Servants of the Living Forest Read Free

the next hour, they made love.

Part II: The Lake
    Cameron swept the cabin. With each broad stroke, gray dust flecked with black billowed past the threshold.
    She stepped aside as Jocelyn returned with a pot filled with fresh water from the red pump adjacent to the small dwelling.
    They smiled at each other, still shining in their rosy afterglow.
    "We're really doing this, aren't we?" Cameron said. "I can't believe it."
    Jocelyn set the water onto the electric hot plate, their mugs waiting next to it with freeze-dried coffee inside. "And you doubted me!" she scoffed. "I'm going to turn on the generator, babe."
    "Okay. I'll be here. Thinking about you," Cameron said, no less bashful.
    Jocelyn smiled as she jogged up to her, and they shared a quick peck. "You're beautiful." And with a joyful giggle, she raced out and jaunted around the cabin.
    Jocelyn turned the last corner and suddenly stopped, her glee replaced with bafflement. The small red generator sat ahead, center of a brief clearing amid the tall grass, but her gaze was fixed on the scratches across the wall. She approached them, reached to the white contrasting the dark surface. They looked like claw marks, deep and jagged, but were cleanly made, almost deliberate.
    Then, with a small gasp, her hand shot to her chest as she realized the marks, nearly reaching the top of the cabin, were not only too high to have been made by an animal, but they were also fresh.
    Jocelyn spun in place and looked into the forest. Her heart pounded. She searched the seeming tranquility for any movement, any minor disturbance, and then looked again at the marks. They formed three lines, more or less vertical, over an uneven ring.
    "I wonder what it means," she said. She harrumphed, her smile returning. "Dumb girl. It's probably just a stupid prank or something. A bunch of drunk teens." She nodded. "Yeah, I bet that's what it is."
    She took a breath, composed herself, and got to work on the generator.
    At the other side of the cabin, Cameron swept contentedly, almost done and wondering if there was a way to clean the blood off the planks inside, when she looked up and froze in place.
    Across from her, standing next to the van, was a large, black Labrador.
    The dog stared at her, panting. She gripped the broom as she examined it from afar. It did not seem aggressive and wasn't foaming at the mouth. Then, it barked and wagged its tail, and her heart melted.
    "Oh! Hello," she said. She set down the broom and moved toward the dog with her palms out. "Hello, boy! It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."
    The dog cantered to her, sniffed her hands, and began licking them. Cameron beamed like the afternoon sun.
    Jocelyn skipped from around the cabin, then. "Generator's fixed." She glanced ahead and came to an abrupt stop. "Whoa! Okay, that's a huge dog! Cameron, what are you doing?"
    "No, it's okay," Cameron said, keeping her eyes forward. "He's not going to hurt us. Are you, boy?" Cameron felt over the dog's domed head and rubbed behind its ears, admiring the way the light shined off its coat. "See?" she said. "He's all right. You're awfully well behaved," she told the dog. "What's your name?" She looked under the dog's head and rotated its orange leather collar, but couldn't find any identification.
    Jocelyn approached behind her.
    "Huh. He doesn't have a tag," Cameron said. "We'll call him Sancho!"
    "We're not keeping him!" Jocelyn said, crossing her arms.
    "I don't want to take him back with us or anything. He obviously has an owner. Look how groomed and well cared for he is," she said. "And that's a tooled collar. He belongs to someone who's probably out looking for him right now. We'll just watch over him and keep him company. He's so quiet, I'm sure he won't bother us. I mean, come on. Just look at this face!"
    She held up Sancho's muzzle, giving the Labrador a gentle and lordly demeanor.
    "You know how people treat black dogs," she said. "They have the hardest time finding a forever