by catt dahman
“Odder,” Taryn said.
“Right. Ray was hit in the head. He was almost dead before he was slashed by something, and while it could have been various weapons, it looks like someone used a hatchet.”
“He did it,” Holly said, pointing at Bill.
“Why? Why didn’t he go on and hide the evidence? Why did he come back here?” Dana asked. “The men couldn’t possibly have set off the landslide and run around and get to where Ray died. I say it’s not possible they did that much running around.”
“We did,” Bev reminded her.
“Time. You had time?”
“Are you sure?” Charlie asked.
Dana shook her head and said, “Not by any means. I am just thinking out loud.”
After they ate, they fed Bill, just in case he wasn’t guilty. Afterward, they carried stakes they had sharpened with the knives, branches to use as clubs, and their knives as they gathered wood and water, and cleaned the dishes. “I won’t hesitate if someone comes at us,” Carla said.
“I know. Me either.” Charlie brandished her spear. “But that man used a gun in the woods when he came after me. I don’t know how the pink paper fits.”
“What pink paper?” Bev asked.
“Oh, I found a sheet in the men’s campfire.”
“I threw that in there last night. Why? It was a note I had written to myself. Ron’s Loft on train 301.”
“What is that?”
“My brother. You remember Ron? He’s in the big city now, and I have to take a train: 301,” Bev said. “Why?”
Charlie and Carla laughed. Wiping her eyes, Charlie told Bev what they thought the note meant.”
Bev stared at them for a second in shock and then laughed hard. “If you had found more paper, I would have been a prime suspect? Wow. You two are terrible detectives.”
As dark began to fall and their chores were done, the women sat around the fire and talked quietly. Away from the fire, there was only claustrophobia waiting; there was a horrible vulnerability sitting there in the open. Anyone could be watching them.
The plan was for them to keep guard around the fire in sets of three with Bill, tied, and as a fourth. In the morning, they would get up and hike out with Bill carrying Taryn. They thought that, even moving slowly, they should be within range of other hikers in three to five days.
“Charlie, the truth is maybe Bill did it and the landslide just happened, and it’s a big coincidence. Like the pink paper and what was written on it.”
“Do you think so, Dana? Really?”
“No, I think we’re in deep shit, and it’s just starting, but I hope I’m wrong.”
“Me, too.” Charlie rolled over to sleep before her guard shift.
Part 2
Chapter 4
“I have to pee,” Bill said again.
Carla and Charlie agreed to take him and untied one hand. Both kept knives ready to use if he made a move to attack them. He did his business and went back to camp, tied again. This time, they tied him to a tree so he could use one hand.
“This is supposed to be eggs with bacon crumbles, onions, and potatoes,” Holly explained.
“And we have dehydrated fruit and granola and almonds. Eat up because we need the energy today to make good time,” Dana said, “and please drink a lot before we go. Drink more than the usual. I’ll get more water after we eat.”
They said the breakfast was one of the best they had eaten so far. Bill sullenly thanked them for the food. He might be a great actor, but he looked scared of the women.
Dana, Holly, and Anthea went to wash dishes and get water to be boiled and filtered so they would be fully loaded for clean water. The rest left Taryn with her eyes on Bill as they took tents down and packed up their backpacks again.
Charlie explained to Bill that they would take his food and gear and add it to theirs as well as Ray’s since they needed to be prepared for emergencies, but everything they didn’t take would be left in Ray’s pack and hidden. If the police cleared Bill, he could return and get his friend’s pack.
Dana and Holly came screaming into camp, making everyone jump.
Dana’s nose was pouring blood, and Holly was all scratched up. Both kept looking behind them as they plunged into the campsite, yelling, “Anthea.”
Holly grabbed a spear, turned, and yelled, “I’m going to get Anthea.”
“What’s going on?” Charlie asked. She yelled in Holly’s face to get the women to stop and look at her.”
“She…she….”
“Everyone freeze. What happened and where is Anthea?”
Dana pointed and explained, “We washed dishes and were headed back….” She tossed the mesh bag of dishes down. “They saved me. This man jumped me when we were coming back, and I hit him with the bag. He popped my face, and Holly grabbed me, and the three of us ran. Anthea was right behind us, and she yelped, and then we were here.”
“And she’s gone,” Holly finished.
“Holly and Bev, on duty here. If you see anything, scream.” Dana motioned Charlie, Carla, and Leila to go with her. “We’ll get the water, too. We’ll find Anthea.”
A scream opened up and then stopped suddenly. They looked in all directions, unsure where the noise had come from. “That was Anthea,” Charlie said.
They walked slowly, stopping often to listen for any noises, but the woods were quiet. Not far from camp, the others could see where the fight took place since the leaves and dirt were all torn up. Dana said this was about where she had hit a man with her bag of dishes. There was nothing to see as they walked down to the small lake. Dana got the water and slung the bag over her back, but keeping her knife ready.
As they started back from this direction, they could see the big tree that they had to go around on the trail. Carla saw the pink and lime-colored hiking boots and held out one of her arms to make her friend stop moving. She silently pointed.
Charlie let her eyes go to the tree and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Then she saw the hiking boots. Clasping a hand over her mouth, she followed the boots upwards and saw Anthea’s shorts and tee shirt. Her arms. Her….” Charlie reached out and sank fingernails into Dana’s arm.
Someone had set Anthea’s body into the fork of the tree, unnoticeable unless someone was seriously looking. Blood covered their friend’s tee shirt and shorts, and Anthea’s head had been chopped away.
“Go get back to camp, and watch. Go,” Dana whispered, her legs feeling like jelly. She wanted to stop and wail and vomit but had to get moving.
They jogged on the path and broke into a run when they heard screaming.
Holly and Bev danced in place and screamed. Taryn waved her spear, and they yelled; Bill howled with fear. They talked at once until Carla shouted for everyone to stop and explain one at a time.
“Go,” she told Bev. Everyone was staring at the round ball covered in luxurious, shining hair; it was Anthea’s head and ended with a neck stump that was covered by dirt and blow flies. Bev was sobbing hysterically.
Taryn took a deep breath and said, “We didn’t see anything really. Someone threw her…her head into camp, and we screamed when we saw it. I was swinging my spear and trying to get Bev to stop crying so hard, but then here came a knife.”
“This one?” asked Charlie as she picked up a strange knife from the dirt; it was a big Bowie knife.
“Yes. It was thrown at Bill and would have hit him right in the jugular, but with all my thrashing about, I accidentally swung the spear into its path and deflected it.”
“We found the rest of Anthea in a tree.” Carla gasped. Holly rocked back and forth on the ground. Carla wept bitterly.
Carla and Leila got Holly and Bev settled down a little, and while keeping watch, they packed up. They untied Bill because had Taryn not accidentally hit the knife, he would be dead too. Bill didn’t rage at them or blame them because he said they had to work together since he was being hunted as well.
“I’m no hero. I do what’s r
ight, but I’d prefer to turn tail and run, so we better stick together now. Some idiot is out there after us,” Bill said.
“I don’t care where we go, but we can’t stay here. We’re sitting ducks,” Carla said. She had said that they couldn’t bury Anthea or touch anything since it was a crime scene. When Bev brought up animals, she cried harder, but Carla said they couldn’t move anything.
Bill carried Taryn piggy back while the other six women carried the packs with supplies that they needed. They stopped on a bridge for lunch. From there, they could see all around. Bill, although he was carrying the most weight, set a fast pace, trying to get away from the camp where so much bad had happened. Two bodies were already at that camp.
“I know not to sit down, but I have to,” Charlie sank to the boards and lay on her pack. “It’s so heavy, and I’m so tired and….” She cried. She had to let it all out and cried hard for a good long time.
As they ate, Dana said she felt this was a game of cat and mouse and whoever was doing it, enjoyed scaring people. It was a kind of torture. “He’s playing a sick game. Who knows? Maybe some psycho came out here to play games, and we were unlucky enough to get involved.”
“I’ll kill him if I can,” Bill vowed, “and whoever did this…he needs to suffer.”
“If we cut and went along the river bank, it would be shorter; that would be through the woods along a big creek,” Bill suggested.
“But it would be without a trail? That’s too hard with your carrying Taryn.”
“She’s not too heavy.” He was sweating heavily. He looked haggard already.
Carla asked them to get back to their feet and start walk again, but it was slower than ever. They had a lot of weight, and Taryn was sorer and hurting now. They couldn’t stop crying or thinking about Anthea.
“I can’t go any farther. I really can’t,” Holly said.
It was just after lunch, and they had not gone but half what they hoped for; it would take forever to get back at this rate. Carla and Dana didn’t argue with Holly.
They asked for a little more.
A quarter of a mile later, Dana said they could camp.
There was a small clearing by the wide creek; if anyone tried to come from that way, he would have to cross the water. The other way was a little beach with an open area, so they could see a long way in all directions. They made camp and set up their tents. Luckily there was plenty of wood, so they had a roaring fire made quickly.
Charlie gathered everything for their dinner. She waited for the water to boil and got all the dehydrated food ready. They were having a soup of rice, peas, mushrooms, and corn; the creaminess of the soup would be soothing on their stomachs. In another pan, she put peanuts, chocolate chips, a dehydrated cookie and the last of the marshmallows. Some of the hot water went into the dessert.
With the elements, the physical exertion and emotional turmoil, they had to take comfort in something, and in this situation, food was all they had. Luckily, Dana approved the menu since it provided needed carbs, proteins, and other nutrients their bodies craved.
While Charlie worked on dinner, Dana made sure everyone drank more than usual to rehydrate. She added a packet into the water that contained a little salt and potassium as well as vitamins and flavor. A peach-tea mix in their water encouraged them to drink twice what they normally would which they needed. Passing it around, she asked them to drink it all so she could make another for the remaining four of them.
“I’m stuffed,” Leila said, “but I miss Anthea being here. It isn’t right. I hope this man crosses our path and we get to take some revenge.”
“We’d tie him and drag his ass with us to the police,” said Taryn.
“Hell with that,” Carla said, “I would cut him to ribbons and let him be eaten by crows.”
With the water so close, they washed the pots, sporks, and bowls and then got clean water boiled and strained with ease. By twos, they crouched at the water’s edge to bathe. Dana re-bandaged Taryn’s wounds, and with a smile, she told her that there was no infection, the wounds were healing, and with the exception of her ankle and arm, the wounds looked good. “One more day with no weight.”
“Are you sure you can do guard duty, Taryn?”
“Yep, I can. After this, I’ll take a pain pill. I may have problems getting up for the later shift.”
“We’ll manage if you can’t do it,” Charlie told her. “I wonder if this is about me? Taking people out and playing games to get to me? Before, the man in the woods enjoyed games.”
“It’s sick if he’s doing that. No matter, the bastard is a sicko. I don’t care if this related to you or not. I’m just pissed off at whoever it is.”
“I know. I’ll just…I can’t stand if Anthea died because of me,” Charlie began crying again.
Dana rubbed her back and said, “I’ll say it again: he’s a sicko.. We’ll get out of this, and I hope we get a shot at him.”
“Tell us about teaching and what Ray used to teach. Just talk about something normal,” Charlie asked Bill.
Bill talked about teaching, about his family, and about Ray, Ray’s family, and the past hiking trips. His voice calmed them and passed the time while Dana, Charlie, Bill, and Taryn had watch. At eleven o’clock, they woke their friends and traded places, falling into dreamless, exhausted sleep. At two o’clock, they went back on guard duty, not waking Taryn. Charlie felt as if she had just closed her eyes when she awoke again at eight in the morning. Six hours of sleep just wasn’t enough. They were hiking with extra weight and less sleep.
Exhaustion was settling in.
They ate oatmeal with walnuts and peaches and graham crackers with peanut butter. Dana made sure they had plenty of protein and carbs for energy and stamina and made sure they drank extra water before breaking camp.
It was a slow hike, and they stopped often to drink water and have a snack. Taryn said she felt a little better and stronger. Bill was getting used to carrying her now. The extra weight they carried was the worst part for them now.
After eating lunch, they swam a little in the creek. A wide part dropped off into a deep pool. Charlie waded in and shivered. It was very cold, but it felt wonderful on all her scrapes and scratches and on her hot, sore feet. She kicked across the water, stretching out in the icy water. Reluctantly, she left the water, dried off, put on her boots and clothing, and began the hike again with her friends.
What seemed a fun get-away that would keep her safe had turned into a nightmare of weight, endless walking, and looking forward to only the meals at night and getting a little sleep that was never enough. Frustrated, she wiped away tears.
Some of the women looked around with binoculars and said nothing was moving around them. Some large rocks blocked part of the trail, so Leila skirted around, walking at the edge of the woods for a few yards. She nervously looked up and watched the trees but then screamed and thrashed in the leaves.
The rest spun in all directions, unsure from where they were being attacked; they saw nothing coming at them. Nothing and no one were near Leila. But she was wailing on the ground, rolling and screeching.
“Keep guard. Don’t stop watching around us,” Dana yelled, “Charlie, help me.”
Charlie knelt beside Dana, and they tried to make sense of Leila’s screaming.
A bear trap was snapped on her ankle.
Part 2
Chapter 5
Charlie almost passed out from the shock of seeing the metal teeth on her friend’s leg.
Bill stepped in and said, “I read a lot. Hold that. Push here.”
He showed Charlie and Dana how to help Leila pull her leg free. Bill took the trap and let it snap back, and then he flung it into the woods. “That’s all I know. I hope you know how to do the rest.”
Dana and Charlie surveyed the wound. Leila was gasping, moaning, crying, and yelping as the pain surged. The flesh was torn open by the metal teeth of the cruel trap, and the force had broken her ankle as well. It was a very serious wou
nd.
“This is horrible, Leila, but I have to clean it. Bill, can we have some of your moonshine?”
They had Leila sip the moonshine until she was tipsy; then, Dana cleaned the wounds as Leila yelled and whimpered. Dana, hating to hurt her friend but worried about infection, scrubbed the wounds carefully. After wrapping the ankle in cloth, Dana used wooden strips to make a brace for it, telling Leila if she lost feeling in her foot or if it felt like pins and needles, to tell her so she could loosen the wrap.
Bill pointed out a spot off the trail that was under an over-hang of a bluff and protected on that side. The water was on the other side, and they only had to watch two directions.
Under the bluff, they set up tents and tried to make all of them comfortable, while adding the other tents as cover since the clouds were filling the sky.
“That’s a forty-pound trap. How did one man bring his gear and a forty- pound trap?” Bill grumbled.
“Impossible.”
Dana added, “She needs a lot of stitches. The muscles are torn up, and the flesh…she lost a lot of blood and the ankle is broken. It’s beyond what I can do.”
“You have to do something.”
“I did,” Dana said, “I cleaned it and stopped the bleeding and have it immobilized. But that is just field first aid. She needs surgery, IV drugs, and real doctors. I’m just saying I have done the best I can, and it’s not close to being enough.”
“We’ll build a travois and pull her. That way we can take turns. We’ll dump extra weight and take what we have to have such as food, water, and shelter. Medical supplies. Weapons. We may have to split up and make a run for help. I don’t know what we need to do,” Bev said.
“It’s just bad.”
Charlie shivered. Dana was always in control, yet she didn’t know what to do; that meant this was very serious. While Dana tended her patients and Carla and Bill did guard duty, Charlie, Holly, and Bev did camp chores.