by R. D. Brady
A short time later, Mary came in and replaced Charlie, and Sugar arrived as well, curling up next to the girl. Frank stayed outside, standing at the entrance of the cave with a few other bigfoot, but he poked his head in every few minutes. Sometimes he stared at Tess, but he always checked on the little girl.
Tess watched all this in amazement. The girl hadn’t been lying. They were her family. They doted on her. They were concerned for her. They had even risked exposure to bring Tess to heal her.
Tess drew her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. Now what? The girl would heal and grow stronger. But she couldn’t live with them forever. The bigfoot were designed for the outdoor life. Their hair kept them insulated from both bugs and cold. Humans had no such insulation. And the girl’s dress was slowly turning to rags. Tess supposed she could get the girl clothes, but that would only be a stopgap.
The thought brought Tess up short. She realized the other huge difference between humans and this other group of hominids: the bigfoot had no possessions. They used what they needed from nature, but they kept nothing. Even the bed in the cave was solely for the little girl. No other family member had such a bed.
That partly accounted for why the bigfoot were so difficult to find. They brought nothing with them and left nothing behind, no evidence of their passage.
Tess’s eyes drifted to the girl. Unless they have a little human girl with them.
Tess looked at each member of the girl’s family. She knew they could protect the girl from many of the dangers she would face, but not all of them. The cut was evidence of that.
And the girl must have a human family, too. Were they looking for her? Was there some mother walking into this little girl’s room each day, her heart breaking a little more at the sight of the unused toys and bed? Did she have a sibling who was missing a sister?
Who was the girl? Where had she come from? How long had she been with this group? The questions rolled on and on. But the biggest one blinked like a neon sign above the rest: What was Tess going to do about her?
If she left the girl here, the girl could be in danger. Did Tess have the right to deny a family a reunion with their missing child? But to get the girl home, Tess would have to almost certainly reveal the bigfoot.
And they wouldn’t want to let the girl go, either. That much was obvious. So then what? Tess wouldn’t be able to convince them. And they could most definitely stop her.
Tess ran her hand through her hair. What the hell am I going to do?
CHAPTER 56
Queens, New York
Abe Cascione disconnected the call and pulled open the file on Tess Brannick. Over the last few days, Carter had placed a few unreturned calls to Dr. Brannick, and now the good doctor had failed to hand in her last report. Carter wanted Abe down there to see what was going on.
Abe smiled. And hopefully to offer a little encouragement the way only I can.
He rifled through the file before stopping at the pictures of Tess. The first was an academic shot from her doctoral program. Even in the conservative pose and dull gray suit, her attractiveness was apparent. The second shot was more casual. She was standing with one arm around her brother and the other around her brother-in law. Two other females flanked the trio: her friends Sasha Bileris and Abby Newman.
After Hayes had contacted Abe about her, Abe had conducted his own research. It was amazing how much information was available online. People really needed to be more careful. Tess carefully controlled her public image, but her friends and family were far less circumspect. The picture was from her friend Sasha’s Facebook page. Abe took in Tess’s bright smile, her long legs. An All-American beauty.
He picked up the phone and dialed. His call was answered on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Cameron, I need a flight to—” He flipped back to the first page and grimaced. “Beauford, California. It’s a small town somewhere near Oregon. Get me as close as you can.”
“Do you want me to arrange for a car and hotel as well?”
“Yes to the car, no to the hotel. I’ll figure that out when I get there.”
“Very well. I’ll have it ready first thing in the morning. Is there anything else?”
“No. That’s it for now. I’ll need you in the office at six in case I need anything else. And you’ll need to keep your phone with you at all times while I’m away.”
“I’ll be there. And I already live with my phone.”
“Good.” He disconnected the call.
Beauford was a tiny little town in Northern California located along the Bigfoot Scenic Byway. Abe scoffed. Bigfoot Scenic Byway. He’d looked up the name just to make sure it wasn’t fake—it wasn’t. It was an 89-mile road that cut through the Klamath National Forest. An eighteen-foot statue of bigfoot was supposed to tower over the beginning of it. That area of northern California was reputed to have the largest number of bigfoot sightings in the country.
Bunch of idiots believing in fairy tales. But even he had to admit, the idea of seeing one, and better yet killing one, was awfully appealing. He’d read the doctor’s professional description: “research into an unknown bipedal hominid residing in North America.” Academic speak for bigfoot.
But why the hell would Carter be interested in the professor?
He pictured the enigmatic CEO. Carter was Abe’s main employer, although Abe took the odd job here and there. Just quick kills—in and out. Carter’s jobs were usually more involved.
Abe picked up the picture. A watch-and-see mission. Maybe I’ll see if Mrs. Cameron can find me a few quick jobs while I wait.
CHAPTER 57
Over the next few days, the girl got stronger and stronger. And Tess learned her name: Missy. Tess couldn’t recall any missing children by that name, but that meant next to nothing. It wasn’t as if Tess kept a mental registry of every missing child. Besides, Bigfoot were theorized to travel long distances, perhaps hundred of miles; the girl could have come from any of the areas around the national forests.
And that was a lot of area. Klamath Park connected to three other national forests: Six Rivers Park, Siskiyou National Forest, and Rogue River National Forest. Together they comprised nearly five million acres over two states.
On Tess’s fourth day with the bigfoot, Charlie brought Missy along with him and Tess for their nightly routine of apples and sunset. The girl lay curled in Charlie’s lap, munching on an apple and glancing at Tess occasionally through the corner of her eyes.
Clearly the girl wasn’t comfortable with her yet. Tess leaned back and took a bite of apple. When she was done chewing, she said, “Do you know how I met Charlie?”
The girl frowned. “Charlie?”
Tess nudged her chin toward the bigfoot. “That’s what I call him. And then there’s Mary, Frank, and Sugar.”
Missy smiled shyly. “I call him Teddy.”
“Like a teddy bear?”
Missy nodded.
“Well, Teddy and I met at my camp. And the first thing we did was play catch.”
Missy’s eyebrows rose. “What?”
Tess explained about meeting Charlie for the first time and then how she’d come to meet Mary and Sugar.
Missy smiled when Tess mentioned playing hide-and-seek with Sugar. “Sister’s good at hiding,” Missy said.
“She’s really good,” Tess said. The three of them sat contentedly for a few moments before Tess spoke again. “So how did you meet them?”
Missy bit her lip and looked away. Tess glanced up at Charlie, who was watching the exchange quietly, but Tess felt trust coming from him. He wanted her to bond with the little girl. And he wanted Missy to know that as well.
“I used to play in the woods,” Missy said quietly.
“That must have been nice,” Tess said.
Missy hesitated, darting a glance at Tess. “I saw Mary one day, and then I started leaving her some food. We became friends.”
Tess knew she had to tread lightly here. “A
nd how did you come to live here?”
Missy looked at Tess, and tears sprang into her eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she said with a shaky voice.
“It’s okay, honey. You don’t have to. I’m just glad you found such good—such a great family.”
Missy turned and buried her head in Charlie’s chest. As she did, the hair fell away from her neck, exposing a red circular mark.
Tess stared at the spot, feeling shaky. Because Tess had seen that kind of mark before, but only in pictures. And it could only have been made by one thing: a cigarette.
CHAPTER 58
Abe Cascione lay on his stomach in his tent a few hundred yards from Tess Brannick’s cabin. He’d been camped out here for days now, and he’d seen no sign of the good doctor. But her cabin had been busy with people coming and going. Something was definitely up.
Pax Brannick stepped out of the cabin next to his husband, Shawn. The two of them headed to the barn, trailed by the dog. Abe shook his head. Two men married—times have definitely changed. A minute later, the ATV pulled out with Shawn aboard, heading into the woods. Pax appeared with the dog, and the two of them headed down the road.
Abe waited until they were out of view, and then he crawled out of his tent. Finally.
He walked to the front door and tried the knob—unlocked. He never understood people. Why on earth would anyone ever leave a door unlocked? He eased the door open and slipped inside. He made his way straight to the office, not sure how long the brother would be away. Sometimes he took the dog for a long walk, sometimes extremely short ones.
A map of the park was taped up on the back wall. Some areas were crossed off, others circled. Abe grunted. They’re searching for her. So she is lost. He shook his head. What did she expect, running around in the woods all this time?
He took a picture of the map and then rummaged through the desk. He found a list of names, all of them crossed off. He recognized some of them from his background check. They were calling all of Brannick’s associates.
He took some photos of the other papers on the desk, then walked over to the bookcase with the glass doors. At least three dozen large casts lay there. Damn, those are big. Almost all the footprints were over a foot long, and even the smaller ones were incredibly wide. Maybe she will find a bigfoot.
In the bottom right, he noticed a little bag. What have we here? He opened the door and reached in. The clear baggy held two pieces of hair. The bag itself was labeled with coordinates, time, and date. Abe smiled as he slipped the bag into his pocket. I think you may just have to come with me.
He closed up the case, gave the room one last scan, then headed out. It had been at least eight minutes, and he didn’t want to chance getting caught. Carter wanted this quiet. Translation: boring.
He let himself out and returned to his tent. Just as he ducked inside, he spied Pax and the dog returning. He watched the cabin for a few minutes after they entered, but all was quiet. They had no idea he’d been there.
He pulled out his phone and dialed.
Thaddeus answered. “Mr. Hayes expected your call hours ago.”
“Then he shouldn’t have told me to do this quietly. Quiet takes time.”
“Fine. What have you found out?”
“They have a few search parties out looking for her, so she’s definitely missing.”
“Are they getting close to finding her?”
Abe rolled his eyes. “I have no idea, as I don’t know where she is. But from what I can tell, they’re doing a grid search, covering specific areas before moving on to the next. They really don’t seem to have any idea where she is.”
“That’s disappointing. Did you find anything else?”
Abe held up the bag with the hair. “Nothing worth reporting.”
CHAPTER 59
Over the next few days Tess managed to coax more details out of Missy. She learned she was an only child and that her mother had died a few years back. She and her father had lived in a cabin on the edge of the woods, although Missy didn’t know where it was located. She had been to kindergarten for a little while, which meant she was at least five years old, as Tess had suspected.
Missy didn’t seem to know how long she had been with the bigfoot, but given how well she was accepted, Tess was sure it had been a while. Tess herself had seen how the rest of the bigfoot doted on her. Missy really had been accepted as one of them.
Tess didn’t want to press the girl for information, and Missy was very reluctant to speak about her life before the bigfoot. But Missy loved to talk about her life with them. She told Tess all about Frank carrying her on their long treks. She told her about the games she played with Sister and the other juveniles. And Tess realized—even if Missy didn’t—that Missy had missed talking with another human. There were times when she seemed to ramble on nonstop as if she’d been storing up her words the whole time she was with the bigfoot and now she needed to get them all out at once.
Tess didn’t mind. It was nice to have someone to talk to— someone who could talk back. And Tess was really starting to care for the little girl. She could see why the bigfoot enjoyed having the girl with them. Missy was almost perpetually happy.
But while Tess was enjoying her stay, the lower level of hygiene was really beginning to get to her. By the seventh day, Tess knew she needed a bath. She stunk. And while the bigfoot might not mind, she certainly did.
After a breakfast of a few apples, Tess decided she couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed her pack and headed for the lake. She stopped where Missy was playing some sort of rock game with Sugar, observed by Mary. “I’m going to the lake,” Tess said. “Do you want to come?”
Missy turned to Sugar and let out a series of grunts. Tess was dumbfounded. She speaks their language. In all Tess’s time here, this was the first time Missy had done so. The possibilities of that one discovery nearly overwhelmed her. With Missy’s help, she would actually be able to communicate with them.
Missy stood, as did Sugar and Mary. “We’ll come.”
Tess didn’t respond at first. She was still dealing with the shock of learning Missy could speak the bigfoot language.
Missy tugged on her arm. “Tess?”
Tess pulled herself back to the present. Mary and Sugar had already started down toward the lake. Tess forced a smile to her lips. “Sorry. Okay, let’s go.” She and Missy jogged to catch up with the other two.
The foursome made their way down to the lake. As they drew nearer, Sugar scampered ahead with Missy on her back. They were just like any other siblings.
At the edge of the water, Tess hesitated, wondering about the water’s temperature. But the bigfoot had no such qualms, and neither did Missy. They all dove right in.
Taking off her boots, Tess dove in after them. The first brush with the water chilled her. Wow, that’s cold. She stretched out and swam halfway across the lake. As she treaded water in the middle, she began to warm up. She watched the others. Missy was swimming after Sugar—it looked like a game of tag, although there was no way a young human girl could keep up with a bigfoot.
Then Sugar dropped under the water. Tess waited for her to reappear. She didn’t.
Tess frowned. Her heart began to beat faster. She should be back up by now. Mary floated on her back, unconcerned, and Missy swam around happily, but Tess felt her anxiety building.
Then a hand grabbed her leg, and she screamed. Sugar burst out of the water behind her.
Sugar let off a barking laugh, and Mary and Missy joined in. Tess held her hand to her chest, afraid her heart would pound its way out of it. Then she splashed water at Sugar. “That was mean.” Sugar dove under again, avoiding the spray, and reappeared out of range.
Tess shook her head and chuckled.
As she treaded water, she got an up close and personal view of the bigfoot’s swimming abilities. They really were incredible swimmers. They splashed water at one another, and raced across the lake at impressive speed. And Mary could hold her breath
underwater just as long as Sugar had, if not longer.
What was most surprising, though, was what a good swimmer Missy was. Tess considered herself a pretty decent swimmer, but she was a distant fourth when compared with the other three.
Still, at one point Missy swallowed some water and started to struggle. Before Tess could even move, Mary and Sugar were at her side. Mary quickly flipped onto her back and Sugar lifted Missy up so that she could lie on Mary’s stomach. Her very own bigfoot pool float, Tess thought.
An hour later, Tess pulled herself to shore, knowing that if she stayed in a second longer, someone would have to rescue her. She lay back on the grass, thankful that the sun was warm. After a time, the other three joined her and lay next to her. Tess smiled. Just four friends just enjoying a warm afternoon.
Mary was the first to get up, followed by Sugar. Tess groaned as she sat up. She had actually been really comfortable on the ground. She looked over at Missy, who gave her a shy smile.
Missy’s hair was matted. Her dress was torn. She was a miserable mess, but there was such a look of contentment on her face. “You had fun, didn’t you?” Tess asked.
Missy nodded.
But Tess’s gaze traveled to the dress she wore. It really was a disaster. She grabbed her pack and pulled it over. “You know, I may have something in here for you.”
“Really?” Missy asked.
Tess rummaged through and found her old blue t-shirt in the bottom. “Here we go.” She shook it out and held it up to Missy. It came past her knees, but it would work. “What do you think?”
Missy’s eyes grew large, and a smile broke across her face.
Tess dropped the t-shirt. “Okay, turn around and I’ll help you put this on.” Missy did, and Tess pulled the old ratty dress off of her.
And she barely managed to hold in her gasp. Her hands shook as she looked at Missy’s back. There was a mass of old scars, most of them cigarette burns. She put a trembling hand to her mouth.
