Dinosaur Lake 3: Infestation (4 page)

“I wouldn’t dare say that, Henry. I don’t want to
jinx the peaceful world we have now.”

“Best to not think about it or speak of the worst
results,” Henry said to Justin. “Only how to fix it, right?”

“Right. For now. And so far it’s only been a couple
sightings. Small numbers. We have time. I think. I have more people and places
to call and more information to collect.” Justin’s weariness was obvious in the
way he spoke his words. Hesitant. Slowly. “Okay, we can discuss what we can or
will do when I see you next. Let’s make it soon. But I’m just too tired tonight
to discuss it or even think about it anymore. It hurts my brain.

“Well, that’s what I essentially had to tell you.
Sorry I’ve monopolized the conversation so far. So…what news did you have for
me, Chief Ranger?” Justin used the term he sometimes still affectionately
called his father-in-law. “I hope it’s better news than what I gave you.”

“It’s not.” And Henry told him about the
unidentified creatures spied in the lake and the feisty kangaroo dinosaur in
the woods.

“Oh, my, then it’s already begun.”

“Or something has begun. I already closed the lake
down to visitors earlier today. Going to shut down the whole park again as
well. Can’t take any chances this time. But I’m going out on the lake first
thing tomorrow morning to see what I can see and I thought you might want to
come with me?”

“Going to take a boat tour for yourself? See if any
unidentified aquatic beasties show up, huh? See if there’s really something
there?”

“Something like that. You want to come?”

“I’ll be there,” Justin said. “Ah, here we go
again. Lake maneuvers.”

“Meet you at Crater Lake Lodge’s dining room at
seven a.m. then? We’ll have breakfast first and take a little time to discuss
our strategy.” Henry finished and after saying goodbye hung up.

He didn’t need to tell Ann much. She already had
guessed most of it by his end of the phone conversation and he quickly filled
her in on the rest.

Twice, during his explanation, Henry stole looks
out the window into the night searching for movement or glittering ruby eyes
among the trees and leaves. But he saw no signs their earlier visitor had
returned–or, if he had any, his friends.

Soon after, he and Ann retired to bed. He made sure
the windows and doors were securely locked and he kept his duty weapon nearby. He
gave Ann a weapon, a large caliber revolver, of her own and insisted she take
it with her everywhere she went. Promising to also provide her with a rifle
when he could get to headquarters and retrieve one.

Henry had accepted, as Ann had, that from that
night on living in the park was going to be a little different. Just like those
poor human survivor wretches in The Walking Dead television show…they would
have to be forever vigilant, armed and prepared. Always. Because, if Justin was
right, a new age had just begun.

Chapter 2

Henry

When Henry left his house the following morning,
the sun still hadn’t lifted from the horizon and it was that glowing dark right
before sunrise, but already warm. It was supposed to be an extremely hot day
and he’d dressed for it. His summer uniform and ball cap. A water bottle attached
to his belt and plenty in his jeep. His duty weapon snug in the holster at his
waist.

His eyes were peeled for any of the little
cat-hungry critters like the one he’d run into the night before. His nerves were
on edge, watching for them, but none showed up. He didn’t know if he should be
relieved or suspicious. If the one that had attacked him wasn’t lurking around
their cabin, it had to be somewhere else and he didn’t want to think about
where. He hoped any cats in the vicinity were safely tucked away in their
homes. Or dogs. Or small people.

After a stop at headquarters, he stashed a couple
high-powered rifles and extra ammunition in the jeep’s rear seat. Best to be
prepared, no matter what they came across in the water, or on the land. On the
way to joining up with Justin, he phoned Ranger Kiley and Ranger Stanton to
inform them the entire park was also being shut down. Again. He filled them in
and gave instructions, then hung up, satisfied they’d take care of everything.
They were his best rangers. Besides they’d been through all this dinosaur craziness
before and not so long ago. The visitors would be escorted from the park and any
new ones turned away at the entrances; the businesses within would be closed
until he was sure the park was safe. He’d learned his lesson the first two
times and would never put unsuspecting people in danger again if he could help
it. And he could help it.

He’d notify the National Park Services and Superintendent
Sorrelson of the developments as soon as it was late enough. There usually
wasn’t anyone in the offices this early and Sorrelson didn’t like being
disturbed before nine in the morning. Then he’d put in a call to the man in
charge at the National Forest Service because the park also had forests within
its boundaries and came under their jurisdiction as well. He had to alert both
of them. They’d need to know.

He pulled into the parking lot at Crater Lake
Lodge. The sun was inching up over the lake and the light was permeating the murkiness
around him. He loved this time of day in the park. The mists that eddied around
his boots gave everything an eerie ambience and he imagined the land, the
woods, must have looked just this way hundreds of years past. Perhaps thousands.
More.

No wonder the primeval beasts returned over and
over to reclaim it. It was their home and always would be.

He strode into the lodge’s dining room. At this
hour it was practically empty though it opened at the crack of dawn. Many
visitors liked getting an early start on their hikes or park tours, but there
weren’t many up at this hour yet. And as they came down today they’d be
politely asked to leave the park. The windows lining one wall and overlooking
the lake framed a beautiful dawn. The view, as always, was inspiring. It made a
person love and appreciate the raw beauty of nature and everything in it. The
lake with the new sun shining across the water, the birds dipping their wings
in flight across the sky, and the trees a circle of emerald around the blue
oval of water created a panorama Henry never got tired of looking at, even
after all these years.

He spied Justin as soon as he entered. But the
young paleontologist wasn’t alone. There was another man sitting at the table
with him, nursing a cup of coffee and speaking animatedly, his hands and arms
gesturing. The guy was about Justin’s age, Henry guessed, with shaggy black
hair not as long as Justin’s, and a neatly trimmed beard. The two men appeared
to know each other. Just Henry’s first casual observation.

Justin stopped talking, glanced up at Henry, and
greeted him. “Hi Chief. I already ordered you coffee. It should be here in a
minute. We’ve already eaten. Sorry, I couldn’t wait. You know me and food. If I
don’t eat every few hours my mind freezes up and I can’t think.” He grinned as
his eyes went to the man beside him. “I want you to meet an old friend of mine,
since childhood really, Steven James. We go way back. Fifteen years at least. He
plays here at the lodge on weekends sometimes. He’s a musician/songwriter and in
my humble opinion a truly gifted one.” Justin’s smile was genuine as he looked
at his friend and then back to Henry. “I’ve been his biggest fan for years. I
guess you could call me a Steven James’ groupie. Sometimes Laura and I even
travel to his other gigs, some out of state, to hear him. We both love his
voice and his amazing guitar playing. He’s the best I know.”

Henry plunked down in a chair across from them, reached
out and shook the other man’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Steven James. Musician
extraordinaire.”

“Good to meet you, too, Chief Park Ranger. Justin’s
told me so much about you and about all your adventures together.” The young
man’s handshake was firm. His gaze direct. First impression Henry thought,
here’s
a man who knows what he wants, who he is and likes himself. Self-sufficient.
Henry could always tell.

“I hope all good stuff?” Henry’s expression was
amiable.

“Every bit of it. Justin thinks the world of you
and your wife, Ann.”

The musician paused, and leveled his eyes at Henry.
“I hope you don’t mind me barging in on your breakfast meeting? I sang this
weekend at the lounge here–scheduled for next weekend, too–and for some reason
decided to stay over another night. Got up early to see the stunning sunrise over
the lake. It’s such a spectacular sight from here.” His eyes shifted to the
vista on the other side of the windows and then returned to Justin. “And I just
happened, luckily, to bump into Justin. So serendipitous. I had no idea he was
going to be here. What a nice accident.”

“It’s a small world, Mr. James. The older I get the
more I know it. Coincidences abound.”

“Call me Steven.”

“All right. You know I hate to be the bearer of bad
news but since you mentioned you’re supposed to perform here again next weekend,
I should tell you. The park’s closing indefinitely beginning immediately. We
have an emergency. I’m sorry but you probably won’t be singing here next week.
The lodge, with the rest of the park, will be closed.”

Disappointment flashed in the man’s eyes. “That’s
too bad. But I can understand why, under the circumstances I mean, you have to
shut the park.” His regret had been swiftly replaced with a curious eagerness Henry
couldn’t misconstrue and he was pretty sure he knew what the two young men had
been discussing when he’d first approached the table. Henry recognized that
look. Dinosaur madness.

“Ah, so Justin told you about our little water outing
we’re going on today, did he? About the rare creatures in the lake we’re looking
for?” Henry sighed. Well, here it comes, he thought.

“Yes,” Steven confessed. His eyes were shining brighter
now. His long fingers made a graceful arc in the air as if to introduce his
next words. “And I was hoping–”

Henry’s coffee arrived, cutting the man off in
mid-sentence. One of the younger waitresses, a college girl, named Delores, just
there for the summer, placed the cup in front of him. “You know what you want,
Chief Ranger?” she requested, ready with her order pad; not realizing she’d
interrupted a conversation.

“The usual. Three eggs, over easy, three pieces of
toast and burnt bacon. About another five cups of coffee whenever you see my
cup is empty.”

“It’ll be right out. And I’ll keep the coffee
coming like an endless faucet.” The waitress scribbled on her tablet, amusement
on her face, and scurried away.

Henry’s attention went back to the musician,
waiting for the man to finish what he’d begun.

Instead it was Justin who spoke up. “I told Steven
he could come along with us on the boat today on our little…voyage. Boating is
second nature to him. We’ve been on many a boat ride together and he can handle
himself like a pro. And he’s a true dinosaur fanatic and has been following our
exploits here in the park for years. He’s grilled me endlessly for every detail
of every dinosaur odyssey we’ve ever been on.”

“Mr. James–” Henry began, not looking at Justin but
his friend.

“Again, please call me Steven.”

“Okay, Steven…why in heavens name would you want to
come along? It could be touchy if we run into any of the creatures we think we
might. Sometimes they tend to react violently to intrusions in their territory.
I can’t vouch for your safety.”

“Because,” Steven admitted, ignoring the thing
about his safety, “I’m not only a musician. I also write fiction novels under
an alias and I self-publish them on Amazon Kindle. EBooks, you know? They make
me a tidy second income I’ve come to depend on. And I’ve been toying around
with the idea for years, ever since Justin regaled me with the story of your
first dinosaur incident here, of writing a dinosaur tale.

“Accompanying you and Justin today on the lake,
searching for a school of possible American Loch Ness Monsters…wow, what a
story that would make! Firsthand experience can’t hurt my writing, either. It’d
give it that genuine touch which makes the narrative so believable.” He
clenched his fist and dramatically shook it a few inches above the table. There
was the fever of a zealot in his eyes and voice.

“I don’t care if there’s danger. Our lives are tottering
on the precipice of danger every moment we’re alive. Anything can happen at any
time. Sitting at this table…a stray scrap of meteor could come crashing through
the roof and squash me dead. Outside in the parking lot, a sink hole could open
up under my feet and suck me in. Riding in a car could be dangerous. Walking
across a street. Taking a trolley ride.”

Henry caught that reference. For a moment in his
mind he saw the rim trolley being snatched up by a flying monster and tossed
into the lake. It made him cringe inside. The man had quite an imagination, but
he was right. There was danger everywhere, every second.

“So what’s the difference? So can I come along?”

Henry stared at the man. Was he nuts? Putting himself
in harm’s way for what…an eBook? He had to stop himself from laughing out loud.
Instead he tried one last time. “It could not only be dangerous, it could be
extremely
dangerous, based on past experiences. I don’t know what we’ll come across, or
if we’ll come across anything at all. See anything at all. But whatever we find
could be hostile. Do you know how to handle yourself in such an emergency, protect
yourself? Can you even shoot a weapon?”

The man’s expression was serious. “I joined the army
when I was nineteen and logged in four years. Not in a war zone, mind you, but I
know how to defend myself. Shoot a gun. Hit the side of a small barn.”

Henry met eyes with Justin, who was nodding his
head. “I’ve known him for a long time and he knows how to handle himself,
Henry. He won’t get in our way. Let him come along. He is, besides a fantastic
singer/songwriter, a pretty good writer. Don’t tell Ann this, but even better
than she is.”

“Don’t ever say that to Ann.”

“What, do I look stupid?”

Henry mulled it over for a second. “Oh, what the
heck. Okay. Steven, you’re on board. As long as you do what I tell you and accept
the risks, you’re welcome.” What could it hurt? Chances are they wouldn’t see
anything, not on the first junket anyway. The lake was large. The creatures,
whatever they were, might be napping at the bottom somewhere.

“I accept the risks and I will follow your orders,
Chief, to the note.” Steven promised with a straight face.

“All right then. We’re leaving as soon as I gulp
down the breakfast coming my way.” The waitress was close to their table with a
tray of food. “Can you be ready?”

“Fantastic!” The music man grinned as if he’d won a
million dollar lottery and stood up so quickly he nearly knocked his cup of
coffee over when the corner edge of the tablecloth went with him. “And I’m
almost ready now. I’ll just pay up my room bill and be right back with you. I
was already packed, bags in my car, just in case.” Then he rushed off.

“Eager, isn’t he?” Henry said to Justin as he
watched Steven run across the room.

“He’s the excitable kind, I will say that. But he’s
a good guy. Smart. And he has a heart as big as that horizon out there. I
couldn’t ask for a better friend.”

Henry’s breakfast arrived and after thanking the
waitress, he dug in. Time was a wasting. “So…I can read between the lines, what’s
Steven’s real story?” he queried of Justin between bites, eying his son-in-law.

Justin laughed. “Exactly what I told you. He’s a
thrill seeking old friend of mine who wants to write a dinosaur best-seller.
That and he wants to see a real live dinosaur if there’s one to see…and, well,
he’s at loose ends since his wife died two summers ago. He’s been taking on
more singing gigs and traveling as much as he can. Trying to outrun the grief,
is what I think. He loved his wife dearly. A remarkable woman, she was a
musician like he is and sometimes even sang with him. A sweetheart. She loved
life so.”

The husband in Henry empathized with Justin’s
friend but the ex-cop in him had to ask, “If I’m not being too nosy, what did
she die of?”