Mountain Trail Trouble - Chapter 17 - Hidden Monsters

Photo credit: Daniel*1977 / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

The woods seemed darker to Jill when she walked through them alone. After two months of training with Vrag and her father, she felt at ease, safe and it didn't hurt to have a fighting staff secured to your back.  She paused behind a downed tree and listened hard for any signs of Vrag moving through the trees. She never heard him but then again, he wouldn't hear her either. 

She was grateful training had been moved outdoors. Learning to use a staff inside with Vrag as your opponent caused for unnecessary breaking of furniture and knickknacks. And since there had been no signs of the police after the initial incident, it seemed logical. A noise snapped to Jill's left and she hunkered down. She crawled toward the sound and spotted a sliver of movement in the distance. Bingo! Jill kept ample space between them as she followed the movement further up the mountain. She picked her way silently through thick bramble, fingering the staff still attached to her back. Jill scanned through the trees and saw nothing. Fearing she'd lost her mark, she switched directions and backtracked a few hundred feet. 

The sharp crack of a gunshot split the silence. 

Jill ducked behind a tree and pulled her staff to the ready. Panic and fear crowded her senses. Jill pushed toward the sound of the gunfire and spotted a blood trail. Maybe a rouge hunter had spotted Vrag or her father. She moved faster through the woods following the trail until she spotted something lying still just ahead. Jill's heart slammed against her chest as she moved closer, a wolf. She swallowed hard as she rushed toward the downed animal. She stopped just short of the beast and realized it was too small and tawny to be her father. Relief washed over her until she saw the shine of steel flash toward her. A large hand covered her mouth as another pointed a gun to her temple. 

"You're getting harder and harder to track," the man drawled in badly broken English. "I hear tale, you'll fetch a better price than that wolf pelt." He sniffed the air and pulled Jill from the ground as she kicked and screamed behind his hand. "I can smell the others coming, smell their fear." Jill wondered how he could smell anything other than himself. 

The crazy man turned and ran back up the mountain with Jill. He moved through them like an old friend, leaving no trail behind. He knew these parts better than those strange new comers and Billy said he'd make it worth his while. He flashed a yellowed grin and headed deep into the darkness of the wilderness before him.