The Tunnel (II)

Garver slipped, wrapping his arms around a mossy tree stump to keep from sliding into the river. He froze, strained to hear if the hunters were still on the chase. The faint sound of dogs barking and muffled shouts of men egging them on filtered through the trees, and he sucked in his breath, pursing his lips and hoping the dogs wouldn't follow his trail down the hillside.

The barking grew louder, approaching the spot thirty or so feet above him. Just about to the bend, he squeezed the stump harder. The taunting shouts and steady footsteps of the men followed close behind. "Go get, 'em, boys!" "Look at them dogs! Those boys ought to be close by!" "I promise, the first of you to get one of those boys earns a little something extra with his dinner tonight!" A scramble of paws on gravel mixed with the almost frantic yelping.

Garver squeezed shut his eyes and willed the dogs to round that bend, to head for the tunnel and pass him by.

A few moments passed before the happy, manic yelping turned to whines and hushed growls. He heard a few dogs running like wildfire away from the men, away from the tunnel. "Shilo! Get back here! . . . . Damn fool dogs! Don't know what the Hell's got into them. Jessup, take a look around there, let me know what might've put the fear in those dogs."

A single set of footsteps ran, crunching through the dirt and clinking tiny stones against the tracks, and slowed to a stop. "Nothing back there but a tunnel. The train tracks look kinda funny, but -- I think I see one them in there!"

"Jessup! Hold on!"

His steps echoed around the bend. "C'mon, fellas! I think we got one of 'em tra --"

"Jessup?" Not a sound. "Jessup!"

Garver held his breath. Footsteps rumbled along the ground above him, rounding the bend. Then confusion, a soft wrenching of the ground, muffled screams, two gunshots echoing down the valley, silence.

He let go of the stump only when his arms began to hurt. Garver didn't know how long he'd been sitting like that, listening to the quiet of the valley. He carefully slid the rest of the way down the hillside to the river, and plunged his shaking, cupped hands into the water for a drink.