The big timber was all gone except down by the river near the little town of Shady Timbers in 1967, nestled up against the morning shaded western slopes of the Cascades in Central Washington. The town was well known for the disappearance of two girls three years earlier who went out in the evening and were never seen again. Shady Timbers was also well known for Bigfoot sightings.

But there was no evidence to indicate that the two incidents were related. There was national attention to the missing girls for a little while, but then everyone forgot except the townspeople, who never did. And the families of the two girls who couldn't stop mourning every time they came across a remembrance. As for Bigfoot, he was spotted all over the Northwest, but never proven. Just an old video that later proved to be a fake. A man in a gorilla suit walking through the trees. A prank gone international through trashy newspaper articles and outlandish stories in adventure magazines.

Archie Waters didn't forget. His sister, Cynthia, only 7 years old… She'd be 10 now… Was the first girl taken. He remembered vividly the screen door slamming as she went out into the warm July evening air, "To see the fireflies… Maybe, catch some!" Archie followed shortly after and she wasn't in the yard, anywhere. He called out in vain for her, but got no answer. Later, the whole family was looking. By the next day, the whole town of 300, give or take, was looking, depending upon who was coming or going. But Cynthia was gone. Vanished into thin air! The search was called off a month later.  But Archie still searched every time he went down to the river. Hoping to find some clue. Some evidence that Cynthia left to let him know where she was or where she was going.

Archie had seen Bigfoot. One time when he was out in the barn working alone for his dad, Archie heard a commotion among the chickens. He was pitching straw in the stalls and figured that it might've been a fox, weasel, possum, raccoon or other critter trying to get at the chickens so he ran out with the pitchfork with the hopes of spearing the villain with a lucky throw or thrust.

As he ran toward the chicken coop, Archie thought he saw a large furry man-like creature running at fantastic speed away from the chicken coop in the evening half-light. But the creature disappeared into the woods adjoining the farm so quickly he couldn't be sure exactly what he saw. It didn't look like a bear. Weren't supposed to be any bears left in Oregon, although they were sighted in the Cascades all the time. The chickens settled down and so did Archie. Went back to pitching straw. Not sure whether he would tell his buddies what he saw. Couldn't prove it. Jake had already told him that Bigfoot was fake and not real. You had to believe Jake, he was the smartest kid in school. Destined to go to Oregon, or maybe even Cal or Stanford, if he got a scholarship. No, won't tell him or anyone. Archie put it to rest, but didn't forget.

But chickens came up missing. Archie's dad agreed that it was one of the already named critters doing the deed. Would have to put the chickens in the coop before dusk and maybe put out a stuffed hawk sitting on the chicken coop or the barn. If that would work… Probably not. Only for pigeons. Kept them out of the barn.

Once in a while, there was a sack of oats missing. A bale of hay or straw. Nothing really serious, just strange. Folks around here weren't thieves. If they wanted something, they would ask to borrow it, buy it, or barter for it. But, you never know. There were those hippies around that came up from California and tended to steal things for their communes. No manners, those city slickers.

Archie had to make the call. He picked up the phone and dialed. "Hey, Jake! Can you and Wes come on over to the clubhouse this afternoon? I've got something really important to tell you. It may be a way to find Cynthia and Janie Thomas. I don't know… Maybe?"

"Man, that is good news! But I'm supposed to help my dad this afternoon scrape paint because we are going to be painting the house. I'll see if I can get free. I'll see if I can get Wes to come with me. Okay, Arch?"

"Okay. I'll be waiting in the clubhouse."

Jake Nelson was 14 and the self-appointed leader of things, but Archie, at 13, had a place where the buddies could do their thing in the produce shed where they had their own little room made over into a clubhouse with the sign over the door that proclaimed loudly, "No Girls Allowed." Although lately, Jake thought seriously about taking that sign down because there were a couple of girls that he thought he might want to share secrets with in the clubhouse. And then, there was Wesley Morgan. At 11, Wes always did whatever the other guys said or did. He was always there to back whatever they were doing. The three had been best friends forever and the clubhouse, on the Waters's farm just a few hundred yards away from the town, provided a way for buddies to get away and do their plans for the future independent of parental scrutiny.

Archie was reading the latest Batman comic when Jake popped through the door with Wes on his tail around 2 pm. They both plunked down on straw bales that doubled for chairs and sprawled out.

"What's up, Arch? I had to beg Dad short of telling him it was about Cynthia and Janie for him to let me get off early and come on over."

"Well, I'll tell you, Jake. You know the river flooded two weeks ago after that big rainstorm? I know that fishing is good after the river goes back down from a flood. So yesterday, I went down to the river and was fishing when Rusty went on point. I hadn't seen that German Shorthair do that since hunting season. I figured it was a duck, grouse or pheasant, so I investigated.

"Well, just a few yards down the bank… I hadn't noticed before… that big pile of stumps and logs up against the bank had completely washed away and there was a hole there… A big hole! There was this chicken, running in and out of the hole like it was looking for something to eat. It sure looked like one of our chickens, and probably was."

That story certainly got Jake and Wes's attention. They were all in and waiting to hear more. Gave him their rapt attention. Eyes bugged out.

Archie continued. "I went over and took a look at the hole. It was a tunnel! Big enough for a truck to drive in. Rusty and I went inside and started walking. It got dark real quick, but I kept walking making sure that I had my feet under me so I didn't trip in the dark until when I looked back, the place where I entered was just a small little dot of light--scary. That tunnel seemed to go on forever! Before long, we had to turn around and go back out. It was a frightening place. Maybe that's where the girls went? The tunnel was very well-built. Probably could handle our occasional earthquakes. Near the entrance, I noticed there were lights overhead. It was no cave. Somebody built that thing. My family has been on this land forever, but we ain't never heard of a tunnel being built like that!"

Jake was really into Archie's story now. "So, what are we gonna do about it? That tunnel needs exploring. But it looks like we'll need some time to do it. What do you suggest?"

Wes put in his two cents. "We could go camping?"

"Hey, that's a good idea, Wes. Let's tell our folks that we're going camping for a week down by the river to do a little fishing now that the fishing is good after the flood. It's summertime. I think they'll buy it. Have to make sure that we each take a flashlight with extra batteries. No telling how far that tunnel goes?" Jake was good at planning. It was a done deal.

Jake hurried up and got that scraping done so that his father could paint the house with his newfangled sprayer he bought for the job. Once that scraping was finished Jake was free for the next week to go camping. Wes was free all the time in summer to do whatever his buddies were doing, so got permission from his parents easily.

Archie had chores to do, but convinced his dad and mom that it would be good for him to get some fish to supplement their meat diet. And besides, "Jake and Wes have already planned to go camping." It worked.

When Jake's mom asked him, "Do you want me to pack you some bacon and eggs, meat and potatoes? How about some easy to make spaghetti? Some fruit and cake for dessert?"

"No, Mom, we will be too busy fishing to take time to cook, except maybe some fresh fish. Just pack me some sandwiches in wax paper so they won't spoil, some granola bars, candy bars and snacks. Fruit's okay. You know, just enough to last a week."

Just before they left, the guys nixed the idea of carrying the heavy tent. But hid it under some of the straw bales in the clubhouse so Archie's parents would think they took it. They did take fishing gear, hoping to catch enough fish to convince their parents of their reason for spending a week at the river.

Three days later, Monday morning, they had their packs all packed and on their backs with a summer bedroll on top and set out for the river that was only about a half hour walk on a well used trail to a campsite that they had often tread before. Just as they were leaving, Archie's dad yelled out to them, "You guys be careful now! Don't camp too close to the river! That last flood probably wiped out our usual campsite!"

Archie turned and yelled back his response. "We will Dad! Don't worry… we will!" A good lie was better than a bad start to their trip. Jake smiled and poked Wes in the ribs. Archie's dad didn't have a clue and that was a good thing. Archie then shooed Rusty off. "Go home, Rusty! You can't come with us this time. Stay… And protect the farm… Stay! Reluctantly with his head down and his stubby tail low, Rusty turned around and reluctantly walked back to Archie's dad calling him to come home.

By the time the trio got to the river, they had already consumed half of their canteen water. Fortunately, there was a spring right near their flood damaged campsite with crystal clear water from the mountains towering above where they filled them completely again for the long trek ahead.

"Look!" Jake exclaimed when they got to the tunnel, "The flood ripped the door off the tunnel! That door must've been attached to that big pile of stumps and logs that was always here before."

"Yeah, what a way to hide that door. Wonder how long it was there and we didn't even notice? Archie agreed and added. "I'll use my flashlight first. I couldn't see the end of this tunnel. So don't know how far it goes. Look at those lights overhead. I wish we could turn them on?” They looked for a switch by the entrance, but there was none.

The boys started out pretty fast, walking until it was time to stop and have a little lunch, take a swig from their canteens. Fortunately, Jake had one of those radium dial wristwatches so they could keep track of time. But, at 6 pm, there was no sign of the end to the tunnel, so they stopped for a while to eat supper. The questioning began.

"How long do you think we're gonna have to walk?" Wes was already dog tired after a long day of walking and looking for answers.

"I don't know. As long as it takes. We can go a couple or three days. I guess, then we'll have to turn around and go back because we'll run out of food and water." Jake was still planning by the seat of his pants.

"I'm with Jake. If you can keep up, Wes, I'm willing to go even beyond our food and water. This tunnel is too nice. It has to come out somewhere. Let's get walking again."

"Okay, Archie. I'll try not to complain. But if I get hungry or thirsty…?"

"Suck up, Wes. You can do it." Wes was hoping he could.

They walked on until it was 9 pm on Jake's watch and they stopped for the night. In this strange surrounding, even though they were tired from all that walking, none of them slept very well. It was like sleeping in a dry, warm cave. The silence and the darkness unnerving. By 6 am, Archie was calling out to Jake. "Jake, are you awake? Let's get up and get moving."

"Okay." Both Jake and Wes answered, already lying awake themselves. They were soon walking into the darkness again using Jake's flashlight having used three batteries on Archie's the day before. He had three left. Jake's plan was for them not to use more than half of their batteries before turning back. While they could walk in the dark because this was no cave and the bottom was smooth. None of them wanted to.

That whole day went the same as the day before and the trio continued to deplete their food and water. Decided to ration what they had left, to make sure they had something to go back on. None of them had ever fasted and were used to regular meals. But water was critical. Wes was already near half of his canteen. Jake cautioned him. "Just take sips. It's got to last." It made Jake worry, but he tried not to show it to the others.

On the third day, Jake was beginning to have doubts. too. But he soldiered on in the lead with Wes's flashlight looking for that tiny hole at the end of the tunnel that would tell him that they were there. After lunch, he really got worried, but something told him to move on in spite of Wes's constant whining from the back that they needed to turn back. Something pushed him on. He thought about explorers that make discoveries and ones that he read about that died trying. He didn't share his thoughts with Archie and Wes. Too grim.

There was no light at the end of the tunnel. Up ahead, the flashlight finally came upon a door. Jake's first thought was, Oh crap! We can't get out! But he suppressed that thought. When he reached the door there was a switch and large wheel by the side of the door on the right wall. He flipped the switch to see if the door would open or the lights would come on. Nothing happened. He tried the wheel and it turned. As if greased, the door slid easily to one side and bright sunlight blinded them after so long in the dark.

It took a few moments for their eyes to adjust. And then, far below them was a rather bleak desert valley with what looked like a small village or compound with a fence around it. At first, they could see no movement among the buildings. But then, Archie saw something moving in what looked like a garden. They hadn't brought any binoculars.

Jake turned around and looked at the open door to discover that it had a rock face and was easy to close simply by pushing it shut. They did, but left it little bit open so they could get back in quickly. Looking back as they left, that rock face on the door blended right in with the mountainside. Perfect camouflage. No use in drawing attention that the door was open.

But the trio became concerned with what moved below. They took off running even though they were exhausted from all the walking to get to see what was down there moving. Archie probably had the best eyesight, because he yelled out to the others while running, "It's two girls, I think it's Cynthia and Janie! I know it is! It's them!"

To be continued…

Copyright 2019 © Ronald W. Hull

9/25/19