The Butterfly Conspiracy (16 page)

“You son-of-a-bitch, wait for me!” he yelled.

Paulie’s heart was pounding.
 
He was alone on the path, deep in the darkening woods. Paulie walked faster, hoping to catch up with Scott.
 
The bushes exploded with a big crash right next to him.
 
What the hell was that!
 

He froze in fear as a black bear rose up less than six feet away.
 
It growled and lunged at him.
 

Paulie screamed.
 
He dove off the path and started running blindly through the woods.
 
Tree limbs slapped against his face and he stumbled to his knees. He got up and kept running. A sharp branch caught his suit coat.
 
Paulie felt a tug and heard a ripping sound.
 
He didn’t slow down.
 

Finally, winded, Paulie came to a stop.
 
He bent over and heaved to catch his breath.
 
He listened.
 
The woods were quiet.
 
The only sound Paulie could hear was his heavy breathing and the sound of his heart pounding.
 
He was lost in the middle of the forest and it was almost dark.
 

He glanced around.
 
There was no path, just an endless maze of trees.
 
He wondered if it was safe to call out for Scott and Joe or would that just lead the bear right to him?
 
Poor Joe, he was probably being ripped apart by the bear right now.
 

Paulie sat down on a stump and started to shake. His legs felt damp. He looked down and muttered, “Shit, I’ve pissed my pants.”

Joe did all he could to not laugh out loud.
 
He rolled up the bear skin rug and headed back to the car.
 
Scott was already behind the driver’s seat.
 
Joe jumped in and they drove off. They were laughing too hard to even talk during the ride back to the bar.
 
They parked in front of the Freighter View.
 
Scott held the door open for Joe.
 

“What a great job, Joe.
 
After that in-your-face bear meeting, I hope Mr.
New Yor
k tough guy packs up and heads back to the city.
 
Let’s get Stephen down here so he can laugh his ass off.”

Stephen was surprised to get Scott’s call.
 
He could tell from Scott’s voice that something was up, but Scott wasn’t talking.
 

“Sure, I’ll meet you at the Freighter in a few minutes.” Stephen said.
 

He walked down to the garage and picked up the car Bobby had pointed out for him to use.
 

As he was leaving the estate, Stephen drove by several protestors at the gate, before heading down Route 77.
 
The top was down and a cool wind was blowing through his hair.
 
Scott had been laughing so hard on the phone Stephen had no idea what he was talking about, other than a request to meet him and Joe at the Freighter View.
 

When Stephen entered the bar, Scott and Joe were still going strong.
 
So strong, in fact, they didn’t even see him enter.
 

Joe was crouched over with his arms outstretched yelling “Grrrrrr, Grrrrrr, Grrrrr’.
  

Scott was doubled up, holding his sides from laughing.

Stephen approached the two.
 

“What’s going on?”

Scott took a moment to recover.
 

“When you left the campground, me and Joe came up with a plan to play a trick on that big oaf that’s been following you and asking a bunch of questions about your uncle.”

Well, we really didn’t think of it.”
 
Joe interrupted.
 
“It was a trick that got played on us when we were kids.
 
Scared the shit out of us, too.”

Scott continued, “It did.
 
So we figured maybe we could repeat the pleasure if we ever ran into your friend from
New York City
.”

“And we did.”
 
Joe said, with a huge grin.

“So what did you do?” Stephen asked.

“Well, we decided to come down to the Freighter tonight to see if he showed up.” Scott said.

“Not really going out of our way too much,” Joe added, “since we’re down here about every night, anyway.”
 

Scott waved for him to shut up.
 
“So anyway, from the picture you showed us, we knew him the minute he walked in.
 
He sat right next us and the asshole even bought us a beer.
 
Then he starts asking questions about how he wants to check out your uncle’s place, but he don’t want anyone to know.”

“Did he say what he was looking for?” Stephen asked Scott.

“He said some guy wanted to buy the place, but we knew that was bullshit.
 
We told him we knew an old logging road that would take him to the back of the place.”

Joe saw the worried look on Stephen’s face. “Don’t worry, Stephen.” Joe interrupted, “It doesn’t go anywhere near your Uncle’s place.”
 

Scott continued, “When we stopped the car and got out, Joe stayed back and I started walking him down a path in the woods.
 
His name is Paulie, in case you didn’t know.
 
So Paulie and I started walking down the road.
 
It was getting dark and I started walking faster and faster.”

Joe piped in, “I stayed back, told him I had to pee, so I could put on a bearskin rug my old man let me take from the Moose Lodge.
 
I snuck around and came crashing out of the woods right next to him.”
 

Joe started laughing again.
 
“He screamed like a little baby and ran like hell into the woods.”

“So what happened to him? Where is he?” Stephen asked.
 

“Who knows? Still crashing around out there, I guess.” Joe laughed.

Scott and Stephen joined in.

Chapter 18

    
Paulie sat frozen on a stump, afraid to move or make a sound.
 
It was getting darker, and colder.
 
After about half an hour, Paulie noticed a yellow glow appear through the trees.
 
The moon was rising.
 
It was only a quarter moon, but it provided enough illumination to penetrate the blackness of the woods.
 

As the moon slowly rose above the trees, Paulie could see the ridge of a cabin roof looming only a few hundred feet in front of him.
 
His spirits lifted.
 
A cabin meant safety.
 
Even if it was locked, Paulie knew he could break in.
 
Paulie started walking through the woods towards the structure.
 

He stopped as he approached a clearing surrounding the cabin.
 
He listened.
 
There was no sound and the cabin was dark.

Paulie took a tentative step out into the clearing.
 
He stopped.
 
Again, no sign that anyone was around.
 
He walked over to the front porch.
 
Old timbers creaked as he mounted the steps.
 
He leaned over to a window and peered into the darkness.
 
He tried the door.
 
Locked.
 

He walked around to the back, stopping at another window.
 
He tried to open it.
 
It didn’t budge.
 
He approached the back door and wasn’t surprised to find it locked, as well.

Paulie picked up a stick and smashed out the bottom pane of glass in the door.
 
He stopped to listen.
 
Nothing stirred in the cabin.
 
Paulie reached inside, twisted the knob and walked inside.
   

The cabin was small.
 
There was just an open kitchen to the living room area with one small bedroom.
 
A cast iron stove was sitting in the living room.
 
There was no bathroom, but an outhouse could be seen out back. Two bunk beds were in the tiny bedroom.
 
Cobwebs covered everything and mouse droppings littered the floor.
 
It looked like no one had used the place for years.
 

As Paulie walked over to the kitchen area, the silence of the woods was broken by the sound of a car in the distance.
 
He ducked down and listened as the car got closer.
 
Car lights lit up the woods as the car rounded a curve less than a hundred feet from the cabin.
 

Paulie panicked and ran to the back door, ready to run into the woods. The car continued on.
 
He went back to the front door and walked down a short path to a two lane black top road.
 
He could see tail lights disappearing in the distance.
 
The cabin was not nearly as isolated as he had thought.

Paulie started running down the road in the same direction the car was headed.
 
Relieved that he wasn’t lost in the middle of the woods, Paulie had no idea if he was headed in the right direction, but he figured that car had to be going somewhere.
 
He got winded and started to walk.

Paulie walked down the center of the road to stay as far away from the woods as possible.
 
He wondered how often people got killed by bears up here.
 
It must be a common thing, he thought, if this happened to him on his very first time in the forest.
 

After what seemed to be an hour, Paulie wished another car would come by so he could catch a ride back to town.

He looked down at his suit coat.
 
It was ripped and stained with sweat.
 
His shoes were muddy and his pants were damp.