Henry

Chapter 4

            …In the mind of Blake…

            We arrived back to my home by the early morning. My horse, Gino, had barely made it to a stop before I leaped from his back and ran into the house. Neil and Holly were just behind me.

            “What about… what about the horses?” Neil panted, putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. “Won’t they run?”

            I picked up the phone and began dialing my parents’ number. “They’ll be fine—they’re not gonna go anywhere. Once I make a few calls I’ll get them back in the stable.”

            The phone rang five times, enough to convince me that they were most likely not going to answer, before my mother’s warm voice answered the other line. “Hello?”

            “Mom, you’ve got to get out here. You and dad. We need as many people as possible!” I demanded. She was silent as if to contemplate my situation.

            “Blake, what’s going on? Is someone hurt?”

            “Who’s that, Lori?” I heard my dad ask.

            “It’s Blake… Reggie, I think he’s in trouble. He needs us to fly out there right now,” my mom explained.

            Neil tapped me on the shoulder. I looked around at him to see him with a phone in his hand. “I’m gonna call my own parents.” I nodded.

            A click on the line told me that my dad had picked up another phone. “Son, what’s happening?” his deep voice asked of me.

            I took a deep breath. “It’s Aggie.”

            Both of my parents started talking at once.

            “What happened to her?”

            “Is she okay?”

            “Where is she?”

            “Did you do something to her?”

            “Did she do something to you?”

            I coughed into the phone. “Guys… guys… guys! Listen, this is extremely serious!” They went silent and waited for my explanation. “We went on our annual camping trip with Neil and Holly. This enormous animal attacked us. Neil, Holly, and I all got away with just a few scratches but it took Aggie! We have no idea where she could be! We need your help and support!”

            A line clicked again. “Your father is going to call the airline for tickets. We’ll try to be there by this afternoon. Don’t call the police yet. Remember that she has to be missing for twenty-four hours. And we both know Aggie well enough to know she is a strong woman. She could probably get herself out of whatever situation she’s in right now and at least find a road to lead to some people.”

            “Thanks so much, mom. I’ll see you later today.” I hung up the phone and turned to Neil and Holly. “Well?”

            “My parents are flying out right now. They should be here by this afternoon.”

            “Good. Same with my parents. My mom said not to call the cops yet. I agree. Aggie is strong. She could be able to get herself out of the situation by herself and find her way home.”

            “Who else can we call?” Holly asked, grabbing Neil’s elbow.

            Neil was in deep thought before answering his wife. “I’m gonna call my other sister, Naomi. She’s gonna want to be here when we find Aggie.”

            I got the phone in my hand again and began dialing. “I’m gonna call some of Aggie and I’s close friends. If I don’t tell them and they find out from another source, they would murder me…”

            Unlike my parents, the phone rang only two times. “Hello?”

            “Hector, it’s Blake. You need to get over here right now.”

            “What’s up, man? Is something wrong?”

            “Aggie’s missing.”

            Hector was quiet. The only sound audible on the phone was his deep breathing. “…what do you mean ‘Aggie’s missing’?”

            I took the necessary time to explain all the events from the night before. He was awestruck that something as frightening could happen to Aggie.

            “And you guys have no idea what it was that took her away?” Hector asked, the sound of the car door slamming in the background.

            “No idea… maybe a bear…” I whispered, taking a gulp at the thought of a bear shredding Aggie apart, her soft skin being torn in chunks from her strong bones, blood seeping from every opening on her body.

            “I’ll be there in five minutes.”

            I turned to Neil. “My friend Hector is on the way. I have a few other friends to make calls to. They should all be here in a few minutes.”

                                                                        ***

            We all gathered out on my front porch. I started a fire in the fire pit and pulled chairs in for everyone to sit on. We had agreed that it might be best to reside outside for a while for there would be more room for everyone. And there was the off chance that Aggie could suddenly appear.

            All of our hands were palm-up toward the blazing fire. No one could find anything to talk about. I looked over at Aggie’s parents, Cliff and Maxine. Both pairs of hands were shaking. Maxine had tears in her eyes but wouldn’t allow them to stream down her cheek. She was resting her cheek on Cliff’s shoulder.

            Our friends Hector, Darren, Joy, and Claire were all huddled together with blank looks. Some of their faces, particularly Darren’s and Joy’s, were white. Joy swallowed loudly and looked to me.

            Her mouth opened and closed several times before she actually spoke. “Wh-what do you suppose got her?”

            Neil shook his head. “Ne’er seen it before in my life.”

            “Well… could you describe it?” Joy asked with another loud gulp.

            My eyes closed as I tried to remember every last detail I could possibly think of from the animal. “Red eyes. It had large, round, red eyes. It was furry… like a bear. But damn… when it was standing… it had to be at least eight feet tall. And there was just this God-awful smell!”

            “Bigfoot,” Joy whispered into the fire. We all stopped what we were doing and looked at her.

            “What did you just say?” Holly asked with a petrified expression upon her face.

            Joy nodded furiously. “Yup. Tha’s what I said. It’s a Bigfoot, alright. Y’all can’t deny it. Y’all heard Blake’s description.”

            “That’s just downright absurd!” Cliff blurted out, rising a little in his seat. “Those damn creatures don’t exist! Why do you think they have all of those Bigfoot shows on the television? So us viewers can sit back and make fun of them all.”

            “It was probably a bear! Bears can be pretty tall when they stand, can’t they?” Darren asked, his eyes scanning the dark downs of my land.

            “Yeah, it could definitely have been a bear!” Maxine said, defending her husband’s and Darren’s opinion.

            Joy stood up shaking her head just as vigorously as before. “No. It was no bear. Believe me; you would have known if it was a bear that you encountered. Guys, you’re just gonna have to bring yourselves to believe this… a real-life Sasquatch took Aggie.”