They Wait in the Woods

Chapter 3

"Sorry about the shirt," he young man added the tone of his voice embarrassed. "It was all I could come up with." She could hear him shift his weight nervously.

"There was hardly anything left of that sweater... shirt... um, of yours. I know it's a bit big, but..." he muttered.

"It's just fine," she replied, this time with a bit more confidence. "Thank you."

The air between them was momentarily filled with an awkward silence.

"Um, there's fresh coffee, if you'd like some," he started, but a crackle from his radio interrupted him. With a quick apology, he left the room leaving her by herself again.

She stood there for a moment, holding on to the folded towel, listening to the faint sounds of people talking outside in the yard the voices cut away by slamming car doors and the distancing sound of vehicles driving away. Then it was all silent again.

For a moment she could not help thinking perhaps they had found Eric. She wasn't going to give up hope on him until she would see his body herself. Until then she would consider him needing her help and she was not going to be of any use in her present state. She needed to get out there and fast.

She turned around and looked at the booth behind her. The first challenge of the day was going to be maneuvering the narrow space successfully while keeping all the stitches and adhesives dry.

Her room was adjacent to a small office space combined with a recreation corner. To the far end of the room there was a collection of large maps of the local terrain and below them a couple of desks with landline phones and the usual amount of paper clutter. The recreation corner consisted of a small round table paired with a couple of simple wooden chairs and it presented an offering of the latest local newspaper and a half-full pot of freshly made coffee quietly crackling in the maker. She reached for the topmost option in a small pile of mismatching ceramic mugs.

There was a rustle of paper behind her. An older man, slightly heavyset with graying head of hair and a mustache folded the topography map he had been studying and turned to look at her over his reading glasses.

"Good to see you up and running, miss!" he greeted her cheerfully, rising from his seat to meet her. "We were a little worried there for a moment," he added with a frown folding his reading glasses into the breast pocket of his Park Ranger uniform shirt.

There was a noise at the front door of the station behind him.

"Had it not been for Ryan here, I think you would have been in quite the trouble," he adjusted the belt of his pants as he closed the distance between them. "It seems like the first-aid course I sent him on paid off," he smirked as the young officer stepped into the room, looking embarrassed that he was the apparent topic of the discussion. Instead of participating in the conversation he merely headed for the rack in the office corner and hung his jacket the expression on his face indicating he was trying to come up with a proper quip in return.

"Thank you for all your help," she replied nursing her hot drink. "I really appreciate it," she added making sure that the young ranger was within earshot to receive her gratitude.

"That's what we're here for," the older ranger chimed in happily folding his arms across his chest. "But that still leaves one thing, miss," he added with a frown. "Why were you here?" he looked at her concerned.

In all honesty, by now she had to wonder about it as well. She placed the mug on the checkered tablecloth of the round table and sat down collecting her thoughts. It wasn't that she couldn't remember what had happened because she remembered it all too well. She knew what she and Eric had planned on would have been illegal had it only worked and the last thing she needed right now was to get arrested for trespassing a crime scene. Also, even though she feared the worst, she had no idea of what had become of Eric, so she felt the need to maneuver cautiously around the truth as she knew it. Starting to talk about mysterious monsters that seemed to inhabit the woods would not help her credibility nor help her find Eric.