by J. T. Cross
He began to work on the log above it. After a series of hard kicks, it gave way and he was able to push it out and away from the corner of the cabin.
Kate looked at the hole. It was now big enough to crawl through. She watched Luc push his rifle through the hole and then crawl out after it.
She wanted to tell him to be careful but was afraid to make a sound. When she got down on her knees and looked out the opening, Luc looked back in at her.
“Send Kelly and Stuart out. There’s good cover back here,” he whispered.
She helped Stuart and Kelly through the hole. Christie went next and then she crawled through. As Marcus crawled out last, Luc reached down and gave him a hand to help him up.
Luc motioned for them to all gather closely. “The people who are after us could be anywhere. We need to be absolutely quiet,” he whispered. He put a finger over his lips and looked at his kids. The children nodded silently.
“What’s our next move?” Kate asked softly.
“We need to get back to the ATVs. I don’t know how we’re going to get everybody on them, but we’ll figure something out,” Luc said.
Kate watched them all nod. At least they were out of that cabin. Now, if only Chuck could have been with them.
Luc turned and slipped between two thick branches, pulling Kelly after him. Stuart went next. Christie and Kate followed Stuart, with Marcus bringing up the rear. Within minutes, they were deep within the shadowy boreal forest.
Chapter 13
Luc led them to the south deep into the forest. He thought it might be a direction the attackers wouldn’t expect. He guessed they would probably be looking for them to leave the same way they had come in. He kept his eye on his watch as they hiked. He didn’t want to go in too far.
As they hiked through the forest, he felt a bit confused. He had never seen a forest so far north with growth as dense or high as this one. Although he saw many trees he recognized, hemlock, Sitka spruce, and Alaskan yellow cedar, there were others he had never seen before.
After twenty minutes of hiking, Luc decided they had gone far enough south. He stopped and waited for everyone to gather around.
Concerned that the attackers could be following, he spoke softly. “I think we’ve put enough distance between us and the cabins. We need to head back to the ATVs.”
“What if the people who were shooting at us have found them?” Kate asked.
“If they’ve found them, they could be lying in wait for us. We’ll have to be very careful how we approach the hiding place,” Luc said.
“I’m pretty sure we’ve been heading the opposite direction from the helicopter,” Marcus said.
“You’re right. I wanted to get us as far away from the cabins as possible under maximum cover.”
Luc pulled out his compass to check their direction again. “Whoever was shooting at us might be waiting for us to return the way we came in. I’m going to take us east instead of west before we backtrack to the quads.”
“How are we going to find them in a forest this thick? We could walk in circles forever,” Marcus said.
Luc smiled. “We hike back to the north until we hit the river. That’s our landmark. From there we go west, straight to the quads.”
“What river?” Marcus said.
“Your helicopter came down just south of the river we followed into the valley,” Luc said. He checked his compass one more time. “Is everybody ready to move on?”
Everyone nodded and he began their hike to the east. Luc tried hard to choose paths that would be easiest for Kelly. He soon found that what was easy for him could be tiring for Christie and Kate and a major challenge for Kelly.
Even with his careful path selection, the move to head east had brought additional problems. After half an hour of hiking, they had transitioned into a rockier area that was much harder to hike.
“I’m tired,” Kelly said.
Luc stopped and looked down at her.
“How tired are you, sweetie?” he asked.
“My feet are tired, Daddy. Can we stop and rest?”
Marcus squatted down next to them. “She’s been a real trooper today.”
“She’s tired,” Luc said.
“I was carrying her earlier,” Marcus said, smiling at Luc. “On the way to the cabin, she sat on my shoulders. The backpack I’m carrying is small, so I can carry her again.”
Luc was beginning to like Marcus more and more by the hour. “That would be great,” he said and picked up Kelly and set her on his shoulders.
Kelly smiled. “I got a ride!”
“Thanks, Marcus, I really appreciate that,” Luc said.
“She’s a cute one. Reminds me a lot of my two daughters, Jenny and Alissa,” he said and smiled at Luc.
Luc took out his compass to check their bearings as Kate walked up beside him. “Don’t you think we should start heading back to the north?”
Something inside told him it wasn’t the right thing to do yet. He had been relying so much on his intuition lately he decided to continue doing so.
“I’d like to put more distance between us and the cabins before we turn back.”
“You’re going to get us lost, Luc. Don’t be stubborn,” she said.
“We’re just not far enough away from the cabins yet. You’ll have to trust me,” he said as kindly as he could. Feeling pressed for time, he turned and continued toward the east.
With Marcus now carrying Kelly, they were able to make better time. Thirty minutes later, he decided it was time to turn and head north. Unfortunately, the forest to the north had grown even thicker and more rugged.
He had not expected it to change so quickly. There was no doubt it would make it much harder to get back to the river, but they were past due for turning north. He was beginning to regret not taking Kate’s advice and turning sooner.
Luc stopped the group and took off his rifle and backpack. He had an idea. “I need to try and get a bird’s eye view of the forest.”
He looked around for a good tree to climb and spotted an especially tall one that looked good for climbing. He went over to the tree and climbed to the top.
The tree towered above many of the others in the area and had been a good choice. The forest appeared to go on for miles in every direction except east. He took out his compass to check one more time, as he felt slightly disoriented being above the trees.
A few seconds with the compass put his mind at ease about their direction. Within a quarter of a mile to the east, the forest ended. It was a welcome sight.
With the new information in mind, Luc decided to continue east to where the forest ended so their trip back to the north would be easier. He quickly climbed back down to the forest floor and went back to the others.
“It looks like the forest ends just a little east of us,” he said, feeling more relieved than he let on. “After that, it should be much easier heading north.”
Luc slid on his backpack and looped his rifle over his shoulder. He continued to the east once again.
Just as Luc had said, within a short distance, the forest ended at a rocky barren area in which no trees grew. A quarter of a mile farther to the east, the forest began again. Without trees obscuring the view, it was possible to see to the north.
Luc took out his binoculars and searched for any hint of the river. The only thing he saw was a wall of trees where the barren area ended.
Marcus swung Kelly over his head and set her down gently. She ran to Luc and took his hand.
The sound of a loud boom suddenly reverberated through the area as Luc felt his eardrums react to the compressive sound waves. Luc felt Kelly tighten her grasp on his hand.
Kate stood up and stared at Luc. “What was that?”
Luc stood up and looked at the others. “I think those sons of bitches just blew up the cabin.”
“Are you serious?” Kate asked with a look of disbelief.
“They probably saw our rifles and didn’t want to risk coming in after us, so t
hey blew it up.”
“Why would they come into the valley with explosives?” asked Marcus.
“Maybe they’re just well prepared. A bullet, explosives, I guess it really doesn’t matter how they’re trying to kill us, the intent is the same,” Luc said.
“They are going to be highly ticked off when they look for bodies and there aren’t any,” Marcus said.
Luc was filled with a sense of outrage he hadn’t felt in a long time. He had half a mind to go back to try and pick them off, give them a taste of their own medicine.
He dismissed the idea quickly. There was no way he was going to leave the group to fend for themselves while he went after the attackers.
He moved the rifle to his other shoulder. “We should get moving. The faster we get back to the ATVs, the sooner we’ll be out of the valley and away from them.”
“At least we know where they are. That’s more than they know about us,” Kate said.
“They’re probably sifting through the rubble right now. As soon as they realize we weren’t in the cabin, they’ll be after us again, and they’ll probably be moving fast,” Marcus said.
Luc couldn’t wait to get moving again. “Look everybody, Marcus is right. We need to try and keep our lead. Is everybody ready to go?” he asked.
They seemed more than ready so, holding Kelly’s hand, he began the hike to the north as the others followed. He tried to set a medium pace that Kelly could cope with.
Luc looked at his watch. It read a little after noon. He was getting hungry and he imagined the others were, too. Fortunately, there were supplies on the backs of the quads and plenty of food to go around.
Staying close to the edge of the forest, Luc led them through the treeless region that lay between them and where the forest curved to the east and followed the river. It took them thirty minutes to make their way to the tree line.
Luc had no clear idea how far east they were of the ATVs. He also didn’t know how much forest they would have to pass through before they reached the river. He did know one thing, once they hiked through the trees, they would be at the river and from there, he was sure he could find the hidden ATVs.
They stayed in a tight group as they entered the thick tree line. Once inside, Luc picked up Kelly and set a quick pace. It seemed to him like they were in the forest for no more than ten minutes before they broke out the other side and saw the river. He felt relieved to see the familiar landmark, though it looked narrower than he remembered.
He gazed along the river as it flowed to the east. It continued to narrow until, not more than a quarter-mile away, it entered a forest. He looked the other direction, upstream. There was little doubt in his mind that they were east of where they needed to be.
He began leading the group back to the west along the river. As they progressed, he noticed the tree line slowly drew away from the water. They hadn’t hiked far on the smooth rounded stones of the riverbank when he spotted three large rocks protruding from the middle of the river. He recognized them immediately.
“There they are, our landmarks,” he shouted to the others.
Within a couple of minutes, they were at the place where he and Kate had ridden their ATVs up the riverbank and to the tree line. He immediately noticed there were new tire tracks in the soft earth next to theirs. Their attackers had obviously been following them.
He pointed up the embankment. “They were following us all along,” he said, his face filled with concern.
“I hope they didn’t find our quads,” Kate said.
“Everybody wait here. I’m going to go in and check things out.”
“Be careful, Luc. They could be waiting in there,” Kate said.
“I doubt that they’re still here. They were probably too busy tracking us to worry about leaving someone behind.”
He hiked up the riverbank to the edge of the trees and then to the place where he had driven into the forest. He looked down as he passed between the trees and noticed footprints that weren’t his or Kate’s. He began to have a very bad feeling about the ATVs.
He continued deeper into the trees as he pushed branches out of the way. As he got close to where they had left the quads, he began to smell gas. “Damn,” he said out loud, and then remembered that someone could be there and he might have given himself away.
He froze next to a large branch, carefully listening for any sounds of movement as he scanned the area around him. He didn’t see anything suspicious and had the distinct feeling he was alone. He pushed through a final large branch and saw the machines.
He felt his stomach drop. The shotguns and supplies that had been on the quads were gone.
He examined the ATVs more carefully and saw that both machines had been disabled, their gas lines cut, and their spark plug wires removed. His heart sank as he realized they weren’t going to be able to use the quads to get out of the valley.
Chapter 14
Victor Solanich pulled the last of the rubble from the corner of the collapsed cabin. “Where the hell did they go?” he yelled in frustration.
“Looks like they pulled one over on us,” Turner said.
Victor was beyond pissed that Moon had somehow managed to get everyone out of the cabin. He walked to where the rear of the cabin had been and carefully examined the brush.
He found a spot where the vegetation was trampled over. “They left through this area,” he said in a solemn voice.
Turner and Russell joined him and he pointed down to the crushed vegetation. He walked farther into the trees until he found several footprints in a patch of bare dirt.
“Let’s go, they have a nice head start. While we’ve been wasting our time sorting through this crap, they’ve been on the move.”
Victor led the way into the forest. The forest floor was soft with dirt and vegetation. As long as it stayed that way, he knew he would have no problem tracking the group.
He followed them south for what seemed like a mile and a half until their tracks took a decided turn to the east. Why wouldn’t Moon go back the way he had come, the path he was familiar with? He thought about that for a moment. Of course, Moon wouldn’t want to take them back the same way they had come, because he would be looking for him there.
Luc was doing exactly what he would do, go to the east then circle back around and try to get his ATVs before anyone was the wiser.
Victor laughed out loud. “They’re going to have quite a little surprise when they see the condition of their ATVs,” he said.
Victor took off at a fast pace to the east and Turner and Russell followed close behind. They tracked Luc’s party until they broke out of the trees.
Victor looked around the open area, then grabbed his binoculars, and scanned the area to the north. There was no sign of Luc or anyone else. There was no doubt in his mind that they had headed straight to the north and were probably trying to find their ATVs at that very moment.
Victor only wished he could see the look on Moon’s face when he discovered the choice adjustments he had made to their ATVs. This was going to be fun, he thought.
“Let’s move,” he shouted out and began hiking northward, hugging the tree line.
* * *
Luc stared at the sabotaged ATVs, realizing his previous plans were now unworkable. He had to come up with a new plan, and quickly, before their attackers caught up with them.
He was almost afraid to try and retrieve the backpack that he had hidden in the tree. If it was missing, too, they would really be in trouble, and it would certainly tell him something about their enemy.
Luc worked his way deeper into the trees. He searched the branches above until he came to the tree with the blackened bark, the one that looked like it had been struck by lightning.
He climbed up into it and quickly approached the cluster of thick branches where he had placed the backpack. As he got closer, he was relieved to see it was still there. He grabbed it, slipping one strap over his shoulder, and carefully climbed back down to the ground.
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He went back to the ATVs and quickly looked around the area. Everything was gone. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and he felt like hitting something.
He made his way out of the woods and back to the others. “They’ve sabotaged the ATVs and taken the supplies. They’re undrivable. We’re going to have to walk out of here on our own.”
Kate and Christie exchanged looks over the heads of the children.
He held the single backpack over his head. “At least they didn’t find this one,” he said. “I hid it away from the ATVs before we left.”
“What’s in it?” asked Christie.
“Protein bars, matches, and some climbing equipment.” He reached into the backpack. “Oh, and this,” he said holding out a satellite phone and smiling.
“Yes!” Kate said. “Let’s see if we can contact the authorities and get some help.”
He turned the device on and waited. On the display it read:
No Signal...
He waited for several minutes, wondering what was wrong. He shook his head in disappointment. “It’s not able to communicate with the satellite.” He turned it off and put it away.
“I bet it’s the ore,” Christie said, exasperation evident in her tone. “Lackland told us that the sample you brought down was putting out microwave radiation.”
“You’re probably right. Satellite phones do operate in the microwave band. We also ran into problems with the GPS system in Kate’s plane when we got too low. If we could find a place high enough we might be able to get above the interference,” Luc said.
“When you climbed to the top of the tree, did you see any nearby peaks that looked high enough?” Kate asked.
Luc remembered seeing several mountains to the north but hadn’t given any thought to climbing them. At that time, heading deeper into the valley was not on his mind.
He took off his small backpack and handed it to Kate. “Do you think you could carry this?” he asked her.