by E C Hunter
“But you’re pretty rich?”
“Well, I guess by most standards we are, but we don’t have piles of cash and gold lying around and the estates cost a fortune each year to run.”
Milly was silent for a while. “I wonder if my dad knows how rich your dad is?” Then it was Archie’s turn to fall silent. He had misjudged Milly, he had thought she was probing his family finances for her own ends, bit no. She had found another angle. Another way her father might use others for his own gain.
“Oh hell, what’s he going to do Milly? Ransom?”
“Something like that, you can be sure.” She sounded concerned. “He thinks he’s some kind of super-villain. I expect he’d rather catch you and hold you hostage.” Archie had feared as much.
Without any warning both horses stopped dead, their legs rods of iron, flanks quivering, sweat forming around their necks. Both horses laid their ears back, Milly’s horse whickered murderously, baring it’s wicked yellow teeth. The brush on both sides of the track rustled.
Chapter 25
Magnus was out for only a few seconds. As he came round he saw a boot heading towards his face in the dim light and managed to roll himself over, the boot made a brief, glancing contact with his shoulder. The man was taken off guard, expecting his foot to stop in Magnus’s face and when it carried on it threw his weight awkwardly onto his back leg, making his knee do things it wasn’t designed for. The man fell awkwardly.
With the slight lull in the proceedings Magnus’s adrenaline started to wear off a little and pain flooded his body from the myriad cuts, bruises and grazes. The big man was lumbering to his feet, breath wheezing in his throat. It was then that Magnus realised that while he was big and powerful, the man was also overweight and unfit. But he was still between Magnus and the door. As the man moved, Magnus noticed something shiny. The man was wearing combat trousers with the usual thigh pockets and protruding from one of the open pockets was the handle of a tool Magnus knew well. He knew them as mole grips, but he hadn’t a clue what they might be called in Canada, maybe vice grips. But the name didn’t matter, what mattered was a timed dive to grab the grips and make use of them.
Mole grips are a kind of plier, but the feature that sets them apart is their ability to lock their jaws onto the subject being held. The grip is released by means a lever situated under the front handle. The gape of the jaws is adjusted by means of a screw which protrudes from the rear handle. Magnus could see that the screw was a long way out – meaning the jaws were near their maximum gape. This suited his purpose nicely.
Without a moment’s hesitation Magnus leapt for the mole grips and drew them from the man’s pocket. With a deft movement of his hand Magnus opened the grips, changed his direction of travel and thrust the gaping jaws at the man’s most private and sensitive area. Magnus closed the grips and felt a satisfying bite as they locked. The effect was electric. The man was instantly still, his arms hovering uselessly. Magnus twisted the grips slightly, the pudgy face in front of him turned pale and beads of sweat began to form on the forehead. The man smelled rank and feral.
“Now” said Magnus, manoeuvring himself so that he was standing behind the man and reaching round to hold the grips “let’s set the ground rules. You will not shout, scream, faint or fall over and I will not twist, crush, squash or otherwise damage your little winky. Got it?” The man nodded earnestly. “Good, I’m so glad we are building a rapport, what’s you name by the way?” asked Magnus in a conversational tone.
“RRRichard” the man stammered “but eeeveryone calls me Dick.”
“Do they, do they indeed. Well, if you do what I tell you they’ll still be calling you Dick when this is all over, won’t that be nice.” The man nodded again, the implication clear. Magnus was beginning to see that while this man was big and strong he was also a puppy. Eager to please whoever happened to be his boss – and at that moment, it was Magnus.
“Okay Dick, you need to tell me everything about where we are, the nearest town, how many people are here, who is your boss and the layout, comprendre vous? Magnus applied just a little twist to reinforce his point. Dick nodded readily. “Fire away then”.
“Okay, my boss is Billy Murphy, this is one of his businesses, self storage, near Ingonish. At the moment there’s just two others here. Seamus and Paddy. They’re Billy’s boys, mad as hell. If they see you’ve got me they’ll shoot us both.”
“Then we’d better make sure they don’t see us hadn’t we? Have you got a car?” Dick nodded again. “Can we get to it without being seen?”
“Depends how drunk the brothers are, but the security light will come on anyway. I could go switch it off.” he added hopefully.” Magnus gave the grips a slight twist. “OOOOO K, no bad idea.”
“Any other vehicles?”
“There’s the forklift.”
“Please be sensible.”
“And a pick up. It’s the boy’s”
“That’s better, where is it?”
“It’s behind the office, they’ll hear it start and besides, they probably won’t have left the keys in it. Those boys love that truck.” Hearing that made Magnus want the truck badly but common sense prevailed.
“OK then I guess we’re not driving, anything else?”
Dick thought for some moments, thinking not being his strongest attribute. “There’s some horses in the next door paddock but they don’t belong to the boss.”
“Who do they belong to?
“Dunno, some chick.”
“Take me to the ponies Dick.” Magnus ordered.
“I can’t ride, I hate horses.” Dick was alarmed.
“Don’t worry sunshine, you’re not going anywhere.” Dick shuddered at the implication and squirmed against his captor. “Don’t worry sunshine, you’re not going to die, you’ve been a great help. Dick sagged slightly. “Trot on”.
The horses were in a paddock enclosed by electric fence. The fence itself was made of a plastic tape interwoven with strands of stainless steel wire to carry the current, the white tape making it visible to the horses. The fence was supported on plastic stakes. It was the work of a moment to drop a stake to the ground, step over and push the stake back in. Magnus awkwardly walked Dick over to the other side of the field, near the gate. In a corner under a tarp was a pile of hay bales. Conveniently a bundle of used bale strings was hanging over the gate.
“Can you tie a slip knot Dickie boy?” Dick nodded. “Righty ho, tie two, make the loops good and big. When you’re done, sit down and slip the first one over your ankles.” Magnus sensed that Dick was now happy in taking his orders from him. He pushed the locking lever away from the handle and released the grips. Dick sagged with relief but carried on making his knots. Magnus reversed his hold of the pliers, ready for a hammer blow if it were needed but Dick was fawningly grateful. Magnus stood behind him as he sat and tied his own feet. “OK big man, one loop over one of your wrists and hands behind your back please.” Dick complied and Magnus made fast his wrists with a few half hitches. For good measure he put another length of the strong polypropylene string on Dick’s ankles and wrists then dragged him to the gate post and tied him to that.
“Can you breathe through your nose” Dick nodded, not realising what that meant. Quick as a flash Magnus used a thick horse lead rein to gag him. “Sorry matey, I’m sure someone will be along just after dawn to see to the horses. Please apologise to them for me and tell them I’ll have their horse back as soon as I can.” Dick Nodded, fear in his eyes. Magnus tossed the mole grips done near Dick. “Souvenir”.
Certain that Dick was secure. Magnus turned his attention to the horses. They were a mixed bunch but there was a dingy looking roan of about 14 hands which caught Magnus’s eye. It had a calm eye and an interested cast to its ear as it watched him. Magnus walked obliquely across its front and the horse followed out of curiosity. When he reached the fence the horse stopped and nuzzled Magnus, not worried by the smell of blood and sweat clinging to him. Magnus slipped a loop of
bale string through one side of his head collar, reached round and tied the other end to the other side. He now had a crude rein. There was no bit of course which would make control a bit tricky but the horse, Flicker according to the name printed on his head collar, looked like a docile sort of chap.
Magnus lead him to the gate, nodded at Dick, mounted and drifted off slowly into the gathering dawn.
Chapter 26
“Quiet” Archie whispered, scanning the bushes intently. A dark shape moved stealthily amongst the ferns and maple saplings at the edge of the trail. A second movement caught Milly’s eye on the other side of the track.
“What is it?” Milly whispered. Archie shook his head briefly, his hunters senses locked onto the disturbance, trying desperately to spot any danger..
“Do you think these horses can walk backwards?” he asked Milly quietly.
“We can ask them.” She sat low in the saddle and put pressure on the reins all the time whispering ‘back, back, back’ to her horse. It worked, these were working horses and had been impeccably schooled. Archie looked across at her and copied. They both did a dozen or so steps and stopped. Archie pulled out his binoculars and studied the landscape in front of them. Whatever they had seen moving was now completely invisible, not a shadow or a shape to be seen. The horses however knew differently. They were still agitated, stamping and snorting.
“I’m guessing it’s one of three things” said Milly “it’s either our hirsute friends, or something to do with my dad or else Mr Tracker and his lovely assistant have somehow caught up with us.”
“Or bears.” Added Archie, still a little nervous from his previous encounter.
“Or bears, but they’ll be gone by now. You won’t have heard them go; they’re utterly silent when they know something’s not right. A small noise interrupted there musings, it was an unintelligible guttural noise, but quiet, as though it had been whispered. Almost immediately it was answered by another, this noise sounded querulous, as though its owner was disagreeing with the first noise maker. Archie smiled at Milly. Nothing else they knew of made noises like these.
“I think it may be a certain family of our acquaintance” Milly said, still smiling. “It sounds like they’re trying to reach a decision, probably about us.”
A chill ran up Archie’s spine, not of terror but of awe. It was becoming clearer that Homo sapiens were sharing the planet with another species that was far more than just another animal, far more than just another ape. It was another branch on the evolutionary tree, another tributary on the river. This type of communication was unknown in the animal kingdom, this was subtle and questioning, intelligent and thoughtful.
As they watched a shaggy head emerged from the undergrowth and regarded them with what might have been hope in its eyes. It was the younger Sasquatch. She made an impatient grunting noise and two more heads emerged. The horses stamped and fidgeted but held their ground.
“The gang’s all here.” Whispered Milly, “Wonder what this is about, they obviously want something.”
“Looks like it, and looks like little miss hairy is in charge too.” Said Archie.
“Just the way it should be.” Smiled Milly. The young female stepped from the bushes and stood in the track looking determined but slightly confused. Milly smiled at her. “Archie, hold my horse.” He leaned across and took the reins. Milly dismounted and took a few slow paces towards the creature. She held her hands down by her sides, palms towards the young Sasquatch. The Sasquatch copied her and took a pace forward. Milly stepped forward and the creature took another pace.
The creature stumbled, and sank down on one knee. After a short moment she pitched forward and lay still, face down on the track. A suspicion of noise came through the trees, almost too brief to notice. But Archie noticed it – and knew exactly what it was. It was the report of a sound moderated rifle, a noise so familiar to him that at home he would barely register it. It was quiet, that was for sure, either a very fancy moderator or it was a long way away. Archie drew his eyes from the collapsed Sasquatch and scanned the surrounding area. There was a rocky bluff emerging through the trees about 500 metres away. Archie did a quick involuntary mental calculation; it was a hell of a shot. He looked down at the tragic scene, it had all happened so quickly, he was shocked and stunned.
Milly rushed forward to the prone creature, blood was pooling under the chest, soaking into the shaggy brown hair, making it appear black and matted. She ran her hand over the back of the head, tears forming in her eyes and a burning rage in her soul. A shadow fell over her. In her grief she had forgotten the other two. The parents of this child. She glanced up with dread. How would they react to her? Would they hold her responsible? Could they even rationalise responsibility? She needn’t have worried.
Their faces were tragic. It was clear they knew death, clear that they realised what had happened. The female held tightly to the hair around the male’s waist. His huge hands dangled limp and unmoving at his sides. The female started a keening noise, faint at first but building. The male began, slightly deeper but just as heart wrenching. They released a truly appalling scent while doing it. As suddenly as it had started the keening stopped and the two animals went into action. Instinctively Milly realised that the grieving was over. It was short but intense. For an animal that relied on secrecy it was only natural that it wished to get vulnerable moments over with as quickly as possible. The grieving had been touching and heart-rending. What was to follow was utterly shocking.
The parents each took an arm of their murdered child and dragged the body into the undergrowth. Archie and Milly looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Both with tears in their eyes.
“We need to get out of here before whoever fired that shot arrives to claim his prize.” Said Archie grimly. “The shot was fired from long range but we don’t have long, let’s follow them, my dad would want to know what’s going to happen.”
“Nothing to lose I guess and even though I’d like to point out the error of his ways, I don’t think now would be a good time to meet the killer.”
“Lets just keep our distance and see where we get to. It was fortunate that the Sasquatches had to follow a route with less tree cover as they were dragging the body but it was still difficult to follow them on horseback. At times they were forced to dismount and lead the horses when the vegetation became too thick. The horses were still nervy and strung out but had started to accept their lot, albeit slowly.
It was well over an hour before the Sasquatches finally came to a stop. They were deep into the trackless wilderness of the park. Tall maples provided a dappled shade and a faint susurration from the breeze in the tree tops served merely to accentuate the silence. Archie and Milly tied their horses to trees well short of the Sasquatches and crept closer, the greeny-gold light giving everything an ethereal look. They came to the root plate of a fallen tree, fingers of dead root pointed in all directions, twisted and riven. They were able to stand side by side on the fallen trunk and peep out through the skyward pointing roots. It took a few moments before they could make sense of what they were seeing. When it finally dawned Milly clamped her hand to her mouth. Archie was silent and paled under his tan.
Chapter 27
The wrenching noise passed through the trees to them clearly. It was followed by a wet crack. The male tore through the sinews holding his daughter's arm on and it came free. Archie looked at Milly. The horror had printed itself onto her face. Another crack forced them to look back to the dreadful scene. The female stood holding the other arm. They both sat and started to eat. Ripping and tearing at the meat with teeth and nails they consumed the arms in less than ten minutes, skin, hair and all. The gleaming bone was all that remained. The male took his bone to the bank of the nearby river and started to beat it with a rock. It shattered into shards and fragments. He kept beating and pounding until the bone pieces were so small as to be almost unrecognisable. He scraped the fragments off the rock and tossed them into the river then made his
way back to the body and began to work on a leg. Archie tapped Milly on the shoulder and beckoned her to follow him. They made their way silently back to the horses. Milly threw herself into Archie's arms, tears welling and pooling on her lower lids. His own tears followed and the pair clung to each other with fierce determination.
"Why are they doing that Archie? It's so awful."
Archie thought for a while, the scientific portion of his brain taking over.
"Wow!" He said. "It's awesome, you know what it is? They eat their dead and grind the bones so that we can't find anything – it's so obvious, it's why no one has ever found a dead Sasquatch. Do you know what else? It ties in with the stories, The Yeahoh and Windigo. I've got to get some photos for my dad" Archie shrugged her off and found his camera. He was about to make his way back to the root plate when Milly caught his arm.
"Archie, is this right, invading their privacy?" said Milly forcefully.
"It's important. Science needs to know about this."
"Why does science need to know about this, tell me?" Milly made inverted commas around the word science with her fingers. For some reason this irritated Archie more than the words themselves. "These animals...no...these people have been managing to avoid us for thousands of years, don't you think we need to cut them a bit of slack, let them live in peace?"
"Milly, they need to be classified, they need to be studied, they need protection."
"They've got protection Archie, they've got the best protection there is, anonymity. If nobody knows they exist then nobody is going to hurt them."
"Look, sooner or later someone else like my dad is going to come along and discover them. Or worse, someone like your dad." Milly thought for a while, she could see the sense in Archie's argument but deep in her heart knew that these creatures needed peace and the company of only their own kind. She also knew that as soon as you give something protection you give it a value to some low-life. No, she would stand by her ideal.