Forsaken An American Sasquatch Tale - By Christine Conder Page 0,34

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Liberty shook her head, how could she contemplate an act so selfish? What had Becky ever done except become her friend? Liberty didn’t deserve her.

“Look.” Becky pointed at her windshield. “Up there to the right.”

Liberty craned her neck to see out the slider window between them. Roughly five hundred yards away down in a slight gully she saw a house. A security light brightened the yard in front, and another one lit up the area behind it near an old barn. The view wasn’t good. She scooted to look out the cap windows on the side, and it was much better. The tinted glass softened the security lights, and made it hard to see the yard, but at least she didn’t have to contort her body to see.

“I see two vehicles. Russ’ SUV and a little gold…” Becky paused. “Looks like a Focus, maybe.”

Liberty spotted them. The cars were parked in the driveway near the end of the house closest to the road. They sat in front of closed doors that looked to be the kind that led into the basement.

“I see lights on inside. Upstairs and downstairs,” Becky said. “Wow, not much for conservation, are they?”

Liberty watched Becky spy with her binoculars, panning them left and right.

The kid, Victor, who took the photo, lived here. Adrian said he saw Sage with him. Becky jerked to the right and focused there for a moment. Liberty tensed.

She gripped the stylus, typed on the screen, and passed the phone to Becky through the cab window.

Becky lowered the binoculars to see what she’d written and shook her head. “No, nothing. I thought I saw movement near the garage, probably just a raccoon or dog.” She passed the phone back and they continued to watch the house.

“You know what?” Becky finally glanced back.

Liberty figured it was unnecessary to type “No. What?” so she just stared.

“I kind of thought having you in the back would, you know…maybe make the truck smell funny? No offense, but I figured it would be the same as toting around a few dogs, or a horse, maybe,” Becky’s eyebrows went up and she nodded a bit, “but, for real. You smell pretty normal. Like you wouldn’t even know a Sasquatch was back there.

Liberty smiled inside, figured if she did it on the outside it might scare Becky. She waited until Becky quit jabbering and handed her the phone.

Becky read it, mouthed “Bitch?” and then clicked her tongue. “Well, that’s not very nice.”

Liberty teased her because she knew Becky tried to use extra caution and say the right words. It wasn’t Becky’s fault that the general belief was all Sasquatch stink. It wasn’t true, of course. Not every Sasquatch did, only the teenage boys. They were crammed full of hormones and, in Liberty’s experience, their scents were worse than cornered skunks.

Becky’s phone chirped and she cupped it in her hands to help diffuse the light before answering, “Lindy?”

“Uh, huh. Okay. Gosh, I know.” Becky’s voice was low, sad. “Okay, thank you. I’ll be back really soon.” Becky pressed a button and passed the phone to Liberty. She released a breath. “He’s accepted some pain medicine, but his vitals are weak. She said it’s really only a matter of hours now.”

Liberty nodded and turned to watch out the side window. Maybe this wasn’t a useful way to find out anything. Maybe they should head back.

Liberty’s breath was either too hot or she breathed too hard because the glass kept fogging up. She had to wipe it off every couple of minutes. As she used the fur on her forearm to squeegee off the fifth round of mist, she heard it.

Had she? Liberty held her breath and pressed an ear to the glass. There. There it was again. She looked up. The sound had come from the Jenkins’ house.

A Sasquatch wail. Her heart sped up. Her hackles rose. She tried to remain calm. Definitely masculine. At first she pictured Adrian. But no, the wail was from a more mature male. If she could just step outside, she’d not only be able to see and hear, but would be able to sense, as well. She tallied up the risks.

“Hey,” Becky said, “what’s going on?”

Liberty turned to look and saw Becky had the binoculars up and focused out the passenger window. She brought them down, looked at Liberty, and pointed, “You see that?”

Distracted by the wail and deciding what to do, Liberty had missed the activity to the right of the house. A flash of