Beneath a Winter Moon (6 page)

Delmar made some final adjustments to his pack, and then heaved all eighty-five pounds over his shoulder. He grimaced. “Damn, I am getting old.” He kicked bundles of bed sheets out of his way as he moved to the door that joined his room with Daniel’s. He knocked a few times and called for his friend. The door opened and Daniel stood in the entrance, brows furrowed.

“C’mon in, Delmar. I’m cinching up the straps now. Hear anything from Thomas, yet?”

“Nope, but we both know he’s ahead of us, probably waiting downstairs. He’s always early.” He dropped the heavy pack onto the floor. “Sign of stress if you ask me… a half an hour early to everything.” He harrumphed. “Loaded for bear?” he asked Daniel, grinning.

Daniel finished with his pack and tossed it easily over his shoulder as he smiled back at Delmar. “I don’t have to worry about bear…you do.”

Delmar smirked. “True enough…sorry about that, buddy. At least you have less to carry”

“Bah…no worries. I don’t mind, so don’t keep apologizing.”

Delmar grunted as he hoisted the heavy pack once more, “Well, let’s go find the boy and his dog.”

The three men took the hotel shuttle to a small gun store where they had paid for storage of their rifles. After retrieving the weapons and purchasing ammunition, they paid the driver for a trip to the airfield. The driver charged extra for transporting Jack and although Delmar grumbled, Thomas said it was fine.

Thomas balked at the chill in the air when the shuttle driver opened their doors at the airfield. He shivered and thought to himself that it was much colder than it had been the day before. A crisp wind cut into his face and he looked up at thick, gray clouds. Jack’s shiny coat swirled and danced with the wind as he sat down next to Thomas and poked his nose skyward, sniffing.

Daniel noticed the look on Thomas’s face. “I checked the weather last night and there was no call for anything out of the ordinary…just some cooler temperatures.”

“Don’t jinx us, Hero,” Delmar grimaced. “Steven would have called if the weather even looked like it would be a problem.”

“Speak of the devil…” said Thomas, smiling at a tall figure moving toward them from behind the cabin of a white and gold helicopter.

“And he shall appear,” Delmar finished, waving at the man.

Steven reached them and said, “You boys looking for a lift into bear country?”

“You bet!” Delmar said, grabbing Steven’s hand and shaking it enthusiastically.

“What’s with the weather?” Thomas asked.

They gathered their packs and weapons from the tarmac, as Steven answered. “There
is
a front moving in, kind of a surprise, but we should have plenty of time.” He paused, seeing the concern on Thomas’s face. “What? This is the
North Country
, you know. We have our own weather patterns up here.” He laughed and grabbed the two rifle cases and beckoned them to the helicopter.

They started walking toward the bulky
Bell
helicopter. As if on cue, the blades began to rotate. “Jenny’s starting her up. So anyway, I will brief you guys once we have landed at the cabin. Until then, gentlemen, you know the drill. Straps on, packs down in front or strapped beside you, and relax.” He saw that Delmar had a concerned look. He walked beside him and slapped him on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry! You will get your bear!” He had to yell as the helicopter’s rotors powered up. Noticing their Gore-Tex jackets, he shouted, “Nice cold weather gear.”

The men dipped forward as they neared the helicopter, the rotors producing a strong, warm wind. Steven slid open the large passenger door and set the rifles down on the rear-facing bench seats. The cold air mixed with fleeting but noticeably warm blasts of heat from the engines, and they smelled of JP4 jet fuel as they readied to board the helicopter.

Jack kept his head low, looking a little nervous and Thomas patted the dog. Jack had flown in helicopters before, and would be just fine, he knew. The Husky did not hesitate when Thomas commanded him to jump into the helicopter, and he was the first to climb aboard. They loaded their packs and weapons next while Steven stood inside the cabin and lined the packs and rifles on the rear-facing bench. Each bench could strap in four persons, so there was room to spare when everything was strapped in.

Thomas boarded next, stopping for just a moment to reach over the forward cabin bench and tap Jenny on the shoulder, shouting a greeting to her. She smiled at him. He found his pack, sat down on the bench across from it, and called Jack over to him. Thomas shoved Delmar’s pack one seat farther down, leaving a spot open for the dog. Jack jumped up into the seat and began to howl in unison with the hard, high pitched whine of the engines. Thomas laughed, but commanded him to stop as he went about buckling the dog in, sliding the straps of the x-shaped safety straps through the Jack’s shoulder harness. He left enough slack so that Jack could lay a good portion of himself across Thomas’s lap. They sat facing the rear of the aircraft, next to the port side window on the cabins opposite sliding door.

Steven made some final checks of the cabin after the men and their gear were strapped in. He grinned, gave them a thumbs-up, and then moved into the pilot’s seat where he donned his flight-helmet, strapping it down tightly underneath his chin. Jenny gave a thumbs-up and then they were airborne. The flight into Hope would take around two hours, depending on head winds. After refueling and rechecking their flight plans, they would fly for another hour to the new hunting lease.

The
Bell
407 cruised through the sky, staying below the heavy cloud formations. The ride became less bumpy as Steven and Jenny steadied the aircraft onto its course. The thirty-five feet in diameter, four-blade rotor system was built for stability during hovering and landings in wind—necessary for flight in this part of the northern hemisphere. The territory was well known for high winds, updrafts, and also dangerous crosswinds. The rotors were powered by a strong Rolls Royce turbine and although it had cost Steven quite a bit more, he had ordered the helicopter with a blade-folding kit that would allow him to store the helicopter in a space as little as eight-feet in width. This reduced maintenance and tear-down when he needed to store the aircraft in the climate-controlled sea-land cargo container at his ranch.

The helicopter could hold over four thousand pounds, allowing for just over two thousand pounds of passenger and cargo weight. This mountain-version, as Steven called it, was not unlike the famous UH-1H still in use throughout the
US
military. It was a rugged craft, time-tested in all conditions.

Steven had modified the skids of the aircraft to accommodate specially designed pontoons for soft powder landings as well as water landings. He could change back to normal or snow-skids at anytime, but he found that the pontoons served well through all seasons and weather. Strapped inside the passenger cabin of the aircraft were two folding passenger benches crafted from aluminum tubing and nylon. The benches could easily be removed, changing the cabin from a passenger section to a cargo-hold.

Steven had once commented that the helicopter was the best and most dependable he’d ever known. Once, in the same breath, he had said that one of the reasons he purchased this model was the
crashworthiness
. Thomas’s face had gone white at hearing the comment, as if the blood had drained to his feet. Steven had laughed, winked and slapped Thomas on the shoulder.

The three friends were used to this type of aircraft, although it didn’t make things any easier for Thomas. He never liked flying—in fact, he thoroughly
disliked
it. He’d managed to master his fear of heights shortly after joining the military but that didn’t mean he found it enjoyable or even acceptable.

Thomas and Daniel pulled their flight helmets from their hook behind them and strapped them on. The helmets were wired to the intercom allowing them to communicate with one another and with Steven and Jenny. Thomas pointed at Delmar and shook his head. The big man was asleep, head slumped to one shoulder. “We’ve only been up for about fifteen minutes, and he is already out of it,” Thomas said.

“Typical,” Daniel replied through his
mic
.

Jenny turned to look at Delmar, and smiled at them. “So—I hear you guys are anxious to get in a bear-hunt this season…”

“Well, one of us is,” Thomas replied, “and the rest of us are just along for the ride. I could care less about bagging one but I bet old Jack here would love to get in on the action.” He mussed Jack’s thick fur, and patted him on the head.

“I’m not sure he should come with us once we begin to track one,” Jenny replied, frowning. “Are you sure you can keep him quiet and can keep him leashed?”

Daniel spoke up. “I will be the non-hunter—so I can take care of Jack once you guys are on the trail…assuming he will listen to my commands.”

“He will listen,” Thomas said, smiling down at Jack. “Won’t you, boy?”

Jack barked in reply, sensing that Thomas had called for a reaction. He put his front paws in Thomas’s lap, and laid his head down.

Jenny smiled. “Well, enjoy the ride. Things should be fine all the way into Hope. We’ve got clouds and a little wind, but nothing to worry about.” She gave them a thumbs-up and turned back to the controls.

They landed in Hope on time and refueled without any problems, although Steven had voiced some new concerns about the weather. This area really could form its own weather patterns and it was forming a new one right now. There was a heavy downdraft and the winds were getting stronger. Steven wasn’t ready to change his flight plans but he was concerned about the changes. They would know more as the helicopter crossed the large lake for the landing on the northern side. Snow would likely begin to fall and would only serve to muck up an already worrisome situation.

Thomas had stayed on board while at the airfield. Jack seemed content to nap away the afternoon and Thomas had not been inclined to disturb him. Daniel and Delmar disembarked and went into the small terminal, looking to scrounge up a coffee and some conversation from the locals.

“Wake up, Hero!” It was Delmar standing beside Daniel. He was chewing on an unlit cigar, rolling it from one side of his mouth to the other and grinning.

“You are one to talk,” said Thomas, “You will be out like a light again as soon as we take off. What’s with the cigar?”

Delmar grinned. “A local man—an old-timer—gave it to me for good luck on the hunt.”

 Daniel shook his head as the two men climbed into the aircraft. “That old man was as spooky as hell. I thought he was going to have a coronary when Delmar bragged about the new hunting lease and told them where it was,” Daniel said as he sat down next to Thomas. “He said that none of his people would go near that area—that it was a
bad place
.” He emphasized the word “bad” and raised his eyebrows while cocking his head to the side. “If that wasn’t ominous enough, he told us it even was worse now than it was in his father’s time, or even his grandfather’s time.”

Delmar dismissed Daniel’s words with a sweep of his hands. “Bah,” he said as he sat down across from Thomas.

“He said that sometimes people don’t come out of that territory once they’ve gone in,” Daniel continued, ignoring the scowl on Delmar’s face. “It was just like a scene from one of those old Vincent Price Saturday night horror films I used to watch when I was a kid.”

Thomas laughed. “I remember those…
Pit and Pendulum
and
The Tell Tale Heart
.”

“But that wasn’t the scary part,” Daniel said. “The scary part is when Steven jumped into the conversation and confirmed that four people have turned up missing—either last seen in that territory or known to have been going into it…and here’s the kicker….all within the past couple of years.” Daniel nodded at his own words and smiled. “Yep.” He leaned back and began strapping himself in, snapping a second shoulder-harness into the x-shaped buckle at his chest