Chapter 3
Chapter Three
True to their word, my parents are gone when I get up in the morning.
It’s already eleven and I’m annoyed at myself for the sleep-in, but after what I thought I saw last night, sleep didn’t find me until well into the wee hours of the morning.
I had wanted to get out early to document what the miniscule downpour we had last night might have sprouted and hoped the scorching heat hadn't dried everything up already.
Surely some new mycelial specimens would have popped their little heads up overnight.
When I stumble down the stairs, Marissa is giggling on the couch with three of her cronies, Lucie, Taylor and Annie.
They all look up at me simultaneously and stop talking.
“Not suspicious at all…” I say as I swing myself around on the stair’s banister and make my way to the kitchen.
“You know if you still wanted to go camping tonight I would be totally fine by myself. Lou, Tay and Annie can keep me company, super low-key girl’s night.” Marissa bounces into the kitchen after me.
“Ya right. The four of you can never be classified as low-key,” I respond as I rummage through the dishwasher looking for my favourite mug to brew my tea in.
“Well all right if you must know, we are planning a little get together. Just a few friends and some pizza I swear,” she says, as quickly as she can, no doubt thinking that I would somehow miss what she just said.
“Absolutely not! Mom and Dad put me in charge specifically because they knew you’d pull something like this,” I say crossing my arms.
“Come on, you can join us! I’ll even order the smelly mushroom one from Zazzella’s that you love so much.
Mom left me one of her credit cards and said to order out anyway.
Might as well be the good stuff and with some friends.
I swear it will be chill,” she pleads her case as her cronies come through the doorway to back her up.
I sigh and contemplate her offer. I do really love Zazzella’s pizza.
The stuff we have on the university campus tastes like cardboard in comparison.
I just can’t imagine anything worse than hanging out with a bunch of teenagers at the moment.
Maybe I can just pop in and out to make sure they aren’t breaking into the liquor cabinet and catch up on my paintings in my room.
Besides, after what I thought I saw last night, going solo camping is the last thing I want to do.
Benji and I had planned to go together before the semester was over but for obvious reasons I will not be doing that anymore.
All four of the girls start pouting and batting their eyelashes at me.
“Fine, only a few people though. Like ten, max. And I’m hiding Mom’s liquor,” I concede.
They are satisfied enough with my reluctant response and run back into the living room squealing.
I give up looking for my mug and settle for a travel thermos to take out to the woods on my quest for new fruiting mushrooms.
When my tea is brewed I grab my pack and a banana and head out through the back door to go see what I can find when I notice the back gate is closed again.
Maybe I did imagine the creature, relief washes over me, but there is also a chance that Mom or Dad closed it before they left this morning.
Still, I decide to brave the woods hoping that daylight will keep anything malicious far away.
At least my mind can’t play tricks on me when there aren’t as many shadows.
I stop just in front of the back gate, holding onto the handle, deciding that surprise is my best defense if there is something lurking back there as I whip the door open.
I’m met with nothing but forest and let out a big sigh, realizing I had been holding my breath. There is no such thing as monsters…
I head in the opposite direction to the swimming hole and stay close to the fence line as I look for fallen logs and pine trees, hoping to find some new blooms. I keep my eyes peeled to the forest floor when I see something zoom by, out of the corner of my eye.
I stop dead in my tracks, looking around the forest as my breath quickens and I start to hear my own heart pounding.
A little further up there is another flash of something and I stifle a scream as I spin around to see a fawn jump out from a bush and stare at me before she bounds past to run deeper into the forest. I can see she has a limp and a smear of blood on her back leg and before I think twice about it I run in after her.
She looked to be only a few days old and if her mother isn’t around then perhaps I can call wildlife services to come by; that is, if I can catch her.
I use my minimal tracking skills that Benji’s older brother Johno taught us when I’d go camping with their whole family.
We would break off from the younger boys to try and hunt and once Johno even let me fire the rifle at a deer, which I was nowhere near hitting.
I told him I’d stick to wielding my fencing swords if I ever needed to defend myself.
As I search, I occasionally pick up a hoof imprint in the mud and a little drop of blood here and there.
I can tell she is slowing and when I finally catch up to her I step into a clearing and can see her sitting down in the high grass with her little ears poking up.
A pretty good camouflage, but any predator would smell the blood immediately.
I slowly tiptoe up to her, knowing any sudden movement will have her bolting again, even though she is clearly injured and her movement is limited. I lower myself down to her level.
“Hey sweet thing, it's okay I won’t harm you. I’m just going to keep you company until someone can come help you. I wonder where your mom is,” I say in my gentlest voice as I pull out my phone to get ahold of wildlife services. They pick up on the first ring.
“Hello you’ve reached Easthelm Wildlife Services, this is Andy speaking,” a familiar voice eagerly replies.
“Yeesh, slow day there Andy? Hey, it's Nuria. I’m out the back of the Burgess’ house, about half a kilometre in, north east, with an injured fawn.
No sign of the mother and a visible wound on her back leg.
Can you get someone out here?” I reply, knowing what to say from the summer I volunteered with them a few years back.
“Hey Nuri! Yes, can do, just waiting on the van. Steve’s out chasing down a rabid raccoon at the Lawson’s place so it shouldn't be too long, sit tight. Oh and Nuri?”
“Yes Andy?” I respond with a premonition of what is about to come next.
“I heard you and the Jones guy broke up so I was uh…wondering uh…”
“I’ve got to go Andy, the fawn is trying to get up…
” I lie then quickly hang up, narrowly avoiding the request for a date.
He’s a good guy but I’ll be gone in less than a month and just can’t get caught up in anything right now.
I know Andy has had a crush on me for years though, so I feel a twinge of guilt for not giving him a chance.
I sit quietly with the fawn as we wait and she even lets me give her a little pat on the head. When I look over her shoulders I can see she has sat down right next to an exquisite Amanita muscaria in full bloom.
“Oh wow!” I exclaim, causing the fawn to flinch away from me, and making me wince at my own outburst.
“Sorry, it’s ok. I get excited about mushrooms sometimes,” I whisper and she seems to settle down at my soft tones.
I guess that we will be waiting a while so I pull out my sketchpad and pencils from my pack and crouch down low to get a good look at the beautiful red mushroom with white polka dots.
These always make me feel a wave of nostalgia that I can’t quite place the origin of.
I’m about halfway done with my sketch of the underside of the mushroom, the fourth drawing I’ve done so far, when I hear a rustling coming from the east side of the clearing.
The fawn’s ears are on full alert, both facing towards the sounds and she starts squirming and trying to stand but falling back down as her back leg fails her.
“Stay down little one. Stay still. Everything is ok. It’s probably just a rabbit, or better yet your mother coming to find you,” I whisper to her, knowing she doesn’t understand but in a way comforting myself and keeping from admitting it was stupid to come out here alone after last night.
All illusion of comfort is gone when it sounds as though the rustling is coming closer and is now accompanied by a low, barely audible growl that makes the hairs on my arms stand up. The kind of growl you can feel inching up your spine rather than hear.
“Ok that doesn’t sound like a rabbit…” I squeak, quickly gathering up my supplies and shoving them in my pack.
The growling grows to a very audible snarl and I can see the branches just behind the bushes that are lining the clearing being pushed out of the way, as if something large is clearing its way through.
The pounding of my heart becomes audible when I see long claws poke out from the bush as they clasp onto the branches, slowly parting them.
“Yup, we are getting out of here now!” I screech as I bend down to scoop the fawn into my arms and turn around to dash out of here when I nearly run into Steve. I let out a scream and nearly drop the fawn as he takes a step back with his hands up.
“Woah there, just me young buck,” Steve chuckles, “sorry it took me so long to get here. One rabid raccoon turned into a gang of them and I had to get Andy out there to help me. Here, let me take her off your hands,” he says as he reaches out to take her into his arms. I hand her over and just stand there fear stricken and shaking.
“Come on, let's get to the van. She’s not looking too good… and neither are you for that matter,” he says, raising an eyebrow and giving me a once over. I give myself a little shake and take a deep breath.