Friday, August 31st, 7:33 A.M.

Zayne Stone gazed from the window of the passenger van. The clear blue sky effused soft hues of orange and pink as the dawn broke early Friday morning. It was a little chilly as they headed into Labor Day weekend. She had decided to remain in the vehicle, seventy-two degrees was just a bit too cold for her shorts and designer T.

Zayne’s eyes drifted to her father. She hadn’t seen him this excited in a long time. He’d planned this trip all week, ever since he’d heard about the cave. Her dad was almost hopping around as his students helped him pack the van. Surprisingly, he had taken her out of school for the day to join him. Zayne liked the idea of a four-day weekend, even if she had to look through some smelly old cave.

Her dad was super nice and super short. Aside from Zayne, he was the shortest one there, barely reaching five foot. His hair needed a trim. Her dad was bald on top with a scruffy ring of hair, a style one of her friends called, a power donut. Every time she heard that it made her giggle. Her dad needed to lose some weight too, but he just wasn’t interested in diets or exercise, it worried her sometimes. He kind of reminded her of that actor Danny DeVito, except Dad was half Cherokee.

Cassie, her father’s teaching assistant, seemed to be the one in charge at the moment. For the last twenty minutes, Cassie oversaw the others as they loaded the van. She stood there, looking like she’d just rolled out of bed, telling everyone what to do. Dressed in an old, sleeveless t-shirt, with no makeup, hair pulled into a ponytail, Cassie wasn’t even trying to look good. She did anyway, which made it a little worse. Zayne liked the way her lime green top went with her pink jeans. She’d never thought to mix the two colors. Perhaps she’d ask Cassie for some style tips.

Zayne yawned, exhausted, she’d woken up so early that morning. She kind of wanted to take a nap, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to. Instead, Zayne skipped to another song on her phone. Only one earbud in, she absentmindedly fiddled with the other, while she bobbed her foot to the music. Her dad was always telling her not to spend to much time on the thing. After all, as he liked to remind her, he didn’t have one when he was her age. How did people even get along without smartphones?

Zayne shifted her attention over to Henry Blake as he hefted a heavy box. He was so cute. Henry had these deep, light blue eyes and a short stylish haircut. He was thin, but she could see his muscular arms peeking out from beneath his tight shirt sleeves. He was so funny too and always make her laugh. Too bad he was so old, 28 was ancient.

Jordan Adler opened the sliding passenger door and set her bag on the seat. With her cute short pixie cut hair, and in long tan cargo shorts, with a plain white t-shirt and bulky blue shoes, Jordan looked and dressed like a boy. Zayne hadn’t known what to make of Jordan when she first met her. She hadn’t ever known anyone quite like her. Zayne wasn’t sure why she dressed like that and was too afraid to ask. Jordan was easygoing and kind though, so she might ask during the trip. Surely, she wouldn’t get upset.

“Hi Jordan,” she bubbled.

“Hey, Zayne,” Jordan responded warmly. “How are you today?”

“I’m ok,” she grinned.

As Jordan moved back over to join the others loading the van, Zayne slipped back to the seat beside Jordan’s bag. She hoped Jordan wouldn’t mind. Through the open door, Zayne saw a tall, heavy boy, she didn’t know. He had greasy brown hair, which looked like it hadn’t been washed in years, pulled back into a small ponytail. An unkempt beard covered his face. He wore a black t-shirt of some band; its graphic had faded away from many wash cycles. She watched him as he carried a heavy molded plastic case, with the words archaeology dept stenciled on the lid, to the back of the van. Cassie had called him Michael, so she supposed that was his name.

Jamie Long played volleyball and was one of the tallest girls Zayne had ever seen. She was so beautiful. Her heart-shaped face was framed by long, black hair. Her hazel eyes and thick black eyebrows easily drew the eye. Jamie had naturally tanned, olive skin and an athletic yet curvy body. She appeared to have a more Mediterranean coloring. Maybe Greek or Italian. Zayne wasn’t sure. She’d seen Jamie play volleyball but had never met her. She looked forward to it.

Jordan climbed into the seat beside Zayne followed by Henry. As the others filed into the van, Zayne peered back to watch the last bags loaded. They had taken the two rear seats out of the van to make room for equipment and bags.

Everyone also had a massive backpack. Cassie and Henry had come over to their house the night before to help Dad pack. Zayne had even helped. Dad, Cassie, and Henry, each had their own backpacks, and the college had provided packs for the rest of the students. To even out the loads, they’d split the nonperishable food and cookware among packs. Each bag contained a sleeping bag, a foam pad, and a tent which left just enough room for their clothes.

Cassie opened the driver’s door and climbed in. She spun to face them and surveyed the full van. Zayne’s dad was the last one in as he boosted himself into the passenger seat.

“Are we ready?” Professor Stone asked in anticipation. He glanced from face to face around the group.

“Yeah, I think so,” Cassie responded with a turn of the key. The engine coughed to life, as Henry Blake tugged the door shut.

Zayne put her right leg under her as she turned in her seat to face Jordan.

“Oh my gosh, did I tell you about—”

Henry let out a contented sigh, the drive had only taken about thirty-five minutes. Jordan had listened to Zayne tell a long-winded story about some boy. At least he thought it was about a boy, he’d zoned her out some. It amazed Henry that Jordan could be so attentive to the young girl. Jordan seemed to be able to tolerate almost anyone and truly care about what they said. Without a doubt, he lacked that particular gift.

The van entered a turnaround at the end of the dirt road and maneuvered around. Cassie pulled the van off the side of the road and coasted to a stop. A little way back, they’d passed the police tape, which still marked the scene of last weekend’s incident.

Henry grasped the handle, heaved the van door open, and hopped from the van. He stretched his stiff muscles while dreading what came next. They now had to slog through the woods with their supplies and bags. He watched the others exit the van. Probably not the team he would have picked, but not bad.

Henry didn’t understand why the professor brought his 11-year-old daughter. Not that he didn’t like her; she was a good kid, maybe a little talkative and giggly. He just thought she would get in the way, be a distraction.

Henry opened the back door and grabbed his backpack. He swung it over his shoulders. At the thought of distractions, he glanced at Jamie Long, the six-foot-one-inch volleyball player. She was truly stunning, and she always seemed to dress to draw attention, with short shorts and tight shirts. He’d have to be careful; he didn’t want to be that guy, the TA known to date students. Even if he wasn’t directly involved in her education.

“Do you have the map?” he asked Cassie as she walked up beside him. Cassie was a fantastic student and teacher’s assistant but could be a little bossy. She, and by extension everyone else around her, were cursed by her type-A personality.

“Of course!” she chided. Her annoyed expression conveyed her true feelings for such a silly question. She held up a clipboard with copies of the map secured to it. “I made several copies just in case.” He just grinned at her. He liked to push her buttons, and she knew that. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

The map was hand drawn, with the cave’s location marked by the sheriff’s deputy who’d discovered the cave. Cassie pulled a few copies from her clipboard and handed them around.

“It’s going to be a bit of a hike to get there,” Cassie pointed out. “I looked at the satellite images of the valley and marked a few areas that could be used for our campsite.”

“As long as we don’t camp where those people died,” Jamie put in as she hefted her backpack onto her shoulders. “Are we sure it’s safe?” she asked with a look at everyone and no one.

“Oh yes, yes, they killed the animal responsible,” Stone assured. “They even did a necropsy to make sure. They found remains of the victims in its stomach.”

“What’s a necropsy?” Zayne asked with interest.

“Oh, it’s like an animal autopsy,” Stone explained. He turned back to Cassie and asked, “How far to the cave? I want to drop off the majority of the supplies at the cave.”

“Let’s see.” She consulted her map, which was filled with notations. “The cave is about a mile from here, maybe a little further…”

Cassie’s voice faded as Henry walked away from the group, toward Jordan. She stood at the edge of the dirt road and gazed in the direction of the clearing where the students had died almost a week ago. Jordan must have heard him approach. As he neared, she glanced back over her shoulder at him.

“Did you know any of them?” He asked.

“Not really. I’d met a couple of them,” she breathed. “Did you hear what the little boy said happened?” After a shake of the head, she continued, “He said it was some kind of monster, not a mountain lion.”

“Really?” he asked. Henry heard soft footsteps approach, he glanced back and noticed Zayne sidling up to them.

“Yeah,” she went on, “though I suppose it was just seeing his dad die and all, maybe it was easier to blame a big scary monster.”

He nodded slowly. Jordan’s explanation sounded reasonable.

“Hey, Zayne you promise you’ll protect me?” he asked turning to her.

“No need to worry,” she squeaked, her face flushing a pinkish hue. She let out a cough. “I’ll take care of you.”

Henry grunted as he felt Jordan’s elbow slam into his ribs. He gave her a reproachful look. It wasn’t like he was making fun of the girl; she had a crush; it was cute.

“Hey guys, come over here and grab your bags,” Cassie called from the rear of the van.

“Yes mother,” Henry called back as they strode over.

Cassie Byrne waved the group toward back doors. As she knew he liked to think he was funny, she chose to ignore Henry’s comment. Professor Stone, in his colossal backpack, stood beside her, bouncing on the balls of his feet and rubbing his hands together. Professor Stone was always passionate about his work; However, she couldn’t recall seeing him this animated.

Jordan and Zayne were the last to grab their backpacks from the van.

“Ok, listen up,” Cassie said. “We don’t know where we’ll be setting up camp. There might be enough room by the cave for a camp, but I doubt it. We have a lot of supplies that we need to bring with us. So, we’re heading to the cave first, then we’ll decide where to set up. We need each of you to grab as much as possible from the back of the van. We’ll have to come back for the rest later.”

From her previous digs, she knew the importance of having ample supplies. Cassie had been to many dig sites, in several countries. One of the most interesting was Petra, the ancient city carved into the sandstone cliffs of Jordan. Established along trade routes, the city likely gained much of its wealth as a major trading center. The main entrance to the city was a canyon three-quarters of a mile long. Construction of the ancient city had begun some than twenty-four hundred years ago.

Cassie had also been blessedly chosen for a small dig at Lascaux a few years before. Cut into the limestone hills of Southern France, the Lascaux cave system contains more than six hundred prehistoric cave paintings. Along with the paintings, there are roughly fourteen hundred engraved images that depict many types of animals and shapes. Estimated to be between twenty to thirty thousand years old, the artwork is more than ten times older than Petra. The beautiful Paleolithic cave paintings had been breathtaking.

Cassie grabbed a camera case and slung the strap over her shoulder. She lifted a cooler and started out toward the cave. The ground inside the woods was strewn with decomposing leaves and scrub brush. To begin with, she’d decided to follow an old, well-used game trail. Minutes into the journey, she could already sense her arm and back muscles begin to strain against the load as she made her way toward the cave.

Jamison Roberts © 2019