The Butterfly Conspiracy by James Nelson Page A

broken by the sound of a car in the distance.   He ducked down and listened as the car got closer.   Car lights lit up the woods as the car rounded a curve less than a hundred feet from the cabin.  
    Paulie panicked and ran to the back door, ready to run into the woods. The car continued on.   He went back to the front door and walked down a short path to a two lane black top road.   He could see tail lights disappearing in the distance.   The cabin was not nearly as isolated as he had thought.
    Paulie started running down the road in the same direction the car was headed.   Relieved that he wasn’t lost in the middle of the woods, Paulie had no idea if he was headed in the right direction, but he figured that car had to be going somewhere.   He got winded and started to walk.
    Paulie walked down the center of the road to stay as far away from the woods as possible.   He wondered how often people got killed by bears up here.   It must be a common thing, he thought, if this happened to him on his very first time in the forest.  
    After what seemed to be an hour, Paulie wished another car would come by so he could catch a ride back to town.
    He looked down at his suit coat.   It was ripped and stained with sweat.   His shoes were muddy and his pants were damp.  
    An hour later, Paulie’s feet were killing him and his legs were cramping up.   He was freezing.   He slapped his arms together to circulate some blood.   How could it be so damn cold when it was supposed to be the middle of summer?  
    Behind him, he heard another car approaching.   He turned around to face the car, stepped out into the road and stuck out his thumb. The car was traveling slow.   As it approached, he could see an old man hunched behind the wheel. The car drove past him.  
    “Shit!” Paulie ran a few steps and hollered, “Hey, I need a ride here.”  
    There was a red glow of break lights as the car slowed down and stopped.   Paulie ran up to the window. An old man peered out, his face covered with grey whiskers.  
    “Need a lift, Mister?”
         Paulie climbed into the car.
    “Where you headed?” The man asked.
         “I’m trying to get to Grand View.”
         “Good, that’s where I’m headed.”   They drove a short way in silence.   The old man turned to Paulie, “What’s that smell?” Paulie glanced down at his pants, ignoring him.
    It took about twenty minutes to reach the outskirts of town.   As they drove down Lake Avenue , Paulie asked to get out just past the Freighter View Tavern, where his car was parked.  
    The old man slowed down as he approached the bar.   As they passed the big front windows, Paulie looked in and saw Scott, Joe and that punk kid he was supposed to be following.   They were all huddled together talking and laughing.   There stood Joe, fine as he could be, and Scott too!
    At first, Paulie was puzzled.   How could this be? There they were, all laughing together.   Slowly he felt his anger building.   I bet those assholes are all laughing about me, he thought.   The anger exploded in him just like that black bear out in the woods.  
    “Those bastards!” Paulie screamed.
    The old man hit the breaks.
      “Stop the car, Grandpa.   Stop this damn car!”
      “Take it easy, Mr., what’s the problem?”
    The car lurched to a halt in the middle of Lake Street.   Paulie jumped out and slammed the door.   The old man pushed down on the accelerator pedal.   The car jumped forward, fishtailing down the block, tires squealing.
    All conversation came to a stop inside the bar.  
    “What was that?” Scott said.   They all turned to the window.   Paulie jumped back into the shadows.      
    Just up the street, Moon was peddling a girl’s bicycle down Lake Street towards the Freighter.   He heard tires squealing and looked up to see old man Johnson’s car heading straight at him.  
    Moon pushed down hard on the pedals to get some speed, but it was no use.