Chapter 9: Making a New Friend
The next morning I woke refreshed. The sun shined into my tent. The birds chirped, and the sun was warm on my face as I exited my tent. I heard the waterfall over the ridge. I'm glad I took a vacation, even though it was in the middle of winter. Dad, Greg and I used to camp all the time, so it prepared me for the cold. If I got too cold, I could sit in my car in the heat. I rekindled the fire and looked over the ridge at the waterfall and river while drinking my coffee. The fish were jumping. Good time to head down and try to catch a few. I grabbed my fishing pole and tackle box and hiked down to the river. I caught another 6 fish before lunch. Looking around, I noticed there was another person further up river. I squinted to see who it was. I thought I was alone up here? As long as they left me alone, I didn't care. Whoever it was moved like a female, I noticed. I moved a little closer to get a better look. It was a woman. She wore a white hat, work gloves, and overalls. I watched as she fished and caught at least 3 with every cast of her line. She reminded me of Amy, but that certainly wasn't her? I didn't even tell Greg where I was going.
She looked up and saw me and waved. I froze. She went back to fishing, and I looked around to see if there was anyone behind me. This was kind of creepy. She looked like Amy from a distance. No one knows I'm here, though. I packed my gear up and headed back to camp. As I sat next to the fire, I thought about how she could know that I was here. Unless she cloned my phone or figured out how to turn my location on when took those photos and video, she couldn't know. I looked up and saw the woman standing a short distance away from my camp, staring at me from behind a tree.
"HEY! Who are you and what do you want?" I yelled.
She ducked back behind the tree. I stared for several minutes to see if she would return, but she didn't. I sat back down and decided I should move on. The mountains were beautiful this time of year, and there are plenty of secluded spots to camp. After packing all my gear in the car, I looked at my paper map. Yes, I still used a paper map to plot camp spots. That's how dad taught Greg & I. It was a camping map anyway, so it had all the information pertaining to safe campsites, water, wildlife, etc. I headed up the mountain further. Maybe I would hike to the summit once I found a suitable spot? I drove up the road and saw the perfect spot facing due east in a clearing. The sun would warm up my tent in the morning better than the last campsite. I unpacked and started a fire. As I sat by the fire and studied my map, I heard twigs snap behind me. I stood up and spun around. I had a hunting knife on me, so if there was someone that was going to try anything, they would regret it... unless they had a gun.
"Hello? Who's there?" I said.
No answer.
"Hey! I said who's there? Come out. Show yourself!" I yelled this time.
The same woman peaked her head out from around a tree again. Who is she? What does she want? I got nervous. Was she going to kidnap me? Maybe torture or kill me? Son of a bitch. Why me? She came closer, and I stepped back, almost into the fire. I pulled my hunting knife and watched as she slowly stepped towards me.
"Who are you? What do you want?" I said.
She pulled her hood back and removed her hood.
"Take it easy. My name is Donna. I live just over the mountain. I saw you spying on me down there. You never waved back," she said with her hands raised.
"Yet you're still stepping towards me and you have a gun strapped to your side," I said.
She stopped and put her hands out.
"Ok, fair enough. You can put the knife away. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm just checking to make sure you're ok. No one ever comes up the mountain this far. I'm curious why you're here," she said.
"Well, I'm camping. Now, what do you really want?" I said.
"I never caught your name," she said, trying to disarm me.
"That's because I never told you my name. Now what do you want?" I snapped.
"Easy, killer. I told you, I'm not here to hurt you. Can I sit and we can talk?" she asked, gesturing to the fire.
I nodded and sat on one side. She sat on the other. She grabbed the coffeepot and my mug and poured herself a cup. I scowled and looked at my mug.
"Sure, help yourself," I said sarcastically.
"I think we started off on the wrong foot. Like I said, I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you're ok. No one ever comes up the mountain this far, so I got concerned when I saw you fishing this morning. That's all. Then again, having a fishing pole and seeing your camp didn't make me think you were a lost hiker. I figured you knew what you were doing. But you can never be too sure," she said.
"I suppose. My dad used to take my brother & I camping all the time, a lot through the winter. I'm no rookie when it comes to this," I said.
"Good. I've had to rescue more than a few hikers before. It's not my favorite thing to do," she said.
"Well, thank you for your concern," I said.
I sat there and stared at her with apprehension. She could see it and she stood up and handed me the mug, then turned to walk back to her cabin. She turned back and held out her hand.
"It was nice to meet you and be safe, whoever you are," she said.
"Jeff," I said, shaking her hand.
I watched her walk back down the mountain and sat back down. 'What the hell was that,' I thought, poking at the fire. Later that night, I laid at the door to my tent and stared into the dwindling embers. I was restless. I dozed in and out of sleep, because I thought I kept hearing strange noises outside.
'GRRRRRRR...' I heard outside. Something was rustling around behind my tent. I sat straight up and grabbed my knife. It sounded like it was coming around the backside of my tent. I almost shit myself, I was so scared.
'BANG,' suddenly rang out.
"What the fuck!?" I screamed.
