The Girl from the Trees(Completed)

Chittering

Jakub awoke suddenly, darkness all around him. Wind was blowing through the trees, but his tent was protected from it by the rock wall around them. As quietly as he could, he slid from his tent and looked around the opening. Nothing was out of the ordinary, but he felt as though he was being watched. The embers of the fire smoldered silently, providing no light as a slight amount of smoke came off the hot coals.

The wind died down and that is when he heard the odd noises. A chittering sound was coming from the trees above the ledge. It was a sound that he had never heard before, a fact he found odd as he had been camping here so often for so long. A rustling sound accompanied the chittering, a noise that seemed to come from all around them.

Taylor stuck his head out from his tent, clearly awoken by the strange sounds. "What the hell is that?" he whispered.

"No clue," Jakub replied quietly, without taking his eyes off the branches.

    Sam and Evan joined the other two outside of their tents. The four sat in silence, watching the surrounding trees, listening to the chittering move around the opening. "We should build the fire back up," Evan finally said, breaking their silence. "It could be something attracted to the smell of the fish we cooked. If we build the fire back up it should discourage them from coming any closer."

"Good call," Taylor said, grabbing some kindling and placing it into the coals. The sticks burst into flames almost immediately and soon their fire was blazing again, lighting up the branches around them. "You guys should try and get some sleep; I will stay awake and take first watch."

The other three agreed and pulled their packs from inside their tents, leaning against them and falling asleep under the stars. Before long, the sounds faded in the trees, replaced only by the crackling of the fire and the wind through the trees. The rest of the night was uneventful, the boys waking each other up one by one to take the next shift, ensuring that each was able to get sufficient sleep.

Evan awoke Sam at six, but instead of going to sleep, he headed off to retrieve some water and gather berries from a grouping of bushes they frequented while there. By the time he returned, everyone was awake and preparing themselves for the day. They happily ate their berries and some granola bars they had packed.

Jakub then took the time to make his way to the top of the rock face, while the others prepared for the hike they were planning to take that morning. Looking carefully at the ground, he did not notice any tracks from whatever had been making the sounds. Sam soon joined him.

"Find anything?" Sam asked.

He shook his head. "It is odd, with as many of them as it sounded like there were, you would think they would leave at least a few tracks."

"I have never been the tracker of the group, I leave that to you guys," Sam replied. "You catch them, I clean them."

Jakub smiled up at his friend. "Let's get back to camp." The two headed down the hill, but that is when he glanced up at the tree branches. "Wait," he said suddenly, catching Sam off guard.

Sam turned to him, confused. "Did you find tracks?"

"No, look at the branches in those trees," he told him, looking skyward. "They look like something has been clawing them, really badly."

"Bobcat?" Sam asked.

Jakub shook his head, "I do not think so, seems too extensive for simple claw sharpening." He searched other trees and noticed the same markings all around. "They are everywhere."

The two switched between scanning the trees and the ground on their way back to camp. Tracks in the dirt still eluded them, but the tree gouging continued all around. Many trunks also wore the same markings as the branches, but they were too high up to get a good look and see if they could identify what made them.

Finally, back at camp, Jakub and Sam told the other two what they had found. Convinced it was nothing to be concerned about, Taylor encouraged leaving for their hike sooner rather than later. When everyone agreed, they packed their tents, donned their rucks, and headed into the woods. Their plan was to hike over the east ridge of the woods, a place they had never explored. Jakub's father had always considered it to be too far and too rough of a hike, but now that he was not present, it was exactly where they wanted to venture.

His father had been correct about the difficulty, briars and other bushes made the undergrowth difficult to traverse, until they found a deer trail, which made things a little easier. These obstacles made the trip even more fun for the four boys, who were loving every minute of their time in the wild. They found berries for their lunch as well as another stream they had not seen before. Heat was gaining as they walked, the sun now directly overhead, though they still had a way to walk before making it to the ridge they wished to cross.

As they got closer to the ridge, they began noticing the markings on the trees once more, growing more frequent the closer they got. After a while of searching while walking, they spotted a tree where the marks were low enough to examine.

"What do you think made them?" Sam asked curiously.

Jakub was leaning close to the marks, holding his hand over top of them. "The only thing I can think of would be a raccoon, but their claws are not sharp enough for this amount of damage, and the animal itself is not big enough, its paws would be as big as my hand to make this shape."

"Why do you say raccoon?" Taylor asked.

He pointed at a claw mark, "The shape is similar to their print."

"That means we have no idea what this animal is then," Evan said thoughtfully. He put his pack down and rummaged through his bag.

Sam rounded on him. "Please tell me you did not pack your phone."

"I would never," Evan replied as he produced a small digital camera from his bag, wrapped in a zip lock bag. "Sometimes it is nice to be able to capture things though."

"You had me worried for a moment," Sam laughed. "No phones allowed!"

The group laughed and joked while Evan took as many different photographs as he could manage. "We should set up camp soon, the sun is getting low."

"We are almost to the crest," Sam responded longingly.

Jakub looked at the sky and then to the top of the tall hill. "If we collect firewood as we go, we should be able to make it to the top of the ridge in time to make camp."

Evan nodded, the other two also agreed. "Let's get moving then."

The four started moving once more, the closer they got to the top, the less clustered the forest floor was, making their trip even easier. Soon they were dropping arms full of sticks and logs into a pile in what would be the middle of their camp. They set to pitching their tents, before gathering even more lumber. Since they had seen the same markings nearby, they decided they would keep a lookout and the fire going all night, to ensure the animals kept their distance.