Lost Valley: The Escape

by J. T. Cross

  Kate glanced at Christie and recognized the look of fear on her face. Luke’s last words echoed through her mind: Take care of my kids.

  “No, I think you two should stay here with the kids. I’ll be fine.”

  “Thank you so much,” Christie said, wrapping her arms around Kelly and pulling her closer.

  Kate grabbed the binoculars lying on the table and put them in her small backpack, looping it over her shoulder. She grabbed the rifle. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she said, then turned and raced out of the cabin.

  She began running toward the south side of the plateau to the trail that ran to the valley floor. When she reached it, she started down as fast as she dared.

  Chapter 19

  Luc struggled through his dazed state to take stock of his injuries. His head hurt and something was wrong with his eyes as they burned and everything seemed blurry. He could just barely see the falls some distance away. His whole body ached after the beating he had taken under the falls.

  He continued to take in deep breaths of air. Breathing had never felt so good. Feeling the water currents beginning to pull him, he realized he was moving. Gradually, the feeling of being pulled and pushed became stronger, and it was then he realized he was being pulled down a river.

  He knew he had fallen at least a hundred feet and was lucky to be alive, but he still had to be high up on the mountain. There was probably a long way to go before the river he was in finally reached the valley floor.

  He tried again to focus his eyes on his surroundings but things remained blurry. He wondered what was wrong with his eyes.

  Exhausted and not able to think clearly, he simply let the speeding currents carry him where they would and did his best to push himself away from rocks that rose up in the river.

  Over a period of minutes, his mind began to clear and he realized the reason he couldn’t see was because his eyes were filled with blood. He ducked his head under the water, rinsing the blood out of his eyes and hair. He felt a flood of relief when he brought his head up out of the water and could see again.

  The relief was short-lived as he realized he was caught in a narrow and deep river with no banks, only rock walls which rose up on both sides.

  * * *

  Kate was exhausted by the time she reached the valley floor. She stood resting for a moment as she fought to catch her breath.

  Three trails stretched out before her. One led back to the south, the direction from which they had come. The path to the right seemed like it would take her to the wrong side of the mountain. She needed to head toward the eastern side, the side from which Luc had fallen.

  Half-crazy with panic, she bolted down the trail to the left and ran for all she was worth. Please let this be the right way, she repeated over and over in her mind as she ran.

  As time passed, she slowed from a run to a jog then from a jog to a fast-paced walk. She began to have a nagging fear that she had gone in the wrong direction. Then she realized why. The trail was heading straight east, deeper into the valley. She needed to go more to the north.

  She decided to leave the trail and hike around the base of the mountain. As she continued heading north, the nagging fear subsided and was replaced by a sense that she was now heading in the right direction.

  The path she had chosen made its way northeast around the mountain and then began to climb. After thirty minutes of hiking, she came to an area where trees were beginning to grow. She looked to the west and could no longer see the plateau because the mountain was in the way. She guessed that she must have climbed at least three quarters of the way back up to the elevation of the plateau.

  She continued hiking north until she began approaching a stand of trees. She wondered what might be hiding in the shadows between them. She stopped for a moment and listened. She could hear the sound of wind blowing through their leaves. She walked closer and the sound got louder.

  She stopped and listened. Something wasn’t right. The tree branches weren’t moving, so it couldn’t be the wind, could it? No, it was the sound that a waterfall would make, she realized.

  Immediately her hopes began to soar. Luc had been swept out the opening of the cavern in a massive stream of water. She knew it had to go somewhere.

  She felt sure that the only thing that stood between her and Luc was a small patch of trees. She ran into them racing toward the other side.

  As she exited the trees, she panicked. In front of her was a sheer drop. Twenty feet below was a narrow and fast-moving river. It was too late; she couldn’t stop herself.

  As she was going over the edge, she saw a pine tree branch that jutted out over the edge. She grabbed at it with her left hand and felt her body swing out over the edge as her feet managed to stay just on the edge.

  She hung there for a moment wondering if the branch could hold her weight. She slowly reached out with her right hand and grabbed the branch a little above her other hand. Inches at a time, she pulled herself up until she was standing upright on the edge. One final pull took her back to the trees.

  She turned around and looked at the spot where she had almost gone over. Her hands were shaking and she was on the verge of tears. She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly then looked up and saw the falls.

  They flowed out of an opening high up on the vertical face of the mountain and fell into a small lake that immediately emptied into the river. She let out a sigh of relief when she didn’t see any rocks under the falls.

  She searched to the left of her position wondering how she could get down to the lake. The best she could do, she realized, would be to get to the south side of the lake. The river blocked her from reaching the other side.

  She began carefully hiking along the edge of the trees toward the lake and was able to work her way down to the water’s edge. She took out the binoculars and searched across the lake and then completely around the shoreline in every nook and cranny.

  There was nothing on or around the river, she decided. She made her way back up to where she had almost fallen and then continued east staying as far away from the edge as she could.

  As she continued hiking, she noticed the rocky edge was getting closer to the water. Soon she was no more than five feet above the water. It was then that she noticed a body wedged between two rocks. The sight of the body took her breath away until she realized it wasn’t Luc. It was his attacker. At least the other man had gotten what he deserved, she thought.

  Whatever had happened, she reasoned, Luc could not have exited the river, as the walls were too high. There would have been no way for him to climb out.

  She gazed out over the river to the east. As it flowed farther down into the valley, it curved to the south. She felt reasonably sure that Luc could have floated farther down the river. She continued searching along the river.

  Chapter 20

  Luc began to feel his strength return as he floated down the river. He could see the river was coming to an end, emptying into another medium-sized lake. He let the current carry him well into the lake before he began to swim toward the shore.

  As he got closer to the shoreline, he put his feet down and touched bottom. He slowly waded out of the water onto the pebbly surface.

  Twenty feet in front of him was a line of trees, which he assumed was the start of a forested area. He looked around the lake and saw nothing threatening, so he lay down, closed his eyes, and began to rest.

  As he lay there, he gradually began to feel an irresistible urge to look up. He opened his eyes and forced himself to sit up. That was when he realized he was no longer alone.

  Sitting farther down the shore was a saber-toothed cat watching him with intense interest. When his eyes met the cat’s, it rose up on its feet and began walking toward him.

  Adrenaline shot through his body as he climbed to his feet and dove back into the water. He began swimming out to the middle of the lake. Once in the middle, he started treading water as he looked for a place of safety.

  On the opposite
side of the lake was a rock wall containing several narrow ledges. There was no way to the ledges except by water, and that was fine with him.

  He began swimming over to the rock wall. Several minutes later, he reached it stopping below one of the ledges.

  He rested for several minutes then reached up and grabbed the edge of the ledge. He pulled himself up, threw his leg up over the edge, and muscled himself up onto the narrow surface. It was a perfect place, he decided, to wait for the cat to leave.

  He watched the saber-tooth for a while and decided it didn’t seem inclined to swim out to get him, so he slowly began to relax.

  He continued watching the cat and noticed it would walk back and forth along the shoreline then stop and sniff at the water. Shortly after that, it would gaze out over the lake and growl at him.

  The giant cat repeated this pattern several times until it let out a loud bellowing roar and trotted off into the trees.

  He began to think the cat had given up when it came slinking back out of the trees. It walked close to the shore and lay down. The saber-tooth watched him, as if it was waiting for him to swim over to it. It would have to wait a long time for that to happen, he thought as he lay back on the narrow ledge to rest. Within minutes, he fell into a light sleep.

  * * *

  Kate decided to stop and rest for a moment. About a tenth of a mile to the east, she could see a large body of water. She looked down at the river not far below her. If Luc had let himself float the whole way along the river, he would come out at that lake, she thought. A sense of excitement began to fill her and she felt she was close to finding him.

  She took out the binoculars and scanned the river, slowly moving east until she came to the lake. It was much larger than the body of water the falls had emptied into higher up on the mountain.

  She searched the shoreline but saw no sign of Luc. That didn’t mean anything, she told herself. There were lots of spots she couldn’t see from where she stood. Not far from the water’s edge, along the eastern side of the lake, was a thick wall of trees. If he was injured and unable to walk, he could have crawled into the trees for protection.

  She continued hiking along the river. Within a short amount of time, she had reached the place where the river joined the lake. She gazed out across the lake’s glassy surface then carefully examined the shoreline. Once again, there was no sign of Luc but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been there and left footprints, she reasoned.

  She began walking the perimeter of the lake and searching the ground for any sign of his prints. Within minutes, she realized it would be impossible for him to leave footprints in the small pebbles that lined the entire shore. She eventually reached the northern end of the lake that ended at a small hill sparsely covered in pines.

  She turned and looked back over the lake. She got a sinking feeling in her chest as she came to terms with the fact that she had tried everything she could to find him but had failed. She had no idea what to do. Exhausted, she laid her rifle down, dropped her backpack, and sat down on a boulder. She put her face in her hands and began to sob.

  At that moment, she would have given anything to have him at her side. What else could go wrong, she thought.

  She stopped crying as she realized that no one was going to pop out from behind a rock and save her. No, it was now all on her shoulders. She couldn’t let losing Luc break her spirit. Not only did she have to save her own life, she also had to help get Chuck, Christie, and Luc’s children out of the valley.

  She decided it was time to turn back. If she didn’t find him on the way back, she would have to go up to the plateau and tell the others that Luc didn’t make it. She dreaded having to do that.

  As she sat there quietly thinking, she heard Luc’s voice call out. She jumped to her feet and searched across the lake in the direction of his voice.

  An unforgettable feeling of elation filled her as she saw him sitting on a tiny ledge on a rock wall on the western side of the lake.

  He continued yelling something at her and waving his hand. It was hard to make out his words because of the distance and the echoes. Then she heard him clearly.

  “Run.”

  It was hard to see him from that distance, but she thought he was waving his hand in the direction he wanted her to run. She looked to her right and saw nothing except the shoreline of the lake and the nearby trees. She didn’t understand.

  “Can you swim over to me?” she yelled across the lake. Then she saw him pointing back in the direction of the river and once again heard the word run. She turned toward the river and froze.

  Thirty yards away, standing on the shoreline, was a saber-toothed cat. She had no idea where it had come from as she had just walked through that area a few minutes ago. At that moment, she regretted not having Chuck come with her.

  She picked up the rifle and loaded a shell into the chamber. She took aim right between the eyes of the cat.

  She heard water splashing and saw the saber-tooth react by turning toward the sound and then moving to the edge of the lake. She looked across at Luc and saw him swimming in her direction.

  She turned back to the cat and saw it wading into the water. Evidently, it thought Luc would be an easy meal. She decided to take advantage of the moment.

  She lifted the rifle again and tried to aim as carefully as she could. She pulled the trigger and the crack of the rifle rang out, and she felt the kick of the rifle butt against her shoulder.

  The cat whirled around and growled fiercely into the air. She realized she had missed its head as it jumped back onto the shore and turned in her direction.

  It began moving in spurts toward her, stopping, then continuing, and then stopping again as if it was stalking prey. She quickly realized it was, and she was the prey. Within seconds, it had covered half the distance to her.

  “Put the gun down and swim out to me,” yelled Luc, from the middle of the lake.

  “I can’t swim! Remember?” she yelled back.

  Then the cat stopped and turned toward the trees. She watched it looking from side to side as its ears flicked back and forth. It made a low guttural sound she hadn’t heard before.

  She realized she had another chance to try to stop it. She raised her rifle again and carefully took aim at the saber-tooth.

  She aimed carefully right between its eyes. She remembered Luc teaching her to squeeze the trigger gently in order to hit a target.

  Abruptly, everything changed as the cat jumped straight up into the air as something huge flew from the trees straight at it. Confused, she lowered the rifle and watched as the largest bear she had ever seen stretched up and tried to grab the saber-tooth in mid-air.

  The cat roared and struck out at the bear and just missed being pulled out of the air. As the cat landed, the bear lunged again at it.

  Once again, the saber-tooth was faster than the bear and jumped back, missing the swipe of its massive claws by mere inches. After landing, the cat took off running toward the river.

  Kate froze in place, not wanting to move for fear of attracting the attention of the bear. As she studied it, she realized it was the strangest-looking bear she had ever seen. Its face was flat and looked odd. Not only that, but it was larger than any bear she had ever seen. She wondered if it was the flat-faced bear of which Christie had spoken.

  She watched it raise its head up in the air and begin sniffing. She didn’t like the look of that.

  The bear turned and sniffed the air in her direction; then it looked straight at her, turning its head to the side and roared.

  She quickly raised the rifle, aiming at the bear’s chest. Her hands were shaking so hard, she had to struggle to hold the rifle steady.

  She pulled the trigger. The shot rang out and the bear spun around as if to face an unseen attacker. It sat for a moment and began licking its rear leg. Then stood back up and stared at her.

  She aimed again and shot. The bear roared and began lumbering toward her, stopping from time to time to turn and lick its r
ear leg.

  Her mind froze; she didn’t know what to do. She began backing up and tripped over her backpack. She fell backwards, hitting her head, and dropped the rifle. She stood back up. The bear was still approaching.

  She turned and ran for all she was worth toward the small hill with the trees, leaving the rifle behind.

  Chapter 21

  Kate was halfway up the hill when she felt the toe of her boot catch on something. She began to lose her balance and reached out, grabbing a small pine tree and steadying herself. She looked behind her to see if the bear was still coming.

  It was sitting at the foot of the hill biting at the fur on its rear leg. She watched it stand up and start up the hill after her. A jolt of fear coursed through her, and she continued up the hill.

  At the top, she could see that the trees on the other side ended at the bottom. She started down the hillside, slipping and stumbling.

  At the bottom, she burst out of the trees and began running toward another small hill not far away. As she got closer to the second hill, she could see there were several large boulders on its top.

  From somewhere behind her in the distance, she heard the bear roar and felt another rush of energy shoot down her legs. She ran even faster to the base of the next hill and started her climb. When she reached the top, she crouched down behind one of the boulders to catch her breath.

  When she could breathe easier, she peeked around the boulder back toward the first hill. She didn’t see the bear. She hoped its hind leg hurt enough to make it give up the chase, but that hope evaporated as she saw the bear burst out of the trees then come to a stop. It put its short snout up in the air and sniffed then headed straight toward her.

  She turned and looked down the other side of the hill. Below her was a boulder-strewn field. She began working her way downhill as fast as she could without falling.