WHERE LEGENDS ROAM

by Lee Murphy

  Cyrena looked at him with disgust and shook her head.

  Ben continued. "About all that leaves for us to take care of is renting the horses. We'll need a dozen of them."

  "Can I do that?" Cyrena was looking at Kodiak. "I've had some experience with horses, so I think I'd know what to look for."

  "That'll be fine," Montagna answered.

  Ben turned to Kodiak. "Looks like that's it, then. Who knows, maybe you'll even get another book out of this."

  Kodiak took another drink and looked at Norm, who was still brooding.

  The Fourth Great Ape

  While George Kodiak was getting better acquainted with the other members of the expedition at the Red Fern Tavern, eighty-five miles away Mildred Hunnicut was hiding behind the same bushes she had taken cover behind the night before. She was hoping the Sasquatch would return. Instead of cat food, this time she put out a large bowl of fruit. Things like mangos, pineapples, and watermelon. She peeled and sliced them, hoping their aroma would draw the animal out.

  She didn't bring a chair or anything else that would make her comfortable, because she had no intention of remaining hidden. Tonight she was going to get as close to the animal as it would allow.

  She didn't have long to wait.

  She saw the porch lights reflected in its eyes, and then she witnessed its entire form emerge from the woods into the open yard. It seemed to have thrown its previous caution to the wind, as it went right for the fruit, resting itself on its haunches in the middle of the yard and eating.

  She debated whether or not to approach the animal. It seemed to be enjoying the meal so much that she hated to scare it away. It suddenly struck her as peculiar that she never once thought to bring out her camera and get a picture of this spectacular creature. It would be so easy right now to get a picture of the Sasquatch and finally lay all the rumors and myths to rest, but that wasn't what Mildred wanted. She had lived long enough that she didn't have anything to prove to anyone to find pleasure from her private encounter.

  The animal chewed with its mouth open, looking around as it ate. When Mildred finally decided to stand up, the creature looked right at her and froze, a big chunk of mango clenched between its teeth.

  Mildred came out from behind the bushes slowly, being careful not to stumble or make any sudden moves that would frighten her Sasquatch, as she now thought of it.

  The animal rose to its feet and made a deep, throaty growl, still holding some pieces of mango in its paws.

  Mildred approached the animal slowly, getting within fifteen feet of it. She stopped, keeping her hands at her sides. She felt giddy, not at all scared, which was probably foolish, but nobody ever told Mildred Hunnicut what to do.

  The Sasquatch swallowed its food and hissed at her, baring its teeth and crouching as if to lunge. But instead, it took two steps back.

  Mildred took one step forward.

  The animal screeched, but still it did not take off. It looked so much like a gorilla, with its pointed head and wide, flat nose. She wished she could remember some of the things Dian Fossey had done in that movie, Gorillas in the Mist.

  She knelt down beside the bowl of fruit and picked up a chunk of pineapple which was dripping with juice, and she began to chew on it, keeping a constant eye on the animal.

  It watched her intently, still in a semi-crouch and making that throaty growl.

  She took another piece of pineapple and set it out before the Sasquatch. Then she took several steps back.

  The animal slowly accepted the fruit, still watching her. It hissed again and then stepped back toward the woods.

  Mildred felt this could be her last chance to gain a little of the Sasquatch's trust, so she took a piece of mango from the bowl and extended her hand toward the ape. It stopped and turned toward her, studying her for several minutes, never moving towards the offered fruit, but eyeing it longingly. It finally turned, and with its wide, hairy back to Mildred, wandered back to the safety of the woods.

  Mildred listened as it trundled away until she couldn't hear its footsteps anymore. She would try again tomorrow night.

  ***

  At eight o'clock the next morning Kodiak met Montagna and Ben Tyler for breakfast at the Red Fern Tavern. Kodiak had a cup of black coffee. Montagna had two eggs, sunny side up, a side of hash browns that he called "hashish browns," and coffee.

  In all his life Kodiak had never seen anybody put away a breakfast the likes of which Ben had: two orders of pancakes (because they only came four to a stack), three sides of bacon, two slices of ham, four eggs (two scrambled, two over-easy), and coffee-- decaffeinated.

  By nine-fifteen they had finished breakfast and walked over to the ranger station at the south end of town.

  The ranger on duty was Jim Crichton, a big, middle-aged linebacker of a man. He was bigger than Ben, but all muscle. He was used to people coming around and asking questions about Bigfoot, especially after that incident at the trailer park. He had even dealt with groups of Bigfoot hunters before. He considered them all to be crackpots.

  Crichton had heard of Ben through the newsletter Tyler's organization put out, and he'd also heard of George Kodiak, and even though he didn't believe there was such a thing as Bigfoot, he saw no problem in talking with these people.

  "That's right, Mr. Tyler, we have indeed received more sighting reports than is usual for us."

  "You think you could give us the names and addresses of some of these people?" Ben asked.

  Crichton thought about it. "I don't suppose that would be a problem. Whether or not they'll talk to you is another matter entirely. Most folks aren't real anxious to be called psychos or liars."

  "That's okay," Ben said. "Our investigation's strictly confidential."

  "You don't have to tell me. Why don't you gents help yourselves to some of that coffee while I get the information you want." Crichton got up and went into the back office.

  ***

  At ten-thirty a U-Haul truck pulled up to the Red Fern Lodge with the supplies that Emory Pittman had promised to deliver. Norm came out first to check everything out. He was wearing the same clothes he had on the day before, and his breath smelled from a combination of beer and not having brushed his teeth. The driver gave him the inventory list and took off for the tavern, leaving Norm to do the work of unloading the truck.

  Norm was looking the list over when Dave Bovard came out and patted him on the shoulder. Norm glared at the kid like he was going to smack him, but Bovard didn't notice.

  There were seven backpacks and sleeping bags, four igloo tents, two self-inflating CO2 rafts, and a dozen sealed boxes that contained other provisions. And lying to one side of the cargo was a stack of titanium struts that would be assembled for the Sasquatch cage.

  "Good morning."

  Dave and Norm turned to see Cyrena standing behind them. She was wearing blue jeans, hightop tennis shoes, and a flannel shirt. "Isn't it beautiful out?"

  It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining bright in a cloudless blue sky, and the mountains that surrounded the town were covered in the kind of brilliant green discernable only to the naked eye. It was something that could never be captured on film or in a painting.

  Bovard smiled and gaped at her ample chest, at which he was always trying to cop a peek.

  Cyrena heard a strange grinding sound, and when she looked at Norm she thought he was growling at her. As Norm stared at her the deep, grinding noise in his throat had risen to his mouth. He then tilted his head back, hawked up a loogie and spat straight up into the air. He opened his mouth and GLICK! He caught the ball of mucous and swallowed it again.

  Cyrena gagged and turned away, but Dave laughed like he'd never seen anything so funny in his life. This pleased Norm, who smiled at the kid and said, "Liked that, huh?"

  Between laughs Dave said, "That was funny as hell!"

  "Well then, what say we off-load this crap, then you and me can go suck down a few brews for lunch? You are old enough to drink?"


  "Sure am, Mr. Cocke."

  "Just one thing. My name's Norm. Only my wife calls me Mr. Cocke."

  ***

  In all, Ranger Crichton was able to supply them with the names and addresses of seven people who were involved in, or had witnessed, some kind of Sasquatch activity. He took the time to screen out the nonsensical reports. Two of the remaining reports had to be discounted when they were proven to be bears, and two others were written off because the witnesses involved were from other states and had gone back home.

  That left three people with whom they could spend the day interviewing about Sasquatch activity.

  Their first stop was to the cabin of a local named Dutch Gipson. He had lived and worked in Seattle most his life as an insurance broker and came to live in his cabin in Olympic National Forest after retiring.

  Gipson was a friendly, open person, as most people living in these parts were apt to be. He did seem a little self-conscious to talk about his experience at first, but loosened up when it became obvious that they were going to take him seriously. "I never believed in it much, one way or the other. At least, not until three weeks ago when I saw one of the damn things myself..." He laughed a little uneasily.

  "What did it look like?" Ben was inquisitive without being challenging.

  Gipson described the creature he saw. "Well, it looked a lot like the one in that film. You know, the one where you see that Sasquatch walking across the creek. It obviously wasn't the same one, but it looked a lot like it. It was about eight feet tall. I know this because it was standing in an orchard of sapling fruit trees I planted. They're only five feet tall, and this thing towered way over them."

  "Was this day or night?"

  "Broad daylight. He was just eating the leaves off the branches nice as you please. He was covered with shiny black fur, with some silver on the back. At first it looked like a man in a gorilla costume, but I could see the muscles moving under the fur, and it just looked too real. I only saw him from behind when I came out and spotted him. After a couple minutes he headed back into the woods."

  Kodiak said, "Would you mind showing us where this happened?"

  Gipson took them to the tract of land behind his cabin he had turned into a fruit tree orchard. The ground was freshly tilled around the sapling apple, walnut and peach trees. The little orchard was about half an acre and ended at an open meadow that was within a hundred yards of the edge of the woods.

  Gipson pointed across the meadow. "He just walked across the field and into those woods."

  Kodiak stepped into the orchard, studying the ground for any sign of footprints.

  Gipson continued. "We had rain a couple days last week. But I took some plaster casts of his footprints after he left."

  Gipson invited them back inside and showed them ten separate casts of footprints in successive steps the animal took to get across the orchard.

  Ben measured them. Because each one represented a different stage of the animal's walk, they varied slightly in shape and space between the toes. The complete length of the foot was sixteen and three-eighths inches. Ben looked at Kodiak and said, "There's no way of knowing for certain, but if the ground outside is comparable to when this thing walked across that orchard, then it outweighs us by a couple of hundred pounds, at least." The footprints left by Kodiak, Ben and the others barely penetrated the ground half an inch. The Sasquatch prints were closer to two inches deep.

  Kodiak asked Gipson for a magnifying glass, and Gipson obliged. The footprints were typical of the kind usually associated with these creatures; thus, the very reason for the name "Bigfoot". They were generally human in shape, though obviously much larger than the average human print. The soles were thickly padded, with no arch, bore a double ball, a long, wide heel, and five toes that were almost equal in size.

  Kodiak scanned the surface of the cleanest cast with the magnifying glass and found what he was looking for. "Here we go."

  Ben leaned close to Kodiak and scrutinized the plaster cast. "What is it?"

  "Dermal ridges."

  ***

  After Norm, Dave, and Cyrena finished unloading the U-Haul, the driver left. Then Norm and Dave, since they had become buddies, took off for an early lunch, leaving Cyrena to deal with putting the stuff away.

  The waitress who served them, a slender, dark-haired girl of southern heritage, brought them their first round; a beer for Dave, and a beer and a shot for Norm, who made a depth charge by dropping the shot glass into the beer glass and guzzling half the drink down. He wiped his hand on his sleeve and belched.

  Dave took a couple chugs of his beer and smiled at Norm.

  Norm leaned back in his chair, shot a loogie four feet into the air and caught it in his open mouth. He looked back at Dave. "So, kid, what's the story on Miss America?"

  "You mean Cyrena? She's all right. I don't know her all that well. She likes to hang out with our group and go on hikes and stuff."

  "I thought she got a little uppity when we were joking around."

  "I guess. Why do you want to know about her?"

  Norm shrugged. "I don't know. Being as we're all gonna be out in the woods together, I just want to get to know everybody."

  "If you want to get to know her, why don't you just ask her?"

  "Kid, when you want to get to know somebody, I mean really get to know them, who they are, what they're about, you don't ask them. You ask somebody you trust will give you the lowdown. And I trust you're the man for the job."

  Dave looked away, his face flushing from the suggested flattery.

  Norm finished off his drink, then called across the tavern to the waitress. "Sweetheart, couple more Old Milwauks and a shot for me. Thanks." He turned back to Dave. "You ever get any action?"

  "With Cyrena? I told you, I don't know her all that well."

  "What's to know? She's got a hole, don't she? Besides, I seen the way you're always gawkin' at her." Norm smiled, his wide, ape mouth and horse teeth making him look like the Cheshire Cat's ugly brother.

  "She does have a nice pair of jugs, especially for an older lady. I saw her once in a T-shirt. They're a little banana-shaped, but they got a lot of bounce."

  Norm laughed. "That a boy!"

  The waitress came back and set their drinks on the table. Then she took Norm's emptied glasses.

  "Thank you, darlin'." Norm studied her long and hard as she walked away. Then he said, "Yeah, old Cyrena's definitely got them. Listen, it's not like I think there's gonna be any trouble on this trip, but I kind of got a problem with this Kodiak."

  "Oh, yeah?"

  "He strikes me as a real 'holier than thou' type, you know what I mean? I got a real feeling he don't much care for the way I do things, either. Jamie's so in love with the guy he refuses to see that Kodiak thinks he's trash, too."

  Dave nodded. "Yeah, I kind of got that impression last night, especially the way Ben worships him."

  "Now, we're all here to have a good time, maybe catch a Squatch, make history. But I need to know who my allies are should, say, anything happen to make us take sides."

  "What do you mean?"

  Norm leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner, looking around so as not to be overheard and said, "Jamie and me, we're tight. We're like blood brothers, you know? And this Tyler, Jamie likes him, and he strikes me as being somebody who goes with the flow. He don't make waves. But I got a real bad feeling about Kodiak. He's gonna try to ride roughshod over this whole thing, because he's the Bigfoot expert.

  "So, I guess I'm asking, kid, should things get hairy, who's side you gonna be on?"

  This made Dave uncomfortable, and he fidgeted in his seat before saying, "What makes you think there's gonna be any trouble with Kodiak?"

  Norm shrugged. "Suppose the hunting goes a little slow and nothing turns up? We might as well get something out of this trip, don't you think? Maybe you, me, Jamie, and maybe even old Tyler might wanna have a go at Miss Cy-rena."

  Dave smiled, his eyes wide and unbelieving, but a
lso hopeful. "Are you serious?"

  "Hell, she strikes me as the type who might even enjoy it. After all, you said yourself she likes to hang around groups of men in the wilderness."

  Dave's smile got bigger. "Count me in."

  Norm bellowed his sickening hack-laugh and made another depth charge.

  ***

  The next stop for Kodiak and the others was an RV park located some thirty miles south of Gipson's place, which was run by a middle-aged former biker named Billy Harvey. Despite his surly, unkempt appearance, and a body that rivaled Ben's for the walking-natural-disaster-award, Harvey was friendly and seemed eager to tell them about his encounters. "I say encounters because it happened more than just one time."

  Kodiak started the questioning. "What happened more than one time?"

  Harvey told him, "Late at night, something kept cruising into the camp grounds and stirring things up."

  Ben stopped him. "Before you give us a rundown on the specific goings-on, would you mind if I taped this?" He took out a pocket- size dictation machine and set it on the coffee table between them. He then nodded to Harvey. "Go ahead."

  Harvey continued. "Basically, the whole thing started about, I'd say, two months ago. In the middle of the night we heard something screaming, way the hell out in the woods. But in these mountains it carries real good and scared the crap out of most my guests. Especially the kids. Hell, who am I trying to kid? It shook me up pretty bad, too."

  "What kind of screams?" Ben asked. "Can you describe them?" Harvey considered it, the pensive look seeming out of place on his fat, hairy face. "Well... it almost sounded like somebody imitating an ambulance siren, or doing a slowed-down version of Curly." They all laughed, then Harvey continued. "But it sounded creepy. It was so loud, it got all the dogs around here barking like crazy."