Chapter 14
We stood in front of the culvert where it ran under the fence. The last time I came through that hole was to escape Bigfoot. I never thought I would be using it to find him.
She bent down and peered through. “Are there spiders or crickets?” she asked.
I stared. She wasn’t afraid of Bigfoot, but spiders and crickets were making her hesitate? I shook my head in disbelief.
She took that to mean it was clear of bugs. “Okay,” she said, “but you go first.”
My chance to be the hero. I crouched and sidled through, feeling something like a spider myself.
She emerged on my heels and spun around in front of me. “Anything on me?” she asked.
I made a pretense of checking and said, “All clear.”
We made our way down the dry gully to the footbridge. Gen paused to look up the steep bank. For a moment I thought she was going to give up. Instead she began grabbing handfuls of weeds and pulling herself up the bank. There was no time to think about it. I began clawing my way up after her.
A few minutes later we stood panting on the footbridge.
“Which way?” She asked.
I pointed to the right. “That’s the way to the teepee and probably Bigfoot’s lair. The other way leads to safety and the comforts of civilization.”
She gave me a get serious look. “Bigfoot doesn’t have a lair. He’s a not a dragon.”
As I expected, she chose the path of danger. When we came to the fork she stopped and said, “Which way...”
“Shh,” I interrupted and pulled her back into the shadows. “Listen,” I whispered.
I could see the tree where my backpack had hung and just beyond it the school fence. Voices were shouting and one rose above the others.
“Hey! There’s something moving in the woods.”
“Where?”
“Over there.”
Gen grabbed my hand and yanked me up the path. We crouched over and scuttled through the trees like foxes evading the hounds.
“There it goes!” The voice shouted after us. Feet pounded toward the fence and the chain links rattled. We sprinted for cover leaving the voices and the school behind.
The path led us deeper into the woods. Through the branches I caught glimpses of a gray sky. The air turned chilly and damp.
Gen paused and pointed to where a faint trail branched off. “Should we try this way?”
I shook my head. “The teepee is on the main path. We should be there soon.”
“Then we should be extra quiet,” Gen said. “We don’t want to startle him.”
I didn't even want to meet him. To my relief I heard more voices, and they didn't sound alarmed.
Gen stopped and I stumbled into her with a gasp.
She clapped a hand over my mouth. “Shh. You’re awfully clumsy.”
The voices distracted me from coming up with a clever reply. There was something familiar about them. I took a couple steps forward. A woman was talking, her voice rising and falling musically, but I could only catch a few words.
“…police…fence…around the school…”
The man’s voice interrupted. “On YouTube…book…Cody…”
The woman laughed. Recognition and indignation flooded through me. I took only two determined steps before Gen grabbed my arm.
I twisted around to face her. “Nate,” I said, my voice tight. “That’s Nate and Des in the teepee and they're laughing.”
“I know,” she said. “And we’re supposed to be in school. You don’t want to have it out with him with that kind of disadvantage hanging over your head.
While I stood debating this in my mind, Gen continued. “There’ll be plenty of time tonight to talk to Nate when you’re more in control.”
“You think I’m not in control?”
She giggled and pulled on my arm. “Let’s go around the other way. We can try that other path.”
I trudged behind her rehearsing in my mind all the things I wanted to say to Nate. I was just warming to my arguments when we arrived. The path looked more like a squirrel trail than a walkway. It was too narrow for Bigfoot to travel.
“Doesn’t look like…” I stopped.
“Like what?”
“Um…doesn’t look like a bad choice.” I plunged in before she could question me further.
The narrow trail forced us to walk single file. Wispy weeds and flowers on tall slender stalks leaned across the path. They pulled at us as if trying to warn us away.
Someone had been using the trail. Trodden down grass and prints of different sizes showed in the soft earth. No barefoot tracks of gigantic size, just shoe prints.
We came to the creek. A stone bridge spanned the shallow water. Gen pushed past me and rushed onto the bridge.
“This is great,” she called back. “Once we cross the creek, we’re in his territory.”
So much for the comfort of feeling the way was safe.
Gen now took the lead and I tried to keep up. I was busy watching my feet and almost ran into her again when she came to a sudden stop.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“It divides. We have a choice which way to go.”
I leaned around her and pointed left. “I vote for that way.”
She overruled me. “The creek runs to the right. Last time we saw him by the water. Let’s follow it. Quietly now.”
We hadn’t gone far when the path widened, and we came to a clearing. I grabbed her arm before she could charge into the open.
“Let’s take it slow,” I said softly.
“Don’t you see it?” she said.
“What?” I scanned the area expecting to see a large fury animal staring back. All I saw were huge trees.
“There,” she pointed up. “It’s a nest in the tree.”
There was something there all right. “More like a treehouse,” I said.
She turned to me in surprise. “You think he built a treehouse?”
I smiled, not wanting to dash her enthusiasm. “Let’s go see.”
The grass muffled our steps, but I couldn't help feeling we were being watched. We reached the massive oak. The structure sat about twenty feet above us in a tangle of thick branches. Brittle leaves still clung to the tree, rattling and twisting in the damp air. I caught a glimpse of a weathered plank.
Gen reached toward a twisted vine hanging from one of the lower limbs.
“Wait,” I said.
But her fingers had already closed around it and pulled. Something fell from above, clattering through the branches and bringing with it a shower of dirt and leaves. I shoved Gen and jumped aside. It jerked to a stop about a foot above the ground. A robe ladder with wooden rungs.
Gen grinned and struggled to her feet. “Looks like an invitation.”
“But to what?”
Her eyes sparkled. “Only one way to find out.”
I tugged on the ladder. It seemed firmly anchored somewhere high above. At least it didn’t look like it had been made by Bigfoot. Placing my foot on the bottom rung I attempted to climb.
“Careful,” she said, and grabbed me around the waist. The ladder twisted and turned as if alive, knocking us against the tree.
“Oof,” she said, letting go and falling in the leaves. “Ow!”
“You okay?” I said. My elbow scraped on the hard bark and I jumped down.
She pushed the leaves aside and held up a metal hook. With a grimace she said, “That’s a fine thing to leave lying around.”
I grinned. “It’s the perfect thing.”
“For what?” She ran her hand through the leaves. “There’s a cord attached. It’s tied to a stake.” Looking up with dismay she asked, “Is this a trap for some unsuspecting little animal?” Immediately she tried to pull up the stake.
“Stop,” I said. “I took the hook from her and looped if over the bottom rung. “It’s to hold the ladder steady.”
“Oh,” she said. Trying to get her dignity back s
he stood up and wiped her hands on her jeans.
This time it held steady and I made good time up the tree. I could feel her weight on the ladder behind me. Swinging my leg over the last branch I stepped onto a wooden platform. The floor trembled as Gen joined me.
“Careful,” I said. “It gets dark farther in.”
“Bigfoot probably has good night vision. Many wild creatures do.”
Across from us the thick branches formed a protective wall creating pockets of deep shadow. I hoped the creature wasn’t watching us from some dark corner.
Bits of light crept through cracks in the tangles casting a dappled mixture of soft yellows and blues on the floor. The colors quivered on the rough wood in a dizzying dance.
Cool air rustled through the leaves. A soft tinkling sound made the hair on my neck stand up. The whole structure stirred and seemed to breathe. Gen’s fingers tightened around my arm. I stepped forward.
Tiny fingers combed through my hair. I yelled and grabbed at my head.
Gen’s answering scream echoed in my ear. Her fingers dug in to my arm so hard I was sure she drew blood.
“Let go,” I pleaded. My waving hand passed through a web, and a loud racket of musical notes erupted. Flashes of color swirled around us. I jerked my hand down and ducked aside. My eyes searched the room and focused on strings of crystals hanging from a branch. They dangled from thin sticks, bouncing and colliding together.
Gen slowed their motion. “It’s a mobile,” she said. “How would Bigfoot get a mobile?”
“I don’t think this is Bigfoot’s house.”
“No? Why not?”
I pointed to the mobile. “Des made that last semester in one of her classes.”
“Des?”
I nodded. “One of those modern art classes.”
Now that my eyes had adjusted to the dim light I could distinguish other objects in the room. Gen headed for two nondescript lumps on the floor. She flopped down on one, and it crackled under her weight.
“Bean bag chairs,” she said and picked up a handful of magazines from the floor. The bag crackled as she leaned back and rested the magazines on her bent knees. “Let’s see what Bigfoot is reading these days.” She leafed through the assortment. “Cooking, stock market success, herbal lore, practical investing.”
“Sounds like he’s moved beyond hunting and gathering,” I said.
“We’re not talking about Bigfoot are we?”
I shook my head as I walked around the room. “Mr. Practical. Making fun of me and all the time he had a treehouse.”
“It might be just a coincidence,” Gen said. “Maybe Des gave the mobile to someone.”
“And all their magazines too?”
She shrugged.
I stopped in front of an old crate pushed up against the wall. A small case with a glass door had been wedged into a notch above it. Through the grimy glass I could see the shadow of a figure.
The shape was familiar. My stomach soured with foreboding. The floor quivered as Gen came up behind me.
“Maybe we shouldn’t be here.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Stepping on the crate I leaned toward the glass door.
“Cody…”
My mouth tightened. Indignation flooded through me. With fierce resolve I yanked open the door. A soft bundle tumbled out. It landed against my neck and Gen gasped.
The floor rocked as I jumped down from the crate. I pulled the furry mass from my neck and held it toward her. “My toy wookie.”
She stroked the fur. “It’s just the way I remember it. The case kept it clean and dry. Like it was in suspended animation.”
“I never knew what happened to it,” I said. “When I came home from school one day it was gone. Nate claimed it went to live in the woods. I knew that was wrong. It would have said goodbye. When I was older I realized it must had gotten thrown away.”
I tucked the soft figure inside my coat. It wouldn’t all fit and the head stuck out gazing defiantly at the world.
“That just leaves the crate,” Gen said.
She knelt down and slid the lid off. Together we leaned over and looked in.
“It’s a pile of fur,” Gen said. She was slipping into her role as Protector of All Things Furry.
I stirred through the pile and lifted out a hairy head with empty eye sockets.”
Gen cringed and scrambled away from the crate.
“It’s a costume.” I showed her the tag inside the head. “Made in China.”
She frowned and pulled out the rest of the fur. “Gorilla,” she said.
“Now what do you suppose Nate would be doing in the woods with a gorilla costume?” I asked.
“Protecting his territory?”
“Humph. Half the town is looking for Bigfoot, and it’s Nate.”
Faint laugher drifted up from below. Gen stuffed the costume back into the crate and slid the lid back in place. “I hope that’s not the whole school coming.”
Together we crept to the platform edge and looked over. The wind had picked up and was moving the branches. “I didn’t realize we were so high,” I said.
In summer the only thing visible from our perch would have been the tops of other trees. But most of the leaves had fallen now. We could see the path and all the way to the creek.
“There,” Gen said pointing to where two figures stood on the other side of the creek. It was Nate and Des. “That's where we first saw Bigfoot.”
“You mean Nate.”
She nodded. “He could see everything from up here.”
We stood to our feet. The platform jiggled with the sudden movement.
“Careful,” she said.
I grabbed a branch for support. My fingers tightened on a smooth surface. It was polished and white. Not part of the tree at all. Almost like….
“It’s the horns,” I said, “and they are attached to a line.”
My eyes followed the cable. It angled toward the ground, passing through branches of nearby trees and stopping on our side of the creek.
“A zip line,” Gen said. “He used the horns to ride down the zip line.”
Nate and Des were picking their way across the stream. When they reached our side they looked toward the treehouse and laughed.
The laugher blocked out everything.
For years Nate had been laughing at me. Well, no more. A burst of cold wind whipped around me. I shifted for balance and realized I was still holding the gorilla head.
“It’s going to be tricky climbing down that ladder in this wind,” Gen said.
I slammed on the gorilla head to free both hands. It settled onto my shoulders and I stared out through the eyes. Nate’s eyes.
Gen’s muffled voice chided me. “Take that off. We have to climb down.”
A gust came from the other side pushing against us. I crouched to get a better view through the branches.
“What are you doing?” Gen yelled.
Her weight fell against me as she threw her arms over my shoulders. In panic my fingers tightened on the horns. I tried to balance her weight. We wavered on the edge.
A sickening click sent a wave a fear through me. The lock released. Our screams mingled together as I flew down the zip line with Gen clinging to my back.