The Seventh Taking: A Mountain Mystery

by BJ Bourg

  “What’s wrong, dude?” I asked.

  Charlie jerked his arm away from his face and sat up. “What do you mean, What’s wrong? Brett’s dead! We’re lost! And I don’t mean the kind of lost where you can’t find your car in the grocery store parking lot—I mean the kind of lost where you die! We don’t have any food, we don’t have fire—we don’t have anything to help us survive this hellhole! Oh, and let’s not forget the giant leaf devil thing that’s trying to kill us. Great idea coming out here to look for your idiot ex-girlfriend who went and got herself lost or taken or whatever happened to her. Now we’re the idiots who are going to die along with her.”

  I felt my blood starting to rise, but I took a moment to consider where he was coming from. I finally said, in a calm voice, “I understand we’re lost, but we have to stay positive. If we lose our cool and panic, there’s a good chance we won’t survive. My dad always said no matter how bad you’re losing a fight, always act like you’re winning.”

  “This is not a boxing match where you win a trophy. Out here, you die!”

  “We’re not going to die.”

  “How do you know? None of us thought Brett would die when we came out here, but he did! You can’t tell me we won’t die. You don’t know what’ll happen to us.”

  I nodded, trying to choose my words carefully. I needed Charlie to remain calm, even if it meant lying to him. “I’m sure there’s a search party out there right now looking for us and it’s only a matter of time before they find us. Don’t forget…the park rangers have an excellent record of finding missing people.”

  “Excellent record? Ask Joy and those other kids about their excellent record. I’m betting they don’t share your love for the rangers. We’re going to end up like them—lost forever and no one will ever know what happened.” Charlie looked around. “We need to find something to write on, so we can leave a diary. Maybe when they finally find our bodies—”

  “Look, dude, you can’t think like that. You have to stay positive.” I walked over and slapped his back. “We can do this. We’re survivors. How many times have you and I tackled the swamps and survived? Just you and me against the elements. We’ve always come out on top. We’re invincible.”

  After a long moment of neither of us saying anything, Charlie shook his head. “Poor Brett. I never knew anyone who got killed—like murdered.”

  “Yeah, that doesn’t happen much in Mathport.” I sighed. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, his blood is on my hands.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s all my fault. It was my stupid idea to come out here and search for Joy. I don’t know what I was thinking. What made me think I could do what hundreds of trained people couldn’t do?” I plopped to the ground beside Charlie and shook my head. “I dragged y’all into this hell with me, and now Brett’s gone—and for what? We’re no closer to finding Joy. For all we know, she’s dead, too. This was a horrible idea.”

  We both sat quiet for a long moment. Charlie broke the silence.

  “You didn’t drag us out here. We both wanted to come. Hell, this was a free vacation for us. I would’ve never had a chance to come out here if it weren’t for you.” Charlie nodded his head. “You know, you were right—what you said earlier. We can do this. We’re invincible. But we have to plan to be here for the long haul—in case help doesn’t come right away. We have to figure out what we’ll do about food and shelter.”

  I punched his shoulder. “Now that’s the Charlie I know.”

  Charlie grabbed his rucksack and dumped it on the ground. “Let’s do an inventory, see what supplies we have.”

  I followed his lead and dumped the contents of my rucksack near his. Together, we had a bag of beef jerky, two cans of peaches, a fork, a light sleeping bag, a small first aid kit, a seventy-five-foot length of half-inch nylon rope, two cans of mosquito spray, a water-damaged camera, saturated posters and maps, and two empty water bottles.

  “You have the punch knife, and I have Jezebel,” I said, “so we have a couple of weapons for protection.”

  “But a knife is no match for a gun—or a bear.” Charlie walked toward the edge of the forest and began searching the ground. “We need to find a couple of stout sticks that we can sharpen into spears and maybe make a bow and some arrows.”

  “Good idea.” I joined him.

  It didn’t take long to find two straight sticks that were about six feet long and as thick as my wrist. I went to work on mine, and he worked on his, chopping at one end of it with our knives. When I had fashioned a sharp point on my stick, I stabbed it into the ground and it penetrated the soft mud about six inches.

  “This’ll work,” I said.

  Charlie finished his spear soon after and hefted it in his hand. “We’re ready for bears, wolves, and whatever else this wilderness has to offer.”

  “Now we need to prepare for Leaf Creature.”

  Charlie scrunched his nose. “Bows and arrows like the good old days?”

  “Yep. We need to be able to shoot back at it.” I searched the ground carpet until I found a green limb that was flexible, but stout enough to serve as a bow. While I did that, Charlie worked on shaving some straight twigs for arrows. I notched both ends of the limb to set the string and then carved finger grooves at the center. Next, I cut three feet of rope, tied a loop at each end, and attached it to the bow. I plucked it when I was done and nodded my approval. “We were built for this kind of life.”

  “That thing’s so tight you could play it like a harp.” Charlie grabbed it out of my hands and admired it. “This is better than the ones we built as kids.”

  “It’s a good piece of wood.” I surveyed the arrows Charlie had whittled from the straightest branches he could find. “Not bad, but where are the feathers?”

  “I’ll make a run to Cabela’s in a minute,” Charlie said.

  I laughed and then shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to make due. What other choice do we have?”

  We placed our weapons on the side and began repacking our rucksacks. I was about to toss the can of mosquito spray in my bag, but stopped and hefted it in my hand. “Dude, I didn’t get bit by a single mosquito since we’ve been here.”

  Charlie cocked his head sideways. “You’re right. I didn’t break my spray out once.”

  I shrugged, then dropped it into my rucksack. “I guess they don’t live around here.”

  “So, what do we do for food?” Charlie asked. “In the long term?”

  “We can share your bag of beef jerky for lunch and eat my two cans of peaches for supper.”

  “And then?”

  I didn’t know, so I just ignored the question.

  “Well, here’s lunch…” Charlie tore open the bag of beef jerky and handed me a few pieces. Grateful for the savory shreds of dried meat, I took my time chewing each one, knowing it might be the last piece of meat I would eat in a long time—maybe even the rest of my life. As soon as the thought entered my mind, I dismissed it. I had to stay positive. In boxing, if you became discouraged, you started making mistakes and you could get knocked out. You had to stay positive, no matter how bad your circumstances were. The stakes were much higher in our situation, so that meant it was even more important we stayed positive.

  After I’d eaten the last of my beef jerky, I stretched and pulled my rucksack over my shoulders. My back didn’t ache as much as it had the day before and I was grateful. Charlie was still chewing on his beef jerky when we set off again. He carried a spear in each hand and I carried the bow and three arrows.

  I led the way and began counting my paces again. Each time we approached a bend in the river, I held my breath, hoping we would find some sign of human life when we rounded the curve, even while fearing we’d run into Leaf Creature. And each time, I blew the air out in frustration when we encountered nothing but more of the same and sighed in relief that we didn’t encounter that creep.

  We kept walking until the sun was well into its western slide behind the distant m
ountains. An hour earlier, I had begun looking for the perfect spot to camp for the night, and I finally found it. Some large rocks lined the opposite riverbank and just beyond the rocks a giant concave was carved into the side of the mountain. A number of boulders were positioned at the entrance to the concaved area and would offer excellent protection from marauding animals and would keep us out of sight of Leaf Creature, if he was tracking us.

  “Look there.” I pointed. “That’s the perfect camp. It’ll keep us dry if it rains, and those giant boulders should shield us from any wild animals lurking around and give us cover if we have to fight Leaf Creature.”

  Charlie tromped across the river and climbed over the rocks. I followed him. When we entered the concave area, I realized it was cut deeper into the mountain than I’d first thought. It looked like a shallow cave.

  “This is bigger than I thought,” I said. “And there’s no way a falling tree can get to us in here.”

  “You’re right, Abe. I like it. It’s dry and secure—like a fort.” He looked around. “If only we could make a fire.”

  “Building a giant fire right at the middle of the opening would definitely keep us safe from wild animals, but it might attract Leaf Creature.”

  “I think those rocks will block out the light,” Charlie said. “Besides, I’d feel much better with fire. More secure.”

  “I agree.” I dropped my rucksack and dug through it until I found the rope. Palming Jezebel, I cut a two-foot piece.

  “What’re you doing?” Charlie asked.

  “See if you can find some dry twigs, leaves, and pine needles. I’m going to try something I saw in a hunting magazine.”

  Charlie did as I asked, and I walked along the riverbank until I found a solid piece of tree bark, a flexible stick about eighteen inches long, and another stick about a foot long. I placed the tree bark on the ground near the opening to our new home and carved out a small notch in the center of it. I pointed to it. “Put the leaves and pine needles there.”

  Charlie dropped a handful of dried and cracking leaves on the bark around the notch. I carved a blunt tip on one end of the foot-long stick and set it aside. I then made a small bow out of the eighteen-inch stick.

  “You making a kid bow?” Charlie asked.

  “Not quite.” I picked up the foot-long stick, placed it alongside my bow and twisted the rope around the foot-long stick. I was almost ready to get to work. I looked around.

  “What do you need?” Charlie asked.

  “A piece of flat rock.”

  Charlie walked around and quickly came up with one. “Here.”

  I placed the tip of the foot-long stick into the notch on the solid bark, secured the top of the stick with the flat rock, and began sawing back and forth with my bow. With each stroke of the bow, the foot-long stick spun like a top and the tip rubbed against the notch, causing friction. I sawed vigorously. Back and forth. Faster and faster. My arm burned, my hand ached, but still I sawed. I grew excited when I saw a puff of smoke start to rise from the bark.

  “You’re getting it!” Charlie shouted. “Keep going.”

  I sawed even faster, spurred on by hope. “Blow on it!”

  Charlie dropped his face close to the pine needles and began blowing softly. The smoke drifted away with his breath. My arm screamed. I felt the bow starting to slow. I grunted as I sawed through the pain. The pain faded to numbness, and my arm stopped obeying me. It started to slow down on its own and the bow slipped clumsily out of my hand, falling to the rocky ground. I stood and shook out my arm, groaning as a million molten needles pierced the underside of my skin.

  “No,” Charlie shouted. “No! Why’d you stop? We were almost there.”

  “My arm just quit.” I tried to rub away the pain, but it wasn’t working.

  Charlie snatched up the bow and fumbled with the flat rock and the foot-long stick. He tried his best to keep the tip of the stick in the notch and get into a rhythm, but it was no use. “How do you do this?”

  Feeling was starting to seep back into my hands. “It’s not as easy as it looks.”

  Charlie nodded and, after several futile minutes of trying, tossed the bow to the side. “What’s the name of that hunting magazine?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t remember.”

  “Find out because when we get back home, I’m suing them.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. Charlie had gone to my rucksack and removed the two cans of peaches. He tossed one toward me. I reached for it with my right hand, but it bounced off my stomach as my arm refused to move as fast as I told it to. I picked it up with my left hand and took a seat on a smooth rock. I cursed myself for not buying the large cans of fruit, then popped the top off. I dumped the contents in my mouth and ate it all in one gulp. After swallowing the sweet fruit and drinking the juices, I tossed the can near my rucksack.

  Charlie turned his empty can upside down and stared at it. “That’s the last of our food.”

  I walked outside and looked downriver. The thick forest made it difficult to see for any great distance, but there was a sliver of an opening where the river cut through the mountains and I could see sharp peaks accentuated against the orange glow in the western sky.

  “The river leads west,” I said.

  “Yeah, earlier the sun was to our back, and then on our left, and our right. This river curves more than my sister’s hair.” Charlie frowned, staring off in the distance. “I never thought I’d say this, but I really miss that little redheaded brat.”

  “So much so that you regret telling her she was adopted? Or that she’s not a real person because she’s got red hair? Or that your mom and dad tried to sell her for a glass of whiskey when she was little, but nobody wanted her?”

  Charlie’s face lit up and he began laughing. It was the first time I’d seen him happy since yesterday, and it made me feel good. “No, I don’t regret any of it. Seriously, she used to scare the crap out of me when she was little. That little snot would be crawling around the house making strange noises, drooling everywhere, and she’d stare at me with this strange look on her face.

  “I used to think her drool was venom and that she was trying to poison me with it because she would always follow me around, trying desperately to get her spit on me. She had some evil intent going on in that noggin of hers. I’d even lock my door at night because I was afraid she’d catch me in my sleep.”

  “I’d be scared, too.” I stopped for a second and forced myself to imagine we weren’t lost, Brett wasn’t dead, Joy wasn’t missing, and we had all the food we could eat. If that were the case, this would be an awesome place—it would be paradise. I turned to Charlie. “We’re staying here.”

  He looked confused. “What do you mean?”

  “We’re no more than a day from the trail. If we’re walking in the wrong direction, we’ll just keep traveling away from civilization and deeper into the wilderness. We should camp here during the night and scout the area during the day to see if there’re any cabins nearby and to see if we can run into the search party.”

  “What search party?” Charlie asked.

  “I’m sure they know we’re missing by now,” I said.

  “How would they know that—for sure?” Charlie challenged.

  “Because the last time my dad heard from us was Saturday night. He’s definitely called it in by now.”

  Charlie folded his arms across his chest. “Do you remember Space Camp?”

  I scowled. “You didn’t even know me when I went to Space Camp.”

  “I didn’t have to. Your mom tells that story to everyone who’ll listen. How they dropped you off at Space Camp when you were nine with instructions to call every night, but you never called once. You think they expect anything different from you at seventeen? Sorry, buddy, but they won’t start looking for us until we don’t show up at the end of the week. We’re on our own for at least four more days.”

  Although I didn’t like his assessment, I couldn’t argue. I nodded towar
d the cave. “This is the best shelter we’ve seen yet. I think we should stay here and wait for the search party that will eventually come for us. If we keep walking, we may be outrunning them—and we stand a good chance of running into Leaf Creature. Out there, we’re vulnerable, but here, we’ve got a fighting chance. What do you think?”

  “We need food, and if we don’t get it soon, we’ll die before they even start looking for us.”

  “We’ll get food,” I said with more confidence than I felt.

  “How?”

  “I’ll think of something.” The orange glow in the distance was slowly fading to black. I turned into the cave, which was much darker now. “Let’s get settled into our new home before it’s too dark to see.”

  Charlie and I placed our rucksacks on the ground next to each other and kept our spears close by. We stretched out and stared up into the blackness above us. I closed my eyes and felt my muscles begin to relax. It felt nice to be able to sleep and not worry about waking up with a giant tree on top of me or a bear eating my leg—

  Rocks rattled somewhere toward the river’s edge and stirred me from my semi-unconsciousness.

  “Abe,” Charlie asked, his voice a hoarse whisper.

  “What?” I opened my eyes, couldn’t see a thing.

  “You don’t think this is a bear’s den or Leaf Creature’s cave, do you?”

  CHAPTER 12

  I jerked to a seated position. More rocks crunched out by the river, getting louder, which meant it was getting closer. Whatever it was, it sounded really big.

  “Abe, that’s the man! He’s here to kill us.”

  I reached around in the dark for the bow, but couldn’t find it. I felt the spear, so I snatched it up. I opened my eyes wide and even squinted, but it was no use. I couldn’t see a thing. “Can you see it?”

  “What do we do?” Charlie asked in a hushed tone. “Should we attack him? Should we wait for him to come in? What should we do?”