Read Online (1995) The Oath by Frank Peretti - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Frank Peretti
Tags: Suspense
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his hiding place, rifle ready, and approached the fallen beast. He nudged it with his rifle barrel, then stooped to read the small ear tag.
“Three-eighteen,” he reported. “It’s Herman.”
Although Hyde Valley is best known for its gold and silver mining, the rugged trails and forestlands of Wells Peak and Saddlehorse Mountain provide a unique outdoor experience for hikers, campers, anglers, and hunters.
While Hyde Valley is rumored to have had more bear attacks per capita than anywhere else in the contiguous United States, such rumors derive more from tradition than fact and should not be taken seriously. Nevertheless, care and caution should always be exercised in the wild to prevent accidental encounters with bears. Always stay on the trails and take precautions with food.
From a local travel brochure, circa 1970
There was one griz we called Old Scar, lived up above the Tyler Gorge. He ate Jack Friday, I know. Jack went up there fishin’ and never came back, and all we ever found was his pole and one of his boots. Coulda been Old Scar ate Jules Howard, and maybe he ate that lady cook we had—what was her name? Nancy, I think. Somebody found her apron and part of her foot out in the woods, but nothin’ else. Yeah, it’s always been that way . . .
Retired miner Homer Bentlow in recorded interview,transcribed in Hyde River Memories by Jill Staten, copyright 1965
THREE
THE VICTIM
H ERMAN 318 , thanks to a team of hefty volunteers and a pickup truck, was now laid out on two sheets of one-inch plywood and several sawhorses in Marcus DuFresne’s garage near West Fork. Some of the volunteers wanted to hang around and see the verdict, but Marcus, being sensitive to Steve’s situation, thanked them and sent them away.
The two men went about the autopsy slowly, working under the ceiling lights and also employing a mechanic’s worklight at times. Just as Marcus let Steve have the first shot, he now let Steve handle the knife.
Marcus had already estimated the bear’s age to be between ten and twelve years. Herman was a healthy bear with a good supply of fat under his hide, so hunger wasn’t an obvious motivator for aggression. They found no significant wounds or injuries, only the bullet wounds Steve had inflicted.
As for the contents of the stomach and intestines . . .
“Well,” Steve said, wiping his hands on a towel, “we weren’t expecting much anyway, were we?”
Marcus shook his head. “I don’t know what to say.”
They found doughnuts and bacon grease, of course, but 318 had also been feeding quite well on berries, roots, and herbage. There were a few shreds of food wrappings from someone’s garbage. As for flesh of any kind, there was no sign of it. Steve felt disappointed and relieved at the same time.
“He hasn’t been feeding exclusively on human waste,” Steve observed, “but I would say his diet suggests habituation.”
“Although that’s all it suggests,” Marcus countered.
“I agree. We can extrapolate and infer aggression, but there’s no objective evidence.”
They both looked forlornly at the old dead bear, its belly opened like a broken suitcase, its innards spread out over the makeshift table.
“And you’re sure you don’t have some other candidates out there?” Steve asked.
Marcus gave a slight chuckle. “Well, all I can say is that Herman was the best, most likely candidate; he was the most logical candidate, and given what we know . . . I guess we got the culprit.”
Steve was unsatisfied and didn’t hide it. “We’ll see what Evie has to say.”
“How’s she doing?”
“She was in bad shape yesterday, but I’m sure she’ll be okay, given time. I hope she can tell us what happened.”
“That would clear things up, for sure.”
Then came a silence. Both men were thinking the same thing, but Marcus was afraid to mention it and Steve didn’t want to talk about it.
Marcus finally gave it a try. “So when’s that autopsy?”
“It was
“Three-eighteen,” he reported. “It’s Herman.”
Although Hyde Valley is best known for its gold and silver mining, the rugged trails and forestlands of Wells Peak and Saddlehorse Mountain provide a unique outdoor experience for hikers, campers, anglers, and hunters.
While Hyde Valley is rumored to have had more bear attacks per capita than anywhere else in the contiguous United States, such rumors derive more from tradition than fact and should not be taken seriously. Nevertheless, care and caution should always be exercised in the wild to prevent accidental encounters with bears. Always stay on the trails and take precautions with food.
From a local travel brochure, circa 1970
There was one griz we called Old Scar, lived up above the Tyler Gorge. He ate Jack Friday, I know. Jack went up there fishin’ and never came back, and all we ever found was his pole and one of his boots. Coulda been Old Scar ate Jules Howard, and maybe he ate that lady cook we had—what was her name? Nancy, I think. Somebody found her apron and part of her foot out in the woods, but nothin’ else. Yeah, it’s always been that way . . .
Retired miner Homer Bentlow in recorded interview,transcribed in Hyde River Memories by Jill Staten, copyright 1965
THREE
THE VICTIM
H ERMAN 318 , thanks to a team of hefty volunteers and a pickup truck, was now laid out on two sheets of one-inch plywood and several sawhorses in Marcus DuFresne’s garage near West Fork. Some of the volunteers wanted to hang around and see the verdict, but Marcus, being sensitive to Steve’s situation, thanked them and sent them away.
The two men went about the autopsy slowly, working under the ceiling lights and also employing a mechanic’s worklight at times. Just as Marcus let Steve have the first shot, he now let Steve handle the knife.
Marcus had already estimated the bear’s age to be between ten and twelve years. Herman was a healthy bear with a good supply of fat under his hide, so hunger wasn’t an obvious motivator for aggression. They found no significant wounds or injuries, only the bullet wounds Steve had inflicted.
As for the contents of the stomach and intestines . . .
“Well,” Steve said, wiping his hands on a towel, “we weren’t expecting much anyway, were we?”
Marcus shook his head. “I don’t know what to say.”
They found doughnuts and bacon grease, of course, but 318 had also been feeding quite well on berries, roots, and herbage. There were a few shreds of food wrappings from someone’s garbage. As for flesh of any kind, there was no sign of it. Steve felt disappointed and relieved at the same time.
“He hasn’t been feeding exclusively on human waste,” Steve observed, “but I would say his diet suggests habituation.”
“Although that’s all it suggests,” Marcus countered.
“I agree. We can extrapolate and infer aggression, but there’s no objective evidence.”
They both looked forlornly at the old dead bear, its belly opened like a broken suitcase, its innards spread out over the makeshift table.
“And you’re sure you don’t have some other candidates out there?” Steve asked.
Marcus gave a slight chuckle. “Well, all I can say is that Herman was the best, most likely candidate; he was the most logical candidate, and given what we know . . . I guess we got the culprit.”
Steve was unsatisfied and didn’t hide it. “We’ll see what Evie has to say.”
“How’s she doing?”
“She was in bad shape yesterday, but I’m sure she’ll be okay, given time. I hope she can tell us what happened.”
“That would clear things up, for sure.”
Then came a silence. Both men were thinking the same thing, but Marcus was afraid to mention it and Steve didn’t want to talk about it.
Marcus finally gave it a try. “So when’s that autopsy?”
“It was
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