SOMETHING IS OUT THERE

Bernie and his friend Al were eager to be on their way as they piled their metal detecting equipment, tent, other supplies, plus enough booze to last them for a week, into the back of Al’s truck. They had heard about an old, abandoned log cabin that had belonged to a trapper, who supposedly had disappeared, most likely froze to death while out checking his traps during the winter. The trapper seldom earned much money from the furs when he brought them into town at the end of winter. However, the small bag of gold nuggets that he cashed in at the assay office was always more than enough to buy everything he needed for the year. Although the trapper never staked a claim, it was rumored that he had discovered the mother lode, or a stream filled with gold. And this was why they were headed to the cabin with dreams of striking it rich. They felt certain if there was any hidden gold, the metal detectors would find it.

They had been told that a trail off an old logging road leading to the cabin was well marked because quite a few people over the years had gone searching for the trapper’s gold. Bernie and Al were of course a little concerned about their get rich quick idea because some of the treasure hunters had gone missing and were never seen again. Because they felt there was an element of danger, they had brought along a couple of rifles and a magnum .44 handgun.

After traveling along the highway for about five hours, Al turned the truck onto a narrow, heavily rutted, gravelly road. Judging by the tall grass growing in the centre and alongside the road, it had been a long time since anyone had driven to the path leading to the cabin

Al had barely said, “Keep an eye out for the trail because it could be hard to find,” when a crude sign, MAD TRAPPER’S CABIN nailed to large stump appeared.

“Looks like we hoof it in from here. Hope it’s not too far to the cabin,” Bernie said as he surveyed the forest, steep rugged hills and the mountain tops far in the distance.

The immediate area had been logged at one time and since it hadn’t been clear-cut, tall firs, white birches and graceful maple trees still abounded. When Bernie and Al stepped out of the air-conditioned truck, they were assaulted by the afternoon heat and the high humidity. By the time they had loaded the heavy packs on their backs with the metal detectors attached to them, rifles in hand and were heading towards the trail, they were both mopping the sweat off their brows.

The forest was cooler, and the sounds of birds were plentiful as Bernie and Al trudged along the trail. When they reached a fork, since an arrow wasn’t in place, they were a little confused concerning which path to take. Since the one on the right appeared to have been used more, they opted for that direction. The trail through the forest soon opened up and wound its way along a steep rocky cliff that followed a stream meandering through the rocks far below. After topping a hill, the ground gently sloping towards a meadow containing a bog and a small lake, they stopped for a rest and admired the view.

“I wonder how much further we have to go?” Bernie asked, as he lifted a pair of binoculars to his eyes and began scanning the area. Within a copse of trees growing near the lake, he spotted what looked like part of a roof and pointing towards its location continued, “I think the cabin is over there.”

Al squinted his eyes in the direction his friend was pointing and said, “I can’t see anything, but let’s go.”

Their excitement had been building as they cautiously made their way along the trail and after climbing to the top of a smaller hill, they were totally exuberant because the front of the cabin, at least what was left of it, was in clear view.

As the two men drew near, they could see that the log walls had held up fairly well, but a back portion of the roof had caved in. When they stopped in front of the closed door, sunlight glinting on the remaining shards of glass jutting out of the small windowpane, they looked at each other rather quizzically, Bernie whispering, “Do you think we should knock or just open the door and walk in?”

“It looks pretty dilapidated. I doubt anyone is living there, but just in case, we might as well be polite. I’ll knock. You stay here, just to be on the safe side.”

Bernie didn’t know why, but this beautiful peaceful setting in the middle of nowhere felt kind of eerie, so while Al knocked on the door, he slipped the safety off the 308.

When no one answered, Al looked at Bernie, shrugged his shoulders and then slowly reached for the wooden latch that was attached to the door. As it creaked open, sunlight spilling across the wooden floor and illuminating the gloomy interior he yelled back, “Nobody lives here, except maybe for spiders, wood bugs and mice.”

The floorboards creaked as Bernie followed Al inside the cabin. The cabin was very small, containing only one room with a large fireplace made of smooth rocks, which had most likely come from the nearby stream that formed part of the bog and small lake. The portion of the roof that had caved in had crushed the trapper’s bunk and a shattered roughhewn wooden chair was lying on its side in the corner next to an overturned table. Besides the furniture, only trash from other inquisitive looky-loos or treasure seekers cluttered the floor and from the looks of the fireplace it was still useable because a thick layer of ash lay within.

As Bernie looked around at the desolate ruins he said, “I don’t know why but this place gives me the creeps. How about you?”

“It is kind of spooky, but I don’t feel anything, like the trapper’s ghost or the spirits of the people that disappeared around here or anything like that, if that’s what you mean?”

“I don’t know what it is; most likely nothing. But let’s set up camp. Maybe it’ll take my mind off things. Most likely just scaring myself from all the stories I’ve heard about the trapper.”

They were anxious to begin searching for the elusive gold they had heard about. So, as soon as the small tent had been erected, the sleeping bags were in place and the supplies had been neatly stored, Al and Bernie grabbed their metal detectors and plugged in their headsets. When they were satisfied that everything was working properly, Al said, “I’ll start searching inside the cabin and you take the perimeter. Like we agreed, anything we find of value, we’ll split 50/50.”

“Sounds good to me,” Bernie said, but upon seeing something curious near the edge of the lake he added, “First, I’m going to check out the path leading to the lake.”

As Bernie walked along the trail slowly swinging his metal detector from side to side just above the surface of the ground, the round sensitive sensor attached to the bottom picked up a possible target and it began to beep. The metal object wasn’t very deep below the ground and after exchanging the metal detector for a small pin-pointer, he soon had an accurate location. Using a small metal shovel, the end about the size of a garden trowel, he dug down and scooped out some pebbles and earth. Nosing the pin-pointer around in the loosened soil, he soon discovered what he was looking for and when he rubbed away the dirt, his eyes lit up. It wasn’t a gold nugget but a man’s wedding ring with something unreadable etched on the inside of the gold band. There weren’t any more signals by the time he arrived at the lake, but he felt a shiver run up his backbone and the hairs on the nape of his neck stand at attention. A large raft with a long wooden pole lying across it, was tied to a rock.

When he heard his friend yell out that he had found something, Bernie dashed back to the cabin. As he rushed through the door, Al was standing in front of the fireplace with an enormous grin on his face.

“You’re not going to believe what I found! Before I started searching the cabin, I thought about where I would hide something valuable if I was the trapper.” Stepping aside he said, “Look and behold what I found behind one of the rocks in the fireplace.”

Bernie couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The hole in the fireplace was filled with gold nuggets and something else as well: jewelry. Continuing to slide the metal detector over the fireplace, three more rocks revealed a treasure-trove of nuggets and jewelry. As Al jumped around with joy screaming, “We’re rich! We’re rich!” Bernie slid his metal detector over the ashes and heard some pinging sounds in his headset. Running his fingers through the ashes, he discovered a roundish lump of gold that was stuck to something. On closer observation, it was a gold tooth attached to a chunk of jawbone.

Tapping Al on the shoulder he exclaimed, “You better take a look at this. I think we should just leave everything and get the hell out of here right now!”

Al turned around and said, “What the hell are you talking about? There could be more gold.”

“I don’t care. I found a raft tied to a rock down by the lake. I think someone is out there and most likely watching us. Let’s go!”

“You’re just spooked. There’s nobody here. But we can go as soon as we load up our packs with gold. It’ll just take a moment to…” and as he caught a glimpse of something black and very hairy quickly passing by the window, his eyes widened in disbelief. Lowering his voice, he whispered, “Something is out there! It looked like it might be a bear. Damn! It’s too bad the rifles are outside.”

“I don’t think it’s a bear,” and patting the magnum .44 strapped to his hip, Bernie grinned weakly and continued, “I guess this will have to do?”

“Maybe we can talk our way out; what do you think?”

“It’s worth a try.”

“Here goes then.” Mustering up his courage Al yelled, “Hey! You out there! We’re just a couple of amateur metal detectorists that stumbled across a few gold nuggets. You can have them; we just want to go home.”

When no one answered, he yelled out again, “Did you hear what I said?”

Bernie gulped and whispered, “Maybe the rifles are still within reach,” and withdrawing the gun from its holster and sliding the safety off, he added, “Stay close behind me and keep your eyes peeled.”

He had no sooner peeked around the corner of the door when something black flashed before his eyes and when he fell back into his friend’s outstretched arms, Al screamed in terror at Bernie who was missing his entire face, his long tongue clacking between his toothy jaws.

On impulse or self-preservation, he grabbed the .44 from Bernie’s hand and dropped him on the floor, where he writhed kicking and screaming in agony. Almost panicking, he leaped out of the doorway and tried to make a dash for safety. It wasn’t a bear he was staring at in horror, but a man dressed in a bearskin as he heard his neck snap but not the words, “No one touches my gold. Not this old trapper’s gold.”