The Other Side of Lone Mountain

Chapter Thirty-Two

Mandy and Paul headed up the mountain to talk to Steve and Gill. When they arrived at the campsite they found no one around. Paul and Mandy decided to check the forest where the guys should be working. Mandy knew the forest on the other side of the mountain much better that she did this one. They had gone several miles with no signs of the workers. Mandy began to get a little nervous. “I wonder what’s going on” she said, thinking aloud. “The men should be here working, but there’s no sign of any one. Just then a shot rang out and whizzed by Mandy’s ear just missing her head. They both ducked behind a big Sugar Maple tree. She couldn’t tell exactly where the shot came from. Suddenly, they were both facing three large lumberjacks with rifles pointed right at them.

“The boss’ll be glad to see you two. Let’s go.” said the largest one. He seemed to be the one in charge of this little round up.

He led them to a place Mandy had never noticed up here before. It was a make shift campsite. Gill was waiting for them. “You just couldn’t leave it alone, could you Mandy? You didn’t tell me that the man you found up here was a friend of your hiking buddy. You also didn’t tell me that he told you what happened. I can’t let you two go any further.”

“What do you intend to do with us?” asked Mandy although she had a pretty good idea.

“I damned well don’t intend to let you go on sticking your nose into our business, that’s for sure. Steve, get her radio, and her pistol. I don’t want her contacting anyone; and then tie them up. I’ve got to figure out what I’m going to do with them.”

“The Sheriff knows we came up here and if he doesn’t here from us he’ll be coming up here looking for us”, said Paul.

“He can come if he wants, because by the time he realizes you’re missing it’ll be too late. By that time both of you will be history.”

Mandy decided to get some information since Gill believed he was going to kill them anyway, “Gill, I’m curious, Mark told us he saw you and another man arguing up here the night he was tossed over the ridge. Who was that man? “Is he the one in charge of your little operation?”

“I’m in charge up here!” he angrily replied. “I guess I can tell you now, since there’s nothing you can do about it. He’s the man I’m doing business with. He owns a saw mill.”

“Why were you arguing?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“See; we know that you’re stealing timber and selling it. I bet you were trying to shake him down for more money and he refused. I also don’t think that you’re the one in charge of this business, and you feel that your boss isn’t giving you a big enough piece of the action since you’re the one taking all the chances. Am I right?”

“Yeh. When I told him he had to pay more for the timber, he said he wasn’t going to pay a penny more because his agreement wasn’t with me. We then got into a big argument about it.”

“So am I correct in assuming that you have been selling this man illegal timber?”

“Yeh, but it wasn’t my idea.”

“Whose idea was it?”

“Do you really think I’m going to tell you that?”

“Well, I figure since you’re going to kill us anyway, what’s the harm in telling us, who are we gonna tell?” Mandy had been looking around the whole time and she noticed that most of the guys were gone. There were only two guys left besides Gill. Steve seemed to have disappeared as well.

Gill said, “I’ve got to make some arrangements for the two of you so I’ll be seeing you shortly. You”, he called to one of the two men, “keep an eye on these two while I’m gone. If they give you any trouble, kill em.”

Paul and Mandy were sitting on the ground with their hands tied behind them, leaning against a big Pine Tree. After Gill left and the two guys moved over to the other side, Mandy whispered to Paul, “Move closer”

“Mandy, I don’t think this is the time or the place, as much as I enjoy being close to you.”

“Cute Paul, I mean come closer and let’s turn back to back so I can untie your hands and then you can untie mine so we can turn the table on these guys.”

“How do you plan on doing that? We left the rifle in the car and they have your gun.”

“Remember the extra gun I took from the station? Well it’s tucked in my boot. I told you Gill wasn’t very bright. He never thought to look for a second gun.”
It took Mandy a few minutes to finally loosen the knots on Paul’s rope and he was able to slip out of them. He then turned around and untied Mandy. The two guys were deep into whatever conversation they were having they never noticed when Paul and Mandy slipped away. They ran into the forest. They couldn’t get back to their vehicle, so they just kept running further into the forest.

Gill returned to find his captives gone, he was furious. He went off on the two men that were suppose to be guarding them. “Now I want the two you morons to find them and bring them back and I don’t care if they’re dead or alive. And don’t screw it up this time!” he roared.

Paul and Mandy found them-selves in a section of the forest Mandy had never been before. Suddenly, Mandy tripped and on a stump and fell. Paul was instantly in front of her. When she tried to stand she found that she had hurt her ankle. “Mandy, don’t try to stand up. Let me take a look at your ankle, it might be broken.” Paul lifted her foot and looked at the ankle. “It’s already starting to swell.” He gently pressed on it and Mandy lets out a small cry. “I don’t think it’s broken but you seem to have a severe sprain”

“Oh great! Now we’ll never get off this mountain. No transportation and now I have a sprained ankle.” Paul also checked to make sure she hadn’t damaged any other part of her leg. “Everything seems okay.” Mandy looked at the stump she had tripped over.

“Hey Paul, look at this!” “What?” asked Paul.

“This tree stump. It looks like a new cut. I think this is one of the illegal cuts. Damn!! I’m going to bring Gill and his operation down if it’s the last thing I do!” exclaimed Mandy.”

“Okay, but right now we need to get out of here, but let’s take care of your leg first.” He took off his jacket and then removed his shirt. He tore his shirt into several strips and then he found the straightest limb possible. He placed the limb against her leg to keep it straight, just in case she may have fractured the leg. He then tied the strips in three sections to keep it in place. “Okay, how does that feel?” he asked.

“It hurts like hell but I can handle it.”

“We need to get moving. I know they’re probably looking for us by now. I hope the Calvary arrives soon. I don’t know how long we can keep dodging these guys.” They headed deeper and deeper into the forest. Suddenly they came upon an area that made Mandy come to a sudden stop. “What’s wrong?” asked Paul.

“I know this section of forest and there’s something wrong. There should be trees in this area but all the trees have been cut down. I don’t think is one of the assigned harvesting locations. I’m going to check with the Department of Forestry to find out if they know about this and did they sanction it. But first, we need to get off this mountain.” Paul helped Mandy stand up by having her lean on him. They continued through the forest. Suddenly they heard footsteps coming from the direction they were traveling so they turned and began to retracing their steps and walked right into the two men Gill had left to guard them. They were both carrying a rifle that they pointed straight at Paul and Mandy.

“Thought you could get away, did ya”, laughed one of them. Then he looksed at his partner and told him to tie them up again.

“She’s hurt, if you tie her up she won’t be able to walk on her own and she won’t be able to hold onto me”, said Paul.

“Okay, you can help her but don’t even think of trying anything. Let’s go.” Just then two more men stepped out from the direction they had heard the footsteps. The four men sandwiched Paul and Mandy between them and steered them back to where Gill was waiting.

After a few minutes they were facing Gill again. “Well, well. You know we must stop meeting like this. Thought you could get away didn’t you. You two have meddled in my business for the last time.” Gill ordered two of the men; “Take care of them.”

Paul and Mandy were taken to an area of forest that was never traveled. There they were tied to a pine tree and food was placed in front of them. “I’m sure the bears will find the treat we’ve left for them quite enjoyable”, said one of the men.

“Yeh, people will think the two of you simply encountered some hungry bears”, said the other guy.

After the two men left Paul asked Mandy, “Do you think Jeff will show up before we become a bear’s next gourmet meal?”

“I sure hope so. I know they’ll be up here but now will they be able to find us is the million-dollar question. Anyway, if we don’t get loose and get out of here, we may not have to worry about anyone finding us.”

“Who do you think is Gill’s boss?” asked Paul. “I don’t know but I know he has to be working for someone else because he doesn’t have the brains to set anything up for himself.” They were tied to the same tree so Mandy felt that with a little maneuvering they could get free. Mandy tried to maneuver herself closer to Paul. But every time she tried to put weight on her bad foot, pain shot straight up her leg and she winced, not wanting to cry out. She decided not to let a little pain stop her. She continued to maneuver closer to Paul. See if you can move a little towards me.” They both squirmed closer until Mandy was almost able to reach Paul’s hands. “I can almost reach you. Can you stretch your arms back a little?”

“I’ll try, I feel like a pretzel.” Paul stretched his arms back as far as he could. Mandy was finally able to reach him and she went to work on the ropes. She heard someone coming so she stopped. It was Gill.

“Just came to make sure you’re both comfortable. I’m glad I did, those idiots can’t do anything right. They put the two of you too close together. I wouldn’t want you getting any ideas on escaping.” He pulled out his gun and aimed it at Mandy. “I’m going to untie you from this tree and don’t even try anything smart because I will kill both of you right here and now.” He kept his gun trained on her as he untied her from the tree. “Okay, over there” he said pointing to the tree next to Paul. He tied Mandy to the tree, took some of the food fro the first tree and scatters it in front of Mandy; then he said goodnight. He began laughing as he walked away.

After he left Paul asked, “What do we do now?”

“I’m thinking, I’m thinking!” she replied. They seemed to be in a serious mess. After several minutes Mandy figured she would try to work the ropes on her hands. If she could loosen them enough she would be able to slip her hands out. After what seemed like an hour, but in essence was only half an hour, she felt the rope loosening. Her wrists were bleeding and raw, but she kept working the rope. Paul had started doing the same thing but Mandy stopped him. Here wrists were so torn up Paul would have to be the one to protect them so he couldn’t afford to hurt his wrists or hands. So Paul waited for Mandy to get loose and untie him. After another fifteen minutes, she was finally free. She untied the rope holding her against the tree. Then she hobbled over to Paul and untied him. Once again they were free.

“Where do we go from here?” asked Paul. I say let’s get the hell out of here and come back tomorrow with the troops” suggested Paul.

“I’m inclined to agree with you. I still have the .45 but we can’t take on all those guys. These woods can be very dangerous at night. It gets very dark up here in the mountains. I don’t know where Jeff and the boys are but we can’t wait for them. We need to get out of here now.”

“What about our vehicle, do you think we can make it back to the camp and get it?”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea. I’m sure there will be someone there and we would never be able to get to the vehicle. We’re going to have to hike back down the mountain.”

“This will probably be the longest hike either one of us will ever take. Are you going to be okay, on that leg?”

“Yeh, it’ll be slow going but I don’t think they’re going to check on us anymore so we should be okay for a while.”

Suddenly Mandy heard someone calling her name, but in a very soft whisper. “Mandy, Mandy, over here” whispered the voice. Mandy and Paul followed the sound of the voice. It was Steve and he was hiding behind a tree a few feet away from where they had been standing.

“Steve, what are you doing here?” Mandy asked.

“Come on, I’ll show you a short cut off the mountain.”

“Steve, why are you helping us? Have you seen the Sheriff up here?”

“Gill is crazy. I had no idea what he was doing. I saw the Sheriff talking to Gill. He asked Gill if he’d seen you two and Gill said ya, and that you had already left.”

“I wanted to tell the Sheriff where you were but if I did that, Gill would have killed me. He’s really mean.”

“Steve, I need to ask you something. Will you answer me honestly?”

“Sure.”

“What do you know about the guy who owns that gray truck I found abandoned? Now don’t tell me you don’t know anything about it because we found your fingerprints all over that truck.”

“Mandy, all I did was whatever Gill told me to do. I didn’t have nothin to do with that man bein thrown over the ridge.”

“And you don’t know that Gill is illegally cutting down trees?”

“He never tells me nothin, he just gives me orders.”

“Is he the one who told you to knock Mark out?”

“Yeh, he told me to keep an eye out for anyone who didn’t belong here. If I saw someone, I was to make sure they couldn’t run an tell anybody before he was gone. So, when I saw your friend watchin them, I just knocked him out. But I had nothin to do with throwin him over the ridge. I guess a couple of the other guys went and got him after I left.”

“What about the truck?”

“Gill told me to move it out of sight by takin it to the old skidway and run it off the road. Honest Mandy, that’s all I did. I never hurt nobody. I wanted to come forward before, but Gill threatened me, he said it would be easy to arrange an accident for me just like what happened to your daddy and Kenny.”

“Do you know what happened to them Steve?” asked Mandy ore animated than she had been in the last few hours.

“Yes, but I was always afraid to say anythin.”

“Steve, why don’t you come with us now and tell everything to the Sheriff. Then we can come back up here and haul Gill and his boys in.”

“I can’t do that, if Gill finds out that I helped you, he’ll kill me.”

“We can get you protection until we get them locked up. I promise we won’t let anything happen to you. We need to stop Gill and whoever his boss is. Would you happen to know who Gill works for?”

“No, I know he gets a call once a week and he makes arrangements to meet this person, but I have no idea who it is. Look, there’s the road, just take that all the way down. They won’t find you. Nobody really knows about this road. I gotta get back. Good luck.” With that Steve took off to meet up with Gill and the other guys.

“Paul, take the gun out of my boot and the bullets in my coat pocket and load it. We may need it before we get to the bottom of this mountain. I’m not getting tied up again tonight. I’ll kill someone first.”

They began the slow walk down the trail Steve had shown them. “This might be a short cut but it’s not the easiest way” remarked Paul. “Will you be okay on that leg? I can carry you if need be.”

“No, I can make it for now. If it gets any worse I’ll let you know.” Paul is right, thought Mandy; this is a real rough road. Not many places to hide and much too rocky. Suddenly Paul felt something poking in his back and a voice said; “You two are becoming a pain in the ass. You can’t seem to stay put. Now I’m going to have to take you back again.”

Paul looked at Mandy and whispered; “Sweetie you’re on your own this time” as he let go of her. Mandy lost her balances and fell to the ground. At the same time Paul dropped to the ground and as his hands hit the ground he extended his left leg back and caught their captor at the ankle and sent him falling backwards. As he fell he lost his grip on the rifle which went sailing into the air. At the same time Paul stood up and turned just in time to catch the rifle before it could hit the ground. Before their captor was able get up again Paul turned and hit him on the jaw with the butt of the rifle and knocked him out. It all took place so quickly that Mandy wasn’t sure what she had just witnessed.
He now turned back to Mandy. “Sorry about that, how are you doing?” She looked up at him, still trying to understand what she had just witnessed.

“Where did you learn those moves?”

“I said I never shot a gun, I didn’t say I was helpless.”

“I know, but those moves, they were incredible!”

“I’ll tell you about that after we get to safety and you have your ankle taken care of.”

“With those kinds of moves you don’t need a gun! WOW!! You’re my Hero!” she said batting her eyes up at him.

“I don’t know about that. I just couldn’t let that little creep take us back to Gill again. Not this time. I’m going to tie him up then we’ll leave.”

Suddenly someone broke through the brush; it was Lone Wolfe. “Lone Wolfe! How did you find us? cried Mandy.

“Never mind that, what happened here?”

“Paul just saved us from one of Gill’s goons.”

“Really?”, he said looking at Paul. “Sorry I missed the action.”

“Yup, he’s a real live hero!”

“Boy am I glad to see you”, chimed Paul. “Now you can help us off this mountain before Gill sends more of his goons after us. By the way; how did you find us?”

“I’ll tell you later, right now let’s get you guys to some shelter while I get my truck and come back for you.”

Lone Wolfe woke the would-be captor and helped him to his feet. “Come on, let’s go.” Lone Wolfe led the trio to a shelter just down the road from where they were. He returned forty-five minutes in his Hummer. They placed Mandy in the rear seat so she could place her leg up on the seat. They placed their prisoner in the back with Mandy.

“We’ll stop by the Sheriff’s Department and drop this creep off then we’ll head over to the hospital and have them take a look at your ankle. Mandy didn’t say a word; she was in too much pain. “What no comments from the peanut gallery? Lone Wolfe asked Mandy.

“No, I’m in too much pain to be a smart ass. Please, let’s just get off this mountain.”

On the way down the mountain Mandy asked again, “Why were you up there, Lone Wolfe?”

“Well when the Sheriff didn’t hear from you and when you didn’t answer your radio, he knew something was wrong. He took one of the deputies and came up here and spoke with Gill. Gill said that you had already left. He knew that wasn’t true because if you had, you would have called him or he would have been able to raise you on the radio. They returned to the station and he called me and told me what you were doing and asked me to come up and find you guys. From the looks of things it’s a good thing too.”

“I’m not going to ask how you found us because I know how good you are at tracking. But, I am glad you found us.”

“Now Paul, said Mandy, “where did you learn those moves? Lone Wolfe, you should have seen him. I’m not sure what I saw, it happened so fast. He let go of me and the next thing I knew this guy was laying on the ground and Paul had his rifle. How did you do that?”

“There’s nothing strange about what I did. I studied some Martial Arts. I’m a Black Belt in Karate, I also studied Kung Fu and Tai Chi. What you saw were some moves I developed myself incorporating Tai Chi moves with some Kung Fu. I love the martial arts because it helps to keep me fit and of course it’s great for times such as tonight. I was determined that they were not going to take us prisoners again. You needed to get to a doctor and no one was going to stop me from getting you there. So you see, it wasn’t anything super.”

“Says you”, replied Mandy.