In a cold forest, hides a creature of myth. Two opposing groups have come to find it. One seeks answers to a mystery. The other... a trophy. Who will reach it first? And what will they find when they do?
I'd been exiled to the rear of the panel truck on the ride back to Grey's place. I guess Slater no longer wanted me up front. Maybe he preferred to be alone, have a little me time, I don't know. Personally, I was glad to be here. The cargo portion of the truck was like a big box, cut off from the truck's main cab, which gave me time to be alone and think.
Both the Sasquatch and Grey were with me, each curled up in their own corner of the truck while I sat with my back against one of the walls trying my best to keep it together in the face of everything I'd been through so far this night.
I had been right about Grey.
When I asked what happened, Slater admitted that Grey had tried to make a run for it when they first reached the trail. He got about a quarter mile when Slater found him in a ravine. Slater plugged him with a trank dart and left him in the snow to freeze while he went back to civilization to fetch fresh bait.
"I'll bet you never expected the Sasquatch to show up and drag him off," I said.
Slater leered at me, making it clear that if I wanted to keep teeth in my head, I'd do well to zip my lips, and fast.
He'd thought ahead and brought a couple of wooden sleds and a length of rope. Apparently, he'd been planning to drag something out of the woods tonight. He made me help him roll the Sasquatch onto one of the sleds, and though it barely fit – he'd likely been planning on using both sleds for the creature – it fit well enough.
We put Grey on the other one and together we trudged through the snow back to the truck, Slater pulling the sled with the Sasquatch while I'll pulled the one with Grey. It was heavy and slow going as we slogged along like pack animals. I'm not going to lie. It was tough. I am not built for manual labor. But the ground was level here, and luckily, the small gravel road where the truck was parked wasn't far from the cavern.
Slater, to my amazement, seemed to drag his much-heavier load with ease. That man was a beast in his own right.
The truck had a liftgate, so it wasn't hard to get both bundles into the back.
I climbed in after they'd been deposited and took my seat on the floor, keeping quiet.
To my surprise, he let me keep the Zippo, which I fired up just as he shut the door.
I could hear a length of chain being put over the lock, sealing me in. Not that it mattered. It wasn't like I was going to jimmy the lock and jump from the back, tucking and rolling action-star style while Slater made off with the rarest zoological find of the century. Besides, I wanted see Stu and Sky again, just to make sure they were okay.
By now, I'd gotten used to the smell. It was still rank as hell, but I didn't care. At the moment, nose comfort was the least of my concerns.
I thought about Slater and wondered what his next move would be. He couldn't just let us go. Sky had recognized him by name, and we'd all seen his face as well as the faces of his followers. Even if they left the country, they'd still be guilty of kidnapping, destruction of property, assault, and...whatever charge came with tranking a Sasquatch. Hunting Bigfoot without a license? For some reason, he'd decided to take it alive rather than shoot it dead. I was grateful for that. The poor thing had been ripped from its home decades ago and made to live alone in a completely different part of the county. It would have been an absolute tragedy for it to survive that, only to die here, tonight. At least that hadn't happened, yet. But what did it mean? What was Slater planning to do with it?
I shut the Zippo off to conserve fuel and sat in the dark listening to the sound of the truck engine as we rolled along. Grey was no longer moaning, but I was sitting close enough to him to hear his steady breathing, which gave me some comfort.
After what seemed like forever, the truck came to a stop.
I could hear talking outside, but I couldn't make out any of the words.
The sound of the chain being loosened came next.
The door suddenly opened, and though it was night out still, I had to strain for a moment until my eyes adjusted to the moonlight outside.
Two figures climbed into the back of the truck.
I recognized them right away. Stu and Sky.
"Nick!" Stu said, coming toward me.
We gave each other a big hug and I could see the relief on his face. My uncle and I had never hugged before, us being two macho dudes and all. But in that moment, I didn't care. I was happy to be reunited with him, and I could tell he felt the same.
We broke the embrace and looked toward the back of the truck.
Slater was there, standing just outside the opening joined by Janelle and Trent. He had his hand on the door looking as if he was about to close it.
"Wait," Stu said. "Where are you taking us?"
"Someplace you won't soon forget," Slater said and slammed the door shut.
I flicked the Zippo on again, it's tiny light showing the worried faces of Stu and Sky as the truck's engine fired up and began to move, taking us on a one-way trip to someplace unknown.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
