocery shopping at the same time.”
    “You keep saying ‘we,’” Paige said. “Married? Partner?”
    “Sorry. Husband. Dave. One of only two male teachers. He’s a history buff and loves teaching.”
    “One of two?” Paige said, hoping she showed enough surprise in her voice. “He must really feel isolated.”
    “Oh, we’ve adjusted. And we’re all great friends here. You have to be. The weekend cookouts are what keep us sane.” She leaned closer, her voice low. “Well, that and a good bottle of wine.”
    Paige laughed with her. “I hope we fit in,” she said. “We were actually looking forward to living in a small town, but now that I’ve seen it, Hoganville isn’t really a town.”
    “Oh, no. They keep very much to themselves. The first month we were here, we went into the café for a Saturday brunch. We sat there for ten minutes and no one came to wait on us. My husband went to the counter and asked if there was a problem. The lady just stared at him, her face expressionless. The next thing we know, someone comes out with two plates and puts them in front of us. Of course, we hadn’t ordered and I was afraid to eat it. We just got up and left and never went back.”
    “That is weird,” she said. “CJ will want to try it just for spite,” she said, knowing it was the truth.
    “I’ve been tempted to gather a group of us to all go together and see what they do,” Gayla said, laughing. “I’m not sure how they stay in business. Although it seems it’s only people from here at the school that they shun, which is odd. That whole community is a little on the spooky side.”
    “Unusual spooky or scary spooky?”
    “I’ll go with scary,” she said. “Did you meet Valerie?”
    Paige nodded. “Yes, she was at the cookout yesterday.”
    “Good. Ask her about the time she went into the grocery store.”
    “What happened?”
    “No, no. Get the story from her. It’s amusing now. Not so much at the time,” Gayla said with a glance at her watch. “I must get going. Let me show you your office,” she said.
    It was small, housing only a desk and chair and one file cabinet. Paige looked at her questioningly.
    “You’ll be assigned a laptop. There’s a closet over here,” she said, pointing out a door adjacent to the office. “There’s some equipment and stuff in there. Only the blues get gym, so you shouldn’t have a problem. And I’m not certain about your schedule yet. Director Avery was supposed to put all that together.”
    “How long have you been without a gym teacher?”
    “Months. We’ve done the bare minimum to meet state requirements, that’s it.” She lowered her voice. “And let’s say we didn’t exactly meet them.”
    Paige pointed to her outfit. “I wasn’t sure what to wear,” she said.
    “Oh, nothing like that,” Gayla said. “What did you wear at your previous school?”
    Paige frowned. Crap. Was that covered in their backstory? She went with CJ’s advice instead.
    “Just workout clothes,” she said evasively.
    “Yes. That’s what Carol wore. She gloated over the fact that she had on shorts each summer when it was hot like it is today.” Gayla patted her shoulder and smiled. “You’ll do fine. Check with the director about your schedule.”
    “Okay. Thank you for meeting me. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
    “Oh, sure. And once you two are settled, Dave and I must have you over for dinner. Have fun today,” she said as she turned to leave.
    “Gayla?”
    Gayla stopped, her eyebrows raised.
    “Well, we heard this...this scream last night. Some animal. It was really loud. Have you heard it?”
    Gayla nodded. “Yes. It scared the crap out of us the first few times we heard it. It’s still unsettling.”
    “What is it?”
    She