Benefit of a Doubt
By Katharine Kaufman // At Pella Crossing there are extra police cars and rangers. There are dogs and horses, people walking, and fishing in waders. There’s a great blue heron standing fluffed with her neck tucked. A ranger says white powder was found on a trail. Does he mean scattered about or in a bag? There is a car left for a few days he’s suspicious of. You should be able to do exactly what you usually do, he says, except the hound dog might bark at your dogs. Chloe hides in tall grasses and willows when anyone walks past. Every 20 inches or so, a grasshopper jumps. Jake pounces, then lies down and paws the grasshopper (as I’m untangling Chloe I hear crunch, crunch). We hear the hound bark and howl, probably over by the three lakes, West of 75th. When we are farthest from the parking lot, where the water goes into the fields, by the biggest cottonwood, a man walks out of the brush. He’s bald and has an open face, surprised. …