Hound

by Ken Ogilvie

  “I’m getting too old for this kind of thing,” said Cora between rasping coughs. She looked up at Matthew. “You must go and bring Jackie here. Hound was with us, but he went back to help her. There are seven armed men after us, and they’re criminals, not the police. At least two of them have guns, so be careful.”

  “What about you and Lily?” Matthew saw that his mother could go no further.

  “Don’t worry about me, son. I’ll be fine.” Cora struggled to her feet, and sat down again.

  “It’s alright, Matthew,” Lily said. “I can help her from here. We’re not far from the cave, so we can take it easy until we get there. You’re needed elsewhere.” She nodded back at the way they had come, as more shots rang out. Matthew knew he had no choice but to go.

  “Take good care of her, Lily. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  He ran until he heard several shots close by. Then he dashed in among the trees, intending to circle around and catch the gunmen from behind. He’d just crested the nearest rise when Jackie came into view, running over the top of a nearby hill and down the other side, pursued by two men in hunting outfits. One of them aimed his rifle at her. The bullet clipped a branch next to her head, but he got no chance to fire a second shot. Matthew’s arrow went through his neck and came out the other side. The man dropped his rifle and he rolled down the hill. The man with him stopped and looked down. He turned in Matthew’s direction and took an arrow in the heart. It snapped like a twig when he hit the ground.

  Matthew watched Jackie disappear over another rise. Two more gunmen appeared on the hilltop opposite him, and he turned and ran, with bullets whizzing past him. Luckily he was far enough away that the shots went wild. He kept running until he was certain they were no longer chasing him. Then he slowed to a jog and turned towards the cave. Jackie should be there soon, assuming she could find her way there. But where was Hound?

  * * *

  The boss’s face was crimson. He was in fine condition for a fist fight, but a hill and dale marathon was something else entirely. His legs were shaking. His thighs ached.

  “Dammit all. Screw this cursed forest.” Three more gunmen gained the hilltop. One of them was nursing a flesh wound in his right arm, but appeared to be coping with it. “Where the hell did that bow and arrow guy come from?” He gritted his teeth. “Okay, guys. We’ll chase the bitch until we’ve pumped her with enough lead to run a smelter. Be really careful this time. Keep your eyes on the woods — and look out for that bow and arrow guy. He beat it like a bat out of hell, but don’t assume he won’t show up again.”

  “Do we have to keep on with this wild goose chase, boss?” mumbled one of the men. “We’re getting our asses kicked by these so-called amateurs, and we’ve lost three guys already.” He glanced at the others who seemed to agree.

  The boss pointed his gun at the man’s chest. “You go first this time.” The man lowered his eyes and moved forward without further protest.

  “What about Angelo and Dino?” asked another.

  “Leave ’em for now. We’ll pick ’em up on the way back. Mario will have us shot and pissed on if we don’t get the bitch. She’ll tire soon enough in this shit.” He raised one mud-caked boot and shook it.

  * * *

  Hound ran as fast as he could, concerned that he’d be too late to help Jackie. Without a gun, he had no idea what he would do when he found her. He wouldn’t be much help.

  Two shots sounded nearby — one of them from Jackie’s rifle. Hound stopped and hid behind a large pine tree, considering his next move. The syndicate men might not notice him until it was too late, perhaps he could take a couple of them by surprise. Even if they killed him, they might abandon their hunt for Jackie and the older women if their forces were further depleted.

  Hound peered around the tree trunk and saw Jackie scramble over the nearest hilltop. She reached the bottom and dashed past him, just ten yards away. Almost immediately, several armed men crested the hill. Realizing that at least one of them would see him when they passed the pine tree, Hound had to change his plan. He took a breath. As the lead man came near the tree, Hound stepped out and struck the startled man in the face. He crashed to the ground and lay still.

  The four remaining syndicate men skidded to a halt. One of them was close enough to Hound for him to reach out and grasp his head, snapping the man’s neck. Hound used the body as a shield that absorbed the next man’s hastily fired clip of bullets. Another moved sideways to get a clear shot at Hound, but he swung the corpse around just as the man raised his gun to fire.

  He heard a click as the last man made his gun ready to fire. Hound knew he was about to die.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  I’m desperate to get involved in the McBride homicide case. DS Sykes is on leave, and DI Cartwright is struggling. A month since the murder happened, he still doesn’t have any leads on who killed Abigail. I want to work on the case so badly I can taste it, but if I ask Cartwright to assign me to it, he’ll put pressure on me to go back to him. And if Sykes returns and takes over the investigation, my chances of working on it will be lost.

  — From the diary of Rebecca Sarah Bradley (May 12, 2006)

  Wednesday, October 3, 2007

  The detectives followed DI Sykes and the ERT deeper into the woods, Rebecca staying close to Hadi. Every now and then, bursts of gunfire shattered the quiet of the forest.

  Rebecca could see that Sykes was beginning to tire — unsurprising for a man in his late fifties who didn’t exercise enough. He stopped to catch his breath, and she and the others caught up with him.

  “Let us take over from here, sir,” Chad offered. Rebecca was relieved that he’d been the first to speak.

  Sykes gave them an apologetic half smile. “Yes, I’m spent. You just get on with it and I’ll follow as fast as I can.”

  With a quick glance back at Sykes, Rebecca dashed off after the others. He had disappointment written all over his face.

  Shots continued to echo through the forest, and the ERT leader increased his pace. At the apex of a steep hill, Rebecca saw him staring down the far side with his rifle aimed, although he didn’t shoot. She scrambled up beside him and cried out in relief. There was Hound, leaning against a large pine tree, looking up at the police lining the ridge and waving at them.

  Leaving two men on the ridge, the ERT leader ran down the slope to where Hound was standing. Three bodies lay at his feet, one with his face smashed in, another with a broken neck, and the third had a bullet hole in his forehead. The ERT leader looked again at Hound, who had no gun.

  “There were two more. They beat it out of here after Jackie Caldwell put a bullet in that guy’s head.” He gestured at the third man. “She saved my life. The other two were my doing. One of the men who ran off was hurt, most likely by Jackie. You might catch them if you move quickly.”

  The ERT leader dispatched four men to go after them. Then he turned back to Hound. “What the hell happened?”

  “And where did Jackie Caldwell go?” Rebecca added.

  Hound gave a gesture of dismissal. “Forget it. You’ll never find her in this forest, and you don’t want to.”

  Rebecca was shocked. “You can’t mean that, Hound, surely? She’s a menace to anyone she meets.”

  “After today,” he said, “I have a feeling that even the syndicate men have had more than enough of her. I’m not going after her again. Something in her has changed. She’s done with trying to kill either of us, unless we threaten her again.” He smiled faintly. “Still, it might be advisable to steer well clear of her.”

  “I don’t understand.” Rebecca said.

  Hound shrugged. “It’s a bizarre story. I’ll tell you later, if that’s okay. Right now I’m just getting over nearly being killed — again. I tell you, it’s quite exhausting.”

  Rebecca shook her head. He was wrong. Jackie would never give up on her quest for revenge against Steven Bradley and his family. But she knew Hound. If he refused to do something, that w
as it. Nothing would budge him. Neither would he discuss Jackie’s supposed change of mind until he was ready.

  She glanced at Chad, Hadi and O’Reilly. “We’ll tape off the crime scene and go back to DI Sykes for instructions.” As she spoke, she heard the whump-whump of helicopter blades, and there was DI Sykes standing on the ridge and waving at them.

  * * *

  Jackie Caldwell found Cora’s hidden cave without difficulty, recalling the times she’d gone there with her mother when she was a girl. Recalling Lily’s words, she’d been reluctant to shoot that second syndicate man, but if she hadn’t, Hound would have died, and for some reason she no longer wanted that to happen.

  “Ah, daughter!” Lily Caldwell hurried forward and took Jackie’s hands in her own. “I dreamt you would survive, and you did.”

  Jackie hugged her mother. Then she saw Cora lying on the dirt floor, her face grey and her forehead beaded with sweat. The flight through the woods must have been too much for her, and Jackie feared her heart would give out.

  Lily knelt down beside Cora and dabbed her cheeks with a wet cloth, talking softly to her in Iroquoian. Cora’s breathing was laboured and erratic.

  Lily raised her eyes to Jackie. “There is nothing more you can do here. You must get away from this place.”

  “No, Mama. I will go and get help for Cora.” She started to leave, but Lily raised her hand. “It is too late. I will stay here and pray, and you must take the supplies we prepared for you and go.”

  Jackie knelt and kissed Cora’s forehead. With a heavy heart, she got to her feet and left the cave.

  Lily’s gentle voice followed her into the woods.

  “Goodbye, my daughter.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Wednesday, October 3, 2007

  Matthew ran back to the cave. He felt no remorse at killing those men. They were evil, and they’d meant to kill his mother. They deserved their fate.

  He arrived just in time to see Jackie leaving. “Stop!” he cried.

  Jackie shook her head at him. “Your mother needs you, Matthew.”

  “Where are you going? And what about those gunmen?”

  “Dead, or running for their lives, I think. But I need to get away from here. The police might arrive any minute now. Hound called them.” Jackie glanced at the cave and sighed.

  “Wait a second.” Matthew handed her his bow and arrows. “Just don’t kill anyone else, please. And think about turning yourself in. I could help with that, if you want.” He looked down, and when he raised his eyes, Jackie had resumed her flight, the bow and arrows slung over her shoulder.

  Recalling what Jackie had said about his mother, Matthew hurried into the cave. He was just in time to see Lily closing her eyes. He groaned.

  * * *

  Having given Matthew some private time with Cora, Lily re-entered the cave. Matthew was sitting cross-legged beside his mother, his hands resting on hers. Lily paused for another minute and then approached him.

  “What do I do now?” Matthew looked utterly despondent. “Mother was the closest person to me. She understood me like nobody else. I will miss her smiling face and her love of all living things. The long periods I spent in the forest never felt lonely, because I knew she was there at home, always happy to see me and lend me her wise advice.”

  Lily placed a hand on his shoulder. “You are blessed to have such wonderful memories of Cora. You will cherish them for the rest of your days.”

  Matthew rose wearily to his feet and drifted aimlessly about the cave, glancing at Cora’s body and blinking back his tears.

  Lily suddenly remembered that the police were on their way. “You must leave this place, Matthew. Don’t let the police find you here. I will stay with Cora. The time has come to give myself up.”

  * * *

  Matthew left the cave and headed into the forest. Not knowing what else to do, he followed Jackie’s trail for a while. It was easy to see where she had been, but he knew that somehow she would manage to evade the police, even if they brought the search dogs out. Hound could probably do it, though — if he wanted to.

  Jackie had to be locked up again. She was an Odaki, and she would kill again, that much he was sure of. Yet he knew he couldn’t catch her on his own. She would kill him if he tried. With Hound’s help, they had a good chance of trapping her without hurting her.

  Several miles further on, Matthew took a rock and marked the place where Jackie had crossed a small stream. He would stop following her, find Hound and convince him to help with his search for Jackie, then take her to the police. Surely Hound would do it, if only to save lives.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Wednesday, October 3, 2007

  Hound, Sykes and the detectives made their way to Cora’s house, where they were met by a convoy of reinforcements. A few officers took charge of the syndicate men’s SUVs while, after a quick briefing, the expanded team prepared to head back into the forest. The ambulance drivers and some medics would stay behind to transport any casualties to the nearest treatment centre. They had already bagged the body of the syndicate man who’d been shot at the house.

  Sykes strode over to Hound. “What the hell happened out there? You know where Jackie Caldwell’s at, don’t you?”

  Hound stared down at him.

  Sykes’s face flushed. “You could get into big trouble by staying silent. You’re obstructing justice.”

  “You’re too late, DI Sykes,” Hound said. “She’s vanished, like she always does, deep into the woods. Even search dogs won’t find her. If you want, I’ll lead you to where she might have gone, although you’re not equipped for a lengthy pursuit.”

  Sykes spoke through clenched teeth. “By insisting we come to Cora’s house first, you gave Jackie time to escape, didn’t you?”

  Hound shrugged. “If you say so.”

  “Alright. Take us to where she might have gone. And no more delays, or I’ll charge you right now.”

  “Please, Hound,” Rebecca said.

  Hound began to amble towards the woods. The detective team followed. No one spoke until they came to the spot where the three dead syndicate men were lying. Several members of the ERT were milling about, waiting for the crime scene photographers to arrive, and the area had been taped off. A forensics team was on its way from Orillia.

  An ERT member hurried over to Sykes. “There’s two more bodies a short distance away, sir. One has an arrow through his neck, and the other has one in his heart. Besides the big guy here and the Caldwell woman, we figure one more person must have been fighting the syndicate men.”

  Sykes turned to Hound and snapped, “Who killed those men?”

  Hound raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know anything about them.”

  “Answer my question,” Sykes said.

  “I can’t. I wasn’t there.”

  Sykes stepped closer. “I think you do know. I think you know very well.”

  Hound just shook his head.

  Sykes appeared ready to explode. “Then find Jackie’s trail now, and no more crap.”

  Hound turned and headed into the forest, trying to hide his smile. The archer was Matthew, of course. That was why his friend had left the shack so abruptly this morning. He had come here to help his mother and Lily.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Wednesday, October 3, 2007

  The syndicate leader and his one remaining subordinate crashed about in the forest, desperately trying to escape. Only two left alive out of eight hardened killers. It was a total disaster. The leader was aware that if they survived their forest ordeal, Mario would finish them off. Exhausted, he called a halt and flopped to the ground.

  “Boss, what the hell happened back there?” His number two was lying on his back, breathing hard and staring up at the treetops.

  “Hell is just about right. And things are only going to get worse. Even if the bow and arrow guy, the sniper or the troll don’t take us down, we may never find our way out of here. We’ll starve to death or b
e torn apart by bears or wolves. And if by some miracle we do escape, there’ll be Mario to deal with.” The leader groaned miserably.

  “Then we only have one choice. We have to give ourselves up.” The man turned defeated eyes towards his leader.

  “Yeah. Just peachy. Then we’ll go straight to jail, and Mario will find a way to top us there. Face it, chump, we’re goners.”

  “At least we’d live a while longer. And who knows, maybe we’d survive in prison. It’s our only chance. C’mon, boss, let’s do it.”

  After mulling it over for a while, the leader shrugged. “Okay, but we’ll have to cooperate fully with the cops.” He turned his face to the sky. “I think I hear a helicopter, so they must be close by. Maybe we can get on the witness protection program if we rat on the syndicate,” he mused. His companion evidently had no problem with this, for he nodded fervently. “Now all we have to hope for is that we don’t run into the demoness, the giant or the archer on our way back. We’re betting our asses on the police still being at the fight scene. If not, we’ll have to backtrack to the cars and give ourselves up at the house.”

  * * *

  Jackie Caldwell hurried away from the cave and into the woods. She had never been this deep in the forest before, yet everything seemed familiar. She felt at home here, yet she was worried about how close she might be to human habitation. Forest companies and mines abounded in this area, hunters would be in the woods at this time of year, as well as indigenous trappers. It wouldn’t be safe to stay here for long, especially if the police brought out search dogs, and she couldn’t risk going to Matthew’s shack. She had to go further north. The greatest threats en route would be hunters and trappers and police patrols on the roads she would need to cross. But if she could get far enough, and found the right place, she would build a lean-to, and later on a hut, in which she could spend the winter days in some comfort.

  As she went, Jackie ran through all the things she would need in order to make it through the winter. Now that the decision to live alone had been made, she looked forward to the challenge. It gave her a mission, something to focus her mind on instead of hate and revenge.