Текст книги "The Warrior"

Автор книги: Ty Patterson

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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 11 страниц)

Chapter 13

From behind the tents emerge Connor puffing away contentedly on his foul-smelling pipe, Lauren, Anne, Cassandra, and Anne’s boyfriend.

But that’s not what makes Zeb stop.

Standing farther behind them, spread out, are Broker, Bear and Chloe.

‘You really didn’t think we would let you have all the fun yourself, did you?’ rumbles Broker.

Bear holds his hands up. ‘Not my idea. Connor and this dude, their danged idea. Blame them.’

Zeb walks silently to the tents and finds one empty, erected for him by Bear and Broker, and places his stuff within and walks out.

‘Are you mad at us, Zeb? Dad thought this was the best way to get all of us together,’ Rory asks.

Zeb’s hard face softens the slightest bit. ‘Nope. I’m okay. I was just surprised to see these guys here. To Bear, roughing it is staying at a Motel 6 instead of a Hyatt.’

‘I like him. He plays ball with me and is helping me with my pitching.’

‘Yes,’ agrees Zeb, ‘he’s a nice guy. But just make sure you sleep far away from him. He snores like a jet engine.’

It’s dusk when they finish playing. Broker has gone hunting since Connor’s plan was to let Rory experience living close to nature. Bear goes foraging for firewood, with Rory skipping excitedly beside him, while Zeb clears a large patch of grass for the fire. He arranges the firewood while Bear digs out loose soil to put the fire out later in the evening.

When Broker returns with two freshly skinned rabbits, everybody is lounging around a roaring fire.

‘As I thought. I do all the heavy lifting, and you guys watch the grass grow.’ He unslings the rabbits and puts them over the fire on a spit he makes expertly.

‘You guys have made all of us redundant.’ Connor laughs. ‘We might as well just sit back and have you take care of us.’

‘Did you guys serve together?’ asks Mark. Zeb has met Moneybags a few times, but it’s only here and now that he learns his actual name.

‘Nope. Broker and Zeb were in Somalia at the same time and then were together in various other places. Zeb and I were in Afghanistan. Broker and I hooked up once I left the service.’ Bear ladles food into their plates as he replies to Mark.

‘And is your name really Bear?’

‘Well, I prefer Bear to my real name.’ He grins.

‘Someone who has faced death more than once shouldn’t be afraid of revealing his real name,’ teases Mark.

Bear is busy eating when he realizes everyone is looking at him. Broker and Chloe are grinning.

‘It’s Bozo.’ He smiles sheepishly and buries his face in his hands as they all laugh.

Connor knocks his pipe out and refills it. ‘Before you came here, I was telling Bear, Broker and Chloe about my exposé on mining and the stories I’m writing,’ he says to Zeb. ‘I’ve received more anonymous threats, and I reported them all to the NYPD. Not that they’re going to do jack shit about it.’ He snorts. ‘I don’t know if you read the first of my stories that appeared last week. This week’s story will be in tomorrow’s newspaper. Once we return, I expect to get proof of Hardinger’s involvement, and then the fur will fly.’

‘I’ve been busy,’ Zeb says, ‘but you should get some protection for yourself, Lauren, and Rory if you think these threats have a bite.’

‘What we told him,’ chimes in Broker.

‘I’ll think about it,’ replies Connor. ‘I’ve been in hairier situations before and didn’t feel like I needed protection.’

Zeb adds some wood to the fire. ‘If Hardinger is as involved as you claim, then he has everything to lose, and if he’s involved in child labor in Africa, then going after you will be like swatting a fly – no offense.’

‘I’ll consider it when I see what proof I get from my sources.’

In the distance an owl hoots, followed by a replying hoot closer to them.

Zeb’s head snaps up, listening.

The owls hoot again.

He rises smoothly, fluidly, and scrutinizes the forest. Everyone falls silent and looks at him askance.

Finally, he turns to Broker. ‘Who’ve you told about this trip?’

‘I might have let it slip to a couple of folks.’ Broker is unabashed.

‘Who?’

‘Bwana and Roger.’

Zeb gazes at him for a long while and then walks into the darkness.

Rory is confused. ‘Is Zeb leaving?’

‘Nope.’ Broker laughs. ‘He’s going to meet some friends of ours.’

Lauren is astonished. ‘You mean those owl hoots were some guys Zeb knows? He recognized them? Out here? In the middle of nowhere?’

Broker nods. ‘Once Connor told me about this camping trip and Zeb’s warning to all of you, I called a few friends of ours. Two of them were going to be camping in the Catskills too and said they’d hang close to us. We all have call signs for one another. It’s not difficult to make out who’s who based on the call sign.’

Connor smiles with quiet satisfaction and puffs away at his pipe. ‘I bet those camping plans of theirs got made on the fly. Do they know Bear and Chloe too?’

Broker nods. ‘We work in a small circle. We all know one another.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Anne interjects. ‘Why would those two men drop whatever they’re doing and come charging out here just because you told them about Zeb and his problems?’

Broker doesn’t answer, and Chloe fills the silence. ‘There are people who owe a lot to Zeb. Two of them are by this campfire. Two more are out there.’

‘Zeb is a big part of our lives. Big. When he’s in trouble, we come running,’ adds Bear.

‘But don’t mention that to him. He’d go purple batshit.’ Broker chuckles.

In the woods, Zeb walks towards the sounds of the first owl hoot and waits.

Presently a figure appears from the dark, an ebony shadow amongst other shadows. They hug silently.

‘Long time. You look like crap.’ Bwana’s smile gleams in the dark. Zeb feels Roger’s presence behind him and turns around to face both. He bumps fists with Roger.

‘Why?’ he asks.

‘Why not?’ drawls Roger. ‘We were going fishing anyway. Fishing here is just as good.’

‘Better,’ counters Bwana, ‘especially if Rog does the hard work.’

‘Better,’ agrees Roger, ‘but we draw straws on the work.’

‘So what shit is stuck to your shoes now?’

Zeb starts from Luvungi.

‘Hell, I’ve never understood this pussyfooting from you. Seen it many times. If I was you, I would just get Broker to dig out his address, storm it, and stick a knife in him. Come to think of it, I might just do it myself,’ Bwana says.

Roger chews a stem of grass. ‘Do you think this dude will really come over here with an army?’

‘Nope. As long as he’s feeding the FBI, he’s secure. I don’t think he’ll do anything to jeopardize his witness protection. But I have to be prepared for anything.’

Zeb works out attack and defense plans with them in case Holt arrives. On his return to the camp, he halts near the edge of the woods and notes the layout of the tents. The central tents are those of the Balthazars, Anne and Mark, and Cassandra, while the outer ones circling them are those of Broker, Bear and Chloe, and Zeb.

As he steps soundlessly into the camp, a shape detaches itself from the ground and goes into a tent. Bear settles to sleep as Zeb takes over the watch. Arrangements made in different lifetimes in far dusty lands, still continuing wordlessly today.

The next day they go hiking on Devil’s Path, with Broker leading, Bear and Chloe in the middle, and Rory and Zeb in the rear. Rory’s inquisitiveness fills the vast stillness of the mountains. They fall back from the main group as he darts away from the trail to look at whatever interests him.

They resume their hike when he joins Zeb, his pockets full of stones of different colors for his collection.

‘Zeb, did you get in fights in school?’

‘Some.’

‘Did you win them all?’

‘Nope. I lost most of them.’

Rory’s mouth turns into an O. ‘I can’t believe that. I was thinking you would have whupped everyone’s asses.’

‘Nope. Mine got whupped most of the time.’

‘Is that why you got in the army? To learn how to fight?’

Zeb’s face twitches. ‘No. I joined the army because I wanted to. I fit in there. I used to lose fights in school because I didn’t learn to walk away from them. Not every fight should be fought.’

‘My friends tell me I’m a wimp if I don’t fight.’

‘Maybe they’re not such good friends of yours if they tell you that. If anyone picks on you, you should report them to your teacher, not get into fights.’

Rory rolls his eyes. ‘Zeb, you sound just like Mom. I bet you had loads of friends in school. I like Broker and Bear. They treat me like a grown-up.’

Zeb walks in silence for a long while. ‘I didn’t have any friends in school. It didn’t bother me. I was my own friend.’

‘I don’t have any in school either,’ Rory says very softly. ‘I have just three now. Broker, Bear and you.’

Zeb looks down at him. ‘Three is enough. It’s not how many friends you have but how important you are to them.’

They are still some distance away from the main group, and when Lauren turns to look back at them, she stumbles and bumps into Connor. He, too, looks back and sees Rory holding hands with Zeb.

His look of utter amazement makes the others look back too. ‘Well, I’ll be damned,’ Mark exclaims. ‘I never thought I would see Zeb holding anyone’s hand, much less a little boy’s!’

Broker looks at Bear and shrugs. They long ago stopped being amazed by whatever Zeb does.

As they approach the Buck’s Ridge lookout, a couple of rabbits dart across the trail. Two rifles greet them, just a fraction of a second apart.

‘Lunch.’ Broker sighs. He and Bear pick up their kills, stuff them in sacks, and sling them over their shoulders.

‘Holy shit,’ whispers Mark to Anne. ‘That was some shooting. Rifle across back, to hand, and firing before I even noticed the rabbits. I’m glad these guys are on our side.’ He looks back and whispers, ‘Zeb didn’t even unlimber. I’m surprised.’

‘He doesn’t need to when these guys are around,’ Anne replies dryly.

A bird call rings out in the distance. Only Zeb and Bear notice Broker tensing slightly and then relaxing when another call answers.

Bwana and Roger are on either side of them, keeping them in sight but out of sight themselves.

They resume their hike after their lunch. The sheer scale of the wilderness has brought their small talk to a minimum. Anne’s abrasiveness with Zeb has disappeared. Or maybe it’s just a lull before she starts again. Mark has coped very well in the wilderness despite his city-boy ways. Maybe the wilderness is not all that different to the stock market.

It’s late evening by the time they return to camp. A hot dinner revives them, and Connor – after lighting his pipe, which, according to him, keeps the wild animals at bay – recounts stories from his career as a reporter.

Broker, no mean raconteur himself, joins in telling stories of past campaigns.

Lauren, Anne, Rory and Mark have led urban lives and haven’t had any contact with the likes of Zeb and his friends. Their lives are fascinating to them.

‘No, most campaign days are one of endless routine and monotony. The danger, the action, is all over in a few minutes usually,’ replies Broker in response to a question from Anne.

‘Have you guys lost any friends?’ Rory asks.

‘Yup,’ comes the terse response.

Silence descends.

‘What was your most dangerous moment?’ Rory again.

‘Well…’

Bear starts grinning and then guffawing.

Rory is puzzled, and he’s not the only one. ‘What?’

Broker looks sheepish. ‘There was this time we parachuted into bad country. I won’t name the country because the operation is still classified.

‘So we had done a HALO jump very late at night and landed in enemy territory. We were then supposed to march about ten clicks to a specific village, which housed a lot of badasses, photograph those badasses as they were doing their bad stuff, and then apprehend them.’

‘Sounds like a stupid assignment. Why not just finish them?’ mutters Mark.

‘Hey, who said the top brass running the army were the brightest sparks? But ours was not to question why, so like good little soldiers, we marched the ten clicks to the village.

‘We reached it early in the morning, but it was still dark, so we couldn’t make out anything, just lots of foliage and rocks. However, our compasses told us we had arrived, so we stopped.

‘We decided to hunker down for the rest of the night and begin our surveillance in broad daylight. There were five of us in that team.’ He gestures toward Zeb. ‘He was there too.

‘I settled in a small ditch, which was recently dug – I could smell the fresh earth. I cut some brush and pulled it over me and settled down to sleep with one of the others keeping watch.

‘When I woke up, it was raining. It was daylight, and I could feel movement around me. I was still groggy from the previous night…remember I was an intelligence guy and not as battle hardened as these other guys. I opened my eyes a little to have a look at who or what was moving around.’

He pauses to poke a few sticks in the fire, and everyone leans forward in anticipation.

‘I was shocked to find that it was a goat pissing on me!’

He is rewarded with roars of laughter. He waits for it to die down and then lifts his hand to silence them.

‘I heard voices around me, and after listening carefully, I made out that somehow we had stumbled into the middle of a grazing area of the hostiles we were after. I tried to look around for where the rest of my team was but couldn’t see anyone. Occasionally I saw a couple of hostiles walk past my hideout, fully armed. If they had bothered to look down, they would have seen me, and I would have had more holes than a sieve.

‘All day long goats pissed on me, even dumped on me. Then, in the evening, to my horror, one of the goats started munching on the brush covering me like it was dinner at the Carnegie Deli.

‘It was pulling it away and then eating it. I pulled the brush back over me as stealthily as possible, and the goat pulled it right back again. Tug-of-war between goat and Broker, smack in the middle of hostile country.

‘I got desperate because I was practically exposed. I lifted my head a little and looked around. A few hostiles, but none too close to me, and none looking in my direction. I took my rifle and smacked the goat a good one in the breadbasket.

‘The goat jumped up and ran away, but that action got noticed by one of the hostiles, and he approached me. I could see him from the corner of my eyes.

‘This is it. I wrote a long letter to Mama in my head and told her that when we met in heaven, she could smack me all she wanted for kissing seven-year-old Peggy in the kitchen.

‘And by the way, I was seven too when that happened, so stop those dirty thoughts right now!’

Rory is rolling around in laughter by now, and the rest of them are close to following him.

‘But as luck would have it, that damned goat took it in his mind to charge that guy. He just put his head down and butted him, throwing him on his ass. That guy forgot about investigating my ditch and started wrestling with the goat.

‘When night fell and those guys were asleep, I crawled out and crept away. My team was waiting for me not far from these hostiles, and we regrouped.

‘That goat saved my life! From that day, I decided I’ll let any goat pee all over me as much as he wants.’

That sets off Rory laughing again.

When he has calmed down, he asks, ‘Where were Zeb and the rest of your team?’

‘What I asked! Zeb had been sent scouting, so he was nowhere near the camp. The rest of our team was scattered in similar ditches, but I was the only one smack dab in the middle of the hostiles. When they realized where we were, it was too late to warn me.’

A night owl calls in the distance a few times as Broker feeds more wood in the fire.

‘But never drink goat’s piss. Not a pleasant taste.’

Mark chuckles. ‘I guess when you guys have lived in the rough, you have to eat and drink all kinds of stuff, don’t you?’

Before Broker can reply, a, ‘Halloo the camp,’ rings out, and two trappers step into the firelight.

‘Hi, guys, pretty late to be wandering around,’ Connor greets them.

‘Nope, this is the right time for us guys, as we lay our traps and check on them,’ replies the taller of the two, glancing around, adding, ‘Howdy, ma’am,’ in the women’s direction.

‘Care for some coffee?’ Connor offers. He realizes that Bear and Chloe are hanging back, nearly shrouded in darkness, while there is no sign of Zeb. Broker is sitting easy and relaxed by the fire, with Rory next to him.

‘No, sir, thanks for asking. We were tramping across to check our traps when we spotted your fire. There’s a big black bear around here with cubs. Thought we should warn you.’

‘Much appreciated. Bear meat’s not my favorite, but we’ll keep that in mind,’ replies Broker.

Zeb is with Bwana. He slipped away once he heard the owl hoots.

‘Just two trappers, harmless enough. I was tracking them for some time and overheard some snippets of conversation. There is a bear in the vicinity. I overheard them and also spotted some tracks.’

‘You need any rations? Anything?’

‘We’re good, man. Fishing and having a great time.’

Zeb pats him on the back and returns to camp.

‘There you are,’ Connor says, pointing his pipe at him.

‘All okay?’ Bear murmurs as Zeb walks past him.

Zeb nods imperceptibly.

Rain pours down late that night, waking Lauren up. She pokes her head out of the tent to see the camp silent and lit by the dim light of the lanterns within the tents. As she scans the trees, something catches the corner of her eye.

A figure is standing at the edge of the tents, motionless. She stares hard through the rain, trying to see who it is.

It’s Zeb.

He has his face raised to the rain, standing motionless as it beats down on him. She is about to call out when Connor places his hand on her shoulder.

‘Leave him be.’

She takes one last look at him, a tall solitary figure unmoving, the rain washing down on him.

The ground is soggy the next day, but the water has drained away, something Connor is very proud of since he chose the campsite. Lauren refrains from mentioning that Broker and Bear nudged him to this site.

Bear has returned from scouting and mentions bear tracks not far from their site, and when they set out on a hike, they detour to show Rory the tracks.

Broker whistles when he sees them. He kneels down, motioning Rory to do the same, and points out the bear’s tracks to him, as well as two other sets of tracks a little to the side.

‘Cubs,’ he says.

Zeb is looking over his shoulder at the three sets of tracks. He nudges Broker, who rises and pulls Rory to his feet.

‘Let’s get back to our hike.’ He leads the way back to their trail.

Lauren and Anne catch up with Zeb. ‘What’s the hurry? It would have been great to follow those tracks and show Rory the bears.’

‘It’s better if the bears find us than us go looking for them, ma’am,’ he replies. ‘Besides, mama bear is large – bigger than I’ve seen in a long time.’

They meet the trappers halfway through their trek and stop to have coffee with them.

‘I would be extra careful if I was you.’ The taller of the two looks at Broker. ‘There’s one more bear in the vicinity, a male, who has gone through some camps, ripped some tents, and stolen food. Those cubs might be his.’

‘We’ll keep a watch.’ Broker nods in thanks.

‘We seem to be surrounded by bears,’ Cassandra says once they resume their hike.

‘Yup, and we have one along with us, too!’ Rory guffaws, pointing to Bear.

*   *   *

It’s close to dusk when they come across it.

They’re in a small clearing surrounded by thick brush and woods, and Broker is doing what he does best, spinning yarns and entertaining them. Zeb is bringing up the rear, and as Rory doubles up in laughter, he spins around, looks at Zeb, and screams.

Lauren and Anne look back too and join the chorus of yells. Zeb has felt its presence long before the others spotted it but didn’t sense any danger radiating from it. He has been subtly falling behind the group to distance himself from them and was planning to lead it away before anyone spotted it.

He turns around slowly and faces the largest bear he has ever seen, nearly ten feet away and close to six hundred and fifty pounds. The bear has crept up on them silently on all fours and is looking directly at Zeb, with its ears back.

‘Broker,’ he calls out softly.

‘Gotcha. Come on, folks. Let’s move away and go back to our site. Zeb will deal with this critter.’

They move slowly with the occasional glance back, and when they’re out of the clearing and back into the woods, they stop to look back.

Zeb moves his eyes away from the bear and takes a step back. The bear shuffles forward, barking as it does so.

Zeb stands still.

And the bear charges.

Over in the woods Connor cups his hand over Rory’s mouth as they all watch the bear rushing at an unbelievable speed, come to a few feet from Zeb, break away at the last moment and go past him.

‘Holy shit, I didn’t think they could move so fast. How the hell is he standing there so calmly?’ Connor says under his breath.

Zeb turns to face the bear, which is now walking slowly around, keeping him in sight. The bear pauses, staring directly at Zeb, popping its jaws, and then charges again, swerves again when it’s just a couple of feet away, and turns around as it goes past. The bear charges again without any warning and comes to a stop a foot away, black muscle and fury staring directly at Zeb.

Connor can hear the bear barking right in Zeb’s face, the rage and spittle washing over him, yet Zeb stands his ground. He can see Zeb’s lips move, but they’re too far away to hear him. The bear continues looking at Zeb directly for long moments, its muscles bunched, and then it rises on its hind legs, sniffing at Zeb. It nudges Zeb with its nose, smelling him all over, falls back to all fours, walks around him, and then ambles into the woods as noiselessly as it had come.

Connor lets out a long breath he didn’t know he had held and looks around to the others.

Broker, Bear and Chloe are laughing quietly at something.

‘You guys weren’t even watching?’

‘Nothing to see. We knew it wouldn’t be hurt. The bear, I mean.’ Broker chuckles.

Rory rushes towards Zeb excitedly and peppers him with questions about the bear. Connor can see that this bear encounter will be the highlight of the trip for Rory.

‘Mom, Zeb says he wasn’t scared when the bear came so close to him. How cool is that?’

Anne replies, ‘We know, dear. And Zeb can walk on water too.’

Broker’s rumbling laugh echoes in the woods as they make their way back to the campsite, while Bear slips off to warn Bwana and Roger about the black bear.

Over the campfire, Anne looks at Zeb. ‘Have you never been scared?’

Zeb shrugs.

Bear answers for him. ‘Everyone gets scared. Everyone. We used to get shit scared on our missions. Still do sometimes. Zeb is different. He hasn’t…’ He breaks off and yelps when Chloe accidentally pours hot coffee over his hand.

Anne forgets her question as she rushes to pour cold water over the injured extremity and misses the warning glances that pass from Broker to Chloe and Bear.

But Connor doesn’t. Hmm, this needs investigating, he thinks and makes a mental note to ask Cassandra what that was all about.