Haunted in the Night

Chapter Twenty- Part One

Chapter Twenty.
“Because Claire when they are chirping we are safe, when they go quiet then we worry, when they go quiet... that means that something is out there, something bad" he cautioned.

Claire gulped, a shiver ran through her but she wasn’t sure if it was because of his words or because of the chilly air.
No one else spoke, they all just sent nervous glances at one another, listening carefully to the crickets, hoping more than anything that they continue to chirp through the night.
Claire was also wishing that Chad was here, she always felt safer with him around but she was also worried about him, now that her and Bob weren’t with him he was more open to getting kidnapped and Claire knew she wouldn’t be able to handle it if that happened.
“So who has first watch? No one stays up alone, we’ll each have two people watching at all times and keep the fire burning" Tony said, looking at all of them one by one.
“I’ll take the first watch, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at the moment anyway" Claire offered, she knew she was too frightened to sleep, that she would just lay awake, straining her ears to hear for anything creeping up on them.
“I’ll stay up with her" Harvey offered, smiling softly at her, he had a sadness to his eyes though and Claire couldn’t figure out why.
“Okay, everyone else get some rest, we’ve got a long day tomorrow, if we don’t have any delays we should make it to the mountains the day after tomorrow" Tony said, clapping his hands together before he stood up from his camping chair.
“Claire are you sure you don’t want me to stay up with you as well?” Bob asked uncertain, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“No I’m alright, you need some sleep too" Claire told him even though she wasn’t sure how she felt being left alone awake with someone that she doesn’t know but she knew that Bob wasn’t as young as he once was, that this hike was wearing him out fast.
“You know where I am if you need me" he said before heading off into his tent.
“Goodnight everyone" Jared said before him and Tony climbed into the tent that they were sharing, there was only 2 tents all up, perfect amount seeming as two people would always be staying up on guard.
For a while Harvey and Claire sat in silence, it was a little bit awkward but less so with the crackling of the fire to break the silence.
“So how long until the next group keeps watch?” Claire asked curiously.
“Well let’s see" Harvey said as he squinted at his watch on his right wrist, the fire not providing much light for him.
“It’s ten o’clock now so in four hours, then in the four hours after that we get going again at six in the morning" he told her.
“But that’s only four hours sleep, that’s not enough" Claire said worriedly.
“Well seeming as there is an odd number of people, one person will get to sleep eight hours, we’ll split it up each night so everyone gets one night of eight hours sleep, we have to keep moving as much as possible" he told her and she nodded, letting him know that she understands.
“Can I ask you something personal?” Harvey asked her, eyeing her off nervously and she slowly nodded, unsure if she wanted him to ask her anything personal.
“You think your parents might be up in the mountains right?” he asked and Claire tried to swallow the lump that formed in her throat.
“Maybe" she answered, wondering why he wanted to know.
“I hope you find them, I can’t imagine not knowing what happened to your parents, it must be real hard for you" he said with sincerity.
She didn’t reply, only offered him a small, awkward smile.
“I’m sorry I don’t mean to upset you, it’s just.... your mostly all that people talk about, especially at the moment with you being back here" he explained.
“That’s me, number one topic on the gossip page" she tried to joke but it came out more like a sneer then she’d meant for it to.
“I suppose I’m just glad it’s not me that their all talking about" he said suddenly and Claire looked at him confused to see him glancing down at his hands sadly.
“Why would they talk about you?” she asked softly, curious, wondering if it was the reason his eyes often held a sadness, a distant look to them.
“Well you see, I had a wife and a son” he began to tell her but did not meet her eyes.
“One day, this was about a year ago now, I took my son out camping, I was collecting wood for a fire and I told him to stay by the camp but when I got back he was gone" he told her, staring into the fire as tears built up in his eyes.
“I searched and searched but couldn’t find him, I had to get Tony and a whole search party out here looking for him" he continued, fiddling with his fingers just like Claire does.
“We found his body a week later, in the river, he had drowned" Harvey finally told her what had happened to his little boy.
“My wife blamed me, couldn’t accept what had happened, she left me, left town to move to Sydney, I haven’t heard from her since" his voice was soft, trembling slightly and a single tear dropped down his face but the instant it did he wiped it away, clearing his throat as he sat up tall, trying to put back on his brave face.
“I’m sorry that happened to you" Claire said, she could imagine how much people would have loved to gossip about that situation, a lot would blame him too but what they didn’t understand is that you can’t change the past, no matter how much you wish to, what’s done is done.
“So you see that is why I’ve been selfishly glad that you are back here, they talk about you more now" he admitted and Claire admired his honesty.
“Have you ever thought of leaving Meadows Ville? Maybe start a new life for yourself as well?” she asked him, it was obvious that this memory still and will constantly haunt him for the rest of his life but being in the same town as it happened would only make it worse.
“I thought about it, move away like my wife did, but the memories wouldn’t go away, and he loved this place, loved camping and fishing, I go out to the spot we used to fish all the time, just to feel like his still with me, I think it helps me cope" he explained, finally looking up at her.
“Thank you for letting me tell you my side, most people don’t care to hear it" he said to her, and Claire nodded, she understood what it was like to lose the people you love and she supposed he knew that and that is why he wanted to tell her, to finally talk to someone who does understand.
“If you ask me this woods are cursed, so much bad stuff happens in here" she said glancing around at the shadows of the trees.
“You know what, I think your right" he agreed with her, silence falling between them as they nervously glanced at the darkness surrounding them, squinting to see if something was lurking behind the spooky trees.
For the four hours they didn’t talk much, maybe the odd I’ll put the next batch of wood on the fire, other than that the only noise that surrounded them was the crackling from the wood burning.
When the four hours was up Tony and Jared came to relieve them, Harvey bidding Claire a good night before heading into the tent that his fellow rangers just came out of.
“Get some sleep Claire, you’ll need it" Tony said to her when she hadn’t moved, she had been rather scared to try and go close her eyes, scared that something would sneak up on her while she slept, as if keeping her eyes open and alert would keep whatever was out there at bay.
“Claire" Tony touched her shoulder slightly and she jumped startled, she had been too lost in her thoughts, too lost in scanning the trees.
“Sorry what?” she asked, slowly coming back to the camp.
“You need to sleep" he replied and she sighed, nodding as she slowly got up from the camping chair, her legs stiff from not moving much, and she had a good long stretch.
“See you in the morning" Jared said to her, waving his hand up slightly from where it rested on the arm of the camping chair.
“Uh yeah, night" Claire said absent minded, she didn’t like the way what he said had sounded, see you in the morning, what if she didn’t? What if she came out of the tent to find them all missing? Or even worse, dead? She didn’t know if she could handle that.
She knew she was being irrational, that these thoughts was just anxiety of the situation they were in but knowing that still didn’t help settle the bad feeling that bubbled in her stomach.
Slowly she made her way into the tent that she was sharing with Bob, no way was she comfortable enough to sleep next to one of the rangers.
Bob was sleeping peacefully in his sleeping bag, she had no idea how he could but he was, she tried her best to be quiet as she snuggled into her own sleeping bag, laying on her side, facing the side of the tent, watching for any shadows that might fall upon it, nothing did, nothing came and eventually she could no longer fight to keep her tired eyes open as she drifted off to sleep.

Morning came all too early but that was to be expected when all she could get was four hours sleep, Bob woke her up, telling her that breakfast was ready.
It was more soup, with a slice of bread this time, not much at all but it had to do them.
“How did you sleep Claire?” Tony asked her and she shrugged in reply while yawning.
“Tossed and turned all night" she replied, which was true, she felt like she hadn’t slept more than half an hour and what sleep she did get was restless.
“I’m going to change, I’ll be back in a moment" Claire said as she returned to the tent, zipping it up for privacy as she changed into another set of warm clothes to see her through the day.
Even though they were still tired they couldn’t afford to be sluggish, so quickly they packed up everything and got back on the trail, heading even further into the forest.
“So Claire your studying to be a criminal profiler right?” Jared asked her suddenly as he slowed his steps so he could walk next to her.
“Yeah, why’s that?” she asked curiously, she wasn’t sure now if she would be able to continue on with her course anymore if she would be staying in Meadows Ville with Chad, it was still something that they would have to figure out.
“What type of gender do you think the kidnapper is?” he asked her, curiosity in his gleaming eyes, he obviously held an interest in the subject and Claire found herself wondering why he was a ranger instead of a police officer.
“It’s hard to say, both men and women are high on the list of statistics, also the same in victims also, however there are some statistics that point to females being the most often victim, in 2004, 768 people were kidnapped or abducted in Australia, 69 percent of those victims were female, that’s over half and most of the time it’s by someone that they know, this unknown subject however kidnaps both men and women, so gender doesn’t matter to them" Claire explained statistics that she had studied and learned about to him.
“Wow you really are smart, you know a lot about this sort of stuff" he complimented, his eyes shining with interest.
“So you never answered my question though, what gender do you think the criminal is?” he asked again even though Claire had still been considering her answer.
“Like I said it’s difficult to say, we do have a suspect that we are considering but his male and he has a lot of alibi’s, I don’t know if he’ll be the one” Claire replied, referring to Josh Hardgrove.
“Let’s hope we find something at the caves that helps out then" he said before picking up his pace again, walking ahead of her, back up near Tony.
Claire found his interest curious, it had been a random question and he had seemed to quick to accept that she hadn’t given him much of an answer, she wondered if he was just curious to see how much they knew.
“Don’t mind him, he wanted to be in your position when he was your age" Harvey said as he walked up next to her.
“What do you mean?” she asked him curiously, peaking up at him while also keeping an eye on the trail and other members.
“We all have our sob stories right? This is Jared's, he wanted to study victimology and criminology but he never met the grades for the scholarship, he applied for the police department here but he suffers from depression so Bob couldn’t accept it, so he settled for a ranger instead but he still finds all this stuff interesting" Harvey explained to her and Claire managed to relax a little.
Harvey must have seen that she was starting to doubt Jared and perhaps consider him a suspect and had quickly given her the facts.