The driver of the large pickup truck revved the engine impatiently, but did as he was told, not pulling off even as several of the men in the back of the truck were urging him to do so.
Several of the ones who weren’t trying to get George Aston to go on were involved in other activities; leering, making rude gestures, and spouting lewd comments, as the short blonde streak approached them fast.
Several hands reached out to help Gabrielle Summers into the back of the truck, but Gabrielle carefully selected the one whom she would let help her up.. Out of the fourteen men in the pickup truck, there was only one that she felt she could truly trust.
Russell Bowman smiled warmly down at the young woman, his hand stretched out. “Glad you could make it, Sleepyhead,” he teased gently.
Gabrielle allowed him to pull her aboard, and sunk down onto the built-in bench beside him, plopping her travel bag on the floorboard between her feet. She lifted the wide-brimmed hat she was wearing just enough to mop the sweat off her brow. It wasn’t that warm, but she had rushing like a madwoman that morning., trying to get everything ready after oversleeping by half an hour. If Russ hadn’t knocked on her bedroom door, she’d probably still be asleep.
Gabrielle wouldn’t have missed this trip for anything. If it had meant following the tracks of the truck to catch up with it, she would have done it. The trip was THAT important to her.
All her life, Gabrielle Summers had felt like she was “different”. Even as a young child, growing up in Parton, Ohio, she had often been in her own world, not too good to play with others her age, but often soon bored with the repetitive games of cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, even doctor and nurse.
Her younger sister, Emma, was used to defending Gabrielle. “She’s going to grow up to be something special,” she’d say when the neighborhood children asked why Gabrielle was so strange.
Gabrielle, for her part, knew she was different, but that had never bothered her while she was growing up. She was just being true to herself, and wouldn’t change to please anyone else.
“How long will it take to get there?” Gabrielle asked Russell a while later. She had an idea, but wanted to make conversation. They had been on the road for an hour or so, and Gabrielle’s butt, although she would have sworn it was well-padded, was beginning to protest the bumpy trip.
“Another hour or so, till we reach the edge of the forest,” he replied. “And then we’ll be hiking at least a few hours before we set up camp.”
Gabrielle nodded, “Thanks, Russell,” she said softly.
“What’s the matter, Sweetheart?” Gene Allen asked, leaning forward from across Gabrielle. He was a huge man, with craggily handsome features, but was the most condescending of any of this group. “You tired already? The trip’s just begun. Why don’t you do us all a favor and get off the truck now? I know you don’t weigh very much, but I ain’t gonna carry you once we start hiking.”
Some of the others laughed at that. Gene’s size and strength made him popular, whether or not the others truly found him clever. They knew better than to not act amused when he was obviously being hysterically funny.
Gabrielle was beginning to dislike Gene Allen more than any other human she had ever encountered. Even more than Mary Katherine Lester, the girl who had started a one-woman grade school campaign to convince the rest of the class that Gabrielle had a penis. Her classmates had giggled for days about that, and tempted as she was to prove Mary Katherine wrong, Gabrielle had never given in.
“You won’t have to,” she assured Gene, hoping she wasn’t inviting trouble. “I’m not the one weighed down by his own ego.”
Russell clapped her on the back with a guffaw, and after a moment, some of the others began to laugh as well, despite the scowl on Gene’s face.
Gene wasn’t amused, but just glared at her, before turning away, scratching at his crotch crudely.
Gabrielle gave Russell a quick smile of thanks, and settled back into her seat. Her equipment was secured in the wagon the truck was pulling, and without it, there wasn’t much she could do to keep herself occupied on the trip. Some of the men were trying to play cards, but she had no interest in that. She pulled the hat brim over her eyes, and tried to relax, thinking of what brought her to this point in life.
Genevive Armand was the greatest instructor Gabrielle had ever had in her entire school career from elementary through graduate school. Of course, the fact that Genevive taught journalism had something to do with that.
But Genevive was more than just a teacher…she was a friend. Most of Gabrielle’s classmates called the tall red headed teacher an eccentric, and there were many rumors that Genny was a lesbian, but that certainly didn’t bother Gabrielle. She was twenty years older than Gabrielle, but had told the young blonde on numerous occasions that Gabrielle reminded her of herself when she had been younger.
“If you want to make it in this world, you have to take risks…” Almost daily, Genevive would repeat that mantra to Gabrielle, either in class or in one of their many discussions. Risk-taking wasn’t a problem with Gabrielle, she was afraid of very few things, and she always nodded when she heard the familiar saying.
But then there was Perry, and when he was gone and Gabrielle had sunk into the pit of misery, Genny had taken her hand, smiled sweetly, and said, “If you want to make it in this world, you have to take risks…”
That day, standing by Perry’s grave, Gabrielle finally understood what Genevive had been trying to say to her. Perry had been a risk, and she had taken it and failed. But Genny knew she’d have to take more risks, if she wanted to make it in this world. And Gabrielle did want to make it in this world.
Gabrielle had graduated top of her class, and despite offers from several top magazines and newspapers, decided to take the route of free-lance journalist.
Since then, she had covered everything from house fires to the presidential campaign, to the recent birth of twin chimpanzees at the St. Louis Zoo.
Picking the stories she wanted to cover made for a satisfying life for Gabrielle. She had always wanted to travel, and was now getting that opportunity. Sometimes, her life grew dangerous, but she found that could be very rewarding in itself.
She had just picked up a sizeable check from National Geographic for her chimpanzee story, and was preparing to head for the taxi waiting to take her to the airport, when a photograph on the editor’s desk caught her eye.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“That…is an enigma…” the publisher, Samson Golden, answered.
Gabrielle looked closer at the picture. It was a photo of a section of thick forest, and it probably wouldn’t have gotten her attention if the light hadn’t caught the finish on the film just right. She had caught a glimpse of something blue in the picture.
“That’s a person!” Gabrielle exclaimed, when she had finally made sense of what her eyes were seeing. The blue did appear to be two remarkably bright blue eyes, peering out from high in a tree. Gabrielle thought she could make out a shock of black hair as well.
Samson nodded with a smile. “Some people say it’s a person…some say it’s a creature…and some say it’s just an illusion…a reflection that the camera picked up. Some even say we faked it.”
Gabrielle continued to study the photo. The eyes weren’t centered in the picture, and they were located very near the top. “Whoever took that picture didn’t realize what they were getting, did they?” she asked
“No…it was taken by a birdwatcher in a woods outside Saskatchewan, Canada. It wasn’t until the photos were developed that he noticed the extra feature.”
Gabrielle seemed entranced by the photo, continuing to gaze at the blue eyes., which was hard to believe could be anything but human. “So what are you going to do with this…enigma?” she asked finally.
“Hey…you want a drink?”
Russell had elbowed Gabrielle gently and offered her his canteen. “No thanks,” she replied after a beat, sitting up straighter against the side of the truck. She was slightly embarrassed to be caught daydreaming..
The morning sun was pleasantly warm, but the lack of activity kept Gabrielle from getting hungry or thirsty. She looked around at the area they were traveling through. It was no longer an asphalt road, but was now little more than a narrow dirt pathway. It wouldn’t be long before the road came to an end and the travelers were setting out on foot.
Since Gabrielle had first seen the photo, she had done a lot of research on who or what the blue eyes were supposed to belong to. She learned there was a local Canadian legend about something that ran though the forest like a wild animal. No one had ever gotten more than a glimpse or two of the creature, and no one could find its home. But the rumors persisted, and the blue eyes in the photo DID exist, and they had intrigued and come to haunt Gabrielle.
When Gabrielle had first learned of the expedition going to try to track the creature, she had decided she wanted to be a part of it. Samson had been more than pleased to sponsor her for the trip, and had supplied her with the best cameras with the most powerful lenses that could shoot from any distance, in exchange for first crack at whatever she was able to take photographs of.
Gabrielle had been extremely excited about the trip, and had met Russell on the trip from Cincinnati to Saskatchewan. Gabrielle had been walking up the aisle of the plane, and had noticed him studying the same picture of the blue eyes she had seen.
“You must be going to Canada for the same reason as me,” Gabrielle had said, never one to be shy.
“The search for the creature?” he asked, smiling pleasantly up at the beautiful young girl looking so earnestly at him..
Gabrielle nodded.
“I sure am. Have a seat.” Russell had gestured to the empty one beside him. “My name is Russell Bowman.”
Once they had arrived in Saskatchewan, they attended a meeting of those interested in going on the expedition. That’s when Gabrielle began to realize what she had opened herself up to.
The expedition was being financed chiefly by Adam Nichols, the man currently riding in the passenger seat of the truck. He was a zoologist constantly on the search for odd variations of species.
Russell was a zoologist a well, and there were a couple of other scientists in the group. What had caught Gabrielle by surprise, however, was the occupation of the rest of the men.
They were bounty hunters and big game hunters, from all over the United States and Canada. None of them were allowed to carry lethal weapons, but Gabrielle had learned that they did carry all sorts of intimidating hardware such as tranquilizer darts, canisters of knockout gas, and stun guns. Men liked Gene seemed to have an overpreponderence of testosterone, and Gabrielle hated to see such a beautiful-eyed creature undergo any abuse, as was sure to happen if he caught up with it.
Nichols had made it clear to the men that he would not pay for a dead creature, which was a small bit of consolation for Gabrielle. She didn’t like the thought of any wild creature being captured at all, except for on film, but she knew she couldn’t stop that from happening.
The truck lumbered to a stop finally. “End of the driving line, Folks,” George called, as he exited the cab. “We’ll have to go the rest of the way on foot.”
Some of the men grumbled as they climbed out of the truck, and several of them took off for the woods to take care of personal business.. Gabrielle was okay for now, and waited for the wagon to be unloaded. She had packed her working equipment in a backpack, and her personal items were in her travel bag, which could also be strapped to the backpack. The expedition would find their food in the forest.
In less than half an hour, they were ready to head out.
The group planned to make camp near the spot where the birdwatcher had taken the photo of the creature, and were going to fan out from there. Each member of the team was to be given a two-way radio, and would be able to keep in constant contact with each other that way.
It was late afternoon by the time they arrived at the campsite. The men were each sharing a tent with two others, and working as trios, soon had their tents erected. Gabrielle, being the only female, worked by herself, and took a good deal longer. The men snarled and complained, and eventually, Russell came over to help her out. Gabrielle accepted the aid cheerfully, grateful once again for the older man’s kindness.
Dr. Nichols told them they’d start out the next morning in search of the creature.
Gabrielle got her first real taste of what kind of trouble might be waiting for her that evening. The dirt road and the hike uphill had left her covered in a fine grit of perspiration and dust. Deciding a bath was in order, Gabrielle tried to find a spot where she could have some privacy.
There was a small river not far from the camp, and Gabrielle took her bag and approached it, watching for a place where the steep riverbank would offer her an easy path to the water’s edge. The first likely spot she came to, two of the men were already bathing, and they looked up lazily at her. One of the men started to stand up, and Gabrielle turned and hightailed it out of there.
She tried another spot further upstream, but there were men there, including the obnoxious Gene. At least she was more cautious about approaching the water this time, and didn’t show herself.
She traveled even father, up the river, and at the next spot, didn’t see anyone around. She quickly stripped down to her bra and panties, but was afraid to risk taking off any more than that.
And it turned out to be a good thing too. She had no more stepped into the water, than she heard the sound of male voices approaching. Gabrielle hopped out quickly, and dashed off into he woods, carrying her clothing with her.
She dressed quickly in the quietness of the woods, wondering how she had let herself get into such a mess. Russell was the only man here whom she felt even remotely comfortable being around. That made the odds two against thirteen, if a situation should arrive.
When she was about twenty minutes away from the campsite, Gabrielle finally stopped again, and rinsed off her body as best as she could without undressing. This helped her feel a bit more comfortable before she returned to the camp..
Some of the men were already asleep when she entered the camp again. Gene and a few of the others weren’t, however. Gabrielle tried to ignore them as she made her way to her tent on the far side of the camp.
She was getting ready to crawl in her tent, when she heard Gene’s abrasive voice. “Hey Blondie…it’ll get cold tonight. Why don’t you come share a tent with Hayden, Charlie, and me? We can rub our legs together to keep warm.”
Gabrielle acted as though she hadn’t heard him, but the laughs of the men around her made her nervous. She stepped inside her tent, and fastened up the opening as securely as she could make it.
She didn’t try to change clothes, just wrapped herself up in her sleeping bag and laid down, trying to will herself to go to sleep. It was only a couple minutes later when she heard, “Psst…”
At first, she thought about ignoring the sound, then Gabrielle noticed the silhouette of a man kneeling behind her tent. “Psst…Gabrielle…it’s me…Russ.”
“Russell?” Gabrielle sat up closer to the tent wall.
“Yeah…look…I know some of the other guys make you nervous, so here…” She saw the bottom edge of the tent lift, and a gleaming black object was pushed through.
“A gun?” Gabrielle asked.
“A tranquilizer gun,” he whispered back. “The safety’s on, but it’s loaded, so be careful.”
Gabrielle gingerly picked up the gun and looked it over. “You really think I’ll need this, Russell?” she asked, trying not to sound afraid.
There was a pause, then he answered. “I hope not…but I don’t want you to be unprepared.”
Gabrielle put the gun beside her pillow. “Thanks, Russell,” she said with a soft sigh. “I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. Good night, Gabrielle.”
Of course, she didn’t let anyone else know about the gun. Gabrielle would keep it in the outside pocket of her travel bag, which never left her side during the day. At night, she would keep it by her pillow, just in case.
The first few days were rather uneventful as the group used the maps of the forest to decide who would go where, and began to do some cursory explorations of the area around them.
There were fifteen of them in the group, and they traveled in pairs, leaving one trio. Gabrielle, of course, was to be part of the trio, and although Nichols had included Russell and another fairly friendly guy named Jerry Wickham, it didn’t make Gabrielle very happy to explore this way. She would have rather not used such a strict search pattern, but for the time being, didn’t do anything about it.
She saw no sign of the blue-eyed creature, but found plenty of other sights to take pictures of. The Canadian woods were full of wild animals, and she got terrific shots of a wolf with a large trout in its mouth, a squirrel with its cheeks stuffed full of acorns, and even a photo of a moose mounting a female. It was early autumn, so the leaves were beginning to change colors and the foliage was exquisite. Gabrielle concentrated on what was there, rather than what she couldn’t see.
After the forth day of futile searching, some of the men’s tempers were starting to flare a little bit. It wasn’t that they expected to find the creature by now, but they did at least to have seen some evidence of its existence, and so far, had turned up nothing, not a trace of it..
Gabrielle, for her part, was growing a little more uncomfortable with each passing day. Gene was the only man who constantly made negative comments toward her, but she was becoming aware that all the men seemed to be looking at her frequently and more and more openly. It was making her increasingly edgy, and she found herself drawing further and further away from the men to take care of her needs and especially, at bath time. Since the first night, she suspected that several of the men followed her whenever she left the campsite in the evenings.
They didn’t stalk her exactly, but they didn’t let her get very far ahead, either. Gabrielle had found a twisty makeshift path, leading this way and that, and she would end up taking a bath in a small pond she had found. She knew the men expected her to bathe in the river, and she was careful not to give any indication she had done otherwise, thus throwing them off the trail.
Then, the inevitable happened. One evening, Gene and Art Lansford had trailed her for miles, it seemed, making snide comments and rude noises that Gabrielle could easily hear. Not in the mood to put up with them, Gabrielle headed off in the direction of the trail which led to the pond.
The wind had been blowing up all afternoon, and it was getting dark long before it was time for the sun to go down, and thunder was beginning to well up in the distance. It was going to be quite a storm
After forty-five minutes or so, the rain started to come down. At first it was gentle, but soon the wind whipped up again, and the rain turned icy cold and began to pelt Gabrielle, soaking through her jeans and button-down sweater.
A few minutes later, Gabrielle finally admitted to herself that she was no longer being followed. Gene and Art must have turned back for camp and shelter from the storm. And it wasn’t long after that, when she admitted to herself that she was lost.
The storm continued to rage, and the sky grew even blacker. Gabrielle considered taking her wool jacket out of her bag, but thought it might get wet and wanted to seek out some shelter and use it to keep her warm.
A little while later, she found an old hollow tree with enough room at its base for her to huddle in. She wrapped the windbreaker around herself, and tried to keep her feet out of the rain as much as possible. The jacket kept her from getting any wetter, but it certainly didn’t do anything to get her drier either.
Eventually, the storm calmed down, but the rain continued to fall, and despite the chill, Gabrielle let the sound of the raindrops lull her to sleep for a while.
When she awoke a few hours later, the sky had calmed down and the moon was even trying to peek out from behind the clouds. Gabrielle was covered in goosebumps, but now realized she wasn’t going to freeze to death.
She stepped out of the tree, and stepped right into a puddle, but luckily, her boots kept her feet dry. Gabriel yawned and looked around trying to figure out which direction she needed to go.
She tried to use the sliver of the moon as a reference point, trying to keep going in one direction, but the terrain she encountered didn’t seem to be familiar.
“I’m in big trouble,” she finally said out loud, with a sigh.
She was relieved a while later, when she located the river, and began to follow it, knowing it would eventually lead her back to familiar territory as long as she headed downstream. She was thinking of how good her sleeping bag was sounding about now, when the rain-softened ground unexpectedly gave way beneath her, and Gabrielle screamed as she scrambled to catch herself, before she tumbled into the rain-swollen river.
She managed to grab hold of the roots of a small bush, and tried to use them to pull herself up onto more solid ground, but she could feel the roots giving way under her weight.
“God, what else can happen?” she groaned, feeling her tentative footing crumbling even more.
She jerked her head back and almost fell from surprise when a vine suddenly landed beside her, against the muddy cliff wall. Gabrielle looked up at the top of the bank and gasped.
There was a pair of steely blue eyes staring down at her.
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