by J. T. Cross
At one point, Yudi pulled over and came to a stop. “This is where the tracks end. We’re inside of the forbidden area. We are farther east than anyone has gone in over thirty years,” he said.
Luc could barely make out the ATV tracks in the damp earth because rain from the night before had done a pretty good job of erasing them. “Did you guys go any farther than this?” he asked.
“A little, but there are no other tracks. This is the beginning of a long gully that leads northeast and deep into the forbidden area. We won’t go in there and you wouldn’t either if you had any sense,” Yudi warned.
Luc took out his GPS. For some reason, it couldn’t get a lock on the satellites. That was strange, he thought. It was the first time it had ever failed him. He grabbed his notebook from his backpack and added a quick drawing of the area.
He tried his compass and found it worked fine. He finished his map update and marked north on it. He felt confident he could find his way back to the campsite from that point.
In his entire life, Luc had never been lost, not even once. He didn’t have an explanation for it other than that Heart of the Hunter thing his grandfather always talked about.
“We’ll be waiting back at the camp for you. We’ll stay for two days then we’ll head back to the village,” Yudi said.
“Good luck,” Miki said.
Luc watched them turn and ride back down a gentle rise they had just climbed. The thought suddenly occurred to him that they had probably done the right thing the day before, not going any farther.
He looked up ahead and saw the gully climbing eastward. He thought it was likely the boys had gone in that direction, so he started up the slope, looking carefully around the rocky area as he rode.
The bumps and twists of the gully couldn’t extinguish the strange feeling that this was about something more than just two boys lost in the wilderness. Maybe it was the Heart of the Hunter speaking to him. He didn’t know, but sometimes it comforted him to think he might have a special gift. Maybe he should pay more attention to it, he thought. He accelerated slightly and continued deeper into the eastern mountains.
Chapter 4
Luc rode deeper into the eastern mountain range as the sky became steadily darker. He didn’t stray from the naturally occurring ravine that took him in a northeastern direction. The path he had taken so far was the one of least resistance. He could only hope it was the same one traveled by the boys. He was surprised they would have gone so far without turning back, but evidently they had.
He stopped and checked his compass. Just as he had guessed, the passage had changed direction and was now taking him almost due north. He pulled his tablet out and noted the positions of several landmarks he thought would help him find his way back.
He decided to give himself another ten minutes. If nothing turned up, he would turn around and head back to camp. With that in mind, he rode on.
After the ten minutes had passed, he stopped. A sense of frustration and sadness filled him. The idea that he could just roam the vast territory of the eastern mountains and accidentally come across the boy’s tire tracks now seemed more idiotic than he cared to admit. What the hell had he been thinking?
He got off his quad and stretched his legs then sat back down and took off his helmet. He considered his remaining options as a cold breeze blew through his sweaty hair. He knew it was past time to turn around and estimated he had about one more hour before it would be dark. If he didn’t start back soon, he would end up having to find a place to sleep. That was something he didn’t want to do in this part of the country. Just the thought of it sent a chill down his spine.
He stared off aimlessly into the distance as he rested and ate one of the sandwiches Kate had packed for him. Unexpectedly, he recognized a mountain in the distance. He felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck as he stared at it. It was capped with two peaks that formed a perfect V. It appeared to be a couple of miles to the east and looked awfully close to the picture the medicine lady had drawn.
Finding a mountaintop that matched the woman’s drawing so closely was more than he could accept as a coincidence. He decided to backtrack and look for any passage to the east he might have missed.
He finished his sandwich and again put on his helmet. After starting the quad and turning around, he began retracing his path. As he rode, he wondered about the medicine lady. Could she have been in this area before? Maybe she had heard of the odd mountain from someone else.
He rode back down the ravine for about a half-mile then stopped in an area that had earlier caught his eye. There appeared to be turnoff there, a culvert of sorts that looked like it led directly into several giant boulders. He rode into it and up to the boulders. Up close, he could now see there was a passage to the right that led around the massive pieces of granite. From farther back, it had been hidden from view.
He squeezed through the narrow passage and saw the trail open back up and lead into higher elevations. Then he saw them. Directly in front of his quad, in the soft dirt, were tire tracks.
“Yes!” he cried out. He took off up the path heading east, straight toward the V-shaped peaks.
The faint ATV tracks he followed continued for over a half-mile and ended in a narrow trough-like region. He stopped at the mouth of the trough and examined the ground. He could see the tire tracks continue up into the narrow region where the sides of the passage formed high walls.
A thought suddenly entered his mind. This would be a bad place to be cornered by a large hungry animal or whatever else roamed the area.
He scanned the walls of the region ahead. There were multiple ledges and outcroppings that would be good places for a mountain lion to perch while waiting for prey to wander in. There could also be bears in the region, not good animals to run into either, he thought.
He pulled his shotgun out of its boot and loaded a shell into the chamber. He left the safety off, something he rarely did, and placed it back in the boot. He pushed the thoughts of animals waiting to pounce out of his mind and continued on up into the trough.
He found the passage curved slightly to the north as he progressed upward. Something about the area was very unsettling, so he rode slowly, continually scanning the boulders and crevices in the walls for anything that moved or looked out of place.
In the distance, an object caught his attention. As he rode closer, he could see that it was a quad lying on its side. He pulled up to it. He cringed, as he examined the machine. It looked like something had purposely tried to tear it apart. The seat was ripped off and shredded; the tires were flattened and full of holes. Supplies, that he assumed had been strapped to the quad’s utility rack, were scattered around the area. All appeared to show bite marks.
He noticed something white embedded in one of the flattened knobby tires. He climbed off his quad to get a closer look. He examined it then reached down and touched it. It was clearly a part of a very large animal tooth. He grabbed it and tried to wiggle it free. It was too deeply embedded in the thick tire and he didn’t have the strength to get it out barehanded.
He took his toolbox off the rack and pulled out a pair of pliers. He grabbed the tooth with the pliers and gradually worked it loose. He was shocked to find it was almost four inches in length. Some big bear, he thought. He put the tooth in his jacket pocket and zipped it closed.
He stood up and examined the area. It looked like it had recently rained. Puddles of water filled many of the deeper indentations in the area.
He turned his attention to the area around the wrecked quad. It was clear to him the direction the quad had been traveling before the crash was down the trough, not up like he was heading.
He looked higher up the narrow passage and realized what had probably happened. The rider of the ATV had hit a ridge that extended out from the left side of the trough about fifty feet farther up. The impact with the ridge had launched the rider into the air. It was evident the ATV had come down hard because the handlebars had dug themselves a good si
x inches into the dirt. That was all fine and good, but it didn’t account for all the damage done to the machine.
Looking in the direction of travel, he tried to envision how the rider’s body would have traveled. He thought it likely he would have rolled and hit a spot somewhere near two large boulders that sat a little farther down the trough to the left.
He hiked down to them and noticed they formed a crevice below where they touched. There was a bloodstain in the shape of a handprint on the lower part of the left-hand boulder. In front of the crevice was a depression filled with semi-muddy rainwater. He put his hand down into the water and touched a rocky bottom.
He went back to the quad and got his flashlight then came back to the crevice and illuminated the interior. He crawled in, trying to avoid the puddle. In the light he could see more bloody handprints on the rock walls. Evidently, one of the boys had crawled in between the boulders for shelter. He crawled back out and got to his feet. If only the boy had stayed, at least one of them would have been found, he thought.
He looked back at the two boulders. Something bothered him about the puddle. He didn’t know what it was, but he couldn’t afford to spend any more time thinking about it. He needed to move on if he was to have any chance of finding the boys.
He walked back toward his quad. He felt his feet sink into the soft dirt as he crossed over a slightly raised area of earth. He stopped dead in his tracks. Now, he knew what bothered him about the puddle; it shouldn’t have been there. The water should have soaked into the dirt long ago, but it hadn’t because it was pooling on bare rock. Why was the rock bare when everything else was covered in a thick layer of dirt?
He went back to the front of the crevice and examined it more carefully and it became clear. The area directly in front had been recently dug out and thrown back from the opening, creating the soft mound he had just walked over.
Oh god, he thought. Something had been trying to dig the poor boy out. It must have been pretty damn big, too, judging by the size of the opening. Whatever it was, it had probably pulled the boy out and... He shuddered to think about what must have happened next.
He began a quick search of the area for any footprints the boys or animals might have left behind but found none except his own. The rain had done an excellent job of covering up the evidence.
On the far side of the passage he noticed something lying in between several basketball-sized rocks next to one of the walls. He walked over and discovered a backpack. He picked it up and was about to unzip its flap when a roar erupted in the distance echoing through the hills. What the hell was that? Luc wondered.
He realized he was without any firearm at all. He was getting sloppy. He jogged over to the quad and pulled out the shotgun and laid it against the machine.
He loosened the bungee cords on the utility rack and jammed the backpack in between his own backpack and tent and then re-secured things. He noticed it was getting dark. Again, the same roar broke the silence. This time it sounded closer.
Chapter 5
Luc was filled with a pressing sense of urgency. Everything he had learned so far was beginning to paint a picture, and it wasn’t a pretty one. At least one of the boys must have come upon a bear and been attacked. It seemed to fit because only a bear could have done the kind of damage he had seen inflicted on the ATV. The chance was slim that the boy had survived the attack. Regardless, he felt the need to continue the search because there were still unanswered questions. Where was the other machine?
Another roar in the distance broke his concentration. He looked around the periphery of the area and noticed a light fog was moving in. Time was running out. He needed to push ahead quickly before he lost any more visibility.
He was pretty sure the boys had been to the top, so there was a chance they might still be up there. He climbed back on his quad and decided to continue up the narrow trough area and look for more clues.
He gunned the engine and started the steep climb up. Midway to the top, he felt his tires begin to spin. He stood and leaned forward trying to keep his balance. As he crested the top, he let off on the gas and came to a stop.
He looked around. He sat at the edge of a relatively flat area from which the two small peaks extended out of the fog and made the V. Across on the far side of the mountaintop sat the other ATV. He saw no sign of the boys.
He rode to the deserted machine and saw a rifle lying next to it in the dirt with its bolt pulled back. To the right of the quad were three shiny brass shells lying in the mud. He put the shells in his pocket, picked up the rifle, and strapped it against his backpack.
This was the ultimate sign of bad news as far as he was concerned. It looked like whatever the boy had been shooting at had gotten to him before he had been able to get a fourth shot off.
This was not what he had hoped to find. He was now pretty sure that at least one of the boys was dead. The other boy, the one who had crashed farther down the hill, had probably been trying to get away from the attacking animal when he lost control.
There was nothing more he could do here, he reasoned, so he turned around and headed the quad back across the mountaintop to the other side. He slowly went over the edge and then carefully descended back down toward the narrow trough-like area.
He was surprised to find the whole area had filled with a soupy fog. Coupled with the failing light, the conditions made it hard to see very far into the distance. He slid the headlight switch to the on position and saw the area beneath him light up. He noticed the headlights reflecting off something red in the distance.
He slammed on the brakes, skidding to a stop. He felt the hair on the back of his neck standing up and sat perfectly still. He stared at the red reflection, trying to identify it. He moved the headlight back and forth and then, with relief, realized he was just seeing the reflection of the quad’s red taillight.
He relaxed. The tales of this area were spooking him, he thought. He put the quad into gear and continued down and rode a little farther then saw the red reflection again. This time, it was on the other side of the passage.
He slammed on the brakes again, this time reaching behind himself and pulling the shotgun free from the rack. The shotgun held eight rounds. Enough to drive off any animal, he thought. His heart began racing and a tingling feeling ran up his back.
The new reflection couldn’t also be from the ATV, could it? Could he have gotten that turned around in the fog? Then it moved and the single reflection became two. He realized his headlight reflected off the eyes of a very large animal. He took a deep breath and forced himself to remain calm.
It appeared to be sitting in front of the crevice where one of the boys had hidden. Whatever it was, it had probably been attracted by the smell of the boy’s blood he had seen earlier. The animal was a little too late to get a meal, he thought.
He stood up tall on the foot pedals of the quad and stretched his arms out wide, trying to make himself look as big as possible. ”Get out of here,” he yelled.
He knew most animals, when confronted by a strange creature that suddenly looked bigger, would usually turn and run. This one didn’t.
It let out a roar that sent his heart racing. That was no bear. What it was, he didn’t know. It sounded more like the roar of a lion than a bear, only deeper.
The animal didn’t move from the spot, as if to say it wasn’t going to give up its ground without a fight. It crouched even lower and began emitting a muted growling sound. He spread his arms wide again and yelled, “Get out of here. Scram.”
The animal began to move in his direction. He cocked the shotgun and started to take aim. Then, it raced straight at him, faster than he would have thought possible.
Still standing, he pumped the rifle as fast as he could and fired one, two, three rounds at the charging animal. It kept coming. It intended to jump him, he realized. Twenty feet away, it leapt into the air.
Instinctively, he dove off the quad to the left. He looked up as he fell and saw a giant cat sailing d
irectly over him, reaching down to grab him with a massive claw. It missed.
He fired another round into the underbelly of the animal as it passed over him. He hit the ground and simultaneously heard the animal emit a blood-curdling roar. That had to hurt it, he thought.
He watched it turn in midair and land facing him. He scrambled to his feet and fired two more rounds straight at it. The animal turned and disappeared into the thickening fog. What the hell was it? he wondered.
The sound it made as it ran reassured Luc it was hurt pretty bad and wouldn’t be back. He walked over to where it had stood a few moments before and looked down at the ground. He saw drops of blood scattered on the dirt. Yeah, it was hurt all right, he thought.
He decided to get the hell out of there before it got any darker or foggier in case there were more predators like the last one. He quickly reloaded the shotgun and secured it back on the ATV.
He started the engine and rode back down and out of the area. He was profoundly disappointed he hadn’t been able to find the boys, but there was just no way he could continue searching at night, especially considering the types of animals that came out after dark. He pulled out his compass and checked his direction. He began the long ride back to the campsite.
He felt relieved he was leaving the area. He rode for several minutes, wondering about the animal that had almost got him. Why was it so interested in the crevice if it had already pulled out the boy earlier? Maybe it wasn’t the same animal. The thought suddenly occurred to him that maybe the boy had returned to his hiding spot while he had been up on the mountaintop. Maybe that was the reason the cat was there.
He stopped. If there was any chance the boy might be alive, he needed to go back and check it out. He turned the quad around to begin the ride back up. In minutes, he was back in front of the crevice. He shut off the engine.