Beast Hunter

Chapter Five

We left Chicago's O'Hare airport the next morning, heading east to Erie Pennsylvania. The flight was a short one, around an hour give or take. The weather called for cold but clear conditions all along the Midwest for the next couple of days. Not that the weather report was one hundred percent trustworthy. Freak snowstorms were known to happen during that time of the year, despite what the weatherman had to say about it. Still, our odds of hitting one looked slim. If our luck held out, we wouldn't have a problem reaching Pennsylvania, meeting with Gary Grey, doing a little sightseeing, and making it back home before the next major weather event happened.

After landing, we rented a car at the airport and headed southeast toward the town of Salem's Noose, where Sky's naturalist friend lived.

Stu drove while Sky took the front passenger seat, leaving me in the back. Though it was cold, the roads had been freshly plowed and were relatively clear for driving. The front wheel drive on the rented Ford Escalade helped. At least Stu wasn't complaining. Aside from a few icy patches, we were on track to get to Salem's Noose in under an hour.

I was happy to be on the ground and on our way. Ever since the plane took off, I'd been anxious to get where we were going. Now that we were almost there, it was time to hear Sky's theory concerning Gary Grey's sighting. I'd done my job getting Stu to agree to come. Now I wanted my payment.

"I finished your book on the plane," I said.

"Really? You read fast."

"Well, I did start it yesterday."

"Stayed up half the night reading," Stu said. "I had to practically beg him to put it down and go to bed."

I ignored him and continued. "I was very interested in the point you made about how most cryptozoologists have solid backgrounds in the natural sciences and how they usually tend to investigate creatures that resemble animals that already exist and are known about."

"That's right."

"You said that aside from looking for hard evidence like DNA samples and tracks left behind, that serious researchers also focus on forms of historical evidence like local legends and folklore for information."

"Correct," Sky confirmed. "You see, the very thing that makes a species a cryptid species is the fact that they exist in nature but remain hidden from our view. Therefore sightings of cryptids are usually made by unsuspecting individuals who just happen to be in the right place at the right time. Often their claims get glossed over as fantasy and are forgotten about. You must analyze these stories in order to determine if there is any merit to them or not. A lot of them are exaggerations, some are downright hoaxes, but sometimes, you stumble across a story that has a small element of truth to it, at least enough for you to go on."

"Are there any local legends that can help explain what Gary Grey saw?"

"No," Sky said. "There aren't any legends or pieces of folklore that I know of that can explain a sighting in this area. But I did do some research and I came across an interesting story that does have possibilities."

I leaned closer, listening attentively.

"Have you ever heard of a man named Rupert Garrison?"

The name was vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite recall where I'd heard it before.

"In the 1960's he ran a kind of side show called Rupert Garrison's Traveling Show of Lost Wonders. He was a rather interesting character. From town to town, he would travel around the country showing off his collection of rare and exotic animals. He made a real show of it, complete with tents and costumes. He promised people that they would see things in his show that they would never see anywhere else. This appealed to many curiosity seekers who lined up to buy tickets wherever he went. Some of his displays were... bizarre."