An original short story: The Woods by Patty Panni

The Woods by Patty Panni

~ Murder and Mayhem. But the dog lives.

Before Carmen left the house that morning, she threw a granola bar and some water into her rucksack, grabbed her jacket off the hook by the door, and whistled for Beau, her sixty-pound Lab. Tuesdays were her day off from the precinct and, when the weather was nice, like today, she and Beau were always up for a hike. Beau wasn’t as rambunctious as he used to be, so they were both usually ready to return to the house after a couple hours.

But something was different today. A lilt to the breeze, perhaps, rustling the sycamore leaves and wafting the scent of honeysuckle over woman and dog. So they tromped deeper into the woods than they usually roamed. No premonition rankled her senses; nothing prepared her for what they would find as they topped a hill.

Below, in a small clearing, Carmen saw a figure, bent over something on the ground. She stopped short, surprised to see anyone else. The woods behind her house stretched on for miles and, except during deer hunting season, it was rare to see another person. Beau, perhaps sensing her hesitation, perhaps smelling something he didn’t like, growled low in his throat. That was what made the man – she could clearly see it was a man now – stop what he was doing and look up. As he straightened up, Carmen saw what he was bending over. It was a woman, covered in blood.

The man called out, “Oh, thank God. My—my wife—” he gestured to the ground, “—has been hurt. Does your cell phone have service out here?”

Carmen’s eyes roved over him. He was a big man, well over six feet, with blond hair. His hands and arms were covered in the woman’s blood. So much blood. She stayed where she was. “What happened?”

Did his eyes narrow a bit?

“It was…some type of animal. She’d gone on ahead when I stopped to tie my shoe. I heard her scream, heard growling and some sort of struggle. I…ran ahead and found her like this.” He looked down at the woman. “I…I didn’t know what to do. I tried to stop the bleeding, but it’s…well, you can see how bad it is.” He took a step toward them and Beau growled again. The man eyed Beau and stayed where he was. “Anyway, my cell won’t work. If you could call 911 for me, that’d be great.”

His voice was very calm for someone standing over his dying wife. Carmen’s senses rankled; something was wrong with this picture. The story he painted just didn’t make sense. What kind of animal would attack a person in the middle of the day, with no provocation? Was that a knife lying next to the woman? She knew there was no cell service this deep in the woods; she would have to backtrack a good ways before finding a signal. She took a step back.

The man’s eyes roved over Carmen, before coming to rest on Beau.

He’s sizing me up. Carmen knew, at just over one hundred pounds, she didn’t look like much of an opponent.

She took another step back and said, “Sure, I can call 911. My phone has really good service out here.” She took out her cell phone and mimed calling 911. Waited for a minute, then began speaking.

Before Carmen could say more than a few words the man was upon her. He snatched the cell phone out of her hand and glanced at it before saying, “Ha!” and flinging it down. She heard Beau snarling and thrashing, then a high-pitched whine as the man’s boot made contact with Beau’s nose. That’s when she sprung into action.

“Beau, come!” She started all-out running, not looking back. She could hear Beau – and the man – right behind her. They were crashing through brush and leaves. Carmen felt her toe hit something solid, a root, maybe, and she fell, hard. In an instant, the man was on her and they were rolling over, once, twice. She ended up on her back with the man on top of her. Beau had hold of the man’s arm, and he wasn’t letting go.

The man reached for a rock with his free hand. His eyes met Carmen’s for an instant, then he smashed the rock down on Beau’s head. Instantly, Beau released the man’s arm and settled into the leaves, unmoving.

Carmen, who had seized that moment to roll away from him, looked in horror at her beloved dog. “Beau!” She could see a smear of blood where the rock had struck him. A sudden rage filled her and she jumped up. “You’re an animal! You killed that woman and now you’ve killed my dog!” She was trying to remember if her .22 compact was in the bottom her knapsack. It wasn’t unusual to run across copperheads, especially early in the morning, and she usually made sure to have it in the bag. But now, in this moment, she wasn’t sure it was there. The bag was nearer to the man’s feet than hers, and she didn’t know if she could get to it. But she had to try.

“Yeah, you kind of crashed my party.” The man spoke conversationally, like they were standing at a bar and not at a murder scene. “That young lady was my date last night. Things got…well, let’s just say things got out of hand.” He chuckled.

Carmen’s eyes went from Beau to her bag to the man’s face. Back to Beau. Did he just move? Yes, Beau definitely moved his head, just a bit. Carmen knew she had to help her dog, but first she had to deal with the man. “What do you mean, ‘things got out of hand’?” Her mind was racing.

“Oh, you know. It seemed like she was up for a good time, then she changed her mind. They always change their mind.” He smiled. “So I brought her out here to finish the fun.”

Carmen could smell the woman’s blood from where she stood. She looked down. It was smeared all over her clothes now. She swallowed hard. She needed to keep him talking until she could figure out what to do.

“So she changed her mind. I could see how you could’ve misunderstood that. It was just an accident.” She lifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug.

The man regarded her steadily. “Oh, it was no accident. It was a pleasure. A great pleasure. And running across you – or rather, you running across me? That’s what I call a ‘twofer’ – a two-for-one special. A red letter day.” He took a step towards her. “Now, we’re going to go back over that hill.” His eyes were menacing, black in his face. He threw her knapsack over his shoulder in one smooth motion, then with a vice grip on her arm, began walking them back to his kill site.

Carmen looked over her shoulder at Beau as she was dragged away.

“Oh, yes. The dog was unfortunate. Couldn’t be helped.” The man walked fast, and Carmen stumbled to keep up. “What’s your name?”

“Carmen. What’s yours?”

They walked a few more feet before the man said, “Oh, what the hell. It’s not like you’ll be around to tell anyone. The name is Phillip. Pleased to meet you, Carmen. Do you come here often?” He chuckled, like he’d just told a funny joke.

“Actually, I do. I come out here all the time. I live nearby. Bring my friends and family out here a lot.”

“Oh now, I know that’s not true. We came out here on my four wheeler. There are no houses within fifteen miles of here, just an old dirt road nobody uses.”

“Oh, but there are. My cabin’s just a few miles, that way.” Carmen motioned over her shoulder. To her satisfaction, she saw a momentary flash of uncertainty cross his face. “We’ve been coming out here for years. The trails are easy to follow.”

His hand tightened on her arm and she resisted the urge to pull away. She eyed the knapsack. It was slung on his shoulder nearest her. “I’m surprised you didn’t know. My cabin’s just one of several. All the neighbors use the trails. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone else was out here today.”

The man smiled. She’d overplayed her hand. “You’re lying. But that’s okay. I know it can be stressful, meeting someone like me.”

It’s stressful all right, mother fucker. Hopefully I can show you just how stressful it is.

Carmen collapsed, reaching for her ankle. “Ow! Stop, I…I turned my ankle.”

The man stopped, releasing her arm for a moment, and that was all she needed. She lunged for the bag, ripping it off his shoulder. In one smooth motion Carmen stepped out of his reach and reached into the knapsack. She felt the rubber grip of her .22. Without looking down, she pulled it out, took off the safety, and cocked it. Her Browning Compact held ten rounds. She hoped it would be enough.

“Whoa!” He held his hand up and took a step back.

“Yeah, whoa. You and I are gonna walk out of here. Go. Now!” She jerked her gun towards him.

He made a half turn and took a step or two before stopping.

“I said move.”

“I don’t think you’d really shoot me.” He gave her a lazy grin. “And even if you did, you’re a tiny girl with a tiny gun. I can stop you before the gun stops me.”

He lunged toward her. Aiming for center mass, Carmen squeezed the trigger. Kept squeezing until the gun was empty.

He made one more step, reaching towards her, his mouth formed into an O. Then he fell, crashing into the brush.

All Carmen could hear was her heartbeat, pounding in her ears. She stood over the man for a minute, to see if he would try to get up, but he was still. She felt his neck for a pulse. Nothing. Then, she started running.

“Beau!” She topped the hill and headed down to where Beau was. Then she saw him, walking toward her. “Beau! Oh sweet boy, you’re the best boy ever.” The tears came then, hard and fast, as they walked out of the woods and back to her cottage. Carmen thanked the heavens that she still had a landline. She dialed 911 with shaking hands and waited.

“This is Officer Carmen Montoya. I need to report a murder. I…I killed the assailant. That’s right. Send help, please.” She sunk to the floor, Beau’s head in her lap. He had a big bump on his head that needed attention as soon as possible.

As they sat there, waiting for the Cavalry, Carmen petted Beau and whispered, “Good dog.”