Don't Open That Door - GoM 1

5

Alex headed north into the woods, following the blood trace. The point of the arrow in her hand was clean, and it wasn't stuck in the ground. Had the wolves attacked the archer before he shot? Had it been him who kept the pack from pursuing the city kids? How come they hadn't mentioned that a man with a bow had been there with them?

The trace went on and Alex wondered how could anybody go so far bleeding so badly. She followed it for another thirty minutes, slower not to miss it, surprised she still hadn't found somebody dead or dying.

The blood took her to a huge fir tree. She paused to look around. The spot seemed oddly familiar. She went back to the old trail, only a few yards away, and turned around.

From where she was, she could see that one side of the tree trunk was hollow. The track to Crystal hollow started just past that big fir. She'd reached it by following a zigzag from the White, with Boulder Creek at her back. But there she was, by the hollow fir. And up ahead, over the canopy, she could see the top of a small hill. The narrow gap between the hill and the ravine was Crystal Hollow, where she'd meant to go.

The blood trace continued from the fir tree down the track to the Hollow, a fading path, almost hidden by the underwood. Straight for the hill.

She pressed on.

Soon she reached the foot of the hill and circled it to the east first, then to the north. She was almost at the Hollow when she spotted a dark shape fallen across the path, some fifty yards ahead. A man, lying flat on his belly.

She stepped out of the path and moved through the thickets, a hand on the butt of the gun.

Jeff's voice from the radio forced her to slow down. She lowered the volume and spoke in whispers.

"Al! D'you copy?"

"What's up?"

"Are you still by the White?"

"Nope. I'm almost at the Hollow."

"Doctor Lorrigan talked to the kids at the hospital. Maybe it wasn't a pack of wolves what killed their friends."

Alex halted sharply, eyes on the man lying across the path, barely ten steps away.

"They say a man showed up when the wolves attacked them."

Alex tiptoed closer to the man. He wasn't moving, out or dead. He wore top-quality hiking gear, rain jacket, a backpack still hanging from his shoulders.

"An archer, they say," Jeff said. "He stood between them and the pack. They say the wolves stepped back when they saw him."

Alex spotted the quiver fastened to the side of his thigh. It still held a bunch of arrows like the one in her hand. Under some loose dark curls, his face was dead pale.

"This man told them their friends were dead and that they had to run for it. He stayed behind, distracting the wolves to let them flee."

She saw the blood pooling beneath the man. His other thigh and his side were still bleeding. His hand gloved in black leather clutched at the long bow, made in dark wood by a true craftsman.

"Al, you there?"

"Yep. And you guys think that tale is true?" she asked.

"They're in separate rooms and they tell the same story down to the last detail."

She rested two fingers on the man's neck. He still had a pulse. Sort of.

"And what's your theory?"

Jeff sighed. "Well, these city kids had never seen a wolf before. So we think they're actually hounds, and this man owns them. Why else didn't they attack him?"

Oh, but they had attacked him. "I see..."

Alex dropped her backpack. She knew she didn't have the strength to move the man. She'd have to take care of his wounds right there. And quickly.

"Alex! I want you back here asap!"

That was Daddy Graham.

"Hey, Dave. I'm already at the Hollow and everything looks fine."

"If you don't come back, I'm coming to kick your ass down myself! Can't you see it ain't no pack roaming in Boulder Creek? It's a damn psycho hunting people down with his hounds for the kicks!"

"Then gather your party and put'im down, Sheriff. Never mind me. I'm armed and this is a safe place to camp."

She turned the radio off. Graham would loathe her guts for years. Such a pity. She looked around, then down at the man, and sighed.

"Thanks, Mister Psycho. You just had to crash on my favorite spot of the woods."