The River of Bones--An Archie Hunter Adventure

by E C Hunter

  As the sun started to drop the knocking sounds suddenly stopped. “They must be here” said Milly and turned to look at Archie, excitement written large in her eyes.

  “Can’t see anything” answered Archie, searching the rapidly darkening woods “they could be anywhere.” Within another twenty minutes A strange feeling overcame them, a sense of not being alone. They heard nothing, saw nothing, didn’t even smell anything but some primal sense told them another story. With a sudden creak they heard a body reclining onto the balsam mattress, followed by another and then a third. Milly reached out for Archie’s hand, not exactly frightened but not exactly relaxed. He was glad of the contact. These creatures had never shown any aggression towards him or Milly but they were living, self-determining creatures and therefore unpredictable.

  A gentle murmuring began, noises of recognition and affection of comfort and love. Archie longed to turn on the torch to see what was happening but did not dare. He and Milly merely sat in the dark, holding hands, listening to the sounds of the family reunion. The contentment in the sounds touched them and they knew that they had done the right thing. That all the danger and hardship had been worthwhile. They curled up at the foot of the balsam bed and slept.

  Chapter 47

  One of the results of a diet rich in coarse vegetable matter became apparent as the dawn began to show. In the still morning air a sound like a bed sheet being ripped rent the air. The originator of the sound rolled over contentedly and let loose another great gust. This one less zippy and more whiffy.

  “Archie Hunter, was that you? Holy cow.” Milly was awake in an instant.

  “Uh, wha….oh” Archie surfaced just as another blast was washing over him. “Oh jeez, it’s not me! It’s these guys.” In the half-light the source of the gaseous emissions became apparent. “I’m in bed with a pile of hairy farting monsters. Spiffing.”

  “I hope you’re not including me in that number.” Said Milly primly.

  “Would I? I’m sure that you would never allow something so vile to pass from your personage.”

  “Indeed not, I live a life of purity and wholesomeness.” She smiled at him and yet again Archie felt an odd sensation deep in his guts and a slight giddiness. Slowly, the Sasquatch family roused and sat up, the female started to fuss over the young male, Stinky as they had named him. She set about grooming him in much the same way as a chimp or gorilla will, picking through the dense, shaggy hair for parasites and forest debris. After a while she did something so unexpected that Archie and Milly were stunned. The mother took her son’s face in her huge hands and kissed him. The action was so human and so tender that it brought tears to Milly’s eyes and a lump to Archie’s throat. The male Sasquatch sat slightly aloof, cross legged on the mattress. He watched the proceedings with a proprietorial air.

  “I think he’s a bit of a traditional father.” Whispered Milly glancing at the huge hirsute figure.

  “Yeah, Victorian Dad if ever there was one. But we mustn’t reinforce gender stereotypes, must we?” Archie smiled.

  “Heaven forbid Mr Hunter; we must make sure these newly discovered people are fully aware of their responsibilities with regards to equality and egalitarianism.” Milly was quick with her response. They were becoming a double-act. It all seemed so natural and un-forced.

  “Goodness me Miss Murphy, indeed we must. In fact we must educate them in the ways of the good citizen.” Archie trailed off from the comedy act, the look on Milly’s face had changed, it was as though a dark had hand passed in front of her face, clouding her eyes and furrowing her brows. “What is it?”

  “Murphy, that name. I hate it, I have to change it. Anything that reminds me of my father has to go. I have to get away from here. I need to go out West, to my mum’s people.” She was emphatic.

  “You could always come home with me.” Said Archie, the words tumbling out before he had even thought about them. Milly did not make a reply, it was as though she had not heard him. Archie didn’t pursue it, in fact, he regretted the words slipping out as soon as they left his lips. They sounded childish and simplistic. “How will you get there?” Said Archie. “In fact, is it even legal.”

  “I’ve no idea but I’m not staying here, whether or not my father goes to jail.” From her tone of voice Archie was left in no doubt that she would achieve her aim. “Anyway”, she continued, shaking the darkness off “we need to decide what to do now these folks are reunited. Which way are we going to head?”

  “I haven’t a clue. My dad was here but I’ve no idea how long ago he left or which way he went. I suppose we could have a look round but I don’t suppose they’ll be any tracks left by now and anyway, even if we did find any tracks there’s no telling whether they are the ones to follow or not.” He didn’t like to say it aloud in case it brought about the worst, but his mind added the caveat assuming he’s actually alive.

  “We could always ask these guys.” Said Milly indicating the Sasquatch family.

  “I’m sure they’ll know where he is but how on earth could we get them to communicate it? I mean, I know you’ve got them to sit and stuff but this is, well, more abstract. It’s quite a difficult concept if you think about it.”

  “We lose nothing by trying.” Milly pointed out.

  “I guess not.” Archie was still sceptical but Milly had that look on her face again. He changed the subject. “Anyway, do we have any food left?”

  “Some, couple of chocolate bars, want one?”

  “Please.” Milly handed him a bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, the sight of its purple wrapper gave Archie a deep longing to be home, safe, with his dad and eating Mrs Urquhart’s homely food. His room, his bed, his stuff. A hot bath, clean clothes, normality. He opened the wrapper, broke off a chunk and chewed it miserably. Milly leaned over and broke a chunk off for herself.

  “Hey, come on, we haven’t come this far for you to get all miserable on me now.” Milly sensed his slip into self-pity and tried to jolly him out of it. “Listen, we’ve a lot going for us you know. We’ve done a good thing, we rescued Stinky. We can make sure some bad men pay for what they did to Lee, we can make sure these guys stay free.” She indicated the Sasquatches who were still preoccupied with grooming and re-connecting. “Plus, well, you and me, you know.”

  “There’s a you and me?” Said Archie.

  “Of course there’s a you and me, you’re like my brother now, or something.”

  Brother? Archie’s hopes lifted momentarily only to be dashed. What had he hoped her to say? That he was her one true love? Stupid, get a grip.

  “OK, let’s get on with it” he said stuffing another chunk of chocolate into his mouth. “Let’s pack up our gear and head for Cheticamp. There’s nothing to stop us now. When we get there we’ll tell the police everything and then they can find my dad.” He looked around at the vast landscape of trees and fought back the fear of his father never being found. “Ready?”

  “Pretty much, just pay a visit to the rest room.” Milly replied and wandered off into the brush. Archie smiled at the euphemism. He was always amused by the way Americans and Canadians didn’t seem to be able to say the word toilet or even allude to the act in conversation. His thoughts were cut short. There was a noise. Not natural. Out of place. Getting louder.

  Chapter 48

  “Milly, get under the trees!” Archie’s yell was lost in the noise of the rotors as the helicopter banked steep above them, so low as to almost be brushing the tree tops. It passed noisily on its way leaving a downdraft of warm, exhaust tainted air in its wake. A rain of light debris pattered down around them as Milly returned to the fir branch bed where Archie waited. “Do you think it was? Your dad I mean.”

  “No idea, probably though, certainly wasn’t a police helicopter, not even sure they’ve got one here. I’ve never seen one. Pretty sure we weren’t seen. The would have come back by now for another look.”

  “Does your dad have access to a helicopter?” Asked Archie.

  “He doesn’t h
ave a tame pilot if that’s what you mean. He’d just hire one, probably from Halifax I’d guess. He’d have to be careful, he couldn’t tell the pilot exactly what he was doing, he’d have to make something up.” Milly said. Archie thought for a while.

  “I don’t reckon it’s much of problem to us” he said “We can hear it coming from miles away and if we just get into the trees when we hear it they’ll never spot us. The main thing is just to keep your face hidden and stay still.” Archie knew from the ad nauseam instruction given by George that the human face was like a great big moon shining from the undergrowth. In almost any circumstance it would give you away to an observer, animal or human. Moving too, it sounded obvious but George seemed to always be having a falling out with stalking guests who insisted on bobbing up and down in their excitement. “There’s this thing about concealment, dad told me it but I can’t quite remember it.” Archie tried to remember how many S’s there were in the acronym. It was either five or seven, he counted them off on his fingers. “One, shape. Two, shine. Three, shadow, Four, silhouette. Five, sudden movement. Six. Err, perhaps it was five. Anyway, those are the things we have to avoid.”

  “Archie, you’re waffling, let’s get out of here. Say goodbye to the Sasquatches.” She looked around. They had vanished. In fact they had sunk into the bush a full minute before Milly and Archie had heard the Jet Ranger. “Oh well, looks like we won’t be asking them where your dad is either.” She shrugged and picked up her stuff. “Let’s go.” She set off purposefully through the trees.

  “Other way.” Yelled Archie.

  “What is?

  “Cheticamp.”

  “I knew that, thank you Mr Hunter. Just orienting myself.” Archie set off in vaguely the right direction and Milly fell in behind him. Unbeknown to them, they had crossed back into the National Park and there were no made tracks to follow, just moose runs, deer paths and any way they could press though the trees. Deep valleys cut through the landscape, unending vistas of maples broken only by the odd dead spruce. Some years before these woods had been populated by both evergreens and deciduous trees but in the 90’s the brown spruce longhorn beetle had invaded and caused a huge die off of the spruces, allowing the fast growing maples to establish themselves. It was these stands of young maples through which Archie and Milly were now walking.

  There had been no further sign of the helicopter by the time they stopped to rest around midday. Every moment they had expected the angry rotor noise and all-pervading downwash, it had sapped their energy and they flopped into a patch of blueberries to doze.

  “How far do you think we’ve come?” Asked Milly.

  “No idea, only a couple of miles probably. It always seems further through the trees.” Replied Archie. “I don’t even know if we’re in the park or not.”

  “I guess we’re in it but near the edge, no roads you see.” Said Milly.

  “So we need to head a little south of east to get out of the park and on to the roads.” Archie looked up at the sun through the dancing maple leaves. Using his watch he aligned the hour hand to the sun and divided the gap between it and the minute hand with an imaginary line. This gave him a North-South line. “A touch that way then” he said, indicating a direction with his hand. “Any food left?” Milly rooted in her bag.

  “Not much, have another Oh Henry. Wish we’d saved a bit”

  “Bit of bad planning there I guess.” Replied Archie taking the chocolate bar. “Another 10 minutes and we’re off.” He wanted to keep up the pressure, no slacking, no dawdling.

  “Slave driver” said Milly, smiling. “You’re right, we’ve need to hustle.”

  Three hours later and there was no doubting that they had crossed into the park. They hit the first of the convoluted forest roads. It took them on a long curve into a valley bottom, away from their intended direction. This road met another running alongside a river, more in the direction they wanted to go. At last they felt they were getting somewhere. But there was a pay-off. This track was clearly heavily used by four-wheelers, they could run into people at any moment and Archie didn’t want to have to explain himself to anyone but the police. He didn’t want any nosey fishermen offering them a lift. Even the most well-meaning gesture could lead to disaster. He imagined being stuck in someone’s Jeep and being spotted by Milly’s father. No, it didn’t bear thinking about. They would just have to take care to avoid anyone.

  As the shadows started to lengthen and the trees began to thin a shape too regular to be part of nature came into view. Cautiously they ducked into the undergrowth and Archie drew out his binoculars.

  “It’s a log house.” He hissed “I can’t tell if there’s anyone home.

  “It’ll be someone’s weekend cottage. There’s a few of them dotted around. Guys build them and then come out at the weekends to drink beer with their buddies and pretend to be wilderness heroes.” Explained Milly. “Chances are that there’s no one in there.”

  “You never know, it’s summer after all. We’ll cut round the back through the brush.” Said Archie. The forest here was older, darker. The spruce beetle hadn’t done its work here and the trees were huge and ancient. The valley felt different too, not a happy place.

  “OK, you lead I’ll follow.” Archie took them in a wide loop out into the trees, moving slowly, pausing frequently to spy the place out with the binoculars. The light was rapidly fading as they drew level with the cabin. Archie scrutinised it closely. There was no light, the place had an air or decrepitude. The windows were green with algae, some of the roof shingles had come away and a piece of ragged floral curtain was hanging listlessly from the corner of a window, trapped when last it was closed.

  “There’s no one there, there’s been no one there for years. Come on, let’s go take a closer look. We could hole up there for the night.” Archie suggested. Milly followed him without offering an opinion. They crossed quickly to the back door of the cottage and Archie gave the door knob an exploratory twist. To his surprise the door opened, creaking on rusted hinges and showering fragments of powdered wood over him. The result of years of woodworm attack. He risked a tentative “Hello”. There was no answer. “Come on, close the door after you.” He beckoned Milly to follow him in.

  “Oh no, I nearly said it.” Muttered Milly.

  “What?”

  “Let’s split up and check it out.”

  “Does that make me Fred or Shaggy? Or Scooby? No don’t answer that.”

  “Do I make a good Daphne?” Milly asked, thrusting out one hip and holding her elbow with one hand, a finger up to her face.

  “Gorgeous.” Said Archie, “well, not that I can really see you in this gloom. Come on, we’d better check it out, but let’s stay together. Archie took a step into the room, a floorboard creaked.

  “Oh that’s such a cliché.” Said Milly. “Stop mincing around, get your head torch out.”

  “Why didn’t I think of that.” Said Archie striking his forehead theatrically with one hand while digging the torch out of his pack with the other. “And the Lord said let there be light, and there was light, and you could see for bloody miles.” He said, switching on the torch.

  “Oo, look, a skanky kitchen, complete with dead crow.” Said Milly, nudging the offending bird with her toe. “Shine the way into the next room, I don’t like this one.”

  “Your wish is my command.” Archie led the way through another creaking door and into the next room, which turned out to be the only other room. Four crudely constructed timber beds lined the walls with a table and four chairs in the centre. A fine layer of dust covered every surface, the blankets were musty and spotted with mould. The air was full of the scent of decay. All the beds were made except one. Blankets tight and military on three beds, the fourth, well, it was lumpy and messed up. Like it had an occupant. Like someone had been lying there for years and was now just skin and bones. The blankets looked somehow deflated.

  A chill of superstitious dread ran through them.

  “We’ve g
ot to look” said Milly. “I mean, if there’s a dead guy here someone needs to deal with it.”

  “OK. I’ll do it.” Archie said. After all, nothing could be worse than finding Lee. Could it? He took hold of a corner of the blanket and slowly pulled it back.

  Chapter 49

  It was almost a disappointment. Under the blanket was no mummified corpse, no desiccated skeleton. Merely a collection of useless old items – boots, empty cans, a can opener, rubbish. Odd, but there it was. No explanation. No explanation required really. Archie dropped the blanket back into place and pulled out one of the chairs. He tossed his pack on to a bed and sat down.

  “I really didn’t need anything else to happen just yet.” He said.

  “Know what you mean.” Answered Milly, flopping down in another chair. “I really would just like to be sitting on a deck somewhere, looking out over some gorgeous view, sipping a cold lemonade and waiting for someone to bring me my lunch.”

  “I need there to be a hot tub. Really hot and a chicken and bacon sandwich, with little cherry tomatoes.” Archie was only too happy to join in the fantasy.

  “And am I there?” asked Milly. Archie thought for a moment.

  “Yeah, you’re there. Serving the food!” Archie let out a snort of laughter.

  “Beast.”

  “You are there though” he said quietly. You’re in the tub with me, the weather is perfect, not too hot. We’re at the Cortijo in Spain, overlooking the Sierras de Cazorla. In the foreground a small herd of fallow deer are grazing peacefully. Someone is making pizza for us in the outdoor pizza oven. It smells fantastic, there’s probably wild boar chorizo on it. Maybe some wild rocket and wild mushrooms. We could swim before dinner if you like. The pool is cool, you’ll love it.