‘You always talked big about taking risks!’ Finley blurted. ‘Helen’s dead, you idiot! It isn’t a game anymore.’ She scowled over her shoulder. ‘This isn’t Wildman. This isn’t what’s-his-face getting carried away pretending he’s The Reaper. This is real. The guy’s a killer. You want to go back to the lodge and nail the bastard. So do I. I’d love to make him pay. But I don’t want to see you get your guts ripped out. Or Abilene or Vivian. Do you? We’ve lost Helen, for Godsake. We aren’t gonna lose anyone else. Not while I’m around. We’ll get out of here and we’ll let the cops take care of it.’
‘The cops won’t take care of shit!’
‘They wouldn’t do it right,’ Vivian said. Abilene looked at her, stunned. Vivian, of all people, was taking Finley’s side? She couldn’t want to go back. Not Vivian. ‘Even if they catch the guy and he gets convicted and everything, he’d only end up in prison.’
Cora gave Vivian an odd look as if she couldn’t believe her ears, either. ‘Have you lost your mind?’
‘I’ve lost Helen.’
‘Hunting down the killer won’t change that. She’ll still be dead. And maybe some of us’ll be dead, too.’
They came to the bottom of the driveway. Cora, stopping, looked up and down the road. ‘The nearest town’s that way, isn’t it?’ she asked, nodding to the left.
‘I think so,’ Vivian said. ‘That’s the way we came. I don’t know what’s in the other direction.’
‘We should’ve grabbed the map,’ Cora said, and headed to the left.
‘Just a second,’ Abilene said.
‘What?’
‘Maybe we’d better think about this.’
‘We’re not sure what’s the other way…’
‘That’s not what I mean.’
‘You want to go back, too?’
‘I didn’t say that.’
Frowning, Cora folded her arms and leaned back against one of the old totem poles. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘What are you saying?’
‘Just… I don’t want him to get away with it.’
‘Right on, Hickok.’
‘I don’t know about killing him, either. He sure deserves it, but… maybe we don’t want that on our consciences.’
‘I could live with it,’ Finley said.
‘The thing is, the cops might never even get their hands on the guy. I mean, twenty-eight people were slaughtered at the lodge and the killers got away with it. So what are the chances of the cops nailing whoever murdered Helen?’
‘Slim to none,’ Finley said.
‘If the cops can’t get him,’ Cora said, ‘what makes you think we can?’
‘He’ll come to us. He’ll come for us. So far, he’s stayed away because we’ve all been together. It’s like you said, he doesn’t want to take on all of us.’
‘Which means it’s probably just one guy,’ Vivian added. ‘But if he finds one of us alone…’
Cora nodded. ‘And the rest of us are out of sight.’
‘Right. We put out the bait. When he goes for it, we jump him.’
‘It’s still awfully risky,’ Cora said.
‘We’ve taken plenty of risks before. And I know, I know, it was never like this. But… what he did to Helen. We’ve always taken care of each other and we let her down, but the least we can do is make sure the bastard pays the price.’
Cora looked at the others. ‘You all want to do this?’
Vivian nodded.
Finley said, ‘Fuckin’-A.’
‘I’ll go along with it on one condition,’ Cora told them. ‘I’m the bait.’
‘You got it,’ Finley said. ‘And I’m gonna get it.’ With that, she set her camera on the ground and stepped to the other side of the driveway entrance. There, she wrapped her arms and legs around the leaning totem pole and began to shinny up it The post wobbled a bit.
‘What’re you doing?’ Vivian asked.
‘Trying not to fall.’
Watching, Abilene half expected Finley’s weight to uproot the pole and send it slamming to earth. ‘We’ll end up with another casualty before we even get started,’ she muttered.
‘If she gets crunched,’ Cora said, ‘we can use her as the bait.’
‘You guys are a laugh riot,’ Finley called down. Then, reaching overhead, she stretched her right arm toward an outspread wing of the strange, birdlike creature at the very top of the pole. She grabbed the hilt of the hunting knife that someone had embedded there. She worked the knife up and down. She jerked on it. The post shuddered.
Then the blade seemed to leap from the old, weathered wood. It came out with such a sudden release that Finley’s arm shot back. She yelled, ‘Aw, shit!’ as she slid sideways. She dropped the knife and hugged the post.
The others rushed forward. Cora rammed her back against the totem pole to brace it. Abilene and Vivian positioned themselves under Finley to catch her.
Finley dangled by her arms.
Abilene and Vivian reached high and grabbed her feet.
‘I’m okay. Just let go.’
They did as she asked. She kicked and swayed, and finally wrapped her legs around the post Then she began to work her way slowly downward, clinging to its underside.
‘Watch my face,’ Cora warned as the shoes neared her.
‘Can’t even see it.’
‘You’re low enough.’
‘Okay, okay.’ Finley’s legs released the pole. She swept back and forth like a pendulum until Abilene caught her around the thighs. Once she was steady, Abilene stepped away. Finley let go and dropped to the ground. Her face was red, shiny with sweat. ‘Thanks, guys.’
‘Dork,’ Abilene said.
‘Yeah, but I’m a dork with a weapon.’ She hunted around for a moment, found the knife and picked it up.
‘Everybody better stand back,’ Cora said.
They stepped clear of the totem pole, and Cora lurched out from under it. Without her back to support it, the pole stayed put.
‘Could’ve saved your energy,’ Finley told her.
Cora shrugged. ‘You never know.’
‘Anyway, thanks. I could’ve got turned into mashed potatoes.’
‘No sweat.’
With her empty hand, Finley brushed dirt and flakes of wood off the front of her clothes. Then she held up the knife. ‘It was worth some trouble, huh?’
The grimy blade, specked with rust, was at least eight inches long.
‘Quite a toad-sticker,’ Vivian said.
Cora walked back to the other totem pole. She’d dropped her tire iron there before rushing to Finley’s rescue. She picked it up. ‘If we’re really going through with this,’ she said, ‘we’d better lay our hands on some more weapons.’
‘There’s a fireplace poker in the lodge,’ Abilene said.
‘I know where there’s a shotgun,’ Finley said.
Vivian’s eyes widened. ‘Where?’
Finley gave her a mysterious look, but didn’t answer.
