...But Verify

A story of Josh & Argos

The first Josh & Argos story: The Cost

The second Josh & Argos story: Two Hard Days

In the formerly united states, Pennsylvania, June 2036

Josh woke up that morning and rushed outside to vomit. After breathing hard for a few seconds, he wiped his mouth and went to the nearby stream to clean his hand off. And he kept coughing at that awful acid taste lingering in his mouth. Once back inside the cabin, he pulled a glass of water from the tank of his ceramic water filter.

He sat down, sweaty, shaky and exhausted. He’d been up in the middle of the night with diarrhea and had vomited just before going to sleep last night. This was starting to look serious. He needed help, but he was in no condition to bike into town.

Josh looked out the open cabin door to the pickup truck outside. That was “spoils of war” from about a month ago when three Mexicans had tried to rob his cabin. He hadn’t had time yet to really learn how to drive. If he were feeling ok, he might risk it for the trip into town, but as a novice driver, feverish and nauseous, driving the twenty-odd miles into town seemed like a bad bet.

Josh stuck two fingers into the corners of his mouth and whistled as loud as he could. A minute later, Argos came in the door. Argos was a robot, about 3 feet tall with a body about a foot wide and a grappling arm attached near the front, Argos was shaped roughly like a large dog. He was dark grey-green with a few spots of chrome.

“Hey boy,” Josh said, then coughed and cleared his throat. “See any trouble last night?”

Argos swiveled his grappling claw back and forth like someone shaking their head.

“Ok, good. So, could you carry me all the way to town on your back?”

Argos retracted the grappling arm and sat still a moment. He then repeated the “no” gesture.

“Yeah, didn’t think so. Boy, we’ve got a problem. What have I got? What have I got?”

After surveying what tools he had available in and near the cabin, Josh decided his best bet was to build a litter. He remembered a lot of the tools and techniques he’d need from his time with Trail Life as a kid.

He had rope and sturdy blankets, but he’d need some long poles. He described the specs to Argos and asked if he knew where something like that was. Argos nodded and Josh grabbed his hatchet and saw and followed, stopping frequently to lean on one of the trees.

Half an hour later, Josh and Argos dragged two ten-foot-long poles back to the cabin. Josh got some more water and sat down to rest. Most mornings, this would be routine work, hardly worth stopping for. Today, though, he was having trouble staying on his feet. After a break, he dug around and found an extra blanket, not something he’d be needing for another four months or so.

Josh really wanted to, needed to, just go lie down. But he knew if he didn’t get help soon, that rest could be a fatal mistake.

After another hour and a half, including a few stops to rest and one to vomit up what little was in his stomach, and Josh had what looked like a functional travois. He tugged at several of the knots to test them.

He turned to the robot, who was standing nearby, another set of ropes making a crude harness around his middle.

“Ready to try this on?”

Argos nodded. Josh pulled his creation over to Argos and looped the securing ropes around each pole. Argos took a few steps and it held tight. Josh told him to run halfway up the drive and back. The robot did so and the travois was still attached.

Josh pulled out his hot plate, heated up some canned soup, and ate as quickly as he could. His stomach rebelled even at the thin soup, but he had to try to get something inside of him. He then refilled his water bottle, grabbed a thin blanket, and curled up on the travois.

“Get me to Camersville, Argos. Stay out of sight if you can.”

As Argos started off down the gravel drive, Josh pulled a baseball cap over his face. With no demands on him for the moment, he figured he might as well try to rest.

The next several hours were mostly a blur to him. He was never fully out, but neither was he really awake. The ride could hardly be called comfortable, but he was so drained, it didn’t matter. He recalled later that he stopped Argos at least twice so he could roll over to the side of the travois and retch, although not much came up.

Briefly, he dreamed, and for a moment, his dreams called back the last time he’d seen his father alive, heading out the door to work, a wry smile on his face as he said he’d see them for dinner tonight.

But mostly, he was in a half-conscious haze until Argos rapped on one of the poles with a leg to wake him. He pulled himself up and saw they were on Broadcast Hill on the outskirts of Camersville. It was evening, but there was still light in the western sky behind him.

Josh took a drink from his water bottle, got shakily to his feet, and told Argos to go hide nearby in low-power mode.

He stood unsteadily and tried to think where he’d find help. Finally, he headed for the grocery store halfway down the hill.

---

The Food Lion was still running, although no longer under the corporate umbrella and with greatly reduced selection. They were just about to close when a feverish sixteen-year-old boy with shaggy blond hair, dirty with dust kicked up from the road, stumbled in, choked out, “Sick. Need help,” then collapsed.

---

Josh woke up in a bed in an unfamiliar room. The walls were light blue. What he could see out the window looked like he was on the second floor, maybe late in the morning. He realized he was in strange clothes, some kind of robe—hospital, he was in a hospital.

Why was he in a hospital? He still felt tired, and his thinking was fuzzy. And ow! That pounding headache did not help!

And there was a needle going into his arm with a line snaking up to a plastic bag hanging from a metal stand.

He called out, “Hello?”

A minute or so later, a redheaded girl about his own age poked her head in the door.

“Hey, you’re awake!”

Her smile was cute.

“Hi. I’m in…I’m in a hospital?”

She stepped inside. Her hair was pulled back into a braid about halfway down her back. She was wearing light blue scrubs. They muffled her figure, but for just a moment, Josh’s eyes rested on her chest.

She didn’t appear to notice. “Yes, someone brought you in last night passed out. You were seriously dehydrated. If you’d waited another day, you might not have survived.”

Josh licked his lips. His mouth felt dry and sticky. “Are you my doctor?”

The girl laughed, a bright, musical sound.

“No. No, I’m not.”

Josh smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I’m still not really here. Dumb question. You’re a nurse?”

“Not that either. I’m a candy striper.”

“A…candy stripper?”

She laughed again, and for a moment, Josh’s headache went away. She stepped around to look at the arm where the needle was taped in.

“Striper,” she said. “I’m a candy striper. I guess it’s kind of an old term, but I like it. That’s a teenaged nurse’s assistant.”

“Oh.” Now Josh’s face went red.

“How are you feeling?”

“Ok, I guess. Really thirsty.”

“Yeah, you would be. I’ll be back with some water.”

And she left. Josh watched her walk out, then lay back on the bed and closed his eyes again for a minute. He was starting to remember yesterday morning, building his litter and telling Argos to bring him in.

He hoped that litter wasn’t too much trouble for his robot finding a place to hide.

The girl came back with a cup and a pitcher full of water, which she set down on a tray nearby. As she handed him the cup, she said, “You’re Josh Hartlove, right?”

“Yeah.” Josh was a little confused. He didn’t have any kind of ID.

“Someone at the store last night recognized you,” she answered his unspoken question. “They said you do some work for the mayor sometimes. I think he might be coming by to check on you.”

“Oh, okay. What’s your name?”

“I’m Isabella.”

“That’s a nice name.” Josh clenched his jaw and winced. He wanted to punch himself. What a stupid, generic thing to say here.

But Isabella just smiled and said, “I have to check on the other patients. See you round, Josh.”

As she was walking out, Josh said, “Hey, wait!”

She poked her head back in the door, and Josh realized he had no real reason for her to stay. “Um…where are my clothes?”

Isabella stepped back in. “I think they went to our laundry. They’ll probably be sent up here later today.” She made a grimace. “I think you made a mess of your pants.”

Josh’s mouth dropped open. Why did I ask?

She tilted her head and gave him a small smile. “You were very sick and barely conscious. It happens.”

“Did you…?”

“No, I was not on duty last night. I’ve got to get moving. Catch you later.”

After she left, Josh put his face in his hands. The first thing she knows about me is that I shit my pants.

After dwelling on his humiliation for a while, Josh looked around for something to occupy himself. There was a TV in the corner of the room. With nothing else to do, he found the remote and started flipping channels. He eventually found a movie he’d watched once or twice back home. It was about a group of thieves who get betrayed by one of their own after completing a heist, then have to track him down and steal back the gold.

Josh lay back and watched the movie and dozed a little.

About the time the credits were rolling, there was a light knock at his door.

“Come in.”

Isabella opened the door a crack. “You okay for a visitor?”

Josh worked the remote and raised the head of his bed so he could sit up.

“Sure.”

“The mayor,” her voice seemed a little sour on those words, “came to see you.”

A minute later, a hulking man a little over six feet tall wearing a dress shirt and tie, though no jacket, came in, followed by the redheaded nurse’s assistant.

“Hey guy, how’re you doing?” he boomed.

“Better, apparently. Still pretty washed out.”

“And how’s your family?”

“Well, sir, both of my parents are still dead.”

The mayor nodded sagely. “Thought that was the case. Just seemed worth checking.”

Josh saw a look of indignation on Isabella’s face. He jumped in before she could say anything.

“It’s okay. It’s just kind of… It’s our thing.”

Now she was giving him weird looks.

The mayor carried on, ignoring this exchange. “So if I’m told right, you showed up on foot at the grocery store last night half dead. The doctors said you were dehydrated. Looks like you’d been losing a fight with some kind of virus.”

Josh said, “Yeah, I got sick the night before. Once I realized how bad it was, I got in here as quick as I could.”

While they talked, Isabella worked on switching out the bag of saline solution on the stand next to Josh.

The mayor pulled up the chair from the corner. “You live a good ways out of town, right? How’d you get here in that shape?”

“I…uh…you know, it’s all really a blur,” Josh said. “Maybe I hitched a ride part of the way. I can’t remember.”

Josh didn’t know why he wanted to keep Argos a secret, it just felt safer.

Mason nodded. “Well, glad you made it. If what this one tells me is true,” Isabella squinted angrily at him behind his back, “you wouldn’t have made it another day without help.”

Josh just said, “Yeah.”

“They say you should stay here another day under observation. I’m going to cover your hospital bill, okay bud? Thank God it’s not like they used to be.”

Bill? Josh hadn’t even thought about that part yet, but of course there’d be a bill.

“Um, thank you, sir. I…what do I owe you?”

“Just show up when I need you, okay Josh? Men like you are in short supply. Can’t afford to lose one.”

The sixteen-year-old sat up a little straighter. Did he say men like me?

The mayor stood. “I need to get back in to the office. Stop by before you head home, okay?”

Josh smiled, “Will do, sir.”

As Mayor Mason left, Josh watched the expression on Isabella’s face.

“He’s really not a bad guy. He takes good care of the town, as far as I can tell.”

Her expression softened as she turned back to him. “If you say so. He just rubs me the wrong way.” She paused. “He was right. You’re supposed to stay here tomorrow at least just to keep an eye on you.”

“Are you here tomorrow?”

“Yeah. I’ll see you on my rounds.”

Josh smiled. “That would be—oh, uh…”

He was suddenly struck by an urgent need.

“What’s wrong?” She came over next to his bed.

Josh looked at the needle in his arm and at the stand it led back to. “I, um, I need to go.”

Isabella looked confused a moment, then her face lit up. “Oh. Oh! The nurse said that’s good actually! Yeah, let me help you. You’re not at full strength yet, and that stand is going to be awkward.”

Josh found out she was right. His legs felt weak, and he was a little wobbly. She walked with him over to the bathroom in the corner of his room, and thankfully waited outside it while he peed.

His crisis of bladder dealt with, on the way back to his bed, Josh was more aware of her hands on his arm, and how it almost tingled. And…was she wearing perfume?

As she walked him back, Isabella said, “So you live outside of town?”

“Yeah, in a cabin in the woods, me and—” He cut himself off suddenly.

“You and…who?”

Josh climbed back into bed, again berating himself internally.

“No one.”

She stood back and put a fist on one hip. “Come on. You were about to say someone. You and who?”

Josh tried to think of some way out of this.

“A girlfriend?” she asked.

Now back in the bed, Josh shook his head quickly. “No, no.”

“A boyfriend?” she said, tilting her head and squinting at him.

“What? No!” Josh jumped a tiny bit in the bed.

Isabella smirked and shrugged. “Alright then, keep your secrets. I have to go deliver some medications around the floor and then I’m out for the day. I’ll stop by tomorrow before you check out, okay Josh?”

“Um, yeah. See you then.”

Josh sank back into his bed after she left. It could’ve gone worse. “A boyfriend?” She doesn’t actually think that, right?

Most of the afternoon was uneventful. Josh watched a couple more movies, drank lots of water, ate just a few bites of his supper: chicken, mashed potatoes and green jello. He wasn’t sure how much he’d have eaten even if he had an appetite.

The nurse (not candy striper this time) who checked on him that evening told him the virus was mostly out of his system and what he was feeling now was just recovering from dehydration.

He slept like the dead that night and the next morning, he ate a little more of his breakfast.

About nine o’clock that morning, the doctor stopped by. He was a balding man with a white goatee and gold wire-rimmed glasses. After checking Josh’s chart, he said, “So, you live a good ways out of town, is that right?”

“Yes, sir.”

The doctor asked. “By yourself?”

Josh nodded. “Yes.”

“In that case, I’m going to recommend you stay here one more day. You’re still recovering, and if you’re not fully back on your feet, well, it’d be easy for something to go badly wrong.”

Josh bit his lower lip. He was getting antsy being cooped up in this hospital room all the time. He looked longingly at the treetops visible outside his window.

The doctor caught his look. “I know, son. Nobody likes being stuck in a hospital room for days. But most people prefer it to being dead.”

Josh smiled. “I guess so. Hey, you guys have any books around here? I’d like something other than TV.”

The doctor made one final note on Josh’s chart. “I’ll mention it to the nurses. We’ll see what they can find.”

About half an hour later, a nurse stopped by with a few paperbacks they had around. There were several cheap romance novels, one thriller about a guy being chased by corrupt agents of the federal government, and…a small one by some guy Stephenson about operating systems. Or, at least that’s where it started. It went all over the place. Josh read it in a little over an hour, put it down and thought about it, then started reading it again. He fell asleep partway through.

Josh woke up to the sound of the room door opening. He turned to see Isabella walking in.

“Good morning, Josh. How’s it going?”

“Cooped up inside. Glued to a hospital bed. Still, better than being dead, so…”

“Yep, nobody wants to be here. Better than the alternative though. You think you could switch to this chair a minute while I change out your sheets?”

Josh got up and obliged. He noticed he wasn’t nearly as washed-out as yesterday.

“You know,” she said as she pulled off the old sheets and blanket, “my Aunt Sue works in the town hall. She said you stop by every once in a while, do some work there.”

Josh wasn’t sure what to say here. “Oh.”

“She said you’re really good with computers and technical problems.” She bundled them up and tossed them in a rolling hamper out in the hall.

Josh smiled. “Oh, cool.”

Isabella came back in with a neatly-folded stack of replacement sheets.

“So you live a ways outside of town, by yourself, right?”

Josh nodded.

She started stretching the new sheets over the mattress and Josh tried not to watch her movements too closely.

“How’d you end up there?”

“It’s my uncle’s cabin. I was trying to join him, but he never showed up. I don’t know where he is…if he’s okay.”

And then he told her how two and a half years ago, his dad had caught a stray bullet when he unknowingly drove into the middle of a gang fight. And then six months later, his mom had caught pneumonia and died without good medicine. And so he came this way looking for the cabin his uncle had told him about.

Isabella was sitting on the edge of the remade bed now, listening.

“Oh God, your mom…if that had been just a year or so earlier, or now?”

Josh bit his lip and looked away. “I know. Everything fell out exactly wrong.”

“I’m glad you made it through.”

Josh stood up to get back in his bed, and she stepped out of his way.

“Yeah. My uncle had a lot of food and stuff stored away. By the time it ran out, I was figuring out how to take care of myself.”

“I’ve got to do the rest of the beds in this ward. I’ll catch you later today, okay?”

Isabella left, and Josh watched the door a minute after she was gone.

A nurse brought by his lunch an hour later, and despite it being inarguably hospital food, Josh found he was starting to have an appetite again. Half an hour after he finished, Isabella came by to pick up his tray and check on his saline bag.

As she was switching out the saline drip, Josh asked, “So what kind of things do you do here?”

“A lot of things, actually. I don’t think it used to be this much, but it’s almost like an apprenticeship now. I help out with basic patient needs like mobility, make sure everyone gets their pills, a whole list of minor duties. I’m here two or three days a week and in school the other two or three.”

She ducked out to the hallway quick, and came back in with some books in her hands, “I got something else for you. Here.”

She handed him a few collections of crossword and sudoku puzzles.

“I know you’re probably going crazy being stuck here. Maybe these will distract you.”

Josh grinned at her. “Thanks. Do you have a pencil?”

Isabella opened her mouth to answer, but her face fell, then she looked chagrined.

“I do not. I’ll bring one by before I head home for the day.”

When she brought it, Josh asked, “Are you here tomorrow?”

“No, but I could stop by before you’re discharged. I think you’re probably leaving about noon.”

“Yeah, that’d be cool.”

Josh spent the next couple of hours alternating between crosswords and sudoku. He liked how they worked different parts of his brain. Eventually, he flipped back to the TV and watched some sci fi space exploration shows.

The next morning after his breakfast, a different doctor stopped by, checked over his chart, asked how he was feeling, and cleared him for discharge later that day.

Josh read a little of the thriller novel. It passed the time, but wasn’t too exciting.

Again, he watched some movies, this time an old sci-fi flick about a spidery black alien stalking and killing a mining crew on a spaceship. He fell asleep a little before the movie finished.

Josh was standing just on the other side of Broadcast Hill. He whistled a three note sequence, and a minute later, Argos came running up, still dragging the travois behind him.

“Good boy, Argos. I guess it’s time to. head back home.”

From somewhere, he heard a feminine voice say, “Hey there, sleepyhead!”

Josh shook himself awake. Isabella was standing just inside the door. She was wearing jeans and a green tank top with spaghetti straps. Josh looked around in confusion a minute before he realized he’d been dreaming and hadn’t left the hospital yet.

He blinked at her a moment. “Oh. Hi, Isabella.”

She smiled at him. “I’m off the clock. Call me ‘Izzy.’ So, uh, Josh…who’s Argos?”

He stared at her open-mouthed. He must have talked in his sleep.

“Is he your dog? You were talking like he’s a dog, but…”

“Yes! Yes, he’s my dog. He helped me get into town.”

Isabella stepped over right next to him. “But…where is he? You didn’t just leave him out there?!?”

Josh’s mind raced, trying to come up with some way to patch this story together.

“He’s with a friend.”

“Why didn’t your friend bring you here?”

Or

“Yes, I just left him out there. He’ll be fine.”

“You didn’t even ask about him? Your dog? Who saved your life? Are you some kind of psycho?!?”

Or

“Oh, nevermind, I don’t have a dog at all.”

“What? Then why did you say you did?”

He couldn’t find a way around it. There really was no lie that was going to work here.

Josh looked at this cute, redheaded candy striper steadily for a moment.

“Isabella, can you keep a secret?”

She stepped back from him, turned her head just a bit away, and pulled her brows together, never taking her eyes off him. Then she stepped back in closer and raised one eyebrow, pursing her mouth to one side.

“What kind of secret?”

“It’s nothing bad, I promise! I just…” He’d never even thought about telling someone else before. “It’s a secret.”

“Is this going to get me in trouble?”

Josh thought carefully, then answered drawing each word out, “I don’t think so.”

She glared at him angrily for several seconds, then burst out with a grin, “Okay, fine. I’ll keep your secret, Josh.”

Josh nodded and thought some more. “I think…I think I’ll have to show you.”

This got him another deeply skeptical look from Isabella.

An hour later, Josh was checked out of the Camersville Hospital. He sat on a bench just outside the lobby doors. Isabella said she had a ride for them and she’d be right back.

Josh leaned back on the bench and drank in the warmth of the sun and the breeze across his face after being in the hospital for a day and a half. He wasn’t used to being indoors that much.

Soon, Isabella rode up on a light pink, seated scooter wearing a helmet with splattered neon designs. She raised the visor and said, “Hop on. I only have one helmet, but you said we aren’t going far, and I’ll drive careful, okay?”

Josh both loved and hated the idea of getting on the scooter behind Isabella and riding pressed up against her.

“This is your ride?”

“I’m only fifteen, Josh. Did you think I have a car? I had to save up for eight months just to buy this. Now hop on.”

As Josh was about to get on, Isabella met him with a serious look.

“We’re going just outside town over Broadcast Hill, right?”

“Yeah.”

“My older brother Liam knows where I’m going and who I’m with. If anything happens to me…he and his friends will deal with it, okay?”

Josh shrugged. “Fair enough.”

Reluctantly, Josh got on the scooter behind her. He sat there awkwardly with his arms at his sides. “So how do I stay on?”

“Just hold on to me, okay?” She side-eyed him through the corner of the visor. “But keep your hands where they belong.”

Josh squeezed his eyes shut a moment, then wrapped his arms around her belly. He couldn’t help but notice how soft and tiny she was. Completely unbidden, an image sprang to his mind of him standing between Isabella and robbers like the ones who had attacked him last month. He shook his head to clear it of this nonsense.

Isabella nodded, and they drove out of the parking lot. On their way through town, Josh looked at the clean sidewalks, the red-brick two story houses that lined so much of the street, the churches they passed, both old and modern, and he thought about how lucky this little town was to have been spared much direct damage in the breakup wars. He was glad that some places came through alright, and wondered how much of the country was like this and how much completely wrecked.

Isabella shifted her weight for the turn around the fountain in the city square, drawing his attention back to the sensation of her back against him. He took several short, sharp breaths to steady himself.

When they started up Broadcast Hill, the scooter lost a little speed under two passengers against a significant slope, but they made it up to the top and, at Josh’s direction, she pulled over and found a spot to park on the left shoulder.

Josh walked a little off into grass at the side of the road, Isabella following a few steps behind him. He whistled a three note sequence. A minute later, he saw Argos coming out of the brush a hundred yards or so further off the road. It looked like he’d managed to pull the travois off.

Josh took a deep breath and suddenly felt a little wobbly. He almost fell over and cried out. Isabella apparently hadn’t noticed the robot yet, and caught Josh’s arm to steady him and help him back up.

Then Argos started rushing towards them full tilt. This was not how he usually acted when Josh called. What was…?

Josh looked over at the girl and understood. Argos had interpreted her grabbing him as hostile.

Now Isabella saw the robot coming and shrieked in fear, clinging to Josh’s arm with an entirely different intent.

“Argos! Stop!”

The robot stopped dead still about thirty feet off. The grappling arm, with its secondary camera, turned from Josh to Isabella and back again.

“She’s not a threat, boy. She’s a friend. Sit down.”

Argos put its hindquarters down like a dog sitting.

Josh turned to Isabella. Her eyes were wide with shock, fixed on the military robot. Not a great start, he thought.

“Isabella, this is Argos. He’s my friend.”

She looked from Argos to Josh and back again, mouth open, forehead crinkled with fear.

“Josh, that’s a—“

“I know.”

She stepped back behind him. “Do you know what they can do to people? I’ve seen videos.”

“It’s ok. He’s not going to hurt you. He was just worried you were hurting me. It was a misunderstanding.”

He turned to the robot. “Argos, come here. Shake hands with her.”

Argos walked right up to them and reached out the gripping claw.

Isabella, still crouched behind Josh, looked again from Argos to him. “Are you crazy?!?”

Although, rationally, Josh understood her fear, he couldn’t keep a note of hurt out of his voice. “He’s my friend. He’s saved my life more than once. He’s not going to hurt you.”

Josh reached out and “shook hands” with the robot. Argos then extended his claw towards her. Josh stepped aside and Isabella, trembling, reached out and shook as well.

“See? It’s alright.”

Isabella stood there open-mouthed, not answering. Josh’s mind had moved on to practical matters. Mostly to himself, he said, “I’ve got to find that sled to get back home. Argos, can you show me where you left the sled?”

Argos nodded.

“Ok. Isabella, could you wait here a minute?”

She blinked a couple of times, then gave a small nod.

Josh followed Argos into the brush. A few minutes later, he and Argos came out, dragging the travois between them. He found the girl sitting on the grass, arms around her knees. When he and Argos approached, she looked up at them, her face still tense with fear.

Looking down at her, Josh realized he’d moved on too fast. He sat down cross-legged facing her.

“Argos, go wait over there.” He gestured towards the brush. “But don’t power down.”

After Argos walked a distance away, she looked up at him.

Very quietly, she asked, “So, out at the cabin, it’s you and…?”

“Argos? Yes.”

“And it’s your friend?”

“Yes. Probably my best friend right now.”

He could see her shoulders loosen and her breathing slow with each answer.

She looked over where Argos stood waiting silently.

“And it won’t hurt me?”

Josh weighed his words carefully, wanting to be honest but not alarm her, “Not unless you present a threat to me.” He looked away from her a moment. “He can and will hurt people then.”

She let go of her knees and sat cross-legged like him. He could hear in her voice as the scales tipped from fear to curiosity. “How long have you had it?”

Josh looked over at Argos and smiled. “About two years now.”

She tilted her head as she looked at Josh. “How did you get him?”

“That’s a long story, and I should get headed back home if I’m going to make it before dark.”

He stood up and held out a hand to her. She accepted and stood facing him.

“Hey Izzy, thank you for taking care of me.”

He put his arms around her, and after a moment’s hesitation, she hugged him back.

“I’m coming back into town next Friday to see what Mr. Mason needs help with. How about I get you lunch and tell you the story then?”

She stepped back and smirked at him. “Well that’s one way to get a date.”

Josh stepped back, trying to keep his face blank.

She grinned at him. “Yeah, I’ll see you then, Josh.”

The End