6 Maple Leaf Hunter by Maddie Cochere Page A

heavily worn. A wood fan circulated air from the ceiling.
    A thin, bald man wearing spectacles pushed aside a curtain to enter from a back room. He used a cane and walked with a sharp limp.
    He didn’t smile, and he said rather sharply, “What can I get for you today?”
    “Hi,” I said. “I came to use the phone.”
    He made me uncomfortable by giving me an overt up and down look. “You staying down at the Boling place?” he asked.
    I nodded my head and said, “Yes.”
    He frowned and appeared to contemplate the information for a few moments before asking, “Do they have very many people in camp this week?”
    I shook my head. “There were four hunters until last night, but they left, so it’s just my husband, our son, and two of our friends.”
    “Sasquatch scare off them hunters?” he asked.
    I looked around to see if I could spot the telephone. I didn’t want to be rude, but I was anxious to call home, and I didn’t want to spend too much time chatting with the man. I nodded my head again and said, “We heard it last night when we were sitting around the campfire. The hunters freaked out and left right away. Our son says there aren’t any known cases of a Sasquatch hurting a human, so we’re cautious, but not too worried about it.”
    “I saw the Sasquatch on Dan’s property,” he said. “It happened last year. I was on my way down to give Emily some strawberry preserves from the wife. I kept hearing strange noises off the path, so I went to look. I came up on that Sasquatch unexpected like, and it scared the living daylights out of me. I jumped back, lost my footing, and tumbled into the ravine. That’s how I busted up my leg here. I don’t know how anyone ever heard me hollerin’ down there, but I was mighty grateful when a rescue party showed up. I haven’t been down to Dan’s place since.”
    I felt sorry for the man. The encounter had clearly been terrible for him. I didn’t know why I suddenly felt the need to share, but I said. “I saw a Sasquatch yesterday.”
    The man’s eyes showed alarm, but rather than to say anything, he held out his hand and said, “I’m Walt, by the way.”
    I shook his hand. “I’m Susan. Nice to meet you, Walt.”
    “Where’d you see the Sasquatch?” he asked.
    “We were fishing,” I said. “It was a series of three lakes, and we were fishing in a cove off the third lake.” Walt nodded his head as if to acknowledge he knew the spot. “I was looking through a pair of binoculars, and I saw it through the trees at first, but then it moved into clear view on shore. I could see every detail of it with the binoculars, and it was staring right at me.” A slight shudder appeared to traverse Walt’s body. “But then a muskie hit the bigmouth bass we had hanging from our canoe, and it nearly dumped us over. When I looked again, the Sasquatch was gone.”
    Walt smiled for the first time and said, “I think you mean a largemouth bass.”
    I laughed and said, “I don’t know why I can’t remember that. Its mouth didn’t look any larger to me than any other fish.”
    “Sounds like you’ve had a lot of excitement since you got here,” he said. He walked over near the front door and pointed behind a coat rack. “The phone’s over here. I’ve got plenty of quarters on hand, so you might want to buy some before you make your call.”
    “That’s ok,” I told him. “I’ll call collect.”
    I almost laughed when I saw the telephone. It, too, was an antique.
    It took several minutes before the call went through and Mick’s mother answered the phone.
    “Evelyn. Hi, it’s Susan,” I said. I was relieved to hear her voice.
    “Susan, honey, where have you been?” she asked. “Bennett and I have been worried sick about all of you. We haven’t heard from you since Saturday.”
    “I know,” I said sheepishly. “We planned to call Monday night, but there aren’t any cell phone towers up here, and there’s no phone at the lodge. I had to walk to a