They nearly had a makeshift rope made, when Chaser started growling at the forest. Kyle felt a strange vibration resonating from the ground. A sudden crashing came through the branches. He grabbed Jessica’s hand and ran for cover.
* * *
Terrified of what kind of predator’s den he’d fallen into, Eric ran back to the circle of light. He looked up at the hole. Kyle and Jessica were out of sight.
Where were they?
Heavy footfalls thundered above, followed by gunshots.
“Kyle!” Eric dug his hands into the dirt wall and tried to scale it, but the soil crumbled and he slid back down.
Chaser barked. Jessica screamed. More gunshots. Then an ungodly shriek.
“Oh, God, Jess—” Hands wrapped around Eric’s mouth and chest and snatched him into the darkness.
* * *
Kyle and Jessica took refuge in the thick mangroves that grew along the banks of the stream. He sat half-submerged in water with her hiding behind him. She was shaking badly and looked as if she might take off running at any second. Kyle squeezed her thigh and signaled her not to make a sound.
Chaser stood in the center of the campground, barking at the shaking branches.
Kyle wanted to call the dog back, but to do so would give away their hiding place. With his rifle resting on a branch, he peered through the scope and followed a tall shadow moving through the jungle. It made one hell of a racket, grunting and cracking tree limbs. Kyle’s rational mind identified the predator as a grizzly, but its roar sounded nothing like a bear. Occasionally it released an odd, high-pitched laugh like a jackal. From what Kyle could tell by the height of the moving branches it was seven to eight feet tall. He had shot it once, but all that did was piss it off.
The predator disappeared behind a wall of ivy-covered trees.
Chaser ran to the edge of the vines and growled.
Kyle held his breath. He felt Jessica’s hand slide up his back and rest on his shoulder. He looked back at her. Her blue eyes were full of terror, yet fierce. She nodded that she was still with him. She was braver than he had given her credit for. Kyle heard a yelp and when he looked back, Chaser was gone.
Jessica gasped. Kyle peered through the scope, searching for the beast.
The forest turned silent. They waited several minutes and still no sound.
Kyle whispered, “I think it’s gone. Stay here, while I go help Eric.”
“No way,” she whispered back. “We stay together.”
He nodded. They crawled out of the mangroves and back onto the grassy bank. There was a spatter of blood on the ground where Chaser had stood. Kyle felt bad for the Hansons’ dog, but there was no time to search for it. He watched the dense trees and bushes. The clouds moved back over the canopy, turning the jungle three shades darker. The fog returned as well, creeping through the branches and forming a smoky web around the campsite. Kyle and Jessica hurried to the coil of tents they had tied together. As they gathered it up in their arms, a giant shadow shape tore through the foliage. Kyle raised his rifle and fired at the fog. In the scope, he saw a dark blur moving toward him. A long arm shot out and struck Kyle in the shoulder. He skidded across the ground, dazed.
Heavy footfalls pounded the earth.
Jessica screamed and jumped behind him.
Kyle sat up, felt for his rifle, but it was too far away. He pulled out a knife and challenged the fog. The shadow shape charged again. And then rapid-fire gunshots exploded. Two mud-faced men wearing branches ran out of the jungle, yelling and firing automatic rifles. They pummeled the beast with bullets. It cried out then lumbered off into the mist.
“Get out of here!” One of the men yelled and unleashed a few more rapid shots. When the crazed gunman turned around, Kyle’s fast-beating heart surged as his father offered him a hand. “You okay, son?”
* * *
In the subterranean darkness, Eric struggled against strong arms and legs that grappled his body and held him in a vise grip. A hand clamped his mouth. A man with a strange accent whispered in his ear, “Stay quiet or you’ll get us both killed.”
A machete blade pressed against Eric’s crotch. He peed his pants. He closed his eyes, not wanting to die. Everything aboveground remained silent for some time. Then screams and rapid gunfire sent horrible images through Eric’s mind. His brother and Jessica could be dead and there was nothing he could do.
The painful cries of the beast trailed off. Then someone bird-whistled.
The man behind Eric released his arms and legs. Eric backed away, staring at the darkness. “Who the fuck are you?”
“One of the good guys.” A flame lit up a mud-covered face with large brown eyes and jet-black skin. He wore green camouflage and carried an assault rifle. “You must be one of Elkheart’s boys.”
Eric nodded, still in shock.
The man slid his machete into a sheath on his hip. “No hard feelings, friend.”
Voices sounded from above. Eric ran back to the circle of light. He smiled at the sight of Kyle and Jessica peering over the hole. “Thank God, you’re alive!”
Kyle grinned. “Barely, thanks to this guy.”
A second mud-faced mercenary stood over the hole. “Everybody okay down there?”
Eric looked up at his father. “Fuck me.”
Elkheart lowered down a rope. “Madu, let’s get these kids out of here.”
The black soldier stepped up beside Eric and offered him the rope. “After you.”
* * *
No one said a word as Kyle, Jessica and Eric followed Elkheart and two mercenaries out of Macâya Forest. They stopped to rest at the waterfall where the rocky hill ascended. Kyle was still stunned to see his father alive. Elkheart kneeled down and splashed water on his face, washing off the mud. The black soldier did the same, cleaning his bald head.
When Elkheart was done, he stood and frowned at his sons and Jessica. “What in the hell are you kids doing here?”
Eric said, “It’s great to see you, too, Dad.”
“We were looking for you,” Kyle said. “Ray told us you had gone missing, so I flew us up here.”
“That bastard.” Their father shouldered his rifle. “You’ve got no business being here.”
“Why not?” Kyle asked.
“I’ll tell you later.” Dressed in camo and heavily armed, their father barely resembled the man Kyle had visited a year ago. Elkheart’s eyes had hardened, his face lean and chiseled.
Eric nodded toward the two soldiers. “Who’re your sidekicks?”
Elkheart said, “That’s Madu. He’s from South Africa.”
Madu stared at them without expression.
“He’s not much for words,” Elkheart added. “And this is Scarpetti. He’s ex-Delta Force.”
The mercenary wearing a blue bandana around his head nodded and winked at Jessica. He had a thick black beard. Scarpetti met Kyle’s eyes and stared him down with a half-cocked grin.
They all continued hiking until they reached the muddy banks at Kakaskitewak Swamp. Kyle peered back at the forest. “Will that thing follow us out here?”
“Probably not during the day.” Scarpetti stuffed some tobacco in his cheek. “They mostly travel at night.”
“There’s more than one?” Jessica asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Scarpetti said. His wild eyes made Kyle nervous.
“What are they?” Eric asked.
Elkheart dragged the canoe to the water. “No more talking. We need get back to the village. And then you three are leaving.”
Kyle said, “First we have to find Shawna and Zack.”
* * *
Shawna had to escape before the beast returned.
She used the mossy wall to help her walk. She felt wasp stings all through her hips, but her legs still had some strength. She crept down a damp narrow passage. Torches lit up part of the tunnel, with long stretches of blackness in between. Water dripped on her shoulders, dribbling cold streams down her back. The rocky ground was hell on her bare feet. In some place
s she squished through mud, which gave her relief.
Moans echoed up ahead. They didn’t sound like the animal cries she’d heard last night. These moans sounded human. Then she heard a sob that was definitely from a girl.
Shawna blindly felt her way along the wall between the torches. She came upon two intersecting tunnels, but they were so dark she hurried past them. She reached the next torch and pulled it off the wall. She stabbed it at the blackness in front of her as she walked. The passage opened up to another stone chamber.
A girl’s voice whispered over and over, “We’re gonna be okay. We’re gonna be okay.”
Shawna entered the room, holding out the torch. It illuminated a pit where two mud-stained girls were huddled together. They were naked like she was and being held captive like caged pigs. A thatch-work of thin pine logs and evergreen branches covered the pit. One of girls stuck her hands through the open squares. “Help us.”
Shawna put the torch in a groove on the wall. Then she kneeled and gripped the girl’s hands, feeling relief that she was not alone down here. She recognized the girl from the RV they had assisted two days ago. They had chatted briefly about music and boys. “Oh, my God, Lindsey?”
“My sister’s real sick. You have to get us out of here.”
Her sister sat against a wall, rocking and sobbing.
Shawna walked around the pit, searching for an opening. She found what looked like a door to the wicker mesh. There was a padlock on it. “Shit,” she whispered. She tried pushing the covering, but it wouldn’t budge. She collapsed in frustration.
“Please hurry,” Lindsey kept pleading.
“I can’t get it open.” Shawna yanked at the wicker covering, but the logs were fastened together by metal bindings. What she needed was an axe.
Humming echoed down the passage. Orange firelight moved this way.
Lindsey whispered, “Hide! Hide! Quick! He’s coming.”
Shawna crawled into a shadowy crevice. She stifled a scream as Ray Roamingbear entered the chamber carrying a torch and a bucket. “Hello, girls. Brought you some din-din and a fresh shit bucket.” Ray’s three wolf dogs came in with him, sniffing at the edges of the pit.
In the shadows between two boulders, Shawna shivered, her teeth clicking together.
Ray pulled off a backpack and tossed a couple of water bottles down to the girls. “Drink up. No use dying of thirst. We’ve got a big day tomorrow. Lindsey, make sure Amy eats. She needs more meat on those bones.”
Ray Roamingbear was shirtless except for a tan vest that looked to be made from patches of human skin. He had sewn a few of Zack’s tattoos into the design.
Tears rolled down Shawna’s cheeks. She tried to muffle a sob, but it was too late. One of the dogs ran over to where she was hiding and growled inches from her face.
Ray stabbed his torch in her direction. “Well hello, sunshine.”
Chapter Eighteen
Kyle, his father and Madu searched the woods surrounding the village. As soon as Kyle found his sister and Zack, the plan was to pack up and fly out tonight. Elkheart wouldn’t explain what was happening in Macâya Forest. He had been cryptic all afternoon. Spending several weeks inside the Devil’s Woods had changed Kyle’s father. His hair looked more silver. The usual humor in his eyes had left. Elkheart and Madu now moved through the forest with urgency. Kyle, carrying a deer rifle, did his best to keep up. He clung to the hope that they’d find Shawna and Zack camping.
The searchers checked the pond to see if the two had gone swimming. The sinking sun cast long shadows across the placid water. The closer it got to dusk, the more Kyle feared for his sister. “I should have never left them last night.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” his father said. “Those mushrooms Ray gave you are real mind fucks. You were under the influence of a trickster.”
Kyle’s head was full of questions. “Why would he trick us into coming here?”
“I don’t know. Your cousin isn’t the man I thought he was. Don’t believe anything he’s told you.”
“Grandfather was at the ceremony too. Is he also a trickster?”
“No, your grandfather is so senile now, he’s not all there. Only during vision quests, when he’s taking mushrooms, has he been lucid enough to talk directly to me.”
“That’s the only time he spoke to me too, in perfect English,” Kyle said, remembering his vision quest vividly. “Grandfather led me to my animal guides. I ran with the elks.”
Elkheart nodded as if he understood. “Your grandfather is a good man, but he’s no longer living in the reality that you and I see.”
“He needs someone looking after him,” Kyle said. “Or to be put in a nursing home.”
“Believe me, I’ve tried, but your grandfather is stubborn and refuses to leave our land. And like me, he thought Ray was someone who could be trusted to look after him. Turns out, Ray’s a pathological liar and a goddamned traitor.” His face tight with anger, Elkheart returned his attention to the woods around them.
“You’re holding something back, Dad. What is it?”
Elkheart and Madu shared a look that was filled with mutual hate. “Ray pretended to be helping us with our research. He led us into Macâya Forest to explore the old copper mine. But it was a trap and most of my crew was killed. Next time I see Ray, I’m going to put a bullet in fucking his brain.”
Kyle watched curiously as Madu crept toward the edge of the woods. The South African pulled out his long machete and poked the pine branches with it. Kyle looked back at his father.
“What were you searching for in Macâya Forest?”
Elkheart spoke in a hushed tone, “Not out here. Later, I’ll show you some things. Let’s keep searching.”
Madu issued a bird call and waved them over. He pulled a knot of bluish-blonde hair from the branches.
“That’s Shawna’s,” Kyle said.
His father’s eyes turned from anger to worry.
Kyle felt his heart sink. “What is it?”
Elkheart looked away. “It’s almost sundown. We have to keep searching.”
Kyle caught a flicker of movement in the bushes and spotted Nina Whitefeather’s ghost, waving him to follow. A cold wave of dread coursed through him. He looked at his father and Madu. “I know of one place we haven’t looked.”
Kyle led them through the pines and aspen until he spotted the long gray shed that had no windows. His father put a hand on his shoulder. “Careful, son.”
Kyle slowed his pace. “Have you been here before?”
“Not since I was a teenager. The tribe used that shed for butchering animals. Later, we discovered that poachers were using it too.”
“I think it’s where Nina Whitefeather was murdered.”
Elkheart stopped walking. “What makes you bring up her?”
Kyle hesitated. “This is going to sound crazy but…” He pointed to where Nina stood behind a tree. “I can see her ghost.”
His father looked in her direction.
“I can also touch things and pick up glimpses of the past,” Kyle said. “I’ve been able to do this as far back as I can remember.” He held his breath. He had never shared his ability with anyone.
“I always suspected,” was all his father said. “Tell me about Nina.”
Kyle felt relief. “I came here yesterday and saw an imprint of the day she was murdered. There’s a bloody mattress in there and some chains.”
Elkheart nodded. “Let’s have a look.”
They entered the camp with their guns ready. Kyle was shocked to find fresh blood stained the ground beside a large tree. A bloody rope dangled from the branch. “This wasn’t here yesterday.”
Elkheart said, “Madu, search the perimeter.”
The South African mercenary moved through the forest as silent as a jungle cat.
Kyle couldn’t stop shaking at the sight of all the blood. He prayed some poachers had skinned a deer here.
Elkheart turned on a flashlight and went inside the
shed. Kyle remained outside. If Shawna had been taken in there, he didn’t want to see the imprint.
After a moment, his father came back out, holding an arm over his mouth and nose. His eyes were watery. “Kyle, go back to the cabin and pack your stuff.” Elkheart bird-whistled Madu to return.
“Where are you going?” Kyle asked.
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