Chapter 19

One year after Sara Walker had discovered the cabin built by Herschel Allen and the grave of Jim Smith, she stood with her husband Kevin outside the little log structure that had sheltered her when she had needed it most.  They had been back to the cabin and grave several times since the discovery, and with each time, Sara felt a sense of reverence for it. This time was no different.

“I still can’t believe you found this place the way you did,” Kevin told Sara as she pushed the door open.

Sara smiled and replied, “I know exactly what you mean. If I had not experienced it for myself, I would never believe it if someone told me it happened to them.”

As they walked inside, Kevin asked, “You really feel like they are here in this cabin, don’t you?”

“No,” Sara answered. “I feel like Herschel is here. Jim had no way of knowing what was in that journal. It got thrown at me twice while I was here. Like someone was telling me to read it. Herschel wanted me to know his story and about his family. I still feel that.”

“Any luck tracking down their descendants?” Kevin questioned.

“Not yet,” Sara sighed. “I am beginning to think that I won’t. I found the marriage license for Herschel and Sarah, which I had hoped for, but I couldn’t find anything from it. I also found the death certificates for Sarah and their son, Timothy, and where they are buried, but nothing from that either. They were the last of their family.” Sara walked over to the shelves and continued, “With Jim, there is absolutely nothing. There were no records kept. That means unless there is a way to get DNA from both men and run it for some kind of familial match, I don’t think I will ever find family members for them. I feel like I am letting them down.”

Kevin walked to Sara and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her and told her, “You did not let them down. You promised them that you would not let them be forgotten, and you haven’t. You are still looking for their families, and even if you don’t find them, I think Jim and Herschel would understand. Didn’t Herschel repeatedly say that Jim was his brother?”

“He did,” Sara confirmed.

“Then maybe you and I have become their family because they don’t have anyone else. Do you think that is possible?”

“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” Sara admitted. “I’ve been so focused on finding their blood relation that I never thought that we might have become their family.”

A snort came from the doorway, causing Sara and Kevin to turn and look toward the open entrance. An enormous white-tailed buck was standing at the door, filling it with his bulk. The deer looked into the cabin and at the couple. He dipped his head at them in acknowledgment.

“I was wondering where you were,” Sara said to the deer. “We are going to have lunch and rest a little before we hike back out. Are you going to walk with us?”

The deer let out a sigh and lowered himself to the ground at the doorway. The buck looked at Kevin and Sara calmly with his dark eyes as he shifted to make himself comfortable. 

“I think that is a yes,” Kevin said as he took off his backpack and reached to take Sara’s as she unbuckled hers.

“I think you’re right,” Sara laughed.

Kevin and Sara spread a small blanket on the floor of the cabin where they were going to eat. As they began to set out the food and have lunch, they tossed bits of fruit and granola bar to the deer lying at the cabin entrance. The buck happily ate each bite with a flick of his ear. They spent the next hour talking and relaxing as they ate before hiking back to their vehicle.

“I have noticed something about that deer the more I’m around him,” Kevin said to Sara. “You can see an intelligence in his eyes. He understands every word that is said, and his eyes look so human at times.”

Sara smiled and replied, “I know what you mean about him. That is what I saw and tried to explain when I was stuck in this cabin by the storms and even on the first day when he was following me around.”

“I’m not going to lie,” Kevin said with a long pause before he continued. “I sincerely questioned your sanity when you told me this deer is Jim Smith reincarnated…” 

The deer let out a snort, interrupting Kevin mid-sentence, and looked at him as if he were going to attack. 

“Let me finish!” Kevin exclaimed at the deer before turning back to his wife. “Sara, I think you are right about that deer, and now I feel like I am crazy for saying that.”

“Well, if we are both crazy, we can enjoy our descent into total madness together,” Sara laughed. “Kev, we are not crazy. The realization that you just came to is what happened to me while I was hiking out to meet you and Steve. That is why I had my little moment of panic. I was trying to wrap my brain around the fact that a deer could be the living spirit of a man who has been dead for decades.”

Kevin softly asked Sara, “What do you think happened to Herschel?”

“I don’t know,” Sara said. “I know physically, he never came back to this cabin. I wish I knew what happened so I could make sure he’s at peace.”

Kevin took Sara’s hand, squeezed it, and asked, “Why don’t we pack up and start heading out? We still need to stop by the grave and make sure everything is good there.”

“Yeah, I think we should,” Sara agreed.

The pair carefully placed everything they had brought into their backpacks and prepared for the hike back to the parking lot. As Sara adjusted her pack and secured the straps, she looked at her husband. Kevin had an odd expression on his face as he watched her.

“What’s wrong?” Sara asked with concern in her voice.

“Just thinking about all of the ‘what ifs’ that did not happen,” Kevin told her as he shook his head. “What if your antlered friend would have hit you harder? What if you had been hurt so bad that you couldn’t have hiked out or even made it to this cabin? What if we would have had to come and get you but couldn’t find you? What if we could not have found you in time? What if I had lost you?”

“My love, we cannot live our lives worrying about all of the things that could have happened but didn’t,” Sara told him before she kissed him. “Worry about the important things in life, like will they get our pizza order correct tonight or if crazed squirrels will attack us on the way out of here?”

Kevin started laughing. “Okay, okay, I get it. I need to stop worrying about the worst-case scenarios when it comes to you. Try to cut me a little slack on that. I love you, and it makes me worry.”

“You’re forgiven,” Sara said with a smile.

Kevin and Sara turned and started toward the door. The buck who had watched them the entire time they were in the cabin gracefully got to his feet and stepped to the side, allowing them to exit the structure. The deer patiently waited while the couple secured the door and started toward the circle of trees where Jim was laid to rest.

The short trek to the gravesite only took a few minutes. Kevin and Sara stopped at the edge of the clearing and gazed upon the stone mound near the center of the circle. They could see a small marker that had been placed beside the rock pile by the state, recognizing it as Jim Smith’s grave. Steve had spoken to his cousin Danny, and with his help, they had kept how the burial site was discovered a secret.

After they stood for several minutes in silence, Kevin squeezed Sara’s hand and softly asked, “Are you alright?”

Sara laid her head on his shoulder and said, “I’m alright.” She looked at Kevin and saw him wipe a tear from his cheek. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “I just…I don’t know. I can’t explain it.”

“You don’t have to. I’ve felt it before too. Today, it’s your turn.”

Kevin wiped his eyes again and said, “We should get going. Our friend is waiting to escort us out of the forest.”

Sara looked just outside the circle of trees to see the white-tailed deer standing, flicking his ears, and giving little snorts as if he was telling them to hurry. When they started to walk toward the deer, he trotted ahead of the couple and waited for them to catch up to him. As they walked, the deer fell in behind them, keeping pace as they hiked.

On that day, they made excellent time and were back to the parking lot in just over two hours. As always, the buck stopped at the tree line and watched as they continued into the parking lot and began putting their packs in the vehicle. When Sara and Kevin got in the car, they looked one last time to see the buck still watching. When Kevin started the car, the deer gave one last flick of his ear and glided back into the forest as they began the drive home.