“Not so good.” She explained that she had heard nothing further about her brother; there was no need to mention the things Derek had told her. “I’m going to drive up there tomorrow and find out what I can.”
“Not by yourself, I hope.”
“Yes. Why?”
“Well, you should have somebody with you at a time like that.”
She really hadn’t planned on asking him, she told herself. It didn’t matter, though, because he was offering to go with her before she could say a word about it. “I’ll try not to be as gloomy as I was last night,” she assured him.
“You be in whatever mood you feel like,” David said. “I’m not expecting a fun time. I just think you need somebody with you and I’d like to be that somebody.”
They didn’t talk much longer, just made arrangements for the drive. Anna had mixed emotions when their conversation ended. She was disturbed that once again she had to fall back on yet another person, another man, but glad that David Hammond was the one she was falling back on.
Chapter Seven
Doug felt as if his back was breaking, that his legs would fold under him at any moment. They’d been walking for two hours now and enough was enough. Had he not been afraid that his “manhood” would have been compromised, he would have called a halt to it right then and there. Jack showed no intention of slowing down or stopping. Doug brushed his right hand through his thick, sweat-matted hair, pulling away pieces of leaf that had lodged in the locks while walking. His broad, boyish features scrunched up as the last rays of the setting sun glared relentlessly into his eyes. The view was breathtaking from up here, but he didn’t care.
He looked to his right and saw that Sue and Emily, though they must have been hurting as much as he was, were determined to see this through no matter what. Whose dumb idea had it been, this backpacking trip over Hunter’s Mountain? His, probably, although his girlfriend Sue had been insistent on making the suggestion a reality. Of course she was tired. Emily was showing signs of strain, too. But neither of them would admit it, too afraid of being weak or inferior in the eyes of their men. If that was liberation, they could have it. Doug couldn’t see how acting macho and dumb like boys was going to set women free. He figured it had nothing to do with sex as much as it did with that damnable peer pressure. Had it not been for his susceptibility to same he would not have been up here on this fool mountain when he could have been drinking beer in Joey’s Bur and Grille, watching TV or sitting in a movie theater. He was not the outdoors type and never would be.
Finally Jack said the magic words: “Let’s rest for a while and enjoy the view.” Doug almost forgot himself and breathed a sigh of relief, but caught it just in time. He would be damned if he’d act worn-out while Jack just stood there radiating health. How sickening. Doug knew he was being childish, but the one thing he’d swore he’d never do was let Jack Potter get the better of him.
Jack was a handsome boy of twenty, a year older than his best buddy, Doug Withers. While they both looked somewhat alike, only Jack had that certain charisma, a by-product of confidence, that enabled him to overcome all obstacles. Hence he stood taller, walked straighter, had a gleam in his eyes and a shine on his cheeks and stood out in a crowd. Both he and Doug were broad-shouldered and of medium height, but brown hair and blue eyes. Jack worked out and it showed. Doug’s dour expression seemed to fit a body forever on the verge of ballooning. If he stayed slim it was only because of his metabolism.
Their girlfriends were quite the contrast. They looked nothing alike, yet had dispositions as similar as Doug’s and Jack’s were dissimilar. Sue had long, straight black hair and an elongated face that looked sexy depending on how much makeup she put on. She was skinny as a rail, but knew how to dress so that her thinness was an asset. Emily was short, almost squat, and had auburn hair and freckles. She never used makeup; her mother would have killed her, although she was, like Sue, eighteen. She had recently taken a bold step in cutting her hair short in a style she’d seen in a woman’s magazine. “Practically to the scalp!” Sue had teased her, but Emily knew she looked good. Real good.
Finally.
Jack had taken the Thermos out of his backpack and was passing iced tea around to everyone. The girls sat down on a carpet of leaves, while Doug leaned against a tree and looked out on the horizon. The view was beautiful. In the distance they could see the whole town of Milbourne. Frutter’s fruit market on Route 92. The old movie theater that had burned down in ‘73, now a blackened shell of a building where brave kids went to hunt ghosts. The Chartam River, which ran alongside the town two blocks from Main Street, then abruptly turned right and headed out of the state altogether. The air was fresh and clean, and for a moment he was glad that he had come.
“Do you think we’ll get back before dark?” Emily asked, as nonchalantly as possible, though of course she was concerned. Doug looked at Jack, waiting for an answer, trying to look equally inscrutable.
“Sure we will. If we don’t stay here too long. We’ll have to keep up the same pace.”
Oh Lord, Doug thought. This means we’ll have to stomp down the mountains like stormtroopers again. Yet the thought of being in the woods after dark made him feel uncomfortable, though he didn’t know why. He was not afraid of anything that flew or crawled through the forest. He’d seen it all when he was growing up. Yet, he had this feeling of foreboding that he simply couldn’t shake. He drank the rest of the iced tea in the cup and decided to forget it. He would simply stormtroop along with the rest of them, and be snug and safe at home before nightfall. Nothing to worry about.
They stayed there a few more minutes, then collected themselves into a tight little group and started the descent, this time heading down the other side of the mountain. There was a trail to follow, a weak one, but passable, and Jack had assured them that he knew this way around irregardless. Doug would have preferred to cut the climbing time by simply going back the way they had come, but knew Jack would have none of that, He was determined to do the whole trip, showing off his expertise. “Why, I practically used to live up here when I was a kid,” he had repeated over and over. Doug still didn’t know why they all had to carry these heavy backpacks on their shoulders; half of the stuff they wouldn’t use. They’d eaten the lunch up two hours ago, before the climb, and there was enough first-aid equipment to bandage an army if need be. Better safe than sorry, he supposed.
As they started down the trail, a faint breeze blew up over their heads, rustling the leaves and their hair, carrying a sweet fragrance of the earth and the air down into the valley towards which they were descending. They turned a corner and the view was gone, and once more they were surrounded by thick batches of trees cutting off any glimpse of the land below. Bird cries sang out clearly and melodiously deep in the woods. Oaks and redbuds and gooseberry shrubs were plentiful.
An hour passed and they still had almost half the trip ahead. They were all walking slower now, even Jack, in spite of the fact that it was all downhill and therefore easier to traverse. They were simply too tired to go any faster. The sun was low in the sky, almost touching the ground, and a bold pink stripe cut beautifully through the cloudy blue canvas above.
The four of them talked very little, commenting only occasionally on something or other which piqued their curiosity: an unusual growth, strange prints on the ground, tracks of animals, a colorful bird flying overhead. Another half hour had gone by when Jack said, “We’re coming to the caves now.”
Doug knew that Sue was glad to hear this. She had moved to town recently as compared to the others, and had never once been to the caves at the edge of the woods. At first she had planned to pester the rest of them until they agreed to begin the ascent at this end of the trail so that she could see the caves in the morning right away, but then had decided she’d rather wait until the end of the trip, nourishing her anticipation for it during the afternoon.
Doug, on the other hand, was less than overjoyed. He was really anxious to get home now. Not
only was there a good twenty minutes to go until they got to the very end of the trail, but they had to walk all the way around the side of the mountain until they reached the starting point where they’d parked their cars; another forty-five minutes at least. And now Sue would want to poke around the entrances of the caverns for yet another half hour until her childlike curiosity had been abated. At least it would give him a chance to rest.
They turned another corner in the path and there they were, about twelve yards away, their ominous black maws clearly visible through the spindly trees of the area. There were times when one could almost walk right by the caves and practically miss them, but the vegetation was scarcer this time of the year and they stood out starkly in the darkening daylight.
“Oh wow,” Sue shouted, running gleefully over to the cliffside. “I love caves. I love to explore.”
“Watch it, Nancy Drew,” Doug warned her. “Don’t go in any of them too far or we’ll never see you again.”
“Sue,” Emily whined. “It’s getting late.”
Doug didn’t say anything, but he could tell that Sue was irritated that they didn’t share her enthusiasm, or even want to let her look around for a moment, she knew they had all been here many times before, but surely they could give her “just a minute” to explore? Well, she’d have her minute, thought Doug as he lowered himself to sit at the bottom of a huge, spreading tree, its gnarled branches bereft of leaves.
Sue had been waiting all day for this, and she wasn’t about to let the others spoil her pleasure. She picked out the cave that seemed to be the largest and wandered into the entrance. She was a tall young woman, nearly five-eleven, and still didn’t have to crouch to get in—in fact the rocky ceiling seemed to be at least three feet above her head. She couldn’t see very far inside the cave and wished that she had brought the flashlight with her. She would definitely have to come back here some time when she was not in a rush.
“Sue!” Emily called impatiently.
“Just a minute,” she yelled back. “I’ll only be a second.”
She advanced farther into the cave. There was a strong odor that she couldn’t place, and her imagination began to play tricks on her. It was as if there were forms, shapes, turning and twisting in the darkness ahead. She glanced up and it looked as if the ceiling lowered the deeper one went into the cave, though when she raised her hand to check she could still feel nothing. She looked behind her and saw the comforting patch of light where the cave opened out into the woods, could hear the soothing voices of her friends, soothing even though they were yelling at her to come out.
But she had to go farther, had to see what was back there. She knew she was foolish, and she was even getting scared, but something Pandora-like in her nature refused to turn around and back out. The sensation that she wasn’t alone was increasing. Along with the gyrating shapes she heard noises, odd noises, like something out of her childhood, but she just couldn’t remember what they were. Where had she heard that sound before? The odor was thicker and stronger now, and for a moment she was afraid she was going to gag.
“Susan Benson, will you come out now?”
The spooky sensations were too much for her, and she turned, responding to the urgency in Emily’s voice. She could always come back here some other day. She’d talk Doug into taking her, and they’d bring flashlights and a picnic lunch and a blanket . . .
Something touched her leg. She froze, trying to see what it was. Then she felt something crawling over the one arm that still hung by her side, as the other had come up to cover her mouth. She opened her lips to let out a scream, but the sudden sharp pain that shot through her ankle, right down to the very bone, cut it off before it could sound. She felt something wet and slimy and smooth push against her, knocking her to the floor of the cave. Her ears and nose were filled with the sounds and smells of the creatures, but her eyes could still see nothing. Whatever it was, it was on top of her now, and she sensed that there was more than one of them surrounding her. She felt life rapidly draining away.
Outside in the woods her friends were losing patience. “Look how dark it’s getting,” Emily pouted, pointing to the sky with a needless gesture. “Will you come on, Sue?”
Jack looked disturbed. “She doesn’t answer. She might be hurt,” he said.
“Or maybe she’s playing a joke on us,” Doug snickered. “I’ll go get her.” He set off toward the cave, shaking his head with annoyance, his lips set in a grin which suggested that he was used to his girlfriend’s behavior.
Jack and Emily went after him. It was so dark now that although the sun had not yet completely set, the moon stood out clearly in the sky. A full moon.
And when the horrible, agonized screams of the three youths rang out from the confines of the cave, the moon was the only one who heard them.
It was too early and too chilly that morning for David and Anna to say much of anything to each other. Upon his arrival, Anna had simply thanked David again, invited him in for a quick cup of coffee—Derek was nowhere to be seen—and then led him to the garage where they kept their car. They were taking Derek’s compact job, a smooth-riding and comfortable vehicle that, Anna claimed, got very good mileage. The man seemed to take forever until he drove the vehicle up the ramp. A lot of fussing with keys; Anna was nervous. Finally they pulled out into the early morning Manhattan traffic. Considering all, however, Anna seemed to be holding herself together pretty well. By 10:35 they were on the road to Milbourne.
David had had the good fortune to fall asleep quickly upon entering bed last night, and to sleep well and deeply, without any dreams, at least without any that he remembered. He hadn’t had a chance to mull over the fact that this would be the first time he had been in an automobile since the day of the accident. For just a second, at the garage, he had panicked, afraid that Anna was going to ask him to drive. Luckily, she hadn’t. He had to get used to simply being in a car before he could take over the wheel again. Not that he’d been driving that day, but the accident had left him with a fear of holding his—or anyone else’s—life in his hands on the highway.
By the time they approached the bridge out of the city, David felt enough at ease to picture himself offering to drive on the way back. Or was it only an illusion he was perpetrating upon himself in order to keep from acting like a fool? He kept telling himself, I’m in a car, I’m in a car, I can’t believe I’m in a car, but he knew that sooner or later it was something he would have had to face. He was glad this first time was with Anna, a nice way to end a kind of virginity. Still, she was an unknown factor, or at least her driving was. She seemed to handle the wheel nicely.
He tried to relax.
They made small talk for a while, bat there was nothing much to say about the events ahead. Anna didn’t really want to think about what might be facing her, about what the authorities might tell her, about whether or not this trip was just a waste of time. If she went along in that vein, it threatened to overwhelm her. She concentrated on the road.
Her thoughts kept coming back to the man sitting next to her, who now had his eyes closed (although the lids kept fluttering open as if he were trying to keep awake). She thought she might be in love with him. Already? That was unlikely. Yet, there was something there. She felt a stab of embarrassment as she recalled how she had acted the night he’d come for dinner, the night the police had called with the news of Jeffrey’s death. She saw herself at the dinner table, making inane and silly remarks, confusing a combination of cuteness and petulance with sensuality. Had she really acted that way, like an intoxicated kewpie doll flirting with a good-looking nitwit, like a playboy bunny thrusting her boobs in some old man’s leering face? Now she was going overboard. She had been silly, that was all. She always acted silly when she was nervous. He would forgive her. He had forgiven her, his presence in the car was ample proof of that.
“Sleepy?” she asked. “I don’t blame you.”
“I shouldn’t be.” He smiled. “I slept pretty good last nig
ht.”
“Wish I could say the same.”
“It’s understandable.”
David opened his mouth again, about to say something, and she hesitated, not knowing whether or not to speak. When he kept silent, she asked, “Were you about to say something?”
He had been wondering whether or not to tell her about the accident. Surely she had noticed his limp; it had been rather pronounced this morning. She might feel more at ease if he offered an explanation for it. But this was the wrong time . . . in an automobile yet! He answered her question instead by saying, “Do you ever want to comment on something, then forget what it was?” She nodded. “It couldn’t have been important,” he said.
They talked for a while about the emerging sun above their heads, the way the temperature was rising, the flat, ugly look of the topography around them. There were not many cars on the highway—another thing adding to David’s comfort—and they were making good time.
They fell silent again, sharing each other’s space comfortably and quietly, feeling no need to shatter the moment with idle, aimless chatter. They knew that was when two people felt good around each other; the silences were as important as the rest.
They stopped for coffee at one of the roadside restaurants—all of gray brick, and all with picnic areas— that dotted the highway every few miles. They got out and walked to the restaurant, passing only a few people: tourists, families, a businessman or two. A little kid stood in a patch of flowers by the restaurant’s big window, crying for his mother. The woman came and carried him off angrily. A handsome young man with sad eyes licked an ice cream cone as he held the door for Anna.
Inside they sat at a booth in the back. If anyone recognized Anna, they kept it to themselves. Both of them were grateful for that. The waitress came over and they both ordered coffee. Anna also asked for a chocolate donut. “Won’t you have breakfast?” Anna asked. “Eggs or something? My treat.”
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