Friday Morning
The sun had never looked so beautiful on the Friday morning before the Labour Day weekend. Banners were raised throughout the town, reminding and inviting, the visitors of the grand fireworks display Sunday evening. Bigger and better than ever! was the tagline for the festival.
The Farmers Market located in the library parking lot every Friday morning was booming with business. O’Leary’s was full of early birds looking for Thomas’ famous cup of coffee, the shop however was no longer run by Thomas, he retired the previous season, it was now run by his son–in-law Edward Sleen, but nobody seemed to mind. The final weekend of the summer is a bittersweet moment for the town. It’s nice to see so many faces making the most of their time and enjoying it, but for the locals it’s also a sad time as they see their friends leave for another year, and of course business is never quite the same during winter months. The majority of campers at Hillsbury Park were wide-awake by now, cooking breakfast over their campfires, and swimming in the lake. The campgrounds in Hillsbury park were located in the direct opposite direction from Cape’s Side Bay, so most activity happening in the bay would not be heard by the campers. However several that morning did claim to hear what sounded like a bear and a gunshot. Most, however, coughed it up to late night delusions.
The sun continued to shine out over a gorgeous blue sky, and the green grass and trees, which made up the majority of cottage country. At six-fifteen that morning Henry Carter woke up. He looked at himself as he brushed his teeth. He had planned on growing a mustache that summer, but his wife Rachel was not a big fan of the scratching and clawing the hair did to her face when they embraced in a kiss. He found a few new wrinkles over his brow that must have formed from this past summer. Particularly over Father’s Day weekend in June, when a teenage boy and his father took a fishing boat out in the lake with no permit. They brought beers out and after a short period of time their boat tipped. Not only were the two charged with drinking and driving a motorized vehicle, but also fishing without a license and the consumption of alcohol by a minor. The teenager and his father turned around and then sued the county. This was still an ongoing case, and lingered in the back of his mind.
Another grey, he thought as he combed his hair. He was beginning to see more grey than the healthy brown he once knew.
Rachel Carter, Henry’s wife of almost twenty-six years, flipped a couple pancakes over the stove as their seven-year-old daughter Sarah sat at the table sucking her strawberry milk through a straw. Sarah had a habit of making bubbles with her milk, something both Rachel and Henry had been trying to stop her from doing. As Rachel would flip a pancake Sarah would often blow a bubble quickly, and when Rachel would turn to her a giant innocent smile would stretch across her face.
“If I catch you, you wont be getting any pancakes, you hear?” Rachel made the threat, but had no intentions of keeping it.
Labour Day weekend pancakes were a staple in the Carter household. The tradition began the Labour Day before the birth of their first-born son, Jeffrey, sixteen years ago. Back then it was actually Henry who was making the pancakes for his pregnant wife. Pancakes and peanut butter topped with banana was her morning craving during that pregnancy. Her craving while being pregnant with Sarah was half-pound burgers with oregano. Odd, Henry always thought, but he could never understand the cravings of a pregnant woman, so he accepted her requests whenever he could.
Knowing that Labour Day was Henry’s busiest weekend of the year, and final, she made it her duty to cook the pancakes, only during the two pregnancies would she allow Henry to bake the pancakes.
Henry entered the kitchen buttoning his top two buttons on his shirt, before Rachel rushed over to him and straightened his collar. She gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek as he made his way to the table.
“Jeffrey up?” he asked as Rachel brought him his morning coffee.
“Not yet.”
Henry checked his watch,he was anxious as he hired his own son to work in the park this summer, to much scrutiny, as there were only three new openings that summer and was sought after by many locals, as well as several visitors. While Henry assured everyone, including the Mayor that he made decisions based on the best-qualified applicants, the fact remains that Jeffrey was his son, and many felt it was a classic case of nepotism. It was nepotism, of course. Henry wanted his son to work, and wanted him to work in an honest field, one that Henry understood and could watch over his him. Jeffrey on the other hand was not so thrilled to have the occupation. He was his father’s son in many ways, but his interest in parks and nature was not something he shared. Jeffrey spent his days dreaming of living in a city like New York, or Chicago, somewhere far from Hillsbury Park and Cape’s Side Bay. If he wasn’t dreaming about a life in the limelight he was dreaming of his crush Claudia Burton. She was a year older than him, he knew her brother and would often times eat dinner at their house. The truth was Jeffrey didn’t even care much for Claudia’s brother Morgan; he wasn’t much into the same hobbies as him, or movies. Morgan was more of a book nerd, and into nature. Jeffrey saw to it that Morgan was hired alongside himself as a park junior ranger for the summer, meaning he could spend more time with Morgan, and thus hoping to see Claudia more. The plan ultimately backfired, Claudia went away to a summer camp with several of her friends for the past three and a half weeks, and only once before she left did she drive Morgan and Jeffrey home. Thoughts of Claudia spending the summer alone in a cabin with another man would rush through Jeffrey’s head from time to time. He would break into cold sweats and shutter at the thought. Some days his jealous rage would get so bad he would be short with Morgan, and make sure his father assigned him trash duties for the day. As if Morgan had anything to do with Claudia’s activities while away at summer camp.
Henry sipped his coffee and waited as Rachel served him his breakfast. He picked up a glass jar of syrup.
“What’s this?” he questioned what the bottle contained.
“Maple syrup, fresh from Judy Beene. Her and Marty went on a trip to Vermont last fall and gave us three jars for Christmas. Don’t you remember?”
Henry shook his head; he did not remember and frankly did not care. He liked his fake sugary syrup. Nevertheless Henry spread it over his pancakes and took a bite.
“How is it?” Rachel curiously questioned her husband.
The look on Henry’s face would tell you that this was not the finest syrup he had ever had.
“You mean you haven’t tried it yet?”
Rachel shook her head, when did she have time to try it? She was too busy making pancakes for the rest of her family that she wouldn’t be able to sit and enjoy the pancakes and fresh syrup until the former was cold.
“I think it’s gone bad?” Henry stated.
Rachel shook her head “I don’t think so.”
Before Henry could respond Jeffrey entered the kitchen, fully dressed in his ranger attire.
“Well look who decided to show.” Henry snarled.
Jeffrey rolled his eyes and sat at the table. Rachel gently placed a stack of pancakes in front of him. Henry slid the bottle of syrup over to Jeffrey who looked at it with a disgusted look upon his brow.
“What is this?” he asked his father.
“Syrup, natural, you’ll like it?”
Jeffrey grabbed the bottle and let it slowly drip over his pancakes. He cut a piece and placed it in his mouth. He immediately opened and let the chewed pancake fall onto his plate.
“What the hell?”
“Jeffery what are you doing? Don’t act like a child in front of your sister!” Henry half jokingly said.
Jeffrey quizzically looked at his father, who then burst into laughter and turned to Rachel.
“Told ya it went bad!”
Rachel grabbed the bottle and lifted it up she removed the lid and took a sniff.
“I think you may be right.”
Henry slammed his hand down on the table and laughed. Rachel hated to admit it when Henry was right, he would never let her live it down. This time, however, this would not be the case; Henry wiped his mouth with his napkin and stood up from his chair. He walked over to Rachel and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Gonna be late.” He then turned to Jeffrey, “You can bring that with you.”
“Yeah, no thanks.” Jeffrey got up.
“Go get your shoes on, I’ll meet you in the car.” Rachel watched as Henry left and Jeffrey grabbed his shoes.
“Be careful out there.” She said to her son.
“Yeah yeah” he mumbled back to her.
He had heard the same thing from her all summer. What danger could he possibly get in to when his father placed simple duties such as sweeping, mopping and cleaning up loose leaves from trails, all summer. He grabbed his junior ranger hat an exited the house.
Rachel looked over at Sarah, “Just you and me, kiddo.”
“Can I play at Tammy’s?” Sarah innocently asked. Rachel’s arms dropped and she walked over to the phone to call Tammy’s parents.
The jeep was a year older than Jeffrey; Henry bought it for himself as an early birthday present. Rachel wasn’t too keen on it, she heard they were easy to tip when making a sharp turn, but Henry convinced her it was best for living in Hillsbury. The perfect off-roading vehicle, he would call it. Of course he was lying when he would call it that. In fact after the first three and a half months it was barely even an on road vehicle as it was a standard car and Henry was not knowledgeable in driving a stick, now, after all these years he couldn’t imagine going back to standard. Rachel mainly drives their second car, a mini van only five years old. Henry hates not only the standard transmission, but also the idea of him in such a vehicle. He is the park ranger after all and he has a reputation to uphold!
At the beginning of the season, at the request of Jeffrey he had satellite radio installed. Jeffrey loved riding shotgun, picking the station; Henry on the other hand, even with hundreds upon hundreds of music stations at his disposal could still not for the life of him find a song he was in the mood for.
As they drove towards the park Henry noticed something on the side of the road. He cautiously pulled over and told Jeffrey to stay in the car -though Jeffrey had no intentions of joining his father - and exited the car. He walked about fifteen feet down the ditch towards the object that had caught his attention. He knelt down in front of it, and using a branch on the grass lifted the object. It was the front breast of a plaid shirt. The pocket still in tact the rest, however, was missing. As he spun it around and examined it further he could see a small drop of blood, long since dried, and a white foam liquid that over time had hardened.
Henry opened the jeep door and tossed the object in a zip lock bag and placed it in the trunk. He got back into the jeep and drove off without saying a word.As he continued to drive Henry looked over at his son who was actively swiping away at something on his cell phone.
“I heard Claudia Burton’s back in town.”
Henry watched as Jeffrey’s eyes widened before closing them tight, pretending not to care.
“Oh, ya?” Jeffrey shrugged it off as if it were nothing.
“Yeah, got in last night.”
Jeffrey had no follow up, he just continued swiping away at his phone.
“What’s that? What’re you swiping there” Henry asked.
Jeffrey, annoyed, responded “An app.”
Thanks for answering! Henry thought. “An app for what?”
Jeffrey turned his phone off and put it into his pocket, without saying another word.
“OK.” Henry said and continued to drive.
“When did she get back? Claudia?” Jeffrey quietly asked, half embarrassed to do so.
“Last night or the day before. Can’t remember. I was speaking to Mr. Burton over at O’Leary’s and he told me he was going to pick her up. Wouldn’t be surprised if she came around the Park later today.”
Henry watched Jeffrey from his peripheral vision and saw a slight smile form on his sons face. He was at that age when girls would begin to rule his life. Henry was both optimistic and terrified at the next few years of his sons life!
As they pulled up to the staff parking lot, which after a rainfall was essentially a pool of mud, Henry noticed a shiny new Lincoln town car parked on an angle taking up two spots.
“Well who’s this dick?” Henry questioned before reading the license plate Mayor1.
Henry stopped his car and parked.
“Jesus, what does he want?”
“Maybe the weekend’s been canceled?” Jeffrey joked.
“With our luck he’ll extend the fireworks all three days.”
Jeffrey smacked his head against the window.
Ava Trillium was the assistant parks ranger, she was freshly thirty, and initially studied to be a lawyer, but her love for nature and the wildlife took centre stage and so she changed her major and opted for parks ranger. In truth she opted for marine biologist but when no clear career opportunities arose she once again changed her life goal, and so here she is: Assistant park ranger. As Henry entered the Rangers office he saw Ava concealing Patty Liman, Joel’s mother, while the Mayor sat rather impatiently in the waiting room. Henry took Ava by the arm and pulled her into his office.
“You mind telling me what the Mayor’s doing sitting in the waiting room while Patty Liman chats with you?”
“Mayor wants to talk fireworks.” She responded.
“OK? And Patty?”
Ava lowered her head. “Her boy’s missing.” She somberly answered.
“Missing?”
Ava nodded, “Him and some friends went out into the woods last night, all the other boys came back, except Joel.”
Henry sat in his chair. “Get Patty whatever she needs. Bring me the Mayor, I’ll try and get him out of here as soon as possible.”
Ava nodded and left to get the Mayor. Henry straightened a few items on his desk before turning on his computer. As the powering on horn chimed the Mayor entered the office.
“Mayor Tremblay, please come in. Come in. Have a seat.”
The Mayor entered, removing his hat and sitting across from Henry.
“What’s up? Henry asked.
The Mayor removed a cigar from his breast pocket, “You have a lighter?”
Henry smiled and shook his head.
“Plus, no smoking indoors. Sorry, sir.”
The Mayor placed the cigar back into his pocket.
“You know I’m up for reelection in the fall, I don’t have to tell you that?”
Henry nodded.
“Good, good. Tourism, Henry – Tourism was down thirty-six percent this summer. Two family owned shops had to close their doors for good, and I don’t have to remind you about the fishing fiasco we had in June?”
Henry shuttered at the thought.
“What do you want, sir” Henry needed to get the Mayor out of there so he could talk to Patty Liman about her boy.
“We need the fireworks display to eclipse all others. But, we need more.”
“More?”
“Yes!” The Mayor nodded with a child like grin on his face. “More spectacle, more puzzah!”
Henry combed his fingers through his hair.
“I don’t know what puzzah you’re looking for, exactly? We have beachfront, we have fireworks, and we have popcorn, ice cream, and hot dogs. Same every year, what more do you want?”
“We’ll that’s just it, Henry.” The Mayor began, “It’s the same thing every year. People are looking for change; people are looking for something spectacular!”
Henry had no idea what to say or what the Mayor was looking for. “A carnival, a full carnival, with petting zoos and coasters and what have you. Some of that three dimensional crap the kids are so into. Everything. That, Henry, is puzzah!”
Henry leaned back in his chair, for the first time in his career he had wished he had taken a sick day.
“Mayor Tremblay, you’re looking at a stack of permits, not to mention location. Where do you plan on having all of this?”
“Cape’s Side Bay, naturally.”
“Cape’s Side Bay is a swamp, it’s unwanted land. You’d need a team of hundreds to clean it up and have it ready for Sunday.”
“Sunday? I’m moving the fireworks to Monday.” The Mayor rolled the cigar in his hands.
“Monday? Most of the tourists are on the road by then, you’ll have a dozen people at max out there!” Henry could not believe his ears.
The Mayor took to the offensive, “We have the biggest party of the summer on the official last day of summer and people will stick around.”
“And what about school?” Henry questioned.
“Oh, school? Hogwash, Henry, nobody learns anything on the first day back. This has to be big! Hillsbury has to appear on the map!”
The Mayor stood out of his chair.
“I’ll see to those permits, you see to getting the Bay cleaned up.”
As Henry was about to respond the Mayor headed to the door and exited. Henry rubbed his forehead with his index finger and thumb; this is just what he needed. Three days left of the summer and he’s got a delusional Mayor on one hand and a missing boy on the other.
Ava knocked on the door before entering.
“Ready for Mrs. Liman?” She asked, he wasn’t, far from it.
“What do you think of the Mayor, Ava?” He nodded and asked.
“I didn’t vote for him.” She smiled and left leaving the door open before returning quickly with Patty Liman. Henry leaped out of his seat and pulled out a chair for the fifty-five year old mother of one.
***
Patty Liman, the town librarian, was told for years she would be unable to have a child. Her husband Bill, a headhunter whose job required him to travel often and allowed them to live in a secluded place such as Hillsbury, tried for over ten years to have a child. In her early twenties Patty was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, for a short time her recovery was not looking to be a reality, but she persevered and over came the chemotherapy, and eventually she beat the disease. The lasting effects however caused her to never be able to bear children, something the doctors had failed to inform her of initially. And so throughout her late-twenties and early-thirties Patti and Bill tried to start a family, but ultimately to no avail. Bill died fourteen years ago in an apparent plane crash. The plane was never found. Being a headhunter Bill had to travel quite a bit. A good friend of his, who happened to be in the travel business that also required him to travel quite a bit, was Carl Reeves. Bill and Carl met at St. John’s secondary school, the small Catholic school just outside of Hillsbury, and they had been friends ever since. Carl was fascinated with aviation, which resulted in him getting his piloting license. He flew both small planes and helicopters, and was known and trusted in the community for it. He was given the key to the city at age thirty-one for rescuing a group of amateur hikers who were making their way up the small mountain (many referred to it as a hill) by Cape’s Side bay and one of them lost their footing, breaking their leg in three places.
On this fatal day in May fourteen years ago both Carl and Bill were headed to the same town for business. Carl offered to give Bill a ride in his plane. Of course Bill accepted. The night before the trip Patty took Bill out for a romantic picnic at Cape’s Side Bay. She packed wine, travel cups, a loaf of fresh bread baked by Thomas O’Leary that morning, and cold cuts. They sat on the blanket and looked up at the clouds and held each other in their arms.
As day slowly turned to night a mist began to cover Cape’s Side Bay, Bill thought this would be a good time for the couple to try to make a child one more time.
Patty rolled her eyes, “I’m too old now. It’s too late,” She said.
Bill insisted, “For old times sake, out here by the bay, like when we were kids.” He smiled.
They began passionately kissing, before Bill had Patty’s shirt removed and the two-made love in the misty Bay area.
As they were packing up for the night they heard something. A sort of growling sound, Patty described. It appeared to be coming from the cave just above Cape’s Side Bay, not too far from where Carl saved the injured hikers. As the sun was setting neither Patty nor Bill figured it to be a good idea to investigate the sounds, but Bill suggested Patty make Henry aware of it in the morning. As the sun set on the bay, Patty and Bill got in their car and drove off.
The following morning Bill got on Carl’s plane and the two left Hillsbury for the last time, and never returned.
Patty had brought Henry a coffee that morning and informed him of the sound she heard in the cave the night before with Bill. At the time Henry did not entirely believe Patty but assured her he would look into it. As their meeting was coming to an end the phone call came in informing them of the plane, and how it had not yet made it’s destination and no one had heard from it. It had disappeared from radar and not a single person at any airport within a one hundred mile radius had any location on the plane. It was gone. Patty dropped to her knees. Henry rushed to her to console her, telling her everything would be all right. Which of course it wouldn’t be. The plan Bill and Carl was determined, eventually after a long investigation, to have landed in the Atlantic Ocean. Investigators discovered that the plane was indeed over its weight capacity, and that eventually is what brought it down.
It was one month later Patty woke up in the middle of the night with a feeling of nausea. The illness, which she shrugged off as a cold do to the climate change in the seasons, continued for over a month. She noticed a slight weight gain as well, something uncommon when suffering from an illness. The doctor gave her antibiotics and sent her on her way. It was not until she was with her cousin Esther, whom was in her third trimester and was speaking to Patty about how it felt to be pregnant, the constant urinating, being tired, on and off again constipation, and of course the heartburn and nausea, which caused Patty to think maybe just maybe this is what was happening to her. But how could such a thing be possible? She was unable to become pregnant, at least that’s what she had been told by doctors, the same doctors also told her she wasn’t, at the moment, pregnant. And besides, her and Bill had been trying, and trying to have a child before his passing and nothing ever materialized.
She decided that evening to purchase a home pregnancy test, not as reliable as a doctor to be sure, but she couldn’t handle the embarrassment of seeing a doctor, telling them how she felt even after being told it was impossible, to then fail the pregnancy test and discover she was not pregnant at all, but just needed some acid reflux.
Patty decided it was best to visit a drug store outside of Hillsbury, she couldn’t stand the thought of being seen, and the gossip it would cause. She traveled fifty miles out and used the pregnancy test at a gas station thirty-three miles back on her return ride.
Seven months later Joel was born, named after Bill’s father. Such a blessing Joel was. She lost the love of her life, only to be granted a child. For Joel’s first birthday Patty took him for a walk in the stroller to Cape’s Side Bay, the place she believed he had been conceived. They sat in the grass over looking the Bay, watching as the fisherman all caught their prizes for the day. As she looked around and smiled, her eyes caught the cave. The sound she heard a year earlier rung true in her ears, she remembered it vividly.
It was getting late and Patty strapped Joel back into the stroller and began wheeling him away down the dirt path. She could hear the fisherman all packing their trucks for the night as the mist began to rise. She looked back one more time at the cave. The next day Patty made a visit to Henry at the ranger office to follow up on the bear. Henry shook his head and informed her that there was no bear, nothing was ever found. He assured her that he himself had checked the cave less than a year ago and found nothing but rocks and beer bottles. It was nothing more than a place for the teenagers to go and drink, when they couldn’t do it in front of their parents. Patty was disappointed by the news. Every year on this anniversary Patty would visit Henry, and ask about the bear. The final time she did this was seven years ago, Henry assured here there were still no signs of a bear. As Patty was leaving the office Henry’s phone rang, it was then he received the call about his missing sister.
***
That was the last time Henry and Patty had spoken, until now.
Henry held the chair out for Patty as she sat down. He walked around his desk and sat back in his chair, he leaned forward and placed his hands down on the desk, fingers grabbing on to each other. He started the conversation.
“Your boy...”
She nodded fighting off tears. As Henry was about to make a comment Patty viciously spoke out, “It was the bear!”
Only five people had ever reported the hearing of a bear in Hillsbury, Patty was one of them, two of them were boys just having fun and decided to scare everybody, Bill Liman was another, though his was only stated through the word of Patty, and the fifth was Henry’s sister Jill, who mentioned hearing a growl in the bay area three weeks before her fateful fishing trip.
“Patty, you know –“
“I know what I know, Henry! There’s a bear in the park. It lives in the cave,”
Henry sat back in his chair. “I’ve told you Patty, we’ve checked the cave - I’ve checked the cave. There are no bears in Hillsbury Park, or Cape’s Side Bay, or anywhere else around here.”
“You’re wrong.” She calmly responded.
Henry combed his fingers through his hair.
“Patty, I’m gonna do everything I can to find Joel, alright? But, I need you to cooperate. OK?”
Patty nodded. Henry grabbed a pad of paper and a pen, he slid it across the desk over to Patty.
“Write down what he was wearing, who he was with, if anyone –“ She cut him off again.
“He was with three other boys. I saw him, he thought he was sneaking out through the window but I saw him. I should have stopped him, but..”
She broke down. Henry grabbed a tissue and walked it over to her. He sat on the chair next to Patty and rubbed her shoulder.
“Write everything you know down. We’ll find your boy.” He promised.
***
The dew was still fresh on the grass outside as Ava took her morning hike through the campgrounds. There were a total of fifty-seven campsites in Hillsbury Park, and all were occupied save for two of them. Every morning, and every night, Ava does a walk around. She makes sure everyone is settled in and not disrupting the other campers. She makes sure no one has had any negative encounters with wildlife, such as skunks. They may not have bears in Hillsbury, but they sure have a lot of skunks! She watched over as kids played catch and Frisbee, some adults still trying to put out the fire from the night before, while others were still trying to figure out how to light it to begin with. The campgrounds were a jovial place, where people could get away from everything. While Hillsbury was more of a cottage town, it did have its fair share of campers and over the years they saw their campsite grow, and many believe there is a bigger need for it to develop further. The issue for most is in the campgrounds taking up more of the park, which people believe should be considered a nature preserve. There was talk, well before Ava’s time, of turning a portion of Cape’s Side Bay into a campground. Talks fell through after the water began to dry up.
“Excuse me, miss?” A mother of two interrupted Ava’s thoughts.
“My son found this earlier this morning just outside our campsite.”
Ava looked at what the woman was holding in her hand. She grabbed her walkie-talkie and immediately called for Henry.
Henry pulled up in his jeep to the campsite where Ava was waiting for him at a picnic table. She got up and jogged over to the jeep.
“What is it?” Henry asked.
Ava removed the object from her pocket. Henry looked down at it in a sort of wondrous shock. He held it up to his eyes to make absolute sure he was seeing what he was seeing.
A claw.
A five and a half inch claw, like nothing he had ever seen before.
“Where did you get this?”
“Some kid found it when he was playing in the woods this morning.”
Henry looked at the piece again. The claw was ivory, curved and sharp at the end, but just next to the tip on its neck were quills, sharp looking.
“You ever see anything like this before?” Ava asked, unsure of what the claw could be from.
“I don’t think so.” Henry replied. “Keep up with your rounds, I’ll bring it in.”
Ava turned back.
“And Ava, lemme know if anything else pops up. It’s a morning to remember so far.”
Ava smiled “Sure is, boss.”
She walked back towards the campsites. Henry looked at the claw, then into his rearview mirror in the direction of Cape’s Side Bay.
***
Back at Ranger headquarters Jeffrey and Morgan sat outside on the mud. Morgan removed a pack of cigarettes from his khakis.
“Where’d you get that?” Jeffrey asked, not too impressed with his pseudo friend.
“Claudia.” He answered; suddenly Jeffrey was more interested in the cigarettes. “Want one?”
“No, my dad will be back any minute.”
Morgan shrugged and lit a cigarette; he took a puff and immediately coughed.
“You’re a dweeb.” Jeffrey mocked.
“Whatever man.” He continued to smoke.
“So, what do you think’s going on? Y’know with Mrs. Liman and all that?” Morgan asked.
Jeffrey looked over his shoulder through the window of the office at Patty sitting on a chair, rocking back and forth in it.
“I dunno.” Jeffrey grabbed Morgan’s cigarette and took a drag.
They could hear Henry’s raggedy jeep coming down the road.
Shit! They thought! Morgan stumbled about as he flicked the cigarette away. Jeffrey ran up to it and hid it in the mud just as the Jeep pulled in. Henry jumped out and walked towards the front door before turning back to Jeffrey.
“I need you two boys to go out there. Look for the Liman boy, but hey, don’t go too far. Stay safe.”
Jeffrey walked closer to his father.
“Everything good?” He asked.
Henry nodded, he was unsure but didn’t want to let the boys on to anything just yet.
“Yeah, think so.”
Jeffrey turned away; Henry grabbed him and turned back to him.
“Why do you smell like an ash tray?” Jeffrey kept his mouth shut and shrugged. “Bring a walkie. Keep me in the loop.”
Jeffrey nodded and he and Morgan ran off.
Patty watched as Henry entered the Rangers Headquarters and rushed straight to his office, slamming the door.
Henry wasted no time picking up his work phone and dialing.
“Bentley, I’m gonna need you to come to the park. We’ve got a problem.” He hung up the phone and looked at the claw.
***
Bentley Trundle was the deputy sheriff of Hillsbury. Henry preferred discussing matters with Bentley as opposed to Walden, the head Sheriff. Walden was getting old, basically waiting for his retirement. Walden never really took matters too seriously; with very little crime he figured it was a safe bet that most calls to the sheriff’s office were either accidents or prank calls. And, for the most part he’d be right. Every once in a while however, he would be wrong, and on this day he would certainly be wrong, and Henry knew that.
Bentley Trundle was two months shy of celebrating his fortieth birthday. His wife Elise was in the early stages of planning a grand surprise party for him. She had been arranging with Henry to hold it at the Park Ranger Headquarters. Most of the town would be invited, as most of the town liked Officer Trundle. It was even hoped by many that that night would be the time when Walden stepped down as Sheriff and appoint Bentley his successor. What a birthday present that would be! Bentley had no children, when asked why not he would let people know that he considered the people of Hillsbury, both the locals and the tourists, his family. Behind close doors however, he knew that not to be true. He had always wanted a child. It was just something that never happened, neither he nor Elise could ever find the right time, and now it appeared time was running out for either of them. He made his piece, and spent his days being the best deputy sheriff he could be for the town.
As Bentley pulled up in his police cruiser Patty watched on. They didn’t need a deputy sheriff, she thought, they needed animal control!
Upon entering the Ranger Office, Bentley politely nodded to Patty, he knew her quite well as he was an avid reader and spent many winter days huddled up inside the library. He shut the door softly behind him, removed his sheriff hat, and sat across from Henry in his office.
“What’s Patty Liman doing here, Henry?”
Over the phone Henry gave Bentley very little information, typically when a police official was needed in the park Henry would state exactly why, this time however things were different.
“Something’s going on, Bent.” Henry started. “This morning on my way here I found something, and now my assistant ranger Ava found something else.”
Bentley knew Ava well. Too well, some would say. Three and a half years ago the two engaged in a love affair that if found out about, would have set the town afire. Bentley figured it was the frustration of being number two to Walden all these years, working tirelessly to protect the town and the people in it. Elise didn’t understand his frustrations, and how could she? She didn’t live his life. He needed someone to talk to, Ava was there, she listened and cared. Eventually it all came crashing down and the two engaged in a love affair that lasted a little over a year before he felt it was time they cut ties. She agreed. A year was a long time for anything in Hillsbury to be carried out without anyone knowing; the longer they went the longer they risked getting caught. He didn’t want to lose what he had with Elise, and she had no interest in being labeled a home wrecker. And so the two said their goodbyes, and had not been in the company of one another since.
Henry pulled out the plaid shirt he had found on the side of the road. Bentley looked it over. Henry then placed the claw on the table next to it.
“A tusk?” Bentley asked.
“Claw, actually.” Henry corrected him.
“A claw? Jesus, Henry that thing’s huge.”
“Here’s what I’ve got so far: A torn piece of shirt, with what appears to be blood and some sort of foam, I’m guessing electrical, a claw that looks like the fang of a sabre tooth tiger, and a missing boy. Joel Liman.”
Bentley fell back in his chair.
“That’s why Patty’s here?”
Henry nodded.
“Great way to end the summer.”
Bentley gathered his thoughts.
“Who else knows about this?” He asked pointing to the shirt.
“You and me.”
“K, good good. So let’s write that one off, from the public at least. No need to start a panic over a shirt that could have come from anywhere, right?”
Henry nodded in agreement.
“The claw thingy?”
“You, me, Ava, my son, and I’m guessing a whole bunch of campers out there.”
“How many?”
“Well over a hundred, we’re booked, minus the two wheelchair accessible sites. And I don’t suspect those will stay empty much longer.”
Bentley nodded in a agreement. “We need to find a way to nip it in the butt.”
“Well that’s easy…” Henry started, “we just tell them it’s not from around here, someone brought it with them.”
Bentley nodded, “Good, good.”
“We’ve still got a missing boy out there.”
“I need a smoke,” Bentley said as he got up and left the office.
A gentle rain began to spray the park. Bentley looked around as he lit his cigarette.
“At least the weathers cooperating.” He sarcastically quipped to Henry.
“Just a morning drizzle, won’t last. Usually means we’re in for a good day.”
“You sure ‘bout that?” Bentley puffed his cigarette. “We’re gonna need to put out an amber alert.”
“You don’t think that’ll start a panic?” Henry asked.
Bentley knew it would, but he also knew it would be their best bet at finding the Liman kid.
“I’m gonna give Walden a call. Patty tell you anything else?”
“He wasn’t alone last night, he was with some friends.”
“Who?”
Henry shrugged “I asked her to write them down.”
Bentley flicked his cigarette.
“Good, get those names from her, and find out what the kid was wearing. Meet me at the Wolf Trail in fifteen."
Henry nodded and entered the headquarters. Bentley used the radio in his cruiser to call for an amber alert and all eyes out for Joel Liman.
Patty Liman shook as she sipped her tea. Henry walked in and made a b line for her. He squatted down in front of her.
“Mrs. Liman, I’m gonna need the names of those boys Joel was with last night.”
She pointed to Ava’s desk, and the notepad on it.
“Great.” Henry walked over to the pad and read the names. “I’m also gonna need to know what Joel was wearing last night, if you could?”
Patty’s eyes lit up, for a moment she couldn’t remember, then the memory of see her son sneaking out through a window and meet up with her friends down the street flooded her head.
“I should have stopped him..” she started “it’s all my fault.” She broke down into tears once again.
“It’s not your fault, Patty, there’s no way you could have known. Now, could you tell me what you’re kid was wearing?”
Patty looked up at Henry and blankly told him.
“Plaid. He was wearing plaid.”
Henry’s eyes filled up with horror.
***
Bentley waited for Henry at the entrance to the Wolf trail. Hillsbury Park was made up of six trails and a campsite. It used to be six trails, a campsite and Cape’s Side Bay, the fishing area, but of course this was no longer the case. The trails were all named after animals that could be found in and around Hillsbury Park: Wolf, Turtle, Snake, Rabbit, Ferret, and Eagle. The Wolf trail was the only trail you could get to by way of the Rangers Headquarters, and so that is why Bentley decided to start there. As he waited he opened a power bar and took a big bite. He hated the flavor and texture, but in his work he rarely had the chance to sit down and enjoy a warm breakfast while on duty, so he got used to both the texture and flavor and took it for what it was.
Henry slowly walked over to Bentley.
“What do you have for me?” He asked of Henry who handed him the paper with the names of the other boys. “Find out what he was wearing?”
The expression on Henry’s face was blank, the colour gone; he looked as though he had just seen a ghost.
“You alright?”
Henry spoke up “Plaid. Blue and red plaid.”
“No shit” Bentley was stunned.
The shirt Henry had shown him, the one found at the side of the road that morning belonged to Joel.
“Well, let’s get crackin’” Bentley tried to remain optimistic. “I called in for the alert, so, all eyes and ears should be out on the kid. Why not get Ava to let the campers know about Joel?”
“What if they ask about the claw?” Henry worried.
“I thought we had an alibi for that? Someone, a hunter, had it with them and dropped it. Right?”
Henry nodded and called Ava on his walkie-talkie informing her of what was going on.
“Have you had a chance to look over where Joel was last seen?” Bentley asked as he stopped over a broken down tree trunk.
Henry shook his head “I haven’t had a chance to breath so far. I was in there with Patty, filling out some paper work when Ava called me in about the claw. That’s when I called you and here we are.”
Here we are indeed, Bentley thought. What a clusterfuck. Typically calls for this weekend were in regards to burns due to fireworks, and the occasional car bumping into a car in a parking lot. Missing children was not something Bentley Trundle or the entire Hillsbury police department was used to dealing with.
“A missing boy, this has the potential to be the worst summer since -" Bentley stopped himself.
Henry finished his thought “Jill, since Jill.”
Bentley stopped walking and put his arm on Henry’s shoulder “I didn’t mean to…”
Henry shook his head. “It’s OK, Bent. If anything you’re right.”
The two continued their walk. As they got deeper into the Wolf trail an officer from the Hillsbury Police Department made contact with Bentley through his walkie-talkie.
“Officer Trundle, do you copy?” Bentley grabbed his walkie-talkie and looked at Henry curiously “Go for Trundle.”
“We got some follow up on those local boys.” Henry stepped closer to Bentley to hear the conversation better.
“OK, whatta ya got?” There was a moment of pause on the other end. “We’re going to need you to come in.”
“Copy” Bentley replied as he turned back towards the beginning of the path.
“Where you going?” Henry chased after the deputy sheriff.
“I gotta –“ Bentley started before Henry cut him off.
“I’m coning with you!” Bentley nodded and the two ran off.
***
Ava continued her patrol through the campgrounds. She could notice the campers giving her a glare every once in a while. There was a feeling in the air that something was amiss. Most campers knew of the claw, and did not believe the rational behind it. Even though Ava assured them all of what it was. As she passed a campsite rented by a family they huddled around their morning campfire listening to the AM radio. The amber alert broke through; they immediately looked over at Ava. She offered the family a confident look on her face and continued walking. Bruce Archer accidentally bumped into Ava, startling her.
“Ava.”
She looked her up and down, checking her out much to her disgust.
“Yes?” she pushed him away from her.
Bruce placed his cigarillo into his mouth and lit it, the smoke floating into Ava’s face. She frustratingly swatted it away.
“I hear you got a missing boy?” He asked with a sly demeanor.
“Yes, and we’re hoping all campers and guests of the park keep an eye out and help us look for him.”
Bruce nodded not saying anything just staring into Ava. She began to feel uncomfortable.
“That all?” She decided it was time to walk away.
He responded just as she turned her back to him. “This have something to do with that claw the Wilson kid found?”
The comment caught Ava’s attention. She turned back to Bruce.
“Absolutely not.” She was stern in her response; she wanted Bruce to believe that one had nothing to do with the other.
Bruce removed the cigarillo out of his mouth “I’ve seen the bear.”
“You been drinking?” She could smell the stench of alcohol on his breath.
“Don’t matter, you got a bear problem. I know, I’ve seen it.” He was sure of himself.
“There’s no bear, and there’s no bear problem.”
Bruce placed the cigarillo back into his mouth and took a puff; he nodded at Ava and let her on her way. As Ava left the camp Bruce approached his buddies and got into a deep conversation with them.
As Ava walked through the campsites a brisk breeze surrounded her. It was refreshing to feel it on her back after such a warm summer. She took a moment to enjoy what was around her. Soon enough summer would transform in to a gray autumn. The leaves, while looking gorgeous, would lose their luster, and eventually Hillsbury would be covered with snow. Mayor Tremblay had over the years tried to make the area more inviting for winter tourists, he just could not get any firm number of travellers to bite. People wanted warmth in the winter, or ski resorts, HIllsbury was neither. The park itself shuts down to the public on the twenty-ninth of October, and the next seven months are spent filling out annoying amounts of paper work, trimming trees and just keeping up with much needed maintenance. Not Ava’s favourite time of the year to be sure, but necessary. She made her way to the south side restrooms when she noticed a pile of garbage next to the garbage can. Raccoons, she thought. She made her way over to the pile, slid on her gloves, and began to clean up the mess.
The final piece of trash left on the ground was a pornographic magazine; she picked it up, shook her head and placed it in the trash. While lifting herself back up to her feet she noticed something on the ground beneath. She squatted back down. She rubbed her fingers across what she saw; footprints. Footprints unlike anything she had ever seen before. The print had three toes, like a bird, one on the left and the right, and one in the middle. The interesting thing was the outer toes each had a claw that extended forward; the middle toe was vacant of a claw. She quickly took a picture of the print and dusted the dirt over it, removing the evidence. Ava followed the tracks into the bushes, removing the tracks as she went along. She moved branches and pushed stones out of her way, stepped over logs, and finally the tracks stopped. She looked around, surrounded by wilderness. Straight above her the sun was beaming down. She was beginning to sweat in the heat, where was the cool breeze she felt merely moments ago? She gave the area one final look, nothing but trees, and a few squirrels leaping from tree top to tree top chasing each other. Two squirrels in particular caught Ava’s attention. They were chasing each other as squirrels do but upon a closer look sthen noticed that they weren’t playing, or chasing each other for no reason. One was eating something and the other was trying to get it from him. She followed the squirrels with her camera out, taking pictures of the creatures. Jumping from tree to tree, it always amazed Ava just how fast squirrels could be, and agile! She loved them when she was a kid and loved them now. They stopped at a tree and ran straight up it. Ava took her camera out and zoomed in for the perfect shot. They hid between the leaves surrounding themselves in the darkness; Ava took the picture, the flash blinding the creatures momentarily forcing the one to drop the food from its mouth. Ava watched as it fell, she ran up to it to pick it up and try and feed it to the squirrels. It was never a good idea to feed wild animals, but Ava was confident enough in herself and her surroundings, also she felt guilty for being the reason the critter dropped his lunch. She walked up to the food, as she stepped closer and closer to it she slowly realized what the squirrel was chewing on, what the other one was chasing after, and what was dropped on the ground in front of her, was not food at all.