Chapter 6
Looking up both children saw one man walking toward them with a toothless grin. His hair was dirty and stringy and his clothes filthy and worn with a gaping hole in the left knee of his pants. Nick pulled Mandy closer not taking his eyes off the creepy guy or his barking dog.
“Don’t be afraid. I ain’t gonna hurt ya none,” he said still smiling. “Yer lost, ain’t ya? I jest want to hep ya.”
“We’re not lost,” Nick protested. “We like taking early morning walks in the woods.”
“Looks to me like you been walking all night,” he kept grinning that toothless grin finally stopping a few feet away. Turning to his dog, he said, “Calm down there Butch. Stop yer yapping!”
Butch stopped barking and sat down, licking his chops, then letting his tongue hang out of his mouth as he panted and whimpered slightly.
“We’re fine. Really. You don’t have to worry about us,” Nick insisted. “We’ll be okay. So you and your dog can go ahead and go.”
“You two live around here?” He asked ignoring Nick, his smile gone. “I think you should jest come along with me and my friend. We’ll help you out.”
“Your friend?” Nick asked, and then wished he had not.
“That’s right,” another voice spoke from behind them.
Nick and Mandy quickly looked around, terrified. Another, equally filthy man was a few feet behind them. Looking back at the first man, he stepped closer. They had nowhere to run. They were surrounded!
Nick wanted to fight, but before he could do anything, the first man tapped the side of his leg. Butch, stood up now alert, his eyes focused on Nick and Mandy. He growled slightly and showed his teeth. His muscles flinched with anticipation.
“I wouldn’t run or nuthin’ if I was you two. Butch, here, loves a good chase, but he don’t play around none.”
The second man sneered and grinned in a sinister way, then added. “Yeah, he’s all business when it comes to chasing stuff…even little kids.”
The children were terrified. What should they do? What could they do? What was going to happen to them? They knew they couldn’t out run a dog. They also knew these men had guns, even though they didn’t see any at the moment. Quickly both children realized the wood smoke they smelled earlier probably was from the men’s cabin. They had been going in circles all night. Why didn’t they just ‘hug a stupid tree’ like that forest ranger told his class they should? They probably would have been found by now and home safe with Aunt Clara.
Weak from their overnight ordeal and with no food or water, both Nick and Mandy felt faint. Nick, though, was determined to be brave and resisted being completely afraid. Somehow, they were going to be rescued. He didn’t know how, he just knew they would be, that’s all.
Then, almost in answer to an unspoken prayer, out of nowhere the sound of a helicopter pulsed overhead. The two men jerked in surprise then each made a move to grab Nick and Mandy. Both children ducked quickly, avoiding their grasp then darted away from them and ran back to the dirt road with Butch at their heels, waving their arms frantically hoping the helicopter would make another pass. It did! This time it circled overhead then hovered. Butch stopped short and looked back for his masters.
Nick and Mandy started to jump and yell, “Help! We’re here! Help! Help!”
The two men darted out of the woods and rushed to their truck calling to Butch in the process. Hot on their heels, Butch jumped in the back of the truck as it took off spewing mud and gravel as it turned around. A voice on a loud speaker told Nick and Mandy to stay where they were, that help was on the way. The helicopter waited for a moment, as it watched the pickup truck speed back toward the other road, then followed it.
“Don’t leave us!” Nick screamed. Terrified that the men might somehow be back before help arrived, Nick was frantic not knowing what to do and grabbed Mandy’s hand ready to start running again. Then they heard it. The sound of a siren. It continued to get louder until they saw the flashing lights of a sheriff’s four-wheeled drive vehicle racing toward them.
Skidding to a halt a few feet from them, out stepped a deputy. He also had a dog with him, but this dog trotted up to them and sniffed their clothes, then the ground around their feet. He darted back and forth, then caught a scent and whimpered to his handler, looking into the woods. “Striker! Stay!” Turning to the children he asked, “Are you Nick and Mandy?”
Nearly in tears now, Nick and Mandy both nodded as they held each other tightly.
“I’m Deputy Sanders. Do you trust me?”
They both nodded wiping their faces.
“Good. Come get in. I need you two to help me find those men. Do you think you can do that?”
Nick and Mandy followed the Deputy to his vehicle. Striker jumped in seating himself in the front passenger seat anxious and eager to pursue his prey.
“You kids hungry?”
“Yes,” both said as they climbed into the back.
Deputy Sanders smiled and handed them a paper bag. In it were two large muffins, sliced apples, and cold bottles of orange juice. “Your Aunt Clara fixed this for you. She’s been very worried. Will this do for now?”
“Yes, thank you,” Nick smiled back handing his sister a muffin.
“Looks like you two have had a pretty rough night. But you’re safe now.” He paused then said, “You know those two guys back there? We’ve been trying to catch them for quite some time now. They’ve been hunting illegally up here, but we just couldn’t catch them in the act. Thanks to you, though, we might get them this time.”
“Thanks to us?” Mandy asked quietly.
“Yup. These guys lay low during the day. We’ve never been able to catch them with any butchered deer or anything. Nothing to prove what they’ve been up to. We know where they live, but we can never find anything sufficient to actually charge them.” He looked at Nick. “Did you happen to see anything during the night that might help us?” He was hopeful, but also aware that both children had been through quite an ordeal, and didn’t want to press either of them for information too quickly or too hard.
“They shot two deer,” Nick said quietly.
“Two deer? You saw them?”
“Yes,” Mandy added. “They’re mean men. Those deer weren’t bothering anyone. They were just eating and walking around.”
Nick nodded then explained about hearing the gunshots and seeing the dead deer in the back of the old beat up pickup.
“That’s good enough for us, Nick.” He smiled at both children then headed up the road as quickly as possible. He didn’t turn on the siren this time. Now that the children had been found, he didn’t need it. He didn’t want to advertise where they were. Besides, the helicopter had followed the truck.
It wasn’t long before they reached the other road. The Deputy headed up the road a short distance, slowing down, finally turning into an almost unnoticeable trail through the woods. It was just wide enough for a vehicle. He cautiously continued. It was rough and bouncy and he had to dodge debris and rocks as he went. Since he couldn’t hear it any longer, Nick wondered if the helicopter had landed somewhere nearby.
Striker was getting more and more anxious. “I think my pal caught their scent. At least he smells something that’s got him all excited.”
“They have two dogs,” Nick offered.
“Two dogs?”
“Yes, we saw two dogs in a muddy pen at their cabin. At least I think it was their cabin.” He took a sip of the orange juice.
“They are mean dogs,” Mandy added soberly.
“Thanks for the tip.”
Eventually Deputy Sanders stopped just short of a clearing. Nick and Mandy sat up straight and stared ahead. “Now what?” Nick asked.
“I’m going to go ahead on foot to take a closer look. You both stay here in the car with Striker. I’ll be right back.” Lowering the front two windows a couple of inches before step
ping out of his vehicle, the Deputy gently pushed his door shut and used a remote device on his key ring to silently lock all the doors. He moved away on foot following a narrow deer trail and disappeared into the dense underbrush. Striker stayed alert in the front seat watching ahead, occasionally sniffing the air wafting through the open windows and glancing about.
A few minutes later, the Deputy returned and got back in the vehicle. I saw a cabin and the two dogs tied up outside,” he said.
“That’s their cabin.” Nick whispered. “What are you going to do?”
“Wait.”
“For what?”
“Reinforcements.” Switching on his radio, he quickly made contact with someone else. The conversation was quick and to the point then he sat back to wait and watch. Striker anxiously waited, completely alert and focused. Every so often he’d let out a quiet whimper and twitch.
“Easy boy,” Deputy Sanders said, scratching his companion behind the ears. “You’ll have your turn, just be patient.” Striker, however, was having difficulty being patient! Even so, he was obedient to his master.
Nick and Mandy wondered how much longer they were going to have to wait. Both were so tired and now that they were warm and fed, they just wanted to sleep.
The Deputy must have noticed. “I know you both are very tired, but this will soon be all over and then we can get you both home so you can clean up and get some rest.”
Even with that reassurance, both yawned and tried to keep their eyes open, finally dozing off to sleep and only vaguely aware that Deputy Sanders was using his radio again. Quietly, he and Striker got out of the vehicle and locked it up before stealthily taking off into the forest toward the cabin in the meadow.
Nick dreamt of owls and wolves while Mandy dreamt of dogs and deer. Both were restless and fidgeted as they slept, sometimes moaning and twitching. Suddenly Nick was awake, sat up straight, and frantically looked around. Mandy shifted and woke up as well. Both realized they were alone in the Deputy’s vehicle. They heard the barking of dogs nearby then it became silent. Alone and unsure what was happening now, both children became frightened again and scooted down to the floor waiting and wondering what was going to happen next.