The last thing Charlie remembered was walking down that trail to the canyon.
The vast star-strewn velvet sky seemed to go on forever above them. The trail was steep and at first the girls giggled as they slipped and slid, but then their voices melted into soft murmurs the deeper they got into the canyon and the darker it became.
Ellie had a small penlight, but it barely lit her bright blue Nike sneakers. Charlie was bringing up the rear and shrank from small noises in the bushes surrounding them. She stayed close to Sienna’s back, sometimes gently bumping into Sienna and the small backpack she was wearing. When they left the house, Ellie had given Sienna a weird look and said, “You forgot the backpack.”
Sienna had flushed and shot a strange glance at Charlie before running off to Ellie’s bedroom. When she came back she had slung a small turquoise backpack over her lightweight jacket but would not meet Charlie’s eyes.
Ellie told them they had to get to the clearing in the canyon below right at three in the morning for it to work. Shadow Man had promised to prove himself to them but they had to be there right at the clearing at the right time, she said.
Shadow Man would leave an offering, a gift, for them. Something magical that would help Ellie with her problems with her stepmom. It would make all three girls more powerful. It would give them the ability to see the future, and maybe even read people’s minds, he had said.
So, they trudged down the hillside. At one steep point of the trail, Charlie fell behind while she stared intently at the blackness trying to see the dirt path reveal itself at her feet. She tried to walk and do her inhaler at once and tripped a little bit. The trail was curved and steep right there and had a few big rocks that she kept stubbing her toes on. Worried, she’d fall and tumble into the darkness below, Charlie slowed and grasped at small bushes on the sides to keep her balance, hoping she wasn’t clutching poison oak leaves and branches. That’s when she heard the sound of something coming down the trail behind her. Whatever it was came fast, snapping twigs and sending a cascade of rocks down the hillside, crashing through the bushes. She wasn’t sure if she could hear the pounding of feet on the trodden dirt trail or if it was the sound of her own blood racing through her body.
He had tricked them. He was coming to kill them
She imagined Shadow Man racing at an ungodly speed down the trail behind her and stretching out his elongated arms to grab her and pluck her away from her friends, one long tendril-like arm covering her mouth so her scream could not escape and her friends would keep walking, not even realizing Shadow Man had plucked her away from them.
Feeling the icy fingers of dread race across her scalp, Charlie let out a yelp and ran as fast as she could toward the small pinprick glowing from the penlight tin front of her. Feeling as if something were going to grab her neck or hair any second, she used the bushes as bumpers in a pinball game, rushing and tripping and then stumbled into both her friends and nearly knocking them down. At first Ellie hollered, but Charlie shushed her. “He’s coming. Something’s coming fast behind us. Listen.”
All three girls froze, clutching each other’s hands.
After a few seconds they heard something, a rustle of leaves off to one side. Nothing like the pounding footsteps Charlie had heard before.
Ellie let out a long whoosh of air and whispered. “Okay. It’s probably a deer. This is a deer path and I’m sure your scream scared the crap out of it.”
Finally, Charlie’s heart slowed and craning her head to hear there was only the distant sound of something making its way through the wooded hillside. The sound grew fainter. Whatever it was it was leaving.
“Jesus Christ, Dawson, you rammed right into my ankles with your foot. Settle down.”
Charlie sat up, brushing dirt and leaves from her jeans. “Sorry. I thought it was a mountain lion or bear or something.”
She didn’t want to say what she thought: it was Shadow Man chasing them.
“I’m afraid of cougars.” Sienna shivered beside her.
Bears and mountain lions roamed this canyon. Every once in a while someone would get attacked. Once, a hiker disappeared and later the only trace they found of him was the buttons of his flannel shirt in cougar scat.
“Maybe we should just go back,” Charlie said.
“Yes, Ellie, please.”
There was a second of silence that seemed to stretch forever.
“No.” The word came out of Ellie’s mouth like a fist punch. “We’re almost there.” Now her voice was softer, more cajoling.
Charlie reached for Sienna’s hand, but her friend drew back sharply. “Come on.”
She’d never heard that voice that Sienna used. Resigned. Brittle. A little afraid.
Finally, the three were on flat ground. Charlie followed her friends to the bank of the river.
“There’s a little log bridge over here. We have to cross the river. The clearing is on the other side.”
The sound of the river rushing by nearly drowned out her words. Without trees and bushes blocking the moonlight, little licks of light sparkled from the rushing water. It was colder down here, too. But it smelled magical. Like pine trees, of course, but also like jasmine or some other night-blooming flower.
The bridge wasn’t much more than a log with ropes on each side to hold onto. All three girls slipped a few times on the slick surface, but caught themselves on the ropes.
Ellie parted some branches and found another path. The other girls followed her and then she ducked down and peered through. “Here it is.” She shined the penlight into a secluded clearing.
“Go ahead, Charlie.” Ellie backed up. “You first.”
Charlie shot Sienna a look in the dark, but Sienna backed up and stood behind her, giving her a massive push. “You first.”
Charlie staggered into the clearing and fell onto her knees. Immediately, she felt a piercing prick of pain in her back and then another and another. Her body felt like it was under attack by a swarm of stinging bees. She screamed and collapsed onto the pine needles swinging wildly in the dark to stop her unseen attacker.
Now, lying in her hospital bed with tubes sticking out of her arms and her entire body aching, Charlie told the two police officers that was the last thing she remembered.
The police officer, the nice-looking woman, looked disappointed. Guilt instantly filled Charlie and she mumbled, “I’m sorry.”
The other officer nodded her chin toward Charlie’s head.
“It’s okay. You’ve also had a blow to your head, not to mention the shock you’ve gone through. It might come back to you after a while. Will you let me know if you remember anything else?”
At the words, “blow to the head” Charlie gingerly lifted her hand to her forehead and winced when her fingertips touched the goose egg. She recoiled as she saw the bandages wrapped the length of her arm.
The officer handed her a small business card. “My name’s Maggie. This has my cell phone number on it. Call anytime. I don’t care if it is the middle of the night, okay?”
Charlie nodded.
Her dad leaned over and gave Charlie a kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to go talk to the police officers in the hall, I’ll be right back.”
A ripple of panic trickled through Charlie. Her dad must have noticed because he kept talking. “I’ll stay right in front of the door so you can see me, okay?”
Then the three of them walked out. As soon as the door clicked shut behind them, Charlie let out a keening sob she’d been holding back.