by E C Hunter
He donned the crude and still slightly smelly garments and gave a little twirl, then realised what he had done and guiltily looked round. There was, of course, no one to see him. He grinned and set off, realising very quickly that his feet were bare. He was sure he’d still had boots, surely they couldn’t have come off and been lost. He began a search of the area where he had been cared for. A short search turned up a few scraps of leather, a Vibram sole and a single lace. Well that was a bonus at least. He could only assume that the Sasquatches had torn the boots from his feet. That was quite something he realised. He’d been wearing Meindl Dovre Extremes, one of the toughest boots around. To get them off without an understanding of laces and without damaging the wearer was a feat of incredible strength. Once again he found his respect for these creatures growing. And once again he found himself making clothes from deer skin.
Making a proper moccasin without a knife was a pretty tricky thing. Rather than attempt it Magnus took the smaller scraps of the skins he was able to tear from the edges of the fleeces using sharp stones and his teeth and stood on them. Then he drew them up and tied them around each of his calves with half of the boot lace. After a few experimental steps and the with addition of extra ‘insoles’ Magnus was satisfied. From deep in the trees two pairs of dark brown eyes watched him leave with eagerness.
Chapter 42
Archie woke, confused and muzzy to an odd crinkling noise. He slowly managed to prise his eyelids open to find Milly sat cross legged a couple of metres away munching on a huge bag of Lays potato chips.
“Hey watch dog” she greeted him “anything happening?” Archie shook his head, eyeing the chips with intent. “You moved. You didn’t trust me.” She said flatly. Archie sat up.
“Not because I didn’t trust you, in case you were caught and made to talk.” It sounded lame but Milly nodded, satisfied and tossed him a can of Pepsi. Archie popped it, gulped it down in one and belched with passion.
“Pig.”
“Yep.” He loosed of another cannon shot. “Hell, that’s good. What else did you get?” Milly indicated the two carrier bags by her side. Archie bottom-shuffled over and delved into the first bag. He pulled out an ‘Oh Henry’ bar and stuffed most of it into his mouth in one go. “Oh Henry that’s so good!” he spluttered, chocolaty, peanutty goo running from the corners of his mouth.
“Oh please, have you no manners?” Milly asked, stuffing huge handfuls of Lays into her mouth, spraying crumbs all over her lap. Archie finished his Oh Henry and rooted in the bag for more booty. This time he pulled out a pack of Big Foot Gummies. Took one look at them and fell into hysterics. “Thought they’d make you smile” she said. Archie tossed her a handful and they chewed noisily. They ate solidly for the next half hour, emptying one of the bags and making a big dent in the other. Archie suddenly remembered the reason for their being in the cliff top eyrie. He swiftly scanned the scene below.
“There’s movement. The Jeep is leaving.”
“That’s Karl, he’s not big on you living to see your next birthday, then again, neither is Pierre or Willy, they hold a bit of a grudge. They were supposed to pick you up when they got your Dad but they messed up and they blame you for all the grief they got from my dad.
“Spiffing. How to make me feel better. You know, people quite like me at home, at least, no one’s ever tried to kill me before.”
“There are people here who quite like you. For instance, I quite like you.” Milly looked at him steadily.
“Do you? I mean really?”
“Yes, really. You’re OK for an English guy.
“Scottish.”
“Whatever.”
“Well, apart from your ignorance of that matter, I quite like you too.” Archie smiled at her. The conversation faltered and died, both of them a little embarrassed by the exchange. Archie covered it by looking at the complex again through his binoculars. “Nothing going on.” He reported needlessly. Half an hour passed and still nothing was happening. They both heard the rumble of a vehicle at the same time. A new vehicle was passing through the gates of the compound. It was a large rental van, the logo huge and garish on the side. It was of the box van type, but with a single personnel door to the rear instead of the usual roller door. As the vehicle turned into the gate Archie could clearly see the strong looking hinges and a hasp and padlock arrangement. It looked impregnable, Archie felt a slide of apprehension. He knew what this vehicle was for. It drew to a halt behind the office block and a figure climbed out.
“It’s one of the guys who took my Dad.”
“Tall or short?”
“Tall.”
“Pierre, evil swine”.
“Uh-huh.” Archie had met him.
The complex went quiet again. Nothing stirred. When the light started to slip into evening the door of the office block opened and people began to make towards the various vehicles. It took only a few minutes but left behind the Blazer, the rental van and the brother’s truck. Archie was gratified to see one of the figures with an arm in a sling and another on crutches.
“Looks like my bro’s scored the night watch. If I know them, and I do, they’ll be drinking beer until midnight and then fall asleep. Doubt they’ll be patrolling very hard.”
Archie remained silent, thinking. He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to get down there and take a look, see just how impregnable the container was. Perhaps find a way to get the keys. Eventually he asked.
“Where do they keep the keys?”
“All the keys are in a key safe in the reception, behind the desk. I expect the keys we need will be in someone’s pocket. Probably my dad’s.”
“There will be spares somewhere.” Archie said with certainty. Milly looked dubious.
“If there are any they’ll be in the big safe in the office. There’s no way you’ll get in there without explosives.”
“Is it key or combination?”
“Combination and before you ask no, I haven’t a clue.”
“Birthdays, anniversaries, lucky numbers?”
“Unlikely, he’s too devious and besides, that safe probably contains evidence of his evil deeds.” Milly made inverted commas around evil deeds with her fingers.
“Must be something, what about your mum’s birthday?” Archie was still hopeful that something would spring into her mind. “What about your birthday?”
“No. Keep quiet, let me think for a while.” Milly lay back against a tree and closed her eyes. She relaxed and let her life play out in her head. When had she seen her father happy, smiling? What were the milestones in his life? Nothing would come to mind. Who were his people? What were his origins? Something was forming. A vague shape at the back of her mind. It grew larger, brighter. His childhood in Wexford, Ireland. His grandfather. He idolised his grandfather. What did he call him? Grandpa Jack.
“101311”
“Really? How did you work it out?”
“My dad’s Grandpa Jack, he was always talking about him. That’s Jack in numbers.”
“Is a safe combination six digits? Sounds about right I guess, four seems too few, any more gets a bit clumsy”.
“It’s electronic, I guess you can set it to whatever you want.”
“How sure are you?
“Not very. It’s not worth the risk of trying to get in”
“OK, we’ll put that one on the back burner.” Archie wrote the number down in his notebook all the same. “Any other ideas?” Milly shrugged in response. “In that case I’ll give it until the wee small hours and then I’m going down to take a look. Is the perimeter fence alarmed?” He asked.
“Not that I’m aware of. You’re not going without me you know.” Archie was going to argue but realised that he was relieved. “Let’s try and get some sleep.” Archie woke with a start some hours later. He glanced at his Luminox. Two thirty. The metallic clang of a heavy door had pierced his sleep, the sound carrying clearly from the depot below in the still night air. He looked down and followed a blue-white poi
nt of light as it moved around the site. It made a slow circuit of the compound, pausing here and there, checking. Eventually it returned to the office and disappeared. A light came on. Went off again five minutes later. Archie gave it another five minutes.
“Milly” he hissed, “wake up, it’s time to go.” She was awake in an instant, boots on and ready. Archie stuffed his head torch into a trouser pocket. “You lead” he said, “you know the way”. They followed the path Milly had taken earlier and within a few minutes were skirting the compound. The gates were chained and locked with a heavy padlock; Archie risked a quick flash of his red-filtered torch to check that it was locked. It was, of course, impregnably.
They continued round, occasionally checking for weak points in the fence, carefully shielding the light as best they could. On the first side there was nothing to indicate an access point. The fence was depressingly solid. Hurricane fencing Milly called it. Archie knew it as chain-link. Twelve feet high and topped with evil curls of razor wire. Climbing it was not an option. The lower edge was below the ground. Looked like going under was not an option either. At the corner post they turned and started along the rear side. Archie had held a hope that the fence at the back would not be as terrifying. It was.
From the ledge they had made an estimate that the container they were looking for was about a third of the way along, perhaps ten metres inside the fence. Milly stopped where she judged it to be and motioned for Archie to shine his torch. There would be no danger of it being spotted, there was a solid wall of containers between them and the office. Unless of course one of the Brothers had chosen to make another patrol. She blanched at the thought. Milly put a hand on Archie’s arm and made a ‘listen’ signal. In the near-silence they could hear a faint noise. It was a low keening and it was coming from a container. In the torch light they could make out the rear of the container, together with its air-con unit on top.
“He’s in there.” Whispered Archie unnecessarily.
“Well spotted Sherlock.” Whispered Milly in return. They continued along the fence line until about ten metres short of the next corner Archie felt a change in the ground under his feet. It went from hard and compacted in one step to soft and yielding the next. He shone his torch at the ground. He was standing on loose sandy soil thrown back from the fence, towards the fence he could see a number of holes.
“Coyotes” whispered Milly. It was more than they had dared hope for. The animals had obviously been trying to dig under the fence, probably after someone’s discarded lunch.
“I’ll dig, you keep a look out.” Archie said dropping to his knees. The earth was easy to scoop out with his hands and it occurred fleetingly to him that the coyotes wouldn’t have put the soil back. Five minutes scooping and he felt a knot of disappointment in his stomach. His fingers touched wire. The lower edge of the fence was buried. But how deep? It might be only another few inches. Carry on digging. Some minutes later and Archie was head first into a hole that reached 50cm down into the earth. The sandy soil was in his hair and his eyes, up his nose and in his mouth. One last swipe of his hand to clear the soil from the fence, must surely be at the bottom now, they can’t have buried that of it surely? He felt the texture of the soil against the other side of the fence change, soft, yielding, not hard and gritty.
Almost instantaneously a smell assailed him, making him gag and retch. Milly shone the torch into the hole. Pressed hard against the wire was a face, distorted horribly. Greenish, putrefying flesh was pushing through the wire mesh diamonds, the teeth were bared in an eternal grimace and the open eyes were stuck with sand and grit particles making them glint in the torch light. In the centre of the forehead was a small hole, dark as the deepest pit of hell.
Chapter 43
Archie recoiled from the hole as though attached to a bungee rope. Neither his eyes nor Milly’s could leave the horrible spectacle. It took a few moments before he realised who’s face he was looking at. It was Lee, Lee Poulenc, his father’s contact. Guide, fixer and traitor.
“Oh hell, no. No, no, no.” Archie was shaking his head violently and backing away from the hole, clutching Milly’s arm tightly. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
“Archie, we can’t just go, we need to cover him up again, the coyotes will try again. Dad’s goons must have scared them off and filled in the hole before they started eating him. Well, at least what they could get to through the wire”.
“OK, you’re right, we’ve got to get rid of our footprints too. They can’t know we’ve been here.” Archie started to scoop soil back into the hole, trying to avoid looking into the grotesque face. It was hard, his eyes seems to seek out the horror of their own volition. “I’m sorry Lee, we’ll come back for you. I promise.” He whispered. “Find a branch or something so we can sweep our tracks away as we go would you.” He asked Milly. By the time she had found something suitable Archie was just smoothing out the last of the earth, sweat dripping from his brow to ball in the dust and then soak in to the earth.
“Let’s just walk out into the bush from here and then loop back, we shouldn’t risk going back by the gate.” Milly said “You lead and I’ll sweep our tracks behind us.” Archie didn’t argue and set off into the dark, waist high brush with Milly walking backwards behind him, sweeping and dabbing with her branch. After a hundred metres or so a hideous cacophony of yipping and yelping surrounded them. The noise was awful, demonic and overwhelming. Like nothing Archie had come across before.
“It’s the coyotes going back for another go, they’ll cover our tracks better than the branch.” Milly said and tossed it aside. Without warning a piercing shaft of light split the darkness and two seconds later a bullet ricocheted off the ground a few metres to their left. Then another. A coyote yelped.
“Get down”, Archie hissed “as low as you can.” Milly didn’t need telling, her face was already planted in the dirt. A third bullet buried itself in the earth mere centimetres away from them. Archie swore violently. The coyotes streamed back past them, close enough to touch. Their yelping now with a more frantic note, spine chilling and ugly. A volley of shots followed them, one bullet clipped a coyote and sent it spinning, crashing into Archie, its blood spattering his face and shirt. It reached round to snap at its back end where the bullet had hit. It whined piteously, blundered over Milly and finally collapsed with a rasping sigh to die in front of her face. One last bullet sailed harmlessly over their heads and the light went out. They lay there for a full minute before either of them spoke or moved. Archie groped for Milly’s hand and was surprised to find it searching for his. They clung to each-others fingers until they finally managed to sit up and wipe the dirt and blood from their faces.
“Jeez that was close.”
“My brothers, what can I say, trigger happy idiots. Let’s get out of here.” Milly said shakily. The first signs of dawn were decorating the horizon when they finally made it back to the ledge. They sank gratefully down and within moments were deeply asleep. The shock and stress from their night had left them drained and exhausted.
Archie woke with a start when the sun was at its highest, he’d been in the middle of a dream where a giant moose was burying him. He could feel the soil trickling on to him. “Archie, wake up.” Milly was tapping his shoulder. “Archie, they’re taking the van round to the container.” She was clutching his binoculars and looking intently at the depot. “Here, look.” She handed him the binoculars. He struggled upright and took the binoculars. As he watched the van drew up alongside the container and the brothers got out. They appeared to be arguing. An item was passed from one brother to the other. Archie cleaned a speck from one of the lenses and refocused. After staring for another half a minute he realised what it was.
“They’re going to Taser him but neither of them wants to do it, look.” He handed the bins back. Milly laughed, bitter and sad.
“Typical” she said “they’re such a pair of jerks. Looks like Seamus got the gig, Patrick’s unlocking the door.” From their eyrie t
hey could clearly hear banging from the container. Milly kept a running commentary of what she was seeing. “Paddy’s opened the door a crack, no he’s closed it again. He’s opened it again, Stinkers putting his arm out, ow! Paddy slammed it on his fingers. He’s opened it again, Seamus has got the Taser ready, he’s fired it through the gap, they’re looking in...” Milly went quiet. Gently Archie took the binoculars from her and looked at the developing picture below them. The door opened wide and the brothers dragged the Sasquatch out, an arm each, struggling with the dead weight. The creature was dragged unceremoniously up the steps of the van and the slammed, it rebounded slightly, perhaps the latch was faulty, it did not stay shut until the padlock was snapped into the hasp. The brothers leaned against it smoking with the air of a job well done.
“Oh well, that’s it then.” Milly sank into misery but Archie had the germ on an idea.
Chapter 44
The brothers climbed into the van and drove it round to the office where they parked it, rear quarter on to Archie's position and climbed out. He could see one of them banging on the window of the office and moments later out came Billy Murphy. In an instant all of Archie's rage and anger, his fury at the injustices committed, his sorrow and pity were focused on this one man. A thought flashed into his head. He could kill him, right now, from here. All he had to do was chamber a round in the Blaser, aim it at the centre of his chest and Billy Murphy would cease to exist. Not quite two hundred metres, fairly steeply angled down. Not an easy shot over open sights but he was confident he could do it. No, he shook his head to dislodge the idea. That was an easy way to end up jailed for a long time. Besides, whatever Archie thought of Murphy, his daughter was sitting next to him. No matter how much you disliked your parent, you wouldn't want to see him killed, would you? Archie glanced across at Milly and was surprised to see her almost incandescent with rage as she watched her father.
