Hominid (20 page)

CHAPTER 63

F
or the next two days, Tess watched the tribe mourn. Frank was the hardest to watch. He sat in one spot, staring into the distance. He wouldn’t allow anyone to come near him except Missy. Missy would lie cuddled in his lap, or would lean against his back and brush his hair down.

Tess longed for her camera to take a picture. At the same time, the moment was so heartbreaking, she wouldn’t have felt right violating it.
Some scientist I’ve turned into.

And Tess knew she needed to get back to her world. She wanted to stay, but she knew if she didn’t touch base soon, a full-fledged search party would be out looking for her, if it wasn’t already—and she shuddered to think what would happen if they came here. She had promised Charlie she would keep the bigfoot safe, and to do that, she needed to leave them. Perhaps she could go home, touch base, and then return.

Tess sat up, her back aching from the hard ground. She stretched to work out the kinks and then stood.
It’ll be good to sleep in a real bed.

But even the prospect of her soft mattress didn’t dislodge the sadness at having to leave. It wasn’t just that they were an undiscovered group of hominids. The scientific angle of this visit had long since vanished. It was the peace here, the contentment she experienced.
This is what life should be.

She grabbed her pack, which now seemed almost foreign to her, and stepped out from the alcove. A group of juveniles were playing some form of tag—their favorite game, it seemed—with Sugar and Missy in the middle. Sugar spied Tess and loped over. She chattered happily about something. Tess smiled and nodded, which seemed to be all Sugar wanted before she headed back to her friends.

Tess felt a longing to go with her. And a sadness at watching her go. But she shoved it aside. She would contact everybody back home, assure them she was fine, and then head back here again. This wasn’t goodbye.

A group of women sat along the edge of the grass, keeping a watchful eye on the juveniles. Tess scanned their faces but didn’t see Mary among them. With mild surprise, Tess realized it was easy for her to tell them apart now.

Across the valley, Kong stood with a group of his men. He was staring at Tess with hard eyes. Tess gave him a nod, and he nodded back before turning to his companions.

Then a group of bigfoot emerged from the tunnel across the way. Mary was among them. Tess was glad to have found her even though she dreaded the conversation to come. And it wasn’t just the fact of the goodbye that caused her worry, but the realization that she might not even be able to explain to Mary what she needed.

A small kernel of fear took hold. Would they let her go? She considered getting Missy to try and translate for her, but she thought she should try on her own first.

Banishing her doubts, she crossed the valley to Mary. Mary saw her coming and broke off from her group. Tess gestured to an outcrop of rocks. “Sit?” It would be easier to communicate if she wasn’t staring up at Mary, trying to see her face.

Mary took a seat, and Tess sat a little above her so they were almost at eye level.

Tess gestured to the tunnel, then pointed to herself, and then back at the tunnel. “I have to go,” she said.

Mary stared at her intently, her face unchanged.

“Home. I have to go home.”

Tess felt sadness wash over her. She took Mary’s hand. “Me too. But it’s time.”

Mary held Tess’s gaze for a long moment before she stood, Tess’s hand still clasped in hers. She pulled Tess forward and let out a yell, followed by a series of grunts and hoots. Across the valley, the bigfoot stopped what they were doing and looked over. Most of them then returned to their activities, but some walked toward Mary and Tess. Were they coming to say goodbye?

Then Tess saw a few of the juveniles go over to Missy and pat her on the head. Sugar picked Missy up and hugged her.

“No, no!” Missy yelled, banging on Sugar’s chest. But Sugar held on. Frank walked over and took Missy from Sugar. He cradled her in his arms and headed toward Mary and Tess.

Tess frowned, trying to figure out what was going on. And then it hit her.

She stared up at Mary, a new grief bubbling up in her at the sadness she was about to cause. “You want me to take her.”

CHAPTER 64

M
issy lay curled in Frank’s arms. As Tess stared up at Frank, she saw the double heartbreak on his face—the loss of his father and now the loss of his adopted daughter.

Tess had worried about Missy’s wellbeing here. Apparently the bigfoot had shared those worries. And as much as they cared for Missy—and Tess knew they did, very much—they must have realized that a human girl was not cut out for this life. She needed to go back to her people. So they had made the decision that Tess had been too timid to make. They were putting Missy’s wellbeing above their own.

A few of the bigfoot walked up and laid a hand on Missy’s back. Missy stayed in Frank’s arms, her arms wrapped around his neck in a death grip. Tess understood what the girl was going through. Missy had found her safe place, a place where she was loved and cared for. And now she was being sent away.

Finally, the other members of the tribe drifted off, and only Missy’s immediate family—Sugar, Mary, and Frank—remained with Tess. Sugar leaned up and placed a kiss on Missy’s cheek. Then she leaned her head into Missy’s and stayed there for a moment before turning and sprinting away.

Tess looked away, tears springing to her eyes. Mary stepped up beside Frank and whispered into Missy’s ear. Missy switched her grip from Frank to Mary.

Tess took a step away, giving them some privacy. A shadow fell over her, and she looked up to see that Kong was standing beside her. She shook her head, marveling at how someone so big could move so silently.

He nudged her shoulder, and she turned back toward the little family. Frank had walked away now, his shoulders lower than she had ever seen. It was just Mary left. She clutched Missy to her, tears running down her cheeks.

Tess walked up to her. “I’ll take care of her. I promise.”

Tess was fully aware of the responsibility she was taking on—but she also had perfect clarity at that moment. She knew exactly why she was here. Charlie had watched her, had made sure she was someone he could trust Missy with. This whole last year had been an audition. An audition leading to this exact moment.

Tess put a hand on Missy’s back, just like she’d seen so many others do. “Missy, honey, it’s time to go now.”

Missy only tightened her grip on Mary.

“I know it’s hard, honey, but we do need to go. It’s a long walk.”

Missy wouldn’t even look at her.

Kong took Missy from Mary’s arms. Missy let out a wail, but Kong didn’t react. He just held her and walked toward the tunnel.

Mary watched her go, and Tess felt her pain. Tess took Mary’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I will take care of her,” she promised.

Mary stared into Tess’s eyes. Love flowed over Tess then. The feeling was so strong that tears rolled down Tess’s cheeks.

“I know,” she said.

Tess turned, wiping her cheeks. She headed for the tunnel, shouldering her pack, but really shouldering so much more.

CHAPTER 65

K
ong carried a crying Missy down the cliff face while one of Kong’s lieutenants carried Tess. At the bottom, Tess climbed off the bigfoot, and without a sound or gesture, the large hominid climbed back up.

Tess then turned to Kong. Missy had gone quiet in his arms, but she could see the small girl’s shoulders quaking. Tess pointed at Missy. “I’ll take her.”

Kong ignored her and started to walk through the trees. Tess stared for a minute before scrambling after him.

They walked together in silence for almost two hours. And to be honest, Tess was grateful for the silence. She needed the time to process what had just happened. Every few minutes she would glance at Missy and wonder what exactly she had gotten herself into.

Too soon, Tess began to recognize landmarks. Kong was taking them back to her cabin.
Huh. I didn’t realize he knew where I lived
. She paused.
I’m not sure how I feel about that.

After another hour, Kong stopped suddenly, and Tess nearly walked into him. Kong didn’t appear fearful, but his head was tilted to the side, listening. There must be a human up ahead.

Tess looked at Kong, her eyes going wide. “Give her to me. You have to go. Quickly.”

Kong handed her Missy. Tess adjusted the girl in her arms. Somewhere along the way, Missy had fallen asleep, making her dead weight.

A snap of a branch from behind Tess caused her to turn. She scanned the forest. No one was in sight yet, but she knew they were close. She turned back to tell Kong to go—but he had already disappeared.

Tess waded through a small brook and rounded a corner when a voice to her right stopped her.

“Tess?”

She turned, and smiled at the tall, muscular man staring at her with an incredulous look on his face. “Hi, Shawn.”

CHAPTER 66

D
ev trekked through the woods scanning the ground for any sign that someone had been through here recently. Tess had been gone for two weeks, and no one had heard a word from her for almost that whole time. She never went out of touch for this long. Pax was manning the radios back at Tess’s cabin and keeping all the searchers organized so they didn’t run over each other. Shawn was out searching like he had been everyday since they had arrived.

But so far, there had been no sign of her.

Dev pulled out his canteen and took a swallow of water. He knew how easy it was to get turned around out here. And if Tess had gotten hurt…

Dev pictured the hikers he’d found last fall. One had broken his leg. The other had stayed to help. But the coyotes had found them before the searchers did.

A tremble worked its way into Dev’s limbs.

Tess is smarter than that. She knows how to handle herself in the woods. She’s holed up somewhere, waiting for us to find her.
Dev shoved his water back in his pack. And he intended to do just that.

“Dev,” Shawn’s voice called over Dev’s radio.

He yanked it from his belt. “Dev here.”

“I’ve got her,” came Shawn’s reply.

Dev stopped, feeling the breath leave his lungs. “Is she all right?”

“She’s fine. And she’s brought a friend.”

Dev felt his eyes go wide. He pictured the giant print he’d found near Tess’s camp. “A bigfoot?”

Shawn laughed. “No. This one’s feet are pretty small.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m east of the cabin, just past the old brook. We’ll be at the cabin in another fifteen minutes.”

“I’m heading to you now.”

Dev shoved the radio in his pack and started east. Before he knew it he was flat out running. He sprinted through the trees.

Five minutes later, he heard Shawn’s voice and Tess’s answer. He rounded an oak and saw her walking down the path next to Shawn.

Dev took a second to calm his racing heart. He looked Tess over from head to toe. She was a little dirty. Her clothes had seen better days, but she also had no noticeable injuries.

She was beautiful.

She caught sight of him and smiled. It was as if the sun had appeared after a month of rain.

He ran up to her, pulled her into his arms, and twirled her around. She laughed and wrapped her arms around him.

He placed her on the ground and went to kiss her. She ducked her head away. “I am so gross right now.”

He held her face in his hands. “I
so
don’t care.” He caught her in a kiss and felt the planet tilt back into its proper orbit.

Tess leaned in to him. “I missed you too.”

“Well, don’t worry about the two of us over here,” Shawn drawled.

Dev kissed Tess one more time and stepped back, looking at Shawn for the first time. His gaze fell on the little girl and his eyes grew large. “Who have we here?”

“Her name’s Missy,” Tess said, placing her hand gently on the girl’s back.

Dev stared at the cigarette burn on the girl’s forearm. A tingling of recognition dawned in the back of his mind. Carefully, he pulled the girl’s hair back from her face.

Shock tore through him and he let the hair drop back over the girl’s face. “It can’t be.”

“You know her?” Tess asked.

“Not exactly. But I was part of a countywide search for her. It ended when her father was arrested.”

“What was the charge?” Shawn asked.

Dev’s gaze went back to the little girl. “Murder.”