Disclaimers and all that are in the first chapter.

Here is the next part of the boys' summer vacation. You'll need a rope at the end and fishing line won't be strong enough.

Gone Fishing 2/9

"DARIEN! BOBBY! ARE YOU GUYS AWAKE?"

"What in the world...?" Hobbes about fell out of his bed as he reached for his gun.

"That would be our wake up call from our little friend, Michael."

"Does he realize what time it is?"

"Yeah, I believe he does. It's time for us to get up and head out fishing with them." Darien opened up his window and motioned to Michael, who was in the process of being scolded for yelling.

Hobbes and Darien met the family outside and they headed for the Upper Sacramento River. "Isn't that a bit far?"

"Not really Mr. Hobbes. We'll be there in no time."

"Please, Mr. Jacobs call me Bobby or Hobbes."

"Then you can call me Jacobs or Richard."

~*~

Darien told Michael about his Bigfoot story and he stretched it out for the entire ride. It worked as Michael held on to every word. They rented a couple of boats and headed down the River to just above the reservoir. This time they were going for Smallmouth Bass. Ann wanted to ride on the same boat as Darien. Michael was not happy to have his big sister tag along.

To make sure there was at least one parent on board, Heather rode with them. Hobbes rode with Richard, Steven and Anthony. Hobbes laughed at Darien as Ann tried her best to get as close as she could to him. This made Darien uncomfortable and there was nowhere for him to go except in the river.

As they traveled down river, something caught Darien's eye. He looked in the direction of the woods and thought he had seen something.

"What do you see, Darien?" Heather asked.

"I don't know. Michael can I use your binoculars?"

"Sure Darien, here."

Darien held the binoculars up to his eyes, but whatever he had seen, it was gone. He quicksilvered his eyes and looked some more.

"Well, what is it? What do you see?" Michael was nearly on his back.

"Ah, nothing I guess, probably a deer."

~*~

They found a good spot and started fishing. There was no limit here, so they fished until they had enough for all of them to eat. They came on shore and had a great lunch. Ann decided to go swimming and tried everything she could to get Darien to go with her.

Michael shrugged his shoulders, "Eeww, girls."

Hobbes laughed at his little friend, "One day, Mike, one day."

"Never, in a million years will I ever like girls!"

Darien rested on the ground and enjoyed the afternoon sun. He ate so much that he ended up falling asleep. He was shaken awake by Hobbes. "Fawkes, wake up man, it's time to go. You nearly slept the day away."

"I guess I needed it."

They loaded up the boats and headed up river. Darien kept looking over towards the woods. Something was following them, he couldn't see it, but he just had that feeling they were being watched.

~*~

They returned to their cabins by evening and Darien sat down on one of the chairs. Jacobs came from his cabin with a couple of cold beers. He sat down and handed one to Darien.

"Thanks. Well, end of day two of my summer vacation. Three more days left."

"You're up here for five days? Wow, that's great, so are we. Ann will be happy to hear that."

"Oh, man, I'm sorry about that. I won't do anything, trust me."

"I trust you, Darien. It's her and the rampaging hormones. I saw it last night when you and your partner came over for a visit."

"Well, here's to fishing and rampaging hormones."

They clicked their beers together and laughed. They talked and finished off the beers. Richard got up and asked, "You want another one?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, one more then it's time for me to go home."

"Sure thing, I'll be back."

It was dark now and Darien was surprised at how dark it got. The last time he was in the woods was at the Indian Reservation, but at least here, he had a cabin instead of a tent.

Darien got up when he heard a sound from behind his cabin. He spoke to himself, "Here I go again. Hey, deer, did you follow me?" there was no answer. "Of course there's no answer Fawkes, the deer doesn't talk."

"Okay, who's back there?" All he heard was the sound heavy breathing coming closer to him. He started to walk backwards. He heard the heavy footsteps pick up momentum.

"Aw, crap!" He tried to run but something lifted him up in the air in full gallop.

"HOBBES! HELP ME!" Darien was carried into the woods behind the cabin.

~*~

Hobbes and the Jacobs family came out to see what the commotion was. Darien wasn't around, but they could hear his screams in the woods.

"Fawkes!" Hobbes yelled, but there was no response. Darien's screams had come to an eerie end.

"Do you hear that?" Richard asked.

"Hear what honey?" Heather asked back.

"That's just it, nothing."

"That's right, Hobbes, there should be crickets and other kinds of sounds. It's way to quiet."

"Dad, is Darien okay?"

"I don't know son, but we better find him."

"I'll get my equipment, wait here." Hobbes said as he ran into the cabin.

Other campers came out to see what was going on. Richard told them to return to their cabins. Hobbes appeared with his thermals, flashlight and his gun.

"What are those?"

"Well, Steven, these are night vision goggles."

"Are those standard issue at Health and Human Services, Bobby?" Richard asked.

"No, left over souvenir from Desert Storm."

~*~

Hobbes and Richard entered the woods calling out Darien's name. They widened their search pattern, but never lost sight of each other.

Richard found a trail of broken twigs and branches, "Hey, Hobbes over here."

Hobbes ran over to him and used his flashlight to see the path. "Good job, Jacobs. I'll make a Government Agent out of you yet."

They followed the path until they came to a small stream. "Aw, man, I guess this is were the trail ends. Lets cross and see if it picks up on the other side." Hobbes was hoping that this wouldn't happen. He needed to find his partner.

"Maybe we should wait until morning when we can see better, Bobby?"

"No way, he's my partner and we don't bail on each other. Trust me, he would do the same for me."

"You guys depend on each other don't you?"

"You bet."

They crossed and Hobbes was able to pick up the trail again. It led them into the deep woods and Hobbes' heart was pounding hard. There was no sound in the woods, but the good thing was, he didn't find any blood anywhere. He started to call out Darien's name again. They stopped moving and were silent to see if they could hear a response. Hobbes' heart sank when there was no sound.

"Fawkes, where are you? Come on, my friend. Just let me know where you are."

~*~

Forest Rangers appeared at the cabin that Darien and Hobbes were renting. They talked to the Jacobs family and the other campers. They radioed that a bear or something grabbed one of the campers and drug him into the woods. The ranger on the other end didn't believe it, "Ranger Jones, you know that a bear won't come that close to camp. Maybe it was a mountain lion?"

"I don't think it was a mountain lion."

When Ann heard that, she started to cry. Heather held her close and took her inside.

"Why is that?" The other ranger asked.

"Because the victim is at least 6' 3", mountain lions aren't strong enough to drag something that big through the woods. There is no sign of a struggle. Just big paw prints in the ground."

"How about the victim's foot prints? Are there any signs of him being drug across the ground?"

"No sir, it's like he was picked up and carried away into the woods."

"Okay, Ranger Jones, you and Ranger Matthews go find the victim."

"Ah, sir, we were told that two men went after the victim."

"Great, now we have three men to look for. Well, wait for the search team then. I'm sending them out to meet you. Try to keep the other campers calm, okay?"

"Yes sir, over and out."

~*~

Hobbes was beginning to wonder if he was going to find Darien at all. Richard was right, it was way to dark to search, but he kept pushing himself.

They heard a commotion around them, "What was that?" Hobbes asked.

"I don't know. It sounded like two animals fighting. Where is it coming from?"

"Hard to tell, it's this echo. It could be coming from anywhere." Hobbes was turning around trying to figure out where the sound was coming from.

"Fawkes!" Hobbes yelled out his name again. This time he thought he heard something. "I hear something, Jacobs. It sounds like a moan, a human moan."

They stood quiet and listened harder, "I hear it too, Bobby."

"It's Fawkes, it has to be. Okay, I hear you. At least, I hope it's you. Now, where are you, my friend?"

TBC