by Lee, S. G.
Matt was already handing their bikes up to a younger boy standing in the bed of the rusted Ford as Evan begrudgingly climbed into the front cab. He wanted to keep Emma close, but Evan knew Matt would protect her. Kate slid in next to Evan and Emma helped boost Lucy up onto Kate’s lap before she went back to hop onto the tailgate and settled in next to Matt. She found it peculiar that no one seemed bothered by letting strangers with guns into their truck.
“You’ns in?” the stranger asked, grinding into first gear.
Emma smiled at the young boy sitting across from her and he blushed.
“You ain’t from ‘round here,” the older boy observed as he eyed Emma appreciatively.
Their driver introduced himself as Darryl and his boys, Cody and Logan, who were in the back. Evan made their introductions, putting a heavy emphasis on ‘my girlfriend’ when he introduced Emma. Claiming they were going camping seemed easier than explaining the truth and it was certainly plausible. Darryl followed Evan’s directions as they chugged along the winding roads.
Soon the roads were no longer paved and gravel sprayed out behind the old, balding tires. As the truck groaned further up the side of the mountain, the gravel grew scarce. As a result of the previous night’s heavy rains, the truck was sinking deeper and deeper into the muddy path. Finally, the tires were churning out sprays of mud and the truck was no longer moving.
“Well, “fraid that’s as far as we’re gonna make it,” Darryl said apologetically. “How much further up d’ya have to go?”
“Not too far,” Evan replied and thanked Darryl for his help.
As the boys were unloading their gear from the truck, Cody warned the strangers to get where they were headed before sundown.
“There’s been talk of somethin’ in the woods,” Cody said, his eyes wide with fear.
“Now hush your mouth, boy! Don’t be scaring the girls with your foolish talk,” Darryl scolded. “There’s nothin’ in the woods ‘cept what’s supposed to be in the woods.”
“But Pappaw said …” Cody began defensively.
“Never mind what Pappaw said,” Darryl interrupted. He smiled at Kate and whispered, “The crazy old kook was probably drunk and telling tales to my boys.”
So that his father couldn’t hear, Cody leaned forward and whispered to Emma, “Pappaw said there was some kind of wolf-man in the woods. At night you can hear the wolf-man groaning up at the moon. He ain’t able t’howl no more. They say his throat was torn open when he was bit.”
According to Cody, the wolf man had even tried to bite his Uncle Ed. Emma thanked Cody for the warning and promised she would keep an eye out. With a little shove, Evan and Matt were able to push Darryl’s truck out of the rut and the old Ford puttered back down the mountain. Waving, they called out thanks and watched Darryl’s truck disappear around the bend. Waiting until the rusty, old pick up was out of sight, Matt voiced his earlier question.
“Okay, now what’s a yinz?” Matt demanded.
“It’s just a regional colloquialism,” Kate replied, laughing. “Just like in the deep South they say y’all, here they say you’ns. They say it in Pittsburgh too.”
Matt nodded like he understood but, whispering, he asked Emma to define colloquialism. Emma rolled her eyes and shook her head in disbelief before explaining it to her brother.
“So, how close are we?” Emma asked, noticing that the sun was drooping closer to the horizon.
“Less than a mile,” Evan answered, scooping Emma’s hand into his own. “Say, what was that boy whispering to you?”
Making sure that Lucy wasn’t close enough to overhear, Emma told Evan what Cody had told her. Matt scoffed, assuming he’d just been trying to scare her. Cody had looked so frightened that Emma doubted he was playing a joke. Evan wondered aloud if it had been a zombie in the woods, not a wolf-man. It seemed probable since Cody said it had tried to bite someone. With the lack of media, there were bound to be all kinds of urban legends cropping up.
Deciding it was best to be on the defensive, the three had their guns ready. Evan took the lead while Matt and Emma brought up the rear to make sure there was nothing behind them. Oblivious to any danger, Lucy picked wild flowers and ran after the chipmunks that scurried off as she drew near. She squealed with excitement when Evan accidentally flushed out a pair of pheasants. It wasn’t until Lucy went off the path to chase rabbits that Evan put his foot down. Charging after his little sister, Evan caught her quickly and marched her back to the path. Snatching her hand, Evan pulled Lucy alongside of him to keep her from wandering off again. Up ahead there was a clearing with a dilapidated old trailer held up on cinder blocks.
“Finally,” Evan sighed. “We made it.”
Emma looked at the broken-down hovel and wanted to scream. Why did they leave the safety of Kate’s fenced-in Colonial back in Littleville for a singlewide trailer with a sagging roof? Emma was convinced that the whole thing would blow apart from one strong gust of wind—even the rickety little shed about thirty yards off seemed more stable. On further examination, Emma realized that the shed was actually an outhouse. Emma felt a knot clench in her stomach. She resisted the urge to go chasing after Darryl and beg him to get her as far away from there as possible.
“It’s, um, great,” Emma managed to say not too convincingly.
Evan took one look at Emma’s face and burst into laughter. “Honey, that’s not the cabin,” he said, still laughing. “Follow me.”
Propping their bikes against a tree, Evan took Emma’s hand and she followed him into the trailer. Evan lifted a loose board from the wall to reveal a control panel. After punching in a code, Evan quickly replaced the board and guided Emma back outside. Without saying a word, Evan pointed to the side of the mountain. They heard a loud grinding noise and part of the mountainside began to rise and retract, reminding Emma of the way a garage door opened. Her eyes narrowed in scrutiny.
“Are you Batman?” Emma asked in an exaggeratedly suspicious tone.
Laughing, Evan pulled Emma close and kissed her. She found it amusing that little things like mentioning comic books or super heroes evoked such a fervent response. Matt stared at the opening in the mountainside in amazement.
“Wow,” he breathed. I never would have expected that!”
Kate explained that the trailer was there to fool the county assessors. They didn’t want the locals getting suspicious. A moment later, Emma noticed Lucy was missing. Growing increasingly annoyed with his little sister, Evan shouted Lucy’s name and waited for a reply. When she didn’t reply, they branched out to look for her.
“I see her,” Emma called from the brush. She could just see the top of Lucy’s head as she climbed over a felled tree. Grabbing Evan’s arm, she stopped him from charging after his wayward sister. Instead, Emma offered to go while he and Matt gathered their gear. Evan’s temper had reached its boiling point and Emma preferred to shield Lucy from his anger.
Rushing to catch up and not lose sight of Lucy’s little blonde head, Emma hurdled over branches and stepped into a clearing. Lucy softly shushed Emma as she had been stomping loudly through the underbrush. Beside a small stream, a family of red foxes had stopped for a drink. Emma watched them until a nearby groundhog distracted her as it nibbled on acorns. When the foxes leapt across the stream without warning and ran into the woods, Emma called to Lucy to warn her that Evan was angry.
“C’mon, Lucy. We’d better head back before Evan comes after us.”
They trudged through the brush and back toward the cabin but the disappointment was clearly etched on Lucy’s face.
“Evan used to come with me so we could watch for deer and the other animals,” Lucy said, pouting. “He’s no fun anymore.”
Emma was about to reply when she heard a horrible groaning sound off in the distance. Emma’s rifle, which had been slung across her back, was now raised and ready. Motioning for Lucy to stay down, Emma crept through the brush as quietly as she could. To her horror, Emma saw the moaning body latch ont
o Evan from behind.
“Evan!” she screamed.
In an instant, Emma had the monster in her sights and was taking aim.
“NO!” Kate shrieked and hurled her body into Emma’s, knocking the barrel of the rifle off its mark.
The creature fell back, screaming in agony. Writhing on the ground and howling was a boy who looked to be only a little older than Lucy. Emma dug in her backpack for the first aid kit as she ran full speed toward the injured child. Evan was kneeling over the boy trying to ascertain the damage.
“R.J., are you alright? Let me see!” Evan was shouting.
People of all ages came running out from the opening to the cabin. Someone shouted, “Get Doc!” another, “Find Bev!” Swallowing her guilt, Emma knelt next to the boy and asked him as calmly as she could to show her where he was hurt. The tearful boy started to pull away until he looked up and saw Emma. He instantly stopped crying and with starry eyes and a dopey, lovesick grin, the boy told Emma he was pretty sure he’d been shot in the shoulder.
Evan huffed loudly and muttered, “Oh for God’s sake.”
Emma shot Evan a dirty look as she helped the boy remove his jacket.
“Haven’t you done enough already?” Matt joked when he saw Emma kneeling over the boy.
With one stern look from Kate, Matt was silenced. Emma was too busy cleaning out the wound to notice a crowd had formed around them. Once the blood was mopped away, she found only a superficial laceration. The wound was so small it wouldn’t even require stitches. Applying pressure to the wound, Emma assured the boy that he would be fine.
“So, you must be Emma,” said a tall, gruff-looking older man as he pushed his way through the crowd.
Startled, Emma wondered how a complete stranger knew her name. The man knelt down across from Emma and moved her hand back so he could see the damage. Remarking that he had seen fiercer wounds inflicted from kittens, the man ruffled R.J.’s hair and told him to quit squawking like a chicken. Though the man’s tone was gruff, his eyes were kind and his smiles were genuine.
“Frank said you’d be a big help. Not that I doubted him.” The man nodded and introduced himself. “I’m Dr. George Mitchell, but everyone here calls me Doc. This is my better half, Louise, and hopefully my godson will remember his manners soon and introduce you to everyone else.”
Evan flushed with embarrassment and began introducing Matt and Emma to the rest of his family. Emma humbly apologized when Evan introduced her to R.J.’s parents. Ray Junior, better known as R.J., remained seated on the ground, gingerly holding his injured arm. Mesmerized, he watched Emma’s every move.
Emma tried to keep everyone’s names and relations straight in her head. Ray and Bev McKenna were R.J.’s parents. Ray had served with Major Stone before losing his leg in the Gulf War, and Bev was the major’s sister. Had it not been for his cane, Emma would never have been able to tell that Ray had been disabled. He moved around on his titanium leg as deftly as the other. Their oldest daughter, Tara, was in her second year at Georgetown University. Tara’s roommate, Laura Samuels, had joined them as well.
Next, Evan introduced Kate’s brother, Jimmy, and his wife, Rose. Jimmy was a brilliant contractor who had designed and built the cabin. Rose had been a schoolteacher before the ‘flu’ outbreak closed her school. Jimmy and Rose had two sons: David, their oldest, was in his junior year at Drexel University majoring in architecture, and Michael was a senior in high school. Emma remembered hearing about Mike before. The day she babysat Lucy, Evan was supposed to go camping with Mike. Emma smiled wistfully; that day seemed like a lifetime ago.
“Rachael!” Lucy squealed and leapt into the arms of a pretty blonde.
Emma’s stomach lurched and her lungs constricted. She recognized her as the girl Evan had been with at the football game. The pretty girl lifted Lucy into the air and spun around. Laughing, Rachael hugged Evan and Matt as Emma watched, horrified.
“Oh Emma,” Kate said, jolting Emma from her trance. “I forgot. You weren’t at Lucy’s birthday party so you never met my niece, Rachael. Let me introduce you.”
“Niece?” Emma breathed a sigh of relief and managed to produce a weak smile.
“Yeah, if you weren’t being such a big, stupid, jerk you would have met Rachael at Lucy’s party,” Matt interjected.
“Hang on now,” Rachael said, wagging her finger at Matt. “If Evan hadn’t been a big, stupid jerk and told Emma she wasn’t welcome, she might have come to Lucy’s party!”
“I saw you two together at the football game. I thought you were, well, that you two were …” Emma’s voice trailed off.
“Were you jealous?” Evan asked, his eyes alight with amusement.
“No, of course not. I mean, it’s not like we were still together. You were free to go out with anyone you wanted.”
“Nope, not buying it,” Matt said, laughing at Emma’s feeble lies.
“Okay, fine!” Emma blurted out. “I wanted to charge up into the bleachers and gouge those pretty blue eyes right out of her skull. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
Evan hugged Emma tightly and kissed the top of her head as he laughed. Matt chuckled; he always found it easy to make Emma confess. Looking at Rachael, Matt agreed; her blue eyes were in fact very pretty and her smile was captivating. Rachael was bright, cheerful, and genuinely pleased to finally meet Emma. They chatted briefly before Doc broke it up.
“Hey, Emma. Bev here can’t remember when Ray Junior had his tetanus shot so he’ll need to have a booster. C’mon, let’s teach you how it’s done. Looks like you’ll get to shoot R.J. twice today!” Doc said, laughing.
“So, one quick question first,” Matt blurted out before Doc and Emma had gotten too far. “Are you Dr. G.E. Mitchell?”
“Ah, you must’ve read the book,” Doc guessed, smiling. “Indeed I am.”
“Wow,” Matt gushed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’d doubt any of us would be here if it wasn’t for you and your book.”
Doc only laughed harder and said he was glad someone other than family had read it. He motioned for Emma to follow and she politely excused herself. She fell into step behind Doc as they passed through the gaping hole in the mountainside that led to the cabin.
Emma was amazed. As her eyes adjusted to the brightly lit room, she saw that the door was rigged like her garage door at home, only stronger and reinforced. Artificial terrain was attached to the outside so that when it was closed it blended in with the mountainside. Doc played tour guide as they made their way inside. First was the motor pool area: a huge garage where trucks, SUVs, and ATVs were parked in rows. Workbenches and shelves lined the walls and tools hung neatly from pegs.
Doc pushed through a heavy door and led Emma and R.J. into a long hallway. Pointing to his left, Doc told Emma that the common rooms were in that direction but they were headed to the hospital wing. They continued down another long corridor where Doc led them into a large examining room.
“Hop up on the table and remove your shirt, R.J.,” he instructed.
Leaving R.J. to get settled, Doc motioned for Emma to follow him as he strolled down the hall. He produced a key and unlocked another door to show her the pharmacy. It was a small storage room with bottles, vials, and tubes lined up neatly on shelves. Drawers were stocked with gauze, bandages, and other supplies. Doc selected a vial and fumbled in the drawer to find the right gauge syringe. Removing the syringe from the sterile packaging, Doc showed Emma how to draw the correct dosage. He then recapped the syringe and discreetly slipped it into his pocket before they went back to check on the patient. R.J. balked, whined, and pleaded to skip the shot. Finally, Doc gave him an ultimatum.
“You’ve got two choices, R.J. Pipe down, man up, and take the shot in your arm, or I’ll call your dad in here. Of course, you could drop your drawers and get the shot in your butt.”
Glancing sideways at Emma, R.J. opted for the injection in his arm. Under Doc’s direction, Emma swabbed R.J.’s upper arm with an alcohol-soaked cot
ton ball. Doc pinched a large fold of skin, quickly slipped in the sharp tip, and depressed the plunger. Emma covered the injection site with a band-aid before R.J. bolted from the room, wiping an errant tear from his cheek. With the patient gone, Doc proudly showed off the rest of the hospital wing. There were four examination rooms, an x-ray room with thick lead-lined walls, and one operating room. Another smaller sized storage room held the x-ray developing equipment and chemicals along with an autoclave to sterilize tools. Emma marveled at the size of the hospital wing and the cabin in general. Thinking that just the hospital area alone must have cost millions, Emma was wondering if maybe her Batman joke wasn’t too far off the mark. Only a billionaire like Bruce Wayne could build an underground compound like that.
Dr. George Mitchell was pleased with his new protégé. Smart, energetic, eager to learn, and not afraid to get her hands dirty; Doc saw untapped potential. He’d learned early on that a good assistant was priceless. Without the hindrance of preconceived notions and sloppy habits, Doc could mold Emma into a fine assistant and, in the future, an excellent doctor.
As they rounded the next corner, they came upon Evan and Matt patiently waiting for Emma. Suspecting that his godson would be spending more time than usual in the hospital wing, Doc welcomed the boys and commented on how much Evan had grown since his last visit. Evan had always enjoyed the company of his godfather. Doc told the most amazing stories and even though Evan suspected that there was a liberal dose of embellishment, the stories were mostly true.
“George! For heaven’s sake, these poor kids must be starving! Why are you holding them hostage down here when there’s a hot meal waiting for them?” Louise scolded. “Evan, you know better than to let him get started. You’ll get sucked into one of his crazy stories and the next thing you know, the sun will be rising. Come with me and we’ll get you some dinner.”
Three empty stomachs grumbled in agreement and they followed her cheerfully. Down another corridor, a heavy door opened into a dining hall that was roughly the size of a small school cafeteria. Unlike school cafeterias though, the décor was cheerful and homey. The adjoining kitchen was a chef’s dream with industrial-sized refrigerators, freezers, ovens, and plenty of counter space.