Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 125037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
“Is that what everyone said?”
“Whispered. It was old man Gunthrie. He scared the bejesus out of everyone, adults and children alike. We were all told to stay clear of his land. He was likely to shoot and bury you so no one would ever find the body. Or some thought he might eat the bodies.”
“Eww.” She wrinkled her nose. “No one really believed that, did they?”
“Of course we did. At any event where the boys got together, we’d talk about Luther and the gigantic hornets. We were sneaking moonshine, and that added to our stories and courage. I was about eight or nine, so the idea of creeping up on the old man without being detected was the ultimate challenge, especially if he had his army of gigantic hornets.”
“You drank moonshine at eight or nine?” She didn’t know why that shocked her, but it did.
“Naturally. Did a lot of things at eight and nine.” The laughter faded from his voice.
She wanted it back. Clearly, his memories of his childhood weren’t all happy. “Did you ever manage to sneak up on him and catch him with the hornets?”
“I saw the hornet a time or two from a distance through trees and shrubs. It looked like a yellow-and-black body with a long tail that spun at the end. The front of him was a bubble of black and yellow. His wings were on top of his head and spun instead of flapped.”
“You said the eyes glowed. Every monster up here has glowing eyes.”
“The eyes were so bright red you didn’t dare look into them. Luther always seemed to know when there were spies about. Every time those things set down in Lotty’s clearing, the fog would be particularly heavy, making it difficult to see through the trees. None of us had binoculars in those days, and we didn’t dare get too close. After all, Luther might shoot and bury us, or worse, feed us to his hornets.”
She could hear the humor in his voice, and she found herself liking him even more. A man who could laugh at himself was worth his weight in gold. “I don’t know much about children, but in all the books I’ve read, little boys are always mischievous.”
“That wasn’t what my mother called it.”
There was that note in his voice that sent alarms skittering through her. Once again, she did her best to drag him back to good memories.
“Did you figure out the myth of the hornets?”
“Yeah, but it took a couple of times traipsin’ through the woods at night in the fog and risking that old man shooting us. Glowing eyes, wings on its head, long tail.”
It was a clear challenge. She thought it over. She knew her uncle now. He wasn’t Hornet Man. He was a soldier through and through.
She burst out laughing. “A helicopter. Uncle Luther was rendezvousing with a helicopter.”
“Yep. Much more fun for us to think he was Hornet Man and commanded an army of gigantic hornets. Naturally, when Rubin and I figured it out, we didn’t tell anyone, not even our friends.”
“That would spoil the fun and mystique.”
“Yeah, it would have. And all the young boys coming up behind us. We weren’t able to get together often. Life was hard. It took a lot of work to survive in these mountains. We were much more remote than a lot of others. Once my father died, we went to other homes less and less, even for the celebrations. But Luther would come. He’d bring us meat and other goods. Leave it on the porch or visit with my mother briefly. Sometimes he’d have a talk with Rubin and me about fishing or hunting. Even tracking. We learned a lot from him. He’d show up even in the worst weather. Be abrupt, brisk, but always gave good advice. We learned fast to believe him.”
She was losing him. Panic set in for a moment, but she took a couple of deep breaths and let him slide into sleep. She followed not long after, her hand curled over the top of his wrist like a delicate shackle.
4
The sound of rain woke him. Diego lay quietly for a moment just listening. He’d always loved the sound of rain, especially when he was out in the forest. There was music to the way the drops fell. The wind through the trees, the way each drop fell on various trees and shrubs, all of it was a soothing symphony to him. The rain cleared the air, brought life to everything: plants, wildlife, stock and humans. Tonight, the rain was light, nearly a mist, a soft, quiet song that caught at his heart the way the rain in the forest often did.
After allowing himself a brief moment to be fully relaxed, Diego breathed away the pain crashing through him and focused on the sounds of the forest. With his enhanced hearing he could identify and position wildlife in the vicinity. He would know when intruders were close. Every noise, rustle, flutter or squeak gave him information necessary to survive.