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It was over. There was nothing left to do.
Miriam didn’t like the outcome, nor did she shy away from the truth of it. They’d found the devil. With any luck, more of the species lived within a range the female could roam. The cubs could hopefully find a new population to mate with, and this rare species of incredibly large otter could continue to survive, as it had for hundreds or thousands of years. Nature tended to be persistent, she knew, though humans also had a knack for completely disrupting the natural course of evolution.
“We can’t just leave him there,” Kim whined. Miriam had come to respect Kim, and a part of her even liked the girl, but there was no point in complaining or arguing about something they couldn’t change.
“That thing weighs hundreds of pounds. What do you want us to do?” Miriam asked.
“If we leave it in the middle of the lake, someone’s gonna find the body. Then the secret will be out.”
Macy jumped in, trying to help the situation. “Abby has the knowledge and the scars to prove its existence anyway. We can’t stop what’s coming.”
“With any luck,” Miriam added. “The female and her cubs are far away from here by now, hiding where they can, maybe even migrating to another lake.”
“Usa. Her name is Usa.”
Kim hung her head, her eyes still red, though finally dry. Her clothes hugged her body, still dripping from her sojourn across the lake to commune with the dead.
Miriam nodded towards Macy. “Come on. Let’s go pack up camp and head back.”
She started walking, not waiting for Kim. Conversation would no longer help. Now was the time for action. The time to accept the next step, even if it was a bitter one.
Macy followed dutifully. Reluctantly, finally, Kim brought up the rear. They walked in silence, Miriam picking her way through foliage. She’d become quite adept at navigating these woods, even though she’d only been there for a little while. Such was her knack. Her superpower. She would have preferred to have super strength to evacuate Kawa’s corpse. Or super-empathy so that she could calm Kim’s heart. Instead, she could only offer a clear head.
Once they arrived at the camp, all three pitched in to help take down the tents, and fill up the backpacks. The silence might have bothered someone else, but Miriam enjoyed the chirping of the birds, and the slight rustle of the branches overhead. She told herself that even though this trip may not have gone as planned, she would have others in the future. She would find more work. She would have to. She certainly wasn’t going to run back to her father.
“Thank you.” Kim’s voice came strained and quiet. Miriam hadn’t even noticed Kim approaching her. Miriam turned and locked eyes with Kim, struggling not to wither from the darkness of her gaze.
“I’m sorry,” Miriam replied. She meant it. She didn’t want things to have ended up this way. “I know you just want to protect them. And I do, too. I promise.”
Kim gave a curt nod, almost sheepish. “I know.”
Then, in a flash, Kim’s hand wrapped around Miriam’s, her gaze never faltering. “Seriously, though. I know you tried your best.”
Miriam nodded, too distracted by Kim’s touch to really pay attention.
“I think that’s it,” Macy said from across the way. “I think we’ve got everything.”
Kim immediately dropped Miriam’s hand, and spun around. So weird. Miriam had become pretty accustomed to awkward, but she was used to being the cause of it.
They headed out, Kim in the lead, with Macy hanging back until she was shoulder-to-shoulder with Miriam. Macy nudged Miriam with her elbow, widened her eyes and motioned her head towards Kim. Miriam didn’t understand the meaning of it, causing Macy to roll her eyes and shake her head.
Wait. Did she mean...?
Miriam gave the implication no more thought. Kim was emotionally compromised, and besides, Miriam wasn’t interested in girls. She had Gabe.
Before long, the path started to widen, the moss-covered ground turning to slick mud. Shoeprints crisscrossed over the landscape, leading to the parking lot where their adventure had begun. Miriam felt the tug of freedom. The allure of a reset. She couldn’t wait to get on the plane to head back to Dobie. She very suddenly just wanted this sad, failed trip to end.
She turned to Kim. “So I’ll get the report written up in the next couple of days. Do I give it to you, or...?”
As they walked out onto the paved, empty lot, Kim turned. “Oh. Um. I’ll get you the contact information for the University. You can turn it in to the head of zoological research there. I’ve never actually met her.”
Miriam hadn’t met her either. They’d had a few brief conversations on the phone, and a few texts back and forth, but Kim was the only face that Miriam had attached to the job. She had assumed that Kim knew their mutual employer personally. How else would she have been chosen? It suddenly felt like something the two of them should have talked about before now, but somehow it never mattered.
Miriam’s mind desperately wanted to turn this thing into a new mystery for her to solve, but she knew there was no merit to that. It didn’t matter who’d hired them. A job was a job, and the back half of her payment wouldn’t come until the report was submitted. The contract that she and Macy had hastily written, without any legal input, said nothing about success or failure, but Miriam vaguely knew there was a risk that they’d never see the full payday.
Macy kicked at the pavement. “So how are we getting out of here?”
The car and van were both gone, and Miriam estimated at least a ten mile walk to any sort of civilization.
“Uber, I guess?” Kim suggested.
A simple solution to a simple problem. Miriam looked at the gear they’d dropped on the ground. “An XL.”
Kim nodded and pulled out her phone, pecking away at the keyboard. While Kim worked, Miriam took the opportunity to sit. Macy plopped down on the ground beside her.
“Our first job in the books,” Macy said.
“Yep,” Miriam said. “Not exactly what we planned, but we did find it. We saw a creature that few have ever seen. The stuff of legend.”
Miriam hadn’t taken the time to fully appreciate that. Proving the impossible was why she played the game, and she’d done that. She’d found a new creature. One docile and smart and unlike anything she’d ever imagined. Of course, without hard evidence, it might end up being just a story, the kind her dad had told her his whole life. He had so many expeditions where he almost found the cryptid. He’d see it, but didn’t have the camera. He’d fight it, but it would run away. It was always something, and Miriam had long since written those stories off as tall tales. But perhaps such tales were part of the job. These cryptids had never been found for a reason.
Kim slipped her phone into the pocket of her shorts and looked towards the girls. “Okay. Gonna be about an hour, it says.”
Made sense. They were in a pretty remote area.
Miriam patted the ground next to her, inviting Kim to join them. Kim did so.
“Ya know,” Kim said. “I’m gonna miss you... two.”
There was a pause, right? A quick glance towards Macy’s half-smile confirmed it.
Miriam wanted to respond, but didn’t, her mind reeling to find something that felt appropriate. She wanted to be suave enough to come up with something that acknowledged Kim’s obvious hints while also not rocking the boat anymore than she had to. Alas, Miriam had no such talent for expertly crafted retorts.
She was saved from the conversation as a chug-chug-chug echoed across the parking lot. It was quiet at first, but quickly grew in volume until Miriam fully realized what she’d heard.
A helicopter, moving fast and low, zoomed overhead, swirling dust and kicking rocks. It’s trajectory—straight for Misty Lake.
A coincidence, or a friend of Abby?
Without saying anything, Kim sprang to her feet and bolted into the woods. Macy and Miriam shared a look, and Miriam sighed.
Apparently, they were headed back into the forest.
