Part One continued: Strange sounds in the snow 

“What do you think, she’s just playing you?  Just having fun?”

“I don’t think that Curly.   It just seems too good to be true.  All I know is when I’m with Olivia, it’s the best feeling I’ve ever known.  I guess I’m just afraid to think about the future because this all seems like a dream and I’m going to wake up at any moment.”

“Now it’s my turn to ask you if you’ve told Olivia how you feel.”

“What, and scare her off?”

“A fine couple of Romeo’s we are, too timid to press our suits.”

“What’s that?’

“Just something I read or heard somewhere.  It means we’re afraid to tell the girls we’re in love with that we’re in love with them.”

” What do we do?”

“I guess we just have to be patient and see how things work out, and in the meantime, do our best to keep the girls interested till we can tell them our feelings without, you know, without it being too much of a shock.”

“I suppose that’s a good plan.”

“Hey Frankie, speaking of plans, how much further till we get back?”

“According to the trail map, we should be coming to a turn off any time.”

“Which way?”

“Wait a minute, let me make sure I’ve got the map turned the right way.   Looks like there’s a turn to the left that takes us down to some kind of bog, and then a turn to the right that leads up to the lodge”

“What about those  turn offs we passed a little while ago?”

“I didn’t notice them.  I guess I must have had my mind on something else.”

“Uh -huh,  fine time to be daydreaming.  What do we do, turn back?”

“The trail is curving to the right anyway.  Let’s follow it around this bend and see where that leads us.”

“Lead on, Meriwether.”  They walked in silence for a few moments till Phil said, “Sure is quiet out here.”

“Yeah, not a house, or a building anywhere in sight .”

“Look at the trail, Frankie .  Looks like nobody has been out this way in quite some time.”

“Yeah,  ours are the only tracks.  Of course we did get a fresh snow last night.  That would have covered any tracks from yesterday.

“That’s right.  Probably there were a lot of tracks here before that snowfall last night.”

“Yeah, after all this is the main trail.  Probably lot’s of people walk this way all the time.”

“Of course.  You’re sure this is the main trail, aren’t you Frankie?”

“Sure I’m sure.  At least, I was sure.  Anyway, It’s not like we’re actually lost.”

“No, not actually.”

“I mean, even if we don’t know where we are right now, we know the lodge is just over that way.”

“Probably just a mile or so away, don’t you think?”

“Sure a mile or so, maybe. ”

“Sure is quiet though.”

A sudden sound stopped the boys in their tracks.  It was a loud sound, unfamiliar and somewhat like a deep musical note blown on some fantastic kind of horn.

Phil looked at Frankie, “What was that?”

“I don’t know.  Sounded like the mating call of a moose.”

“Do you have moose around here?”

“No.  I was just kidding.  There are no moose around here.  At least I don’t think there are.  Anyway, what if it was?  Aren’t mooses vegetarians?”

“Yeah, that’s right, they are.  So what do you think it was?”

“I don’t know.”

“There it goes again.  Say, what’s bigger than a moose?  That sure is a loud sound.”

“I don’t know.  I think it’s coming from up ahead,  just around this bend.”

“Maybe it’s one of those wooly mammoth things.”

“You mean those things like hairy elephants?  Aren’t those extinct?”

“Yeah, that’s right.  I guess I’m just letting my imagination run away with me.  Besides the people at the resort would  have noticed a thing like a big hairy elephant roaming around in the woods.  I mean, what are the odds that you and I could  arrive last night and out of a clear blue, without even looking for it, be the first one’s to discover a giant animal like that, trumpeting and stomping around here in the woods?  The mere thought of such a thing is ridiculous.”

“You’re right Curly, that would be ridiculous; our first day here and we discover a mammoth roaming the woods.  Somebody else would have seen him first.  Anyway aren’t elephants vegetarians too?”

“Yeah, but did you ever see  one of those Tarzan movies and the way the elephants pick up the poachers or the ivory hunters or whoever they’re angry at with their trunks and just kind of toss them around like they were a child’s doll?”

“You don’t suppose it thinks we’re ivory hunters, do you Curly?”

“I don’t know.”

“I mean, we don’t look like a couple of poachers or ivory hunters, do we?”

“Not to me we don’t, but maybe the mammoth has never seen a Tarzan movie.  Frankie look!”

“A cabin!”

“Do you think that sound came from in there?”

As if in answer to Phil’s question, the sound repeated.

“I guess that answers that.”

“What do you suppose it could be?  That cabins too small for a mammoth.”

“I don’t know Frankie.  I guess we’d better go find out.”

“Might be some kind of wild animal that’s hurt in there, calling to its mate.”

“Or its pack.”

“Its pack?  You mean as in wolf pack?  Curly, I don’t think there are any wolves around here either.”

“Yeah, and you also thought mammoths were extinct, but we still haven’t figured out what could be making that noise.”

“Do you think maybe it’s a small mammoth?”

“You mean like a baby, calling for its mother?”

“That’s it Curly, like a baby calling to its mother.”

“If it is, then for our sake I hope the mother is nowhere nearby. ”

“Gosh, you’re right!  I don’t see anything.  I think we’d hear her crashing through the trees if she were charging us.”

“We’re almost there Frankie.”

“What if it’s an injured wolf?  I’ve heard  wild animals that are injured and feel cornered can be the most dangerous.”

“We’ll soon find out.  Duck down below these windows.  We’re almost to the door.”

“Curly, I think I saw those trees move!  Wait… wait… I guess it was just the wind.”

“Keep your voice low Frankie.  Don’t want the wolf, or the mammoth–”

“Don’t forget the moose!”

“All right.  The wolf, or the mammoth, or the moose, or whatever  is in there, to hear us.  My hand is on the door.  It doesn’t seem to be locked.  I’m going to gently push it open.  Stay to the side and give whatever frightening beast is in there plenty of room to charge out.”

“Right. ”

“Ready? ”

“I can’t look.  Tell me when  to run.”

“You’ve  got your eyes closed Frankie?  Okay.  Here goes.  The door is swinging open and I can see… I can see… Mr. Gordon!”

“Mr. Gordon?”

To be continued…

Click here to read Ski bums and Sagbutts: A Madcap Frolic in the Snow (Part 2fb).

If you would like to read the previous adventures of Phil and Frankie, start here Friends, Snowmen, Countrymen, Be of Good Cheer. A Tale of Christmas Time. (Part One.)

Be sure to visit www.listenviewreview.com

copyright 2017 R.K.Morris