Outside Forces

  ***

  “Calm down, Tawnie,” Richard said. “I don’t know anything more than what I’ve already told you.”

  He puffed away as they climbed forward up the narrow ridge towards the third peak, having picked up their pace after Michael’s call. Richard repeated everything Michael said, but Tawnie still probed for more.

  “Call him again.”

  He huffed. “It’ll probably just go straight to voicemail like before.”

  “Please call him again. For me, Dad. Please.”

  Richard placed the call and waited. He shook his head. “Voicemail.”

  “Did he say where he was, at least?”

  Richard puffed as he followed behind Tawnie.

  “All I know is he’s probably still in Calgary somewhere because he asked if I could come see him. He seemed disappointed we were so far away.”

  Tawnie’s pace was fast and Richard began to fall behind. There were two more peaks left to cross before they began the long descent down the eastern slope to the valley bottom.

  “He was supposed to go hiking on Vancouver Island for a few days with this new girl of his tomorrow, Lucy. Whatever it is that’s got him upset, it has something to do with her.”

  “He’s never had a real girlfriend before,” she replied. She looked behind her and saw her father struggling to keep up. She stopped and waited for him.

  “What about Stacey?” he said and puffed heavily. “He went out with her for quite some time.”

  Tawnie laughed. “Stacey? She was never going to be his girlfriend.”

  Richard frowned. “Why do you say that? I thought he liked her,” he said. His words were short and broken.

  “Oh, he liked her. A lot. The problem was she didn’t like him that much.”

  “How do you know all of this?”

  Tawnie started walking again as soon as Richard caught up. “Michael and I talk, Dad. All the time.”

  “But he went out with her many times.”

  “The two of them went out to the movies and partied together, but that was about it. He tried very hard with her but Stacey was all about keeping her options open.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  Sweat dribbled down Richard’s brow.

  “You know how Michael is. He’s timid and reserved.”

  Michael seemed a very normal child in his early years—outgoing, active and talkative. All that changed when he was ten; he often became quiet—mumbling, and saying words or replies that made no sense, as if he was having some private conversation with an imaginary friend.

  “Stacey definitely liked him but I think she wished he was bolder and more outgoing,” Tawnie added. “I don’t think he’s even talked to her this past year.”

  “Shunned” is how Richard would describe Michael’s early teen years. Kids everywhere shied away from him and labelled him a freak because of his mumbling and random outbursts. It was after the incident where his timidness became deeply embedded.

  “I think he really wanted to be more outgoing, but he just couldn’t put himself out there. He told me once.…”

  The sound of a helicopter nearby in the valley broke the silence. Both turned as a red helicopter rose above the ridge a mile behind them and headed towards them.

  “Wow. He’s flying low,” Tawnie said.

  “They do helicopter tours out here every day.”

  Tawnie pointed. “That doesn’t look like a tour. He’s flying far too low and so close to the mountain. The tours always stay in the valleys. I’ve watched them many times while hiking.”

  “Maybe so.…”

  The helicopter passed over and banked sharply to its left before it circled around, slowed, and hovered off to their left a few hundred yards. Someone in the passenger seat with a headset was talking and pointing down at them.

  “What do you make of that?” Richard asked.

  “I don’t know,” Tawnie replied. “Doesn’t look like a tour.” She waved up towards the chopper.

  The man in the passenger seat wearing headphones acknowledged her wave and pointed down. The chopper moved slowly across the sky and came around behind them and paused even closer. A breeze kicked down across them and stirred some of the grey dust up from the path, swirling it around their ankles. The passenger pointed down with one finger.

  Tawnie lifted her hand and pointed down mimicking his motion.

  The man in the chopper nodded, gave her a thumbs up, and the helicopter immediately banked away, moving further down the mountain.

  “What did you just do?” Richard asked.

  She shrugged. “It looked like he wanted a response from us so I gave him one.”

  “By pointing down?”

  “I don’t know…maybe he wants us to get off the mountain.”

  The scream from earlier caused goosebumps to rise across Richard’s neck. “Shit,” he mumbled.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Let’s keep moving.” He wasn’t about to tell Tawnie what he was thinking.