Roger kept his distance from the deputy as she
executed her investigation. He saw the occasional camera flash
reflect off of the trees as she set about the grim task of
documenting his friend's death. Earlier he had made the mistake of
watching her while she performed her duty. One of the flashes of
light seared into his eyes the image of Parker, the splintered branch
gutting through his bloodied chest. For several minutes afterward,
each blink painted anew the horrific image of his pal's limp,
dangling body.
In between flashes, he glanced over at Jessie. She
sat with her back leaning against the tree Parker's body hung from,
staring into the forest's canopy. He had attempted to sit beside her
and talk, but the thought of how close he was to the body made his
stomach churn. Likewise, Jessie had made two separate attempts to
join him in pacing the perimeter. However, each time she distanced
herself from the hanging body, the sheriff approached them and
interrupted their discussion to engage her chest in conversation.
Roger reflected on how quickly the sheriff dismissed
his testimony of the screech he and Buck had heard in the forest
earlier and the subsequent vision of the glowing creature. The
sheriff laughed at him and told him that, “If the boogeyman drops
by, then I'll put a bullet in his eye!” The sheriff punctuated the
sentence with a hardy laugh then proceeded to pat himself on the back
for his clever use of rhyme.
Roger knew it sounded ridiculous, but that was what
he had seen, wasn't it? He tried focusing and recalling what he had
witnessed, but all he could remember now was a faint glow, its
dreamlike outline masked behind a forest full of trees. Maybe his
friends were right. He had not gotten a close look at it, so perhaps
he and Buck just saw the reflection of the sunset. The frantic cries
of Buck telling him to “Go!” echoed through his mind. Buck's
wide eyes, placid complexion, and his increased speed had spread to
Roger like a contagion. The sunset couldn't have caused that feeling
of unease that shook him to the core of his being. There was
something very wrong happening in these woods.
Roger's thoughts shifted to Buck. He wondered if his
brother and Shirley Sue had made it back to the cabin yet. Roger
chuckled at Buck's recent infatuation with their childhood friend.
Roger had a hard time even thinking of her as anything but one of the
guys. He remembered how he had nearly spit out his drink when Buck
confessed his affections for her, thinking that his brother was
pulling on his chain.
The sound of Deputy Smith's voice shattered Roger's
reflections. “Sheriff, I think we're all set!”
“Excellent work, Smith,” the sheriff called back.
“Let me finish up over here and we'll be ready to head on out.”
The sheriff proceeded to scan his flashlight around the roots of
a few more trees before announcing that he too was finished with his
investigation.
Roger walked beside Jessie in silence as the sheriff
and deputy led the way back to the vehicles. He strained his ears to
try and hear what Deputy Smith was telling the sheriff, but she kept
her voice hardly above a whisper as she spoke. They were nearing the
forest edge when the sound of gunfire echoed from the direction of
the cabin.
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