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It was early in the morning when Bill came back from town, getting off his horse and shouting. He marched towards my tent, waving a letter over his head. “Elaine! I have a letter for you. Apparently, it’s urgent.”
He shoved it into my hands before I could say anything and stomped off to get some breakfast. I looked down it, frowning at the ‘express’ stamp on it. It took a moment, but I recognized the handwriting as Arthur’s. Curious, I tore it open. What would Arthur be writing me a letter for? I began to read, but found the letter was addressed to both John and I. Frowning, I left my tent and made my way to the trail that led out of camp, where John was on guard duty. “Good morning,” he said, cheerily, “What can I do for you, Miss North?”
I held up the letter. “We got mail from Arthur.”
The smile waned. “We?”
“Yeah,” I said, mimicking his skeptical tone, “We.”
“Why would Arthur send us a letter? Didn’t he just leave camp yesterday?”
“I figured we’d read it together.”
He slung his rifle over his shoulder, and we sat down on a nearby log. “Elaine and John,” I read aloud, “I’m hunting a bounty up in Roanoke Ridge. Seems there is a bear up here that’s gone rabid and has been killing folks. The state is paying five hundred dollars for its destruction.”
“That’s an awful lot for a bear.”
“Normally, I’d have no problem, but hunting a bear while fending off the inbred lunatics that crawl all over these hills is proving difficult. Normally, I would ask Charles to help with this sort of thing, but I know him and Javier are doing something up in Ambarino and I am asking you instead.” I pause and John and I exchanged a look.
Apparently, it took the two of us together to even come close to Charles. “And then,” I said, speed reading the last few lines, “He says he’s tracked it to an area around Elysian Pool and he wants us to meet him up there as soon as possible.”
“Not like Arthur to ask for help.”
“Yes,” I agreed, “Very unlike Arthur. And to send a letter?”
“Suppose we should go then.”
“The train to Annesburg leaves in two hours, I think. That should give us enough time to pack and wire ahead for some horses.”
“Wire ahead for horses?”
“Last time I was up there, those Murphree weirdos were talking about eating Ontario. I’d rather risk a rented horse than my own.”
He stood. “Makes sense, I guess.”
“I’ll get Lenny to ride with us into town so he can bring the horses back to camp, and I’ll go find Sean to cover your guard shift.”
“The two of us are just as good as Charles by ourselves.” John said.
“Yes,” I agreed, marching back towards camp, “Yes, we are.”
-------------------
It was early afternoon when we got into Annesburg. On the platform, we were met by a stable hand. “Mr. Milton and Ms. North, I presume?” We both nodded and he smiled, holding out his hand for John to shake, “Nice to meet you. I’m Tim, follow me this way and I can introduce you to Tulip and Lucy.”
The two mares whinnied as Tim led us toward them; two near identical little palominos tossing their heads in unison as the stable hand gave them both a pat. “Where you all headed?” Tim asked, helping us load up the ponies.
“We’re going down to Elysian Pool,” I said, watching closely for his reaction, “Heard there was some good fishing there, thought we’d make a trip of it.”
Tim paused in his work, his eyebrows furrowing, his cheerful smile fading. “Who told you that?”
“We met a fella in the city,” John said, “Told us he caught some prize-sized perch there.”
“Well, I’m sorry to tell you, but that man was pulling your leg.” Tim looked a little uneasy, “If you’re lookin’ for fishin’, I’d head up north, just above Brandywine Drop. There’s some good steelhead up there. I wouldn’t go to Elysian.”
“Why not?”
“Lot of folks drowning there as of late. You two probably are looking to catch fish, not corpses, so I’d go north, if I were you.“ Tim started as he reached to help me with my pack, “Is… is that a sword?”
I ignored him and turned to John, who looked a little pale. I touched his arm gently. “You alright.”
“Yes.” He said stiffly, “Why wouldn’t I be?”
We rode out of Annesburg heading south towards Elysian Pool, a worried looking Tim watching us leave. “Rabid bears, people drowning,” John mused as we left the town behind, “Doesn’t sound like a place where I would want to live.”
Something nagged at me as we continued south; a lingering feeling that something about all this was familiar. Rabid bears and people drowning… I couldn’t quite place it, but it felt like a riddle that I knew well but had forgotten the answer to.
About an hour later, we reached the spot where Arthur had been camping. The camp was broken down, but the embers in what remained of the fire still glowed. He couldn’t be far away. John and I decided to split up. He would head down the western side of the pool and I would head down the eastern, meeting at the southern edge. Drownings and bear attacks, I repeated in my head as I scanned the woods for any sign of Arthur’s mare, drownings and bear attacks. Now alone, I felt free to ponder the puzzle without judgement. I ran down a list of water creatures in my mind, trying to think of what it could be.
I spotted El Paso, just off the side of the road, standing patiently and waiting for Arthur. She whickered as I dismounted and approached. Arthur was further off the road, crouched over something. I called out as I walked closer, “Arthur?”
He didn’t turn to look at me but waved for me to come closer. As I got closer, I could see the mangled corpse of doe. “You ever see anything like this?”
The first thing I noticed was the smell; like hot pond scum that clung to the air, humid and heavy. I pulled my bandana up over my nose and crouched beside him. “Have they all smelled like this?”
“Yup.” There was tightness to his voice that told me of his frustration, “They all look like this too.”
Using a stick he poked at a clump of pond weeds that were stuck in the gruesome remains. “Everything attacked by the bear looks like this?”
“Not even sure it’s a bear anymore.” He looked over at me, “Not a single one has had claw marks; not even the people.”
“This why you ask for help?”
He shrugged. “It’s weird; real weird. You’re kind of an expert on weird.”
“It’s weird for you to write a letter. It’s even weirder for you to write to me and John.”
He shrugged. “I was on the trail, I didn’t want to ride all the way back to camp, let someone else find this thing before me. Wanted John to come so you wouldn’t be travelling alone.”
I stood and looked around. “It’s just very unlike you to ask for help, much less send a letter asking for help.”
“Five hundred dollars is a good chunk of money.”
“I guess it is. Stable hand in Annesburg told us there’s been quite few drownings around here lately. You hear anything about that?”
He nodded grimly. “They were talking about it in Van Horn too.”
“All the corpses smell like pond scum and have water plants stuck to them?”
Another nod. “You find any tracks?”
Arthur stood and indicated an imprint in the dirt with his boot. “Always a set of these around, but they just lead back the river and I lose ‘em there.”
“Show me.”
The tracks, which were definitely not made by a bear, led to the riverbank just as Arthur had said. Where the tracks ended there was a large swipe in the mud, as if something large had slid into the water. I just stared at it for a couple moments, hoping beyond all hope that this would turn out to just be one very strange bear. “Well, Arthur, this may sound stupid, but have you, uh, seen any black horses around?”
He frowned. “What?”
“A black horse. Kinda maybe gross looking, maybe wet?”
“A horse did this.”
“I didn’t say it is a horse, but it might be something that… looks like one.”
“A bear that looks like a horse?”
I sighed. “We should probably go find John.”
“John can…”
He sentence was drowned out by a bone-rattling shriek that rang out through the trees. It set off the horses, both crying out. El Paso held her ground, but poor little Lucy tried desperately to pull away from the tree I had hitched her to. We both rushed over to calm the horses. Another shriek cut through the forest, only this time followed by a very human scream. Without hesitation, I drew my sword from where I had packed it on Lucy and sprinted in the direction of the sounds, across the river. As I ran, I tried to drown out every bit of ambient noise, listening for anything that would tell me where to find the creature making those sounds. I slowed as I noticed something laying on the ground ahead.
There wasn’t much left of Tulip. Her head was few feet away from the rest of her, tongue lolling out of a gaping mouth. John’s things were covered in blood and sinew. Sharp, splintered bones mixed with the leaves on the ground. Entrails formed a gruesome path towards the Pool. Again, the stank of pond scum hung in the air. Before I could even pause to inspect the scene, Arthur had grabbed my arm and was pulling towards the Pool. “This way.”
There was a steep slope down to the Pool’s edge. A great mar in the dirt showed were something large had slid down it. I could hear shouting somewhere nearby. It sounded like John. In unison, Arthur and I slid down the slope and hit the bottom running. As we came the bank of Elysian, we could see John moving along the southern edge, stumbling like he was hurt, but determined to get away. We were close enough to hear the hissing now; guttural and menacing like an angry gator. Behind John, stalked the creature, moving slow as if it knew it’s injured prey couldn’t escape. It was like a horse, but shaggy with water plants matted into its coat, shaggy mane long and sopping wet. Bulging green eyes fixed on John hungrily.
I turned to look at Arthur, who, to his credit, was holding steady. “We need to distract it.” I whispered.
He stared at the creature, his breaths shaky, the knuckles on his hand turning white as he gripped his rifle. “Then what?”
“Then we kill your bear.”
“It ain’t a bear.”
He sounded almost mournful. I patted his arm and crept towards the water’s edge. “I know. Once I get its attention, go for John.”
“Wait.” He grabbed my arm, “Why are you distracting it?”
“Because I’m a better swimmer.”
“Fine.”
He released my arm and moved along the shore, keeping low. I jumped into the water, splashing and making as much noise as I could. The creature paused, turning its attention to me. “That’s right, ugly!” I shouted, “Look at me! I’m muddying your pond!”
It made a low noise that sounded uncomfortably like laughter and slunk forward into the water. John kept his mouth shut and continued to distance himself from the Pool. It moved quickly in the water, trying to drive me into the depths and trying to get behind me. I held steady, keeping myself facing it, ignoring the pounding of my heart. With John out of danger, I would need to get it back on shore if I was going to have a chance against it.
It disappeared under the water and I back pedaled towards shore, not stopping until Arthur grabbed my arm to stop me from tripping over a rock. “Where’d it go?”
“I don’t know.”
We both stood very still, eyes fixed on the unusually placid surface of the Pool. “What the hell is that thing?”
“It’s your rabid bear, Arthur.”
He gave me a hard, unamused look. “How do we kill it?”
“You wanna kill it?”
The creature poked it’s head up above the surface, looking like a gator, blinking those green eyes at us. “Don’t think we have much choice.”
I straightened, staring down the creature. The forest had gone eerily quiet, all the birds and other animals having fled from the Pool. That was never a good sign. “Don’t suppose a couple of bullets will do it, will they?” He asked.
“Have you started packing silver bullets?”
“No.”
We moved along the bank, towards John. It followed as we move along the shore. “Whatever you do,” I breathed as it slowly began to approach the shore, “Don’t touch it.”
“Why not?”
“Trust me, just don’t.”
John was crouched behind some reeds, pistol drawn. “What are you doing?” he hissed.
“Saving your hide. Just stay there.” Arthur growled.
He leaned in close. “What’s the plan?”
Now that we had stopped moving, it had begun to swim small circles, seemingly enjoying itself. “When it charges, we hold our ground.”
“When it charges?”
“It’s been spending its time tearing apart dear and people; things fucking strong and it knows it. It’s not gonna waste it’s time trying to lure us in.”
“Lure us in?” Arthur glanced over at me.
“You’d be surprised.” John said bitterly.
Before I could say anything, the creature rose out of the water. It ducked it’s head down, eyes fixed on us. It huffed and splashed as it pawed at the Pool’s surface, looking like some watery cavalry mount ready to charge. I stepped closer to Arthur, putting us shoulder to shoulder. I placed his hands on the sword’s hilt with mine. “Just stay steady.” I instructed, ignoring the blood curdling shriek the creature let out, “Move when I move.”
Another shriek and it reared up menacingly, tossing its head. I took a deep breath and steadied myself. As it charged forward, time seemed to slow for a moment. Another deep breath, the feel of Arthur’s grip tightening over my hands, John cursing loudly behind us. And then, suddenly, it was there, right in front of us, rearing up and bearing bleached, pointed teeth. Arthur stepped with me, thrusting the sword forward and up just as the thing came down, kicking it’s feet out at us. Together we held the sword fast as the creature came down on it, the force of its own weight driving the blade into its chest.
The creature dissolved into muck. We both collapsed into the mud, covered in the rancid black substance that was once the creature, both still with a hand gripping the sword. John scrambled forward to hover over us. “You all right?”
I let go of the sword and fell back onto the bank, figuring being muddy was the least of my worries. My heart raced. Staring up at the sky, I took deep calming breaths. After a few moments, I had found my voice and I looked up at John. “We’ve had better days.”
“What the hell just happened?” He demanded.
When neither of us responded, he lowered himself down gingerly, favoring his leg, to sit between us. I tried to wipe some of the muck off my face. The creature smelled in death as it did in life: putrid. “So what do we do now?” John asked after a few moments of silence.
“Take a bath.” I replied, spitting muck out of my mouth.
“Find a bear.”
John and I looked over at Arthur. He had the sword resting across his lap as he looked out across the pond. “I want my five hundred dollars.”
“Bath first.” I said, looking up at the sky, “Then we can find a bear.”
“We find a bear,” John said, “And never mention this to anyone. Ever.”
“I think,” Arthur sighed, “That is one of your better ideas, Marston.”
I sat up and pushed myself to my feet. “That’s probably best.”
I helped John back to his feet and turned, offering a hand to Arthur. “Bet you’re glad you asked us to come and not Charles, aren’t you, Arthur?”
He looked up at me. “S’pose I am.”