The body was where I left it.

The old willow oak was stained with blood. Old and new penetrated the snow down to the roots of the old tree. One of the policemen took his flashlight to shine over the frozen ground. He glanced at me for a moment at the sight of the fresh blood. Reaching to scratch at his goatee, he sighed.

"This will be interesting," he murmured.

The men were patient. They agreed to wait until I finished dressing my kill as I was almost finished. Pulling the rest of the meat wasn't the hardest part. It was the antlers. I should have taken them first, but I wasn't thinking. My only excuse was the shock from the corpse in the field. 

Seeing no other choice, I used a small bone saw to further dismember the buck until only the front torso remained. It took me a moment to hoist the hooks back down into the bucket full of bones and blood. The smell of the exposed organs had strengthened to the point that the police took a step back, covering their noses.

With the hoist out of the way, I could put the bed of the truck down to make a workspace. I would have to spray it clean later. The men simply watched as I hacked away at the head, pulling away flesh and muscle, leaving only the skull palate surrounding the antlers. I reached for one of my sharper blades to saw the antlers loose.

It wasn't long before I was done. I stowed the innards in the truck bed and latched the top shut, making a mental note to dispose of them later. Only when the meat was drowning in water and salt safely in the shed did I agree to take them to the location on my ATV. 

"We'll have to call this in," one of them said as he leaned closer to examine the hand.

I stood nearby, thankful I had cleaned up enough to put my heavy coat back on. The breeze from earlier had turned into a brisk chill with the frost already forming on the trees. Standing with my arms folded, I watched as the two men carefully moved the snow away from the body. My face unchanging, half of the body came into view.

He was naked; maybe in his forties. His eyes were wide open with a nasty looking black hole the only striking feature in his chest. Whatever had killed him was swift and clean. My mind couldn't fully register his face or any distinguishing features. I did not know this man.

A flashlight was pointed towards me. "Ma'am, I know this is unsettling, but do you recognize this man?"

"No," I said, my head shaking.

His lips squeezed together firmly before he nodded and turned to his partner. "Bill, call it in. It looks like we'll be out here all night."

"You'll freeze to death," I said.

Bill glanced at me. "We can't just leave the body here for the animals to find."

The policeman who had asked me if I knew the man nodded. "She's right. It's below freezing out here. Rebury the body and we'll go back to the cars. We can wait for back up then with the proper equipment. There's no point in standing out in the snow all night."

"Jeff, the body," Bill began.

Jeff pulled out a cell phone and dialed. "Just rebury the body. It won't be difficult to find tomorrow. Take pictures with your phone first if you're that concerned about it."

And he did. Bill pulled out his smartphone, taking hundreds of pictures of the body. The flash of every photo practically blinded me as it reflected off the snow. A picture of each finger, a picture of every scar, a picture of every angle of his face. Something for the coroner if the body was gone in the morning. 

The bleak eyes of the corpse stared at me as Bill took his photos. There was no color to them. Only the bleached shade of death to match the frozen ground. I continued to gaze into the lifeless eyes, as though I was were waiting for them to blink. Waiting for the forest to take the buck I had killed as a sacrifice for this man's life. But there was nothing. Only emptiness.

Another owl hooted from deep in the forest. My head twitched at the familiarity of the sound. Neither policeman seemed to register it.

Finally, Bill climbed out of the hole and began to rebury the body. When he was finished, he turned to Jeff, only to realize he was still on the phone with the station. He turned back to me.

"You'll remember how to get here in the morning when we return?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yes."

With a grunt, he yelled, "Jeff, if we're going, let's go. I'm freezing my balls off here!" With a flinch, he turned to me. "Excuse me, ma'am."

I waved my hand to dismiss his crudeness.

Jeff walked back towards us, his phone out of sight. "Let's head back. We can discuss what to do when we get back."

Without another word, I walked back toward the ATV. As I climbed on, my hand reached for the key. Once again, I had to press on the gas to get the engine to respond and roar to life. Only when I felt the two men had climbed on did I begin the descent back to the cabin.

Parking next to Old Blue once again, the men followed as I walked toward my cabin. Because I didn't offer, Bill asked, "Ma'am, may we come inside to ask you a few questions?"

I hesitated, but only for a moment. "Of course. But please keep your voice down. My husband is usually asleep by now."

They followed me inside, each sighing in relief when they felt the warmth from my heater. Leaving my heavy coat in the hall, I walked into the living room to grab two logs before tossing them into the fireplace. As I worked to start the fire, I heard two sets of feet follow.

"This is a nice place," Bill complimented in a low tone.

The bright orange flame started small. I blew carefully into the light to watch it grow and begin to catch. Only when I was certain it wouldn't go out did I stand and turn to see them standing in my kitchen.

"Can I offer you some coffee?"

Jeff nodded. "Yes, that would actually be really nice, thank you."

They moved to stand on the other side of the bar, back to the fire when I entered the kitchen to turn on the Keurig and grab some mugs. I did not ask if they wanted sugar or cream. I simply made the coffee. In this weather, no one was picky.

"Ma'am," Jeff began. "We'd like to ask you a few questions if that is all right?"

"What do you want to know?" I calmly asked.

Jeff pointed toward me. "Your name, for one."

"My name is Lily Rhagard"

His bottom lip stuck out in surprise. "That's a unique name."

Nodding, I agreed. "That it is."

Bill pulled out a small notebook from his jacket with a matching pen. As he flipped it open, Jeff turned to his more serious questions, "What led you to find the body?"

I set the fresh coffee down in front of them. "I was hunting, as I usually do. The buck I shot just happened to run in that direction before he collapsed."

"And that's when you noticed the body?" Bill asked.

I nodded. "Yes."

Jeff narrowed his eyes. "I assume you were the one who called the body in. When we received the call, you only gave the location. Why didn't you stay on the line to answer the rest of the questions?"

The coffee in my own mug warmed the tips of my fingers. The blood returning to them caused them to feel as though they were on fire. I lifted the mug to my lips. Softly, I blew on the hot liquid before taking a sip, essentially burning my tongue. 

My nose twitched at the fresh burn. "I was in shock. And I had a fresh kill sitting right next to your body. I was afraid I'd compromise the scene if I left him there to bleed. So I got him out of the way. I knew someone would be here eventually."

Bill wrote my answers as he nodded along. "And you're certain you didn't recognize the man in the snow?"

My lips pulled to the side as I shook my head. "I'm sorry, I didn't."

"You seem awfully calm at finding a dead body on your land," Jeff commented, his tone laced in suspicion.

"I've seen a lot in my life, sir," I said. "I was initially shocked when I found it and I'm probably still in shock. But my main concern was not contaminating the potential crime scene," I explained.

A small voice sounded from the back of the cabin.

Meow.

Setting my mug down, I moved to pick up Maddie. Her black fur stuck to my clothes as she pressed her head against mine. She purred in my arms until she realized I wasn't alone.

Ignoring the cat, Jeff continued, "It's impossible for us to tell the time of death because of the snow, but can you tell us where you have been in the last week?"

Holding Maddie in my right arm, I reached down for my coffee with my left. "My husband has been at work every day this week. I can work remotely, so I've been home. Otherwise, we haven't really gone anywhere."

"And where does your husband work?" Bill asked.

"He works at the steel mill in Lynchburg. And since you're going to ask, I work for a marketing firm in Lynchburg as well," I said.

Bill continually wrote his notes, but his eyes kept returning to Maddie. He noticed as I watched him. Sheepishly, he asked, "May I pet her?"

Releasing Maddie onto the counter, she paced the counter, begging for the attention she thought she deserved. Bill immediately set his notebook down to scratch Maddie's cheeks.

Jeff rolled his eyes. "That's all for now, ma'am. We're going to go ahead and drive back to the station. We'll return early tomorrow morning with the rest of our people to begin our investigation. Thank you for your cooperation and the coffee."

Nodding, I took another sip of my drink.

Bill continued to love on Maddie until Jeff finally lost his patience and hissed, "Put the damn cat down. We need to get back to the precinct." 

With a smile on his face, Bill grinned and nodded his thanks to me before turning to follow his partner. Maddie glanced back at me, meowing one more time before bumping her head on my fist holding the mug.

Sighing, I set my drink down and moved to sit in front of the fire. The heat felt intense on my back as I leaned down to pull my heavy boots off. The chill from outside never seemed to leave my bones as I stripped down to nothing.

I stood there, naked, feeling the heat from the flames attempt to return my body to normal temperature. Maddie crawled into my clothes, burrowing as far as she could. If I planned on hunting again this week, I'd need to wash them again. They were covered in blood, sweat, and now cat's fur. The animals would smell me from a mile away.

My body continued to shiver, despite the heat that radiated on my bare skin. I stood there, watching the flames burn away at the logs. My face was hot against the heat caressing my wind-chilled cheeks. Only when the coffee was cold and the flames nearly out did I realize how late it was.

Leaning down, I shooed Maddie away to pick up my pile of clothes and make my way down the hall. The bedroom door was cracked open as Maddie ran inside. I turned the opposite direction, into the bathroom.

Throwing my clothes into the hamper, I turned on the hot water. The last thing I wanted was to crawl into bed still tained in blood and smelling of deer urine. And a shower always helped my body return to a normal temperature after a good hunt.

As the water fell, I scrubbed the dried blood on my arms away. My mind wandered back to the stranger in the snow beneath the willow oak. His face was expressionless. It was as though he died feeling nothing. The thought was a lonely one. He must have felt something before he was shot. Maybe it was fear or panic? Perhaps he expected it.

When the water started to taste like salt, I realized it was my own tears. The shower wasn't just cleansing me of blood and urine, but of the shock as well. I sat down on the floor of the tub and hugged my knees. My breath hitched each time I tried to inhale, the tears falling faster. Refusing to make a sound, I buried my head in my knees. 

The tears continued to fall as I had a minor anxiety attack. I really didn't believe I was in shock when I was talking to the police, but I must have been. Now all of the emotions I couldn't seem to access sent me into an overdrive of panic. It took me a few minutes to finally compose myself enough to finish the shower.

I stood. Soap dripped down my body as I attempted to scrub away the stink, along with the memory. I could still feel the milky eyes watching me when I turned the water off. Inhaling one more deep breath, I stepped out of the shower towel in hand. Wiping away the steam from the mirror, my eyes were puffy from the crying.

"Did you get anything?" a sleepy voice echoed from my bedroom.

In the mirror, I could see my reflection suddenly smiling back at me. "I got an eight-point buck."

He yawned. "That's great. Come to bed!"

Rolling my eyes, I chuckled. "I'll be there in a minute. I had to wash the stench off of me. Go back to sleep!"

He had to go to work early the next morning. The last thing I wanted was to disturb his sleep. I would tell him about the body in our field tomorrow. He had a big meeting at work. There was no point in making him worry until I knew more.

The corpse under the oak wasn't going anywhere.