Okefenokee

At camp Bart comes out of the tent and saw no one around, “Hey, where did you all go,” he shouted. There where just the sounds of birds singing and insects buzzing. This was the forest quiescence. He had a fevered look on his face come to find something was wrong. He wondered what was going on. He looked around as if half expecting they were going to jump out and say scared you didn’t we. But no one did.

Junior was out of site but shouted at him, “They are all gone.”

Cyndi and Rob heard his voice and were both happy and scared of what might happen as they looked at each other. Rob seemed very surprised at how well his boy had comported himself through the ordeal so far.

Bart turned in the direction from where is voice was heard and got the revolver out of his pants waistline and held it up facing that direction. “What are you telling lies for. They would not leave me here.”

“Well they did.”

Bart, “Prove it.”

“I don’t have to. You will know yourself as time goes by. You may never see them again if you don’t leave us alone. Hand over the gun and release my parents and I will give you safe passage away from here like I did for them.”

Bart, “You will give? Who the heck do you think you are. I’m in charge here.” he said almost laughing at Junior’s proposition.

“Big man when you have people tied and a gun in your hand aren’t you?” Junior felt this was going to come to a bad ending. He was scared not just for himself but also for his family. “If I had a gun there would be nothing to stop me from shooting you right now. I am a good shot. How much practice have you had with shooting a gun?” He stuck his head out from behind the tree.

Bart was pointing in the general vicinity and squeezed the trigger. A loud bang made Cyndi jump up from sitting on the cot. Ron was a little slower but also rose and went to the tent doorway, hands tied behind him and peeked outside.

In the canoe Surfer heard the shot and so did the others but they tried to conceal their knowledge. “That was a gun shot. We have to go back.”

Yancy, “I’m not going back.”

“Alright then, I need to go back. You can drop me at the dock.”

Beach, “That might not be a good idea. You hatched this plan with the kid. He wants us gone so now we need to stick to it.”

Surfer pulled out the handgun from her bag and stuck the barrel at the bottom of the canoe and said, “Either you are going to drop me at the dock or I am going to make a drain in the bottom of this boat.”

Yancy nervously squealed, “Don’t even pretend to do that. Put the gun away and we will head back and drop you.”

She smiled and placed the gun back in her bag. Beach remained quiet wondering what she was up to. The canoe changed direction.

Junior remembered when the boys shot at them in town they were terrible at aiming. Nothing had changed. He made a mental note, one down and five to go. He decided it might be best to see if he could get Bart to empty the gun before confronting him physically. Bart had size and age over him. But he had strength and prowess. “You missed,” he cried out almost mocking him which made Bart even angrier.

Bart ran toward the tree knowing he was going to have to be closer to be able to hit anything. When he rushed around the tree Junior was gone frustrating him again. Junior was exceedingly quick especially in the forest.

Cyndi reassured Rob that the teen couldn’t hit the side of a barn from her experience. Rob turned and placed his back up against Cyndi’s, “Help me get this rope untied.” She struggled but had trouble moving her hands well enough. Rob couldn’t do either. One of his hands had been damaged slightly from the bear attack. It was the least of his injuries but made a difference here.

Junior yelled to Bart from the trail head that leads to the back of the island and Bart foolishly fired the gun again without any real chance except luck of hitting him from that distance.

Surfer moaned, “Another shot. Please row faster it’s a matter of life and death.” The boys dug in and tried to speed the trip back. Yancy’s facial expressions showed his contempt for what they were forced to do.

Junior popped out of the green knowing he was getting into Bart’s head and motioned for him to follow as he ran on the trail. He counted to himself two down, four to go.

Bart ran after him limping slightly. He was perplexed why the kid wasn’t using the gun that he knew he had. He was prepared for it should he get shot at though. Of Bart’s many strengths, dealing with the flying biting bugs was not one of them. He kept stopping and slapping himself to rid the pests from him. It was an exercise in futility as there were two more for each one he swatted.

Junior with his new sneakers was lightening fast compared to running in his moccasins and could stay far enough away where Bart couldn’t expect to hit him. The chase was on. Bart lost site of Junior and slowed his pursuit looking panoramically for any clues. Junior was crossing the trail here and there giving Bart brief hints of his position and disappearing back in to the woods. He started the climb to the swim pond and half way up he yelled, “Having trouble keeping up? You would do better if you dropped that heavy revolver.” He knew is only chance was to keep pressure on Bart constantly so he continues to make mistakes.

Bart heard him and looked up, spreading some tree branches. He was soaked from sweat from his hair to his clothes and even his shoes were getting wet. He caught a glimpse of him climbing. He did his best to aim and fired a shot out of frustration and then a second hoping for some luck but only heard Junior’s laughing. He climbed after Junior. He could hear him talking, purposely giving his position away.

The dock was insight. Surfer, “Two more shots. This is not good.”

Beach, “I think now not hearing shots would be bad. He must be missing if he has to keep shooting.”

Junior reached the top confirming in his mind that there were four shots fired and two remain. He looked around. He had limited his moving abilities here as this area was more closed off on one side and a steep drop facing the swamp. The forest below offered better choices in all directions. He would need to get around behind Bart once he caught up and then descend back to cover. It would be tricky. He crawled in below a short thick bush right at the entrance to the pond, Bart would surely pass this point in search of him.

When Bart reached the top wheezing out of breath and annoyed by the buzzing in his ears he stood right next to the bush hiding Junior while swatting at the flying kamakazi insects. He looked around not sure what to make of what he saw. He thought Junior had to be close in such a small area. He waited for a hint of his position gripping the hand gun to the point of his hand muscles tiring. Silence was the only sound.

Junior could see Bart’s feet from his position as he stood still. He wondered why he wasn’t moving. This was not going as planned. He dreaded that he made a huge strategic blunder. A black fly landed right on his forehead. His instinct was to smack it with his hand but instead slowly moved his hand toward it causing it to fly away. If it bit him he would have given away his position.

Bart moved around but stayed close to the entrance and the bush. He was waiting for Junior to pop out somewhere. He settled into using a smarter strategy. While growing up he played board games with his friends to help kill time so he could think things through if he slowed his thoughts down. Up until now Junior had gotten the better of him. He panned the area visually back and forth wondering why Junior had not showed himself. Then he thought maybe because he can’t show himself. He looked around where he was standing.

Junior panicked, stood and rushed Bart from behind. He grabbed him around the waist and pushed him into the pond. His momentum carried him in as well. When Junior surfaced he saw Bart flailing his arms around and sinking. He swam away to the shallow ledge and turned.

Bart, “Help, please help. I can't swim,” gasping before he went under.

Junior felt time slow down as he weighed the pros and cons of helping him. He had threatened his family with a gun. He probably dropped it now that saving his life had taken center stage as it sank. His parents taught him that he should always save anyone’s life if he could so he dove back in and swam to Bart. Circling behind him he grabbed up under his arms and pulled him to the ledge. Bart was coughing and seemed out of it but he was not dead. Junior pulled him up onto the rock formation away from the water. Bart continued to cough spewing water out of his lungs. Junior stood next to him catching his breath wondering what he should do. If he had some rope he could tie him up while he was in this condition. He knew that Bart would get better and try again to harm him and his family. What to do.

Surfer arrived at camp and went into the tent where she found the two sitting on the cots still tied. She said to them, “Let me get you free from the rope,” and started to try to untie Rob. The knots Beach tied were strong and tight while leaving just enough room so they didn’t feel any discomfort. She went outside and looked for a knife near the fire.

In the canoe heading back to the mainland again Yancy said, “Where did she get that gun, was it yours?”

Beach, “No. She wouldn’t take a gun because she said she wasn’t going to shoot anybody, but I convinced her to conceal one in case of an emergency.”

Yancy, “Shooting a hole in our canoe was an emergency?”

“I guess she thought so. She seems to have gone soft since she went to meet with the kid. Maybe she has a thing for him now. He is a shiny new object to her. We are really too close to her for her to get interested in any of us. I have had similar thoughts when thinking of her. You know she is like our sister.”

Yancy, “When we get back, I think we need to rethink our lives and what we are doing. There has to be more.”

Beach, “Surfer and I discussed taking the scooter and riding to Jacksonville. There should be people there. There could also be trouble. Just like when these folks came to our town and found trouble.”

Yancy, “Maybe we do it when we get back. The two of us. How would we recharge it?”

“Might not be able to, but there should be other possiblities. Let’s see how things go from here. We have along way to paddle,” Beach dug into the water with his paddle.