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My heart took off at a gallop as she darted through the back door. Did Teddy get himself into something?
“A bird ran into the window. I think it’s hurt.” Callie came to a skidding stop just inside the great room, with Teddy close behind.
She held her hands out in front of her and opened them so they were palm up, showing us what they had found.
My stomach lurched, but I kept my tone even. “That’s not a bird. That’s a?—”
“Bat!” Tina’s voice pitched high.
She backed up until her legs hit the couch, then she was scrambling up onto the back of it and pressing herself against the wall.
This woman, who always appeared so calm and collected, was freaking out. Before now, I didn’t think I’d ever heard her raise her voice.
“It’s okay?—”
“It’s a bat!” Her eyes were wide with panic.
I bit back a chuckle. “Yes. I know. But?—”
“A bat. In my house.” She snapped her mouth closed andwhimpered. “A bat’s in the house! Outside!” She pointed to the door that led out back. “You need to get it outside.”
“A bat?” Callie parroted. She and Teddy both surveyed the creature lying in her hand, still stunned. Or possibly dead, I supposed.
“Yeah. It probably just?—”
“Get. It. Out. Of. My. House,” Tina screamed as she bounced from one foot to the other, perched precariously on the back of the sofa.
So bats were the thing that shredded that calmness she always exuded. Noted.
I cocked my head to the side and couldn’t help but grin. Damn, she was cute when she was freaking out.
She glowered at me again, and rather than pushing my luck, I spun back to the kids.
“Come on, guys. Let’s take the bat outside.” I herded them toward the back of the house, snagging a dishtowel on the way.
Once outside, I held out the towel and instructed Callie to place the bat on it.
“Go back inside and wash your hands. When you’re done, you can come back out and help me if you want.”
When the kids returned a minute later, the lump in the bundled-up towel was moving. The bat was alive, and from the look of things, it was itching to be freed.
I pulled my Olight mini tactical flashlight from my pocket and nodded toward the cluster of trees that lined the back of Tina’s property.
“Okay. Follow me.” I pointed the flashlight in front of us and carried the bat through the yard.
“Don’t bats bite?” Callie paused.
“They can. If you ever see one of these again, you shouldn’t pick it up. Okay?”
Once we were near the tree line, I squatted down. “Step back a bit. I’m going to uncover it now.”
When I did, I stood and stepped back quickly. At first, it didn’t move, but after a few seconds, it slowly inched forward using its wings.
The kids gasped, totally engrossed in the moment.
It only took a few seconds for the bat to extricate itself and take off into the sky.
“He come back?” Teddy asked.
