“What the fuck?”
Scrubbing his beard, he kicked the door shut and stomped back to the cabin. It was too late to make the trek into town to the hardware store. Hunting through the woods for the culprit held even less appeal. He glowered at the pile of wood. It would just have to wait.
Magnus yanked the heavy door open and was greeted by a low moan and a big, brown, furry body slamming into his knees.
“And you. What kind of dog are you, Ulf? Huh?” To this day, he had no idea what mix of breeds he was, but that was beside the point. He sighed at the adoring look Ulf gave him. “You useless mutt.” Despite his grumbling, he gave the old dog a scrub on the head and a pat on the back. He was getting too old to be trekking through the woods for hours at a time and preferred to warm his bones by the fire these days. Still, with all the things going missing whenever he turned his back, he would have thought the old dog would have at least alerted him to one of the instances.
He kicked off his mud-caked boots and headed to the kitchen. Nothing there should have disappeared.
As he entered, he gave it a cursory glance, almost half expecting to find it ransacked. But everything was as it should be.
Making dinner was a simple, relaxing affair. Grilled fish that he’d caught that afternoon. Veggies that he’d grown or foraged, sautéed. It was plain and simple, but it was good. Ulf sure thought so.
With his hunger sated, all that was left to contemplate was the matter of the thief. He wouldn’t stand for his things getting taken. Whatever asshole was stealing it was asking for a beating. If they couldn’t survive on their own skills and tools,then they had no business out here. Especially this late in the year.
The bite in the air told him that snow wasn’t that far away, and that moron thought he could make it out there with a tarp, axes, and a few clothes?
At least he wouldn’t have to worry about him for too long if that was the case.
Still, it bothered him that someone was intruding on his land and helping themselves to his things. Magnus was going to do something about it.
He smiled at the dog. “I think this is going to take some stealth, Ulf. Up for a stakeout, boy?”
The dog barked and licked his hand.
Chuckling at the dog’s enthusiasm, Magnus smiled. “All right then. Let’s get to work.”
Magnus set up a few trip wires around the property since he couldn’t be sure where the thief was coming from. Meanwhile, he and Ulf waited upstairs where he had a good view of the shed and the washing line where he’d left a load of clothing pinned up. Both served as a lure that he figured would be irresistible to the lowlife.
Now it was just a matter of waiting.
Ulf huffed a gusty breath and laid his head down on his lap.
“You’re at least going to pretend that you’ll let me know if someone is out there, right?”
He received a snorting breath in reply as Ulf’s head grew heavier.
So much for his early warning system.
Magnus stroked his head and silky ears as he let out the sigh aching in his chest. It was as though he was deflating his entire being by doing so. It hurt to think that Ulf, who he’d had since he’d found him alone as a pup in the woods, wouldn’tbe with him much longer. He’d been a constant friend and companion for so many years…
He forced his thoughts away to stare out into the darkness. And just in time to hear the telltale clanking of cans as one of his wires was tripped. The one by the washing line.
After easing Ulf off his lap, Magnus wasted no time in pushing open the window and climbing onto the roof to jump down to the ground below.
Cautious as he crept closer, Magnus stuck to the shadows. He held all the advantages here, and he wasn’t going to give any up to the intruder. He was going to find out who was taking his shit, and then he was going to make sure they never forgot the ass-kicking they were going to get.
Sure enough, he found almost all the clothes missing from the line. It was only a matter of following the wire to where it was wrapped around a boot-covered foot peeking out from the quivering pile of clothing. It looked almost comical.
“Hey, asshole. You’re caught. Now stand up so I can kick your ass.”
When the figure refused to move, he growled and reached into the tangle of fabric to extract him himself. Only when he’d tunneled to the center of the pile, his hands closed around a frame that was shivering and … thin?
Was he dealing with a runaway kid?
Magnus hauled the figure out of the clothes and almost dropped them when he realized he was dealing with a girl. One who looked like she’d definitely seen better days.
The clothes forgotten, he untangled the wire from her leg so he could gather her up in his arms. She weighed next to nothing, and he was pretty sure that if he squeezed any harder than he would an egg, she’d break. How the hell long had she been out in the woods?