Joe hung up the receiver and called to Maggy. “Mag!” he shouted up the stairs. “I’m leavin’.” He went to the hall closet and pulled his denim jacket free.

Maggy left her room and descended the stairs as far as the first landing.

“Just remember what Chief said,” she warned. “Stay out of the woods today, and stay close to your friends.”

“All right, Mag.”

“Joey,” Maggy added as he turned to the door.

“What?”

“Be careful.”

Joe nodded and left the house. It was a bright sunny day with a cool March breeze. Chief and Miss Elly’s wedding was just four weeks away. By then the breezes would shift from the northwest and slide into town from the south.

Joe was not going to Benny’s. He had called Brian Forbes to have him tell Benny he couldn’t meet up with him at Duncan’s field. Instead, Joe walked around to the back of the house to the shed where he had stashed his own hunting rifle: a .22 Winchester. He was only allowed to shoot it when he went hunting with Chief. That was the agreement. He had hoped today wasn’t going to be the day he broke the agreement, but for what he intended, he was not about to do it unarmed.

In his mind he re-played the conversation he over-heard between Kelly and Mike as he unlocked the shed door and retrieved his rifle. Huey had scared his little sister and Joe was not going to let him get away with that. More importantly, Huey was in contact with his pa.

With rifle in hand, Joe crossed the yard to the back woods, praying Maggy didn’t look out an upstairs back window for any reason. As soon as possible, he ducked into the woods and followed the footpath past Evers’s farm. He crossed again into heavy woods taking the path he and Kelly had taken so long ago– the day all Hell broke loose, when Mary Lou was killed and Kelly became Fred Blackney’s obsession. Joe headed north, past Sutter’s Depot, staying just east of the Pass. He crossed the first set of tracks that headed east to Berritts Hills, and followed the northern line towards Springdale. Halfway there he passed the spread his Grandfather Broden had owned. Now it belonged to Ralph Watkins’s family. He followed along the service road until he eventually came to a solitary dirt road taking him again into dense woods. Another mile and he was at the Blackney’s front gate. Joe climbed over, turned down the drive and darted into the woods surrounding it for cover in case someone was around. Under cover of brush and wood, Joe eventually made it to the yard. He had no trouble concealing himself. He planted himself across the yard from the front door and waited. His whole trip took about two and a half hours. It was eleven-thirty.

Huey emerged from the front door at a quarter to twelve, then started down the drive towards the front gate, all the while unaware of being followed. Halfway there, Huey broke free of the drive and started on a path that clung to the outskirts of the Blackney yard. He didn't notice Joe crossing behind him, on his trail.

Huey’s path branched out to several others, all the while moving farther and farther north into the woods. He had been steadily traveling away from the outskirts and into deep woods territory for two hours. He knew the spot his Pa had told him about. It was the second to the last spot marked on his pa's trapping map- a piece of paper outlining where his father had set all his fur traps in the past. Huey carried a large sack slung over his shoulder. In it were all the provisions his pa had asked him to bring. It took an additional two hours before Huey came to a narrow stream. He followed it for several more miles upstream until he approached a large stone. At the stone he turned away from the creek and climbed a small hill. On the other side of the hill, Huey picked up another path and followed it northeast. Another mile put Huey at the spot on his father’s map. Several boulders sat in a small circle. They looked out of place so far back in the woods, left over from when the mountains were still young and the volatility of the land mass pushed iron and other metal oar to the surface.

Huey went to the circle and perched himself on one of the boulders. There he waited unaware of the set of brown eyes fixed on him from the brush; unaware of the .22 Winchester pointed just over his head. It was just before four o’clock. His pa was due any minute.

Joe had only intended to meet up with Huey and put the fear of God into him so he’d leave Kelly alone. But when Huey left the front porch, it dawned on Joe that there was a possibility that he would head out to meet his old man. If not, then Joe could put the fear of God into him in the woods. It mattered not. But the longer he followed Huey, the more he was sure Huey was meeting up with... the tiger. Huey looked nervous, darting his eyes from side to side. Joe gripped the gun harder and trudged after the other boy. When Huey stopped at the clearing and sat down on one of the boulders, Joe crouched closer to the ground. There he waited with Huey Blackney. Waited for the tiger to show.

Joe had just settled in when the tiger arrived suddenly and had to stifle a gasp at the man’s appearance. Blood covered him. There was a wild look in his eyes that Joe could tell frightened even Huey. Joe crouched lower to the ground and prayed the man wouldn’t spot him.

Huey looked up when the brush was pushed aside and his father emerged. His eyes were wild and opened wide enough that the whites showed on all sides of the irises. The pupils were strangely elongated and a manic expression dominated his face. His hair was matted and knotted and sticking straight up and he was drenched in blood. Did he do it already? Did he get that Kelly Broden? Huey shivered. His father posed a powerful presence. Failure had always infuriated him. He had beaten Huey the day he admitted he’d quit the baseball team, thanks to that Kelly Broden. But his pa was able to stop that time. Huey wasn't sure he'd be unable to stop now. Somewhere above, a large raven broke the silence with its shrill cry.

“Pa?” Huey ventured to the wild man in front of him.

Blackney’s eyes cleared of their mania. He closed them slightly so they would appear more normal. A gentle expression pushed its way onto his face as he regarded his son.

“I’m so glad you made it, son,” he whispered. “It won’t be long now.”

Huey stared at the blood, then looked into is father’s eyes, normally dark brown, now closer to gold. “Did you do it?”

Blackney’s expression saddened. “No,” he stated shaking his head. “I was so close.... but it was just another one of her tricks, you see.”

“Sir?”

“It’s just as well. I wasn’t ready.... The building of the shadows continues, my boy. I must relish the prize of the power... let it float. Once I’m ready, they will all see. I’ll have the power to transcend. Then I’ll have my revenge on all of them. I will have the power to destroy them... especially the beast that lurks in the darkness. The Hell Dog.”

Huey stared at him.

“Did you bring what I asked?”

Huey nodded and retrieved the bundle he had stashed next to the boulder. "It’s all in here,” he said.

“You did good, son,” whispered his father. For effect he rubbed the boy’s head, affectionately straightening out his hair. Then he set the bundle down on the rock and removed its contents: a hunting knife, several sticks of jerky, a pair of cowhide hunting boots and wool socks, and some clothing. There was no food other than the jerky, intended only for emergency rations. Blackney was a hunter and trapper; he was at home in the woods, and the woods provided him with all he needed to survive. But the woods were no place for a man in a pinstriped suit.

Blackney shed the suit without modesty. He stripped down to bare skin, wiping the dried blood from his face, arms and body with the old clothing. Then, picking up the clothing his son brought, he clothed himself once more. He now donned a black and red plaid flannel shirt, jeans, a belt to which he fastened the knife, hunting boots, and a cap under which he stuffed his matted, tangled hair.

Again, the tiger stared at his son. Joe didn’t blame Huey for cowering under the gaze.

“You did real good, boy,” cooed the tiger. "You keep doin’ what I ask of you and we’ll be shed of this town. We’ll be a family. But first we pay them back.”

Huey started. “Not Hank, Pa. Please let him be–”

“You’re not goin’ soft, are ya boy?”

“No, sir. But just her–”

“He betrayed us, son. He put me behind bars. You behind bars. He broke up the family, lad. There’s nothing worse than a crime against family. He must be made to answer.”

“But–”

“Shut up!” growled the tiger. Once again his eyes became wild, frenzied. Huey gulped. Joe could see him shake.

“I make the rules here, boy,” the tiger continued in a much smoother tone. “Do you understand?” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Good. You play it my way and we’ll be all right. But don’t go getting any ideas. Your brother is dead to us. He deserves no less for what he did to us… to our family,” added the tiger.“You can understand that now, can’t you?”

Huey nodded that he could.

“You did real well yesterday,” the tiger added. “I can see my blood in your veins.”

Joe noticed Huey’s face flush with heat. 

“That’s what it is all about,” he said to the tiger. 

“You’re you father son,” the tiger cooed. “You will do my bidding without complaint, because you are of my blood; and blood is thicker than water–and water is life.”

Joe watched as Huey’s expression changed… from one of fear to one of doom.

“You chased her from the car, son,” the tiger continued, as if he needed to prove his omniscience. “I almost had her. Would have had her–if that deputy didn’t get in the way. Maybe I’ll do him too.”

“But how? How did you know?”

“You almost did your brother then, son. It’s a shame that deputy warned him. We’d have that task over by now. Yes, I think the deputy should get what’s coming to him...as well as the girl....”

Again a bird screeched and the tiger turned his attention from his plans and glanced in the air to catch sight of the large raven as it darted from one side of the clearing to the other, a rat held tightly in its talons. When it was halfway across the clearing it dropped the rat, then swooped towards the trees once again. Joe watched helplessly as the tiger turned from the bird and his glance fell across the woods. His eyes scanned the trees on the opposite side of the clearing, and then the brush underneath.

Joe realized that the tiger had seen him. At first he couldn’t move. He could only watch as the tiger turned sharply on Huey. Hot anger flushed into his face and it became beat red. His jaw was set hard as he screamed at the boy, “You bastard! You were followed!” At that he struck Huey hard enough that the boy tumbled backwards off the rock and crashed to the ground, striking his head on a small boulder a foot from the formation.

After he had finished with his son, the tiger turned to the bushes and Joe. He stalked slowly without fear.

Joe had wasted all the time he intended. His father’s words rang in his head, “Shoot him in the knee caps and run like hell.” Joe rose from his cover and aimed the rifle at the man in front of him. But Joe had no intention of shooting out his knees. Joe wanted to end it once and for all. He took steady aim, just as the tiger rushed him. Joe’s confidence wavered, as his aim fell short; the bullet ricocheting off one of the boulders and heading into the woods. Joe took a second aim, only this time the gun jammed. Joe quickly grabbed the end of his gun and used it as a club, swinging at the oncoming horror. His aim was better this time and the heavy oak stock of the rifle connected with the tiger’s temple. He staggered backwards as Joe pivoted and ran. Joe shot back down the path and into the woods. He did not turn back; he did not slow down. He just kept running in any direction that would get him free.

He retained the rifle, even though it slowed his pace. He had no intention of leaving the killer a weapon to use on him or his family. Joe ran on, hoping for an opportunity to turn and maybe get a second chance to shoot. He could hear brush and undergrowth being crushed behind him far in the distance. He had bought enough time by slugging the man with his gun. But even after ascertaining his distance as a comfortable one, Joe did not slow down. He ran until he was exhausted.

Once exhausted, Joe took cover in a shallow cave formed from three boulders. Crouching deep within the crux of the joining sides, he waited while keeping perfectly still for a few minutes longer listening to the surrounding brush. Nothing there. Joe cautiously sat up. He first cleared the barrel; then he examined his rifle for any damage that might have occurred from its misuse. After assessing no damage, he removed the shells from his jacket pocket and fully loaded the gun.

Joe waited under the protection of the rock fortress for an additional twenty minutes before venturing out. It was six-thirty when he looked at his watch. He had been running full out for two hours. The sun was already beginning to set against the western horizon, and Joe hadn’t a clue as to his whereabouts. If he had kept track of which direction he had fled, he would have been able to use the setting sun as a guide. At this rate he was almost assured of being caught in the woods after dark ...with the tiger.

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