"My feet are wet already from crossing the river. What does it matter now?" He stomped his feet to show Tommy how the water spilled out and down the sides of his shoes.
"Doesn't really," he replied. "It's just that we'll have another eight hours or more tomorrow if we stop at Wolf Creek. The farther we get tonight the better."
"If you think so."
Tommy closed the book, stuffed it into the side pocket of his backpack and started to walk again. He said nothing and remained deep in thought. Jason followed behind close and stared off into the forest.
Hours past as the boys followed the path that meandered up and down, crossed through small valleys and rose up over narrow ridges. The boys had to ford a few small creeks, and in other areas they had to walk through the shrubs along the side because the path was a terrible mess of churned up mud from numerous hoof prints.
"This sucks," Jason said. "Bloody horses!"
Tommy laughed as he struggled on his own through the scrub around this muddy section of the path. "You didn't complain last year, remember? When you were on the horse and passed those hikers who were up to their ankles in mud."
Jason frowned as he lost his footing while he tried to circumnavigate a large shrub on the edge of the muddy trail and stepped deep into a soft muddy section of the path. "Just shut up!" Jason shouted, highly frustrated. He struggled to keep his running shoe attached to his foot as he pulled it slowly out from the deep mud. He succeeded, and continued through the thickets and shrubbery that lined both sides of the path.
Tommy stole glances over at Jason as he fought his way through the bush. He laughed inside and enjoyed seeing Jason in touch with his emotions outside of Spy Hill.
The sun threatened to hide behind the tall mountain to the west. The lower section of the valley descended into the shadows as the boys reached the Wolf Creek Campground. The going had been slower than Tommy hoped, and he decided it would be best if they camped here after all. They would get an early start in the morning instead. Tommy picked a site in the back as far away from the path as possible to set up camp.
CHAPTER 75
Ricky knew he was in for tension by the surprised reaction he received at the reception desk when he asked if he could see Tommy Oliver. Instead of being directed to the visitor's room as he was in the past, he was shunted through a side door and down a hallway to a small tiny room with no windows that contained only four single wooden chairs.
He was only alone for a few minutes before two serious looking officers entered the room. One introduced himself as Seargent Stearn from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the other was a Brian somebody from somewhere Ricky couldn't remember. His mind shuttered with a heavy worry. He felt himself become light headed, and the room swirled around him as the officers pounced on him with many questions about Tommy.
The questions were direct and to the point. Ricky answered as straight as he could, careful to remember Bobby's instructions about what to say.
"And you haven't seen Tommy today?"
Ricky feigned a frown. "I told you, I just got here. No, I haven't seen him today."
"Maybe somewhere else today?"
"Huh?" Ricky forced another frown. "Where else would I see him? He's locked up here. I don't understand."
The officers looked at each other. Both understood Ricky was going to continue to deny seeing Tommy today.
"What about your friend then? The other one who comes up here all the time." He spun his hand around in circles. "What's his name again? Oh yes, Bobby. Have you seen Bobby today?"
Ricky nodded. "Uh huh. He drove me up here. He's outside waiting in the car."
Seargent Stearn looked to the other officer who then quickly left the room. Ricky knew he was off to bring Bobby in for his own questioning.
"Let me ask you this. Where were you this afternoon?"
Ricky responded quickly. "Bobby and I went to see a movie. The Hunger Games. It started at five. Came straight up here after the movie was over."
The officer nodded back. "Hunger Games?"
"Uh huh. The Hunger Games. Down at Westhills."
"Westhills theatre. You wouldn't still have your receipt would you?"
Ricky looked down nervously and shoved his hand into one of the pockets of his jeans. "I think so," he mumbled. He dug deep and pulled out nothing. He stood up and shrugged. "I thought I still had it."
He shoved his other hand into his other pocket and finally pulled up a crumpled piece of paper, and smiled.
"Oh, here it is," he said and quickly unfolded it. He handed the receipt over to the Sergeant.
The Sergeant studied the receipt for a moment and handed it back to Ricky.
"What's going on? Did something happen to Tommy?" Ricky asked as he shoved the receipt back in his pocket. "Is that why you won't let me see him?"
The Sergeant directed Ricky to sit back down. He pulled a chair across from Ricky and sat down himself face to face with Ricky. "Tommy and his brother Jason escaped today."
Ricky knew the Sergeant was looking for a reaction. Ricky lurched up straight in his chair with his eyes wide open in surprise. "Escaped?" he said. He left his mouth open wide in awe. He then let a short smile slip across his face. "Really? Tommy and Jason escaped?" Ricky began to snicker. He started to laugh for show, but as he forced the laugh, he felt his nervousness release and the laughter became genuine. "Escaped? Well what do you know." He continued to hold the smile.
"This is not something to laugh about!" The Sergeant was clearly irate at Ricky's attitude towards the situation. "Those two are in extremely serious trouble now."
"Like they weren't already before," Ricky replied.
"Don't get smart!"
Ricky's smile evaporated. "Oh, I'm not, sir," He replied meekly. "It's just... I never dreamt they would ever try to escape. Not those two. Not if you knew them. Are you sure they aren’t just hiding somewhere inside?"
Sergeant Stearn stood up. He breathed heavily and was clearly disappointed with Ricky's lack of information. "You will call us if he tries to contact you?" It was more of a statement than a question.
Ricky nodded fast and hard. "Of course, sir." Ricky knew he had made it through and couldn't wait to meet back with Bobby.
"You will just need to wait here a bit while we talk to your friend, and then you can go. It won't be long." The Sergeant left the room, and Ricky was left with an exhilaration he had not felt in a long while. He was sure now their part of the plan was complete, and tomorrow they would wait eagerly for Tommy and Jason to arrive back in Bluffington.
CHAPTER 76
The sun began to set behind the backdrop of the mountains to the west, and Sarah still had not heard back from Simon. She called him on his cell and then again at home, but the only voice she heard was a recording. It was so unlike Simon not to follow through on his word. He was a very particular character, and the worry she carried since spotting her car at the Safeway sank itself deep within her.
Sarah wanted to cry. She had been trying so hard to start over, but it seemed Gerald couldn't be washed away that easily. She stewed in her own past for a while and paced around the room. She worried about Simon. She thought about her attempts to plant new roots but realized that to grow anything new, even this far away in Bluffington, she had to rid herself of the ghost of Gerald. She accepted the truth that the ghost was there every single day. It was there as she sat at the Bistro and stared out the window day after day. She saw him in every stranger who walked like him or was built like him. She saw him in every white Ford truck that went by, and she often found herself hearing his whispers in amongst crowds. She heard his personal sounds at the most unexpected times.
Would she ever be free? She remembered a few nights ago when she sat out in Simon's back yard. Gerald didn’t seemed so terrible that night. She felt foolish for a moment for letting herself waffle. She actually missed Gerald that night.
/> Now she reflected on previous events and felt a selfish shame for having involved her new friend Simon in her fret. It was unfair to drag him into it. She now worried about his whereabouts. Simon was probably off doing something else for himself. He probably totally forgot about driving into Calgary to check up on the house and Gerald for her. Gerald was probably just getting on as Simon suggested. She felt foolish all over again.
She called Simon again. "Why won't you answer?" she shouted. Her voice echoed eerily off the walls of the empty house. She hated her thoughts and shivered because she felt so very alone and helpless. If there was no Simon to lean on, then who was left?
The sun eventually set behind the mountains, and it left the darkened sky to creep across the valley while Sarah lay curled up under her comforter. She hoped sleep would come soon, but her mind swirled around and around with worry about Simon. It was too late to call Simon again. She settled on trying again in the morning.
CHAPTER 77
Tommy woke Jason as soon as the sun hit the opposite side of the valley. He wanted to get a move on, but trying to rouse his brother was more difficult than he thought.
"Stop it, Tommy," Jason shouted as Tommy shoved his fists into Jason's midsection. He pulled the sleeping bag high over his head attempting to keep his body heat inside.
"Get up, Jason. We gotta move."
"Hmm," Jason moaned and curled up even tighter.
"Jason! We have a long way to go today. C'mon."
Jason ignored him and pulled on the top of his bag again trying to drown out Tommy's demands.
Tommy shoved Jason hard one last time to wake him and slipped outside the tent. He stretched out wide, looked up and reached high into the clear blue sky. He quickly set about starting a small fire and had water boiling for the oatmeal in a short time.
"Jason!" he shouted and he stuck his head back inside the tent. "It's time. Let's move. I've got oatmeal on the go!"
The sun had already snuck down through the trees and onto their tent by the time Jason finally set himself down by the fire. Tommy ate long ago and had most of the gear, with the exception of the tent and breakfast dishes, already packed away into the two backpacks. The fire still burned, and he kept the water hot for Jason's oatmeal.
Jason rubbed his hands through his hair in attempt to make it lay where he preferred. It didn't co-operate and he quickly gave up. He looked down at the bowl of oatmeal Tommy handed him.
Jason grinned. "Mmm, oatmeal!" He laughed. "Just like Spy Hill. Thanks, Tommy. I thought I was done with their food."
"Just eat it. You'll need your energy today," he said and doused the fire.
Jason ate his breakfast and they packed up the tent and the rest of the supplies. They sat and studied the map once more before they headed out on the trail towards Bluffington.
CHAPTER 78
Sarah woke well before her alarm went off. The sun was already up, and she puttered around in the kitchen with a cup of tea in her hands. She studiously watched the kitchen clock and tried to decide what time would be acceptable for her to make her first call to Simon. She knew once she started to call him she would be consumed with Simon's whereabouts. She would be unable to stop her worry and her calls until she found him. The thought of her not being able to reach him kept her from making the call for the moment.
Sarah turned on the news and contemplated not going into work today. She was stressed, and she wouldn't be able to focus on anything else until she spoke with Simon.
She sipped her tea and hoped it would calm her down as she stared at the TV. The top story was one she had not expected. The two boys that had brutally murdered their parents last year in Bluffington had escaped from the Calgary jail yesterday, and there was now a huge manhunt under way to recapture them. The details were scant and the police asked the public for any information about their whereabouts. Photos of the two boys were shown to the viewers, but Sarah had already turned away. The news disturbed her, and she turned the TV off. She knew full well hers was the house where those two boys killed their parents. She didn't need to be reminded of that horrible tragedy at the moment. She had too much on her plate already with Simon suddenly missing. Her big worry was that Gerald loomed out there somewhere, and it left her with mixed emotions. She looked at the clock again and decided it was finally time to place the call to Simon.
She called Simon and felt a nauseous nip in her stomach increase with each ring when he didn't answer. She hung up, waited a number of minutes and told herself maybe he was in the shower. After waiting a number of minutes, she called him again. Simon still didn't answer.
CHAPTER 79
Hours passed as Tommy and Jason slogged forward along the path across Sullivan Creek towards Flat Creek Road. It was going to be a very long day with many kilometers of hiking trail to cover before they arrived at their destination, but if all went well, they would arrive by mid afternoon as planned. Having both Bobby and Ricky waiting for them at the end made the trek a lot easier to accept.
The boys had just crossed over South Sullivan Creek when Jason questioned the outcome of what they were after.
"Are we going to tell anyone?"
Tommy walked ahead of Jason. "Tell anyone what? About this hike you mean?"
"Not about walking through the stupid trees," he replied. He hesitated to clarify and walked awhile before he spoke again.
"Let's say we do this, and it all works out."
"Uh huh."
"Are we going to tell anyone about what we find?"
Tommy only sighed and didn't answer.
"Tommy? Are we going to tell anyone? A lot of our friends have been hurt here."
Tommy still didn't answer.
"Tommy?"
"I don't know!" Tommy shouted and stopped. He turned around and glared at Jason and then softened and shrugged. "I really don't know, Jason. Would you want anyone to know you were molested and abused? I don't think so. I know Ricky doesn't want anyone to ever know. We don't even know what we'll find in there."
Jason was confused. His mouth hung open in disappointment. "No we don't. But don't you think people should know what went on here?"
Tommy turned away. He was beginning to get upset and started to walk again. Jason followed and skipped forward rapidly until he was nearly on top of Tommy.
"Tommy? Don't you really think people should know? Lots of our friends were harmed."
"I heard you," Tommy replied annoyed and kept walking.
"Well?"
Tommy stopped again. "What do you want, Jason? Tim is dead because of our dad. Ricky's life back home is ruined because of him."
Jason shrugged. He didn’t understand what Tommy was getting at.
"Ricky's gonna have to live with this every day for the rest of his life. Who are we to tell the entire world what happened to him? And how many others are out there? How many tapes and recordings are we going to find inside that room? I'm not going to look at them and then count them all to find out. I don't think you want to do that either."
Jason just shook his head. "But people should know."
"Really? What do you want?" he asked him again. "You really want everyone to know? This is a funeral mission we are on. We are going to bury this. Not you, nor I, nor anybody else, is ever going to see those who were abused and molested here. Don't you get it?"
Jason attempted to understand what Tommy was saying. His expression remained troubled. He wasn't convinced Tommy could really want to hide these horrible facts.
"If this information gets out, then every friend we ever had will be called out and questioned. It doesn't matter if he was even a victim or not! If he played hockey with you and me, and especially if he played on our line and scored goals with us, then he'll be questioned. No one will believe him even if he denies being abused, and he'll be labeled forever. Anyone we ever played hockey with will be called a faggot. Or worse. Maybe a pedo or a perv! Do you
want that? They'll be called all kinds of names. Bad ones. Like cock suckers and fudge packers! Is that what you want?"
Jason began to cry. "Stop it!"
"You can cry if you want! This is serious shit! How many teammates have we had over the years? How many? Every single one of them will automatically become a victim here whether they were abused by our bastard father or not!"
"Stop talking! Just shut up!" Jason shouted and covered his ears with his hands.
Tommy raised his voice higher in response and stuck his face closer to Jason's as Jason turned away. He didn’t want to hear any more.
"Anyone our dad ever coached and every kid our dad ever gave extra training to will be looked at as a part of this for the rest of their lives. Forever, Jason. They will be forever looked at for having been a part of some bad shit even if they weren't involved! Do you get it now?"
Jason ran away in to the trees and wiped his eyes as he ran.
"It doesn't matter if there are recordings or not for all those others," Tommy yelled loudly. "If this gets out, they'll still be suspected, labeled and teased. You know it, Jason. And that's why we are here right now doing this!"
Tommy said nothing more, turned away from his brother and looked forward up the path. "Let's just go," he said quietly and started up the path again.
"I'm sorry," Jason shouted from trees where he stood.
Tommy glanced back frustrated. "Sorry? What the hell do you have to be sorry for?"
"For our dad," he whispered through his tears and scurried back on to the path to catch up to Tommy.
"Fuck him!" Tommy shouted. "He's a bastard that deserved to die for what he's done to everyone." He stopped and realized what he just said.
Jason shook his head in disgust as he caught up to Tommy. He walked past Tommy and continued up the trail ahead. A part of him still loved his dad, and all he could do was leave Tommy standing alone with his words.
Neither spoke for a while, and Jason continued to keep his distance ahead of Tommy. If Tommy picked up his pace then so did Jason to keep the distance between them. They still had a very long walk ahead.
Hours passed before the trail exited the trees onto a gravel road. Tommy looked at the map and pointed to the right.