Blood Ghost (The Hunting Tree Book 2) by Hamill Ike

Author:Hamill, Ike [Hamill, Ike]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Horror
Publisher: www.ikehamill.com
Published: 2013-11-24T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

Cousins

“RIGHT THERE, BEFORE YOU stepped on it,” Morris said. He pointed at Roland’s feet.

“How could you possibly see anything out here? It’s blacker than a bear’s back pocket in these damn woods.”

“Because it’s how I make my living, isn’t it,” Morris said. When he was angry enough to talk, he tended to agree with himself at the end of his sentences. Of course, the only people who seemed to make him angry enough to talk were his cousins. With most people, Morris’s deep voice only made sporadic appearances.

“I bet you’ve never tracked anything this strange in your life,” Roland said.

“I’ve tracked stranger, and bigger, I have. I tracked a polar bear that was stealing meat from a logging camp up in Aroostook. Is that strange? I tracked a giant goddamn monster across half of Maine. Is that strange? I’m not some half-assed suburban poacher.”

“Whoa, Jesus, come on,” Merritt said. “Let’s keep it civil please.”

“I’ll keep it civil when he keeps his goddamn feet off of the tracks I was just pointing out,” Morris said. “Now lift your foot, you oaf, and lets see if there’s anything left of it.”

Roland put up his hands in a surrendering gesture and took two careful steps backwards. To anyone else, his steps might seem miraculously delicate. He stepped back into a carpet of dried leaves and made only the tiniest sound. Morris sighed exasperation as he knelt down.

He took a tiny light—the kind you’d find on a keychain—from his pocket and pointed it at the ground. After plucking away a couple of smashed leaves, he said, “There.” His light showed the print of a small, bare foot. The outlines were faint. Deep nails had pierced holes into the ground at the toes.

“These are from tonight and she was runnin’, wasn’t she,” Morris said. “Running after something, running away from something, or running home?”

“Why not just running?” Merritt asked.

“Only pups run for fun. This one’s no pup,” Roland said. “And she doesn’t chase—she calls.”

“Let’s walk her back trail and see if we can find what was chasing her. Could be she’s afraid of someone, or maybe just afraid of the sun, but I’d like to find out,” Morris said.

Roland and Merritt followed their cousin through the woods. Morris walked at a slow pace, interrupted every few steps as he stopped to listen and smell the air. He moved quietly and without a flashlight. The moonlight was strong in spots, but where they stood not much of it made it past the leaves overhead.

“Are you still on the trail?” Roland asked.

“Shut it,” Morris said. He walked a few more steps and then dropped to one knee. He cast his tiny light on the forest floor again. “She stood here. See?”

Merritt and Roland huddled around the spot of light. They saw several tiny footprints in dirt and leaves.

“Why would she stand here?” Roland asked.

“There’s a house that way,” Morris said. “Can’t you hear it?”

Roland turned his head slowly, exposing either ear to the direction Morris pointed.

“No, I don’t hear anything,” Roland said.

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