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CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
Five miles from Bayou Rouge, and especially from Rev’s cabin, Hallie figured it was a reasonable distance from him to get back to her research. She probed the muddy bank with her staff, keeping an eye out for cat tracks as much as for alligators and snakes.
Then she spotted something which made her heart jump, two sets of tracks. They were clearly feline, notably smaller than the giant cat tracks she’s found around Bayou Rouge, but still made by big cats. The shape was different as well. She knew it was a different species. Unfortunately, they were not very fresh.
Setting down her pack, she removed her kit and prepared to make a plaster casting of the tracks.
The sound of mumbling male voices carried across the open water, causing her to freeze in place. Noticing movement on the opposite shore, she instinctively ducked behind a clump of brush. From her concealed location, she observed three scraggly, dirty men moving along a trail. They had full backpacks and carried additional bags.
Smugglers? Moonshiners? Poachers?
Quietly slipping her camera out of her pack, she zoomed in and took a series of pictures. This was the type of suspicious activity she had to refer to law enforcement.
Maybe it was the snap of a twig or an inadvertent sound of her camera, but the men stopped and stared in her direction. She remained motionless, hoping they wouldn’t spot her. After a minute, the men said a few words, laughed, and continued along the trail.
That was close. No wonder there aren’t any fresh tracks with those assholes stomping around out here.
She quickly finished her task, bagged her castings, and left.
As the days passed, she moved farther and farther from Bayou Rouge and from Rev. Unfortunately, she had two more close encounters with the scraggly trio of men. She was confident and relieved that they seemingly hadn’t spotted her.
After a week, she set out on a new strategy. Parking her jeep on the small dirt road, she removed a copy of an old map she’d brought from the university. It was originally sketched out nearly two hundred years ago by an early naturalist and explorer. She could quickly see how the area had transformed over two centuries by comparing it to her modern digital map. However, the area she was interested in remained completely untouched. What really drew her attention was a small island. The only way to reach it was by water and with the help of a local guide.
A pickup truck approached and parked behind her.
“You must be Sam,” she said, placing the copy of the old map on the driver’s seat of her jeep.
“You got that right. And you’re Hallie. Say, not to sound nosey, but didn’t I see you hanging around over at Rev’s cabin?”
“Yeah, well. I was. Past tense.”
“Surprised you didn’t have him show you around back here. He knows this place like the back of his hand.”
“Yeah, well. All the locals highly recommended you. So, you ready?” Hallie really didn’t want to talk about her relationship with Rev with anyone, especially not with someone who seemed to be Rev’s friend.
“Sure am, just got to get the boat in the water.”
Less than a half-hour later, Hallie’s gear was loaded inside the boat, and they were on their way into the deepest reaches of the wilderness.
“So, you are looking for big cats?” Sam asked, carefully navigating the boat through the narrowing channel.
“Yep. I’ve found tracks. Most likely from a cougar wandering outside of its natural range.”
“How about a jaguar? People claim to have seen them.”
“Back in the colonial era, there were jaguars in coastal Louisiana, but the last confirmed sighting was in the 1880s.”
“Confirmed sighting. Who gets to be the one to confirm it? The government?” Sam grumbled.
“I’m still guessing a wandering cougar who is lost and lonely. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if it really was a jaguar?”
“Careful what you ask for. I heard those are mean critters,” Sam warned.
In order to safely navigate the stumps and fallen trees, Sam slowed down considerably. Hallie preferred the slow trip since it allowed her to better observe the wildlife. Several times, she spotted motion along the brushy shoreline and became hopeful when she caught a glimpse of a large animal in the shadows. She knew the odds were that it was most likely a deer, but there was always a chance it could be one of the elusive cats she hoped to find.
As they traveled deeperinto the wilderness, she felt as if those unidentified creatures were actually following along, observing them.
The fact that they were moving faster than any humans comforted her. She’d rather be followed by wild beasts than by the scraggly strangers she’d seen earlier in the week.
