I wondered if I should wake my dad and ask him to take a look but I was still so angry with him that I couldn't bear to talk to him.
A light tap at the window almost made me scream. I backed away as my heart pounded and fumbled for a knife in the block. My hand closed on the handle of a big kitchen knife and I held it before me, my hand trembling slightly.
The tapping came again and I opened my mouth to yell for my parents.
"Katy?" Lincoln called softly from outside. I finally remembered to breathe as I recognised his voice and lowered the knife.
"Linc?" I replied as I stepped closer to the window.
"Could you give me a hand out here?"
I frowned at his odd request but made my way to the front door to see what he wanted. I still had the knife in my hand but I decided to keep it with me until my heart rate made it back down to a normal level.
I eased the front door open and blinked out at Lincoln. He was smiling in a relieved way and beckoned me further outside.
"There's a possum out here with a bit of wire caught around its neck. I've been trying to catch it so I can help it out but I'm just going round in circles on my own," Linc explained.
"Oh, sure." I quickly stuffed my feet into a pair of old sneakers that were lying by the door and shrugged my coat on.
I stepped outside and followed him towards the hedge between our yards. He pointed and I bent down to look where he was indicating.
A huge possum sat beneath the bushes and glared at me as I spotted it. There was a piece of metal fencing caught around its neck and a dark stain seemed to indicate that it had been bleeding at some point.
"I've got some wire cutters. If I can just get to it, I should be able to free it but I need you to help me corner it."
"That thing is fricking massive," I said as I stepped a little closer. I wanted to help it but I really didn't wanna risk getting close to those teeth.
"Scared of a little possum Katy?" Lincoln laughed. "I thought you were tougher than that."
"I saw a psychic once who told me death by possum was a distinct possibility for me." I smiled as I started to move towards the terrified creature. I noticed the knife still firmly in my grip and stabbed it into the dirt by my feet before continuing towards the possum.
Lincoln talked to it in a low, reassuring voice as he inched towards it. I closed in on it from the side too, blocking its escape route.
The possum hissed at us as it tried to back up further but the hedge was too dense behind it for it to make an escape.
"It's okay little guy," Linc said softly as he started to reach for the jagged piece of fencing. "I'm here to help." He caught the edge of the wire and instead of freaking out, the possum stilled.
With a few quick cuts from his bolt cutters, the wire came loose and the possum was freed. It shook its head in surprise and made a chattering noise that sounded like it was pleased. We stepped away from it and it slowly walked out onto the lawn.
With a final glance at the two us, the possum turned and scurried away towards the street.
"Death by possum obviously wasn't your fate after all," Lincoln said as he started to head back towards his house. "Thanks for your help."
"No problem." I smiled and went back inside myself.
I returned to the kitchen for my cupcake and glanced back out through the blinds to see Linc sitting on his porch. I wondered why he wasn't heading inside and glanced at the clock; it was nearly two in the morning.
I searched the fridge until I found the stash of cupcakes and grabbed a second before slipping back outside. I crossed my drive and moved through the old gap in the bushes which had never fully grown over since the old days when Linc trod the path daily.
He was sitting with his head leaning back against the railings and his eyes closed. I hesitated, unsure whether he might have dozed off.
"I'm not that easy to sneak up on," he said quietly.
"I thought your possum saving skills deserved a reward," I said as I sat beside him and held the cupcake out.
"It's nice to know I'm good for something," he replied as he accepted it.
"Oh come on Staff Sergeant, you're obviously good for more than just that. I have to say I'm surprised that you're doing so well in the Marines though."