by J. T. Cross
“Sure,” she said and slipped it on.
“I can make that fit better,” he told her. He grabbed the adjustment straps and pulled on them, taking out the extra slack.
He stepped back and looked at her. “Much better,” he said and leaned over and kissed her. He immediately wondered if Christie had been watching but didn’t look to see.
“Let’s go back out to the river,” he said and headed back down the embankment as the others followed him to the riverbank.
Whoever was after them had done a good job of following their tire tracks and footprints. To Luc, that indicated a high level of expertise. That fact left little doubt in his mind that they could be closing in on them at that moment, hoping to catch them by surprise. He was going to do his best to make sure that didn’t happen.
He pulled out his binoculars and scanned east and then west along the riverbank. There was no one in sight.
Time was running out, he had to make a decision on which way to go. Following the river to the west would be the easiest for everyone. They would eventually make their way out of the valley and back to the camp where Yudi waited. Unfortunately, the risk was just too high. They couldn’t go back that way. There could very likely be people lying in wait, ready to pick them off as they hiked along the river. It was simply too risky.
The other option was to try and cross the river and head north. Hopefully, they could find a mountain high enough that they could rise above the interference and use the satellite phone to call for help.
He decided to lead them to the north and hopefully away from their attackers, but before they could go anywhere, they had to cross the river.
He estimated the river was about around 20 feet wide and flowing fast where they stood. Trying to cross there would be a recipe for disaster. It was certainly too dangerous for crossing with small children.
He walked over to Kate and the others. “We need to head for the nearest mountain to the north. If we can get to the top of it, we should be able to make a satellite call.” He pointed toward a high mountain several miles away.
Marcus stared off into the distance at the mountain. “It looks like it might be high enough,” he said.
Luc looked back at the river, running his hands through his hair. He turned back to the group. “The only problem is, the river’s too wide to cross here. We need to travel east and look for a better place.”
“I don’t agree,” said Kate. “We lost Chuck somewhere to the west. We should be backtracking right now and trying to find him.”
“We already searched for him, Kate. He wasn’t there,” Luc reminded her.
“But, we came in from the west,” she said.
“And that’s the way they’ll be expecting us to leave,” Luc said raising his voice. “Remember, they’ve got ATVs and rifles, and we don’t even know how many of them there are. No, going to the west would only get us killed.”
Marcus looked at Luc, frowning. “East will just take us deeper into the valley.”
“I know, but I only want to take us east until we find a place to cross the river. After that, we’ll head to the north.”
Kate pointed toward the mountain off to the west that looked like its top was a perfect V. “If we go back to that mountain, the one we came in over, we’ll be closer to the rift if the satellite phone doesn’t work.”
“No. I don’t want to follow the river back to the west. We’re just too vulnerable. I’ve got a feeling we need to go to the east. And that’s what we’re going to do,” he said and turned away from Kate.
“You’re such a jerk, always have to be in charge, always got to call the shots. You make me so angry,” Kate said then turned around and began walking to the east, leaving the others behind.
Luc didn’t know what to think. He had never seen her so upset.
“Kate!” he called. “Stop!”
She kept walking, shaking her head back and forth.
Maybe he shouldn’t have turned away from her and cut her off, but he was tired of discussing things. He knew what needed to be done.
He looked at the others. “We better try to catch up with her, she could end up running right into the people who’ve been trying to kill us,” he said, taking Kelly’s hand and setting out after Kate.
They hurried and caught up to her then they hiked together in silence. Luc constantly scanned the river to the east with his binoculars for any site of the attackers. All the while, Kate refused to speak to anyone.
They moved as quickly as they could, considering it was extremely easy to twist an ankle on the round riverbank rocks. Despite the challenge, they made good time and were soon entering the forest.
After ten more minutes of hiking, they came to a spot where several large trees had fallen across the river and formed a natural bridge of sorts. Just beyond that, he heard the sound of rushing water.
He hiked past the fallen trees and discovered a little way farther, the forest floor sharply dropped away, creating a small waterfall.
The sound of the water falling against the rocks below was almost musical, he thought.
He saw several other large tree trunks that were crisscrossed over each other and briefly wondered what could have caused so many trees to become uprooted.
He hurried back to the others who were busy examining the trees that had fallen across the river. It almost looked as if the logs had been rolled together on purpose. It was better than what he could have hoped for.
“It looks pretty rotted. We’re not sure if it’s safe to walk across,” Marcus said.
“Let’s find out,” Luc said and climbed up on the logs. He carefully walked out to the middle, testing the strength of the logs as he went. He looked down through cracks between them and could see the river flowing below. He jumped up and down carefully to check the integrity of the logs. They didn’t budge. He turned and flashed them a thumbs up.
He went the rest of the way across, walking up onto the other riverbank. He noticed a natural path opened up nearby that led into the forest. Evidently, they had stumbled onto an animal trail.
Traveling along an animal trail could mean an easier hike if it led north. On the other hand, it could mean the end of them if they ran into a large enough pack of giant wolves. He crossed back to the other side and looked down at the group.
“The logs are strong enough for us to walk over,” he told them. From somewhere in the distance, he heard the lone howl of a wolf. It was the last thing he wanted to hear at that moment.
Chapter 15
Luc jumped down from the log bridge and walked over to the others.
“Who’d like to go across first?”
“I’ll go,” Kate said and walked over to the logs and climbed up. Luc followed after her, and as she started across, took her arm to help steady her.
She pulled away, giving him an angry look. “Don’t touch me,” she said softly.
He let go of her arm and she went the rest of the way by herself. She jumped off the far end and looked back at the others, but didn’t make eye contact with him.
“Keep your eyes open for any animals,” Luc yelled across to her, wondering why she was so upset with him. He also wondered if their attackers had found their tracks yet and were closing in on them.
He jumped down off the logs and went over to Christie. “Why don’t you and Stuart go next?”
“What about Kelly?” she asked.
“I’ll carry her over myself.”
She smiled at him. “Okay.”
He helped Christie up onto the logs and Stuart scrambled after her. He grabbed their arms and began walking them across the slippery logs.
They were in the middle when he heard Kelly’s voice. He turned around to see what she was up to. She was walking toward the jumble of fallen logs. Marcus was kneeling, looking the other direction as he tied his shoelace.
“Kelly, go back to Marcus right now!” he yelled.
Kelly stopped and stared intently at one of the logs.
Luc turned back to Christie. “I’m going to go back and…”
He watched as Christie and Stuart’s expressions changed to that of horror.
“Kelly, run!” Christie yelled.
Luc spun around and saw the unthinkable. A saber-toothed cat was perched on another log, not more than ten yards away. Its eyes were intensely focused on her.
He pulled the rifle off his shoulder and began to take aim at the big cat’s head, but then noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Marcus was running straight toward Kelly like a wide receiver, ready to intercept a pass. He scooped her up then abruptly changed direction, heading back toward the log bridge.
Luc refocused on the cat and was squeezing the trigger as it launched itself off the log and raced after Marcus.
He tried to take aim again but the big cat was moving too fast. In horror, he watched it leap and saw Marcus and Kelly go down as it landed on them. Marcus screamed, as the giant cat clamped its teeth onto his shoulder.
Luc ran back across the slippery logs screaming at the cat at the top of his lungs. It paid no attention to him. He jumped off onto the ground and raced toward it.
He had to shoot the cat somehow. He was close enough now. He could fire and not hit Marcus. He raised the rifle and aimed for its head. Without warning, the cat picked up Marcus and he no longer had a clear shot. He had to find another angle to shoot from.
Luc’s mind raced. If he could only get to the other side of the cat, he could get a shot off without hitting Marcus. Before he could get into position, the cat began to move. Faster than he would’ve believed possible, the cat carried Marcus into the trees and disappeared.
Marcus’s screams for help began to recede into the forest as Luc raced across the riverbank and into the trees. Abruptly, the screams stopped and there was only silence.
He froze and listened for any sound. The only thing he heard was Christie crying in the distance. He ran farther back into the forest but saw nothing.
“Marcus, are you there?” he yelled out. “Marcus!” There was no answer. He had no idea which way to search.
He suddenly thought of Kelly. Was she hurt? He turned and ran back through the trees and out to the riverbank. He found Christie holding Kelly, who was crying uncontrollably. On the other side of the river he saw Kate with her arm around Stuart.
Luc went over to them. “Is she okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. I think she’s all right, just scared half to death.”
“Go back and help Marcus. We’ll wait here,” Christie said.
Luc shook his head. “There’s no trace of him.”
“Luc, look again!” Christie insisted.
“Believe me, I tried. I couldn’t find him,” Luc said, the anguish clearly evident in his voice.
“We can’t just leave him out there,” Christie said.
“The fact that he stopped making any noise means it’s too late.” A wave of sorrow filled Luc. “We have to keep moving.”
Christie stared across the river for a moment. “Okay.”
He took Kelly out of Christie’s arms as she continued to cry. He walked back to the log bridge with Christie and helped her up. He climbed after her, and together, they crossed to the other side.
Luc wondered why she had gone over by the logs. If only she had just stayed close to Marcus. He had to talk to her. She had to understand that she couldn’t just run off like that, not in this valley. This place was just too dangerous for that sort of thing.
“Kelly, honey, I need you to stop crying. Okay?”
“Where’s Marcus?” she asked.
“Marcus is gone. He won’t be coming back.”
“Kelly, why in the world did you run back to those logs?”
“Because of Chuck.”
“What do you mean, because of Chuck?”
“I heard him say ‘help.’”
“You what?” He held up his hand to the group.
Everybody stopped. Kate moved close and looked in her eyes. “Where did you hear Chuck call for help?” she asked.
“From the logs where the big cat was. That’s why I went over there. To try and help him.”
“Here, take her. And stay here.” Luc said handing Kelly to Christie. He turned and ran back toward the log bridge. He hopped up on the logs and raced across them, jumped off, and ran back to the spot where the saber-toothed cat had first appeared.
“Chuck!” he yelled. “Are you there?”
“Help. I’m stuck.” He heard the muffled words just above the sound of the small waterfall. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Where are you?” Luc yelled. He heard a pounding sound coming from one of the logs.
What the hell, he thought.
He ran to the end of the log and discovered it was hollow. He looked inside. Three feet from the end of the log were Chuck’s boots.
He crawled into the log and grabbed his ankles and began to pull. Slowly, he helped Chuck work his way back out of the log.
Chuck slowly got to his feet. He turned to Luc and hugged him. “Thanks, buddy. I was beginning to think I’d never see the light of day again.”
“Thank God Kelly heard you over the sound of the water.”
Chuck stepped back and began to brush himself off.
“My God, Chuck. What happened to you? How did you get here?”
“It’s a long story. But I better tell you the worst part first. I ruined the ATV.”
“Don’t worry about that. The important thing is you’re still alive. Come on with me. Everybody’s on the other side of the river waiting.”
Luc led Chuck over the log bridge to the other side. He walked into the animal trail first. “I got a surprise for everyone,” he said as Chuck walked into view.
Kate began to cry and ran to Chuck. “I thought you were dead,” she said as she hugged him. “We were so worried. What happened to you?”
“Oh... I’m fine now. No need to fuss over me,” he said, almost looking a little embarrassed.
“He was stuck in a log,” Luc said.
“Like Winnie the Pooh got stuck in a log?” Kelly said.
Kate’s mouth dropped open and she burst into laughter and then tears. “I’m so glad you’re back!”
Luc watched her hug Chuck and felt infinitely relieved that he was safe. After a few moments, Kate turned away from Chuck and stared at Luc with a look of remorse.
“I’m so sorry, Luc,” she said, starting to cry again.
“Sorry about what?”
“You know. I treated you horribly. I took all my frustrations out on you. I’m so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
She walked over to him and he wrapped his arms around her. They hugged for a moment then he put his arms down and stepped back, looking at her.
“We’ve all been under a ton of pressure and in a lot of danger. All I ask is that you try and have faith in my judgment.”
“Of course. I always have. I just wasn’t thinking straight. I was so upset and worried.”
“Okay, let’s forget about it. All is forgiven.”
She stepped away from him and wiped the tears from her eyes. Luc smiled at her and then turned to Chuck. “So tell us what happened to you since you disappeared.”
Chuck wrinkled his brow and stared down the trail for a couple of seconds as if he was in deep thought.
“While you were helping Kate get across the river, the biggest ugliest bear I’ve ever seen appeared out of nowhere. It charged at me. The next thing I knew I was racing down the riverbank for my life. I could hardly stay ahead of it on the quad.”
“How did you end up in the log?” Kate asked.
Luc was curious about that himself.
“The damn thing wouldn’t give up and chased me right into the forest. The next thing I knew, the forest floor dropped out from under me and I lost control of the quad. I ended up in the river. The damn bear went right in after me.”
“Wow!” Stuart s
aid.
Chuck continued, “I managed to get out on the other bank and started running toward the logs. I thought I might be able to get underneath them and hide. While I was looking for a place, I found the hollow log and crawled in. It saved my life but I ended up getting myself so stuck I couldn’t move a muscle.”
Christie stared at Chuck with an interested look on her face. “Why do you say it was the ugliest bear you ever saw?” she asked.
“Its face was all messed up. It had no snout. It had the flattest face you could imagine,” Chuck said, shaking his head back and forth.
“And how big was it?” Christie asked.
“Half again as big as a grizzly.”
“Chuck, what you’re describing is the giant short-faced bear, the largest and fastest running bear that ever lived.”
“It sure ran fast,” Chuck said.
Christie continued. “Some scholars have said, it was so ferocious that it almost kept man from migrating into North America.
The thought of that sent a chill through Luc’s body. “We need to get moving. I want everyone to stay close. Chuck, do you think you can guard the back while we hike down the trail?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, I’ll take the lead,” Luc said and started down the trail.
Chapter 16
Luc led the group quickly along the animal trail. It had taken them almost straight north. He didn’t think he could have found a more direct path to the north if he had tried. All in all, the animal trail had been a boon.
For the better part of an hour, they had carefully made their way along the trail. At one point, they entered an area where the trail opened up into a larger area. As they were passing through the middle of it, Luc heard something that made him stop.
He would have sworn he heard a snort. He motioned for the others to stop and be quiet. He waited a moment. Then they heard an even louder snort.
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Luc said. “Be ready to run.”
They listened carefully, but the sound didn’t return. He was just beginning to relax when the sound of wolf calls echoed in the distance.