What Happened in the Forest

Closer

Mara settled in the living room of Emily and Sam's cabin after lunch with a mug of tea and her notebook out. When she and Embry returned from their walk, most of the guys had left though Jacob and Paul had stuck around. Sam still hadn't returned. She wasn't sure what to make of it. She still felt like it had something to do with her asking about the attacks, though Emily had said something came up at the shop that he owned.

Lunch was a much more pleasant experience than the interview had been. As soon as she had walked back through the door, the jokes had started up and she spent nearly the entire meal laughing as Paul and Jacob shared stories from growing up on the reservation and some good-natured teasing - much of it directed at Embry.

Even Mara opened up, sharing a few embarrassing stories from high school and college. But now that they were in the living room, Mara planned to get back into the attacks.

"So, this isn't the first time something like this has happened around here," she said, looking around the room.

Paul and Emily glanced at Jacob, silently referring to him. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

"Like Sam said, we've had a fair amount of animal attacks around here over the years. Kind of goes with the territory. Though the last we've seen something like this was several years ago," he said.

"Did you ever find the animal causing it back then?" Mara asked, scribbling things down.

"No, but some of the guys from the reservation went out with the police to try and track it down. The attacks eventually stopped on their own, so we assumed the animal either died or moved out of the area," he said.

"What did you think it was?" Mara asked.

"A bear," Jacob said immediately. Mara glanced up at him.

"A bear?" she asked.

"Again, not unusual," Jacob said.

"It's hitting the local tourism industry pretty hard, though," Paul said, redirecting the conversation. "Already gotten a fair amount of cancellations with the local lodges. Lot of La Push and Forks rely on campers and hikers coming in."

"We've warned people not to go out into the forest alone. Always go in groups and avoid being out there at night. At least until we can track it down," Embry said, looking at Mara. "You probably shouldn't go back out to any of the accident sites as well unless you have someone with you."

Mara blushed slightly, though she kept her eyes trained on her notebook. She wasn't sure why she was reacting this way because of his concern for her safety.

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied.

"Should take Embry with you. He knows his way around these woods," Paul said, grinning. Mara's face just heated up more.

"Was it locals in the past as well? Inexperienced hikers?" she asked, pushing her feelings aside as she looked over at Jacob.

"Mostly locals, though not all were hikers," he said.

Mara nodded, thinking over what she knew about the current hikers.

"From what I've gathered, this latest round is all people who knew what they were doing out there," she commented.

"Whether you know how to hike or camp doesn't really change much. If a bear wants to attack, it will," Jacob said. "Sometimes even having a weapon won't help."

"But wouldn't they know how to take measures to avoid that?" she asked, frowning.

"They might. But still, it happens," Jacob said, shifting in the chair where he sat.