Chapter 5
ICE COLD WATER dripped onto Trevor’s head and trickled down across his cheek. The water was very cold and clean. Lifting his head, Trevor was surprised to find the native girl standing over him.
Her hands were cupped together, holding a small mound of snow. Quietly, she applied the snow on Trevor’s wounded hand and dried his tears with the furs she used to wrap herself with. That’s when Trevor caught a closer look at the missing fingers of her right hand.
Trying not to stare, he now understood the Sasquatch rule; ‘make a mistake, loose a finger.’
Rather than tearing some fabric away from his shirt to bandage his hand, Trevor just slid his hand up into his shirt and wrapped it tight.
No noise… he couldn’t make any noise…
Shuffling up close to the native girl, the young Sasquatch cub approached and looked at Trevor curiously.
With the infant taking an interest in Trevor, Trevor took a moment to study the infant.
It was dark skinned, almost black with a heavy set brow and pushed up nose which was just below eye level. It had playful eyes but its features were far more ape-like than man-like with dark hair growing on its chin and high up on its cheeks as well.
The cub had been watching everything the native girl had been doing. It decided to mimic her and how she applied snow to Trevor’s hand but instead of using snow at all it just reached out and grabbed the hand in its utter most sensitive spot.
Trevor started to shout but cut himself short and stood up. The native girl and the cub held each other screaming with alarm. Gurchukk and his mate rolled over and sat up looking at Trevor.
The whole situation was so crazy, Trevor had given up. Awaking the angry beast was the very thing Trevor had been working so hard to avoid.
Somehow Trevor saw the humor in it. This was how he would die. He was fine with it. ‘Why not?’ he thought, ‘Let’s get it over with…’ In an attempt to anger the beast even more, Trevor began to dance. If this was to be his end, why not celebrate the life he lived.
Stomping his feet and twirling around, Trevor closed his eyes reached for happiness with his soul for the last time. He could hear the native girl and the cub laughing at him. Only partially aware that the native girl was dancing along with him, he continued. It would all soon end with an explosive roar any second.
The mother gathered the baby up in her arms defensively and moved away. She did not feel comfortable letting Trevor get too close to her baby and she was still very skeptical of Trevor.
The native girl was embarrassed from dancing and sat down near the fire opposite from Gurchukk. Gurchukk signaled the girl with their strange chattery language. He wanted her to continue dancing with Trevor. She declined his request so Gurchukk roared for her to dance forcefully.
She immediately jumped back to her feet and tried to copy Trevor’s movements.
Trevor was distracted by the loud roar, but as the girl put forth the effort to follow his lead, he began to find some fun in the strange predicament. He moved his hips and she tried to do the same. He jumped and twisted and she copied these movements also.
Trevor had spent most of his life as a sailor on a Navy battle ship. In that time, he had picked up some difficult dance moves from some of the dance numbers he had rehearsed with his friends. As he had suspected, the girl wasn’t able to keep up with him.
The girl tried her best to keep up with Trevor’s quick feet and fancy footwork, but it only led to her tripping and falling next to the fire. Her hand came down on a stick that was hanging out of the embers. Hot red glowing embers were flicked into the air and fell on the girl’s arm. She immediately began to scream. Trevor went to her and examined her arm quickly, but Gurchukk pulled him away. The mother and Gurchukk crowded in to see the wound. The girl curled up into their hairy bodies for comfort.
Trevor ran to get some snow to put on the girl’s burns. It took him less than five seconds to reach the entrance where he gathered some snow in his hands.
He paused for a moment, looking up at the hole of the cave… The exit to freedom. It was so close, but he couldn’t do it. Not again. It would surely be the death of him.
Gurchukk’s teeth flashed in the firelight, when he snarled a warning. Obediently, Trevor returned. He reverently moved up beside the girl and gently placed the cold snow on her burn. They were all very appreciative of what Trevor had done.
Looking up at Gurchukk, Trevor caught himself looking him right in the eyes again, but Gurchukk wasn’t offended this time. Rather, he smiled down at him with gleeful eyes; tilting his head slightly to one side he made a new sound like cooing.
The arm of the great Sasquatch stretched out over the bed of hot glowing coals and plucked a rather large chunk of meat off. He brought it back with a slow elegant motion and offered it to Trevor; a peace offering.
Smiling up at the menacing ape-like face, Trevor received the meat. Sitting next to Gurchukk, Trevor ate. He would have preferred his food to be cooked a little bit more, but he was too hungry to complain. To Trevor’s frustration, he wasn’t able to finish his gift. His stomach had shrunk in his time of hunger.
Unable to finish eating was a short aggravation. Overcome with fatigue, Trevor quickly fell asleep next to his hairy new friend.