CHAPTER#52

She slid the rental car keys into her pocket and they started walking. Her thick soled shoes were perfect for hiking, but the trail rapidly diminished. She found herself fighting to make it through the thick brush around the edges of the forest.

It was a sunny day, but the forest canopy kept her in the shade. She whistled quietly to herself, wishing she could listen to music while she walked. She certainly enjoyed listening to her turntable or the radio at home. Her happy tune began to sputter out as the trail steadily became more difficult. She could duck under branches, but the thicket was too massive to push through. She took enormous detours just to get around, stepping off of the trail to get to her destination.

Branches snatched at her clothing, tugging free her scarf. Grumbling to herself, she had to free herself numerous times from the thick vegetation. She was so caught up in keeping her clothes from ripping that she stumbled into a clearing backwards, turning around to kick a root free of her leg.

There he sat, his dark brown fur tangled up in knots. He had built a fire to cook some fish, several of them spitted over the flames. He was tossing some sort of herbs over them when she stepped out of the bushes. He sat up, his eyes already level with Emily. The skin of his face was dark, the hair growing around the outside of it. His dark eyes were kind, and he had several braids in his fur held together by string, ribbon and leaves.

"It's about time you got here," he said, his voice rumbling. "I was afraid you were lost."

"I... um..." She had expected a lot of things, but not this. "You're cooking?"

"Even Bigfoot gets hungry." He used one of his enormous feet to push a small boulder toward her. "Come. Have a seat."

"This is not at all what I expected." She sat down by the fire. The smoke of the flames sought her out immediately, then bent away at the last second. She would tolerate a lot of things from nature, but smoke in her eyes was not one of them.

"I could say the same about you. You carry yourself with confidence through these woods, yet you appear as a fragile beauty." Bigfoot smirked, scratching his cheek with a giant finger.

"You looked a lot bigger on film," Emily said, frowning.

"The camera adds fifteen pounds." Bigfoot lifted one of his fish off the fire. "You hungry? You look hungry."

"No, but..."

He handed over the fish, and she took it.

Up close, the trout smelled amazing and her stomach growled in anticipation. "I'm not here to eat your food."

"That one is for you. Figured you might be hungry after chasing me all morning." He winked and picked up the second stake with two fish on it. "Besides, I should probably eat less. That video wasn't very flattering."

She stared in disbelief. "You knew I was tracking you?"

"Yep. I have very keen senses. The sound and smell of your car are distinct, and the fact that they kept getting closer told me I was being pursued. I waited to see if you were friend or foe."

"And what would you have done if I was foe?"

Bigfoot stood up and casually sunk his fingers into the giant rock he had been sitting on. He pulled it straight out of the ground, the earth parting like sand. The boulder was easily the size of a trashcan and he hurled it with very little effort across the clearing where it crushed the trunk of a tree. It was clearly some form of elemental magic, and just as clearly casually induced.

"Christ." She looked at the broken tree and then down at the fish. She ripped a piece of flesh off and ate it. It had been seasoned with something sweet and lemony. "This is very good."

"Thank you. I pride myself on my cooking."

"Forgive me though, if I may ask. If Bigfoot are so good at hiding and can detect people from miles away, how did you get caught on video?"

"Oh. That." He sighed, momentarily lowering his fish. "The forest protects me in many ways. I am rarely seen, and even when I am, I have magic which can disguise me in plain sight, even when I'm moving. But even though the magic is automatic, I can find myself in a position where my faculties are, um, not as effective."

"Such as?"

He rolled his eyes. "I often like to incorporate floral delicacies into my meals. I found an interesting little hybrid that I thought would compliment my meal that evening. I made a wonderful little meal of it, put it in my salad, cooked it with some rabbit. Tasted phenomenal. About an hour later, I thought I was lost in the desert and a fucking cactus was trying to sell me an automobile."

"Wait, you got high?"

"Yeah, I was pretty messed up. There are so many plants out here with medicinal properties, and I am usually so careful. This one was pretty bad though. When I saw those guys, I was convinced they were judgmental mushrooms. Unfortunately, they just happened to have that camera thing of theirs." He took a bite of fish and snorted. "Fucking figures. No, I have so many people on my ass I should be charging rent."

"About that." She scooted closer to the fire. "I have a house, out on the east coast. It's a sanctuary for creatures like you and--"

"Nope." He took another bite and chewed it slowly. "I appreciate the offer, I really do. But you have to understand that, by nature, I am a restless spirit. I love to wander beneath the sky and commune with the animals. The forest isn't just my home. It's my soulmate, my best friend, the other half of my heart. While your home may be safe, I feel that I would not fare well in its presence. The others of my kind are tied to caves, the ice, and even swamps, so I wouldn't bother making them a similar offer."