Bigfoot: The Sumatra Encounter by Gayne C. Young

Author:Gayne C. Young [Young, Gayne C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2023-10-16T22:00:00+00:00

22.

Camp was established a half mile from the tiger attack in a small clearing that was surrounded on all sides by towering dipterocarp trees chocked with lianas vines that hung like hundred-foot snakes from the canopy. Grace and Edward both settled into their tents and each took showers that required several refills of warm water by the laborers. Taylor knew they were each rattled and gave them their time alone to deal with their shock in their own way.

Taylor and Abyasa returned to the downed tiger and skinned it. Both marveled at the massive predator’s dark coloration that was unlike anything either had ever seen before. The tiger was almost completely black with only a few stripes of burnt orange.

“It no natural. Very strange,” Abyasa nervously confessed.

“You’re starting to sound like the others,” Taylor countered.

“They think bad omen,” Abyasa reported. “Some talk they leave.”

“Omen?! Omen of what? Omen of the freak tiger?”

“I dunno. They just say it bad. Bad omen of things to come.”

“What do you think?” Taylor asked in true interest.

Abyasa was his lifeline to the men that could make or break the expedition. Taylor needed to know if Abyasa was leading or following.

Abyasa paused before answering.

“I think tiger very ugly,” Abyasa offered with a smile. “You should give to me. I get rid of it for you.”

Taylor laughed.

“I bet you would,” Taylor agreed. “Have no doubt of that.”

Taylor and Abyasa folded the unique hide, mounted their horses, and rode the short distance back to camp. Abyasa took the horses to be tended to and Taylor went to check on his clients. He found Edward reading outside his tent and Grace taking a nap within hers. Taylor let them be and took a much-needed shower.

Grace and Edward said little at dinner other than making small talk or inquiring about the journey ahead. Taylor said that, based on the information he’d been provided with, he felt they would reach the professor’s camp within two if not three more days. Grace said the sooner they could retrieve her husband and return to civilization the better. Edward said that he agreed and couldn’t wait to board a plane for the long journey back to Houston.

“About my horse, the horse I was riding…” Edward said, changing the subject.

“He was put to good use,” Taylor interrupted.

“Wait. What?” Edward was confused.

“He was eaten,” Taylor explained.

“Eaten?!” Grace was shocked. She looked at her empty plate then to Taylor.

“No. We had beefsteak,” Taylor assured her. “The men had horse.”

Grace made a face of disgust and pushed her plate away from her to the center of the table.

Edward grinned and said, “I was actually asking about the horse to see if I’d be walking tomorrow. But good to know he wasn’t put to waste.”

Grace snickered then burst into laughter. Edward joined in, and even Taylor snickered.

The dishes were cleared and the three sat under the dining fly drinking, smoking, talking, and laughing. A sudden downpour brought sheets of rain and a sudden temperature drop. All decided to call it a night and returned to their tents.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.