Vivian Confidential - Part Thirteen

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Ray, G, S and I stood huddled atop of G’s Fairlane, watching the huge wolf pace in ever-narrowing circles around us. S had finally stopped screaming and was pressed against Ray, crying softly. The rest of us were also yelled out and simply waited for the inevitable.

"What are we going to do?" Ray asked.

"Start kicking if it jumps up on the car," G said.

"What if it’s a werewolf?" Ray asked.

G and I just stared at him and S began crying harder. "What difference does it make?" G asked. "We’ll be just as dead if he gets us."

"But won’t we come back as werewolves?" he asked.

"That’s vampires, you nitwit," G said.

"I have a plan," I ventured.

S quit crying a looked at me. Her tear-stained face was white and seemed bloodless in the cool light of the full moon. "Well tell us," they said as one.

"The car is metal, slippery footing for the wolf. If it makes it up here, we push it off the side. That side," I said, pointing away from the little logging road. "While it’s confused, we run back to the tree. We’ll be safe there."

"Uh huh," Ray said, unimpressed with my plan.

Impressed or not, it was the only plan we had. It didn’t matter anyway. With orange eyes ablaze as they reflected in the light of the moon, the wolf leaped to the hood of the Fairlane.
"Get ready," I said, my heart in my throat.

Up he came, claws slipping on the car’s finish as I had predicted. S began screaming again. We were all yelling as it lunged at us from the hood, slipped and slid back. Gathering itself, it leaped, this time clearing the windshield and landing on the car’s roof along with us. It was G that quit screaming and took action. Dropping to her knees, she gave the wolf a push. It wasn’t much but it was all that was needed. The wolf’s claws simply had no traction on the slippery metal and it tumbled off the side of the car.

"Run!" I yelled, jumping to the other side of the car.

G pushed Ray and S and the four of us began racing up the narrow logging trail. The tumble from the roof had confused the wolf. It quickly regained its senses, howled and came after us. We were almost to the safety of the tree when Ray and S, running hand-in-hand in front of G and me, tripped and slid face-first into the dirt. G and I tumbled on top of them. We could feel the specter of the beast behind us, almost feel its hot breath. S began crying again. Helpless, I felt like joining her. We turned to watch the monster stop ten feet from us, crouch, lick its lips and growl. A horrible growl.

As we waited for the inevitable, we heard another growl. The wolf also heard it. As we
watched, a beast even larger than the wolf attacked it with the full force of its gigantic body. For all the world, it was huge black panther. As the two angry animals tore up the loose ground in front of us, we could only watch. G was the first to react.

"Back to the car," she yelled. "Now!"

She stood, grabbed S’s hand, jerked her to her feet and started back toward the
Fairlane. Stunned, Ray and I followed, hurriedly.

"I can’t find the keys," she said, her voice growing desperate. "They’re in my purse."

"They can’t be in your purse," I said. "You drove back here to look for your purse. Turn on the dome light and look on the seats and floor board."

We could hear the sounds of a tremendous and likely bloody fight not far away as G switched on the dome light. "Here they are," Ray said, tossing them to me. "They were in the back seat."
"Then lets get the hell out of here," G said, cranking the engine, spinning the car in the road like an experienced NASCAR veteran and heading toward the lights of town.

"What’s in your purse that was so important?" I asked as I clutched the door and held
on for dear life.

For the first time that night, G began to weep. "I’m going steady with a boy at Louisiana College. When S and I saw you and Ray I took off my ring and put it in my purse. I didn’t want you to know. Now it’s gone and I could just die."

"Here’s your purse right," Ray said. "I found it when I was looking for the keys. It was under the seat."

Things finally seemed to be going right for the first time that night. Except that we had reached the main road, were approaching ninety and the flashing lights of a cop car were right behind us. G pulled to the side of the road and rolled down the window.

"You could have killed somebody," the policeman said when he reached the window. "Why the hell were you driving so fast?"

G glanced briefly at me, shook her head and said, "Officer, I know this is going to sound hard to believe, but —"

Happy Halloween
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Vivian Confidential - Part Twelve

CHAPTER TWELVE

The huge black wolf abandoned the tree from where G and I watched. Within seconds we heard a blood-curdling scream. It was S.

"It’s got them," G said. "We have to help."

She shimmied down the tree before I could answer. Grabbing a limb, I dropped to the soft earth and followed after her through the darkness, not knowing how she intended to save Ray and S even if she arrived in time to do so. It didn’t matter. She was intent on trying and there was little I could do except follow her.

G ran down the logging trail back to the car. Tripping in a hole, she fell on her face, careening forward into loose dirt. Right behind her, I stepped into the same hole and fell on top of her. For a long moment, we both rolled around, attempting to regain our senses, and our bearings, before getting up, dusting ourselves off and hurrying back toward the car. What we saw when we got there caused the small hairs on back of my neck to rise.

Ray and S were on top of the Fairlane, the wolf standing on his hind legs, fully extended to the roof of the car and nipping at their heels. The moon had reached its full ascent. Its glow lighted the scene like a spotlight and it only took a minute for the wolf to notice G and me. S also saw us and began to scream. I would have done the same but I was running for my life.

G hadn’t waited for me. When the wolf dropped from the roof and started around the car after us, she ran in the opposite direction. I quickly followed her. The wolf could easily have caught us in a straight line but was unable to immediately catch us as we ran in circles around the Fairlane. On the second circuit, the snarling monster nipping at our heels, G stepped up on the bumper and hoisted herself onto the hood of the car. The diversion allowed me to put distance on the pursuing beast and on the next lap around the car I followed G’s path to the car’s hood

With the four of us on top of the Fairlane, we all began screaming for help.

Conclusion Tomorrow
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Vivian Confidential - Part Eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I caught up with G before she reached the edge of the clearing. Whatever was behind us was bearing down rapidly upon us. A storm-damaged oak tree lay directly in our path, canted at a 45 degree angle with the ground. Grabbing G’s hand, I raced up the tree with her in tow. Using the knobby branches like a rungs of a ladder, I managed to quickly climb ten feet or so into the air, something large and mean nipping at our heels.

What ever was chasing us wasted little energy growling, but I could see from its shadowy figure that it was either a very large dog or else a wolf. Whichever, it apparently couldn’t climb trees. That didn’t mean it was giving up on us. Below the tree, it began stalking in impatient circles.

"Oh my God! We’re dead," G said.

"We’re okay. It can’t reach us."

By now my eyes had adjusted to the forest’s dimness and I got a good look at the giant beast below us. It was definitely a wolf, solid black except for a snowy white patch beneath its jaws. If I were standing beside it, the beast’s shoulders would have come to my waist. From the way it was pawing the ground, I could tell it wasn’t friendly.

"Throw something at it," G said.. "Make it go away."

"That’ll just make it madder. We’re stuck here until it decides to leave us alone."

"That might be all night," G said.

"At least we’re safe here."

G took a deep breath and squeezed my arm, settling back against a branch. I prepared to do the same when I heard someone shouting from the far side of the clearing.

"Eric and G. Where the hell are you two?"

Below us the wolf issued a throaty growl. In a crouch, it started back toward the clearing.

To Be Continued
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Vivian Confidential - Part Ten

We had come to the end of the narrow road. Before us lay a small clearing among the trees. The red dirt area was bare except for a lone oak tree. Long branches extended from the tree and something hung from one of the branches by a rope. G pulled away from my grasp and walked toward it, striking a match for illumination. Behind us we heard another low growl.

"For God’s sake, let’s get out of here," I said.

"Wait, " G said. "Its not human. It’s a deer carcass."

She was right. I could see it in the flickering light of the rapidly dying match and rays of the full moon as they filtered through the leaves. Someone had shot a deer and hung its body from a branch to butcher it. They had taken only the haunches and left the rest of the carcass to blow in a gentle breeze. We had another problem. There was something else in the clearing with us. Like the deer, it wasn’t human either. Worse, it was between us and the road.

G and I turned as one. She grabbed my arm hard enough to cut off the blood circulation when she saw what it was. I wanted to scream but the muscles in my throat had constricted. Even though my mouth was open, not a single peep issued. G was also speechless though not quite as cemented in place as I. Releasing her grip on my arm, she broke and ran toward the dark thicket of trees. Her reaction broke my trance. Whirling around, I raced after her.

Before going 10 yards I knew that our flight was useless. My ears, nose, and senses I didn’t know I possessed, informed me with a straight shot of adrenaline that the beast we had seen in the clearing, by the light of the full moon, was coming after us.
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Eyes of the Wolf

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Vivian Confidential - Part Nine

G grabbed me around the neck and refused to let go. Honestly, if I could have run back to the car, I would have. G’s arms and my own rubbery legs prevented me from it. It didn’t matter. Within seconds, the throaty blast of a large gauge shotgun locked us both into place.

“Oh shit,” G said. “We’re going to die.”

“I think you’re right. Let’s get the hell back to the car.”

“Not without my purse,” she said.

“What’s in that purse that’s worth dying for?” I asked.

My words caused an unexpected result. G began to cry, softly at first. Soon, her sobs and cries of anguish were so loud, I became afraid they would attract the wolf, or the person with the shotgun. With some effort I unlatched G’s arms from around my neck, grabbed her hand and pulled her in the general direction of the Fairlane. She was having none of it.

“If you’re so scared, then run back to the car and wait for me. I’m going to find my purse.”

I could see G’n s resolve as she stood staring at me beneath the golden light of a full moon. Duly chastised, I changed directions and continued walking toward the general direction from which the growls had come. I’m not a brave person and, to put it colloquially, my asshole was puckered.

We followed the narrowing trail another 100 yards, or so, light from the moon guiding our path. We stopped when we reached a grove of trees that blocked out the light.

“It’s in there,” G said, pulling me gently into the darkness. Suddenly she froze and said, “There it is.”

I could barely see it in the cloaked darkness. Something attached to a rope was hanging from a tree branch. For all the world, it looked like a butchered body.

To Be Continued

Moon-eyed Cat Visits Eric's Garden

The dogs alerted me that a stranger was in the garden. I took my camera to investigate and managed to snap several pics of the elusive and very rare moon-eyed cat. He and my dog Lucky struck up an immediate friendship. http://www.ericwilder.com http://ericwilder.blogspot.com http://justeastofeden.myblogsite.com http://energyissues.modblog.com

Vivian Confidential - Part Eight

CHAPTER EIGHT

It hadn’t rained in a week or two and powdery dust blew into the Fairlane when G opened the door. We had apparently disturbed the wild animals because the last thing we heard after shutting the front doors was silence. Neither cricket nor a single tree frog was singing. G clasped my hand.

"Maybe this is a bad idea," I said.

"I have to find my purse."

"It’s not going anywhere. Can’t we come back tomorrow?"

G put her arms around my waist and rested her chin on my shoulder. I could tell that she was crying softly. "There’s something in my purse I just can’t afford to lose."

"Like what?" I asked.

"I can’t tell you," she said, sniffling. "But you’re too blame if I don’t find it."

Silence was my only answer when I asked, "How’s that?"

A full golden moon provided the only illumination and it only peeked through the branches in places. I glanced around at thick vegetation on both sides of the road and wondered how G and S had gone into the woods in the first place. G must have read my mind because she released her grip from my waist, grabbed my hand and led me to the rear of the car.

"There’s an old road leading into the woods. It’s either a logging trail or a hunter’s path to a deer stand, or something. The trees are trimmed away from the road and the full moon is the only light we’ll need."

"How far from the car?" I asked as she pulled me forward down the road, little more than a trail, at a rapid clip.

"Don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention when I followed S and we ran all the way back."

Suddenly, the mournful howl of a large animal somewhere directly in front of us caused us both to freeze in our tracks. A throaty growl quickly followed. It could have been a large dog but it sounded for all the world like a wolf – a very angry wolf.

Mittie Stephens

The Mittie Stephens plyed the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Shreveport on the Red River, and then across Caddo Lake, all the way to Jefferson, Texas. It sank on February 11, 1869. The load of hay it carried caught fire, burning the riverboat and many of the people onboard. More than 60 passengers lost their lives. The $100,000 reportedly aboard was never recovered. The sunken ship plays an integral part in Ghost of a Chance, Eric Wilder's novel about Caddo Lake. http://ericwilder.blogspot.com http://www.ericwilder.com http://justeastofeden.myblogsite.com http://energyissues.modblog.com

Arcadia, Oklahoma's Round Barn

The Odor family moved to what is now Arcadia, Oklahoma in 1898 and built the Round Barn shortly after that time. It fell into disrepair in the 1980's but was restored by a group of volunteers known as the Over-the-Hill Gang -- named because most of the restorers were 65 years or older. This wonderful old barn sits just off of historic Route 66 and visitors come from all over the world to see this one-of-a-kind architectural masterpiece. http://ericwilder.blogspot.com http://justeastofeden.myblogsite.com http://www.ericwilder.com http://energyissues.modblog.com

Vivian Confidential - Part Seven

Before G had time to elaborate, she slammed on the brakes, sending the Fairlane into a sideways slide. The car came to an abrupt halt in the road.

“We have to go back,” G said.

“No way,” S said from the back seat, still hugging Ray.

“Tell me what the hell is going on,” I demanded.

G hesitated before saying, “We saw something in the woods.”

“Well please let me in on your little secret,” I said.

“A body hanging from a tree,” she said. “We have to tell the police.”

“Are you kidding me?” I asked.

“She’s not kidding,” S said from the back seat. “I’m not kidding either. Get out of these woods and get me back to Vivian.”

“We can’t,” G said. “I dropped my purse back there.”

Whatever they had seen and heard, had greatly frightened S.

“Take me home first,” she said. “I’m not going back there.”

G backed the car around and started back in the direction from which we had come.

“I’m not leaving without my purse,” she said. “You can wait in the car.”

Having gone no more than a mile down the road before G had decided to turn around, we quickly returned to the spot where we had heard the scream. S was whimpering in the back seat, her arms still latched firmly around Ray’s neck. He was also in shock, but not from fright. He was basking in the unexpected, close proximity of the attractive coed he had just met. G parked the car at the side of the road, the dome light flickering as she opened the door.

“Will you come with me?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said. “But tell me who was screaming.”

With the front door still open, G turned in the car’s front seat. When she hugged me, I could feel her racing heart.“I don’t know what it was,” she said. “It was big, black and moved like a cat.”

TO BE CONTINUED
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Vivian Confidential - Part Six

Both Ray and I waited for G to say something. When she didn’t, I said, “I agree with Ray. S should have come back by now. We should check on her.”

“You two stay in the car,” G said. “I’ll do the checking. She may need girl help.”

Not really knowing what she meant by that, neither Ray nor I protested. We waited until the door slammed and the dome light dimmed before either of us spoke.

“S seems friendly, but G seems a little standoffish,” Ray said.

“Yeah, well we had a little argument last time I saw her.”

Ray rolled the rear window down. “It’s getting kind of stuffy in here,” he said.

East Texas night sounds began filling the car. The air was damp and still warm, the music of tree frogs and crickets flooding us with sound. Suddenly, it got quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Silence lasted only a moment. What we heard next sent a chill up my spine and caused the tiny hairs on the back of my neck to stand fully erect. It sounded like the piercing scream of a woman. In the almost total darkness, it was hard to tell if it came from a mile away, or a hundred feet from the car.We had little time to contemplate the answer as both the front and back doors opened abruptly. It was G and S. They were both out of breath and white as proverbial sheep in the momentary flicker of the overhead dome light.

“Get the hell out of here,” S said, huddling as close to Ray as she could possibly get, her arms draped around his neck in a virtual death lock.

G didn’t have to be told. Cranking the engine, she floored the under-powered six, spraying loose dirt as she spun away.

“What were you screaming about out there?” I asked, holding on to the door handle as G slid around a corner.

“It wasn’t us,” she said, still breathless.

To Be Continued