Chapter 1.2

Sara threw one more glance in the direction of the buck as she continued on her hike. She had marked many locations on her map, almost all of them recommended to her by Steve. She had a general plan and schedule worked out for the trip, which is something she always did. Sara never strictly stuck to the plan or schedule, but she liked to have it, so she was not roaming about aimlessly. It also gave her family and friends a starting point if she failed to check in or return home. She always left a copy for her husband and a second copy in her car if something happened. 

Sara soaked up the sun on the bright June day as she made her way through the forest and glades. She had a specific location in mind for where she wanted to camp her first night and wanted to get there while the sun was still up so she could use her solar charger to ensure all of her batteries and devices were fully charged if it were going to be cloudy and raining for a few days, like the forecast had said it would be. 

Occasionally, Sara would hear a twig snap and look to see the buck was still following her. white-tailed deer had never scared her. There was no reason to be afraid of them. They were generally timid and docile; however, the bucks could be more aggressive during rutting season. But this one was not acting like any white-tailed deer she had ever encountered in her life. It was following her and seemed unafraid of her. She tried to brush it off; perhaps it had been raised by hand and then released, making it friendly toward humans. She hoped that was the reason for its bizarre behavior.

It was after five that afternoon when Sara reached the location where she wanted to set up her camp for the night. It was at the top of a hill with a steep drop-off to the west where she could look over one of the rivers that flowed through the forest. Trees surrounded the small opening on three sides, providing her with shelter and shade from the sun, making it perfect for her tent. The area near the edge was an excellent place to set up her small campfire to cook her dinner and boil the water she had collected for drinking. 

Sara made quick work of setting up camp and getting the fire started. As she waited for her dinner to cook, she set up the solar charger and began doing the battery checks. She pulled out her camera, saw it was still fully charged, and set it aside. When everything was charging and dinner was cooking, she tried to call her husband. Her phone signal was not good, but she hoped it would be good enough to make a call. If not, texting would have to do. She crossed her fingers as she waited for Kevin to answer.

“Hello, beautiful,” Kevin answered his phone. “Are you having fun?”

“Oh Kev, you have no idea how much I wish you were here with me,” Sara gushed as she looked out over the vista before her.

“That good, huh?”

“It is beautiful. Hang on. Let me try to get a picture so you can see this,” Sara told him.

Sara quickly snapped a picture of the view before her and sent it to her husband. She wanted him to know what she was getting to enjoy. A small part of her also wanted to make him jealous because he had been forced to back out of the trip at the last minute, thanks to a work emergency.

“Did you get it?” Sara asked after she had sent it.

“Hang on. I just got a message,” Kevin answered her. There was a slight pause before he spoke again. “Wow! Please tell me we get to camp there when we go there together.”

Sara let out a laugh and said, “Oh definitely! You know, I’m glad I ran into that guy, Steve, at the store last night. This is one of the places he told me about. I’ve got to say, he knows this place like the back of his hand.”

“Maybe we should have him over for dinner to thank him,” Kevin suggested. “As long as you make it back alive and he isn’t out there stalking you, that is.”

“Haha. Very funny,” Sara replied dryly. “No, seriously. I am thinking about maybe making him some cookies or something to say thank you. And as for stalking, the only thing stalking me here is this weird deer.”

Her husband questioned, “Weird deer?”

“I know how that sounds,” she admitted. “This deer, a big white-tailed buck, has been watching me since before I got out of my car. The thing has followed me every step of the way. I can hear twigs breaking back in the trees right now, and I know if I look, it will be that deer.” Sara turned and glanced over her shoulder to see the deer peeking around a tree at her. “Yup, there it is. It had to have been raised by hand and released here in the forest when it was old enough. That is the only thing I can think of.”

“Well, you’re not wrong. That is a weird deer,” Kevin said. “You are also probably right about it being raised by someone and then being released into the forest. Does it look sick or anything?”

“No, it looks like a huge, perfectly healthy, uninjured, white-tailed buck. Just in case I die in some strange or bizarre way, I have pictures of it so it can be identified.”

“You aren’t worried about what that Steve guy told you when it comes to the wendigo, are you?” Kevin questioned.

“No, I was joking. The deer is gorgeous, which is why I already have so many pictures of it. I think the wendigo is a good legend and was a way of explaining either animal attacks, murders, or even illnesses that were taking place around Roseau.”

Kevin asked, “Shouldn’t you be conserving your phone battery? Do we need to keep this short?”

Sara answered, “Not really. I brought six fully charged battery packs plus my solar charger. I used part of a battery pack to top off my phone earlier, and now that pack is on my solar charger.”

“I should have known you would be prepared with backups to your backups,” Kevin chuckled.

“Well, of course!” Sara laughed. “I’m a nurse trained in wilderness survival and whose hobby is backcountry hiking for weeks at a time. I know how to be prepared.”

“I’m guessing you already have your camp set up for the night and either have cooked dinner and sterilized water for your canteens, or you are in the process of it, which is why you called me as you kill time.”

“You know me well,” Sara said as she got up from where she was sitting and walked to her campfire. “I am taking care of dinner and water now, so it is a waiting game for both.”

“I do wish I was there with you,” Kevin told her wistfully. 

“I wish you were here too,” Sara answered softly. “I will send you pictures of the sunset tonight. I might even try a video chat so we can watch it set together.”

“I would love that. You can have your red beans and rice, and I will order a pizza. We can eat dinner together a few hundred miles apart,” Kevin told her.

Sara asked, “How in the world did you know I was having red beans and rice?”

“Because you always cook that on your first night out.”

“I do?”

“You do. Every time I have been out with you, you have made that the first night. It has never failed.”

Sara thought for a moment before she answered, “I do, don’t I? I didn’t even realize I did that. How didn’t I know that I do that?”

Kevin started laughing, “I don’t know. It isn’t a bad thing, but that is the one thing that is very predictable about your trips. Do you want me to tell you what other food you have with you and the order you will eat it in?”

“Noooo,” Sara laughed. “Sorry, my love, but I have to get off here for a little while and take care of everything I have on the fire. I’ll call you later so we can enjoy the sunset together.”

“No problem, Babe,” Kevin replied. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Bye,” Sara said, then hung up.

She stuck the phone in her pocket as she picked up her spoon to stir her dinner. As she stirred, she heard rustling in the trees behind her tent. She glanced up to see the buck nibbling at the leaves of a tree near her camp.

“You know,” Sara said to the deer. “If you are going to keep following me, I need to come up with a name for you. What about Jeff? Like Jeffery Dahmer.” She stood, turning to face the deer as it continued to munch on leaves daintily. “Nah, you’re not a Jeff. You’re more like Ted Bundy. Handsome, charming, and will kill me when I least expect it.”

The buck looked at Sara, flicked his ear, and snorted. He stared at her as he continued to chew on his mouth full of leaves. The gaze the deer had on her sent a shiver down Sara’s spine as she went back to her campfire. She could feel it watching her as she pulled her pot of water out of the fire and again stirred her dinner as it cooked. 

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