LAURA WALKED forward, the forest as silent as a tomb. Suddenly, she heard a snap.
From above the trail.
She looked up as a branch the size of a pencil fell out of the whiteness.
It bounced on the soil and settled.
Laura stared at it for a long moment. Then looked up again.
Nothing was there, just the shapeless mass of silent white. She wondered if an owl was up there somewhere. They often ate things up on the branches.
She glanced back at Samuel. He looked fine, and she was far enough away from him that she could use the walkie-talkie without him hearing. She turned the device on and—
“Laura, you there? Hello; please come in, Laura. Laura?”
Her husband sounded even more tense than usual. “What is it, Allen?”
“Jesus. Where the hell are you?”
“Where do you think? Searching trails.”
“Which trail?”
She continued walking. “Smuggler’s Gulch.”
“Where in Smuggler’s Gulch?”
She eyed a tiny metal sign poking out of the dirt. “The seven-hundred-yard marker.”
“Near that burned-out tree?”
She glanced back at Samuel. “Exactly.”
“Do me a favor, Laura. Get in the tree.”
She halted. “What?”
“I can’t get into it now; just do it. We’re coming to get you.”
“We?”
“Laura, just get in the tree.” A pause. “You don’t see anything there now, do you?”
She looked around. “No, nothing.”
“You sure?”
A quick glance. “Positive.”
“All right. I’ll see you in a few seconds.”
She clipped the walkie-talkie to her belt, then walked quickly toward the tree.
Then she jogged. Why the hell had Allen told her to get inside it?
She jogged faster, looking in every direction.
She sprinted. The tree was forty feet away, then thirty. Why did she feel like something was following her? She ran harder, twenty feet away, ten…
She suddenly froze. What am I doing? Letting Allen freak me out? She ordered herself to get a grip. She calmly walked to the tree and peered in at Samuel. The baby looked fine.
The walkie-talkie sounded again. “Laura? Laura?”
Samuel started scowling, and she jolted to the opposite side of the trail. “Yes, Allen.”
“You OK?”
She was annoyed now. “I said I’m fine. See you when you get here.”
But just as she returned the walkie-talkie to her belt she heard something off the trail. A rustling. She looked out but saw nothing, just silent forest.
She didn’t know why, but she wanted to look up…. Huh. The fog seemed to be swirling ever so slightly.
Something rustled again. Something behind the trees.
An animal? Her husband was nervous about something. If an animal was nearby, she didn’t want it getting anywhere near her baby. She considered grabbing Samuel, putting him in the Snugli, but if whatever was out there jumped on her… Once, a playful dog had done just that, and Samuel had required stitches. The baby was safe in the cave where he was. She removed a pocketknife and quickly walked toward the trees.
SAMUEL JUST watched as his mother walked out of sight.
Instantaneously, an enormous black shadow descended on top of him. There was a flapping sound, and a powerful breeze blew back his hair.
The child looked up.
Something was there now. Looking right at him.
“Come on, come on, come on….”
Allen Meyer sprinted past trees and ferns, leading the way. They’d just parked and were tearing through the forest, seconds away from his wife, his baby…
Following, Darryl and Jason darted their eyes, studying the ominously silent landscape. They had a bad feeling.
CHAPTER 60
CLUTCHING HER pocketknife, Laura Meyer took another step. Whatever she’d heard, it was just around the next redwood, she was sure of it. She’d just scare it off and go back to her child. She held the knife firmly, rounded the tree, and—
“Oh my God, Allen.”
It was her husband and two men she didn’t recognize.
Winded, Allen froze. “You OK?”
“Fine.”
He suddenly looked around. “Where’s Samuel?”
“He’s… in the tree cave.”
A stunned pause. “You left him alone?”
“I heard something and—”
Allen Meyer ran toward the trail. They all did.
SAMUEL WAS captivated.
The creature was just hovering there, five feet off the ground, flapping rapidly, staring at him.
Swinging in his little chair, Samuel looked right back at it, drawn to its eyes. The eyes were almost magnetic, pure black and perfectly still. Then, like magic, the eyes moved. They looked to Samuel’s left, then his right, then back to his left again.
Then the great body dropped lower and the mouth opened.
In his little chair, Samuel was almost swinging into it.
“SAMUEL!” ALLEN Meyer ran as hard as he could.
THE HEAD jerked. The predator hadn’t been paying attention, but someone was coming….
It turned back to the child. Then jolted closer….
Samuel just stared at the approaching teeth, hundreds of them….
He swung away… then back again.
His father screamed once more….
The head turned. Then there was a powerful surge of wind. The mouth snapped closed, and the teeth disappeared.
ALLEN MEYER halted. On the opposite side of the trail, Samuel was swinging in the cave, perfectly fine.
As Darryl, Jason, and Laura came around, the ranger plucked his son from the chair. “You OK?”
The kid cooed.
Jason noticed the soil in front of the tree. It almost looked… wind-strewn. Just like Samuel Meyer’s hair. Jason noticed the child was looking up.
Jason looked up too. But nothing was there now, just thick, white fog.
CHAPTER 61
“SON OF a bitch!”
Laura Meyer couldn’t believe it. She pulled her SUV over to the roadside, and her husband and his two guests did the same. Outside, she pointed angrily at the red pickup. “I saw these guys earlier. Three hunters. I told them to leave immediately.”
Allen Meyer exhaled. “Oh boy, what a goddamn day.” He eyed the silent trees. “OK, I’ll go out there and find—”
“I’ll do it.”
Meyer turned. This had come from the big strong black guy. “No. That’s OK.”
“You sure? I’m qualified. I’m former U.S. Army and a licensed hunter in four states with firearms and bow and arrow.” Darryl opened his wallet to show his credentials.
Meyer studied them and looked up. “I get paid for this, you know.”
“It’s not about that. You guys have had a tough enough day already.” Darryl Hollis eyed the tot in back of the SUV. “When my wife and I have little ones one day, I hope someone helps me out. No big deal.”
The Meyers shared a look. What a genuinely touching offer. “That’s very nice of you. If you’re sure you want to, we’ll leave you a truck to get back. And a walkie-talkie.”
Darryl was looking at the fog now. “Sure.”
“Darryl, you got a second?” Jason led him a few feet away.
“What’s up?”
Jason swallowed nervously. “Be careful, all right?”