Henry Olsen - The Northland Chronicles - A Stranger North

Nathan frowned. “Don’t trust me?” he said.

“Don’t need to,” Barry said with a devious grin. “Dwayne, go have a look at the bag.”

The thin man nodded and then slowly crept toward Nathan’s canoe, careful to keep his gun trained on Nathan.

Moose scat! What had gone wrong? Nathan had said everything exactly the way John had told him to. Next he was supposed to demand that they return his sister first — only then would he give them the money. That plan clearly wouldn’t work now, but he still had to buy time until John arrived.

“So,” he asked Dwayne, trying to sound nonchalant, “what are you going to do with all that money?”

Dwayne paused and smacked his lips.

“Ain’t thought ‘bout it much,” he said, turning to his partner. “Barry, what we doin’ with the money?”

“How about you make sure we actually have it first?” said Barry, glowering at Dwayne.

“Good thinkin’,” Dwayne replied. He started toward the canoe again and set his eyes on the bulky green pack. “In here?” He asked, pointing with his gun.

Nathan nodded silently.

“Hey, Barry,” Dwayne said. “How can I open it with this gun in my hands?”

After thinking a moment, Barry let out a frustrated sigh. “Alright, have the kid open the pack for you.”

“You heard him,” Dwayne said, motioning Nathan toward the pack.

Well, Nathan thought, a t least this buys me a few more moments. Cautiously, he crawled toward the bow of the canoe, stepping over his Remington 870 on the way. His instincts screamed at him to reach for the gun, to fight back, but he knew that the kidnappers would riddle him with bullets before he could even take aim. Stepping over the yoke, he continued forward and reached out to touch the backpack.

“Make it quick,” Barry commanded. “No monkey business.”

Nathan nodded, letting out a nervous sigh. He took one last look at Emiko. She stared back at him with apprehension in her eyes. She undoubtedly realized he didn’t have $1,500. Soon the kidnappers would know too.

As he reached for the zipper, Nathan caught a glimpse of something moving on the roof of the outpost. It fell out of sight behind the slanted roof, then slowly reappeared.

John!

The bearded man turned his head back and forth, surveying the scene, then nodded and gave a thumbs-up signal.

Suppressing the urge to smile, Nathan looked back down at the pack. He began to unzip it, confident that with John covering the roof they were in control of the situation. The zipper purred as Nathan pulled it open.

Dwayne took his sights off Nathan’s head and stuck the muzzle into the backpack, poking around to see what was inside.

“There ain’t a single dollar in here!” he cried out, looking back to Barry for direction.

“Did you really think a kid could get us that kind of money? Now hurry up and shoot him. He’s nothing to us,” Barry snorted.

“Didn’t soldier boy say not to shoot ‘em?” Dwayne questioned.

“No, he said not to shoot the bearded man,” Barry said. “Do you see a beard on this kid?”

Dwayne shrugged. “Good point.” He pressed the muzzle of his rifle against Nathan’s head.

Nathan’s heart began to race. John, what are you waiting for? Hurry up!

“So kid,” Dwayne said. “Got any last wo — ”

John had seen enough — he pulled the trigger. The crack of his Colt ripped through the air and a bullet slammed into the side of the thin man’s head. Blood and chunks of cranium exited his exploding skull, plopping into the shallow water of the shoreline. The splash of the collapsing corpse followed.

The portly man awkwardly hopped on one leg, spinning around to look up at the roof. His crutch slipped out from his right armpit and he struggled to maintain his balance on one leg.

“You!” he exclaimed. “ You’re John Osborne!” He clumsily pointed his shotgun at John, unable to properly aim it while standing on one leg.

“That I am,” John said. He raised his hands in the air, feigning surrender — he didn’t know why these guys wanted him, but he knew they wanted him alive.

“Giving up easy, huh?” Barry called out.

“No, I just think my friend will have more fun dealing with you.” John pointed toward the woods.

The mother black bear was creeping out from the trees, approaching Barry, Nathan, and his sister Emiko.

“What the Desolation — you brought a pet bear?” Barry screeched. He took aim at the massive black animal and fired off a a volley of buckshot.

The bear wailed in pain then began charging directly at the hefty man. One poorly aimed shotgun blast from that distance wasn’t going to slow her down. Bypassing Emiko, the bear roared as she lunged straight at Barry, knocking him over.

That could’ve been me. John grimaced at the thought. “ Hey, kid, pick up your gun and untie your sister!” he shouted down at Nathan from the rooftop. “I’ll take care of the rest.”

***

Without a word, Nathan gestured OK with his hand. He picked up the Remington from the bottom of the canoe then dashed over to his sister, circling behind her chair and hurriedly untying the ropes around her wrists.

“Don’t worry, Emiko. Everything’s gonna be alright,” he said.

She let out an unintelligible reply, muffled by the gag.

To his right, Nathan heard the bear unleash an angry roar. A shotgun went off — probably Barry trying to keep it at bay.

There — his sister was free! Emiko jumped up and immediately reached behind her head to untie the white cloth around her mouth.

“Let me help you,” Nathan said, pulling at the knot. The cloth came undone and fell to the ground. Emiko spit out the cotton sock that had been stuffed in her mouth.

“What took you so long!” she said.

Good to see a few days of imprisonment haven’t broken her spirit , Nathan thought.

“Don’t I get a thank you?” he asked.

Without replying, Emiko looked over at Barry, who was pinned beneath the bear. The portly man was frantically screaming, trying to aim his shotgun as the bear battered him back and forth on the ground.

“Emiko — how many kidnappers were there?” Nathan said, trying to regain her attention.

“How many — ah, four, I think,” she said.

“Four?”

“Yeah, and one of them …” She trailed off mid-sentence, shifting her gaze back toward the outpost. “They have dad’s gun inside!” she blurted out. Without giving Nathan a chance to reply, she tore off toward the door of the outpost.

“ Emiko!” he shouted after her. What the Desolation was she thinking! She opened the outpost door and disappeared inside. With a reluctant sigh, Nathan tightened his grip around the shotgun and followed her in.

***

Scouting the area for other kidnappers, John trotted to the far end of the roof. As he approached the ledge, a shotgun boomed from below. He grimaced and dropped the Colt as a wild surge of pain rushed through his right arm. The Colt hit the roof and slid toward the eaves before falling out of sight. I thought they had orders not to shoot at me. Apparently this guy didn’t get the memo.

No gun — what could he do? He dropped to one knee and with his left hand he ripped one of the thick spruce shingles from the roof. With the heavy shingle in hand, he rolled backward, putting distance between himself and his attacker. Then he stood up and began running for the edge of the roof, wincing in pain as his right arm swung back and forth. The gunner below shot at him again — a miss.

John reached the ledge and jumped. He could see his assailant now — a dark-skinned man, wearing a green vest. As John flew overhead, the man followed with his shotgun and fired a volley into the air — but missed.