The Spirit Survives

by Gary Williams Ramsey

  He took out the paperwork and looked at it. The documents were addressed to Ben Harris and Leah Hamilton. They were evidently in the process of moving from Chicago to Green Bay. The contact phone number and address were listed as the Residence Inn in Green Bay. Bo folded the sheet and inserted it in his pocket. There was nothing else of interest in the glove department.

  He started to leave when he noticed a camera on the seat on the passenger side beside the warranty book. He picked up the camera, turned it on, and punched the button to view the pictures on the memory stick. The first picture was of a very sexy woman. She was of medium height, a brunette with a dazzling smile and large brown eyes. Bo was a master of guessing breasts size and she had to be at least a 34c. The rest of her body compliments those knockers very well, he thought. This must be Leah.

  The next picture was of a birthday cake. Bo’s eyes widened as he looked at the third picture. He had hit pay dirt. It was the man who had witnessed the murder, Ben Harris.

  Bo smiled. Now he had something to work with. He took the camera, got back into his SUV and left to find an out-of-the-way motel to get cleaned up. Then he would start his search for Ben Harris.

  Chapter 10

  Leah glanced around and saw that there was nothing disrupted at the entrance of Lookout Mountain. It was a cloudy day with a nice breeze. There were no indications that a tornado had touched down. A convenience store was located to her left with several cars in the parking lot. Ben’s car wasn’t among them. Looking up the mountain, she saw lush trees still green in the heart of summer. In another month, these trees would be a beautiful golden brown. Leah wished that she and Ben were there together to savor the beauty. Both of them loved the outdoors and exploring new places. Her mind reverted to reality when a car’s horn honked behind her. She didn’t realize that she had stopped and was blocking traffic. Leah turned into the convenience store parking lot and sat there for a moment.

  The Tomahawk police department had told her that they had already dispatched a search party to look for survivors on Lookout Mountain, she decided to drive up the mountain in hopes of locating the search party. She could find out directly from them if Ben had been spotted.

  Leah left the parking lot, turned left, and began driving up the mountain road. She had driven less than a mile when she saw a state highway patrol car parked alongside a black Lexus. She recognized Ben’s Lexus immediately. Leah pulled in beside the patrol car and got out. A patrolman was inspecting the car and writing something on a pad.

  Leah rushed up to him and yelled, “Sir, that’s my boyfriend’s car. Where is he?”

  The patrolman turned to face her. He looked surprised at her panicked approach. He said, “Calm down. Who are you?”

  “Leah Hamilton,” she responded in a quieter voice. “My boyfriend, Ben Harris, came here for a day of hiking. I heard about the tornado touching down in the area and drove from Green Bay to see if he’s okay. I couldn’t reach his cell phone.”

  “Ms. Hamilton, the search party called me when they discovered this car. You see the driver’s side window has been busted out. It appears to be a robbery. We haven’t found the owner. The search party is still looking farther up the mountain. At this point, they’ve found no one.”

  “Well, the owner of the Lexus is Ben Harris. He and I presently live in Green Bay. We’re in the process of moving there from Chicago. What do you think happened to Ben?” She reached for the handle to open the car door.

  The patrolman stopped her, “Don’t touch the car. It has to be dusted for fingerprints. Did he carry anything of value in it?”

  She gestured toward the car. “As far as I know there was nothing of value in there.”

  “I’ve called for a tow truck. We need to get this to the police lot and check it for evidence. Do you have a problem with that?” he asked.

  “No,” Leah replied. “What do I have to do next to find out what happened to Ben?”

  “Just go to a local motel and wait there for information, he said, “You’ll just hinder the investigation and the search party if you stay here.”

  Leah gave the patrolman her cell phone number and her office number at Shopko. He promised to call her as soon as any information was available.

  Leah reluctantly left the scene. Ben had told her that he had made reservations at Whispering Winds Cottage on Lake Nokomis in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. She punched in 411 on her cell for phone information. The operator gave her the number for Whispering Winds Cottage and dialed the number.

  A deep resonate voice answered, “This is Daryl Helmsly, may I help you?”

  “My name is Leah Hamilton. I need to know if a Ben Harris checked into one of your cabins?”

  “Let me check,” he answered and a short silence followed. “He checked in on the evening of August 17th”. Mr. Harris left on the 18th to go to Lookout Mountain. That morning he stopped by the office and asked for directions.”

  Leah told him that Ben was missing and his car had been burglarized. She gave him her cell number in case he heard anything and told him to keep Ben’s belongings in the cabin, and that she would stop by later when she found Ben. Mr. Helmsly agreed and they hung up.

  Leah decided to drive to Tomahawk and get a motel room to wait for any word about Ben. She called her office and told Brenda not to expect her back until Ben was located. With tears of worry in her eyes, she began her drive to Tomahawk.

  Chapter 11

  Ignoring my apprehension about the snake, the dying man in front of me, and the injured wolf, my exhaustion overwhelmed, and I dozed off.

  A whimpering noise woke me. I looked at my watch, busted from when I dove in the cave, as if it could tell me the time. Light filtering in through the hole above me suggested that I had been out for at least six or seven hours. The sun had already arisen to greet my second day in the cave.

  For the first time, there was sufficient light for me to clearly see my surroundings. The tornado had completely sealed the entrance to the cave. The only hint of an entrance that remained was the injured Cherokee. About ten feet to the right of his body was a slight indentation where the wolf lay, apparently asleep.

  The interior of the cave was about thirty feet long and maybe fifty feet wide. On the far end, opposite the former entrance, was a large block of stone, full of a number of stalagmites. Loose stones and blocks of rocks littered the floor. Behind me was a pile of rocks where the snake had gone. The walls were made by stalagmite material with a gray base. Crystals of calcium carbonate reflected the light. Under other circumstances, I would have thought my cave was beautiful.

  I was sitting about ten feet in front of a wall of sheer rock. To my right were countless other piles of rocks and boulders. Lord knows what’s hiding behind them. A small puddle of water filled a crevice directly below the hole in the ceiling. It must have rained sometime in the last couple of days. At least rainwater can come in, I thought. The hole above me was my only connection to the outside world. Even now, in the middle of August, the cave was cool and damp.

  I heard the whimper again. I glanced over at Cherokee’s body, and saw his left hand move. I grabbed one of the bottles of water and quietly crawled to him, trying not to wake the wolf. I monitored the man’s pulse; it was still very weak. I lifted his head and, to my surprise, his right eye was open. His left eye was still bulging from his socket and contained a blank stare.

  The good eye focused on me. He appeared to try to form words, but nothing came out but another whimper. With his ankle lodged between the boulders, I couldn’t turn him over. I raised his head and turned it to the side to attempt to give him some water. I cupped my left hand around the edge of his mouth and poured a small amount of water on his lips. A gurgling sound signaled that he was trying to swallow. This isn’t going to work, I thought. His only chance was for a rescue party to get here quickly; otherwise, he was a dead man. I gently laid his head back down as the good eye closed. He’s not long for this world.

  I crawled back to my spot that had
now become my home base. My stomach growled. I realized that I hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast yesterday. I had to conserve food and water in the event that I had to stay in the cave for an extended period of time, so I decided to have half a can of the sardines and a couple of crackers. I opened the sardine can and slowly ate three sardines. I opened the crackers and consumed two of them and took three swallows of water. This didn’t exactly compare with the lobster dinner that Leah and I enjoyed the evening that I left Green Bay.

  I bent the lid back over the sardine can and placed it back with my inventory. The smell of the sardines permeated the air. A whine broke the silence. I glanced over and the wolf was staring at me. The smell of the sardines must have awakened him. I realized that he was as hungry as I was. Hunger can overcome pain and I knew that he needed food. Human flesh was not out of the question for his meal. I decided to give him something to calm him down. I reached for the sardine can, grasped it and crawled again to Cherokee’s body. I took the remainder of the sardines and tossed them one at a time to the wolf. He slobbered as he gobbled them down. I drank the rest of the sardine juice from the can and went back to my spot. I carefully placed the empty can back with my inventory. It might be useful later.

  I needed to find a way to keep count of the days that I was there, so I cleared out a spot next to the inventory and decided to place one rock in the cleared spot as each day passed. At least I could tell when each day ended because of the hole in the top of the cave. There was nothing I could do but sit there and think, hoping that someone was searching for me.

  I missed Leah. I remembered saying goodbye to her when I left. She had a worried look on her beautiful face. She knew that I was discouraged about the move. I hoped I would live to make it up to her. She was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

  My thoughts were interrupted by a gurgling sound. I looked to the source of the noise and saw that it was coming from the area that contained the small puddle of water. To my amazement, two rats sat by the puddle drinking. Adding rats to the mix of inhabitants in the cave was all I needed. I saw movement in the shadows behind the rats. Suddenly, a head shot forward and clamped around one of the rodent’s heads. Both rats were squealing, but only one could run away. The rattlesnake kept still, waiting for the venom to kill his prey. After about a minute the rat stopped squeaking as the snake grotesquely opened his mouth wider and began swallowing it. A huge lump appeared in its throat as the rat was consumed. I turned away in disgust.

  I glanced at the wolf. He was watching the event but was quiet and motionless. In his injured condition, I guess he didn’t want to annoy the snake.

  Help me please…somebody! This was certainly not going to be a safe place to be for a long stretch of time.

  Another blaring noise permeated the cave. I immediately recognized the unmistakable sound of a helicopter. I looked at the hole above and saw the copter hovering there. I started to scream but realized the stupidity of that act, so I got to my feet to scamper to the area directly under the hole to wave my arms. As I approached the area, I had forgotten about the snake lying there digesting his meal. I looked down in time to see that he was in a striking position. As the sound of the copter thundered overhead, the snake lashed out at my leg. Oh shit!

  Chapter 12

  As Leah passed a sign that read “Welcome to Tomahawk,” she realized that she was exhausted. She had been running on adrenaline since the tornado had touched down at Lookout Mountain. Twilight was descending on this quaint small town and the only thing she could think of was Ben’s safety. Finding his car with a smashed window only increased her anxiety.

  The first motel she saw was a Best Western, situated on a lake, and it appeared to be very nice. She pulled into the full parking lot and proceeded directly to the front desk. A middle-aged Mexican lady with a heavy Spanish accent greeted her. “May I help you ma’am?

  “Do you have any rooms available for the night?” Leah asked.

  “We have one room on the second floor, a suite,” the desk attendant replied.

  Leah didn’t need a suite, but she didn’t feel like searching for another place to stay. She accepted the suite and presented her credit card. After filling out the paperwork, she was handed a key card and asked if she needed help with her luggage. Leah realized she hadn’t packed a bag, and that she had nothing with her. She told the lady that she could handle everything okay and asked for directions to the nearest Wal-Mart.

  Since the motel was located on Highway 51, which was the main drag in Tomahawk, the local Wal-Mart was only minutes away. Leah purchased two changes of underwear, pajamas, jeans, a T-shirt, a tooth brush, and make-up. Surely, Ben will be found soon, she thought.

  While returning to the motel, Leah stopped ay a KFC and purchased a chicken meal with coleslaw and mashed potatoes. When she arrived back at the motel, she went to Suite 206 to get settled in. The suite was small but well-appointed, with a small sitting area and sliding glass doors leading to a lanai that offered a beautiful view of Lake Nokomis. If only Ben were here to enjoy it with her.

  Leah took a hot shower and put on her pajamas. She retrieved the KFC meal from the dresser, and heated it in the microwave. She placed it on the coffee table, turned on the TV to the local news, and sat down in the recliner. She ate her extra-crispy Kentucky fried chicken as she watched the news.

  The tornados dominated the news. Twenty-two twisters had already touched down and there was no end in sight. Four deaths were attributed to the twisters and the number of injuries was increasing as the severe weather continued. The newscaster said that the identities of the dead were being withheld until the next of kin could be notified. Leah was horrified when he reported that one body was found on Lookout Mountain. There were no injured people reported in that area.

  As tears streaked down her face, Leah rushed to her purse on the dresser and found the paper on which she had written the number of the Tomahawk police. She grabbed her cell phone and punched in the number. On the third ring, a tired female voice answered, “Tomahawk Police Department, Officer Terrell speaking.” It was the same police woman who had answered when Leah called earlier that afternoon to inquire about Ben.

  “Officer Terrell, this is Leah Hamilton. We talked earlier today about my fiancée who was on Lookout Mountain when the tornado touched down. I heard about the body found there. Please tell me, was it Ben Harris?” She was sobbing as the words escaped her trembling lips.

  “I remember you, Ms. Hamilton. Please calm down. The body found on Lookout Mountain was female. I can’t tell you anything more until we identify it. There was no evidence that anyone else was on the mountain when the twister touched down. I’m aware that Mr. Harris’s automobile was parked there, but there was no sign of him and the search party, aided by two helicopters, was meticulous in their search. They reported a lot of destruction, but only found that one female body. They’re taking heavy equipment in there tomorrow to continue the search. Mr. Harris is the only person reported missing. According to you, he was there, but we can find no evidence of that except for his abandoned car. We’ll continue to look for him. I need for you to come to the station tomorrow to give us a description and more information about Mr. Harris.”

  Leah managed to stop crying. “Okay, I’ll be there at 9 a.m.”

  “I’m very sorry we don’t have anymore information for you. I know you must be worried to death,” Officer Terrell said.

  Leah thanked her and hung up.

  Leah went to the bathroom and washed her face. She had to get control of her emotions if she were to help find Ben. Total exhaustion overwhelmed her. She threw the remainder of her dinner in the waste can, turned off the TV and collapsed on the bed.

  As she tossed and turned, images of Ben’s severed head floating in the clouds filled her dreams. Then a mutilated body floated by. She forced herself awake and sat up in bed sweating. This was going to be a long night.

  As Leah lay in bed, afraid to go back to sleep, her mi
nd wandered to her childhood.

  At twelve years old, Leah had already established that she was an exceptional child. Her father was a successful Princeton-trained attorney and her mother was a professor at Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia. Her twin sister, Maria was a gifted pianist. The happy family lived in the suburbs in Wayne, Pennsylvania and occupied a beautiful Tudor home with a pool and tennis courts. During the prior year Leah competed in the national junior tennis championships and placed third. Leah and Maria were straight A students at Johnson Academy, a highly respected private school in Wayne. Her days were filled with the love of adoring parents and the companionship of her twin sister.

  In November, two weeks before her thirteenth birthday, Leah became sick with the flu. Maria was having her first solo piano recital on Friday evening of that week. Leah wanted to be with her sister on that evening but the flu kept her in bed. Her mother arranged for her aunt Thelma to stay with her while the rest of the family attended the recital.

  The phone call came at about 11 p.m. as Aunt Thelma was ready to panic with worry about the family. The recital was supposed to end at 8:30 p.m., and they were presumed to be home by 9:00. Leah never forgot the look on her aunt’s face when she was speaking on the phone. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she was sobbing when she hung up. Leah’s parent’s car had been stuck head on by a drunken driver. Both her parents and sister were killed instantly. Leah’s perfect world crumbled.

  She was raised by her aunt, but she never got over losing the people she loved the most.

  Now it was happening again. Ben was gone. Leah couldn’t tolerate the thought of losing another loved one. That would be more than she could handle.