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Conner stared at the guy and gave his best I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about look.
Jared exchanged glances with his friends.
Trevor crossed his arms, standing his ground as if preparing for a heated discussion.
Adam asked, "What goat?"
"What goat? My goat," the man replied. He appeared to be in his forties—maybe younger despite the prominent weather-worn creases on his tanned face. There was no softness in his gaze. His eyes were dark as though his anger had drained the color from his pupils. "The goat that was here just a while ago, until you did something with it."
He knelt and inspected the severed rope attached to the tree.
"Sorry, mister." Adam tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "We don't know anything about a goat."
The man groaned as he stood with effort, as though one leg was weaker than the other. "A bunch of stupid kids."
Trevor stepped away. "C'mon, guys. Let's go."
"You ain't going nowhere!" the man shouted. "You kids know what larceny is? It's theft. You can be arrested and charged with theft of a man's animal. Fines and jail. Did you know that?"
Adam cocked his head. "You don't have any proof. And what the hell would we do with a goat?"
"Teenagers do some stupid shit."
"Sorry you lost your animal," Conner said. "But we just came out here to find our friend's phone."
"In the woods? How'd you lose it in the woods?"
Trevor said, "We hung out with some friends last night. And I dropped my phone, so we tracked it this morning and came to get it."
The man bellowed, "Bullshit!"
"Honest," Jared replied.
"You're a bunch of liars. I know who you're talking about, these friends you mentioned. They don't hang out in the woods." He pointed toward the clearing in the field. "They hang out over there, drinking booze and smoking marijuana."
"Well, yeah," Conner interjected. "But we walked in the woods too. Just fooling around, you know?"
The man leaned against the tree and folded his arms. "Yeah, I know. Gotta be careful in the woods, though. You might get poison ivy on your dick."
The guys cast their gazes from one another and back to the man.
"Or there might be some of those voodoo freaks hiding out in the trees. I hope Billy doesn't run into any of them." He tugged the sleeves of his dirty, white button-up to his elbows. "You don't want that to happen to Billy, right?"
“You were following us?” Trevor asked, clearly irritated. “You knew we took the goat into the woods.”
The man tapped his temple. "Now you're using your brain."
"Uh." Adam shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Okay, okay. Sorry, man. We took the goat to set it free." He pointed at the tree. "Look at those symbols. That's, like, some crazy ritual stuff."
"You don't know what those symbols are for."
"Well, no. But why'd you have the goat tied up like that? The whole thing looked suspicious."
"Suspicious?"
"We're sorry," Conner said. "We were doing a good thing. You know, so it wasn't sacrificed or whatever."
The man laughed. "You guys messed with my property. So now there's gonna be hell to pay." He pulled a cell phone from his back pocket. "I'm calling the cops."
"No. Wait," Trevor muttered. "Don't call the cops. What do you want us to do?"
"Go get my damn goat."
Adam exclaimed, "Seriously?"
"You idiots set the goat free. You idiots go catch it and bring it back to me."
"What are you gonna do with it?" Adam stepped back, closer to his friends to form a united front. "You know what animal cruelty is? It's a crime. You can be arrested and charged with animal abuse. You can go to jail. Did you know that?"
"Except I haven't committed a crime, smartass. You guys did, by stealing my animal and setting it free." The man grinned, revealing yellowed teeth and spit at the corner of his mouth. "So, unless you wanna go to jail, get your asses in there"—he inhaled deeply and then screamed like a madman—and find my fucking goat!"
Jared flinched. "Let's just go find it and bring it back."
"See? He's got a good head on his shoulders," the man said. "What about you guys?"
"I don't think we should," Adam said. "We saved that goat."
The man gestured to the trees. "You know what? Your friend and I will go look for it. You guys stay here in case it comes back."
Apprehensive, Conner looked at Jared. "You don't have to."
"It's okay," Jared said. "You guys hang here. I doubt it wandered far. It won't take long."
The man prodded Jared in the arm. "Let's get going. Like you said, it shouldn't take long."
The man and Jared disappeared into the canopy of green, leaving the remaining three dumbfounded.
Conner stepped toward the trees. "Should we just let Jared go in there with that guy?"
Trevor shrugged. "We can follow and keep an eye on them."
"We're supposed to stay here," Adam said, "in case the goat finds its way back here."
"Yeah," Conner replied. "But that man could be a serial killer. Of goats and people. I think he's effing crazy."
"Fine. I'll wait here. You guys follow them."
Conner and Trevor walked at a quick pace to catch up to Jared and the man.
When they finally located the spot where they'd left the goat between two thin tree trunks, the animal was no-where to be seen. And they didn't see Jared or the man in the area either.
"Now what?" Conner asked.
"Um." Trevor slowly twisted in a full circle, dried leaves and sticks crunching underfoot. "You think they kept walking because the goat wasn't here?"
"I don't know. I guess. But . . . I don't know."
"Should we go back or keep walking?"
Conner shrugged. "What do you think?"
"Oh." Trevor swiped the screen to his phone. "We can call him."
Neither heard Jared's phone ringing in the distance. And when Jared didn't answer, they simply stared at each other.
"Try again," Conner said.
Still, Jared didn't answer.
"Should we run around trying to find him?" Trevor asked.
"Let's get Adam."
They weaved through the trees to the edge of the woods in a sprint. Gasping for breath, they emerged from the bushes and branches. But only Adam stood near the etched tree.
Startled, Adam rushed toward them. "What happened?"
Conner swiped the sweat from face. "They didn't come back?"
"No. You don't see Jared here, do you?"
"Dammit." He pulled his T-shirt off and mopped his head. "We didn't see them in there. What if something happened?"
Adam marched to the trees. "Let's go."
Forging their way through the branches and bushes again, the three ran to the spot between the two thin trees. They looked at one another as if they didn't know what to say. Conner stomped forward, peering into the distance. Trevor glanced around the area then spun around a second time. Adam shouted, "Jared!"
The cry of insects. The buzzing of mosquitos. The chatter of birds. The sound of limbs and leaves rustling in the light breeze.
Conner slipped his T-shirt back on. Although the absence of Jared was unnerving, he said, "Maybe we're overreacting."
"Jared!" Trevor called out. "You out there?"
A bird cooed in response. Then a squirrel scurried to the trunk of a nearby tree and scaled the bark with lightning speed.
"Hey," Adam said. "I'm guessing that son of a bitch lives close. I didn't see a car around when we were talking to him. So yeah, he probably lives close, and he took that damn goat to the field and tied him to the tree."
"You want to look for his house?" Conner asked.
"Yep." He started walking in the direction of the field. "And we should call the cops too."
"Then he'll tell them that we stole his goat."
"We didn't steal his goat. We set it free." He turned and motioned for his friends to hurry. "If Jared's not there, and you don't wanna call the cops, then we'll kick that guy's ass."
Trevor scoffed. "He'll definitely call the cops on us then."
"Oh, well." Adam moved with determination. "Let's go."
They walked with urgent steps and then burst into a jog. By the time they reached the edge of the woods, they were drenched with sweat and dirty from brushing past tree limbs and kicking up clouds of dust. Pushing through the tree line, they emerged a good twenty feet from the etched tree.
Jared was sitting on the mound of fresh soil.
"Holy crap!" Conner exclaimed.
The guys broke into a run, but Jared said, "Stop!" in a hushed tone.
Halting his stride, Adam asked, "What's wrong?"
Jared spoke calmly. "There's a rattlesnake."
The three froze as if they'd been warned a bomb was in the area. They scanned the ground, casually dancing about like a detonator could be triggered at any moment.
"Are you sure?" Trevor asked. "Where?"
"Right on the other side of my feet."
Approaching cautiously, Conner spotted blood on Jared's hand. "Why are you bleeding?"
"Shh," Jared warned. "Don't make me talk or move."
Once the guys stepped within feet of Jared, the rattlesnake came into view. Its brownish-gray body was curled into an elongated S-shape. Stretched out, it might have measured well over two feet long. Its rattle was pointed skyward, but it didn't make a sound. As if waving hello to the three, it flicked its black, forked tongue.
Conner drew in a deep breath. "Crap. How the hell—"
"The man put it there."
"Back up slowly," Adam said.
Several feet away, Trevor asked, "What do we do?"
"Maybe we can yank it by its tail and fling it away."
Conner huffed. "You want to be the one to grab its tail?"
"Uh, no."
"So what should we do, then?"
"I don't know." Adam faced them. "Look it up online."
They three searched Google, clicking on links until Adam said, "If we had a pillowcase, maybe we could catch it."
Trevor groaned. "But we don't, dumbass."
"Our shirts," Conner said.
"What?"
"We can use our shirts to make, like, a bag. Then catch it, and I don't know, let it loose somewhere."
Jared gasped and released a muffled moan of unease.
The snake slithered between his legs, taking refuge between his sneakers.
The three walked a few feet away and then removed their T-shirts. While Conner assembled the makeshift bag, Trevor and Adam searched for a Y-shaped stick. Once they gathered their supplies, they huddled to devise a plan. Approaching the snake from behind was obviously the best course of action. Then they'd lower the shirt-bag between Jared's legs, hoping to direct the rattlesnake into their trap.
Conner draped the shirt-trap onto the ends of the Y-stick. "Am I doing this, or do one of you think you'd be better at it?"
When neither responded, he said, "All right. I'll do it. I'm going to sneak up from behind, lower the shirt slowly, and then try to get it to go inside."
"How?" Trevor asked.
"Um." Conner looked around and then pointed. "Go get that stick. One of you can poke the snake and hopefully it'll just go right into our damn trap."
Adam crossed his arms against his muscular chest. "You're making it sound awfully easy."
"It's a better idea than yanking it by the tail."
Trevor returned with the stick. "So? Should we get ready?"
"Yeah," Conner walked a curved path a good distance behind the rattlesnake. He paced himself cautiously, inching closer to Jared's shoes. When he was a couple feet away, he crouched low. He looked into Jared's eyes. "If it bites you, we'll get you to the hospital."
Adam muttered, "And if it bites you, we'll get you to the hospital."
Conner meticulously positioned the opened shirt-bag above Jared's knees and then lowered it steadily to the ground. His hand trembled, causing the stick to vibrate and the edge of the shirt to droop onto the ground. In response, the snake moved its head, and its tail rattled.
The snake's movement scared the hell out of him, but he stiffened his body to avoid reacting. His heart jackhammered. Biting his lip, he held his breath. Then he gently beckoned with his head for Trevor.
Conner's biceps spasmed. Sweat pooled in his armpit and streaked down his torso.
"Gently tap it," he said.
Trevor set the stick against the snake's body, and it jerked into a tighter ball. Its rattle vibrated.
"Ew. No, no, no," Trevor whispered.
Conner inched the shirt closer to the snake's head. "If it races in there, this stick won't support the weight. One of us will have to grab the trap as fast as we can. Okay?"
"Uh, huh."
"Now, kinda push it so it goes into our trap."
Jared fixed his eyes onto Conner's, as if silently pleading, this better work.
Conner took a deep breath. "Get ready."
"Okay," Trevor replied in a tone that was undeniably more irritated than encouraging.
"It'll work," Adam mumbled.
Conner motioned with his head. Trevor poked with the stick. The snake rattled and sprung forward a few inches.
"Again," Conner said.
Trevor poked.
The snake slithered right into the bag.
As expected, the snake's weight yanked the shirts off the Y-stick.
Both Conner and Trevor dove for the trap.
The snake writhed in the folds of the fabric and then ceased moving.
Trevor clutched the trapped snake, heaved it from the ground, and tossed it towards the woods. Unfortunately, it didn't sail far. The encased reptile thumped against the etched tree and fell onto the dirt with a thud.
Jared jumped to his feet, nearly knocking Conner to the ground.
The snake, rightfully angry, coiled and raised its rattling tail.
All four guys darted several feet away with a frightened cry.
Then the snake slithered right through a gap into the etched tree.
"Yuck. Gross!" Adam shuddered in an exaggerated dance.
The four jumped onto each other, hooting and hollering.
Conner inspected Jared's bloody palm. "What happened?"
Jared clutched it to his stomach. "The guy twisted the tip of a pocketknife into my hand. It's fine, let's get outta here."
"That son of a bitch!" Adam shouted. "Let's kick his ass."
"Forget him," Jared replied. "I don't want anything to do with him. Let's just go."
As the four raced through the field, Conner asked, "Did you guys find the goat?"
"No."
"Yes!" Adam exclaimed. "Billy's still free!"
* * *
The four carried on with the vacation, rendering the goat incident as one they might reflect on in the future. They continued to hang out at the cabin and swim in the lake, and they enjoyed two afternoons on the boat Mr. Wheeler had rented. For the most part, they avoided town, realizing that trouble wasn't something they wanted to encounter again during the trip.
Jared often appeared to be deep in thought. Yet when his friends questioned his silent preoccupation, he claimed he was just thinking about stuff. And when they asked him about trying to find the goat, Jared would only say the man had gotten angry and jabbed his hand with a knife before dropping the rattlesnake at his feet.
Late one night, Conner and Jared sat on the twin beds, discussing the activities of that day. At one point, Jared seemed stunned by something on his phone. When he went into the bathroom, he left his phone on the bed. So, Conner crept over to take a peek. Expecting to see text messages or a series of photos, Conner was surprised to see a Wikipedia page titled Cambion.
When Jared had finally fallen asleep, Conner typed Cambion into his browser. According to the search results, a cambion was a half-human, half-demon offspring. The term had been used for centuries. The concept of the hybrid was widely considered a truth, gaining popularity during the nineteenth century.
And that was as far as Conner researched. He didn't want to learn more. He didn't want to ask Jared about it. And he certainly didn't want to mention it to Adam and Trevor. He considered it to be directly linked to the goat incident with the strange man, and he wanted to push that experience to the farthest corner of his mind.
Mr. Wheeler had rented the boat for the final afternoon at the lake. In spite of the cloudy sky, it was a warm day. The guys enjoyed spending time on the water, sailing and splashing around in Lake Bantam. Once they returned to the cabin, it was time to sit down for dinner. Then the evening was spent cleaning areas of the house and gathering personal belongings before their departure in the morning.
The night was a cool sixty degrees, and the area was alive with life following the light rain earlier in the day. Frogs called out to potential mates or to lay claim to their territories. Occasionally, a bird screeched in the distance. An owl hooted somewhere nearby. Insects chirped and buzzed or whined. The cicadas emitted a chorus of noise that escalated and weakened throughout the night. At one point, they seemed to join forces to cry out in a deafening, continuous scream as if a menacing predator roamed the ground below the tree branches.
Conner groaned and opened his eyes. Glaring at the ceiling, he muttered, "Dammit. That's so annoying."
When Jared didn't answer, Conner sat up. "Don't tell me you're sleeping through this."
Jared wasn't in bed.
Conner cast his gaze to the bathroom. The light was off, and he heard no noise. "Yo, Jared. You in there?"
A dark shadow in the corner of the room caught his eye. "Jared."
But it wasn't Jared, and Conner felt stupid for talking to a shadow.
He poked his head into the bathroom, but it was empty. Then he thought of the goat and the man and the cambion. He dashed to the guest room and swung open the door. Adam and Trevor both lay sleeping in the bed.
He poked Adam's arm. "Hey. Wake up."
Irritated, Adam looked at Conner with half-opened eyes. "What the hell are you doing?"
Trevor turned onto his back with a groan. "What's going on?" Then he grimaced. "Those locusts are loud as hell."
"Cicadas," Adam mumbled.
Glancing over his shoulder at the hallway, Conner said, "Um. I don't know where Jared is."
"Check downstairs."
"Yeah seriously, dude," Trevor said. "What time is it?"
Conner grabbed a cell phone from the nightstand. "Almost four o'clock."
"If he's not downstairs, then come and get us."
Sighing, Conner walked away. "Fine."
"And tell those effing locusts to shut up."
Adam uttered an annoyed grunt. "Cicadas."
In the hall, Conner stood in the darkened hallway with nervous energy tingling throughout his body. He didn't understand it. So what if Jared wasn't in the guest room? That wasn't reason enough to feel anxious. Perhaps it was the shadow that had spooked him, or the goat and the man and snake and Lake Bantam. He couldn't wait until they returned to Newman the following day.
Jared wasn't downstairs. When Conner passed through the dining room on his return to the stairs, he spotted a figure outside. He peered through the window. Jared stood with his back to the cabin. Dressed only in his underwear, he seemed to be staring at the treetops.
Conner stepped out into the cool air. The cicadas screamed in a unified oscillating wail. The gravel hurt the soles of his bare feet. The wind caused the leaves to rustle like the crumpling of paper.
"Jared."
When he didn't hear a response, Conner tapped Jared's shoulder. He was hot to the touch. "Jared, are you okay?"
Rigid, he didn't react to Conner's touch. Then he suddenly flinched and glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, hey. What are you doing?"
"What am I doing? What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
"Dude, it's four in the effing morning, and you're out here in your underwear staring at trees."
Jared looked Conner up and down. "Dude, you're out here in your underwear."
"Yeah, 'cause I was looking for you."
Jared shrugged. "It's the last night here."
"Let's go back to bed."
Playfully slugging Conner in the arm, Jared said, "Party pooper."
Walking to the wooden steps, movement near the street caused Conner to whip his head to the side. For a fleeting moment, he expected to see the man. Yet he saw nothing but the dim beam of a streetlight and the gently swaying shadows of trees on the pavement.
"What is it?" Jared asked. "You look kinda freaked out."
"Oh. Um. Nothing."
Jared glanced at the road. Then he slung his arm onto Conner's shoulders. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you."