Chapter 64: Chapter 64

"Where's Charlie?"

He let out a bark that echoed through the night. And then, as if wanting to answer, Charlie's voice suddenly answered. It sounded excited and not too far away.

"Come on." I tightened my grip on the leash and followed Jamie back into the woods.

He hurried straight ahead. I only noticed how tense he was when we had been wandering through the thicket for a few minutes, as I was concentrating the light of the flashlight on the ground. The moonlight was no longer able to illuminate sufficiently here, and the semi-darkness transformed every tree into a twisted silhouette. I did my best not to think too much about the silence of the night or about the darkness. At least, not until the flashlight's beam fell on Jamie. He had been pushing his nose across the floor like a vacuum cleaner the whole time, making loud sniffing noises. When I looked at him, I got cold. The fur on his back was set up to a thick, dark brush, which I had never seen on him before. Something here was scaring him.

I gripped the flashlight even tighter.

We found Charlie in the thicket, barely more than a could hundred yards away from where we'd started. He didn't seem to be hurt, so the load on my mind eased a bit. He just hadn't reacted to my calls for some reason. Jamie wagged his tail like crazy when we reached his brother, but he left his fur up. Charlie still didn't react to us—neither to me, nor to Jamie—but just stood there like a statue. He stared away from us, straight into the forest, without moving.

"Come now, Charlie." I had spent more than enough time out here. In order to prevent Charlie from running away again, I fastened the other end of the leash to his collar.

Then I suddenly heard it too. The grinding sound of movement in the thicket.

For some reason, I immediately went to my knees. The farm had been my home all my life. I had grown up with the forest, the animals, and their sounds. I heard them every day. But this sound was not normal.

I was seized by an impulse of flight that robbed me of logic. Instead of running, though, I knelt helplessly on the floor, pressed myself against Charlie, and prayed not to be attacked by an angry bear.

Charlie's tense growl proved that my fear was not unfounded. I grabbed his collar to keep him from doing something stupid while I cast a glance into the bushes.

Whatever was lurking there, it had to be huge. I could hear it by the shakes in the ground as its legs moved. I could hear it breathing—a dull, terrible bass that only a huge chest could produce. Every breath came to my ears so clearly that it made me shiver. The hair on my body stood on end. The dogs were no different. They stood to the left and right of me like two guards, staring into the darkness with their heads and ears tilted forward.

The creature appeared to be sneaking around us. When I switched off the flashlight to not provoke it, I recognized two yellow lights in the thicket. It took me some time to realize—to admit—that they were eyes.

I froze into a pillar of salt. The dogs must have seen the creature at the same time I did, because all their courage collapsed. Suddenly they pulled in their tails and trembled like aspen leaves. Even Charlie's angry growling was no longer audible.

It's watching us.

I was so scared that I didn't want to look, but I couldn't take my eyes off those yellow pupils. They shone out of the thicket like flashlights and seemed to follow our every move. I had never seen an animal with shining eyes before.

I could sense the danger emanating from it—a dead silence, only disturbed by loud, rattling breaths. The forest seemed to carry them all the way to me. I heard the creature approaching, saw its greedy look, and felt its intent. Its shape reminded of a bear, but everything about it was much too different. Its huge body was already bending down, getting enough momentum to pounce. Before it could attack, however, a deafening howl tore the night apart.

The dark creature raised its head and looked into the sky. I felt how paralyzed my dogs were, so I pressed against them and shook. I didn't know which animal this howl belonged to. All I knew was that I had never heard a more horrible sound before. It was urgent, deep, and it felt unbearably angry.

The monster in the dark listened to the angry battle cry only for a fraction of a second before it vanished into the forest with thunderous steps. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving me breathless on the ground.

My teeth were chattering in the icy cold and my heart was pounding like a jackhammer. I just sat there and stared at the spot where the being had been standing until just now. With every second my mind cleared, and the situation became a little bit clearer to me.

There was a forest animal I didn't know. A huge one with glowing eyes.

The longer I sat, the more the dull outline of the being seemed unreal, like a dream. Only the cold sweat on my back convinced me that none of this had been my imagination.

My legs felt like pudding and could hardly carry me. I wanted nothing more than to rush home and never think about my encounter with the strange monster. Unfortunately, I had forgotten which direction we had to go, and the dogs were still unmoving. I had lost sight of the stable.

I remembered the howling that had probably saved my life, and my knees began to shake. It had sounded like another wolf's howl, but with more voice. A scream at the top of the throat, but much too loud for a human scream.

The figure, the shining eyes, and the strange howling seemed to allow only one name for the being.

"Ruby!"

I was so startled by my dad's call that I spun around and tripped over Charlie. I barely caught myself before falling to the forest floor.

"Dad!"

He came out of the bushes. His dark hair looked almost as tangled as mine and even the moustache above his lip seemed kind of crooked. The dark rings under his eyes testified to the late hour. I saw his pajamas peeping out from under the coat zipper.

"Did you . . ." I stopped talking. On the way here he had certainly not met the creature—otherwise he wouldn't have looked so sleepy. My heart was still pounding mercilessly against my chest. I was immensely relieved to see my father. He brought the security of the house I had been longing for since I had followed the dogs.

"Next time, wait till I get up," he growled wearily and took the leash from me. "Let's go. You'll catch your death here."

"Yeah." With a lump stuck in my throat, my voice was nothing more than a hoarse whisper. Jamie and Charlie, however, seemed to have found their courage again. They were eagerly sniffing on the ground and almost drowned out my voice.

While Dad started walking, I turned around to look one more time. I struggled with myself before I finally stepped forward and held the flashlight over the ground near the thicket.

My blood run cold. A single footprint disfigured the dark, frozen soil. It was a paw like I knew from my dogs, only it was at least ten times bigger. Also, the proportions were not correct. The strange shape reminded me of a bear's paw as well as a dog's. The sight was so unreal that I narrowed my eyes to be sure.

"Dad?" I asked mechanically, pointing. "Do you know what that could have been?"

My father stopped. He was so tired that the energetic dogs almost brought him down.

"Maybe Sasquatch," he replied after barely glancing at my discovery. He shrugged his shoulders. His voice, however, didn't sound teasing. "Now come and light the way before I break my legs."

"Okay."

I threw one last glance at the ground before I followed him. Whatever it may have been, I wanted to forget it as quickly as possible.