Mark and Pat return with this month’s exciting installment of A New Reality. Will Bryan Settle be able to help John rescue Grady?

If you haven’t already, read Chapter 4 of A New Reality or start at the beginning.

Chapter V

It was a cold and crisp night with just a slight breeze. Bryan Settle sat comfortably behind the wheel of his Jeep Cherokee driving south toward the ranch of John Lynn McBride. It was 3 o’clock in the morning, but sleep was the furthest thing from Bryan’s mind. He replayed the conversation he’d had with John the evening before repeatedly. He tried hard not to get too excited over the report, but the more he thought about it, the faster his pulse raced.

Bryan had started the Midsouth Bigfoot Research Center in the summer of 1989, one year after his hair rising encounter with what he now believed to be a sasquatch. At the time, he was clueless to the bigfoot phenomenon and thought he was losing his mind. Now, years later, and thanks to the help of the man sitting in his passenger seat, he’d come to respect the beauty and cunning of the elusive beast he firmly believed roamed the forests of North America. Bryan now had years and hundreds of investigated reports under his belt. For all his hard labor, he had learned two things. Number one was that people were often more mysterious than bigfoot. Number two was that he had grossly underestimated the ability of sasquatch to remain undiscovered. There had been so many close calls over the years. Several times, he had thought he was on the cusp of discovery. Every time, he had been badly disappointed. He did not wish to repeat such disappointment, which was why he was trying so hard to keep from getting too excited about John’s report.

“Whatcha thinkin’ bout, Bryan?” Rusty asked from the back seat.

“Not much,” Bryan replied nonchalantly.

Rusty squirmed in the back seat and moaned in obvious boredom. Rusty Knox was the youngest member of the three-man team Bryan had managed to pull together in such a short time span. Rusty, at age 25 was a full time firefighter working three days on and four off. He was always ready for an adventure, and he was available more often than not with the hours he worked. What Rusty lacked in intelligence, he more than made up for in enthusiasm. He became involved with bigfoot investigating simply because it sparked his active imagination and gave him more reason to get out and explore.

In the passenger seat next to Bryan sat the oldest member of the group and Bryan’s mentor. Levi Morris was a 73-year-old retired dentist. He had been involved in sasquatch research for more than 30 years and was the first to introduce Bryan to the truths behind the mystery. Levi was very knowledgeable, but was best known for his amazing casting ability with dental stone. Many in the field of sasquatch research affectionately referred to him as the “Master of Plaster.”

Levi had been Bryan’s dentist since he was a child. He had one of those soothing voices that are quite valuable in the world of dentistry. Besides putting his patients at ease, it also worked well in extracting their deepest secrets. It had worked so with Bryan soon after his encounter. Bryan had no idea at the time that Levi was interested in sasquatch, and in fact didn’t know anything about sasquatch other than the parodies and cartoons he’d seen growing up. He thought of it no differently than the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. That fateful day in the dentist chair, Levi had opened Bryan’s mind up to a whole new world and it triggered a passion in him that would stand the test of time.

“Did this John guy call the police and report his friend missing?” Rusty asked, breaking the silence for the third time in the past three minutes.

“I called in a few favors,” Levi replied in a slow drawl. “There are no missing person reports anywhere in that county. Folks down that way tend to handle things on their own.”

Rusty moved forward to the edge of his seat, excited that he had elicited more than a two-word answer from one of the older men. What do you figure we’d do if we find this missing guy’s body and it’s all chewed up? Levi and Bryan exchanged an amused look. Although it was a stupid question, it brought to mind an important point. “We do need to keep in mind that if we find proof that this guy really is missing, we’ll have to report it to the police,” Bryan said.

“It’s gonna take a hell of lot to prove that,” Rusty mused.

“Well,” Levi replied, “I’ve got to agree with you on that. Unless this John guy shows me a body or a bigfoot, I’m assuming he’s full of crap.”

“But what if he’s not full of crap?” Rusty asked eagerly. “What if his story is true?”

“Then we’ll gather as much evidence as possible,” Bryan replied simply.

“And then we’ll be rich!” Rusty exclaimed. Levi and Bryan exchanged another amused look.

John slept very little throughout the night. The few moments he did manage were filled with nightmares. Several times during the night, he had picked up the phone and considered calling Grady’s brother, Leonard. Leonard was ten years younger than Grady, but Grady had always been more of a father figure to him than a brother. John cringed to think how Leonard would react to the news about Grady. He reasoned that getting Grady back alive was more likely without a neurotic brother and the police tromping around his ranch.

John finally gave up the pretense of sleep at four o’clock and began gathering the horses. He didn’t know how many people would be with Bryan, but figured he would saddle five horses. If that were too many, it would not hurt to have an extra along anyway. John could tell Ole Ned was not as rested as he would like. The old gelding gave him a long look of disapproval as he tightened the cinch strap.

John felt a mixture of sadness and joy as the Grand Cherokee rolled noisily up the long gravel drive. He thought back on all the times he’d watched his best friend Grady cover that same piece of ground. The sound of Grady’s diesel engine purring up the drive always made him think of hunting. Now he was about to embark on a different kind of hunt…a hunt for Grady himself.

Bryan stepped out of the driver’s side door and stopped for a moment to take in the dark scenery. In the predawn, John’s ranch reminded him of a scene from an old black and white movie. Bryan felt a chill run up his back as he spotted the star of the film just a few yards away and closing the distance.

Bryan Settle arrives at John McBride’s ranch.
Copyright 2006 Pat Barker.

John stepped out of the stable where he had been busying himself with the horses. He walked towards the truck as the men slowly exited. Bryan stepped forward and held out his hand. The rugged cowboy took his hand firmly. Bryan was enveloped by the cold, leathery grip and even in the darkness, John’s steel-gray eyes were something to behold.

“John McBride,” the old cowboy mumbled. “I’m glad you men made it.”

“Bryan Settle,” Bryan replied. “This here is Rusty Knox and this is Levi Morris.” Rusty and Levi stepped forward and shook hands while introducing themselves. Afterwards, there was a thick tension in the air. No one wanted to voice the reason they all had come together.

John finally broke the silence. “I’ve got the horses saddled. If we ride hard, we should be able to get to the spot where Grady was taken a few hours after daybreak.” John turned on his heals without another word and headed towards the stable.

Bryan and Levi exchanged a glance of chagrin and then quickly began assisting Rusty in unloading the truck. They hadn’t known exactly what equipment to bring. This was an unusual expedition. This was a search and rescue mission, which none of them had experience with. They had brought the usual sasquatch hunting equipment, such as camera traps, GPS, camcorders, and night vision goggles. Each heaved the packs onto their shoulders and walked to the stable.

Walking inside, they were met with the smell of rich manure and dry hay. Five horses stood side-by-side, each saddled and carrying deep leather saddlebags. John stepped out from behind the far horse with a brush in his hand. He looked them over carefully with their packs and fancy hiking boots. He wondered for a moment if he had made a mistake.

“What’s in the bags?” He questioned.

“Mainly surveillance equipment.” Bryan answered.

“What kind of weapons did you bring?” John asked.

The trio of researchers each looked at one another dumbfounded. Finally, Levi swung his jacket back and revealed a concealed pistol at his side. “I have my 44 magnum.”

John looked to the other two men. “How bout y’all?”

“We’re no-kill,” Rusty answered nervously.

“What the hell is no-kill?” John asked dryly.

Rusty lost all confidence with John’s harsh tone and turned to Bryan to answer. “It means we wouldn’t kill one of these creatures unless we felt our life was in danger,” Bryan answered.

John seemed to consider that for a moment. “If you’re coming with me, you can be damn sure your life is in danger.” He paused. “I took the liberty of placing some deer rifles in the scabbards of each mount. I’d recommend looking them over and making sure you know how to use them.”

John turned and untied the first horse and handed the reins to Bryan. In just a few minutes, all four men were saddled and ready to ride. John led the extra horse behind Ole Ned. He had the three stranger’s packs tied to the pack horse.

“I packed enough food to last us a few days. I’m not coming back without Grady, so I’d suggest you pay attention on how to get back,” John informed them in a monotone voice.

“We’ve got a GPS,” Rusty replied with a big smile. He pulled it out of his pocket and began marking the location. John was unimpressed with the trio and was regretting that he ever called them in to help. He couldn’t hide his frustration. “You brought a damn pocket computer, but didn’t bring a gun?”

Bryan surprised him with an assertive answer. “Did you ever think that you wouldn’t be in this mess if you’d left your guns at home? After all, you drew first blood.”

John turned and regarded Bryan with a hard look. Bryan did not break eye contact. “Maybe,” John replied. He turned and spurred Ole Ned forward. At least one of them has some balls, John thought to himself.

Rusty got his coordinates plugged into the GPS. He looked up and saw the other men were well ahead of him. He slapped his horse on the rear and it leapt forward, nearly pitching him from the saddle. He held on tight to the saddle horn with both hands as the horse trotted to catch up to the others.

Continue to Chapter 6 of A New Reality

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