Randy White - Haunted

I faced him. “Noble. Is that part of your act, too?”

“Actually, yes. One of my best bits, but this time I mean it. Not the noble part. I can’t go any farther, Hannah. I would love to put a bullet in that son of a bitch.”

Once again, under different circumstances, I would have been furious. All the anger in me, though, had to remain focused on escape. I walked back, took the man’s elbow, and said, “Come along, Belton-before you really piss me off.”

WE WERE MIDWAY through a stand of palmettos, heartened by the sound of distant bawling cattle, when the water Belton had drunk caused a stomach cramp that bent him over. The cramps worsened. Soon he requested privacy to deal with his gurgling stomach. Walking had been difficult-thick brush and hidden stumps in what had once been pine forest. Palmettos resemble Japanese fans with fingers and their roots are a relentless series of snares. Belton and his bad heart needed a break.

I said, “There are plenty of bushes to choose from,” and stepped away. My joke didn’t quell my anxiety. Diarrhea for a person his age, in a place so far from help and as waterless as sand, was serious. A raging chimpanzee, even if alive, became a secondary problem.

Or so I believed until I saw the light. It moved toward us from the south, a few hundred yards away. The light blinked off, then blinked on and stayed on just long enough for me to gauge a slow, loping rhythm.

Belton saw it, too, but didn’t understand. “Thank god. I hope it’s the police. I don’t care as long as they have water. Out here in hell’s half acre, who else could it be?”

I controlled my breathing and said, “Let me know when you’ve finished your business. It wouldn’t hurt to hurry, if you can.”

He was wary of my tone. “What’s wrong?”

“We shouldn’t linger in one spot too long, that’s all. Those cattle we hear belong to a ranch and the ranch can’t be far.” I had my back to him, of course. Hopefully, he didn’t see me slip the pistol from my pocket. My bag was on the ground. I knelt to open it.

“A rancher, then. Good. Try to get his attention.”

“Not coming from that direction. If there’s a ranch, it’ll be somewhere north of here.”

“I don’t care who it is. They might hear if you yell. Hannah…? Hannah! Why don’t you yell something? Christ, don’t let them get away before they see you.” After several seconds, bushes rattled and I heard the jingle of his belt. “Okay, I’m done. Damn it, tell me what’s wrong.”

I picked up the bag… thought for a moment and put it down again. Placed it on a tree stump that smelled of pine. It was one of many stumps amid a few old-growth survivors scattered across the field, trees as tall and straight as power poles. On this milky blue night they resembled the masts of schooners that had struck a reef and sunk in shallow water.

Belton, striding toward me, said, “That was a flashlight. Who else would be out here with a flashlight?” Then surprised me by waving his arms and hollering, “Hey… over here. We’re over here!”

I grabbed the man’s sleeve but let go when the light blinked on. It searched through two hundred yards of darkness for the source of the human voice. Too far even for a dazzling little LED, my gift from the biologist. I waited until the light was out and kept my voice low. “He would’ve found us anyway. It’s not your fault.” Said it in a comforting way, I hope, then patted Belton’s shoulder and got busy.

“Are you afraid it’s Theo? Hell, I’d be happy to see Theo. Crazy as he is, trust me, I’ll work out some sort of deal.”

I was kicking among the palmettos and gathering wood while a plan organized itself in my head. Not a last-minute plan either. We’d been walking for half an hour and I’d spent every quiet moment calculating a way to deal with Oliver if he caught us in open country. Now here we were. What I feared, though, was Belton’s heart, how it would react to more stress or even gathering wood.

I talked while I tossed splinters and chunks of lighter pine into a pile. “The best thing for you is to rest while you can. I can’t do this alone. I need you ready.” I looked south to where a small, vague darkness was now occasionally visible. It appeared and disappeared like a bear humping through tall grass, the grass silver because of the moon. Not fast but steady, although an occasional pause as if resting.

“He’s hurt. I’m surprised he made it this far. Maybe it’s the craziness driving him. We both know what that means.”

Belton, following at my shoulder, didn’t want to believe it. “Please tell me you’re not starting a fire. What if it’s Theo? He wouldn’t just go off and leave his boat. Think about it-chimpanzees don’t carry flashlights .”

“They aren’t supposed to wear sandals either, but some do. And pants. The flashlight’s been on my mind since it went missing. Ask yourself why he switches it on and off like that instead of using it to see. Trust me, Theo’s not out there-unless that big gator carried him all this way.”

“Are you saying the alligator got-”

“Pretty sure. Now’s not the time to talk about it.”

I stood and checked Oliver’s progress, decided I needed help after all. Facing the animal, I extended my arms to create a forty-five-degree angle as Belton grabbed his stomach and winced but paid attention. “I’ve got fire starter and lighters. On this line and this line, we’ll light pieces of wood, get a bush burning, then walk five or six steps and do it again. Sort of a reversed arrow shape, if it burns the way I hope.”

I resumed hunting wood. “The wind’s behind us-what ranchers call a head fire. Nothing burns as hot and fast as a head fire. Ranchers avoid it, but it’s just what we need. This was pine forest years ago. I noticed as we were walking. Sap wood doesn’t rot and these palmettos are so dry they’ll burn. Maybe not like gasoline, but the wind will get them going and the wind’s blowing right into his face.”

“If it really is the chimp, he’ll outrun it. He’s not going to stand there and burn.”

“I’m not sure what he’ll do, but at least it will give us some time. Can your shoulder handle a little work? How’s your stomach?”

Belton, on his toes, saw Oliver poke his head up. He made a whistling sound, finally convinced. “Hannah, if I were you-being the type of person I am?-I’d run like hell and never look back.” He wasn’t smiling. “I know what you’re doing-straight from your uncle’s journal-but your uncle had more than one bullet. Leave the gun, Hannah. I’ll stay here and kill that thing.”

I kicked a pine root free. “You’re not the reason he’s dying, Belton. Oliver won’t stop until he gets me.”

A sobering awareness: I had placed the flashlight on the grave of Irene Cadence as bait. Now Oliver was using it the same way-he continued to flick the switch on, then off for long periods, hoping to lure me closer. Terrifying, when I thought it through. Oliver had watched me balance that light on the gravestone. He had watched me find a hiding place to ambush Carmelo. No other explanation. The chimp had been closing in, ready to crush me from behind or above, when he’d heard the rolling splash of the alligator. Instead of attacking, he had rushed to protect Theo and Savvy. The only reason I was still alive was because of the chimp’s superior senses.

No… two reasons. Theo had said to me, You don’t know what the word loyalty means.

Now that I did understand, I couldn’t bear to ponder this admirable quality in an animal that intended to kill and eat me.