Authors: Jeff Gunhus
Fire everywhere. The forest around the Tremont’s house was blazing. Tongues of red and orange shot out toward the sky, spun into desperate pirouettes by the gusting wind. Bright swaths of yellow stuck out among the dark blotches where the fire had already devoured this year’s fuel. The crackle of dry leaves being crushed under four pairs of hiking boots provided the soundtrack to the inferno.
The kids ran ahead through the fall foliage, somehow running full speed and still managing to kick every pile of leaves in their path. Days like this were the reason they had bought the house. Their real estate agent knew how to do her job. She’d asked them to postpone their house hunting trip by two weeks so they would hit the peak fall foliage. They hadn’t stood a chance. Autumn in western Maryland, as far as Jack and Lauren were concerned, was one of the miracles of nature.
The first time they drove down the long, winding driveway through the property’s fifteen wooded acres, a family of deer wandered into the road in front of them. Unafraid, the deer took their time to move to the other side, even waiting at the edge of the woods as the car passed to check out the passengers inside the car. By that time the house on the property could have been a two bedroom shack instead of the five thousand square foot custom home listed in the ad and they wouldn’t have cared. It was a perfect place to start their new life. A perfect place to heal. They made an offer that day.
A few of their Orange County friends had come to visit, each one commenting on the beauty of the place and how much they envied them for having the luxury to move somewhere so secluded. Jack took it all in with a smile. His friends all had money to move out of Orange County but they never would. He knew full well they thought he and Lauren were crazy living out in the sticks and that it would only be a matter of time before they would be tired of it all. His old business partner Jason Reid had said, “Jack, it’s like going camping. All the back to nature crap is fun for a while, but pretty soon you need a rubdown at the Pacific Club and a nice restaurant where the menus aren’t made out of plastic.”
But the move was good for them. He and Lauren needed time to work things out, time to take care of old wounds inflicted during years when professional pursuits were put above family needs. And it was working. Jack had never felt more connected to his family than he did now. And Lauren admitted it was the same or her. Thanks to technology, she was able to stay involved with her research life and run a small practice in town, mostly doing pro bono work for the area’s poorer families. It’d been just over a year since they’d moved, and he and Lauren were better than ever. Taking long walks through the forest around their property was one of their favorite things to do and it had never felt more needed than the morning after returning from the hospital.
“Becky. Sarah. Don’t get too far ahead,” Lauren called out.
“They’re getting so big,” Jack said.
“Before we know it there’ll be boys over here. Can you imagine them dating?”
“Sure. I won’t have a problem with that.”
“Really?”
“Sure. I figure when they’re twenty-five, they’ll have the right to do whatever they want.”
“Twenty-five!” Lauren laughed. “In your dreams.”
“It’d be nice thought, wouldn’t it? Be nice to keep them this age for a while.”
“This is a great age. It’s funny but--”
“Shhh. Did you hear that?” Jack cocked his head to the right side of the path. The rustling of leaves. A sharp
crunch
. Then sticks breaking.
“What is it?” Lauren whispered.
The noise stopped for a few seconds, then started again, louder this time. It sounded like a rock rolling through the trees. The thick undergrowth slowed down whatever was coming toward them, but it didn’t stop it. The bushes and small trees nearest to them shook. Jack felt Lauren’s hand tighten around his. The noise stopped and the forest was an eerie quiet. Jack felt as if something was staring him down, something hidden by the mesh of vines and bushes.
Jack put his fingers to his mouth and let out a loud whistle. Lauren jumped. The thrashing in the woods started again with even more energy than before. With a final lunge, a yellow beast cleared the tree line and ran at Jack and Lauren, its tail wagging.
“Buddy, what are you doing? Did you get stuck?” Jack bent down and picked off the leaves and thorny twigs snagged in the yellow Lab’s thick coat. Buddy seemed to smile as he panted with his mouth open and sat patiently while they cleaned him off. He licked their hands whenever they came close enough to his face.
“You’re supposed to be watching the girls,” Lauren chided him as she rubbed his ears. “Go get ‘em. Go on.”
Buddy remained sitting and looked over to Jack for permission. Jack waited to make sure Buddy stayed until he gave the signal. Then with a slight nod up the trail he whispered, “Go.” Buddy tore off up the path, his wagging tail raised in the air like a periscope on a cartoon submarine.
Lauren and Jack laughed at the dog. Of all of them, Buddy enjoyed the change from the concrete and asphalt of California to the forests and streams of Maryland the most. Jack had always believed dogs were meant to be in the outdoors, chasing squirrels and digging holes, not confined to living rooms and small patches of grass. The move had been good for all the Tremont’s, both two legged and four.
“Did you ever get a hold of Stanley?” Jack asked after they walked for a while.
“Yeah, finally.”
“How’s the girl doing?” Jack knew his wife was worried about this new patient of hers, Felicia Rodriguez. Spending the morning at home with him and the kids had been hard for her to do. If anyone other than Dr. Stanley Mansfield were watching over her, he guessed she would have been tempted to drive to Midland hospital to check on her patient.
“Fine. Stanley sent blood down to the CDC. They told him it could be a week, maybe even longer, before they get back.”
“So long?”
“They’re overloaded. Felicia’s stable and there’s no sign that whatever she has is infectious so…”
“For once, you’re low man on the totem pole.”
“Pretty much.”
They walked along in silence. Ahead, they heard Buddy bark. The girls screamed and then laughed as the big dog raced through the leaves.
“How are you doing?” Lauren asked. Her tone made Jack understand it wasn’t a casual question. A simple ‘fine’ wasn’t going to cut it. As if by some unspoken rule, neither of them had discussed Nate Huckley since they’d been home.
“The way he came after us, it was crazy. Like he hated us or something. But what’s bothering me is how fast it all happened. I mean, one minute everything is great, the next there’s a maniac trying to kill the kids. I guess stuff like this happens, it’s just…”
“It’s not supposed to happen to us.”
“Something like that.”
“No one ever thinks things will happen to them. I’ve been around enough trauma rooms to know that. I’ve seen the look on people’s faces when they come in. It’s not pain or fear. Usually it’s disbelief. Shock that something that bad could actually happen to them.”
They crunched through the pile of leaves in their path. Lauren leaned into him and took his arm. “Is there any way you could have misinterpreted what happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, maybe Huckley was trying to help. He got offended when you told him to get away. Maybe he was drunk, I don’t know.”
Jack stopped walking. “Lauren, the man tried to break into the car while I was in it. He tried to run down our kids.” His voice was rising. “There was a kidnapped woman in the trunk of his car for Christ’s sake. What else do you need?”
“Don’t get mad at me. I’m just trying to figure this all out. I believe you, Jack. I do. But I just don’t understand how the girl’s body could disappear.”
Jack turned away and laced his fingers together behind his neck. He took a few deep breaths to calm down.
“Could it have been the shadows?” Lauren asked carefully. “Something that looked like a face?”
Jack didn’t turn around. “She was right in front of me. There was no mistake.”
Lauren looked up the trail. “Did the girls see her?”
Jack turned around and shook his head. “I don’t know. It was so dark.”
“We’ve got to encourage them to talk about it.”
“I thought they told you about it in the hospital. What’d they say?
“They asked me about the bad man.”
“What’d you tell them?” Jack asked.
“That he couldn’t hurt them anymore. And that he was very sick and in the hospital.”
“They didn’t mention the girl before but maybe if we talk to them again. We just have to be careful. Kids can have false memories if something is heavily suggested to them.”
“You’re the doc. It’s just that they act like nothing happened. I hate to drag them back through it.”
“They may act like nothing happened but something did happen. We need to make sure they deal with it and not internalize it.”
“I guess you’re right. When should we do it?”
“Sooner the better.”
“All right. Let’s head back. Let’s find out what they saw.”
“Pancakes are served,” Lauren said as she carried the steaming plate of hot cakes from the kitchen to the breakfast table.
The girls scrambled to their chairs, hungry from their morning walk. The pancakes disappeared quickly, chased down by frothy glasses of chocolate milk. Becky burped after gulping the last half of her milk and Sarah laughed until tears ran down her cheeks. Jack and Lauren, not wanting to encourage the behavior, tried to contain themselves, but they found the girl’s laughter too infectious and were soon laughing along with them. When the girls slowed down a little, Jack added a burp of his own and they all busted up again.
After the plates were cleared they sat at the table together. “Girls, we want to talk to you about last night.” Jack said.
“About the crash?” Becky asked.
“Yes, about the crash. Your mom and I want to make sure you girls know that it’s O.K. to talk about it.”
“If you feel scared or anything, you can talk to us,” Lauren added.
Both of the girls looked down at the table. Lauren and Jack exchanged looks. Jack spoke up. “I’ve got to tell you, I was scared.”
“You were scared, Daddy?” Becky said.
“Sure. Getting in a car accident is scary. And there was all that thunder and stuff.”
“And that man,” Becky joined in. “He was really scary.”
Jack noticed Lauren rub her hands together. He knew how she felt. It physically hurt to hear about his little girl being scared by someone. “Yeah, I guess that man was kind of scary,” Jack said.
“Why did he do that stuff? Was he mad at us?” Becky said.
“No, honey, he wasn’t mad at you. It had nothing to do with you or with me or with your sister. He was just confused and angry for no good reason. But he can’t hurt you anymore.”
“Why not?” Sarah said, speaking for the first time.
“He was injured in the accident and he’s in the hospital. You’ll never have to see him again,” Jack said.
Sarah eyed him suspiciously, not sure if she believed him. “And what about the girl?”
Lauren cleared her throat in reflex to the question. “What girl, Sarah? You mean the girl in the hospital I told you about? The one that Mommy’s trying to help?”
Sarah shook her head. “Not that one. The other girl.”
Jack spoke carefully. “Becky, do you know what she’s talking about?”
Becky shook her head, a little wrinkle appearing between her eyebrows. “Nuh uh.”
“Sarah, honey. Did you see a girl last night?” Jack asked.
She shook her head no.
“Then what girl are you talking about?”
Sarah looked at each one in them in turn, as if they were playing some joke on her. Tears welled up in her eyes from being put on the spot. When she finally answered, the words caught in her throat. “The bad man told me I had to get in the trunk of his car. He said he had another girl in there. But I told him no. I didn’t want to go with him.” Tears ran down her cheeks.
Lauren tried to get up out of her chair but Jack held her back. “Did he say anything else?” Jack asked. He wanted to see if she would remember asking him about Melissa.
Sarah nodded as she wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve. “H-he said if I didn’t open the door and get in the car, t-th--that he was gonna kill you and Becky and the girl in his car.” Her words came out in a blubbering stream of tears and snot. “H-h-he said it’d be my fault. When I wouldn’t open the door he started yelling bad words at me, and told me I couldn’t hide from him. Not ever. Is he gonna come here, Daddy? Is he gonna kill us?”
Lauren couldn’t take any more. She pushed her chair back and ran over to Sarah. Sarah clung to her and cried into her shoulder. Lauren patted her back and rocked her, whispering in her ear, telling her it was all just a bad dream. It wasn’t real. Not any of it.
Jack stared at his youngest daughter. He remembered her in the back seat of the Jeep, just before he made the dash for the keys. He had asked who she was talking to.
I was talking to the bad man, s
he had said. But it was impossible. The windows were shut, the doors locked. Becky would have heard anything Huckley said when he stood at the open door when Jack first saw him. But somehow, Sarah knew about the girl in the trunk. And, unless he had imagined it, she knew about Melissa too. His head spun and his chest tightened. Nothing was making any sense.
“Daddy.” Becky whispered, breaking the silence. “I’m scared.”