by Abby Tyson
With one last glance at the canoe -- and the alligator -- Savi ran into the woods.
Chapter Fourteen
There was no chance of finding Ren and Nissa in the darkening woods, so Savi followed the water upstream -- the opposite direction of Pearl -- in hopes of finding civilization and a phone to call an ambulance for Marley.
Picking her way through the dense growth in waning light with her hands tied behind her back was miserable. The tall grass hid the mud beneath, and with every step more of it clung to her feet, making Savi question whether her sandals had indeed been worth the risk. She stumbled and stubbed her toes on hidden tree roots and debris, but she couldn't move inland out of the grass for fear of losing sight of the water.
By the time she heard the sound of a motorboat, she was covered in more grime than clothing. The boat had "USFWS-3" painted in black on the side, and after she managed to catch the driver's attention and draw it to shore, Savi recognized the unmistakable burly figure of the director from the visitor center.
"You ain't allowed here," he called out in his southern drawl, cutting the engine and letting it drift toward the bank.
"I've been kidnapped," she said, turning to show her tied hands, "and my friend's been stabbed, back at the boat launch. Can you cut me loose?"
The ranger jumped out of the boat and dragged it ashore. Pulling a Swiss army knife from his pocket, he began cutting the twine on her wrists. "Who did this?"
"Two girls. One of them is here in the woods somewhere, with two of my friends. We need to call an ambulance. They stabbed my boyfriend in the back. He might be --" Savi couldn't say it. "We need to get help."
He finished cutting the rope and Savi slowly stretched her arms. The director grabbed the walkie-talkie from his hip as he dug in his boat for a towel for her to clean herself off with.
"Kareem, this here's Rudy. Code red. Do you read? Over."
The authority in the director's voice was heartening -- a far cry from the nervousness he'd shown at the center.
"Kareem here. Whaddya got, Rudy? Over."
"Stabbing at Buffalo City Road boat launch: one victim, male, in the back. Perpetrators remain at large. Over."
"We'll be there in ten. Kareem out."
Instead of feeling better that help was on its way, Savi's body tensed even more. No more worrying, no more hoping -- soon she would know for sure how serious Marley's injuries were. Would she ever see him smile again? Had she heard his voice for the last time?
A sob escaped her lips. Her legs threatened to give way. She sat on the ground, heedless of the damp grass.
"You hurt?" asked Rudy.
"No, I'm just worried about him." She rested her head on her knees, relieving her weary neck and shoulders. Her stomach twisted and threatened to revolt. "Do you have any water or food? I think I'm a little dehydrated."
"Always keep something on hand," he said, reaching into his boat, "in case I run into unprepared hikers, or if I don't want to go back to the office yet." He held a granola bar and unopened bottle of water out to her. "Not that the office ain't nice," he added quickly, scratching his beard. "All the people there are real nice. Being outdoors is better -- for me, that is."
Even though he had reverted to his awkward and anxious self, there was an innocence and sweetness in him that, after her encounter with Amber and Pearl, Savi found as nourishing as the food and drink. She gave him a weak but encouraging smile.
"You were with the young'n at the center," he said.
"Yeah, sorry about that," she said between bites. "She's been through a lot and doesn't know how to deal with it."
"How'd she find you?"
It was an odd way to ask how she and Nissa had met, but Rudy's heavy accent prompted Savi to attribute it to local dialect.
"She's my boyfriend's sister. Thanks again for the food," she added, hoping to distract him from the subject. "Your name's Rudy?"
At first she thought he hadn't taken the bait, but then he said, "Yup. Well, Renaldo's my real name, but that never fit me. Not that it's a bad name, but Rudy's better -- for me, that is. You?" He wiped his forehead, and Savi thought the perspiration was from unease as much as the heat.
"I'm Savannah."
"That's nice," he said, his gruff voice smoothing out, "all green and grassy, maybe a tree here and there. You like it?"
Being named after a flat, featureless plain never seemed particularly flattering to Savi, but she didn't want to dampen Rudy's enthusiasm, delicate as it was.
"It's okay. I usually go by Savi, though."
"Nice to meet you." He started to offer his hand, but then jerked it back. "Won't interrupt your meal," he muttered.
"It's okay," said Savi, reaching out to him.
Rudy stepped back. "I'm grubby."
She gestured at her filthy body. "You'd literally have to be a grub to be grubbier than me."
He continued to hang back, and Savi couldn't help but get the impression that he was afraid of her.
This guy's got some serious anxiety issues.
"That's okay," she said, lowering her hand.
He stood silently by as she finished the granola bar. At the sound of her crinkling up the wrapper, he asked, "Ready to move?"
Savi took another drink before answering. Her nausea had eased, but her neck still ached. All she wanted to do was lie down and sleep. But she needed to go to Marley, and help him if she could.
Slowly, she stood. "I'm a little better, thanks." She started towards his boat when a voice sounded on the radio.
"Rudy, it's Kareem. Over."
Her heart plummeted, and she felt the blood drain from her head. She put her hand out to lean on a nearby tree.
"Rudy here. What'd you find? Over."
Savi held her breath.
"You said Buffalo City Road boat launch, right?" asked Kareem. "Milltail Creek?"
"Yup."
"There's no one here," said Kareem, "only cars."
"He was almost in the woods," said Savi, "to the right if your back's to the river."
"Did you check the tree line?" Rudy asked into the radio. "South, southeast of the launch?"
"Affirmative. We searched all round the lot. It's getting dark, but we'da seen him."
It's getting dark. She looked to the west, where the sky was most pale. Sunset. Did he alter? Did he heal?
"Got it," said Rudy. "Sorry to waste your time. Must have been a prank."
"Sounds about right. Good night. Kareem out."
"I wasn't lying," she said as soon as the radio went quiet.
Rudy replaced the walkie-talkie on his belt, but said nothing.
"I didn't tie my hands behind my back," she added.
"Didn't say you did," he said, "but people don't walk away from a knife in the back. Maybe he wasn't hurt as bad as you thought."
Though she was grateful for Rudy's explanation -- which prevented further questions -- Savi knew Marley had been seriously injured. She clung to the hope that he had healed before nightfall.
"This way," said Rudy, walking into the woods.
Savi stayed where she was. "Aren't we going back to the launch?"
"Need to find the young'n."
"Amber's out here. She's dangerous, and nuts."
"Dangerous ones always are," he said.
She considered waiting in the boat, but the fear of Amber finding her alone convinced her to follow. At the sound of her footsteps, Rudy stopped and shone the flashlight on the ground in front of her, then handed it to her when she came up beside him.
"Stay right behind me," he said.
"Don't you need the flashlight?" she asked.
"Nope."
The wetlands became a little less soggy the farther from the water they went, but she missed the sturdy, pine needle-covered dirt floor of the New England woods. And instead of the usual sweet, harmonious chirps of tree frogs, the soundtrack to this marsh was the far less musical belching croaks of bullfrogs. She looked skyward, in hopes of at least seeing familiar
stars now that the sun had disappeared, but the blanket of leaves overhead was too thick, hiding them from view. Even the smells in this place were strange, and she found herself covering her nose more than a few times to avoid inhaling the scent of rotten eggs.
And everything was so wet. The ground, the trees, even Savi herself, were all slimy and sticky. There was no breeze this far from the water, and even with the sun gone, the air was so warm and humid and unmoving that it was more like being trapped in an unlit steamy bathroom. Amber had never returned her elastic, and Savi's limp hair clung to her back and neck. Her damp clothes were unable to dry with all the moisture, and had begun to chafe her skin. Desperate for a reprieve from the stinging soreness, and hoping for a chance to scrape off her mud-caked feet, she started searching for a good place to rest. She saw a rock a ways into the woods that was more gray than green and headed for it.
She had almost reached it when a rattling noise at her feet made her cry out. Stumbling backwards, she tripped on a tree root and fell in a squishy puddle.
"Savannah?" Rudy called, running over.
The rattling sounded almost like a loud cat purr, but the flashlight that had fallen out of her hands now shone on an animal far less friendly and content. A snake, with alternating blotches of dark and light brown scales, was sliding across the ground towards her, its vibrating tail upraised behind.
Savi screamed and tried to scramble away. She'd hardly done more than splash in the water when Rudy appeared. Without hesitation he dove for the snake, seizing it just below the head. Savi watched in wonder as he calmly carried the writhing creature to a nearby tree and lightly tossed it onto a soft bed of moss.
Kneeling by her side, he asked, "Are you bit?"
"I don't think so," she said, numb from fear and amazement. "What was that?"
"Canebrake rattler. It ain't fatal, but you don't want to get bit if you can help it."
She turned her attention inward. She was -- of course -- wet, sweaty, and hungry, but the only pain was the chafing on her thighs. "No, it didn't bite me." She looked back up at the black shadow that was Rudy's face. "How did you do that?"
"What?"
Savi laughed. "Is picking up angry, potentially venomous snakes something you do on a daily basis?"
Rudy picked up the flashlight and held it out to her, muttering, "Only done it a few times before."
The tightness in his voice made her sorry for teasing him. "Well, thanks for doing it again. I'm sorry I strayed from the path. I wanted to clean off my useless shoes."
"You're wearing shoes?"
Holding up one of her feet in the beam of the flashlight, Savi dug out the strap of her sandal from the layer of caked on mud.
"Huh," said Rudy.
Her laughter was cut short by the distant sound of someone shouting.
"Do you hear that?" she asked, standing up and wiping off her now sopping shorts. "It sounds like a girl's voice."
"What's that Amber girl look like?" asked Rudy.
"Do you think that's her?" she whispered. She turned the flashlight on him, but he was peering in the direction opposite the yelling.
Although Savi realized that he had no means of recognizing Amber's voice, he answered with a definitive, "No. That's the young'n."
She listened to the cries, but it was too distant to tell if it was Nissa. "How do you know?"
"It's her," he said simply. "Now what's the troublemaker look like?"
Savi described Amber's straight blonde hair and startling amber eyes, along with her skinny, muscular body that was generally covered with the least amount of clothing. She started telling him about Pearl also, who was likely still floating down the river, but he interrupted her in a low voice asking, "Amber wear perfume?"
Shooting him a sharp look, she said, "She always smells like champagne."
He pointed towards the shouting. "Go on that way."
She took a step, but when he didn't move to follow, she said, "On my own?"
"I'll be right there. Go to your friend." He gave her a gentle shove, but then a moment later said, "Too late," and grabbed her shirt, pulling her down behind a tree.
He took the flashlight from her and turned it off. "Stay down," he whispered, and crouched beside her, keeping a hand on her back.
"You ain't supposed to be here," he called out.
She barely had time to guess who he was talking to before she heard Amber's voice to their left.
"I can go anywhere I want."
Savi searched the forest, but it was so dark and dense that she could barely see Rudy beside her, let alone Amber.
"There's a reason it's restricted," he continued, "too many dangerous animals."
"Not as dangerous as me," said Amber, closer than before.
His hand firm on Savi's back, he said, "A witness says you assaulted and kidnapped her. Turn yourself in so we can sort this out."
There was no answer. Savi tried to listen for Amber over her own thumping heart, but heard nothing. Like the alligator, it was almost more frightening not knowing where Amber was.
"Not that way," the director warned.
"How do you know where she is?" whispered Savi.
Before he could answer, a guttural roar filled the woods. The sound was enormous -- too huge and resonant to pinpoint its source. Savi covered her ears and hid her face against the bumpy bark of the tree. Rudy's arm stretched across her back, strong and secure as a shield.
Someone burst from the trees, running right past them back toward the water on two feet. A large, lumbering mass on four legs chased close behind, huffing and snorting with every stride.
Watching after them, and relishing the brief breeze the animal had left in its wake, Savi asked, "Was that a bear?"
"Yup." Rudy stood and turned the flashlight back on and pointed it in the direction they had originally been going. "Keep on straight ahead. That's where your friends are. I'll take care of her." He handed her the light and began running after Amber.
"Be careful!" she called, suppressing the urge to follow him. He was a big guy, but he was also about as far across the spectrum from psychotic killer as you could be. If he underestimated the threat that was Amber, Savi wasn't at all confident she'd see him again.
Rudy didn't answer, his footfalls already swallowed by the woods. Savi reluctantly turned towards the sound of the yelling, which had continued unabated during their close encounter. As the distance between them lessened, there was no denying Nissa's shrill, childish voice.
How did Rudy know it was Nissa? Had it been a lucky guess? Savi had said her friends were in the area, and if the park was supposed to be closed, who else would it be? But how did he know Amber wore perfume? A person's smell didn't usually factor in when assembling a description of someone. And the way he'd confidently picked up that snake without even cringing... There was definitely more to simple, sweet Rudy than he let on.
As she moved closer, Nissa's shouts became clearer. "I know you're here!" she screamed. "I have what you lack! I know where she is. You'll never find her unless you help me!"
Savi followed her cries to a boulder that would have dwarfed her house. The hill of rock was almost as tall as the trees that surrounded it. A circle of starry sky was carved out above, unmasked by the oppressive black leaf canopy. The fat crescent moon shone down, providing enough light to see Nissa perched atop the boulder's peak. Savi wondered if Nissa had climbed the steep, jagged rock herself, or if Ren had carried her up -- either way, she was alone now, and getting down would be a dangerous feat.
"Nissa!" she called.
"Savi? Why are you here?" Nissa cried. "I told you to stay away. Go now!"
"Amber and Pearl found us again. They ambushed me and Marley."
"I don't care! Get out of here!"
"The director from the visitor center brought me here," said Savi. "He went after Amber and said he'd come back for me."
Nissa let out a wild shriek. When she spoke again, however, her voice was more calm, though she still
needed to shout to be heard over the ceaseless bullfrogs. "You begged me to keep last night a secret, and against my better judgment, I did. Now I implore you: leave, or I'll never see Karis again."
Although moved by Nissa's plea, Savi doubted she would be able to find her way back to Rudy's boat. And after the bear appearing from nowhere, she didn't really want to try. "Why? What's going on?"
"I'll explain later. Go!"
The shadow of a bird passed in front of the moon. Nissa became hysterical.
"She's coming! You must go. You'll ruin everything!"
Despite her fear of the forest, Savi may have heeded Nissa's frantic cries if Rudy hadn't come running into the clearing.
"Get down from there," he bellowed at Nissa. "You'll hurt yourself."
Nissa didn't reply. Rudy came up beside Savi.
"Amber got away?" she asked; since he was alive, it seemed the only possibility.
"Nope, she's tied up on my boat," he said.
"Really? How did you get her?"
She realized too late that her doubt may have been interpreted as offensive, but he simply shrugged, staring at the bird circling overhead.
"What kind of bird is that?" asked Savi.
"Great horned owl," he said with reverence.
The owl dove through the air, alighting on the rock beside Nissa. Savi could hear Nissa speak, but her words were too quiet to understand from the ground.
She's coming, Nissa had said. Who? The bird?
Savi turned to see Rudy staring at her. "What's going on?" she asked.
"No need to worry," he said, his smiling eyes reflecting the moonlight.
It wasn't an answer, but she believed him.
The owl leapt off the boulder and floated towards them. Rudy stepped forward, and Savi thought the animal was going to land on him, but then he knelt, bowing his head as if greeting royalty.
As the owl descended, its shape began to grow, broadening and lengthening, until it was no longer recognizable. The shadow morphed and stretched and brightened, and when it landed on the mossy ground, there was no owl standing before her, but a woman.
Chapter Fifteen
Nearly a head shorter than Savi and wearing nothing except her long silver hair, the woman stood with such dignity that Savi was the one who felt a burning in her cheeks.