Hominid (10 page)

CHAPTER 25

T
he next morning, Tess returned straight away to her camp. The first thing she noticed was the pile of rocks arranged in the middle of the space. She looked around, but she didn’t see anyone. Removing her camera from her pack, she took pictures of the little pile. Then she sat back and grinned.

Tess went about her normal routine—dropping off the food stores and checking some of the cameras. She still had no pictures of the creature, and she was beginning to think that was because the surviving cameras were in the places the bigfoot weren’t. Any cameras placed where she might get a shot were destroyed.

Back at her camp, she sat at her laptop, answered some emails, and wrote up some ideas for a new blog post and for a paper. She was about an hour into her paper when she got that strange feeling of being watched. The hair on the back of her neck stood straight up. Slowly, she closed the laptop, stood up, and scanned the area. She saw nothing until the rock came sailing from the woods. It hit the ground and rolled to a stop at her feet.

Tess picked up the rock and, with a practiced throw, lobbed it back into the woods. A few seconds later, another rock came sailing at her. Tess smiled.

She picked up the rock and tossed it back. A series of tosses and returns came after that, until, just like the day before, Tess threw the rock back and there was no response. Disappointment washed over her. He was leaving. She looked around, waiting, but he didn’t show himself this time. No rustling of leaves, no flying rocks. No appearance of a legendary creature.

Finally, Tess took her seat again at the table with a sigh. She had no right to be disappointed. Her exchange over the last two days was more than most researchers experienced in a lifetime.

She pulled over her laptop and tried to focus on it. She scrolled back a few pages to what she had written before the rock toss. The paper detailed the theorized anatomical differences between the ape, human, and bigfoot that allowed for bipedalism—or in the ape’s case, limited bipedalism.

Her eyes kept traveling back to the woods. After the fifth stolen glance, she gave herself a firm shake.
You are a scientist. Focus.

But she couldn’t help but steal one last look.

Her heart slammed to stop. And then it began to race.

He was back. And this time he was standing only fifteen feet away.

CHAPTER 26

T
ess’s mind went blank, and at the same time, she was soaking in every single detail. He was close to nine feet tall, with a barrel chest, just as she remembered. He didn’t have any breasts, which convinced her that he was male, although the definitive evidence of that was not clearly in view.

What she hadn’t seen last night was that his legs were shorter than his arms, which hung halfway down his thighs. His feet were long and squat, with incredibly long toes, just like the prints she’d found.

Dark hair mixed with gray covered him except for the palms of his very large hands and around his eyes, nose, and mouth. The gray hair brought her up short. Was it a sign of age? She thought of the Yeti. Were they related? Was the Yeti always white, or was it, too, an older animal?

His eyes were a deep brown, and intelligence lurked behind them. They seemed to be inspecting her just as closely as she inspected him.

Last night, Tess had imagined what she would do if she actually had a chance to meet one, to speak with one. Slowly, she stood. “Hi.”

It tilted its head, watching her. With careful moves, Tess reached into the basket she’d left on the table and pulled out two apples. She showed them to him and then, walking slowly forward, she placed them both on the end of the log that served as seating for her fire.

She backed away and gestured toward the apples. “For you.”

His eyes shifted between Tess and the apples. Finally he took the apples, and then in two strides disappeared back into the woods.

Tess’s legs gave out and she crumpled to the ground. She brought her hand to her mouth.
Oh my God.
Then she grinned and wrapped her hands around herself.
Oh my God.

CHAPTER 27

T
ess sat on the ground for a good long time. Her mind couldn’t stop analyzing everything she’d seen in her short encounter—or didn’t see.

The bigfoot hadn’t been aggressive; he had let himself be seen. He
wanted
her to know he was there. And yet, there’d been no odor. Did that mean they could control it? Turn it on and off like a switch?

Mountain gorillas were said to emit a fear odor. Was that what the bigfoot emitted? Did that mean it was more like an ape?

His face had been another surprise. She had expected it to look more gorilla-like. And while it was true that he had no noticeable neck, his face was decidedly human. The mouth was not pushed forward like an ape’s. The nose was human, except flatter. And while the eyes were deep-set, they also resembled human eyes.

His torso was massive—at least four feet wide and round. He had no waist. In humans, increased exercise and fitness results in a V-shaped torso. But whereas the bigfoot had very defined musculature, his shoulders were only slightly broader than his hips.

Several theories had been advanced to explain bigfoot’s large size. Among them was gigantothermy—the tendency of species to be larger in colder climates in the Northern hemisphere. This larger size allowed for increased body heat. A larger torso also allowed for a greater range of food options. The longer digestive tract would allow bigfoot to eat a coarser diet, which could explain how they could survive in an environment like the Pacific Northwest.

Tess’s mind continued to draw connections between what she had just seen and what science knew. His hair had appeared thick—which meant that it would provide warmth as well as acting as a barrier to insects. Some research had suggested that bigfoot may have three levels of hair: long coarse guard hairs, an undercoat for insulation, and whiskers. And some hair samples
had
been found by other researchers. The problem had always been that there was no bigfoot standard to compare them to, so the best they could hope for was to find that it didn’t match any hairs in the database. Alleged bigfoot hairs had been found to not match gorilla, human, or chimp hair, although it had been shown to have similarities to all three: no medullary structure, but with a humanlike scale pattern.

But then there were the hair samples that just seemed to further confuse the problem. In 2013, British researchers gathered samples of alleged Yeti hair for genetic testing. When they found that the samples from the Himalayas were a one hundred percent match with an ancient polar bear believed to have died out forty thousand years ago, they were shocked, but everyone thought that was the end of the story.

It wasn’t. Additional testing of the sample didn’t match the ancient polar bear after all. And honestly, that was a big problem in the research. Samples could be mishandled and then contaminated, making it difficult to determine which ones were legit and which weren’t. But Tess was hoping that with DNA from unknown hominids being added to the databases, any sample she got might have a chance of matching.

Tess pictured the bigfoot once more.
And that was definitely no polar bear.

Her mind continued to whirl, ticking off facts and drawing conclusions. She glanced over at her pack and realized she hadn’t even thought about taking a photo. Of course, he probably wouldn’t have waited around for one anyway. She pictured his long stride. No, she had played the first encounter correctly—she hoped. And maybe now he’d even stop by again.

Tess stood and wiped off her jeans with a grin.
I just met bigfoot.

CHAPTER 28

A
fter Tess returned to her cabin that night, she wrote up her thoughts about her encounter. She paused at her laptop, contemplating whether or not to contact Hayes. No, not yet. She needed a little more time to think through what had happened. Hopefully she’d have more to tell for her next report.

She grabbed her keys and wallet and headed for the door. “Want to go for a ride, Shelby?” From the dog bed in the corner of the office, Shelby hopped up and padded after her.

When she reached her truck, Tess called Madge to see if she needed anything from town. Madge gave her a list, and an hour and a half later, Tess pulled into Madge’s drive with a couple of bags of groceries. Madge stood from the rocking chair on the porch, a book in her hands.

Tess smiled as she got out of the truck. “Hey, Madge.”

“Hey, hon. Thanks for picking those up.”

Tess pulled the grocery bags from the back seat and made her way up the porch steps. “No problem. I wanted to talk to you about something anyway.”

Madge held open the door as Shelby scrambled inside, followed by Tess. “Something happen?”

Tess couldn’t hold back her grin. “You could say that.”

“Well, dinner’s about ready. Why don’t you two stay and you can fill me in?”

Tess put the bags on Madge’s counter and started unpacking. “That’d be great.”

A short time later, Madge and Tess were settled at Madge’s kitchen table with plates of meatloaf, and Tess recounted her experience in detail.

“Well don’t that beat all,” Madge said.

“But you’ve met one as well.”

Madge shook her head. “Not like that. Oh, I’ve seen them from a distance, but any time they caught sight of me they walked away. Your friend… well, it seems like he wanted to make sure you saw him. He wanted to meet you.”

Tess recalled the game of catch. “That’s what I think, too. But I don’t get why. I mean, these guys have been reclusive for their whole existence. Why step out now?”

Madge shrugged. “Maybe he’s as curious about you as you are about him.”

“Maybe.”

“Or…” Madge drew out the word.

“Or what?”

“Or he wants something from you.”

“Wants something? Like what?”

“I don’t know. But you should be careful. These beings are intelligent, and though they may look human, they’re not. I’ve seen what they can do to bears. You would be even easier to hurt.”

A chill came over Tess as she pictured her visitor’s massive arms. “I know.”

Madge took Tess’s hand. “I know you want to learn about them. But promise me you’ll be careful.”

Tess placed her hand over Madge’s. “I will.”

But she pictured the being in her mind. Then she pictured what it had taken for her to stop the charging bear just last week. The bigfoot was much larger than the bear, and smarter, too. If it decided to do her harm… She would never be able to defend herself.

CHAPTER 29

T
ess had trouble sleeping that night. Madge’s concerns echoed through her mind, and she debated what to do. She thought about not going back. But how could she do that? This was what she had wanted for almost twenty years, and the truth was, she still had no hard proof. It was late by the time she fell into a fitful sleep.

She got up before the sun this morning, her concerns still there, but also a sense of hope. For some reason, the bigfoot had chosen
her
to communicate with. She owed it to him, and to herself, to find out why.

When she arrived back at her camp, nothing appeared disturbed. She checked her cameras and then her food stock, which had been depleted. She replenished it. Then she went back to her tent and sat at the table and chair, checking on her email and reviewing a paper. The morning droned on. And the sleepless night was catching up with her.

Tess closed the laptop and pushed it aside. Laying her head on her hands, she closed her eyes.
Five minutes. I’ll take a quick five-minute nap and then go for a walk.

She dozed off. In her dream, she was still in the camp, but the bigfoot returned. He stood next to her, reached out, and touched her hair. Tess stayed still, letting him. And then he disappeared.

A bird let out a screech, and Tess jolted awake.

She wiped at her eyes and at the drool that had pooled on the side of her mouth.
Lovely
.

Everything was quiet. She pushed back her chair. Her gaze absentmindedly swept the ground.

She went still.

Next to her chair were two large footprints. Her heart began to pound and her head snapped up. There was no one nearby.

She felt shaky. He’d returned. Had he touched her hair, or had that just been a dream? Even if he hadn’t, he had been close enough to do so.

She wasn’t sure what to think about that. Part of her felt a little creeped out. Part of her was happy that he’d returned. And part of her was confused. Why was he taking such an interest in her?

A rock landed at her feet. She paused and then smiled. She picked it up and tossed it back.

A few seconds later, he appeared in the same spot as yesterday. And she realized that the rock-throwing was almost like him ringing the doorbell to let her know he was near.

She as stunned by the sight of him as she had been the day before. A nine-foot hominid was communicating—no, actually
interacting
—with her. She slowly reached into her bag. “Are you hungry?” She pulled out the fruit she had gotten for him.

He watched her, then took a step forward.

Swallowing, Tess placed the food on the log, just like she’d done yesterday. He waited until she backed away, then he picked it up. Seconds later, he disappeared into the trees.

Tess let out a breath, feeling lightheaded.

For the next two weeks, that became their routine. Tess would provide food. He would take it after she had backed away, then would disappear into the woods. The next day they’d do it all over again.

Then one day, it changed. Tess placed the food on the end of the log and backed away. The bigfoot picked it up and hesitated.

And then he sat down.

Tess knew her mouth had fallen open. She slammed it shut and started to talk, not even sure what she was saying, but focused on keeping her voice even. “Well, this is a nice surprise. My name’s Tess.”

He watched her, but said nothing, as Tess knew he probably wouldn’t; from all reports, bigfoot didn’t have a language. Instead, he took a bite from an apple. Tess noticed he had more gray that she’d originally thought. In fact, he was liberally sprayed with it.

“I don’t suppose you can tell me your name, can you? Well, how about I call you Charlie? I don’t know about you, but it actually makes me feel a little better about you being here.”

She realized when she thought about him, that he reminded her of an old picture her dad had in his study of a mountain man. Tall, burly, with a big beard, covered in animal furs, she and Pax had christened him Charlie when they were kids.

Tess inched forward. He watched her from the corner of his eye as he finished up the apple. “I’m researching you guys,” she said. “Trying to figure out what you are—or even just prove that you exist. Although I guess I’ve already done that part, at least to myself.”

The idea of taking a picture crossed her mind, but she immediately discarded it. She’d thought about setting up cameras in advance, but she’d discarded that idea as well. She was making inroads here. She didn’t want to do anything that might blow it.

“So, do you live around here?” she asked. “I live about a ninety-minute hike from here. Although for you, it would definitely take less time.” She pictured the footprints she’d seen outside her cabin. “But I’m guessing you already know that.”

She reached the edge of the log. He paused in his eating, then continued.

Tess slowly eased herself down onto the other side of the log. He went still for a second before continuing his eating. “Well, this is nice. You and me enjoying the afternoon sunshine.”

Charlie polished off the rest of his food. Without a word or a glance, he stood and walked away.

Tess watched him go. And then grinned.

Wow
.