Wendigo

Chapter 18 Part 2

Steve pulled his truck into the lot beside Sara’s car and parked. The drive there had taken less time than he and Kevin had anticipated, making them arrive well ahead of the time Sara should reach them. Steve glanced over at Kevin, who was checking his phone for messages from Sara.

“Any word from Sara?” Steve asked Kevin.

Kevin replied, “No. Nothing, and that makes me worry.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much yet. From what you told me and where she says she’s at, it could take her a while to hike out. Plus, you said she fell and got hurt, so she might be hiking a little slower than she usually would,” Steve told him, trying to assure him that Sara was fine.

“I know, but this whole thing with the cabin and the deer has me on edge,” Kevin said.

Steve rubbed his cheek and said, “I’m still confused by that. I have been all over this forest both before and after it became state land. I don’t remember ever coming across anything like you have told me about or likes what’s in those pictures Sara sent you of the inside of the cabin.”

“I looked at as many satellite images as I could find of this forest, and I never found a cabin at the location Sara gave me. I mean, it could be hidden by trees. She did say it was surrounded by them, so maybe that blocked the view.”

Steve asked, “Are you thinking Sara was not in this cabin she’s talking about?

“That thought has crossed my mind. I keep wondering if maybe she has a head injury because of her fall. Maybe she’s hallucinating, and instead of being in a cabin, she’s been in her tent. But then I have to question where the pictures of the cabin came from,” Kevin said with considerable concern in his voice.

“I have an idea,” Steve offered. “Why don’t we walk a little way in, and you start trying to call Sara.”

“I like that idea,” Kevin agreed. “Sara should be getting close by now. I know how fast she moves if she has a goal set and wants to meet it.”

“You said she was pretty banged up after that fall, so maybe she is just taking things a little bit slower, or she is having to stop and rest more than normal. I have had my share of trips that have gone that way. It’s one of the things the two of you get to look forward to as you get older. These trips seem to take longer each year that passes,” Steve said with a smile, trying to lighten Kevin’s mood.

Kevin gave a single chuckle and replied, “You’re probably right. Let’s walk into the forest a little, and I will try to call her, and I will also try to locate her phone.”

Steve said nothing as he looked at Kevin with a raised eyebrow at the mention of tracking Sara’s phone.

“We have an app on our phones that lets us locate each other in case we get hurt while we are out, we get lost, or the car breaks down, things like that.” Kevin blinked a few times, then continued, “And I should have done that before we ever got here so we would know where she is and that she is okay.”

“You think?” Steve asked, his question dripping with sarcasm.

-

Sara sat at the base of an ancient oak tree, trying to catch her breath as she sipped from her water bottle and ate another protein bar. The massive white-tail buck was contentedly grazing only feet away from her as she watched him. A thought hit her like a bolt of lightning as she was thinking about how odd the deer’s behavior was.

“I must be out of my mind for doing this,” Sara whispered to herself before calling to the deer. “I know I keep calling you Ted, but I need you to tell me who you are. Are you Jim or Herschel?”

The deer stopped nibbling at the grass and turned to look at Sara. It walked to her and stopped close enough that she could feel the buck’s breath on her face. Sara held out both hands, palms up to the deer. The deer gently sniffed both of her hands before he looked into her eyes again.

“Okay, dude, we are going to play a game, and hopefully, you can answer that question. Are you Jim?” Sara asked, moving her left hand up and down. “Or are you Herschel?” With that question, Sara moved her right hand the same way.

Sara had barely finished asking her questions when the buck gently touched his nose to her left palm. Sara could feel her heart pounding when the deer responded to her question.

“You’re Jim?” Sara questioned to confirm.

The deer slowly and gracefully lowered his head to acknowledge Sara’s questions. Sara could feel goosebumps forming on her arms as she tried to wrap her mind around what was happening.

“Holy crap!” Sara whispered as she tried to remain calm. “No, no, no, this…this can’t be real. I must have hit my head harder than I thought. That has to be it. I must…I must have a head injury. That is why I think the deer is talking to me.”

The buck huffed at her and managed to look offended.

“Okay! You’re not talking to me! You know what I mean!” Sara put her face in her hands. “Oh my God, I am still talking to a deer like it is human.”

Sara sat quietly as she tried to regain her composure. She began to question everything that had happened to her from the time she fell until that moment. How much was she imagining, and how much was real? Sara jumped to her feet when her phone rang in her pocket, startling the deer and making him jump back.

“Hello?” Sara answered. Her voice was shaking and cracked when she spoke.

“Are you alright? What’s wrong?” Kevin questioned.

“I…uh,” Sara sputtered, her mind racing to try to explain what she was going through.

“Sara, are you lost?” Kevin asked, near panic.

“No,” Sara exhaled.

“Okay, good,” Kevin said as he tried to calm down. “Are you hurt?”

“No. I mean yes…but…I…I’m fine. I think I’m fine. I don’t know,” Sara stammered.

“Sara, I want you to sit down where you are, and we will come to you,” Kevin told her as he shot a look to Steve as they stood at the edge of the treeline. “I tried to locate your phone and could not do it. Please tell me where you are.”

“I’m alright. You don’t need to come and get me,” Sara told Kevin. “I, uh, think I was having a bit of a panic attack for a moment. Some of the things that have happened since I got hurt are so strange that I, uh, I was questioning if I maybe have a head injury that is far worse than I had ever considered or had symptoms of.”

“Where are you? Steve and I will meet you,” Kevin said.

“You don’t need to do that. I should reach the parking lot in about ten or fifteen minutes. I’m close, and I’m also off-trail, so I don’t want you to go wandering around in the forest and getting lost. I want you to take me home so I can sleep in my own bed for the next week,” Sara told him, sounding as cheerful as she could.

“Alright, we are just inside the trees near the trailhead. I will be watching for you. I’ve got to ask, though, is that deer still following you around?”

“He is still here, but you don’t have to worry about him. I will see you in a few minutes,” Sara told him.

“Alright, I will see you in a few minutes. I love you,” Kevin told her.

“I love you too, bye,” Sara replied before hanging up.

Sara tucked her phone back in her pocket and looked at the deer standing near her with his head tipped to the side. The buck had been studying her while she was speaking to her husband. She shook her head and sighed as she began to laugh.

“Oh, Ted, or do I need to call you Jim now? Either way, you are making me feel more than a little crazy right now,” Sara told the buck as she turned and started walking. “Come on, let’s go.”

-

“Is Sara okay?” Steve asked Kevin.

“I can honestly say I don’t know. I’m worried about her. I can tell you that,” Kevin replied.

“Do we need to go find her?” Steve asked, clearly concerned.

“No, she said she is off-trail and only about ten to fifteen minutes away from the parking lot,” Kevin said.

“Good, good,” Steve said with relief in his voice. “Well, in that case, I am going to sit down and wait for her. Why don’t you sit down, too?”

“No, I’m good,” Kevin said as he continued the pacing he had started as soon as he had called Sara.

“Kevin,” Steve said gently but assertively. “If you keep pacing, you are going to wear a groove in the forest floor. Sit down.”

Kevin stopped in his tracks and looked at Steve. It was the first time he had looked closely at the man who was old enough to be a father to him or Sara. Steve sat calmly on a large rock near the trail with an expression that was a strange mixture of serenity and concern.

“How can you be so calm about this?” Kevin demanded.

Steve softly replied, “Kevin, I used to help with search and rescue around this area when I was younger. You spoke to Sara. Even if she sounded upset, you know that she is alive and well. The two of us being calm will help your wife the most when she gets here if she is upset or unsettled for some reason. Now, please sit down.”

Kevin sighed as he dropped to the ground at the base of a tree and leaned against it. He thought about what Steve had just said to him and knew that he was right about needing to stay calm for Sara’s sake. Kevin lost track of time as he sat thinking about Sara and what she had been through in the past week. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he was startled when Steve spoke.

“There she is,” Steve said as he pointed into the forest.

Kevin jumped to his feet and looked toward where Steve had pointed. His heart skipped when he saw his wife emerging from the trees. “Sara!” he yelled as he began to race to her.

Sara started laughing as Kevin hugged her, lifting her off the ground. Her laughter was short-lived as pain in her ribs ran through her from the embrace. Kevin released her when he felt her flinch.

“Did I hurt you?” Kevin asked her, letting go of her. He looked more closely at Sara and saw the many bruises and scrapes. “Let me have your pack. It has to be hurting you.”

Sara smiled as Kevin began to unbuckle her backpack. She told him, “It is hurting. This pack found bruises that I didn’t know I had until I put it on and started hiking out. Be careful with it. I have some things in it that I want both of you to see.”

“Are you sure Steve and I will want to see what you have?” Kevin asked as he helped Sara slip off her backpack.

“I’m sure you will,” Sara answered as she waved to Steve, who was still sitting on his rock. “Come on; let me unpack it beside Steve. These things are amazing.”

When they reached where Steve was sitting, Kevin carefully placed her backpack on the ground as Sara took Steve’s hands in hers.

Sara said to Steve, “Thank you for driving Kevin here. I’m sure you had your hands full keeping him calm, didn’t you?”

“He did get a little anxious on the way here and after he talked to you on the phone,” Steve told her with a chuckle. “He wasn’t too bad, though. I have had to deal with much worse.”

“Well, thank you anyway,” Sara said.

Sara kneeled and unzipped her pack. “Before either of you lecture me about taking things from the cabin, I know it’s against the rules. But after reading that journal, I think their families have the right to know what happened to them and have these things.”

Sara gently removed the items she had swaddled in her clothing when she packed them and delicately began to unwrap each one, including the journal. She started with the metal box that contained the memories of Herschel’s Sarah and opened the box. She took out the picture and handed it to her husband.

“That is Sarah Allen, the wife of the trapper who wrote the journal. She died giving birth to their baby boy, and that is why Herschel came here from Missouri and became a trapper,” Sara explained.

Kevin glanced at the picture then handed it to Steve, who began to study the photograph and furrowed his brow. He looked from Sara to the image several times with a perplexed look on his face.

“Is something wrong?” Kevin asked Steve.

Steve replied, “Not really. I just can’t help but notice the similarity between the Sarah in the picture and the Sara sitting here.”

“Now that you mention it, I can see the resemblance,” Kevin agreed. “But my Sara is prettier, without question.” Kevin leaned over and kissed his wife sweetly.

A snort from behind Sara made the two men jump and caused Sara to laugh. She turned to see the enormous white-tail buck slowly gliding toward them. He had stopped in a grove of trees several yards away as Sara had reached where Kevin and Steve were waiting for her.

“What took you so long?” Sara asked the deer.

The buck let out a soft huff and walked to where Sara was sitting. It began to nuzzle at her shoulder as she turned back to look at Kevin and Steve. Both men were looking at the deer wide-eyed, mouths agape.

“Kevin, Steve, this is the deer that I was calling Ted, but after what happened today, his name is Jim,” Sara calmly told them. “And before either of you say anything, no, I did not hit my head that hard, and I am not crazy. Trust me, I considered both of those. I had just had that realization minutes before you called me. That is why I sounded so upset on the phone.”

Kevin finally stammered, “He’s not afraid of us.”

“That is what I kept telling. This buck is not like other deer. He is the one responsible for me finding the cabin and learning about Jim and Herschel. Granted, he is also the one who pushed me down the embankment, resulting in me feeling and looking like I was used as a punching bag, but I think he had good intentions.”

Steve kept his eyes on the buck as he asked Sara, “Did you take pictures of this cabin that I can look at?”

“I sure did,” Sara answered as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened the folder before handing her phone to Steve.

As Steve looked through the photographs, he looked perplexed and even confused at what he saw. Each one made Steve’s brow furrow more. He was occasionally opening his mouth as if he wanted to say something before closing it again.

“Is something wrong?” Sara asked Steve as she heard the buck lie down behind her.

Steve replied, “I'm not sure. I have been all over this forest, and I have never seen anything like this here.”

“What about that rock mound that is surrounded by trees?” Sara asked Steve.

“Nope, nothing like that either,” Steve told her.

“That is why I am coming back here as often as possible. There was a reason I found that cabin and that mound where Jim was laid to rest. I think they were tired of being forgotten,” Sara said with a hint of sadness in her tone.

Kevin told her, “I will come here with you anytime you want to. It will be a while before I am comfortable with you being out here by yourself again.”

“Good, because I’m not sure I’ll feel comfortable being alone out here for quite a while. After this week, I just want to go home, crawl into our bed, and sleep for the next three days,” Sara said with a laugh.

“Then let’s get things back in your pack and head out. I know Steve wants to see his family, and I want to get you home,” Kevin told her and kissed her again. “We will stop and get food on the way home. What do you want?”

Sara replied, “It doesn’t matter as long as it does not contain any meat. I don’t think I will be able to eat meat for a very long time.”