Twice a day, like clockwork, I feed all the livestock. Animals that are fed and cared for in a timely, routine manner tend to stay out of mischief. Humans however, they don't necessarily follow those parameters.
After a long day of raking, fence-building, and plant starting, the hubs and I had an early afternoon meal, dunch as I like to call it. We both needed a shower and to put our feet up, and I told him I was going to run out and throw hay to everyone before we got all cleaned up for the night.
After a particularly long week, I was so looking forward to washing all the grime off of my carcass and cuddling up next to my woodstove with a good book. It was a beautiful sixty degrees out and as I strolled to the hay shed a huge smile graced my mug as the robins tweeted and my contingent of assault cats chirped and meowed as my heralding procession.
But through the pleasant sounds my ears became aware of an unpleasant screeching. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!" the scream of a woman crashed into my ears.
There are different types of altercations among people. Sometimes arguments proceed with raised voices. Sometimes the raised voices are elevated because domestic violence is occurring.
The source of the woman in duress was five acres west of me. Through my direct neighbor's property in that direction is the estate of a newcomer. Over the last couple of years he has put in a well, dragged in some cargo containers, and built a compound out of said containers and motorhome. In our part of the world, we tend to just go about our own business and not impede on other's to dos. Unless there's an assault going on.
The screaming grew louder and louder. I texted my neighbor and asked if she heard what I did, she texted right back, "'She just screamed he hit her!'"
In seconds I was in my neighbor's back yard. One of the hardest things for me to do in the whole world is insert myself into other people's business. I dislike calling the cops. That said, once the woman started whimpering, a sound that I have only heard beaten creatures make, I was on the phone with the 911, again, for the second time this week.
Before I got done with dispatch, who informed me officers were in route, the woman went silent. Eerily silent.
It is so hard to know what to do and then have the courage to act on it. Most of my life has been dominated by a propensity to let other humans take charge, as I didn't feel like I was allowed too, or that I would get into trouble if I did take action. That mentality has been cast aside.
It took all of my will power not to run into the woods towards that lady though. She started yelling again, so I waited, with my neighbors for the sheriffs to arrive.
And arrive they did, in record time. Like twenty minutes, which for out here in the North Idaho woods is super fast! The two deputies flew in and met us at the end of the compound driveway. Well, driveway is embellishing things a bit, the new guy has a muddy trail instead of a road.
We watched, our collective breaths held, as they flew down the rutted trail to the compound. All of a sudden a word that rhymes with duck was screamed out, echoing around our valley. Through the trees we saw the man running and the deputies chasing after him.
One thing about living in the country is that it is quiet and you can hear everything, especially if the wind isn't blowing(which it wasn't). We all expelled our shared breath when we heard an officer say, "You are not under arrest, we are just going to sit you in the back for a bit."
Through the conifers we saw our neighbor being placed in a SUV and a few minutes later one of the deputies came through the trees and asked us if we would be willing to fill out witness statements.
"Heck yes I would!" I barked.
People fight, I get it, but I want that guy to know that I will not stand by and listen to assault, none of us will.
"Is she okay?" I quietly asked the deputy. His eyes were slightly crinkled in the corners, a strange thing to me considering that he was maybe twenty-five years old.
"She's alright." He wouldn't go into a lot of detail, but said aside from some scratches and broken phones there weren't any signs of visible injuries.
My neighbor, her son, and I took the witness statement paperwork and began to fill it out. As we got done the deputies both drove out of the rutted trail of a road and stopped to collect our statements.
Because there wasn't an assault in progress when they arrived and neither party would press charges, the officer's hands were tied as far as what they could do. They did thank us over and over again for calling, said we did the right thing, and if we could please let the woman use our phone if she ever showed up on our doorsteps that would be great as the couple had both destroyed their phones.
The one deputy and I stared at each other with a knowing look. Working with the public over the years has imbued some certain truths into my soul, and you recognize it in others. People who are being abused have to come to a moment and take the action to escape, you cannot do it for them, as much as it breaks your heart to see them suffering. It's a very complicated thing, but what we can do is be there to help them when they make the choice. The sad thing is that some never do, but I personally know some very brave humans who have chosen freedom from abuse, and there are lots of us out there who are ready to lend a hand when and if that time comes.
Until then, we will all be watching through the trees, and apparently the sheriff will be too, because a car from the sheriff's department showed up and parked at the end of the compound's driveway for a bit yesterday.
And on that note my dear Hive friends, I am signing off for the weekend. This Kat needs to go recharge a bit. I hope you are all safe, healthy, and having a most wondrous time.
And as most of the time, the image in this post was taken on the author's always handy in a crisis as proved multiple times this week, iPhone. The divider image was made in Canva.
