6 Maple Leaf Hunter (9 page)

“Two and a half,” I said.

He flashed another smile and said, “They’re cute at that age.”

I knew he would talk all day if I stayed in the store, but I wanted to get back to the lodge. It was important I talk with Darby as soon as possible. I thanked Walt for the use of the telephone and excused myself.

Adrenaline propelled me forward as I raced down the road and onto the path. The heavily wooded section elicited no reaction from me, even though I was certain I heard
twigs snapping every so often. I didn’t feel as if I was in danger, and I didn’t slow my pace.

Beau was in the rocking chair when I raced up the steps and onto the porch. I threw a quick hello in his direction but went immediately to the kitchen to ask Emily when the guys would be back. I was disappointed when, once again, there was no one in the lodge.

I slowed down, grabbed a glass from the cupboard, and filled it with water from a pitcher in the refrigerator. I went out on the porch to sit beside Beau.

He nodded his head once in greeting, but he didn’t speak. We both rocked in our chairs for a few minutes before I blurted out, “I saw a Sasquatch yesterday.”

He didn’t bat an eye. He said, “I had a big ‘un follow me home from school when I was a boy.”

I did bat an eye
. His story certainly trumped mine. “Seriously?” I asked. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do nuthin’,” he said. “I wasn’t afraid.”

My mouth hung open. “A Sasquatch followed you? You saw it? And you weren’t afraid?”

“I was a young’un,” he said. “Maybe six or seven, and maybe he used telly-pathy on me, but I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. I never heard of a Sasquatch in these parts before this’n showed up a couple years back.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes. This played into Alex’s theory that a Sasquatch wouldn’t hurt a human.

“I saw Nate’s new poem this morning,” I said.

Beau laughed as much as his feeble voice allowed and slapped his knee. “That Nate’s a funny fella,” he said. “I caught on real quick like he was afraid of the Sasquatch, so I was just playin’ with him.”

I chuckled. Beau was turning out to be a real character. “You don’t really write Sasquatch poetry, do you?” I asked.

His eyes twinkled like they had last night. “Not a word,” he said. “But now Nate does.” He laughed and slapped his knee again.

I couldn’t help l
aughing with him. Nate was a good sport, and I knew he would find it funny, too, when he found out Beau had been yanking his chain.

“Did you ever write poetry?” I asked.

His look softened, and he said with clear enunciation, “I used to write love sonnets for my beautiful wife. She was my one and only for sixty-eight years.”

“That’s really sweet,” I said. We lapsed into silence again and rocked a while longer. I finally asked, “Do you know when the guys will be back?”

“They’ve been back,” he said. “Brought a few stringers of perch in an hour ago. Dan and Mick are cleanin’ ‘em in the shed out back. We’re havin’ fish for dinner again tonight.”

I jumped up so fast, the rocker almost flipped over backward. I had to talk to Darby right away. “Thanks, Beau,” I said as I ran down the steps to the parking lot. I kept running until I reached the campgrounds. I stopped to hold my side and catch my breath. I hadn’t had a stitch from running in ages.

I walked the rest of the distance to the campsite and lightly rapped on the door of the RV. I didn’t want to bang on it in case they were napping. There was no answer. I stared at the vehicle. Was there somewhere on the outside where the gold could be hidden? I walked around to the back, but I didn’t see anywhere that would make a good hiding spot. When I checked the opposite side and didn’t find any good hiding places there either, I decided to rap on the door again. I glanced through the trees toward the river and was surprised to see Darby sitting in a chair at the water’s edge. I broke into a run.

I dropped into the empty chair beside him, and held my side. The stitch and my breathlessness were quickly upon me again.

“Hey, Sunshine, what’s up?” he asked. “Are you ok?”

“I’m ok,” I said. “I went to the store to call home.” I waited a moment for the pain to subside and for my breathing to return to normal. “I have to talk to you, but I don’t want Mick or Nate to know what we’re talking about.”

Concern crossed his face, but he nodded his head and said, “Ok.”

“I saw the Sasquatch yesterday when we were fishing,” I said.

I don’t know why I told him that when it wasn’t a concern for me right now. I hadn’t wanted to tell anybody I had seen it, but the words kept falling out of my mouth.

He smiled and said, “On the shore in the cove.”

I gasped, and my mouth dropped open wide. I punched him on the arm and squealed, “You saw it, too!”

He laughed and said, “I did. Right before the muskie nearly dumped you out of your canoe, but I sure wasn’t going to say anything about it in front of Nate.”

“Me either,” I said. “And I haven’t told Mick yet. Until he heard that noise last night, I didn’t think he would believe me anyway. What did you think of it?”

“The noise or the creature?” he asked.

“Both,” I said.

“I admit, I was startled when I saw it,” he said, “but it seemed kind of meek. It didn’t show any aggression when it saw us. It just stood there and watched us fish.”

He hit the nail on the head. It wasn’t an aggressive creature.

“The scream?” I prodded

“Oh, that was definitely creepy,” he said with a big grin. “Nate barely slept last night, and when he did, he had nightmares. I’m afraid this trip might have some lasting effects on him. I hope he never hears that noise again.”

I made a cringe face. I really did feel sorry for Nate.

“The Sasquatch isn’t why I want to talk to you,” I said. “I called home this morning, and Mick’s mother said a man was there looking for me. He knew I was in Niagara Falls and Toronto, and then he lied to her and told her I missed a meeting with him yesterday. She gave him the brochure for this place.”

He frowned and asked, “Who do you think it was?”

“It had to be someone connected with the construction workers and the dead guy at the mall,” I said. “I still think the gold is in the RV somewhere, and they’re trying to get it back. I think someone is going to show up here looking for it.”

“I’ve looked in every nook and cranny of that vehicle – inside and out,” he said. “When Nate was in the shower yesterday, I even took his super-bright flashlight and checked underneath to see if anything had been taped anywhere. I’m telling you, there’s no gold.”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” I said.

He stood up and leaned over me to give me a hug and a kiss on my nose. “I know you do,” he said, “but it’s probably nothing. Don’t let it worry you so much.”

“Hey, she’s a married woman,” Mick called out.

I twisted around in my chair and saw he was only a few feet away from us. I jumped up and rushed to his side to give him a kiss. “I was just telling Darby I called home today,” I said.

“Did you have any trouble finding the store? Did you talk to Lizzie?” he asked.

I shook my head, made a sad face, and said, “She was napping, but I talked with your mother, and she said they’re doing great and having a good time. Joe’s running the show though. He announces Lizzie’s lunch and naptime and won’t take no for an answer.”

Darby threw his head back and laughed. “Blame that on Nate,” he said. “He taught Joe to help with her lunches and naps, and that crazy dog has some kind of internal clock that never gets it wrong.” When he stopped laughing, he said, “It’s really quite helpful though when Nate’s not around, and I’m working. Joe keeps me on my toes.”

Mick threw his arm around my shoulders. I screwed
up my face and said, “You smell like fish guts.”

He laughed and said, “I know. We just finished cleaning them. I’m going up for a shower. Want to join me?”

My knees went weak, and I felt a hot flush rush into my face. What was wrong with me? The intense feelings mimicked the excitement I felt when we first started dating. I glanced at Darby. He had a huge grin on his face and gave me a wink. I knew my face was fire engine red.

I looked up into Mick’s scruffy, bearded face and managed to squeak out
an embarrassed, “Yes.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The bulletin board announced dinner at seven thirty in the dining room.

Although Mick and I had lost track of time while showering and having fun in our room, we managed to arrive for dinner with a few minutes to spare. Beau wasn’t on the porch or in the lodge, so it was just the
seven of us in the dining room.

The meal was less complicated this evening. Emily had prepared baked fish accompanied by coleslaw and bread and butter. Iced tea completed the meal, and I found it wholly satisfying. My appetite was back to normal, and I had no desire to overeat.

“Who caught the most fish today?” I asked.

“I think it was a tossup between Nate and Alex,” Mick said. “There was a stretch there for a while where it seemed like every time they threw a line out, they were bringing another fish in.”

I smiled at Alex and said, “I wish it would have been like that for us yesterday. Did you have fun?”

He kept his eyes downcast to his plate, shrugged his shoulders, and mumbled, “I guess.”

I was truly confused by his attitude toward me. He had stayed with us in the apartment on a regular basis, and he was always polite and helpful. We talked all the time, and I thought he liked me, but ever since he had come to stay with us over the summer, he was surly and rude, especially to me.

I tried taking the conversation in another direction. “I stumbled on the old rock quarry today,” I said.

Dan’s eyebrows shot up. “You didn’t climb down in there did you?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No,” I said. “I just looked from the top of the hill. It’s actually kind of pretty.”

“It’s incredibly dangerous,” he said. “I know a safe way in, and I never go without ropes. You have to be careful where you walk. If you’d ever fall into the water, you’d never get out. The sides are too steep. It’s been about five years now, but three kids thought it would be fun to swim in the pond. The water is only fifty degrees year round. They didn’t last long once they jumped in. Divers had to be brought in to recover the bodies.”

Talk about casting a depressing mood over the table. I tried to lift it by saying, “Alex, if Dan is still willing to take you and Mick, I think you’d love it there.”

“I’m not interested in any stupid rocks,” he said. He pushed away from the table and stormed out of the lodge.

I felt terrible. I must have offended him, but once again, I was clueless as to what I had done. I thought his attitude had improved somewhat since we arrived, but he was worse than ever tonight.

“He’s been quiet and moody all day,” Mick said. “I know something is bothering him, but he won’t talk to me.”

The silence was awkward and uncomfortable. The tired, defeated look filled Mick’s eyes again, and I fought back tears.

Emily tried to help. “He’s eighteen, right? Going to college in a few days? This mood will pass. He’s probably nervous and worried and doesn’t know how to express it. It’ll be new for him, and he has no idea how it will go. Classes, new friends, living away from home; it’s an adjustment. We had two kids go to college. Our son couldn’t wait to get there, but we wanted to strangle our daughter in the weeks leading up to her going. I admit it, I was never so glad to get her out of the house as I was when we dropped her off at her dorm.” She gave Mick a warm smile and said, “Don’t be too hard on him.”

Her words made sense, and I thanked her.

We all worked together to clear the table and clean up the kitchen, while Emily cut a decadent looking chocolate layer cake.

We took our cake and coffee into the lobby to sit around the fire for the evening. The tense atmosphere from dinner passed, and the conversation was lighter. We had quite a few laughs and an especially big one when I told Nate that Beau didn’t really write Sasquatch poetry.

The sacrificial worm wriggled like crazy when I jammed it onto the hook. The simple action tugged at my heart, and I made up my mind this was the last time I would ever agree to using live bait. I hated killing these worms.

“Mick, don’t we have any rubber worms?” I whined.

He reeled his line in and pulled up another perch to add to the bucket.

We were fishing from shore this morning. Darby and Nate had left early to fish downriver, but Mick agreed to stay behind and ride with Dan into Silver Run to pick up supplies. We decided to fish from the dock until it was time for him to leave.

I suspected the supplies were really groceries for the lodge, and this was an excuse for the two guys to spend some time together without the wives. I didn’t mind. I liked hanging out at the lodge, and I would probably spend some more time talking with Beau.

“We’ve been using what Dan gives us,” Mick said. “This morning, he gave us nightcrawlers. Sorry. No fake worms.”

I cast my line and had an immediate hit. I reeled the fish in and swung the line toward me to reach out and grab the perch.

“Look at this,” I said, showing Mick the fish’s face. “These worms are too big. He barely has any of this one in his mouth.”

“You only need to use a piece of the worm,” he said. “Don’t put the whole thing on your hook.”

“I’m done,” I said. “I like fishing, but I don’t like fishing with frogs and worms. It never used to bother me to use worms. For some reason, it does now.”

“Would it bother you to use a live maggot?” he asked with an impish grin.

I slapped him playfully on his arm, but I shuddered at the thought of maggots. “I would never fish with a maggot in the first place,” I said. “Now you’re just being gross.”

He smiled and cast his line. I put my rod down on the dock and sat down to watch him catch more fish. He had at least a dozen in the bucket when Dan came down to let him know he was ready to go.

“Susan, we’ll be back in a couple of hours,” Dan said. “Everything you need to clean the fish is in the shed out back.”

My mouth dropped open. He couldn’t be serious. I had no idea at all how to clean a fish.

Both guys laughed at the look on my face. Dan took the bucket and said, “I’m just teasing you. Emily will take care of these. She can clean a fish faster and better than any man. You’ll never find a bone in one of her fillets.”

We carried the gear to the lodge, and Dan took the fish around to Emily.

“What are you going to do while we’re gone?” Mick asked.

“I’m going to see if Alex is up and ask him if he wants to go to the general store with me to call home,” I said. “He might feel better once he talks to Lizzie and Grandma and Grandpa.”

He smiled and said, “I hope he’s in a better mood today. If he is, he’ll probably go with you. I think he misses his sister.”

Dan came around the side of the building with truck keys in hand. “Ready?” he asked.

Mick kissed me good-bye, and the two men headed out across the parking lot. I watched with appreciation as Mick walked away from me. I was keenly aware this was going to be another day of lusting after the sexy outdoorsman he had become.

Beau wasn’t on the porch yet today. I never saw him come or go, but I assumed he had a permanent room in the lodge. I would look for him later.

I made my way over to Alex’s cabin and rapped on the door. It wasn’t latched. I knocked harder and called through the opening, “Hello? Alex?”

There was no answer. I slowly pushed the door open and saw right away he wasn’t in the room. Alex was a neat freak, and I was surprised to see the cabin in such a mess. The bathroom door was open. I called out his name before peeking in, but this room, too, was empty. I considered that he might be getting something to eat in the lodge.

I turned to leave and saw the bag from the man in Niagara Falls. It was upside down in a corner of the room. I picked it up to look inside, but it was empty. I looked around and saw the rocks in a pile on the floor. All of this was out of character for him. Something was definitely wrong. I was tempted to search the room for drugs as a reason for his behavior, but I had never invaded his privacy before, and I didn’t intend to start now. I closed the door behind me and made sure it latched.

I checked all of the public areas of the lodge, but Alex wasn’t in any of them. I even yelled into the men’s restroom off the lobby. I looked into the backyard, but there was no sign of him.

I stood in the doorway of the shed and said hello to Emily before asking, “Have you seen Alex?”

“Not this morning,” she said. “He didn’t come in for breakfast, so I thought he was sleeping in again.”

I thanked her and resumed my search. I walked down to Darby and Nate’s campsite, but the RV was locked, and no one was around.

I wasn’t worried yet, but my heart jumped with alarm at the thought he might have gone to the rock quarry by himself. I rushed down the path to check.

When I crested the hill, I stopped in my tracks. There was someone walking around the pool of water, but it wasn’t Alex. I quickly scanned the area. He was nowhere in sight. The man stopped and stared into the pool. I didn’t recognize him, and I didn’t want him to see me, so I slowly backed up until I was out of view. I broke into a run down the path and took the trail to the general store. I was breathless when I pushed the squeaky screen door open.

Walt looked up from the counter. “Hi,” he said. “It’s Susan, right?”

I nodded my head and grabbed my side. The painful stitch from running was back again.

“You ok?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” I said, even though I knew I was scrunching up my face from pain. “I was running, and I’ve got a stitch in my side, that’s all. I was wondering if you’ve seen a young man, late teens, a little taller than me, dark hair, green eyes?”

“No,” he said. “You’re the first person to come in this morning.”

I plucked a bottle of water from a wooden barrel filled with ice and opened it to take a drink. I paid Walt for the water and stepped outside. I was worried now. There wasn’t any reason for Alex to have gone anywhere, and I was concerned he had run away. With the way he had been acting lately, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he did. I dreaded the thought of telling Mick, but I started the long walk back to the lodge to wait for him.

When I reached the main path, I remembered the abandoned cabin and thought he might have found his way there. If he was out exploring, he could have checked all of the paths the same as I did.

I went around the long curve, hoping the colorful, sun-painted scene would be before me again. It wasn’t. The colors of the ground cover, the grasses, and the sky were dull. I looked behind me to see the sky turning dark and thick clouds building. A storm was definitely on the horizon.

I hurried down the path and over the hill.

There were no signs of life around the cabin. Any hope of finding Alex disappeared. I pushed the handle and opened the door. Everything seemed the same as before, until I noticed the sofa had been moved. I jumped when I heard a muffled sound and a soft thump.

I dropped the bottle of water. The sound came again. I was hesitant to move. Was there an animal in the room? I held my breath and stared at the sofa. It was then I saw the top of a head sticking out from behind. I pulled the piece of furniture away to reveal Alex on the floor. His hands and feet were bound with an old, frayed rope. His mouth had been gagged with a filthy rag.

I was shocked and frightened, but my maternal instincts kicked in, and anger came to the forefront.

I helped him to a sitting position and attempted to untie the knot in the rag. It wouldn’t budge. I ran to the drawers next to the sink and yanked them open one after another, hoping for a knife. I finally found a pair of scissors. I grabbed them and my bottle of water and rushed to his side. I cut the cloth to free his mouth and began to work on the ropes.

As soon as his hands were free, he rinsed his mouth with the remaining water in the bottle and spit the dirty liquid out onto the floor. I didn’t ask any questions. He could tell us what happened later. I knew we were in danger, and I wanted to get him out of the cabin as soon as possible.

“Susan,” he said. “Some man with a gun forced me out of my cabin and made me come here. He tied me up and left, but he said he’d be back. It’s been a while, so he could be here any minute.”

“Listen,” I said. “We’re going to go back to the lodge as fast as we can. If we see anybody, we’re going to run like we’ve never run before. Ok? Don’t stop for anything.” He nodded his head.

I made a beeline for the front door, but I was thrown off balance when my foot landed on the mug that had at one time been sticking out from under the sofa. My ankle turned over and hit the ground. An intense, sharp pain shot up my leg. I dropped to my knees.

Alex panicked. “Susan! Susan! Are you ok? Get up! We have to go.”

I fought back tears. With his help, I managed to stand. I tried to walk, but the pain was excruciating. I couldn’t put any weight on my right foot. He tried again to help me walk, but it would take forever to get back to the lodge if we had to go like this.

“You go,” I said. He shook his head vehemently. “You have to,” I insisted. “Get back to the lodge and get help.” I pointed to a long stick near the wall. “Hand that to me.”

I was able to hold myself upright without his help by using the stick somewhat like a crutch.

“I can’t just leave you here,” he said.

“You have to,” I argued. “I’ll go outside and hide in the weeds or behind a tree. I’ll make sure you know where I am when you get back with Dan and your dad or whoever else is there to help. It’s going to storm soon. Get going.”

He surprised me by giving me a hug and a kiss on my cheek before running out the door and down the path. I watched until he was out of sight in the trees. It was then I realized I was shivering. I wasn’t cold, but I was trembling all over. I took one last look around the cabin to be sure there wasn’t anything there that would explain Alex’s abduction - like four gold bars – but there was nothing to be seen. I turned toward the door again and managed to hobble a couple of steps with the stick.

The doorway darkened, and I looked up expecting to see dark clouds sweeping in overhead. Instead, I found myself staring down the barrel of a gun.

My words refused to come. I tried twice to speak, but fear and shock constricted my throat.

“Surprised to see me?” he asked.

A high, shrill scream filled the air. Terror flashed across the man’s face. The scream sounded again.

“What the hell was that?” he yelled. He rushed into the cabin and slammed the door behind him.

“There’s a Sasquatch out there,” I said weakly. “I saw it the other day.”

He tried to keep the gun pointed at me as he ran to look out the dirty window.

It felt as if a nightmare was unfolding before me. “You’re Ralph,” I said incredulously. “How are you even here? You died when you fell on me.”

“I didn’t die,” he said with scorn. “It was a panic attack. And then I passed out.” He continued to look back and forth between the window and me.

“What were you running from in the mall that day?” I asked.

“Shut up!” he yelled. “I’ll ask the questions.” He took one more look out the window and turned to face me. “Where’s the kid?”

“What kid?” I asked.

“There was a kid in here,” he said.

I shook my head and said, “I’ve only been here a few minutes, and there wasn’t any kid here.”

He didn’t press the issue. He immediately asked, “Where’s the gold?”

Pain kept me from thinking before I spoke, and I asked sarcastically, “The four gold bars from the Pirata exhibit? I don’t have any idea where they are.”

The man gritted his teeth. His eyes flashed with anger. “Why you little-,” he snarled. “I oughta shoot you right now.” He took a step toward me and aimed the gun at my head. I whimpered and squeezed my eyes shut tight. He asked again, “Where’s the gold?”

I was much quieter when I said, “Honestly, I don’t know where the bars are. I haven’t seen them.” He moved the gun closer to my head. I held my hand up. “Listen. I was suspicious when the guy in Niagara Falls asked where we were staying. It took me a while to put two and two together, but I figured the gold was hidden somewhere in the RV. I looked for it, but I never found it.”

“What did you do with the coins?” he asked.

His question threw me for a loop. I frowned. “What coins? I don’t know anything about any coins. I thought it was on the news that only four gold bars were stolen.”

Oh my gosh! The news. I had completely forgotten to call Samantha to see if she found out anything about the very man who was standing before me with a gun in my face. If my stomach lurched any more than it already was, I would be vomiting soon.

“You had ten gold coins slipped into your purse at the mall,” he said. “You can’t lie about those, because you had them.” The gun came up again to take aim at my head, and he said angrily through gritted teeth, “What did you do with them?”

Panic welled up inside me. I had real coins in my purse? The coins at the exhibit were worth five thousand dollars each. Lizzie wasn’t playing with Alex’s souvenir coins at Darby and Nate’s house. She was playing with fifty thousand dollars worth of real gold. The knee of my one good leg felt as if it was going to buckle under me.