Chapter 3: The Mountain
The Savanna reached Angel Pine just as noon struck. It was a hot day and the citizens of Angel Pine were glad for it after a cold, wet weekend. Rednecks flocked the streets of the small town as the Savanna tore down the highway off-ramp and into the residential area.
"Slow the f*** down, Cesar. We ain't on the highway anymore, come on—whoa," CJ was knocked into Sweet as Cesar made a dangerously sharp turn down a narrow street, clipping the sidewalk with the back tire. "F*** man!"
Up ahead, an elderly woman was making her way slowly along the crosswalk. Cesar sped up.
"Man, you're crazy. You're gunna hit that old lady. S***!"
"Watch this," Cesar said excitedly.
The old lady continued to take her time crossing the street, oblivious to the approaching car due to her bad hearing and her blasting headphones.
"Macho, macho maaa-aan! I wanna be a macho-o man," the old lady sang along with her music as she came to a stop in the middle of the road and began to do a little jig.
"Oh f***, Cesar!"
The Savanna approached the old lady at full speed. At the last second, the car popped up onto its right wheels and cleared the old lady by mere inches, the left wheels slamming back down onto the road a few feet past her.
"Yehaaaaaaaaaaaaw," Cesar yelled.
The blast of wind from the speeding car blew the old woman's wig clear off of her head. Without noticing, she finished her song and then walked away slowly.
"Damn man," CJ said with a relieved sigh, "at least I know never to get in a car wit' you again, homie."
"Hey whatever, hahah. Come on, so where we goin'?"
"Look up, man."
"Damn, that's a big mountain. You sure it's safe to go up that thing?"
"Yeah, I done it before. An' I got a little surprise for you guys at the top."
"Hey, well what about my Kendl?"
"Don't you guys worry about me. I gotta get used to this wheelchair anyway. I'll just wait at the bottom an' explore a little. You guys go ahead up, jus' be careful now. I don't wanna lose any more homies."
Cesar pulled the Savanna up into a little, dirt parking lot by the base of the mountain. CJ got out of the car and helped his limping brother while Cesar helped Kendl out of the car onto her wheelchair.
"See, there's lots of people around here, I'll be fine."
"Yeah, they all rednecks. I don't think they like "our kind" round here, you know what I'm sayin'?"
"Hahah, shut up bro," Kendl punched CJ in the arm playfully.
"F*** man, that hurt," CJ cried.
Mount Chiliad loomed high into the sky, casting a gigantic shadow onto the land below, as the four of them walked, rolled and limped toward a group of cabins with two Sanchez motorbikes parked in the dirt.
"See you guys later," Kendl waved as the three of them drove off up a steep, dusty trail.
Sweet was seated on the back of CJ's bike and Cesar was up in the lead on his own.
"How far is this trail up the mountain," Cesar called back to CJ.
"It's pretty far, man. An' you gotta be careful. They don't got any fences or nothin' until you're almost at the top so if you make one wrong turn you gunna be fallin' a looong way down, man."
"So what happens when we get to the top?"
"Hah, you'll see."
The two Sanchez's sped up the steep, narrow mountain trail in the hot, afternoon sun. Back down at the base of the mountain, Kendl wheeled along on her chair, exploring a small forest growing on the side of the mountain. Tired of all of the people around, she had decided to explore a little where no one else was.
Twigs and leaves crackled under the wheels of her chair as she slowly trailed along gazing up at the frighteningly tall Redwood trees that grew right on the mountainside. Their trunks, wider than anything she had seen before, stuck into the brush below, there sharp, gnarled roots winding threw the ground and sticking out all over the place.
Kendl stopped her wheel chair to examine one tree that seemed wider than the rest. She reached out and touched the rough bark on it, her hand sliding along it as she rolled her chair around the wide truck. She stopped on the other side of the tree truck and a strange look appeared on her face.
"Hmm, I wonder what the heck happened to this tree."
The one whole side of the trunk was torn aport, the bark stripped clean off with deep gashes in the wood.
Suddenly, from behind, Kendl heard a sound in the brush.
She quick wheeled around to see what it was.
"Who's there? Cesar?"
A dark figure fled down a hill in the distance.
Kendl rolled over to where she had seen the shadow-like image. Rolling down toward the hill where the figure had disappeared, she had to quick stop her chair. It was a steep hill that led down onto a highway.
"Where the hell did that person get to?"
A sound from behind her caused her to quickly turn around. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the figure speed up the mountainside and out of sight in an instance.
"Damn. Whoever that is, they're really fast."
Kendl started to roll away, planning on heading back to where the rednecks were gathered around the base of the mountain. She had an uncomfortable feeling being alone.
She took a slightly different way back through the small forest and as she rolled along she noticed something sticking out from behind a tree. As she came toward the tree and the object came into view, she began to scream as loud as she could.
Birds scattered out of their resting places in the tops of the tall redwoods, scared away by the loud noise as dozens of people who were standing nearby rushed over to see what Kendl had already seen.
Her scream echoed up through the cliffs and hollows of the mountain and died away in the late afternoon air.