by Stan Morris
A few kids did. Mike gave it to one of the older boys, and he said to the boy, “Stay by the bridge. If they come back, try to keep them away until the bridge is burning good.”
Yuie was there. “I’m coming too, Chief,” she informed him, and when he would have demurred she whispered softly, “When you get Jackie and Maria back, I think that they might need a girl to help them, not a guy.”
Within minutes, the supplies were gathered and stuffed into their backpacks. All the spears that they could carry in a hurry were lashed together. Yuie held her bow and arrows. Desi and John grabbed a last frantic tearful kiss as she begged him to be careful. And then they began jogging up the road, and soon they were lost to sight over the low hill.
Meanwhile, Howard turned to the others. “All right, you heard Mike. Everybody go over the bridge to the other side. Right now!”
A few moved halfheartedly, but one girl shook her head. “I’m not leaving the girls’ camp,” she stated defiantly.
Howard looked at her helplessly. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw Pete’s body. He had to take care of Pete as soon as possible. But first, he had to protect the other kids.
He raised the wood shaft of his spear. “All of you,” he said grimly. “Get over the bridge.”
The girl looked alarmed, and she backed up a step, and then she stopped. “You’re not the boss of us!” she shouted.
“You idiot! He’s trying to protect you,” exclaimed Desi.
Without another word, Howard stepped forward, and he swung his spear striking the girl a light blow on her shoulder.
“Ow…” she cried, and she stared at Howard in shock.
Howard raised his spear again. Breaking into sobs, the girl turned and fled towards the bridge. Another girl balked, and she was given the same treatment on her buttocks by another boy. She, too, fled towards the bridge, and then the whole flock of girls turned and ran, crying and squealing over the bridge, closely followed by the boys who were not a part of the Spears.
Howard went into Jackie’s cabin, and he took one of her green blankets. He laid it on the ground next to Pete. Gently, with help from others, he lifted Pete’s body onto the blanket. They wrapped the blanket around the boy’s body, and they carried it to the other side of the river. Already boys and girls were gathering brush and wood to pile on the bridge. Pete’s body was laid on the north side of the dining hall, out of the sun. Before the pile on the bridge was too bulky, Howard sent some boys to drag the damaged motorcycle over to their side of the river.
“Maybe we should let the girls get their stuff, too,” Kevin suggested, but with a look of doubt on his face.
Howard thought about the twin’s suggestion. It might make the girls feel better, the freckled boy thought.
“We’ll pile the wood on the bridge first, but we’ll leave a space for one person to get by. Then, one by one, we’ll let them go back and get their stuff,” he decided. So that’s what they did, although it took them two hours for all of the girls’ equipment to be hauled over to the boys’ side.
With the help of several boys and girls, the motorcycle was turned upside down, and the gasoline was drained into a five gallon bucket. They placed the bucket next to the bridge, ready to be poured onto the pile of wood. Howard thought that the gasoline would catch fire much faster than the camp fuel.
“What about that guy?” one of the boys asked, as he pointed to the dead body of the motorcyclist.
“Leave him for now,” Howard answered.
Then they waited. It was a long fear filled day, as they waited to see what would happen. Sometimes, some of them imagined that they heard the faint sound of a motorcycle. Noon passed, and still nothing happened. Then the afternoon passed. No one felt like eating, but Howard insisted, and he ordered some kids to make and to pass around tuna sandwiches. Night came. Howard ordered the boys to stack the tables and the chairs in the dining hall, so the boys could sleep in the cleared area. He sent the girls to bed in the boys’ cabins. No one got much sleep that night. Everyone was nervous and frightened. Where were Mike and the Spears?
Chapter Three
THE HANGING TREE
Mike had not led his troop far along the road when he remembered Pete. Cursing himself savagely, he hoped that Howard would take care of Pete’s body. Briefly, he wondered if this chase was futile or maybe even crazy. But he was determined to find the girls and to rescue them.
Now the time they had spent running with Yuie was their ally. They were all in good condition except for Ralph, and his panic and anger kept his adrenaline flowing. They jogged as long as they could, and then they walked, and then they jogged again. At noontime, they stopped for a fifteen minute rest; Ralph needed it by then. After their rest, they walked awhile and then they broke into a jog again.
Alternately walking and jogging, they moved forward until the sun went down. There were a few wispy clouds that night, but the sky had mostly cleared, the moon was three quarters full, and it was bright. They could easily see the road, although the rough way slowed them.
Two hours after sunset, they came to a side road that led steeply up the mountain. Although the main road continued onward, they turned onto this road, because they could hear music coming from somewhere above them. The road was neither paved nor graveled, it was a simple dirt road though it was well packed, and it seemed to be well traveled.
It was harder going uphill, but before a half hour had passed they heard the rough voices and the drunken laughter of men off to their right. The voices came from a clearing amidst a grove of white fir trees. Cautiously, they crept closer until they could see a campfire. Then Mike sent Jacob on ahead to scout the area, and to see if the two girls were there. Soon Jacob returned.
“Did you see them?” Yuie asked anxiously. “Did you see Jackie and Maria?”
Jacob glanced furtively at Yuie and Ralph, and then he whispered to Mike, “It’s them. One guy has a rifle; he’s sitting down and watching the others. Another guy is standing and drinking a beer and watching the third guy. The third guy is on the ground … busy.”
Ralph made a sound as if he was choking, and Mike grabbed his shoulder. “We can’t lose it, man,” he whispered frantically. “We have to keep ourselves together, so we can help them.” Ralph nodded, although his breathing was ragged. Mike turned to Yuie.
“Do you think you can shoot an arrow into the guy holding the rifle?” he asked.
Yuie was trying to control her shaking. “Yes, yes, I can do it,” she whispered bravely, although her teeth were chattering.
“Okay, listen,” he said to the others. “We’re going to move close to them, and then Yuie is going to shoot first. She’s going to shoot the guy holding the rifle. Ralph, as soon as she shoots her arrow, you and I will spear the same guy. The rest of you will spear the guy standing up. Then we’ll all grab a second spear and get the third guy. Got it?”
They nodded. All of them were nervous and frightened, but the teenagers were resolute. Mike gestured, and they moved toward the men. They were not particularly quiet, but the men had a loud boom box playing, and so they were not heard. They crept towards the clearing until they could see what was happening. It was a scene of horror. Jackie was lying on her back. She was naked, and there were three gaping wounds on her torso. It was immediately clear to them that she was dead. Maria, also naked, was making choking sounds because the man raping her had his hands around her neck.
As soon as he saw what was happening, Mike shouted and he drew back his spear. By the time he threw his spear, Yuie had already shot her arrow. It sped straight into the stomach of the man sitting with his back to a tree and holding a rifle. The man looked down at his torso in disbelief, even as a spear pierced his mouth, drilled through his head, and lodged itself into the tree behind him. The second man was hit in his back by two more spears, and he fell forward onto Maria and the third man.
The man raping the girl yelled, and he stumbled to his feet, just in time to feel one spear crease his shoulder
and another spear glance off the side of his head, knocking him senseless.
The kids rushed into the clearing, rage and fright pumping through their young bodies. As they pulled the speared man off Maria he groaned, and someone stabbed another spear down through his body. In their haste to reach Maria they ignored the rapist, but he was unconscious and not a threat.
Maria was gasping for breath, and when she finally caught her breath she began crying, great pealing sobs of deep anguish. She cringed away from the boys, but she allowed Yuie to take her in the archer’s arms. The two girls rocked and cried together as Ahmad removed his jacket and covered Maria.
Mike turned away overcome with emotion, only to see Ralph sobbing over Jackie’s body. Then his courage broke and his tears flowed, and he didn’t try to stop them, and he was vaguely aware that the other kids were crying also.
Mike never knew how long it took for him to collect himself. At last his tears subsided, and he looked around. Yuie and Maria were still sitting on the ground. Yuie was still holding the traumatized girl, and she was speaking to Maria in a low whisper. Maria had stopped crying. Ralph had covered Jackie’s body with his jacket and shirt and was sitting there, lost in his sorrow.
Jacob had recovered first, and while searching the area, he found a large recreational vehicle nearby. Inside, he found a picture of a man and a woman. None of the motorcyclists matched the picture of the man. The kids never discovered what had happened to the man and the woman.
There was a shack next to the RV that might have belonged to one or more of the bikers. Eric and Ahmad took the door off the shack to use as a stretcher for Jackie’s body. Rasul dragged the surviving unconscious man far away from Maria and Yuie.
Mike had the boys tie the hands of the unconscious man behind his back, and then they wrapped some cord that they found in the RV around the man’s arms. He had to cajole and beg Ralph not to kill the man outright.
“I promise you we’ll take care of him,” he told Ralph in a whisper. “Just wait.”
Slowly, the prisoner regained consciousness. When he realized what had happened, he snarled at them and threatened them, and in return he was answered with an occasional sharp poke from a spear point.
Mike and the other kids collected their weapons and those of the men. No one wanted to spend the night there, so when they were ready they carried Jackie’s body away from the clearing and down the dirt road. They pushed their prisoner ahead of them, and whenever he refused to walk they gave him little stabs to keep him moving. When they came to the gravel road leading to their camp they rested for an hour, and then they began walking back toward their camp. For Maria’s sake, they moved slowly. Finally they stopped, threw themselves on the hard ground, and tried to sleep until daybreak.
At dawn, still weary and heartsick they began their trek back to their camp. Jacob seemed less tired than the others, so Mike sent him on ahead to tell Howard what had happened, and to bring food and water. When noon came, they were about a mile from the camp, and they stopped to rest. There, they were met by Jacob, Howard, and some of the other boys and girls who had hurried to them from their camp. Maria’s friends accepted her from Yuie, and they tried to comfort her.
“Get some of these guys to take Jackie back to the camp,” said Mike to Howard, pointing to the new arrivals. Ralph took charge of the young woman’s body, and he led the sad procession toward the camp while the other rescuers lay exhausted on the ground.
“What are you going to do with him?” Howard asked anxiously, indicating the prisoner.
Mike had been thinking about this. And he had been looking for a tree. A hundred yards back, they had passed the tree that he had been looking for. It had a large root stretching out toward the road, and on the lower side of the root the land fell swiftly downward.
“I want you to go back to our camp, and bring the rope that we use to play tug-of-war,” he said to Howard. “And bring one of the big barrels that we use for the recycled cans. Turn it on its side, and roll it down here. Tell all of the kids to come down with you. We’ll wait.”
Howard looked troubled, but he nodded and left. Mike went to Maria and her friends.
“I need to speak to Maria alone,” he said.
“It’s okay,” Maria said when the other girls protested. “Leave us alone.”
When they were alone, before Mike could speak, Maria said, “Thank you, Chief. Thank you for coming for me. He told me that he was going to kill me just like he killed Jackie.”
Mike felt terrible, and the memory of what he had seen stabbed at him. “I’m sorry, Maria,” he mumbled. “I sorry I didn’t protect you.”
Maria looked at him sadly, and then she said, “It’s not your fault, Mike. You’re just a kid.”
Mike nodded, and then he told Maria what he intended to do. Maria paled, stared at the ground for a moment, and then she nodded.
“All right,” she whispered.
“Do you want to go back to camp first?” Mike asked.
Maria looked up. “No,” she said with determination. “I’ll stay.”
Then Mike went to Eric, and he explained what he was about to do. “Are you okay with this?” Mike asked.
Eric searched Mike’s face. “Because I’m black, you mean?”
“Uh…yeah,” answered Mike.
Eric looked at the prisoner who was still ranting at them. “I don’t know. Maybe if he was black, I wouldn’t be. But maybe I would. But anyway, he’s not black so it doesn’t matter to me. Yeah, I’m okay. And if he was black, I think I would still be okay because I was there. I saw what he did to Jackie, and what he almost did to Maria. You know, Chief, we were almost too late for Maria.”
Mike shuddered. He didn’t want to think about that. “Yeah, I know.”
Reluctantly, Mike went to talk to the prisoner. “What’s your name?” he asked.
“Screw you, kid,” the man smirked. “You better let me go if you know what’s good for you.” He struggled in his bonds.
Mike wanted to ask him many other things, about where he was from, what he knew about the Fog, why he had killed Jackie and Pete, but the boy simply couldn’t stand to be near him, so Mike walked away.
Howard came back with the rope and the barrel. Almost all of the girls and boys from the camp came with him. Mike was hoisted awkwardly onto the barrel.
“All right, come close and listen,” he shouted. The kids gathered around him.
“Now, anyone who saw Pete get shot, raise your hand,” Mike commanded. A host of hands went up. Mike saw a boy holding up his hand who Mike knew wasn’t down in the girl’s camp when Pete was shot.
Mike asked him, “Where were you when you heard the shot?”
“Uh…well…”
“Didn’t you have KP duty yesterday?”
“Well, I came out right after I heard the shot.”
“So you didn’t actually see Pete get shot?”
“Well, no. But I know who did it!” he burst out angrily. There was a loud bitter murmur of agreement from the crowd.
“Listen to me,” shouted Mike. “The next person who lies to me about what they saw is going to clean the toilets for a week.” A lot of hands were quickly lowered, and the crowd grew quiet.
“I saw what happened, Chief,” said a girl who still had her hand up. “I was standing right next to Jackie’s cabin when she came out. I saw her run over to that guy.” She pointed to the prisoner. “I saw him hit Jackie with a gun. Then Pete ran right by me. I saw that man shoot him, and I saw Pete’s head fly back. I’m never going to forget that.”
“I saw it, too, Chief,” said another girl. “I was brushing my hair in my cabin. I heard Jackie say ‘Hi, Hi,’ like she was real happy. When I came out of my cabin, Jackie was lying on the ground, and that man was picking her up. Then he put her on his motorcycle. Then I saw Pete running to them, and then that man shot Pete. I saw the blood come flying out of Pete’s face.”
“Is that the man who shot Pete?” Mike asked, pointing to the
prisoner.
“Yes, that’s him.”
“Are you really sure it’s him. Maybe, it was one of the others.”
“I’m sure that it was him, Chief. I screamed when he killed Pete, and that man looked right at me. He smiled at me. That’s him, alright.”
One by one, Mike questioned the kids who saw the shooting. Mike found five who definitely knew that the prisoner was the man who had shot and killed Pete. Then Mike asked Jacob to tell the assembled kids what he had seen when he first went to the clearing. Then Mike let Yuie, Ahmad, Rasul, Eric, and John tell the kids what they had seen. When Ralph returned, Mike asked Ralph to tell them what he had seen. As the witnesses spoke, the kids grew quieter and quieter. Some walked far away, so they couldn’t hear any more.
Then Mike asked the man, “Did you kill the guy at our camp?”
The man laughed. “Maybe so, maybe no,” he answered. “So call the police, and let me go, and I’ll wait for them. I promise.”
Mike was silent for a moment, and then he asked, “What about the fog?”
The man scowled. “So maybe the police can’t get here for awhile. You can’t keep me like this. I know my rights. You got those spears, and I got no gun, so let me go.”
Then he smiled a very strange smile, and he said in a soft voice, “Sooner or later I’m going to get loose. Then I’m going to find you, and I’m going to have some fun with you.” There was such a vicious evil threat in his voice that all of the kids except for Mike, Maria, and Eric, flinched and drew back.
Mike jumped down and tipped over the barrel. “Help me,” he said to the Spears.
The boys helped Mike roll the barrel down the road to the tree. They put the barrel on the higher side of the tree root, so that the sharp drop was on the other side. The rest of the puzzled kids followed Mike to the tree.
Mike grabbed the tug-of-war rope. “Does anyone know how to make a noose?” he asked.