Bent Creek (27 page)

Sam opened his car door and got in.  “Do what I said, Clyde. Stay put and if Rachael’s family comes looking for her, you just tell them that she is with me.  That’s all. They don’t need to know what’s going on.” Clyde watched as Sam drove off and then headed back to his store.  Once on the road, Sam opened the glove compartment and took out his flashlight and a boning knife in a leather sheath and stuck them in his jacket pocket.

Just on the outskirts of town, Sam turned left and headed up a wide trail winding through the woods.  He had known about the old logging road ever since he was a kid.  He and his brother would go pas
t the lumber camps to hunt rabbits and squirrels. Sam knew that Rachael was smart enough to have taken the long way; by passing up the logging road Cooter would have to drive another twelve miles to Post Fork Pass.  If he could get up to the ridge before it got too dark he may have a chance of finding out where she was leading them.  He rolled down the window even though the evening air was turning colder by the minute. The sound of a car engine traveled for miles on the overgrown one-lane paths leading up to the top of the ridge. Several times he stopped and listened for the sound of a car engine. Just a mile or so past Caden’s Fork, he picked up a clattering sound. It had to be them.  No one else would be stupid enough to travel these roads after dark.  He still hadn’t even had time to process what Clyde had told him.  All he knew was that Rachael was in big trouble. Parking his car as close to the side of the road as possible, Sam opened the trunk and took out a coil of rope and headed up the trail on foot.  He couldn’t take a chance of them hearing his car.  Picking his way along the road he knew he only had about fifteen more minutes of light. Finding a sturdy tree, Sam tied the rope securely around it and began to repel down the side of the steep ravine.  Once at the bottom he crossed over the narrow creek bed and started his assent up the other side. Grabbing hold of rocks and branches he pulled himself through the thicket.  His throat was burning and his breath coming in short pants, but he had to make it to the top and find Rachael.  Once on the ridge, he positioned himself about a hundred feet away from the lean-to.  He lay down in the underbrush to conceal himself and he waited.

Driving slowly through the mountain turns, Norvelle leaned over the steering wheel trying to see the road ahead with only the help of two dim headlights.  “I can’t see a damn thing. I ain’t even sure if’n I’m in the middle of the road or near the edge.” The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the front wheel of the car slide into a deep rift,  just inches from a sheer drop off. “That’s it! I ain’t a goin’ another mile on this road.  I think this gal is leadin’ us on a wild goose chase.”

“I ain’t. It’s up here. There’s an old shack just up yon
der where Nevers used tah stay. The still is a little ways passed there.” She prayed that they would suggest stopping there until daylight, even though being alone with them would put her into further danger. She prayed that Clyde had found Sam and given him her message and he was on his way up to save her.  She knew by now, Jesse and Ben would know something was wrong and would be on the road to Lynch to look for her. She prayed that they would all be safe. Right now, praying was the only thing keeping her from falling apart.  She had to stay strong so that they would believe her.  “Thar it is, thars the shack. See I told you so,” she said pointing to the remnants of Old Joe’s cabin.

“Git outta the car. You go on ahead, I’ll follow you in the car,” Cooter said. He opened the door and pushed Rachael out. Norvelle grabbed her by the arm and started up the incline.

“I’m plumb tuckered out and I’m hungry,” Norvelle whined. “Let’s light a fire and at least warm up a bit.  Come on, Gal, whars that still?”

“It’s too dark,” Rachael said. “That still is so well hidden, even in the daylight you can be a couply feet away from it and you couldn’t see it. It’s gonna be too hard for us tah find in the dark.”

Cooter followed slowly behind them in the car and maneuvered up the steep incline within a few feet of the shed. Pulling as hard as he could on the emergency brake, the car still rolled backwards a few inches. “Damn hunk of junk. Soon as we git clear of this town I’m buyin’ me a new car.” Putting a rock under the front, right wheel, he turned off the lights and got out. Norvelle pushed open the door to the shack and shone his flashlight inside.  He jumped when a raccoon rushed pas
t him and headed for the brush.

“Damn, this place smells like crap.  I ain’t sleepin’ in here. Git in thar,
girl,” he said to Rachael as he shoved her into the narrow opening. Once inside, he tied her hands behind her back and shoved her down on the floor. “This’ll hold ya,” he said tying the end of the rope to the center pole.

“Norvelle, you sit outside that thar door and make sure she don’t go nowhere. I’m gonna lay down in the back seat til it gets light.”

“Ya mean I kin go on in with the girl?” Norvelle said grinning.

“You leave her alone fer now.  I don’t want no ruckus tonight. They’ll be a plenty time for that in the mornin’ after we find that still.”

Norvelle let out a grunt. “Pokin’ her one time taint gonna hurt anythin’.”

“Jest sit down and shut up and do what I say,”  Cooter said in a whining voice as he climbed into the car and pulled the door shut. If anyone was going to poke her, he wanted to be first, but he was too tired at the moment to fight with her.  If she resisted he may have to kill her and then he would never find the still.

“Why ya always tellin’ me what tah do? Why can’t I sleep in the car?” Norvelle grumbled, knowing that if he kept it up too long, Cooter would surely punch him in the face like he had done many times before.

Sam heard it all. Still laying in the brush he had ducked when the headlights of the car almost zeroed in on him.  He was primed to make his move if Cooter had turned Norvelle loose on Rachael. As it was, he had time to devise a better plan to get her out of the shed. There was only one way in and one way out.

Sam waited as the night settled in and the woods began to come alive with the second shift of animals living on the mountain. The hoots of the owls judging the distance between themselves and their prey started first. Then came the hum of insects and the fluttering of wings from the swarm of bats leaving their resting places under the ledges.  Crunching leaves signaled the arrival of rabbits and coons and other small mammals skittering around on the forest floor.  They nervously looked around for anything edible always aware of the fox and coyotes on their trail and the owls waiting to swoop down on them.

It was only the fear of the cougars, bears and the poi
sonous snakes that made the mountain seem perilous to humans and of course, the trepidation of getting lost in the vast wilderness. Even the people born and raised in the hollows had a deep respect for Black Mountain. There was always the warning, “You go up that thar mountain, you better know yer way back. Plenty to eat and drink up thar, but it gets mighty cold in the night and them critters prowlin’ around would love tah find an easy meal.” Sam wasn’t afraid of the mountain tonight.  He had to find a way to get Rachael out of the mess she had created.

Hearing the unharmonious snores of both Cooter and Norvelle, Sam began to slowly move out of the brush and into the clearing. Staying low to the ground he crawled over to the car and quietly pulled the rock out from under the right front tire. When it was clear of the car, Sam put his shoulder against the front bumper and pushed as hard he could.  The car began to slowly move backward. Rolling away from the car, Sam quickly stood up and ran to the side of the shack.  He tapped on the wall and softly called Rachael’s name.  She answered him right away. “Sam, oh my gosh yer here.  I’m all tied up.”

The car was now beginning to pick up momentum. When the first branch cracked across the windshield, Cooter sat up with a start. “Holy shit!” he screamed and tried to open the door. Getting knocked into the back seat with his feet sticking up in the air, the back bumper of the car crashed into a pine tree and stopped. Cooter pulled himself up, fighting off the pine branches that had come through the window.  Reaching over into the front seat, he laid on the horn. Norvelle opened his eyes and jumped up and began running down the hill.

With his distraction in place, Sam crashed into the door of the shed and with one swift slice cut through the rope tied to the pole. With her hands still bound, Sam grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the shed and across the clearing.  “Get down, stay low,” he said when they reached the brush.  Crawling a few feet into the thicket, Sam stopped long enough to cut the rope on Rachael’s hands. “Lay still, they can’t see us.”

Still cussing, Cooter kicked at the car door that was jammed against the tree. When Norvelle finally got to him, Cooter had climbed out the window.  “Got damn, sumbitch, didn’t you hear that car a movin’?  Are you plain deef?”

Norvelle shook his head. “Naw, I didn’t heer nothin’ till you wuz honkin’
; sides what could I do till it stopped?”

“Aw, shut-up.  I’m wide-awake now.  Let’s go get the girl. Might as well have a little fun.”

“Sound like a good idée, Cooter. A real good idée,” Norvelle agreed.

Near
ing the lean-to Cooter yelled, “Well, I’ll be a sumbitch, that door’s done been busted open.”  Cooter ducked as he went in side. “She’s gone!  Been cut loose from the pole.  Got damn, that twernt no accident that my car rolled down the hill. We got company, Norvelle. Sure nuf, we got company.”

Norvelle looked around, nervously.  “Who’d ya think it is, Cooter? Ya think it
’s Clyde?”

“Hell no. That coward woulda called the sheriff and they woulda come up heer guns a blastin’.  Nope, I ain’t sure who it is, but don’t you worry none, we’re gonna find em. And when I do, whoever it is and that girl are gonna be dead meat. Nobody makes a fool outta Cooter.”

Cooter cupped his hands around his mouth.  “We know’d yer out thar. And we are a comin’ after ya.  Be best jest to show yerself and maybe we kin work somethin’ out.”

Sam felt around on the ground until he found a good size rock. Hurling it over his head with a
ll his might he grabbed Rachael’s hand and they quickly ran across the small clearing to the side of the ravine.

Norvelle whirled around and fired off three shots in that direction.

“What in the hell is wrong with you,” Cooter said. “What are you shootin’ at?”

“Didn’t you see that, Cooter?” Norvelle asked.

“See what, dumb ass. Ain’t nothin’ to see. Probably some critter jest got the hell scart outta him.  Now put yer damn gun away a fore you shoot yer foot off and let’s go after that gal.”

Norvelle trotted behind Cooter.  “What about the still, Cooter? What about the money they done buried up here?”

“Listen dumb ass, thar ain’t no still and thar sure as hell ain’t no money up here. We been led on a snipe hunt.”

The sound of the gunfire and the squabble between Cooter and Norvelle gave Sam and Rachael the chance to descend a few feet down the steep incline.

“I’m gonna fall,” Rachael whispered.  “I can’t get my footin’. It’s tah dark. I can’t see.”

Sam put his fingers to her lips and pulled her to his side. “Hold on to my hand and don’t let go, no matter what, don’t let go,” he said in a low voice. He began to inch his way grabbing hold of branches and rocks to keep them from tumbling straight down. Every once in a while they would have to sit down and just scoot on the slippery leaves still damp from the evening dew. Half way down, Sam stopped and positioned himself and Rachael behind a fallen tree. “Let’s wait here for a minute and see what they’re up to,” he said softly.

A beam of light from Cooter’s flashlight skirted across the log and around the trees. Sam and Rachael ducked down lower. “Can’t see em, but I reckon whoever it is with the gal musta taken off down the gully. Come on Norvelle, let’s go.” Taking just a few steps, Norvelle lost his footing and began to slide down the incline.

“Crap, we’re gonna kill ourselves goin’ this a way. Let’s jest go down the road. They gotta come up outta thar sometime,” Norvelle whined.

Cooter grabbed Norvelle by the back of his shirt, “Lis
sen you little weasel, if’n ya want yer share of the money, ya better git yer ass down this here hill.  They ain’t that fer ahead of us.”

Sam and Rachael began to descend further down the ravine knowing that Cooter was getting closer to them.  Their movement caused a small rockslide, with the sound of gravel falling into the creek below them.

Two shots rang out. The impact of the bullets hitting a tree caused a shower of splinters to rain down on Sam and Rachael. “Damn, that was close,” Sam said.  Rachael could feel her heart thumping in her chest.

Coming to a stop at the edge of the creek, Sam began to run along the rocky bank, still holding Rachael’s hand.  “Wait, I can’t go anymore. Stop a minute,” she said, panting.

“Can’t stop, Rachael, they’re right on our heels.”

The moon was now directly overhead, throwing glimpses of light between the trees.  Sam scanned the ridge looking for the rope he had left hanging there.  “There it is,” he said. “Take hold of the rope and start walking up the rocks. Lean back and let your legs do the work. Go hand over hand.”