Secrets of Goth Mountain

by Gary J. Davies

  ****

  West of Goth Mountain, Johnny Goth was moving swiftly through a wasteland of rotting tree stumps. Johnny could hear more logging equipment headed towards Goth Mountain, moving along the road in the center of the valley, suggesting that Fenster still expected to log the Goth groves soon. How? Johnny Goth owned the land. No matter what happened, the trees should be safe for now. Hopefully.

  The thought briefly crossed his mind that he was putting himself and Goth Mountain at risk by looking for Dooley and Ned, but he didn’t see that he had any choice. With Two Bears out of action, he was the only person with any chance at all against Dark. Besides, if anything happened to him, his mother would inherit the land. He had made up a will weeks ago before moving west from Ohio.

  He paused again to examine the tracks that he had been following. Wolf, but not wolf. The prints were far too large, sometimes rear feet only, and sometimes also front feet that weren’t wolf feet and weren’t human hands either, but some horrendous combination of the two. For Johnny there was no mistaking where Dark had been; even when Dark walked on rock or in water, a stench of death surrounded each footprint.

  As he followed Dark’s trail Johnny could hardly believe what he discovered. Dark had been on Goth property near the cabin. Dark must have been actually observing them, perhaps waiting for the right moment to strike. Why wait? And why was he so interested in them? And where was he now? The latest tracks headed West again, indicating that he was backtracking towards town. Why?

  Based on their first meeting and on the tracks that he now followed, Johnny wasn’t anxious to encounter Dark. The depth and the distance between prints suggested inhuman size, strength, and power. Though he carried both the watch and Two Bear’s big hunting knife, Johnny didn’t want to test even a magic blade against demon jaws and claws. He frequently paused to let his senses range freely, certain that if Dark approached him, he would know.

  Johnny found where the two poachers had been murdered. Two police deputies were still there, keeping a dozen bystanders away from a scene bounded by yellow plastic tape. Johnny didn’t need to get very close to gage the carnage; there were still obvious dark spatters of dried blood everywhere. Through his tracking skills Johnny knew that Dark had very recently returned to the scene. He found fresh giant wolf tracts that led to the scene. There the wolf tracks disappeared, and human looking shoe prints continued. Dark had apparently walked all about the area in human form, and had probably even brazenly talked to the cops before leaving and returning again to wolf form.

  It suddenly occurred to Johnny that like the People, Dark could form what looked like clothing, though it was actually part of him. It was all a show, a disguise, whatever shape he took. Was it coincidence that he had the same shape-shifting ability as the People? Could it be more than coincidence? Could he be related to the People somehow? Again he clasped his father's gold watch and repeated his request for help from the People. He had powers, but to large extent he still lacked the knowledge of how to use them. He had no idea if his request was being heard.

  Johnny continued to follow the trail cautiously. From the murder scene the wolf-like tracks took a sharp turn towards the edge of the valley. As Johnny moved towards the high cliffs that formed the valley wall he sensed that he was not alone.