Siege at Hawthorn Lake: Murder on the Mountain

by Paul G Buckner

  “Stop doing what, Sheriff? I’m not doing anything,” Billy said.

  “That tapping on the wall! It’s making me nervous.”

  “But I’m not…”

  The others heard the sounds too. Clance had come downstairs to get some coffee and was just on his way back up. He stopped, sat his cup down and walked to the front doors to listen closer.

  “That’s the Sasquatch. They’re using limbs to knock on trees. It’s a way they communicate I think. I’ve been hearing it faintly for a few minutes now. Guess it didn’t register until you pointed it out. Not sure if they’re calling in more of the damn things or signaling another attack. Either way I’d say we’d better get ready for anything! I’m gonna sneak back onto the deck and keep watch. Turner, throw the lights on again if you hear me shoot!”

  Clance slowly and quietly unbolted the huge doors and crept back out on to the deck with Billy following closely behind. The glass in one of the doors had been broken out when the large rock busted through it, but the heavy wooden barn style door itself was solid. Clance instructed Billy that if they had to retreat back inside, the first thing they had to do, no matter what, would be to slide the heavy wooden barn door in place and secure it with the crossbar. It was built to withstand the elements, but also to keep out curious bears rummaging for food. These mountains were full of bears, big cats, and wolves that wouldn’t pass up a chance at an easy meal. Folks that built their homes out here knew how to keep all animals, big and small, out. They just hoped that with the aid of their rifles and the heavy wooden doors, they could also keep the Sasquatch out!

  In the bedroom below, Troy was explaining everything that had happened since Phil had been knocked out of the ATV on that night in the woods. He told Phil of the search for him, the trip into town, his hospital stay, and subsequent arrest for the murder of Craig. When he was done relaying everything, he let the impact of his words hang. Phil had no idea that Craig had been killed and was in complete shock. The two of them had grown up together, went to college together, went on many big game hunts together. It was a huge blow. Phil sat down on the bed in the dark room. Troy could hear his breathing catch from time to time as his friend choked back tears.

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get back here for you. I was in pretty bad shape after I fell in the lake. If it hadn’t been for Clance, I wouldn’t be here. It took a few weeks for the fever to go down and I was in and out, but once I woke up and realized where I was, the damned things were on us and kept us pinned down close to the cabin.”

  “No, Phil. I know why you weren’t here. I’m just sorry that we weren’t able to double back and find you. We were forced to retreat back to the cabin to get weapons and we had no idea where you could have been. We searched for you, but it was like a needle in a haystack in all that chaos. Then after I woke up in the hospital I told the sheriff. They had dozens of people combing the mountain for you, but no one ever found a trace of you. Winter storms didn’t help either. I have no idea what could’ve provoked these damn things. I just can’t figure it out!”

  The two men sat quietly with their thoughts to themselves. The silence was broken suddenly when Clance shouted down to everyone to be ready. The windows of the cabin were small to protect against the harsh winters, but they still provided plenty of area to watch from. The night air was bitter cold as it blew in through the open windows. They were scared and nervous, but ready for a fight. Troy moved back over to the breaker box in case he heard shooting and had to throw the light switch on again. As he moved in the darkness, he tripped over the leg of the bed and fell. The butt of his shotgun slammed hard on the wooden floor and discharged. The boom of the weapon was deafening in the small room and startled the occupants in the cabin. There was a loud and enraged scream at the abandoned window where Troy had just been. One of the Sasquatch had somehow gotten close enough to reach in. Finding nothing except empty space, the creature roared in anger and attempted to climb inside. Phil turned and fired at point blank range hitting the beast in the shoulder and again in a giant, hairy hand. He kept levering rounds in and fired several more times, but the beast kept trying to come through the small window. Troy regained his footing and he also began firing at the monster. They couldn’t see the beast, but fired only from sound of the terrible and enraged screaming.

  Jolene hurried to the light switches and turned them on just as another gunshot, much louder than the others, echoed through the cabin, dropping the beast and ending the shrieks.

  The sheriff had heard the commotion and ran to the doorway. Shining his flashlight with one hand and aiming his weapon with the other he took careful aim and let go with the .454 Casull. The firearm exploded and nearly took his hand off with it from the recoil. It was a huge hand canon used for stopping bears. It did its job in this case, dropping the Sasquatch deftly to the ground. He checked on the two men in the bedroom then quickly moved back to his position in the front room and looked around for any others.

  “Clance? Billy? You guys okay?” The sheriff called out.

  “Yeah we’re good. Everyone down there okay?”

  “We’re good,” the sheriff called back.

  Phil said, “We never saw it or heard the damn thing. It looks clear now. Must’ve been a scout they sent in. This is crazy! I can’t believe how intelligent these things are. Sneaky bastards! “

  “Cover me fellas, I’m going out to get a closer look at this thing,” Nick said.

  The sheriff held his flashlight in his left hand and the Casull in the right and slowly made his way off the front steps and around to the side of the house. Both Troy and Phil were watching from all directions for any signs that others may be around while they kept their weapons trained on the giant Sasquatch lying prone under the window.

  Nick could see the eyes of the beast and knew a death stare when he saw it. The creature was dead. He heard a low, mournful cry from somewhere deep in the woods. It was far enough away that he wasn’t too worried at the moment. He reached into his pocket and withdrew his cell phone. He opened up the camera app and began taking photos of the creature and then finally he took a few moments of video footage with close ups of the creature’s face.

  Clance walked down the side steps from the deck and stood beside him.

  “I know this one. I’ve seen him watching me before when I ran my traps. He walked with a gate unlike the others. Never showed signs of aggression, but never showed any signs of being friendly either. I think he was one of their hunters, but not the leader.”

  The two men stood and stared at the enormous creature for a moment in silence and amazement. The creature was at least seven and a half feet tall and they estimated it weighed about four-hundred pounds. Its arms were long, muscular and thin, as were its legs. The entire body of the Sasquatch was covered in solid black fur and smelled terrible. The sheriff looked over at Clance.

  He said, “They’re gonna come in to get him ya know”

  Chapter 29

  Troy and Phil were at their positions covering the windows in the bedroom. Gavin and Mathew were set up in the other room nearest the garage which was the point that made the nearest cover for the Sasquatch and most vulnerable for the cabin because of the blind spots. The lower bedrooms of the cabin were on the corners of the house and each one had a small window on each side. From their vantage point, they had a clear line of fire on the rear of the cabin, both sides and the front.

  The sheriff remained in the living room guarding the front of the house. The front door was located in the center of the room. A small window on each side flanked the door and gave him a clear line of site to most of the front porch area. His truck was parked in front beside the other four by four that was owned by Craig. He knew the vehicles had sustained some damage from the first attack, but wasn’t too worried about it. He wondered how he would ever explain this - provided they made it out of the ordeal alive!

  Jolene and her daughter, who were well versed in the use of any rifle just as well if not better than m
any men, were keeping an eye on the back door in the kitchen. There was a small window over the sink where they could see out, but it wasn’t open. The kitchen was at the opposite end of the living room so the sheriff was nearby if needed, as well as any one of the other men in the lower bedrooms. They were all ready for the expected attack.

  The wood knocking and the howling had stopped. It seemed like an eternity had gone by when Troy noticed the red LED clock on the kitchen counter showed it to be only a little after midnight. The sun wouldn’t be up for several more hours. Secretly, he wondered if they would they survive night.

  Seconds counted down and everyone remained on edge. Clance was again in a prone position on top of the deck with his rifle and two pistols ready for whatever came at them. He was an expert marksman as was any man there, but when in the heat of battle even the best could be flustered and scared enough to miss at point blank range. Clance Denizen wasn’t one of those men.

  Billy stood at the edge of the doorway on the upper deck with the shotgun and his forty-five caliber Glock side arm. He had two high capacity clips in his web belt and one in the pistol. He was shaking so badly that he literally felt his teeth chatter. He didn’t know if it was from the cold or simply out of fear. He never would have thought that something like this could happen. He had always been skeptical of stories of Sasquatch or Bigfoot. He had never seen proof; only stories. Until now!

  “Keep a good watch, Billy. I’m gonna go down and see about some more coffee. It’s gonna be a long night!”

  “You bet,” Billy said through chattering teeth.

  Clance slowly crawfished back from the edge of the deck and retreated inside the cabin. The sheriff heard him walking down the stairs and went over to meet him.

  “Pretty quiet, huh, Clance? Maybe they’ll leave us alone now,” Nick said.

  “All that silence worries me. Gonna grab some coffee. You want some?” Clance asked.

  The two men poured their coffee and walked back over to the front windows where they could stand and still keep watch.

  “So what do you think got these things all pissed off anyway?” The sheriff asked.

  “I’m not sure. It has to be something though. Too many years we’ve coexisted and they’ve never bothered us,” Clance answered.

  “I talked to Zach Blanchard the other day. He’s building a new resort up on route fourteen. Apparently, he’s had several break-ins where the place was just ransacked. Busted up real bad, but nothing ever taken. He suspects that it may have been the Sasquatch. He told me he seen one near there when he was on the dozer one day. Showed me some pictures of footprints he had taken with his cell phone.”

  “That’s smack dab in the middle of their hunting grounds, Sheriff. They can’t be none too happy about that. That may be what the problem is. Blanchard had no way of knowing what kind of hell he was stirring up!” Clance said.

  “That would explain a lot, Clance,” the sheriff stated.

  “So it would seem,” Clance said.

  “Had to be the Squatch! They usually stay way up in the mountains where people never go. Only come down to hunt when winters get bad. Now that he’s building on their hunting grounds, they’re retaliating! This may get worse before it gets better, Sheriff. They never hurt me or my family before. Always left us alone, until now. Now I think we’re all lucky to be alive and we’ll be damn lucky to survive this at all,” Clance said firmly.

  Clance finished his coffee in silence and moved back upstairs and resumed his position at the edge where he could keep a close watch. It had been quiet for too long and that made them all nervous. He hadn’t been lying in his prone position long when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and slowly maneuvered the muzzle of his rifle to cover the area. He quietly whispered to Billy to be ready, he had one in his sights. He took careful aim, let out half his breath and squeezed the trigger. The roar of the big bore rifle startled the others into action, but they could see no targets yet. The lights were still burning brightly outside, shining on the snow covered ground. They had lines of vision for quite a ways. The only worry was near the trucks and the garage where the beasts could be gathering and hiding behind. After a few moments of silence, they heard the bark of Clance’s rifle again.

  One of the boys yelled out, “I don’t see anything!”

  Just as Clance’s second shot rang out the rocks began raining down on the roof and the walls again, like a thunderstorm had broken loose on top of the house. Two of the Sasquatch had been moving in on the house, slowly crawling underneath the snow pack using it as camouflage. They were dragging something that they had filled with rocks. Clance saw movement from the first one, but held his fire. He wanted to make sure that he had a good count of how many were there. When he spotted only one other, he turned his attention back to the first one that he had a better field of view of and fired.

  The beast was hit and shrieked in a rage. It began pelting the cabin with the rocks, trying to hit the place where the threat was coming from. Clance rolled on the deck and changed positions just as a large rock splintered the railing above him. Rocks were raining down on the cabin and the vehicles outside from all directions. Staying in a prone position, he put the cross hairs of his scope on the creature’s head and fired. His first shot missed as the creature was thrashing about wildly forcing him to reload. His next shot was true and ended the life of one more Sasquatch. The second beast dropped the rocks it was carrying and rushed the cabin, shrieking in fury.

  Troy saw it running towards the front of the cabin and fired his shotgun at the same time that Clance, Billy and the sheriff did. The beast made it to the porch and slammed hard into the front door. Clance and Billy could no longer see what was happening beneath them and relied on the others to stop the threat. Neither of them could leave their positions unguarded.

  The cabin walls shook from the pounding and the shrieking screams of the beast was deafening as it battered against the door in a blind rage. The heavy crossbar held firmly though and the door stood strong. Through the chaos, the sheriff finally had a clear view of the huge beast and fired his weapon. The huge slug from the weapon found its mark and the Sasquatch stumbled dazed and confused. In the next instant, it began clawing madly at its chest trying desperately to make the burning stop. This gave the sheriff another opportunity to fire again through the small window. The creature made another lunge at the door just as the weapon bucked violently in Nick’s hand. The slug tore through its chest and it stopped for a brief moment breathing heavily and clawing at the gaping wounds.

  Gavin saw the beast rush the cabin, but didn’t have a clear shot from his position. He took the butt of his rifle and broke out the remaining glass shards from the window as quickly as he could. Leaning halfway out, he was finally able to get a clear view of the chaos and brought his rifle up. When the sheriff’s second shot stunned the Sasquatch and caused it to pause, Gavin let loose with a rain of bullets pelting it and dropping it hard to the porch floor.

  The chaotic melee’ was deafening. The sheriff’s ears were ringing from the discharge of the weapons and the shrieking of the beast, but he could hear a high pitched scream in his head. Somehow it was different than before. Suddenly, the realization hit him that the sound that he was hearing wasn’t in his head, but coming from somewhere else. He snapped out of his battle haze and back into the moment.

  Jolene! She was screaming from the other end of the house. She had been watching out the window for any signs of the assailants when one of the creatures busted through the small kitchen window with a long, hairy arm and grabbed her by the front of her coat causing her to drop the rifle she had been holding. She fought to pull away from the grip, but the creature was too strong.

  Nick turned and ran through the living room to get to her as did both Gavin and Mathew. Gavin reached her first, pulled a huge bowie knife from a sheath on his side as he ran, and threw himself at the creature’s arm. He put himself in between his mother and the window and began slashing at its un
protected flesh. The Sasquatch screamed and lashed about so badly that no one could get a shot off. The chaos was maddening and caused everyone to rush to the scene. The attacker had to let go of the small woman to fend off Gavin and his sharp blade. When he did, Jolene fell to the floor in a crumpled heap.

  Mathew, not being able to get a clear shot at the creature in the kitchen, threw the crossbar off the back door barricade, opened it, and fired his weapon. In a flash, another Sasquatch found an opening and rushed the door. Mathew never saw it as the beast hit him and knocked him hard into the kitchen wall. He dropped his rifle, crumpled to the floor and lay unmoving. The sheriff reached the back door just as the monster tried stepping inside and let go with another round driving the beast back out into the night. When the door was clear, he dragged Mathew safely back out of the way while keeping an eye on the door.

  Irene still had her rifle in her hand, but could not bring herself to shoot. She stood still, frozen in terror. The screaming of the giant beast as Gavin slashed at it was deafening. Suddenly, her father’s big hands grabbed her and quickly moved her out of the way.

  Clance turned to his wife who lay on the floor. He quickly picked her up and carried her to the sofa near the fireplace. Gavin still fought the beast through the window with his big hunting knife. Clance could see that the boy was no match for the Monster. He kissed his wife’s forehead then ran for the open door out into the night.

  Nick was angling for a shot inside the kitchen, but had to hold his fire once Clance ran outside after the enraged monster. He couldn’t afford to fire blindly in fear of hitting the man.

  The beast at the window was throwing Gavin around trying to shake him off of its arm. The knife was inflicting major damage to it and it was bleeding profusely, causing the floor to become slick. The putrid smell of the animal was terrible and it was everything Gavin could do to keep a hold on the creature. His knife blade repeatedly found flesh and finally the Sasquatch let go and jerked its arm back out.