by R. D. Brady
His face had been another surprise. She had expected it to look more gorilla-like. And while it was true that he had no noticeable neck, his face was decidedly human. The mouth was not pushed forward like an ape’s. The nose was human, except flatter. And while the eyes were deep-set, they also resembled human eyes.
His torso was massive—at least four feet wide and round. He had no waist. In humans, increased exercise and fitness results in a V-shaped torso. But whereas the bigfoot had very defined musculature, his shoulders were only slightly broader than his hips.
Several theories had been advanced to explain bigfoot’s large size. Among them was gigantothermy—the tendency of species to be larger in colder climates in the Northern hemisphere. This larger size allowed for increased body heat. A larger torso also allowed for a greater range of food options. The longer digestive tract would allow bigfoot to eat a coarser diet, which could explain how they could survive in an environment like the Pacific Northwest.
Tess’s mind continued to draw connections between what she had just seen and what science knew. His hair had appeared thick—which meant that it would provide warmth as well as acting as a barrier to insects. Some research had suggested that bigfoot may have three levels of hair: long coarse guard hairs, an undercoat for insulation, and whiskers. And some hair samples had been found by other researchers. The problem had always been that there was no bigfoot standard to compare them to, so the best they could hope for was to find that it didn’t match any hairs in the database. Alleged bigfoot hairs had been found to not match gorilla, human, or chimp hair, although it had been shown to have similarities to all three: no medullary structure, but with a humanlike scale pattern.
But then there were the hair samples that just seemed to further confuse the problem. In 2013, British researchers gathered samples of alleged Yeti hair for genetic testing. When they found that the samples from the Himalayas were a one hundred percent match with an ancient polar bear believed to have died out forty thousand years ago, they were shocked, but everyone thought that was the end of the story.
It wasn’t. Additional testing of the sample didn’t match the ancient polar bear after all. And honestly, that was a big problem in the research. Samples could be mishandled and then contaminated, making it difficult to determine which ones were legit and which weren’t. But Tess was hoping that with DNA from unknown hominids being added to the databases, any sample she got might have a chance of matching.
Tess pictured the bigfoot once more. And that was definitely no polar bear.
Her mind continued to whirl, ticking off facts and drawing conclusions. She glanced over at her pack and realized she hadn’t even thought about taking a photo. Of course, he probably wouldn’t have waited around for one anyway. She pictured his long stride. No, she had played the first encounter correctly—she hoped. And maybe now he’d even stop by again.
Tess stood and wiped off her jeans with a grin. I just met bigfoot.
CHAPTER 28
After Tess returned to her cabin that night, she wrote up her thoughts about her encounter. She paused at her laptop, contemplating whether or not to contact Hayes. No, not yet. She needed a little more time to think through what had happened. Hopefully she’d have more to tell for her next report.
She grabbed her keys and wallet and headed for the door. “Want to go for a ride, Shelby?” From the dog bed in the corner of the office, Shelby hopped up and padded after her.
When she reached her truck, Tess called Madge to see if she needed anything from town. Madge gave her a list, and an hour and a half later, Tess pulled into Madge’s drive with a couple of bags of groceries. Madge stood from the rocking chair on the porch, a book in her hands.
Tess smiled as she got out of the truck. “Hey, Madge.”
“Hey, hon. Thanks for picking those up.”
Tess pulled the grocery bags from the back seat and made her way up the porch steps. “No problem. I wanted to talk to you about something anyway.”
Madge held open the door as Shelby scrambled inside, followed by Tess. “Something happen?”
Tess couldn’t hold back her grin. “You could say that.”
“Well, dinner’s about ready. Why don’t you two stay and you can fill me in?”
Tess put the bags on Madge’s counter and started unpacking. “That’d be great.”
A short time later, Madge and Tess were settled at Madge’s kitchen table with plates of meatloaf, and Tess recounted her experience in detail.
“Well don’t that beat all,” Madge said.
“But you’ve met one as well.”
Madge shook her head. “Not like that. Oh, I’ve seen them from a distance, but any time they caught sight of me they walked away. Your friend… well, it seems like he wanted to make sure you saw him. He wanted to meet you.”
Tess recalled the game of catch. “That’s what I think, too. But I don’t get why. I mean, these guys have been reclusive for their whole existence. Why step out now?”
Madge shrugged. “Maybe he’s as curious about you as you are about him.”
“Maybe.”
“Or…” Madge drew out the word.
“Or what?”
“Or he wants something from you.”
“Wants something? Like what?”
“I don’t know. But you should be careful. These beings are intelligent, and though they may look human, they’re not. I’ve seen what they can do to bears. You would be even easier to hurt.”
A chill came over Tess as she pictured her visitor’s massive arms. “I know.”
Madge took Tess’s hand. “I know you want to learn about them. But promise me you’ll be careful.”
Tess placed her hand over Madge’s. “I will.”
But she pictured the being in her mind. Then she pictured what it had taken for her to stop the charging bear just last week. The bigfoot was much larger than the bear, and smarter, too. If it decided to do her harm… She would never be able to defend herself.
CHAPTER 29
Tess had trouble sleeping that night. Madge’s concerns echoed through her mind, and she debated what to do. She thought about not going back. But how could she do that? This was what she had wanted for almost twenty years, and the truth was, she still had no hard proof. It was late by the time she fell into a fitful sleep.
She got up before the sun this morning, her concerns still there, but also a sense of hope. For some reason, the bigfoot had chosen her to communicate with. She owed it to him, and to herself, to find out why.
When she arrived back at her camp, nothing appeared disturbed. She checked her cameras and then her food stock, which had been depleted. She replenished it. Then she went back to her tent and sat at the table and chair, checking on her email and reviewing a paper. The morning droned on. And the sleepless night was catching up with her.
Tess closed the laptop and pushed it aside. Laying her head on her hands, she closed her eyes. Five minutes. I’ll take a quick five-minute nap and then go for a walk.
She dozed off. In her dream, she was still in the camp, but the bigfoot returned. He stood next to her, reached out, and touched her hair. Tess stayed still, letting him. And then he disappeared.
A bird let out a screech, and Tess jolted awake.
She wiped at her eyes and at the drool that had pooled on the side of her mouth. Lovely.
Everything was quiet. She pushed back her chair. Her gaze absentmindedly swept the ground.
She went still.
Next to her chair were two large footprints. Her heart began to pound and her head snapped up. There was no one nearby.
She felt shaky. He’d returned. Had he touched her hair, or had that just been a dream? Even if he hadn’t, he had been close enough to do so.
She wasn’t sure what to think about that. Part of her felt a little creeped out. Part of her was happy that he’d returned. And part of her was confused. Why was he taking such an interest in her?
A rock landed at her feet. She
paused and then smiled. She picked it up and tossed it back.
A few seconds later, he appeared in the same spot as yesterday. And she realized that the rock-throwing was almost like him ringing the doorbell to let her know he was near.
She as stunned by the sight of him as she had been the day before. A nine-foot hominid was communicating—no, actually interacting—with her. She slowly reached into her bag. “Are you hungry?” She pulled out the fruit she had gotten for him.
He watched her, then took a step forward.
Swallowing, Tess placed the food on the log, just like she’d done yesterday. He waited until she backed away, then he picked it up. Seconds later, he disappeared into the trees.
Tess let out a breath, feeling lightheaded.
For the next two weeks, that became their routine. Tess would provide food. He would take it after she had backed away, then would disappear into the woods. The next day they’d do it all over again.
Then one day, it changed. Tess placed the food on the end of the log and backed away. The bigfoot picked it up and hesitated.
And then he sat down.
Tess knew her mouth had fallen open. She slammed it shut and started to talk, not even sure what she was saying, but focused on keeping her voice even. “Well, this is a nice surprise. My name’s Tess.”
He watched her, but said nothing, as Tess knew he probably wouldn’t; from all reports, bigfoot didn’t have a language. Instead, he took a bite from an apple. Tess noticed he had more gray that she’d originally thought. In fact, he was liberally sprayed with it.
“I don’t suppose you can tell me your name, can you? Well, how about I call you Charlie? I don’t know about you, but it actually makes me feel a little better about you being here.”
She realized when she thought about him, that he reminded her of an old picture her dad had in his study of a mountain man. Tall, burly, with a big beard, covered in animal furs, she and Pax had christened him Charlie when they were kids.
Tess inched forward. He watched her from the corner of his eye as he finished up the apple. “I’m researching you guys,” she said. “Trying to figure out what you are—or even just prove that you exist. Although I guess I’ve already done that part, at least to myself.”
The idea of taking a picture crossed her mind, but she immediately discarded it. She’d thought about setting up cameras in advance, but she’d discarded that idea as well. She was making inroads here. She didn’t want to do anything that might blow it.
“So, do you live around here?” she asked. “I live about a ninety-minute hike from here. Although for you, it would definitely take less time.” She pictured the footprints she’d seen outside her cabin. “But I’m guessing you already know that.”
She reached the edge of the log. He paused in his eating, then continued.
Tess slowly eased herself down onto the other side of the log. He went still for a second before continuing his eating. “Well, this is nice. You and me enjoying the afternoon sunshine.”
Charlie polished off the rest of his food. Without a word or a glance, he stood and walked away.
Tess watched him go. And then grinned.
Wow.
From the blog Bigfoot Among Us by Dr. Tess Brannick
This week’s question comes from Shawn Tidley of Portland, Oregon. Shawn writes:
What is the difference between bigfoot and sasquatch?
Short answer: Nothing. :)
Long answer: There are actually more than sixty names for bigfoot across North American tribes alone. The name “sasquatch” was coined by Canadian journalist J. W. Burns in the 1920s. It comes from the word Sésquac—a Halkomelem word used by the Coast Salish Indians of Canada, meaning “wild man.”
The term “bigfoot” didn’t enter the common vernacular until the Gerry Crew incident in the 1950s. Gerry Crew was part of a construction group laying road through Humboldt County, California. He found these giant footprints around the equipment in the morning, and sometimes he found that huge pieces of machinery had been tossed. The Humboldt Times of Eureka, California got hold of the story and photographed Crew with a cast of a sixteen-inch footprint and used the term bigfoot for the creature. And the bigfoot fascination of the modern era began!
CHAPTER 30
For the next few weeks, Tess met Charlie every day, except weekends. And each time, she learned a little more about his physiology. Unlike gorillas, he had no protruding belly—a characteristic of a herbivore—which meant he was most likely an omnivore, eating both meat and plants.
At first glance his feet appeared to be very large human feet, but a closer comparison made the differences clear. Proportionally, Charlie’s feet were much wider than a human’s. The average male human’s foot is just under eleven inches—although some feet can be noticeably larger—but the foot tends to narrow at the arch. Bigfoot feet, by comparison, are extremely wide and have no arch. In addition, the toes are proportionally much longer than those on a human foot.
His hands were different, too. They were incredibly large, of course, but they also had webbing between the fingers. Tess was surprised to find that he had no opposable thumbs. For some reason she had expected to see them. Opposable thumbs were what allowed for fine motor movement, and most scientists agreed that it was one of the most critical factors in the development of tools.
Tess studied all these physical traits while she sat next to Charlie rambling on about nothing. Charlie didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to enjoy her company. Each day he stayed a little longer.
So one day, Tess decided to try the camera. Charlie was wandering around the camp, inspecting Tess’s stuff, and she was staying out of his way and letting him. Ha, letting him. Like I could stop him.
While he was looking at her tent, she pulled her camera out of her bag. She took a breath, then waited until he turned. She held the camera up for him to see. “Would it be okay—”
He lunged across the short distance and smacked the camera out of her hand. Then he stomped on it and let out a scream.
Tess stumbled back, tripping over her own feet in her haste. Charlie stood towering over her. Tess stared at the ground, her hands covering her head, waiting for the blow. She could hear his breath. His feet were only inches from her.
Oh, God.
Seconds passed that felt like hours.
Finally, he turned and walked away.
Tess lifted her head. He was gone. Her heart pounded and her breath came out in gasps. She shook like she was having a seizure. Oh my God. Oh my God.
CHAPTER 31
That night Tess lay curled up on her couch, Shelby at her side. She had planned on meeting up with Sasha and Abby for a girls’ night out, but after today she’d called and begged off, claiming a headache.
She wasn’t sure what to do. After Charlie left, she had shook for what felt like hours. And on the walk home, she had jumped at every sound in the forest. Even now, the thought of him lunging at her sent her heart racing.
She ran her hand through Shelby’s fur. “What am I going to do, girl?”
Shelby gave her a tired wag.
Dev wasn’t coming over tonight, and for the first time, Tess was glad for that. She hadn’t told anyone except Madge about her encounters. For some reason, she felt like telling would be a violation. Although right now, that seemed awfully stupid. Still, she didn’t want to tell Dev tonight—not when she was still so upset.
Continuing to rub Shelby, Tess struggled with what her next step was going to be. Obviously, she had violated the rules of their interaction. She began to shake again when she recalled him towering over her—and that scream. She let out a stuttering breath.
Shelby raised her head, tilting it to the side. Tess reached down and hugged her. “I’m okay, girl.”
But am I? She worried she’d blown all the progress they’d made. And at the same time, she wasn’t sure she could bring herself to go back there again. The moment he had moved toward her, Tess had been sure her life was
over. And that moment brought into crystal clarity how defenseless she was against him. If he wanted to hurt her, there was nothing she could do. She had been humanizing him, she realized that. She needed to remember that he was an animal, no matter how human he looked.
But she also knew she had no proof. She had nothing on film, no hairs, no DNA. Her interactions at this point were just a long drawn-out witness account. If she closed up shop now, she’d have nothing to show for her time. But if she didn’t…
Tess sighed. If she didn’t, she could find herself back in that situation again. Or worse. Was it really worth it?
She stared at the dying fire in the fireplace, but no answers magically appeared.
Ever since her father had died, she’d been obsessed with finding the thing in the woods that had helped her and her brother escape. Hadn’t she done that? Wasn’t her mission now over?
Her phone rang, and Tess picked it up without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”
“Good evening, Dr. Brannick. I hope I’m not intruding.”
Tess straightened her back. “Um, no, no, of course not, Mr. Hayes.”
“Thaddeus tells me that your reports have been rather anemic as of late.”
Tess scrambled for something to say. She hadn’t mentioned anything in her reports about Charlie. In fact, her reports had barely changed. “Um, yes, but my food supplies are consistently disappearing—at least those not near the cameras.”
Hayes interrupted. “Yes. Why do you think that is?”
“Well, there’s some research that indicates that animals are able to pick up frequencies that we can’t—perhaps cameras are emitting those frequencies. And all animals have a well-developed sense of self-preservation. I’m thinking perhaps it recognizes that something is out of place and it avoids those areas.”
“Hmm. Is there a way to overcome that problem?”