WHERE LEGENDS ROAM

by Lee Murphy

  It took them another ten minutes to get the creature inside. They were all panting for breath and sweating profusely by the time they were able to bolt the end pieces onto the cage. Montagna reached in between the struts and bolted the leg chain to the cage.

  Kodiak continued to watch... and wait. His night was only beginning.

  ***

  The sun wouldn't be up for six more hours. After the adrenaline of the capture had worn off and the alcohol started kicking in, Montagna and the others decided to call it a night.

  Kodiak and Cyrena stayed up and watched the Sasquatch. They weren't happy about the turn of events, but it was still far from over.

  And they both knew what was going to happen next.

  Cyrena said, "What I still don't understand is how they were planning to get him out of the park. It's illegal to kill or remove any wildlife. Even if it's something like this."

  Kodiak held a lug wrench in his hand and said, "Emory Pittman's got one of his lackeys camped out in a Winnebago somewhere out here. When he gets word from Montagna, they'll rendezvous at a certain place, load the cage into the camper, then it's off to Arizona."

  "Looks like they have it all figured out."

  Kodiak nodded, then said, "Listen, why don't you go on ahead. The less you have to do with this, the better."

  "But he's so drugged up: he can't go anywhere on his own,"

  Cyrena said.

  "I'll bring him to the gully on one of the horses, and we'll stash him there till he comes around on his own. By then Montagna and the others will be after us, so we may have to stay hidden for a few days."

  "This is really scaring me, George."

  "We'll be all right. Now get out of here so I can get started."

  She looked at him with those wide green eyes, unable to mask her fear for what would happen to him if he got caught. "Please be careful." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. Then she smiled, and reluctantly headed into the woods.

  On their ride into the canyon they discovered a gully that was partially covered by a deadfall and some undergrowth. Cyrena was going to hide there until Kodiak could arrive with the Sasquatch. She wanted to help with the animal's release, but he absolutely forbade it, not daring to risk her safety.

  Under a three-quarter moon, as passing shadows of incoming storm clouds accumulated above, George Kodiak was finally alone with the Sasquatch. In twenty years of researching this phenomenon, basing his theories on frustratingly little physical evidence-- footprints, stray hairs and ever so often fecal matter-- here he was face to face with the living Gigantopithecus. And he was about to release it.

  He waited long enough for Cyrena to get well away from the camp, then he started to loosen the first bolt that was fastened to the end piece near the creature's feet. The metal creaked as the titanium plate parted from it. He stopped and looked over at the four dark tents. There was no sound, so he continued.

  He removed the first bolt. He started on the next one and realized the struts were so close together that he would have to remove at least six of them before he could get the animal out. This was going to take at least ten minutes. Ten minutes more than he wanted to spend on this task.

  Two bolts removed. Ten to go when he heard a noise from behind and turned around-- Dave Bovard kicked him just over his right eye with the pointed tip of his boot. Kodiak fell back. The lug wrench flew out of his hand and hit the ground some twenty feet away.

  "Norm! Jamie! He's trying to cut it loose! Hurry!" Kodiak got up and slammed Dave into the ground. The kick to his head was more severe than it felt; he was dizzy and staggered around. He could taste his own blood coming from the wound over his eye into his mouth. He punched Dave twice in the face, then he looked up and saw Montagna and Norm coming at him-- fast.

  Dave crawled up on his hands and knees, so Kodiak kicked him in the gut, and he flopped hard to the ground with a satisfying "Umph!"

  Before Kodiak could turn back to face the other two, he was tackled by Norm. They both went down. Norm's ugly ape-face was right in Kodiak's, blowing fetid breath as he screamed and pummeled Kodiak with his fists.

  Kodiak hardly felt the blows, but he was concerned that Norm might try to bite his nose off to disable him. He backhanded Norm across the face, and though the move felt completely inadequate to Kodiak, it must have worked, because it bloodied Norm's nose and stunned him long enough for Kodiak to throw him out of the way.

  As soon as Kodiak was free of Norm, Montagna came at him with the lug wrench positioned to smash down on his head. Kodiak rolled to the side and was struck on his left shoulder, blinded by white lights of pain as Montagna hit him again.

  Montagna swung down a third time. Kodiak grabbed the wrench with his right hand. They struggled for control of the weapon for what seemed like minutes. Kodiak was lying on the ground, still reeling from Dave's kick to his head, and holding onto the lug wrench. He couldn't understand why Ben hadn't heard the commotion, but he had no way of knowing everything that had just transpired took place within eighteen seconds.

  Kodiak realized that he must have had some strength left, as Montagna was having difficulty holding onto the wrench. As they continued to struggle for the weapon, Montagna placed both hands on the wrench and pressed his left foot against Kodiak's chest. Kodiak let go of the wrench and sent Montagna flailing several feet back. Due to the momentum, the wrench flew from Montagna's hands, and he had to scramble across the ground to get it.

  Kodiak came up behind him and hoisted him to his feet by his shirt collar, nearly strangling him. With one punch across the mouth, he knocked Montagna back to the ground and went for the wrench.

  Montagna landed hard on his tailbone, and he cringed from the excruciating pain. Norm immediately ran over and attempted to help him up, but the pain was so severe Norm had to lay him back down and go after Kodiak himself.

  Kodiak still couldn't see very well and, because of this, lost precious time feeling around blindly for the wrench. Just as he grasped it, Norm tackled him, and they both went down, rolling around and struggling. By some good fortune, Kodiak got a firm hold on the wrench, and he jammed it hard into Norm's side.

  Norm gasped, forcing up another lung oyster that stuck to the stubble on his chin. He crawled away like a crab, holding his arm against his injured side.

  Kodiak saw Montagna coming at him again, and he threw the wrench as hard as he could-- hitting Ben square in the chest! Ben went down like a bag of wet cement, and Kodiak realized he made a terrible mistake. He spotted Montagna really coming at him and reached into his back pocket...

  Dave shouted to Montagna, "He's going for something!"

  Distracted by the warning, Kodiak turned toward Dave, and Montagna kicked him in the testicles. Overcome by crippling pain, Kodiak withered to his knees and several playing cards dropped out of his hand onto the ground. He fell down on top of them as Montagna, Norm, and Dave started beating him as mercilessly as they had beaten the Sasquatch.

  The fight was over.

  Just before he blacked out completely, Kodiak heard Norm hawk up a loogie and spit on him.

  Norm's nose was swollen and bleeding, and his side hurt like hell. As far as he could tell no ribs were broken, but he'd have a hell of a nasty bruise tomorrow. He had to admit Kodiak put up a good fight. He kicked Kodiak again, and Montagna pulled him back. "He's had enough."

  Norm glared at Montagna, then said, "I say we kill him. Ain't that right, kid?"

  Dave looked almost as bad as Kodiak, except that he was conscious. "Yeah... kill..." Dave had been knocked senseless, and Norm would have felt bad for him, if he hadn't thought it was so funny.

  Montagna picked up some of the playing cards that were scattered on the ground and looked them over in the moonlight. "That's weird."

  "What?"

  "These cards are marked, but the markings make no sense. And they're not even hidden. Look." He handed a card to Norm who scrutinized it. The cards were marked with dark smudges and streaks along their edges. Not
all of them were marked, but the ones that were just looked sloppy.

  Norm shrugged and tossed them on top of Kodiak. "Who cares. What I want to know is, are we gonna kill him?"

  Montagna said, "No."

  Norm persisted like a petulant child. "We don't have to do it, Jamie. Let's let Ruthie have a go at him. She won't leave much behind..."

  Montagna sighed with impatience and said, "No. We aren't gonna kill him."

  "Then what are we gonna do with him?"

  Montagna looked around and saw that hardly any significant damage had been done to the cage and the Sasquatch was still unconscious. "We'll tie him to a tree and leave him here while we get the Squatch to Pittman. He'll be a little worse for wear, but maybe he'll be a little humbler, too."

  "I'd still like to kill him," Norm said, disgusted.

  "Forget it. Take the kid back to camp and get him cleaned up. I'll take care of this fool. Then maybe we can get some sleep. I want to leave at daybreak."

  Ruth-less

  As near as he could deduce by the position of the moon, Kodiak guessed that it was about two in the morning when it started to rain. Not hard, but steadily, and it was cold, especially because he was tied to a tree without any kind of protective covering. In a flash of lightning he saw somebody heading toward him from the direction of the tents, so he closed his eyes and braced himself for another beating.

  "George." It was Cyrena. She was as soaked as he was. He could tell by her eyes that he must look pathetic, at best, and he felt that way. He had a massive headache and his right eye was swollen shut. He knew the cut above his eye was open because he could feel warm blood still oozing over his eye and down his cheek. "I'm going to cut you loose," she said, and took a pocket knife from her jacket.

  Kodiak shook his head. "I'm no good for riding. Besides, if we just take off... they still have that." He nodded toward the cage that held the Sasquatch, which was now underneath a plastic tarp that Montagna had covered it with before going to bed.

  Cyrena urged him. "I can't leave you tied to this tree. And if they find out I'm cutting you free, they'll beat the tar out of me, too. And we both know they won't stop there."

  "I know. That's why you're gonna... gonna cut me loose. Then you're gonna ride out of the canyon... Alone."

  There was an edge of wariness to Cyrena's voice when she asked, "What about you?"

  "Cut the horses loose. All of them. Llamas too. Get rid of them."

  "Why?"

  "I can't ride. At least... without horses, they can't carry the Sasquatch out. That will give me time..." He stopped to catch his breath.

  "I don't like the sound of this, George. Time for what?"

  "To come back... to come back and kill them."

  "No. That's going too far. I can understand your wanting to let the animal go. I'm all for that. But killing them..."

  "They'll make it inevitable."

  Her eyes were hard on him. He sensed a harshness to them that would make most people look away. Then she said in a cold, deliberate manner, "You're the boss." She got up and briskly walked to the clearing by the river where the pack animals were. She vanished in the darkness, and the only sounds were the falling rain and the rushing river. Then he heard the trotting of the horses and the llamas as they scurried past him, heading back the way they had come into the canyon through the woods.

  Cyrena returned, looking far more cautious than before. "I don't want to stick around long enough to find out if the horses made enough noise to wake them out of their drunken sleep." She cut the ropes, and he started to get up. The circulation in his legs had been cut off while he was tied down, and he lost his balance. She caught him, and he leaned on her shoulder. "Thanks. Remind me to kick your ass for not getting the hell out of here when I told you to."

  "I'll remember that the next time you need me to save your butt."

  "Touche'." He winced from the pain in his crotch and leaned on her for support as they headed away from the campsite, into the dark.

  ***

  At seven-thirty in the morning Norm tore into Montagna's tent, raging, "Kodiak's gone! He took the horses and Cyrena with him!"

  "The Squatch?"

  "It's still here."

  Montagna let out a tremendous sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God." He climbed out of his sleeping bag and suddenly cringed from the pain of his fractured tailbone. It felt like somebody had struck him on the backside with a sledge hammer. When he finally got all the way up he said, "What was that about the horses?"

  "Kodiak took them all. The llamas, too. She probably cut him loose and they rode off together. Now how the hell are we supposed to get the Sasquatch outta here without the horses? We sure as hell can't carry it."

  Montagna was limping as they went outside. The pain had subsided a little as he walked over to the river where Dave was standing, holding the end of the steel cable that was used to hold the pack animals. It had been untied from the tree. "The horses were let go," Dave said.

  Montagna looked at Norm. "That boy's got a bright future. So what do you suggest, old buddy? We can't catch up with them, and we can't carry the cage on our shoulders. And I seriously doubt it would walk on a leash."

  "You're in awfully good spirits, considering," Norm stated, still fuming.

  "What do you want me to do, Norm? Everything you're whining about are set backs. We still have the Squatch, and that's as good as gold."

  "So what do we do, wait? What about Pittman's geek with the Winnebago?" Norm asked.

  "No can do. Not until we move the Squatch to some place the Winnebago can get to. We have nothing to worry about. What's Kodiak gonna do? He's worse off than we are, and how do you feel?"

  Norm pulled up his shirt and looked at the ghastly purple bruise on his side. It hurt just to look at it. "Yeah, I suppose that's true." Norm then became subdued in thought. "No, Kodiak don't strike me as the type to go running for help. He likes doing it himself too much."

  "Whatever. Here's what we're gonna have to do. Somebody's gonna have to stay here and guard our prize while somebody else hikes back to get more horses."

  "That's a hell of a hike, Jamie."

  "Not necessarily. I can have Pittman's boy meet me with the Winnebago once I get to a main road."

  "So you'll go?"

  "I don't trust Ben and Dave enough to stay here with the Squatch, so I guess the only real choice is Dave and I make the hike while you, Ben, and Ruth stay here."

  "You're no good for a walk like that, Jamie. Hell, you're walking like an old man ever since you took that fall last night. Tell you what. What if I go with the kid? That way we can head out right away."

  Montagna rubbed his sore butt and nodded. "I think you may be right, buddy. Just let me contact Pearl on the radio and arrange a rendezvous point, okay?"

  ***

  By noon Andy Paul managed to replace some fence posts and was heading back to the office for some barb wire when his assistant met him halfway there. "Got a call for you from Jim Crichton."

  "Okay." Paul went to the office, slipping twice on the muddied ground without falling. He wiped his face with a bandanna and picked up the phone. "Yeah, Jim."

  "How you doing, Andy?"

  "Oh, can't complain. Not too much, anyway. This a social call, or is something up?"

  "I just got a call from Ken Ohler at the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center. He says about half a dozen llamas were rounded up outside of their campgrounds this morning. He knows you're the only one around with llamas, so he had me check it out. You rent out any llamas recently?"

  Paul said, "Yeah. About that many, along with seven horses, to that group of folks out there Bigfoot hunting."

  "Hmm. Do you think there might be trouble?"

  Paul considered this. He was worried for that sexy little gal who rented the animals and thought about telling this to Crichton, then thought, hell, he was more than capable of checking things out himself. "No, Jim. I know what must have happened. Those damn llamas like to chew through the ropes.
Now I told those people to use a cable to tether them, but they probably didn't. I'll go take care of it."

  Crichton had known Andy Paul for more than twenty years. Paul knew these mountains as good as any ranger and could have been a ranger if he so chose. "Okay, Andy. Just give a call if you need any help."

  "So long, Jim. And thanks." He hung up the phone and sat down on the desk, thinking. He didn't believe that line about the rope being chewed through, because he gave Cyrena the section of cable himself. And he didn't believe they came across Bigfoot and paid the ultimate price. But he also didn't like that punk Dave who was with her the day she rented the animals.

  That was it. He'd put his stallion in the truck, grab his twelve gauge shotgun and ride into the woods to see what had happened to those people.

  ***

  It took Kodiak and Cyrena the rest of the night to go the three and one-quarter-miles to the gully where he planned to stash the Sasquatch while it recovered from the tranquilizer. It suited their purpose perfectly; it was cut seven feet into a granite wall and well hidden by undergrowth.

  It was just after daybreak, and the morning sun barely shone through the coastal fog like a dull silver dollar. Cyrena saw that the gash on Kodiak's forehead was still oozing blood. It needed stitches, but she couldn't think of any way to close the wound. To relieve the pain in his crotch, Kodiak made much of the trip leaning on Cyrena's shoulder. He pulled away from her support and hobbled over to the hundred-foot trunk of a long-dead cedar pine, kicked off a slab of bark and tossed it near her feet. It was swarming with big black ants, and she stared at it, not understanding what it was for.

  Ten minutes later he was sitting in the gully holding the two sides of the cut together with his fingers, while Cyrena knelt before him, holding one of the ants with a pair of tweezers. With its mandibles wide open, she brought the ant up against his skin. It bit down and closed part of the wound. She pinched off its body, leaving the head in place, where it joined four other ants that sacrificed their heads to suture Kodiak's wound.