Fire at Dusk: Part 16

“Do you suppose it is gone?” spoke Shirley Sue, shaking Buck from his thoughts.

“I reckon so...” said Buck. He had attempted to sound confident, but his voice betrayed him with a crack.

Shirley Sue giggled and squeezed him. “I think you're right.”

“I'll go check,” he said squeezing her back.

“I'm going with you!” she said untangling herself from him. Buck heard the sound of something scraping along the floor of the cave, which could only be made by the long nail which had been resting at his partner's side.

Shirley Sue sprang ahead of Buck and scurried out ahead of him. He crawled to the entrance of the cave and looked around the area. A breeze buffeted against his face filling his nostrils with the smell of pine. The only source of light was the pale moon shining down. It's glow twisted the forest into tall monsters with long fingers. Buck heard the sound of a twig snapping followed by a rustling. His hair stood on end as he froze in place. He listened for a moment, but when no further sound came, he slipped through the cavern's opening. A beam of light blinded him.

“Hey!” he said shielding his eyes. “Watch where you're pointing that thing.”

“Oops!” she said directing the beam away from his face. “Buck, there's blood on your leg.”

Buck turned on his flashlight and examined his leg. A long thin scratch caked in blood ran along his calf. The wound began to throb as he became aware of it.

“Geeze, I guess I got really lucky there,” he said with a nervous laugh. He noticed a few large green spots which lead away from the cave. “Luckier then that monster,”he said, pointing at the trail.

The pair performed a cursory search of the area for signs of the beast, but much to their relief they found no indication of its presence.

“We need to go back and warn the others,” said Shirley Sue.

“What about the woman in the mill?” asked Buck.

The color drained from Shirley Sue's face. She turned and faced the direction they had come from.

“It's probably too late for her...” she trailed off. “Hopefully we still have a chance of saving our friends.”