“You leave at dawn and come back at…”
“I start ninety minutes early, so I take ninety minutes.”
“It’s an odd time of day for a long break.”
“Is that a problem?”
I lean back in my chair. “I’d like to get this written up and move on, Muriel. I feel as if I’m pulling teeth here. You were setting your own hours. You’re going to need to get Phil to sign off on that. But he’s going to want to know why you’re taking a ninety-minute break before anything is open. You can’t grab coffee or breakfast. There isn’t a morning yoga class. If you have a reason why you want a break at that time, just tell me and I’ll pass it on to Phil.”
She exhales and looks down at her hands, clasped in her lap. “I’m sorry if I sound defensive. I’m just…” She looks up and meets my gaze. “I don’t want to start mental-health sessions with Kendra or Isabel and I know that’s what will happen. I don’t need that. I’m handling it. I’m just…” A long exhale. “I’m struggling a bit. With living up here.”
“The isolation?”
A short laugh. “The opposite. I’m an introvert, and I’m findingit all a bit much. It’s like living in a dorm. Even in college, I lived with my parents until I graduated and got a job that would allow me to pay for my own place because I knew I wouldn’t do well with roommates.”
“Ah.”
“I brought noise-canceling headphones, but it’s not enough. I just feel…” She shivers. “Surrounded. I’ve also discovered I’m slightly claustrophobic, which is a really lousy time to realize that. When I need a break, I escape to my room, and the walls start closing in, and it still isn’t quiet. That’s another reason why I love the morning shift. It’s completely silent and the greenhouse is empty.”
“Okay.”
“Still, I need more. I’ve been going on the hikes with Kendra, and I love that…” A wry smile. “Except for the other people. I’ve been slipping out for an hour in nature. What do they call it these days? Forest bathing? I have a spot, and I go and sit there at dawn. Which I didn’t want to tell you because it’s against the rules.”
“It is,” I say gently. “I presume you go beyond the perimeter path?”
She ducks my gaze. “Yes.”
“And you go to the same spot? Just sit there?”
She chews her lip. “The same spot, yes. But I… kind of have a little setup going. A log to sit on and a backpack of stuff that I hide. I read. I knit. I pack my breakfast and a thermos of tea.” She looks at me. “I’m sorry. I know it’s against the rules. That’s why I was doing it at a time of day when I wouldn’t get caught.”
“I’m going to need you to show me the spot,” I say. “You’ll have to bring your backpack in.”
She gives a wry smile. “No more forest bathing?”
“We can work something out,” I say. “It doesn’t sound as if you need counseling unless you want it.”
“I’d rather not. Bad experience, you know? And I’m not depressed or anything. I just need time to myself.”
“Okay, we’ll see what we can do.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Does Muriel think it’s odd that Anders and I immediately escort her—after dark—to retrieve her backpack? While we’re on lockdown? She doesn’t seem to. She’s broken one of our few laws, and she seems to think it’s perfectly reasonable that we want to get her things, giving her no excuse to go back alone for them.
What I really want to do is make sure she’s telling the truth about this “forest bathing” spot. And I can’t wait until morning and run the risk she’ll sneak out and seed it with a backpack.
She leads us straight to the spot. It’s maybe a half kilometer from town, a small clearing with a log and a backpack shoved inside that log. The backpack contains a novel and knitting supplies.
“No food,” she says. “I know that would attract animals. And when I eat my breakfast here, I bring everything back with me.”
I glance at Anders, who’s prowling about. His shrug says he sees nothing to contradict her story.
“I really am sorry,” Muriel says as I shine my flashlight beamaround the clearing. “I knew it was against the rules. I just needed the time away, and I was embarrassed to admit it.”
“We’ll work something out.” I look her way. “Also, for the lockdown, we need to make some changes to your shift. We can discuss that on the walk back.”
“Am I in trouble?”
