The Trail of Mysteries

Introduction

Luminous, black-slitted eyes bore into the short graceful figure of the stranger that was travelling through its domain. The massive black-striped animal moved closer, sliding through the ferns and undergrowth of the redwood grove to within a hundred feet. Its four paws tread soundlessly on the moist forest floor.

The slender stranger had straight brown hair that twirled around its head as it looked around in agitation. It half ran, half stumbled along on its two short legs. The creature sensed that the stranger was unfamiliar with its domain. The stranger's movements were not predatory or threatening. It was weak from lack of food. The animal could sense any weaknesses in another animal. Although, it appeared to be non threatening and unchallenging, the watcher had been fooled before long ago. But the fifteen foot long, twelve hundred pound hunter would not be fooled again. Its instincts didn't allow for second-time errors.

The two-legged stranger had howled many times. It did so again now. The great animal did not understand the stranger's communication, but knew when another animal called for help or was hurt. This time it sensed that the stranger had called for help. One stranger the animal could handle. If more of the strangers came, then it was not sure and when the great animal was unsure, it was dangerous. The presence of many strange two-legged creatures in its domain was a challenge to its sovereignty in the valley. The animal roared its answer to the stranger's call, moving to within striking distance....

One year later....

Liv scratched her head. It was right there! Her eyes squinted as she peered into what was in front of her. But all that stared back was overgrown brush. Her red curls tumbled to one side as she cocked her head to look at the shrubs. Less than a minute ago, there was a distinct path through the undergrowth. It lead to an old stone bridge. From her initial glance, it looked old because of the style; the bridge itself had gleamed like freshly carved stone.

The girl scratched her head again. The path looked wide enough that she could have ridden her bike along it easily, without scraping the foliage on either side.

"Hey, did you see something?", said a voice breathlessly.

A boy slightly taller than her skidded to a halt beside her, banging the two bikes together side by side.

"Ouch! Ty! Watch what you're doing! You almost knocked me over!" she said irritably, not to be distracted from her study of the nearby plant life.

"Sorry. But it looked like you saw something really cool!" exclaimed the boy.

She stopped her scan for the mysterious trail and the bridge to glance at the coppery-red head of hair that matched her own. Both of them often received compliments because of their brilliant hair color.

"There was a path here as I was riding by just now that lead to a stone bridge."

"Are you sure? I don't see anything," Ty said as he looked around. He looked up into

the sky for a few seconds and then back at her. Both sets of their blue eyes and freckles locked together for a few seconds.

"I'm not lying! I really did see a trail here not a minute ago!" the girl said, embarrassment starting to color her voice.

"Are you sure?" the boy repeated as he cocked his head to one side to better emphasize his question.

"Yes! I wouldn't lie about something like this."

The boy shrugged his shoulders, and then rode his bike directly into the tangle of branches and limbs she was just studying! The air filled with the sounds of leaves rustling, branches snapping, clothes ripping, and a boy moaning.

As Liv stared incredulously at the spot where her older sibling just disappeared, the boy emerged coming out as fast as he did going in. Covered in leaves and scratches, he catapulted out of the brush in reverse directly into her sending both bikes and riders crashing to the dusty road. As both of them rolled to a stop in a cloud of dirt and leaves, blue eyes looked into blue eyes once again.

"OK, maybe there wasn't a trail there after all," conceded his sister, her face slightly downcast but not defeated.

As both riders dusted themselves off preparing for the ride home, a narrow pair of green eyes watched them silently from the tree branches overhead, not too far from where the boy had tried to enter.

It watched.

It waited.

As Liv pedaled behind her brother towards home, her eyes drifted back over her shoulder at the still clump of brush, wondering about what she had seen.

Two round black pupils watched the bikes leave as the animal prepared to hunt for its next meal....