Dinosaur Lake (12 page)

Gillain nodded, and tramped briskly back the way they’d come as if he couldn’t wait to escape the scene.

Henry wrapped yellow plastic warning tape around the nearby trees, connecting them in a closed uneven shape.

When George returned, Henry was looking out through the trees with a frown on his face. “I’m going to recommend to the Park Service we close the park for a while. All of it. Until we know exactly what we’re facing.”

“Not just the lake?”

“Yep, all of it.”

“Sounds like a brilliant idea to me,” George replied. “I support the decision. But they’re going to fight it. Sorrelson will go ballistic. He doesn’t even want you to close the lake area. It’s high visitor season, remember?”

“Then I’ll go over his head. People are missing and dead. We don’t have a choice.” Henry examined the woods around them, his mind working. The forest was quiet, not a bird chirping or a rustle of animal noise. Not normal. Not at all. He stared at the blood on the grass. Well, if Sorrelson needed an undeniable reason to close the park, he had it now. Henry had little doubt the two missing men were dead. Body parts don’t lie.

In silence George and Henry returned to headquarters. Henry unable to stop thinking about Jane Morrison and those kids in that awful tent village and the other homeless in their leaky makeshift abodes. Not only was it chilly at night, but patched plastic wouldn’t keep out a chipmunk, much less a monster.

He didn’t know what he was going to tell his wife. They lived in the park, so did their daughter and granddaughter, and he wasn’t sure any of them were safe. His house was five miles away from the lake; before five miles had sounded fairly safe. Not any longer. And Laura and Phoebe were closer than that. If he were smart, he’d convince them to move into town. Today.

He’d never forgive himself if something happened to them.

As soon as he was able, he telephoned Ann at work and explained what was going on. As always, she drug the entire story out of him before he was ready to give it. He’d wanted to do it face to face, but it was tough keeping secrets from her. While on the phone, he strongly suggested she round up their daughter and granddaughter and move into town.

“Zeke has a large, empty house and I’m sure he’d let you all stay for a while,” Henry wheedled. “At least I’d know everyone was safe.”

Ann would have nothing to do with his plan. “Where you are is where I’m going to be.” She was firm. “And no way am I leaving all this excitement. What a story.”

Nothing he said changed her mind. But, if things got worse, he’d have to even if he had to tie her up and personally deposit her at Zeke’s. She wasn’t taking the threat serious enough. He recalled he hadn’t at first, either, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it until later. He was on duty.

At headquarters he called the off-duty rangers and asked them to report in by nine o’clock. After he got off the phone, he brooded over which two he could afford to lose. There were only six rangers he could pick from. Not George. His job was his life. Not Kiley, he’d been a ranger longer than any of the others. Gillian had three kids. Problem was, the others were good rangers, too. He couldn’t afford to lose them, especially now. So, he wasn’t going to lay off any of them, no matter what Sorrelson said.

He had to close the lake area. The entire park and knew he’d answer to Sorrelson and the Park Board about it later. Right now it’d take every ranger he had to do the evacuation. They couldn’t risk people being anywhere in the vicinity of the lake after what he’d seen that morning.

Those decisions made, he finished at headquarters and drove over to the lodge to meet Justin for breakfast. His wristwatch said it was a tad after nine. Unbelievable it was still so early and so much had already happened.

Justin was sitting at the usual table sipping coffee and eating eggs when Henry slipped into the chair across from him.

“You’re late. What’s going on?” Justin leaned towards him as Henry sat down.

“I’m going to shut down the park.”

“I thought so. I saw the activity at park headquarters on my way over.” Justin’s eyes were somber behind his spectacles. “It struck again, didn’t it? This time on land?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” In between ordering coffee (he decided he couldn’t stomach breakfast yet after what he’d seen) he updated Justin. “This has changed everything. Quickly. I’m afraid the creature has developed a taste for human flesh.”

“It never actually crossed my mind on the lake the other night,” Justin said, “it was seeking us–human beings–to
eat
. I think it is and we have to stop it. If it’s as clever as I suspect, we’ll need to capture or, as much as I hate the thought being a scientist and all, kill it.”

“I’m glad you agree because that’s what I believe should be done, too. Because if it’s preying on people, that destroys any awe, concern or pity I might have had for it.” Henry kept seeing Jane Morrison’s face and those ragamuffin kids, fatherless now; kept seeing those hunks of bloody flesh among the leaves. “If I could protect it,” he muttered, “I’d shut down the whole park forever, but that won’t guarantee the creature wouldn’t escape and go on further killing sprees, butchering more people somewhere else.”

“And if it craves human flesh,
nothing
could keep it inside the park if it can’t get what it wants here.”

“So the question is: How do we find it, contain it, or, if it turns out to be necessary, how do we kill it?”

“I don’t know,” Justin responded. “I’ve never had to catch, contain or kill a renegade leviathan before. To be truthful, I’ve never been much of a hunter.”

“I’ve hunted my share, but never anything this large. No dinosaurs, for sure.”

“Perhaps we’d better find an expert hunter because something tells me we’re going to need one before this is over.”

“You have a good point there.” Henry played with his spoon, stirring his coffee slowly. “I’ll begin looking for somebody who has experience hunting large animals. Don’t know anyone off hand, but I’ll put out feelers.”

“Oh, by the way, I’ve rented one of the cabins in Rim Village for the rest of the summer.”

“With all that’s going on, you want to remain in the park?” Henry eyed him over his cup, but wasn’t surprised. The young man had more than one reason to stick close.

“Well, I wanted to spend time at the dig and, now, help you with the beast in the lake. Also,” the scientist went on softly, “I want to be close to Laura. Sir, I’m crazy about your daughter. I’ve never felt this way about anyone. Ever.”

“I thought so.” Henry grinned for the first time in days, but behind it he was worried. “I would sure feel better if she and Phoebe were out of the park right now, though. It isn’t safe. But the girl’s independent like her mother. I know she won’t leave unless I drag her out, especially now with you here,” Henry predicted, his hand gathering the empty sugar packets up.

“Being her father, you know her better than I. But I’ll do my best to convince her to move out of the park until we know it’s safe. Honest I will.”

“Thanks. But you don’t know my daughter, do you? She’ll swear she can take care of herself. Just like my wife. Those kind of women don’t believe in monsters unless they actually see them. And they won’t run from something they don’t believe in.”

“Well, if they stick around here long enough, they’ll see it, and believe it.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Henry watched a gaggle of park visitors pay their tab. After today the visitors would be gone. He’d miss them. Never thought he’d feel that way, but he did. Never know what you had until it was gone.

“And you, Justin, you sure you want to stay here after what happened to those men? This isn’t fun and games any more. We’re in real danger. If you weren’t such an authority on dinosaurs and their habits, I’d send you packing, as well.”

“I know. But I’m staying. I’m frightened, but ambitious. To study and hunt a real dinosaur is an adventure of a lifetime. Something I can tell my grandkids about. Not to mention, get photographs of, write scientific articles on, and become famous for.”

“If you live through it,” Henry retorted cynically. “I have to get back to headquarters and meet up with my rangers. There’s so much to do, moving the homeless camp and closing down the park.”

“Oh, there’s one more thing,” Justin added after Henry had requested the breakfast bill. “My colleagues from John Day have arrived. They’re at the dig site now, going crazy over the dinosaur bones. The group leader is Dr. Harris. He appears capable, his credentials are impeccable, but I know him, and, let me tell you, he’s a fanatic. I couldn’t get him to shut up or get out of the dirt for a second. We’re going to have trouble with him. If he’s that crazy about our dead specimens, heaven knows how he’ll react to a live one.”

Henry grunted. “So they’re not going to listen when we tell them, for their own safety, they have to go?”

“No, they’re not going to listen. Harris believes this fossil bed could be the scientific discovery of all time. The group is settling in near the fossil wall. Last time I looked there were ten scientists, three tents and a couple of RVs. More coming. The word’s gone out.”

“Damn,” Henry swore as he slapped down some money on the table for his coffee. “Now I got them to worry about, as well, until I can chase them away.”

“Good luck with that. Dr. Harris has high-up, influential friends. If he wants to stay, he’ll stay.”

“We’ll see.” Henry shrugged. “Right now I got to go. Catch you later.” Brushing by the young man, he strode out the door.

He was going to have to talk to Sorrelson about the paleontologists, among other things. They couldn’t be allowed to stay, especially so near to the lake. They’d be the creature’s next meal–and there was no way they’d be able to cover up
that
story. Missing homeless were one thing, but missing or partially eaten high-up muckety-muck scientists were another.

Rushing to headquarters, Henry knew he had no authority over the John Day scientists. They could ask permission to stay from the Park Service and get it. But he was still going to try to run them off. It was too risky, them being on the lake’s rim. The body count was too high already.

When he arrived at his office, Kiley informed him Sorrelson hadn’t been reachable, his phone turned off; his secretary wasn’t sure exactly where he was, but eventually, she’d promised, he’d be in touch.

Gillian reported Mrs. Morrison took the bad news about being relocated in stride, and the camp was on the move.

Henry and his men got to work, preparing to shut down the park.

The family had spent the day on Phantom Ship Island, brought out early by a tour boat. They snuck off against park policy to explore the small island by themselves and time had slipped away.

They didn’t see the ranger patrols stopping and boarding the other tour boats and they didn't know the park was being evacuated.

Instead, they spent the day scuttling across the island, searching for wild flowers in the nooks and crannies of the steep rocks and collecting unusual stones; they spread blankets and ate their picnic lunch with gusto, happy with the lovely summer day and the beauty of their surroundings. The sun burned their skin and sun-dried their hair, but they didn't care.

It was the family's first vacation in five years. They were having so much fun, laughing, chattering among themselves and snacking on the lodge’s sandwiches and lukewarm cokes from the picnic basket, that they were totally unaware of the activity on shore.

Marcy, the youngest girl, didn’t want to return to Cleetwood Cove when the tour boat was loading up to return. She’d fallen in love with the picturesque isle. Since it was her birthday, her father and mother agreed they’d stay behind on Phantom Ship and catch a later boat. They hadn’t heard their park ranger saying earlier that all boats were to be off the lake by twilight. They didn’t know there wouldn’t be another boat docking at the Island that afternoon or for the foreseeable future and they were stranded.

The sun dipped into the horizon beyond the scrap of land covered in trees and wildflowers before they began to get worried. The spires of volcanic rock rose up from the island's base and looked ebony against the setting sun. It was getting cooler. The woman made the girls put on their sweaters as the mist heavily blanketed the surrounding water. They seemed to be the only people left out on the lake.

“I wonder where all the boats are. It’s getting late,” the woman voiced aloud when the night shadows danced in. She’d forgotten to bring their cell phones and now she regretted it.

Only the radio they’d brought along, playing an old Beatle’s song, broke the peacefulness of the place.

“Maybe I should swim for help,” her husband suggested, studying the mist on the darkening water. He was an associate vice-president at a New England brokerage firm. The youngest one they’d ever had. He wasn’t a good swimmer and his wife knew it. He was prone to colds, too.

“The water’s too chilly. You’d freeze. The ranger said no one swims in the lake unless they’re polar bears.”

The two of them laughed, trying to cover their growing uneasiness over coming nightfall, the spooky fog and their isolation.

After waiting another hour and seeing the full arrival of night, the man said softly, “Well, it looks like we might be spending the night here, girls. I wish I’d found us a safe cave or a hole or something to spend the night in, but I was so sure there’d be another boat. Now, without a flashlight, it’s impossible to find or see anything. I should have come more prepared,” he chided himself. “Gosh, it’s dark out here in the wilderness.”

His wife hugged him to show support as well as to get warm. The night was cold and all they had on were sweaters. They hadn’t planned to spend the night. “It’s all right, Jerry. How were we to know we’d be marooned here for the night? The park brochure said the tour boats ran between the Cove and the islands until eight o’clock. I don’t understand why there hasn’t been another boat.”

Jerry nodded and pulled his girls tightly into their circle. Strange noises bellowed over the misty water and the lake churned, the sounds rising on the night wind as if it were crying.

“What is that?” his wife whispered in a trembling voice.

“I don’t know,” he whispered back.

“It’s a water-spook,” the youngest girl, Rebecca, murmured. At eight she had a vivid imagination having had read most of the R.L. Stine books for her age group. Too many, her father thought. “It’s coming to get us!”

“Nonsense, Becky, there’s no such thing as a–”

A horrendous shriek split the night air and none of the humans uttered another syllable.

Eight eyes stared out over the gloomy water, searching for bobbing lights or for any other sign of help coming. Blackness covered everything. Not a sliver of moonlight or a tiny ray of light reflected from anywhere.

“Let’s move away from the lake, behind the rocks over there,” the man proposed, not knowing what else to do.

They were almost to the rocks when something broke the water behind them and rose up swiftly. Something out of a nightmare, with a gargantuan head and gaping jaws filled with serrated teeth. The head lunged back and the hooked snout canted upwards.

At first they gawked in horror, struggling to see what was coming at them in the darkness. A limb with claws at the end swiped viciously downward, slashing the air. A snake-like tail lashed out and slammed against the ground at their feet. The island shook.

The four humans fled into the rocks, stumbling in the dark.

Not quick enough and not nearly fast enough.

The leviathan slid from the water; crawled onto the land. It moved swiftly for its huge size.

Malignant eyes fixed on them and the mouth yawned wide, closing in like a descending crane with teeth from the sky above as they tried to hide behind the rocks.

A child screamed. The woman grabbed the hand of one girl and the man grabbed the hand of the other.

If we can get to higher ground,
the man thought frantically as they ran,
we might be able to escape.
But it was so dark, he kept running into trees; they kept falling over the rocks beneath their feet.

The monster moved faster, coming in for the kill. It smelled the scent of the creatures it craved. And it was hungry.

The man and the youngest girl found themselves falling through the air and into the cold water. They’d somehow crossed the island and had reached the lake again.

The creature dove into the frigid water behind them and the weight of its body hitting it caused such a suction that the two people were pulled down into the whirlpool. A wicked fin the length of its back the last thing seen as it, too, submerged.

The humans never resurfaced. The mist so thick it swallowed them all, beast and human alike.

An ear deafening roar filled the watery world and soon the beast was on land again, hunting for the two survivors it knew were there. With its night eyes and acute sense of smell, it didn’t take long until it found them as they huddled, hiding, among the rocks.

Her daughter had fainted, and the woman lifted the small body into her arms and lurched for the rock spires in the center of the island. A protection from the monstrosity chasing them. If they could wedge deep enough between the stones and crouch low enough, they might be able to escape the creature's reach…then wait it out until morning and help arrived.

But as the woman cowered in the dark between the towering volcanic pinnacles, child now awake and weeping in her arms, the monster lumbered over the land like a bulldozer and came for them. Amazingly quick on short, powerful legs ending in wickedly clawed feet it rose above them, blacking out the sky it was a shadow panting and slobbering with hunger, flashing bloody teeth, whipping its tail through the air.

It’d found them.

No time to scream, the woman and child ran.

It found them again. They couldn’t get away.

The beast had demon's eyes to be able to see so well in the dark.

Out of breath, her chest ready to explode, her legs rubber beneath the weight of her and her daughter, she scurried around a sharp spire, playing a deadly game of hide and seek. The child heavier than anything she'd ever had to carry. Run. Hide. It did no good. The creature reached out with its long neck and the mouth enveloped her and the girl.

The mist swirled around the shadows on the island, hiding the crime. The muffled screams didn't last long.

The monster, its hunger sated for a while, slid into the murky water and disappeared, heading towards the subterranean caves it called home. It was still young and needed a lot of sleep, just as it needed to feed often. It was always hungry and had discovered the perfect food source. Tiny, stick-like things that hopped about and made much noise; they were abundant, sweet and tasty–once they were caught. Oh, they could run, they could hide, but it could smell them a mile away, it was faster, and they didn't have a chance. Not a chance.