Deputy Larson said, “I’m not exactly sure yet, but once we get to town I’m sure we’ll get some answers.”
“We’ll follow you, Deputy,” Troy said as he climbed in on the passenger side of Craig’s truck. Craig jumped in behind the wheel, put his seat belt on and followed the deputy’s truck out of the drive.
“Damn!” Craig exclaimed. “What in the world could’ve happened? I bet the goofy bastard didn’t put his safety harness on when he was climbing out of that tree stand and fell. Sheriff probably found him walking around out in the woods like a nut job after banging his head.”
The two men traded theories on the way into town about what could have happened. Troy speculated that Phil simply got turned around when the sheriff found him. They hoped though, that Phil at least had his hunting license on him. Troy took the opportunity to show Craig around as they followed the deputy. He pointed out the ski resorts and the roads that led the hotels and shopping centers. They pulled up to the hospital and parked. Troy climbed out of the truck and walked around to the front where Craig waited on him.
“I’m guessing this hunting trip will leave a lasting impression on him and the sheriff.”
Craig suddenly had a puzzled look on his face.
“You don’t think that whoever attacked your cabin the other night could also have attacked Phil in the woods? I’d sure like to find out just who the hell it was!” He continued, “I just hate a coward that hides.”
“Nah, no way,” Troy said. “I can’t imagine anyone doing something that stupid with a man that has a rifle and watching everything that moves in the woods. That’s just asking to get shot.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. It’s just weird as hell. I’ve hunted with him ever since we were kids and I’ve never known him to fall out of a tree stand or trip and fall to the extent of getting his ass lost. I don’t know what to think really. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
+++
Phil sat on the edge of an examining table in the emergency room of Hawthorn County Medical Center. The sheriff stood in the corner of the room listening to the doctor as he examined Phil. The physician was asking him a series of questions about his name and dates, obviously looking for signs of a concussion. After a few minutes, a nurse returned with a set of x-rays.
“Good news and bad news for you, Mr. Morton.” The doctor looked intently at Phil over the top of his bifocals for a brief moment and then turned to Phil and said flatly, “The good news is it’s only a mild concussion. The bad news is you’re probably going to have a hell of a headache for a while. I can give you something for that, but you’re going to want to lie down and rest. That means no hunting for a few days. I don’t want my handiwork to pop loose for any reason. I only had to use a couple of stitches so they shouldn’t leave much of a scar. We can take them out in a week to ten days.”
“What? No way, doc!” Phil pleaded, with a look of total disappointment on his face. “I’ve come all the way from Oklahoma to hunt with my buddies! These out of state tags and licenses aren’t cheap! I’ll take it easy I promise, but I’ve only got a few weeks before I have to head back for work. I planned on hunting and doing some fishing.”
“I understand, but as a doctor I’m recommending a few days of rest. Your pupils aren’t dilated and you seem to be walking just fine. No other issues I can see, but it’s going to take a little time to recover completely. So, do this for me because I know you’re not going to stay out of the woods. At least be sure to come back and see me in a few days and when you leave here today if, for any reason, you don’t feel right, if you start having vision problems or more headaches get here right away. No alcohol and no driving either. Got it?”
Just then Deputy Larson, Craig, and Troy walked into the ER.
“Sheriff, I rounded ‘em up and brought em in,” the deputy said with a smile as he stepped into the room.
“Hey Phil, what in the world did you do? Fall out of your tree stand?” Craig asked him when he saw him sitting up.
“Nah, no way! I’d never fall out. I always use my climbing harness… unlike you,” Phil replied.
“Well, what did happen to you?” Troy asked.
“That is the million-dollar question,” Sheriff Blaine interjected.
Troy and Craig only then noticed the sheriff and introduced themselves.
“Sheriff, I’m Troy Turner and this is Craig Morton. I live out on Hawthorn Lake. Phil and Craig got here yesterday to stay for a couple of weeks to do some hunting. Appreciate you bringing Phil up here. We’ve been out in the deer woods looking for him all day. Got pretty worried when we couldn’t find him.”
“Pleasure’s all mine, Mr. Turner.” The sheriff shook the men’s hands and continued, “Seems your friend took a bad lump on the noggin. I found him wandering around in the woods out by the county road that leads up to your place. He had ad blood all over his face and head. From the way it looked, I thought he had been in an argument with a mountain lion or something!”
“I must’ve been a sight to see,” Phil said. “I can’t remember, but I swear someone must have hit me from behind!”
“I’ll say!” Craig joked. “You’re a sight to see when you ‘don’t’ have blood all over your face. And besides, who could have sneaked up on you in the woods?” Craig asked incredulously as he turned to the sheriff.
Troy turned to the sheriff and asked, “Sheriff, not sure if you know anything about a report I filed the other morning about someone throwing rocks at my cabin in the middle of the night, but I wonder if this might be related? Any idea if these two things could be linked?”
“Oh, I don’t think so. I’d be at a loss for motive. I’d think if it were an attack by an animal he wouldn’t be here right now to tell about it. He doesn’t have any other signs of an attack by a bear or lion. Nah, I’m betting that your buddy here tripped and hit his head. I might come out there tomorrow and take a look around if you don’t mind though…long as this snow will let up a little anyway. The weather reports said we could be getting a foot or two of fresh powder.”
“I don’t have a phone at the cabin yet, but my cell works through my internet when I’m there. As long as the dish isn’t frozen over with snow or it isn’t raining too heavily anyway. That keeps it from working. The weather plays hell with it.”
“I understand. I have a dish for my television too. Cable doesn’t go out of town very far and without my dish I’d go nuts,” the sheriff laughed.
“Just let me know when and I’ll make sure I’m there to meet you,” Troy replied. “The boys came up to hunt whitetails so we may be out in the woods. Probably come in about noon for some lunch though. Why don’t you come out about then and I’ll have something for us to eat and some coffee on.”
“Sounds like a plan to me, Mr. Turner. Appreciate the offer.”
“Please, call me Troy. Mister is way too formal for me,” he laughed as he turned to his buddy, “So, when are they springing ya, Phil? Where’s your gear?”
“That’s something that’s really bothering me! When I woke up, I didn’t have it with me and I looked everywhere for it! I just can’t remember what happened exactly.”
The doctor finished up with dressing Phil’s laceration and turned to the men. “He’s about ready to be released now. The nurse will have a few papers to sign first and then you can get him home. Now, as I told him, my orders are plenty of rest, but I know you hunters all too well. At least rest as much as possible and nothing too strenuous or that headache might get a lot worse.”
“Thanks, doctor. We appreciate your help patching ‘ol Phil up. He’s getting older so he’s obviously getting clumsier every day,” Craig joked.
The doctor turned and walked out the door speaking over his shoulder, “You bet, fellas. That’s what we’re here for. The nurse will be right back. Take care, gentlemen.”
As the sheriff and Deputy Larson left the room the nurse came back in with the necessary paperwork. Phil signed where she asked him to and then
told him that he was free to leave. Once the nurse left the room Troy looked intently at Phil.
“What the hell really happened out there? I know better than you tripped and fell”?
“I gotta tell ya, buddy - it beats the hell out of me. I’m not lying about not remembering what happened. I don’t think I tripped!” Craig exclaimed. “I mean, think about it. If I had tripped, most likely I would’ve landed face down with my arms out to break my fall. Right? Unless I possibly slipped going down a slope and fell backward, but I just don’t remember anything at all.”
Craig walked over to the window and opened the blinds to check out the weather.
“I don’t know, man. It’s just weird as hell. I’ve taken plenty of falls before, but never cracked my head on soft, damp dirt enough to get knocked out!” Phil said.
Troy replied, “I think someone or some ‘thing’ cracked your ass! The question is who or even why? We need to go back out there and take a look around in the morning. We need to find your rifle too.”
“Damn! I completely forgot about that! That’s my baby. We’ve got to find it. Maybe we can find it tonight?” Phil asked.
“I’m thinking we had better get on the road real quick if we want any chance of finding that rifle tonight! The snow has let up, but still, even out there in the thick of the woods it’ll be heavy in places. Let’s get going,” Troy said.
The men quickly headed for the door as Phil put on his coat. They climbed into Craig’s 4X4 and sped out of the parking lot making a beeline for the cabin to get the Polaris. The snow had stopped, but it was dark and cold. The men would have to hurry to find any tracks in the snow at all. They talked about where to start looking and agreed that the best place would be at Phil’s tree stand.
Chapter 9
The county road out to the cabin was fairly empty and the men passed very few vehicles along the way home. Phil kept repeating the story of shooting a really nice buck, climbing down to track it and then nothing, but pitch blackness. After a few minutes they all sat in silence thinking about what may have happened and hoping that they would be able to find Phil’s rifle. Troy was the first to break the silence.
“Well, maybe we’ll get lucky and find that rifle tonight. Craig, let’s get back and jump on the Razor and head out to his tree stand. Phil, do you feel up to leading us out there? Maybe it will jog your memory when we get there?”
“Oh yeah, I don’t think that’ll be a problem. That’s a very expensive rifle and I’m not about to let you two knuckleheads go it alone. Besides, the headache is mostly gone now and I’m afraid if we let lay there all night the scope may freeze up and break some of the optics.”
“It’s going to be a pretty tough go of it to find it at all,” Craig chimed in. “No telling where you were when you fell. The sheriff said he picked you up on the county road and that’s got to be at least a half a mile from where you were hunting if not further. The way I figure, we could start at your tree stand and see if you maybe remember where you shot that buck and go from there. If you can’t, then we look for signs of blood on the ground. The snow isn’t too deep yet out here in the open areas so maybe deeper in the woods it will be more sparse and easier to see.”
The three friends agreed that if they concentrated their search efforts between Phil’s tree stand and where the sheriff picked him up they should have a pretty good chance of picking up Phil’s trail and finding the rifle. They knew the only thing that could prove to be a hindrance was the fact that driving around in the Razor through that area could scare the game away for the hunt the next day. They could also possibly run over the rifle in the dark and bust the stock or the scope.
“Why don’t you and I walk in front of the Razor and let Phil do the driving?” Craig asked Troy.
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Troy replied. “I still have my flashlight with me. Do you have yours?”
“Hey, fellas, I remember something!” Phil suddenly exclaimed. “I think I know where that buck was down. I remember seeing a big rock with a tree growing on the side of it and it looks like it’s almost a part of it! I can see it in my head. When I went over to the buck I remember laying my rifle there propped up against it. I’m sure it’s not too far from my tree stand.”
“Awesome,” Craig said. “That narrows it down some. Maybe we won’t have to worry about trying to track your footsteps. Especially since we’ve already driven all over the place in the Razor! We can just look for that big ass rock then.”
The truck turned down the lane that led them across the lake. They could see that the lights from the cabin were still on when they crossed the bridge. Troy had left them on when they went looking for Phil thinking that it might help to lead Phil home if he could see the light. Craig maneuvered the truck up to the cabin. The ATV was still parked in the driveway where he had left it earlier to climb in with Troy. It had some frozen snow piled in the seats, but it was an ATV designed for the elements. It was nothing that couldn’t be knocked off. The men climbed out of the truck as Craig said, “Hey, if you boys want to grab us a thermos of coffee I’ll go over and get the Razor warmed up and cleaned off. I put my rain poncho down across the driver’s seat when I parked it earlier, but there’s nothing except snow in the other seats. It’ll take me about fifteen minutes to get it heated up and ready.”
“That’ll work, Craig. It’ll take about that long to get some hot coffee ready,” Troy replied.
Phil went inside with Troy and sat down on the couch in the living room while Troy busied himself in the kitchen making coffee. He wasn’t feeling bad, but he had mentioned a few times that he was feeling a bit weakened by the ordeal. He could see that Troy was keeping a watchful eye on him so he reassured him that he was feeling fine. After a few minutes, Troy brought him a cup of hot coffee and a sandwich.
“Maybe this will help you feel a little better.”
“Thanks, Troy, I appreciate it.” Phil said.
Craig made his way to the Razor while the other two men went inside. When he reached the ATV he found the key and started the vehicle. It was extremely cold outside, but the Razor had a fresh new battery in it that was made for these conditions and it started with no problems. He let it sit and idle while he pulled the poncho out of the driver’s seat and cleaned the snow from the others. Next he reached down and turned on the Maradyne heater he had installed on the machine. Most ATV’s didn’t come with any type of heaters built into them as a standard option package so Craig had an aftermarket heater installed. It came in handy on many occasions, especially up north. The heater only put out about 26,000 BTU’s, but it kept their feet and legs warm inside. The Razor had a half windshield and full doors. They could pull down the plastic door side windows to keep some of the cold air out. They would be quite comfortable.
He walked around and checked all of the tires and made sure he hadn’t cut any of them down. He was checking the rear passenger tire when he suddenly heard a blood curdling scream from the mountain that made the hair on his neck stand straight up. He stood up and looked around while at the same time he knew he couldn’t see anything in the dark. The scream lasted about five seconds and the longer it did, the more uncomfortable he became. He figured it must be a mountain lion. He had heard them before, but this one seemed different though he couldn’t quite figure out why.
Craig jumped in the driver’s seat, drove up to the porch of the cabin and revved the engine up to let the others know he was ready. A few minutes later Troy and Phil showed up at the door with two thermoses of coffee and a handful of sandwiches. Troy climbed in the front passenger seat and Phil in the back.
“Thought you might like something to eat,” Troy said as he handed Craig a ham and cheese sandwich on rye.
“Damn, I didn’t know how hungry I was until you pointed it out,” Craig said. “Let’s get going, fellas. It’s getting late and I aim to hunt first thing in the morning.”
Craig took a bite of the sandwich and gunned the Razor to life, throwing snow behind them as the
y flew out of the driveway. They got to the trail turn off and headed up the mountain side.
“Did you fellas hear that mountain lion scream earlier?” Craig asked over the baffled engine pipes of the Razor.
“No, I didn’t hear it. I doubt you could hear much of anything inside that cabin. Those logs are solid,” Phil replied.
“Nah, I didn’t hear anything either,” Troy said as they jostled around up the mountain trail. “Phil’s right. You can’t hear anything. You can’t hear a horn honk inside if the doors are all closed.”
“Well, it scared the hell out of me when I heard it. I was checking the tires when it screamed. It had to be a mountain lion. I’ve heard people say they scream like that. It probably high-tailed it out of there once it heard the Razor start up!”
The men drove up the dark mountain trail that led from the back of the barn to the ridge of the mountain. The snow was heavier now, but the temperature wasn’t unbearable still in the low thirties. The ATV had no trouble negotiating the terrain with its knobby tread on the tires. They passed by the small pond where Troy had hunted earlier that morning and continued over the more rugged area of the trail which slowed them down a bit. About a half hour later Troy let out a muffled shout over the engine. “Hey I think that’s our spot. Do you fellas want to walk in from here or drive to Phil’s tree?”
They decided to drive into the woods until they reached the tree that Phil was hunting and then go on foot from there. Craig turned off the trail and followed the path where they had driven earlier that day. The trees weren’t as thick in some areas so the going was quicker and in a short time they arrived at the tree where Phil’s stand was still attached. It also still had the reflector buttons he used when he first scouted it. The two men got out of the ATV and started walking ahead and off to the side. It was equipped with bright halogen off-road lights and flooded the entire area nearby. Troy could hear the purr of the engine as he walked twenty yards to the right. Craig was about the same distance on the other side though Troy was unable to see him most of the time. He could see his stinger flashlight, however, as Craig moved around through the brush looking for the big rock.
Siege at Hawthorn Lake: Murder on the Mountain Page 7