The Crater Mountain Sasquatch Legend

  Chapter 8

  WHISTLING WINDS ushered in the coming of a mighty storm when Gurchukk lumbered into the cave. There, he found Trevor and Tiarrow cuddling close to Tunoka by the fire. They watched Gurchukk when he entered.

  His mate remained in the very same position as she was when he left. Slowly he walked to her with tears streaming down his cheeks. Gurchukk had experienced death before. He knew of the sleep that no one wakes from.

  Kneeling at Nuxie’s side, Gurchukk lifted her lifeless hand in his own. He began to blubber with gruff, deep chested eruptions. Trevor, Tunoka and Tiarrow stood up at once and went to Gurchukk to comfort him for his loss.

  After a time, the group separated, Gurchukk lifted up a large stone from the cave’s floor and smashed it onto the surface of a much larger boulder. He hit them again and again. The noise was irritating for Trevor and Tiarrow to listen to. Smashing the rocks out of frustration made Gurchukk feel he could think better.

  Grieving for his mate, Gurchukk recalled his recent distress when men hunted him. Wondering why the others didn’t share his anxiety, Gurchukk figured it was because they didn’t know people were hunting them.

  No! He didn’t want to see any more death today. Gurchukk would protect his clan, even his pets.

  All at once, Gurchukk stopped and perked up. He heard something. Turning quickly, he rose to his feet. Sniffing the air, Gurchukk suddenly ran to the mouth of the cave. Leaning out, he listened. Finally he ducked back inside, and whistled. The whistle was so loud and drawn out, it was almost as intense as his thunderous roar.

  Tunoka and Tiarrow were alarmed and ran to Gurchukk. The big Sasquatch looked at Trevor with expectation as though saying, ‘Well, why don’t you come also?’

  Walking toward Gurchukk, the beast turned from Trevor and climbed out of the cave.

  Outside, Gurchukk gestured toward something down the mountain. Intense with urgency, Gurchukk tried to tell Trevor that danger was down there, but Trevor couldn’t understand. Even Tiarrow and Tunoka, who understood Gurchukk much better, needed him to.

  Unable to understand what all of the fuss was about, Trevor just wanted to go back inside the cave where it was warm by the fire. Waving them away, Trevor tried to convey his lack of interest in what they wanted to see.

  The native girl persistently waved for Trevor to join them. He could see in her eyes that whatever the problem was, it was important. Never had he seen them act out this way before.

  Tiarrow spoke to Gurchukk before she raced.

  Trevor followed her back into the cave.

  She wrapped herself up in layers of the furs of her bed.

  They obviously planned to go outside for quite a while. Trevor did the same as Tiarrow, binding the furs around himself tightly. He remembered the chill of Crater Mountain all too well.

  Gurchukk had enough of the human’s stalling. Impatiently, he marched into the cave and forcefully took hold of Trevor under one arm and Tiarrow under his other. Muttering something with a bird-like whistle at the end of it, Tunoka hopped up onto Gurchukk’s back. Gurchukk didn’t mind the young Sasquatch child gripping tightly to the long hair of his back.

  Heading down through the steep snow, Gurchukk moved with a strong determination. He didn’t care that the others didn’t understand him. Instincts of survival kicked in. Gurchukk knew he was still being hunted. He was anything but gentle moving through the thick forest.

  When the forest opened up to a clearing for a short distance, Gurchukk slowed down. The dry rugged clearing dropped off sharply to a vertical cliff with a distance of one hundred and fifty meters. The great Sasquatch released everyone at a resting point that overlooked the valley below.

  Tiarrow and Trevor could see Gurchukk was searching for something far off in the distance. Trevor thought he was still looking for the little alien. ‘What could the little alien do to spook the old silver tipped Sasquatch so?’ Trevor wondered.

  Trevor squinted his eyes and peered in the general direction that Gurchukk was looking. He determined Gurchukk had some extraordinary optical abilities if he was able to see anything out there. Perhaps it was a telescopic vision or other advantage, because his eyes suddenly grew wide. He obviously caught sight of whatever it was that threatened him.

  Trevor and Tiarrow were suddenly lifted up into the Sasquatch’s arms again. Gurchukk moved along the cliff’s edge until they met with a wall of stone. At this point Gurchukk didn’t hesitate; he simply changed direction and leaped off the edge. Trevor and Tiarrow screamed the moment they took flight, but Tunoka was without fear. He laughed a laugh that was like a child’s but only more hollow chested. They dropped the full distance of one hundred and fifty feet.

  Gurchukk’s big feet landed hard on the steep, old rockslide. Sand and rock were pushed down below them under such weight and momentum. Gurchukk half ran and skied to slow down. With a two-step gallop at an incredible speed, Gurchukk worked his feet to regain any stable balance. Wobbling a little to keep from losing his balance, Gurchukk pressed on. Raw determination wasn’t distracted by his two human passengers.

  Uncertain what could be coming down the mountain with such velocity and power, only one thing could shake up dust clouds and start rockslides like this. ‘A single Sasquatch couldn’t be responsible for this much upstir, unless the size of it was…’ The source of the disturbance was too far away to be sure.

  All of the hunters suspected it was the beast of the mountain. ‘It had to be.’

  William pulled his rifle from its holster. Peering through the scope, he took a chance on a distant shot. Searching for his target somewhere upon the dreadful Crater Mountain, William’s shot ricochet off the rock-face just in front of Gurchukk’s path. ((-Twang!-)) It didn’t faze the beast at all.

  The hunters were amazed at how much distance the Sasquatch covered in such a short time.

  Gurchukk located the distant band of men. They changed direction to compensate for the Sasquatch’s random switch backs.

  Trevor heard the thunderous echo of a rifle blast. These didn’t seem to be ordinary hunters, they were skilled trackers.

  At the base of the slide, Gurchukk stopped in the midst of some massive boulders. They had settled there long ago. Setting his three passengers down, the Sasquatch watched the distant men carefully. Protesting to the progress of the men, he huffed. If they continued, Gurchukk would find himself trapped in some pocket of the mountain. He needed to stop them, or at least slow them down. Glancing at his surroundings, Gurchukk leaned his back against a huge boulder. Pressing himself against it harder, he tried to push it over the edge toward the hunters.

  The shouts of the distant men were heard by Trevor. Amazed, the group of men had come in response to his call for help, Trevor wanted to shout out to them. Being singled out as a traitor in Gurchukk’s eyes was too risky…

  It made his hand hurt…

  Gurchukk stopped pushing at the massive stone. He huffed, and muttered something. Tunoka and Tiarrow went to Gurchukk immediately to assist him. Tiarrow signaled Trevor to join them, waving her hand.

  Reluctantly, Trevor did join the others, but only because he had no choice. The rock might be pushed over the edge. Trevor didn’t want to be an accomplice to putting the men’s lives in danger. The only reason the men were there was to answer Trevor’s call for help. Now, he was about to help the Sasquatch hurt them?! Maybe even kill them?! No, he had to make a stand.

  Gurchukk, pushed again with the combined efforts of the others backing him.

  Trevor couldn’t feel the weight of the stone budge. Relieved, he stepped away from the stone. Everyone was surprised when the stone shifted. Then it surrendered and rolled right over the edge.

  Trevor ground his teeth, ‘What have I done?’ he wondered as the blood in his body turned to guilt.

  The boulder bounced and thundered down toward the men. Because of the distance, the men had time to react to the danger and navigate themselves to safety.

  Gurchukk wasted no time, picking
up the trio, he high-tailed it down through the trees and ferns, galloping with heavy widespread strides.

  The direction Gurchukk wanted to go was compromised when he realized the hunters had crossed far more ground than he expected. Despite the Sasquatch’s diversion with the boulder, the men were still active. Trevor wanted to know the men’s exact location. From their position, Trevor was able to see the cedar shakes of his cabin through the tall pines.

  A distant rumble drew their attention to the dark storm clouds invading the sky.

  Trevor pointed and tried to explain to Gurchukk that his cabin was where their next destination should be, but no one understood him. No one however, except Tiarrow.

  She considered what Trevor was trying to say and watched his hand gestures carefully. Understanding what he meant, she spoke in the strange Sasquatch tongue and used the same hand gestures as Trevor.

  Gurchukk looked over the edge at the hunters. Sniffing the air with his wide flat nose, he cocked his head to one side as though listening. His nocturnal eyes widened. Urgently, the Sasquatch picked up the trio again and raced for Trevor’s cottage.

  At the outskirt of the forest, Gurchukk let go of Trevor and Tiarrow. The hairy infant slid off his father’s back. Standing at the perimeter of Trevor’s farm field, Gurchukk gazed over the wooden fence and across the tall dry wheat that covered the expanse of the field. There, at the other side of the field, nestled in a cluster of trees, was the little old cabin.

  Trevor and the girl sat on the ground. They had been jostled around like rag dolls for miles; pinched to the body of the Sasquatch, this was the most uncomfortable form of travel they had ever known. The two of them moaned in pain.

  Thunder clouds released a distant bolt of lightning. The flash lit the inside of the clouds, then a thunder clap followed.

  Trevor’s ribs hurt so badly, he knew a few of them had been cracked. He and Tiarrow would have bruises to remind them of the ordeal. This was a typical memento to expect from a Sasquatch.

  The hunters weren’t too far behind. Hearing them, Trevor stood up with a start. When Trevor gently helped Tiarrow climb over his fence, Tunoka just darted past and leaped clear over it. Gurchukk just walked through it as though it didn’t even exist. Surely it didn’t matter, the way he broke it to pieces.

  Trevor and Tiarrow ran as fast as they could across the field. The quick Sasquatch and his son, had to slow down to keep pace with the humans.

  Trevor understood, by the way Gurchukk looked at the incoming dark clouds, that he wanted to avoid being outside during the storm. ‘What strange fate is this?’ Trevor wondered, ‘After I was a guest in his home, should I find myself inviting this Sasquatch into my home?!’

  A quiet stillness pervaded the valley; the calm before the storm.

  The thoughts of the hunters were filled with the presumptuous victory; the capture of a ‘Bigfoot.’ Before them a faint path of nature trails wound deeper into the low valleys until finally, they stumbled upon valuable evidence.

  William discovered the imprint of a Sasquatch foot. With the pack train of ponies in tow, the hunters followed the vague and sometimes uncharted deer trails.

  It was spring. The warm winds gently melted the snow, leaving a mantle of green over the land. Beautiful wild flowers came springing up from the moist earth. The call of migratory birds returned from the south. The day came with beauty, maturity and over shadowed sunshine followed by the pressing threat of the storm.

  “Pick it up, men, before everything you know in the world is wet.” William barked at the exhausted band. “We can try to flush the creature out into the field of that farm. It’s no more than a mile beyond these trees.”

  “What if it’s already too late?” Norman asked, gazing up at the looming Crater Mountain. “The creature is likely long gone by now!”

  William was too tired to snap at the man with the usual obnoxious come back, “This is our last kick at the can, boys. If we lose the creature now, we’ve failed, and this whole expedition will have to be someone else’s responsibility… I, for one, have had it!”

  Running feet were upon the front porch of Trevor’s cabin. Another great ((-Boom-)), rolled across the stratosphere. This was followed by a downpour of heavy rain. The clan of four, managed to cross the distance of the field undetected.

  Trevor realized he no longer had his skeleton key to his front door. It was lost in the cave when his pack was torn apart. He tried to twist the door knob to no avail. Tiarrow couldn’t understand why Trevor was trying to twist the door knob but she could see that it was important to Trevor. She spoke Sasquatch and asked Gurchukk to help Trevor.

  Trevor took a step to the side as Gurchukk neared the door. He had to duck down low to fit under the roof of the porch. The moment he placed his huge foot on the deck, the wood creaked under the stress of his great weight. Gurchukk’s mighty arm moved in like a large log. Pushing the door effortlessly, it broke open with a loud crack.

  With the door opened wide, Trevor casually strolled inside. The simple cabin had an open vaulted ceiling and a loft. Everything was exactly where he left it. It was as though he wasn’t away for long at all. Looking at the hatchway that led to his deep and spacious root cellar. It was located at the center of the room.

  It occurred to Trevor that he could hide Gurchukk in the root cellar. ‘No, even better,’ he thought, ‘I could capture it… Capture it?’ He questioned the notion. He actually liked the Sasquatch. For so long he wanted it dead, but he had successfully developed a friendship with him, but it wasn’t meant to last. It never was. ‘For the sake of fortune and glory, I will do this thing, fulfilling my dreams and living out the rest of my days a rich and content man.’

  He turned to the open front door to find the others reluctant to enter his dwelling. At the explosive sound of a chilling thunder clap ripping across the sky, they all crowded inside.

  Gurchukk used his long arms to support his upper body like a gorilla as he entered. He had to turn his wide shoulders through the door frame in order to fit. As he moved in to the center of the room, the floor boards began to buckle. Gurchukk weighed more than Trevor’s floor was designed to hold.

  With a yawning creak, followed by a series of cracking sounds, the floor finally gave out and Gurchukk fell through to the root cellar.

  This upset Trevor, until he realized it was an accident. When Gurchukk stood up, he was four feet tall from the main floor. This was at Tunoka’s eye level.

  The hairy faced son of Gurchukk began to laugh at his father. He found it hilarious to see Gurchukk so short. Walking up to his father’s face, Tunoka poked him in the nose in a teasing fashion.

  Gurchukk huffed irritated at Tunoka’s behavior. The infant responded with a blustering laugh. Then he performed a sort of jumping dance where he spun around and around. Tiarrow joined in with Tunoka finding it very entertaining also.

  The cabin wasn’t made of a series of rooms like most homes. This cabin was small and basic. One open space with a loft. The loft was where Trevor set up his bedroom.

  The broken front door didn’t close properly anymore. Trevor found the clasp had been torn right off, but the hinges still worked. Pushing a heavy trunk in front of the door, Trevor meant to keep the storm outside where it belonged.

  Smiling, Trevor turned to the kitchen cupboards. There he opened a closet and dragged out a large metal bucket.

  Gurchukk, Tunoka and Tiarrow watched every move Trevor made. Working the long wooden handle of the kitchen water pump, he aimed to fill the bucket. Before long, water coughed out of the iron faucet. Water filled the bucket and Trevor carried it to the wood stove. Setting it on top, he started a fire.

  While Trevor’s back was turned, Gurchukk reached out his long arms and began opening all of his kitchen cupboards.

  Responding to a ruckus, Trevor whirled around and caught Gurchukk scooping his supplies out, spilling them onto the floor.

  Trevor stood up, “Hey!” He was upset. “No! Come on! What a mess! Don’
t do that!”

  Tunoka smiled with wide eyes of excitement, and hopped across the room to the kitchen. There he set to work assisting his father. In a matter of seconds, everything was pulled out, torn open and spread across the floor.

  The two Sasquatch and Tiarrow began tasting everything. Flour, sugar, molasses, cans of soup, beans and other vegetables; even his large sack of potatoes.

  Trevor slapped his hand to his forehead. His new guests weren’t working out, but if this was his price for freedom, it was worth it.

  Trevor’s ribs and hand were still very painful. It was enough just to be out of the stinking cave. He wasn’t in the mood to worry about much else.

  Dragging his old aluminum wash tub away from the wall, Trevor felt very relieved to be back in his own familiar home.

  Knowing his guests were going through his things, Trevor just accepted the situation rather than try to oppose it.

  Above all, the three guests were attracted to the taste of sugar. The only thing good about it was how it distracted everyone.

  The more Trevor thought about taking a bath, the more important it became. He smelled like Squatch. He’d never been so dirty and smelly in all his life. ‘Why not?’ he mused, ‘Why shouldn’t I clean up? These wild bush people wouldn’t think anything of my nakedness, and besides, they’re so busy eating my food. They probably won’t even notice what I’m doing. If I leave them alone, they’ll leave me alone.’ he calculated.

  Pouring the bucket of hot water into the tub, followed by a second bucket of cold water. Trevor shed his clothes and stepped into it. Awkwardly, in the silence, he found the others looking at him.

  Sitting down quickly into the bath water the others laughed and laughed. Before long Gurchukk and Tunoka lost interest in Trevor and went back to licking the sugar and salt from the floor.

  Trevor didn’t expect to feel embarrassed bathing in plain view of his guests but he was. They weren’t as wild and uncivilized as he presumed. When they no longer paid attention to him, he relaxed.

  Tiarrow, however, couldn’t keep her attention on the food in the kitchen. Her eye kept going back to Trevor bathing in his tub. In fact, she couldn’t help but to take great interest in the bath. Fascinated as she was, she stood up from the floor and walked to him.

  With his bar of soap and his wash cloth, Trevor immersed himself in his own little world of cleanliness. He longed for this bath for some time. He feared the rotten skunk-like Sasquatch smell would remain in his skin.

  Scrubbing the soap suds from his bare skin, Trevor felt so good to be clean. He had soap everywhere; in his hair, face and even his eyes, but he didn’t care.

  Tranquil was the sound of the rain prattling on the roof and the wind forcing the heavy storm droplets against the windows.

  Trevor opened his soapy eyes and to his surprise, Tiarrow was standing over him. She looked down on him with the most inquisitive expression of fascination. ‘Is she smelling me?’ Trevor wondered. Perhaps she was unable to remember a time when a person could feel so good. Perhaps her interest in the bath came directly from her own inner need to live clean.

  Immediately, Trevor reached for the towel to cover himself from the prying female’s innocent gaze.

  “Okay, that’s enough now.” He told her and waved his hands out for her to go away. “Go on. Go anywhere… Just scat!” but she wasn’t about to go anywhere. Finally, Trevor could bear her presence no longer, but before he could climb out of his bath, she dropped her skin coverings and stepped her foot into the tub.

  Trevor stood up immediately, throwing his towel around himself. Even before he stepped out, Tiarrow was relaxing into the water. By the way she smiled and closed her eyes, he could see she enjoyed it.

  Stroking her hands under the water, Tiarrow found the wash cloth. Imitating Trevor almost to a tee, she moved the cloth over her skin. She surfed it up her arm and down her breast. Then she began to use it to clean her face.

  The water became dark and polluted in no time but Trevor wasn’t prepared for the beauty that had been hidden from him under dirt and animal skins. She may never have been cleaned while under the care of the Sasquatch. ‘Oh, what a lovely lady.’ he thought, but it was not his place to stare. A great thunderous ((-Boom-)) came from the heavens and it shook Trevor to the bone. Turning away, he opened his standing wardrobe.

  Choosing some fresh clean clothes from his tiny selection, he dressed, before noticing Tiarrow move uncomfortably in the tub. Her pretty face grimaced. Pulling the bar of soap free from behind her back, she held it up and announced, “Choopy-larp-wat.”

  At this, she caught the attention of Gurchukk and Tunoka. Holding the soap to her nose, she breathed in its fragrance, then she licked it.

  At the disapproval of the taste, she muttered something before Gurchukk took the bar of soap from her. It slipped from his hands a few times. Pinching it firmly between his fingers, Gurchukk inspected it with his eyes, and nose. From the sweet smell, he decided it must have a sweet taste. Biting a chunk out of the bar of soap Gurchukk tried to chew it.

  Eyes watering, he hated it. Spitting out the morsel he tossed the remaining bar to the kitchen. With his tongue hanging loosely from his mouth, Gurchukk looked this way and that. Pulling the wash tub close to himself, he searched for a solution to his problem. Tiarrow scrambled to get out of the tub as it was being dragged across the wooden floor and closer to the great hole at the center of the room.

  When Tiarrow jumped out of the tub, Trevor wrapped her in a towel and began to dry her. While he was doing this, the Sasquatch paddled its large tongue through the dirty bath water.

  Dunking his entire head into the tub the Sasquatch began to drink. Coming back up quickly, water splashed from Gurchukk’s hairy head. He spit out a lot of water and burped with an ill expression cast over his face.

  Tunoka laughed and Gurchukk gave him a teasing push, then he smiled. His eyes; so kind and fatherly.

  Trevor buttoned up a clean cotton shirt as Tiarrow finished toweling off.

  Tunoka turned and looked at Trevor who was, by this time, fully clothed in clean attire. At the sight of Trevor, dressed in a bright red shirt, Tunoka burst out in laughter again.

  Scooping his hand into the tub, Trevor splashed the rude little Sasquatch. For a moment, silence endured as Trevor wondered what would come next.

  Tunoka smiled before approaching the tub. He splashed back at Trevor, making a big mess. Trevor did his best to play along and return water for water, but Tunoka just whistled and splashed all the more.

  Gurchukk lifted the tub over his head as though he meant to throw it, but instead he dumped the water over Trevor and his son. Gurchukk laughed with a content muffled chuckle.

  Trevor took a fresh towel and knew he would need to search for another change of clothes.

  Tunoka didn’t co-operate. Trevor tried to dry him with a towel, but Tunoka just wanted to inspect the material of Trevor’s clothing. Sniffing and picking at his shirt, Tunoka began to nibble at Trevor’s buttons.

  Tiarrow took fondly to the wardrobe of clothes. She dropped her towel to the floor and approached the wardrobe.

  For a moment, Trevor thought she was approaching him and he nervously stepped aside.

  Her fingers played over the inventory hanging on coat hangers. When Trevor found her interested in his clothes, he helped her to dress. He could only help her part of the way before the strong infant demanded Trevor’s attention. He wanted to put on a pair of pants.

  Trevor did what he could. His every move was scrutinized by the watchful eyes of Gurchukk. Nevertheless, the entire experience of dress-up turned out to be quite a fun experience and memorable, to be sure.

  Trevor couldn’t offer any women’s clothing to Tiarrow. This, however, didn’t keep her from looking extremely attractive.

  Her hair was so matted, when he tried to brush it, he only caused her pain and discomfort. Setting her up in front of his mirror, Trevor hoped she could work out the tangle of knots on her own. She qu
ickly abandoned the whole project as the mirror itself became a new discovery of fascination for her.

  Trevor spent more time with Tunoka. He finally managed to dress him in some boxer shorts and a T-shirt. By the end of it, the wardrobe was empty and all of his clothing had been thrown around.

  As a result of all of the sugar Tunoka had consumed and the excitement of this new environment, he began to run around the room whistling. This caused even more destruction.

  Finding an interest in the loft, Tunoka climbed to it with ease. He explored the new area, stripping the bed of all its sheets and tossed them over the railing onto his father’s head.

  Gurchukk took the sheets off his head and bunched them up into a ball. He then grudgingly threw them into the corner of the room.

  Tunoka quickly found a new activity. Jumping clear over the railing of the loft, he landed on the floor with a loud thump and a crack to the floorboards. Climbing back up with ease, he again jumped a distance that would amaze athletes. Laughing, Tunoka repeated this process over and over. Rarely did he seek the assistance of the ladder.

  In the reflection of the mirror, Trevor could see Tiarrow picking specks of who-knows-what out of her teeth.

  All was going as well as could be expected until a disturbing sound caught everyone’s attention. Through the strong winds leaning into the cabin; a heavy fisted knock came to the door.