Aquifer: A Novel (25 page)

Clayton was about to get into the H-2 when he overheard Johnny’s comment. He paused beside Larry who was sitting in the driver’s seat. “I don’t know what he really saw, but we need to swing by the Sheriff’s office and make a report. Johnny seems to be the only eyewitness to what happened.”

“That’s a good idea,” Tina replied, speaking for them both. “The Sheriff’s Office is right across the street from Mom’s restaurant. We’ll meet you there.”

=/\=

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-E
IGHT

Nesting Chamber

That same afternoon, two college-age picnickers, Luke Counts and his girl friend, Ellie Jo, were seated upon the ground eating their lunch in the meadow at the top of the bluff above Blue Spring. They had been dating seriously for almost two years, and Ellie Jo was hoping that he would soon ask her a very important question. Luke had been contemplating the same feelings but had decided to wait until he got closer to finishing school before he popped the question and shouldered that amount of responsibility.

Paper plates were strewn with chicken bones, watermelon rinds and corn cobs. Luke drained his paper cup of homemade root beer - the kind that was made with yeast and aged, not the dry-ice version. He then swallowed his last bite, wiped his mouth with a napkin, laid back on the soft grass and stretched.

“Oh man, Ellie Jo, I ain’t eaten like that in a coons age. I’m so stuffed, I’m as full as a tick. I couldn’t possibly eat another bite,” he said playfully as he smiled and cast her a sideways glance, knowing full well that she had made him a special dessert.

Ellie Jo giggled, obviously pleased that Luke had enjoyed her meal. She then spun around and lay on her stomach with her hands clasped under her chin, her face just inches from Luke’s. “Then what do you suggest I do with Granny's Black Forest cherry cake? Feed it to the critters?” she teased with a broad smile and bright eyes.

“Oooh, Nooo!” He rubbed his belly with his right hand while grinning contemplatively. “You just give me ‘bout fifteen minutes to let this settle and I ‘spect I can handle it just fine.”

Their eyes connected and they gazed at each other momentarily; neither of them wanting the moment to end. Finally, Luke spoke.

“Why Ellie Jo, I do declare! I believe yer eyes are as blue as the water in that spring over yonder,” he swore.

Ellie Jo playfully beat on his chest several times with her fists, then laughingly spoke as she rose to a sitting position. “You're such a tease.”

“No, really,” he said as he rose to his feet. He reached down and took her by the hand to help her stand also. “Come on, let me show you.”

He placed his arm around her waist and they slowly strolled the few feet to the edge of the bluff. Ellie Jo snuggled under Luke’s arm as they gazed over the rim of the bluff into the depths of Blue Spring below them and the Current River in the distance.

“Let's make a wish,” said Ellie Jo as she turned her face toward his and wrapped her arms around his neck. “If you could have anything, what would you wish for?”

Before Luke could answer they heard a muffled growling noise behind them. They turned to see the gimpy footed alien rise on its hind legs and roar. Ellie Jo screamed as Luke stepped forward, placing himself between the creature and Ellie Jo, though Ellie Jo poked her head out to one side to see what was happening.

Immediately the creature spit a sticky substance into their faces. Then the alien dropped back onto all four legs, charged, sprang and tackled the couple midair. All three plunged over the edge of the cliff, free-falling down the face of the one-hundred-foot bluff into the spring below.

*

Once underwater the creature began swimming down into the depths of the spring, dragging the now unconscious couple with it – but after diving to the depth of only twenty feet the amphibian changed course and swam into the ten-foot wide mouth of a cave in the bluff wall.

The cave’s tunnel was short and angled slightly upward. After only forty feet the tunnel opened into the bottom of a large lagoon. Once again the creature changed course and began to ascend. It suddenly broke the surface in a subterranean lagoon and swam to the bank in what appeared to be an air pocket, a large room inside the cave whose only entrance was the underwater passageway.

Unlike the banks of most lagoons, the perimeter’s edge rose straight out of the water to the height of about one foot and would more accurately be described as the top of a cliff, the front of which descended into the water with a vertical drop to a depth of over thirty feet. Beyond the lagoon the cave floor formed a broad flat shelf, over fifty feet wide. The cave’s ceiling varied between ten and fifteen feet in height. The lagoon was actually just a wide spot in a large river that flowed through the cave and which joined with Blue Spring through the underwater connecting tunnel.

The interior of the cave was dimly lit by the light filtering through the underwater hole in the cave wall. The water diffused the light into eery patterns which danced across the numerous stalactites and stalagmites, as well as across the walls and ceiling of the cave.

Arriving at the water’s edge the gimpy-footed creature deposited the picnickers’ bodies onto the dry bank and laboriously pulled itself out of the water. The couple was still alive but unconscious. Not far away lay the bodies of the two fishermen, the hunter, several cows and horses, and masses of fish. All were covered with a slimy, gooey substance containing numerous gelatinous eggs - like frog eggs, only large enough to rival the egg of a chicken.

Arduously, the creature began dragging the limp, comatose bodies into the dark recesses of the cavern.

=/\=

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-
NINE

Sheriff’s Office

The professors, Larry, Tina, and the three boys drove to Sheriff Aker’s office in Eminence to make a report of the Johnson Shut-In’s incident. The dispatcher ushered them into the Sheriff’s office where they began making their report. Sheriff Akers listen attentively to Johnny’s incredible story before responding:

“Let’s see, you say that you were snorkeling near the falls and saw a man-eating monster eat the diver?” asked the sheriff.

“That’s right Sheriff,” replied Johnny still trembling. “It was horrible. I got right out of there as quick as I could.”

“Can you describe this
creature
for me?”

“Not really. It all happened so fast. I saw the diver get attacked, so I just got out of there as quick as I could.”

“Well, I almost wish that it
was
that simple. Unfortunately, your explanation, as impossible as it is, makes as much sense as anything else right now,” commented the Sheriff.

“What do you mean?” inquired Clayton.

“Well, it's a small pool and the water’s very clear. Anything in there should be easy to find, but radio reports from the Search and Rescue Team say they can't find a trace of the two missing swimmers. They even sent in a team of scuba divers to do a thorough visual search. The only thing they found was a torn piece of the jumper’s swimming trunks and a bracelet he was wearing. The bracelet appears to have teeth marks, but there’s nothing with teeth in that lagoon. . . . His friends said they saw a flash of something swimming in the water just before the blood cloud obscured their view. . . . But the body has totally disappeared. It's almost as if he had been eaten. . . . And that little girl, Susan - her mother insists that something yanked her out of the inner tube, but there is no sign of her either,” explained Sheriff Akers. “As tragic as this is, we simply haven’t a clue as to what has happened.”

At that moment Jane Chilton, entered the Sheriff’s office, “Excuse me for barging in, but Pearl Webber rode her mule all the way in from Log Yard and she insists on seeing you immediately.”

Before the Sheriff could respond, Pearl hysterically burst into his office.

“Sheriff, its Honace. Ah'm powerful feared somethin' horrible done happened to ‘em,” sobbed Pearl.

“Now calm down Pearl and tell me what happened,” the Sheriff said, helping her to a seat and trying to calm her, but she was unconsolable.

“Honace went coon huntin’ las night wid e's dogs, Shep and Lep, but ‘e ain't come home all night. Ah knowed ‘bout whar ‘e was a huntin' so afore breakfastin’ this mornin' Ah went ta fetch ‘em. Ah found e's shotgun an stuff down by tha riva. It looked ta me like thar'd been a scuffle. Thar was blood on tha ground and it looked like somethin’ been drug down ta tha wadah. Oh, Sheriff, Ah fear e's dade,” wailed Pearl.

“It’s going to be okay, Pearl. I’ll be out there directly and have a look around,” said the sheriff.

As Pearl daubed at her tearful eyes with a tissue, Jane took her by the hand and escorted her out of the office.

“Mind if I tag along?” asked Clayton.

“I’d welcome the company, all of my men are still out at the Shut-Ins,” replied the Sheriff.

“How far is it to Log Yard?” Clayton asked.

“It’s about twenty-five miles by the road, I reckon. Pearl’s cabin is a few miles the other side, though she came cross-country with her mule.”

Clayton turned to Tina, “Why don’t you take the boys home.”

He then addressed Larry, “Would you take Dr. Welton back to the camp for awhile? We shouldn’t be more than a few hours. I’ll meet you all at Opal’s Café for dinner.”

“You mean supper!” Larry corrected him, as he was beginning to understand the local language.

“Whatever,” responded Clayton, glancing at his watch. “I’ll meet you there about 6:30.”

*

The Sheriff drove Pearl and Clayton as close to the hunting site as possible, but they had to park the squad car and walk the last mile and a half through the dense woods. They followed a narrow game trail across two ridges and then down into a hollow near the river. An hour later they arrived at the hunting site and began meticulously examining the scene.

Pearl had left everything exactly as she found it, so as to not disturb any possible evidence that might indicate what had happened to her husband. She may have been an uneducated backwoods hillbilly, but what she lacked in formal education was more than made up for in good common sense.

“It certainly does appear that some sort of a struggle occurred here, Pearl, but let’s not jump to any conclusions as to what actually happened. I’m sure that Honace is probably all right. In fact he’s probably at home right now waiting for you,” said Sheriff Akers trying unsuccessfully to reassure her.

“No ‘e ain’t Sheriff. Ah know ‘e ain’t comin’ back. When ‘e goes a-huntin’, ‘e’s dogs alwas gits home afore breakfast. An’ Honace ain’t never mor’in a half hour behind ‘em. Oh dat man likes ta eat. Notin’ gits twixt Honace an’ ‘e’s breakfast. But none of ‘um’s home yet. I know e’s dade, an’ ‘e’s dogs too. Dats tha only’st reason why dey ain’t come home yet,” sobbed Pearl.

The Sheriff handed Clayton a disposable camera and motioned for him to take pictures of everything. Then he handed Pearl a handkerchief to dry her tears. “Excuse me, Pearl, but I need to collect these things,” he gestured at the scene of the scuffle and to the hunter’s belongings laying around on the ground.

The Sheriff walked over to the shotgun laying on the ground and knelt down beside it. He opened a large canvas duffle bag, took out a pair of latex gloves and put them on. He waited for Clayton to photograph the shotgun, then picked it up and placed it into a large plastic evidence bag and then placed that into the canvas bag, covering it with a small blanket. He and Clayton spoke in subdued voices so as to not upset Pearl.

“Has the shotgun been fired?” asked Clayton.

“It doesn’t appear to have been. Both barrels are still cocked. I inserted a hammer retainer to prevent accidental discharge. I don’t want to smudge any prints that might be on the triggers or hammers so I’ll leave the complete examination to the boys at the crime lab.”

The Sheriff lowered his voice so that Pearl could not hear what he was about to say. “Lately we’ve had a rash of reports from ranchers who are missing cattle, and yesterday afternoon I got a report from the Park Service. They say that there’s no trace of the park’s wild horse herd. . . . We’re talking over a hundred head of livestock. Though there’s no evidence to support it, I suspect rustlers. We had a bunch of rustlers a few years back. Maybe Honace stumbled across them, catching them in the act.”

“If so,” Clayton replied, “he could be in serious trouble.”

The Sheriff bent down and picked up Honace’s hat which was stuck in the bushes. He was about to place it into a plastic evidence bag but stopped as he noticed something smeared across its front. “What do you make of this sticky, gooey, stuff on the brim?”

“Hard to say. I noticed what appears to be the same stuff on the leaves of this bush. Do you mind if I take a sample of it back to my lab? I’d like to take a closer look at it.”

“No, take all you want.” The Sheriff unzipped a side pouch on the duffle bag, retrieved a couple of clear plastic vials, and tossed them to Clayton. “Just give me a sample too so that I can pass it along to our lab along with all of this stuff. And you’d better get some samples of that blood on the ground, too.”

Clayton began scooping up the various samples. He labeled them and placed some into his shirt pocket and the rest into the evidence bag. As he did so the Sheriff strung yellow
crime scene
tape around the area.