Chapter 2

“Now, THAT was an experience. I thought we’d never get away from them, even after you stood by the door, holding the cheese and ammo for so long,” Carol said, as they drove to the barricade and turned left.

“You made a hit with them, Carol. You took their pictures and never backed up from their questions. I don’t know how you’ll ever remember their names when you put those on CDs and print them.”

“Didn’t you see me hold the camera out to them and have them say their name? I recorded each name after I took a picture.”

“I’m glad you’re the photographer and not me. I’d never learn all about those new cameras, all I can do is turn it on, point, and shoot.”

“When you talk to John again, have some more photo paper sent up. I didn’t bring but one ream, and they’re already wanting to hang photos,” she said, laughing.

“You really did make a big hit back there, Carol. I’m glad you’re here with me. Just be careful from here on in. Mr. Harker told me that even the Sheriff’s deputies have warned people not to be alone for any reason up here.”

“You’re scaring me now, Coop. Until now, this was just a fun adventure.”

“Be scared, be very scared, Carol. It may save your life. If we poke around up here enough, we’ll come close to whatever it is. If we flush that ‘thing’ out, we have to be ready. It seems to attack at night, so we have that in our favor for now. Do you have any of those night cameras?”

“I have eight of the new trail cameras, all infrared, if that’s what you mean.”

“I was just about to ask if they were flash or infrared. We may luck up and get some pictures of this ‘thing’, without you being there.”

“I also have some infrared lens for two of my digital cameras, and I have some telephoto lens for those cameras that can reach out and touch an object at three hundred yards.”

“I see Dad and another man on his front porch. Start taking pictures as soon as we get out. I want you to take pictures of every tree, bush, and blade of grass up here.”

“Your dad looks good for 65.”

“It runs in the family, wait until you meet Granddad.”

“Hello, Dad. How are you?” Coop said, as he met his dad at the bottom step.

“Good, Son. Glad you made it up here. Do you remember Dave Hartman? He and his dad have the paper.”

“I sure do, how are you, Dave? It’s been years since I’ve seen you. How’s your dad?”

“Dad’s doing great. We’ll all be doing a lot better if we can ever find out what we have up here, killing and mangling men and animals alike.”

“Dad, Dave, I want you to meet Carol Morehead. She’s my new photographer and she’s a good one too.”

With the introductions over, they sat on the porch and talked about the recent attacks.

“I’d like to go out to the barn and take some pictures, if it’s alright with you, Mr. Cooper,” Carol said.

“Let’s all go out there, Dad. I told Carol none of us need to be alone up here until we stop whatever it is that’s out there.”

“Coop, I want to show you something over here that Dave found earlier when we came out to look around. Look at these claw marks in these boards; they look like a saw blade has passed through them.”

Carol was snapping pictures as they pointed out the marks; she saw more scratches and took close-ups of them all.

“Carol, there’s some footprints over here in this manure; you may want to take pictures of those too,” Mr. Cooper told her.

“I’ve never seen prints like these, Dad. Have you, Dave?” Coop asked.

“No, and I have no idea what would be that big, to have a foot like this and make an impression that deep, either.”

“Did anyone come take pictures and investigate all this, Dad?”

“Only the Sheriff’s deputies, along with Dave and I have seen this. No one else has come up here but you and Carol.”

“Dave, if you’ll help Carol and me, we’ll solve this ourselves. I think people have cried wolf about these monsters until no one even comes to take a look anymore for fear of being ridiculed.”

“I agree, Coop. You can count on me. I’m not really an outdoorsman, but I’ll help you, your dad, and Carol anyway I can. We were about to leave and go over to your granddad’s place when you drove up. If you want to, we can all go over to Doolin’s and have a look around too. I haven’t been there since the incident, but your dad has.”

“Let’s do that. I want to see the evidence over there too. Did they ever get anything back from the state lab on the two carcasses from your barn, Dad?”

“They told me there was no sustainable evidence that an animal caused the deaths, it had to be someone killing and carrying the meat off.”

“Did they explain about Doolin and the others that have been killed or maimed?”

“The Sheriff himself told me it looked like Doolin shot his own leg with a blast from his shotgun, though they never found any shot in his wounds.”

“Coop, if you’ll help me, I’d like to get one of the infrared cameras and set it up out here somewhere before we leave. It may be too dark to get it in place when we get through over at your granddad’s,” Carol suggested.

“Great idea, Carol, you’re going to work your way into a permanent position if you keep on. I like the way you think and I like the way you work,” Coop told her, as he started toward his Jeep Cherokee to get a trail camera.

“Coop, if you’ll put it out there on that birdhouse pole, it will cover nearly the whole barnyard and house.” His dad suggested.

“Good idea, Dad. Carol, if you know how to program this thing and set it, I’ll attach it to the pole.”

While Carol was setting the camera and making sure it was working properly, Coop went into his dad’s house and took his .44 Magnum revolver from the gun case. He loaded it and strapped it on his waist before they took Dave’s vehicle and Coop’s Cherokee over to Floyd Cooper’s place.

Coop pulled his camper with them, he wanted to set it up at his Granddad’s and use his vehicle to move back and forth between there and his dad’s place, as they set up cameras and probed into the mysteries of the mountain beast.

“Hello, Dad. Look who finally made it back up here,” Don Cooper said to Floyd Cooper, Coop’s granddad.

“Hi, Granddad, good to see you again. I want you to meet Carol Morehead, my photographer. She’ll be here with me until we can find what’s attacking people and animals up here.”

“Coop, it sure is good to see you again too. I’m glad you finally came home to help solve this mess. I know we’ll get to the bottom of it now. Carol, you just make yourself at home while you’re here. Take whatever pictures you like and, hopefully, we’ll get to take a picture of that damned beast when we kill it,” Floyd Cooper greeted the newcomers.

“Granddad, we want to know what you saw when you went to Doolin’s place the other night. Try to remember everything you saw, it will help us as we try and solve this,” Coop told him.

“Coop, why don’t you take your camper over to Doolin’s and set it up there, since he’ll be laid up for another few weeks. Dave, I’ll ride over there with you and Don, and show all of you what I saw and what all Doolin pointed out to me when I got there,” Floyd Cooper told them.

That afternoon, as the Coopers, Dave Hartman, and Carol Morehead headed over to Bill Doolin’s place to take pictures and search for more clues, a young mother and her daughter were relaxing on the small swimming beach at Lake Bettenau Camp Grounds, a few miles east of Mt. Skinner. The campgrounds were located just two hundred yards through the forest from Bill Doolin’s place.

Donna Grover had two weeks of vacation left and had decided to take her five year old daughter camping to get away from her ex-boyfriend after their bitter and abusive breakup.

They were camping in a small pup tent near the trail that leads up the side of the mountain to the overlook behind Bill Doolin’s place. ‘The back road’ was what the locals called it. It was once used as a right-of-way through Doolin’s land while the small park and campgrounds were being developed.

There were only two other campers at the site, and they were set up at the other end of the campground. Donna Grover was nursing a black-eye, and bruises on her ribs and back, from the beating she took when she told her boyfriend to get out. She was lying in the warm, late afternoon sun, trying to get dark enough to hide her bruises. Gina, her five year old, was playing nearby in the white sand of the man-made beach.

Donna wasn’t aware she’d dozed off in the warm afternoon sun, until a dark shadow caused her to jerk, and suddenly awaken. She immediately looked for Gina, then screamed when a strong hand clamped down on her arm above her wrist and pulled her to her feet. Before she could scream again, she was slapped across her face, then she felt a fist slam into her mid-section. Just as she slumped to the sand, she saw Gina being picked up and carried into the dark shadows of the trees to the west.

Donna wasn’t aware of how long she was out, but when she was able to stand without falling to her knees again, she looked all around for Gina. She was nowhere to be seen.

She remembered seeing her picked up and carried into the forest by a big man dressed in black. Her first thought was her ex-boyfriend, Ben Donovan, Gina’s father. She had to find Gina.

Donna ran to the forest, tying her bathing suit top as she ran. The forest was thick with undergrowth and she was scraped and scratched by briars and limbs as she ran further into the deep, dark forest, screaming Gina’s name at the top of her voice.

Coop was loosening the bumper hitch from his camper when he heard the first scream. He stood and looked east toward the forest behind Doolin’s barn. He heard the scream again and the others came running over to where he stood.

“Coop, that’s a woman screaming. Someone’s in trouble out there in the forest,” his dad said.

“Dad, get a spotlight and one of Doolin’s guns and follow me. I’m going out there, we can’t let another person become a victim,” Coop said, as he ran toward the tree line.

“Wait, Coop, I’ll go with you,” Carol yelled, as she grabbed a second camera from the front seat of the vehicle.

“I’m going too, Carol. You don’t need to be running off into the forest like this,” Dave Hartman yelled, as he followed her.

Don Cooper and his dad, Floyd, came running from the house with rifles as they saw the others disappear into the early evening shadows of the darkening forest.

“You go ahead, Don. I’ll just slow you down; I’ll be right behind you,” Floyd told his son, as they hurried to the edge of the forest.

Coop heard the scream again, this time it was close, real close, and whoever it was must be in great pain. She was screaming constantly.

“NO, NO, Leave my baby alone. Put her down, damn you!” He heard her scream at someone or some ‘thing’!

Coop heard another scream, this time it was a man who screamed. A blood curdling scream that made Coop stop in his tracks and look around. He was close to whatever was happening out here and that scream made him wonder what he’d gotten into. He pulled his .44 revolver and backed the hammer; holding it in both hands as he crouched, looking and pointing the big gun all around as he eased closer to the sounds.

He saw the woman on her knees; she was in her swimsuit with scratches and scrapes all over her, as she bent over a small naked girl on the ground. Shoving his gun in his holster, he ran to her, reaching out to help her. She looked up wild-eyed, screaming at him as he tried to calm her down.

“What happened? I’m here to help you, please stop screaming and let me help! Is your little girl alright?” he asked loudly, as he knelt in front of her and grabbed the woman’s shoulders, shaking her.

The little girl reached out for Coop as he knelt on the ground; he took her in his arms without even thinking. She hugged his neck and laid her head on his shoulder as the woman sank to the ground again, sobbing and talking incoherently.

With the girl in one arm, Coop stood up and reached down to pull the woman to her feet. She looked at him, then reached out to put her arms around his waist as she sobbed and held onto him and her daughter.

Coop looked up to see Carol walking a circle around him, snapping pictures repeatedly while he held the mother and child as they both cried and clung to him.

Dave Hartman was right with Carol, step for step, as she took pictures. He was snapping pictures with her other camera as they walked around and around Coop, the woman, and child.

Coop saw his dad and granddad come into the small clearing; they held their rifles pointed in front of them as his dad shined the light around in the darkening shadows, ready for anything that moved. He saw his dad pointing to something near where they stood. Coop looked to where he was pointing. In the light, he saw blood all over the ground, leaves, and small bushes. A lot of blood!

Still holding the woman and child, he got Carol’s attention and pointed her to where his dad and granddad were standing. They were looking down with shock showing on their faces. Coop pulled the woman with him as she stumbled and leaned against him, still sobbing and mumbling incoherently.

Coop saw an overturned motorcycle and the body of a man lying near it on the forest floor. His head and both arms were missing; he was covered in blood as he lay naked in the leaves and pine needles.

Carol saw the gruesome scene and started taking pictures. Dave was snapping them from the other side of the scene.

“Granddad, we need to get this woman and her little girl back away from this. Can you help me? She’s holding onto me so tight, I can hardly walk,” Coop said.

“Let me hold the little girl if she’ll come to me. If not, I’ll pull the woman away and we can get them back before this baby sees this, if she hasn’t already.”