The lot was more easily seen when parked on the road between two lakes, but the unkindness of ravens circling about the trees should have been an indication that someone set this parcel apart.
The three of them compared the satellite map’s markings with the view from across the sky-toned water lake.
A fiftyish realtor Hanckensack ‘Hacker’ Jenkins handed the young couple an environmental lake report.
“This spring fed lake is 200-acres and has an unstructured bottom.
The outlet is under the culvert we’re parked on now.
The report says it’s part of the Big Sandy watershed.
In it are pan fish mostly, and probably a dog fish or two.
Trellis Lake is a private lake. Are you familiar with that term?”
Eryn inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled as if she were counting to ten. “Hacker, I believe it means Trellis Lake has no public lake access. Do you mean to tell us that because it supports a fish population, this lake doesn’t freeze over in the winter?”
Hacker raised his eyebrows. “Correct.”
Eryn checked the time. “Could you give us a moment to ourselves, please?”
Hackensack waited for them inside his car as they walked the shoreline.
Eryn got out first.
Jesse soon followed, beaming almost as much as the radiant marsh gold. “I told you it’s gorgeous.”
The wind stopped its voracious ranting, and temperatures seemed to rise.
Eryn felt uncomfortably overdressed.
When she started to remove her jacket, the zipper jammed.
She wracked her wrist and shimmied a shoulder until she could take off the jacket without unzipping it.
“Dang, girl,” said Jesse, “don’t that hurt? I heard it pop out of your socket.”
Eryn held up her jacket. “Ta da! My high school Houdini nickname wasn’t because I’m hairy.”
Jesse put his hand up to shade his eyes in the late afternoon sun. “Did you know it had an island? I didn’t.”
“I did. It was shown on the listing photos,” Eryn said. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I know you are already in favor of buying the property.”
“That obvious, huh?” he said.
Eryn ran her fingertips down his chin line. “I want to walk the property myself. This is a major purchase, and our first. Will you let me do that before I make up my mind?”
He kissed her forehead, and they walked back to the car. “Sure.”
Jesse knocked on the driver’s side window. “Hacker? I know you said you had another appointment, but could you drop us off on the other side of the lake so we could walk through it on our own?”
Eryn gave Hacker her best smile.
Jesse put his arm around Eryn. “I’ll call my sister to pick us up when we’re done.”
Eryn put a hand to her chest. “Now you’re talking. I haven’t met her yet, or your parents.” Eryn turned to Hacker. “Have you ever heard of a fiancé that hasn’t met her future in-laws?”
Hacker shook his head. “No, but what I want to know is, will you be alright alone?”
Eryn looked intently into Jesse’s eyes and the two lovers held hands. “We’ll be together. That’s not alone.”
Eryn pushed over a pile of brown clothing or a blanket in the realtor’s backseat and got in.
Hacker drove them down a dirt road canopied by mature oaks. “There’s a path next to the ‘for sale’ sign. It’ll take you around the bog and circle back to the lakeshore.”
The road snaked through such a heavily wooded canopy that Eryn felt like the forest was swallowing them up.
Hackensack dropped them off at the property marker. “If you have any questions or can think of a way I can help, please call.”
“Thank you,” said Jesse, and handed him an envelope. “One of us will call you and let you know what we decided.”
Eryn ran up to his car. “Wait. I do have questions.”
Hackensack shifted his car into neutral. “Of course.”
She glanced at the majestic old-growth forest. “What I want to know is, off the record, why the low price? It’s twenty acres of raw land on a picturesque lake that looks like a Currier and Ives postcard. You don’t find very many undeveloped lots today in lake country. The listing price is super cheap.” Eryn scratched her head. “What’s wrong with it?”
Hacker dragged his hand from his forehead to his open mouth. “Ah, I haven’t walked the property myself, but surveyors marked the corners. On the aerial photo it shows eighteen acres of heavily wooded land and two acres of low land. Marsh or bog. The lake has a hard sand bottom. It’s a steal. I wouldn’t walk the property if I were you. Trust me, no need. Ride back into town with me and we’ll talk tomorrow.”
Eryn placed her hand on his open window. “What can you tell me about the person who is selling it?”
“Hard to say,” said Hacker. “It’s just some single guy who wants to move it fast. It’s not a short sale, but close.”
Eryn declined his offer to ride back into town.
Jesse followed Eryn on the overgrown, narrow trail and they talked about what kind of home to put on it.
She was resistant to Jesse’s idea of living off the land, but at least his plan came with proximity to a pristine water source. “All I’m asking is that you consider my goals, hopes, and fears, too. I know this place is remote, but that doesn’t mean we have to live off-grid.”
Jesse swatted her back side hard, then patted her head. “Silly girl, you don’t want to wake up breathing fresh air?”
Eryn pulled another wood tick from her jeans. “I know I like hot showers and indoor plumbing. I know air conditioning sure feels good when it’s a humid hundred degrees. Maybe you live off-grid and I’ll be your neighbor who enjoys modern conveniences?”
Jesse kept his eyes on the trail. “Whatever you want, babe. Just saying.”
Eryn focused her eyes on the pristine scenery. “It seems like the type of place where a bear could meet us on the trail.”
Jesse ignored her.
An odd shape dangled from a tree branch.
She focused on it longer and saw it was a red wing bird tied upside down.
Someone before the bird died, or after, cut off the bird’s head.
Eryn stopped walking and shut her eyes.
Jesse hit her backside with a stick again and giggled.
Eryn grabbed the stick from him and snapped it in half with her knee. “Knock it off!”
Hiking from the road to the water’s edge was challenging because of the thick underbrush.
In many places they had to climb over fallen trees.
Eryn looked at the lichen growing on decomposing wood and through the storm that happened many years ago.
“Hey Sweetie,” Jesse said, “Sorry about the stick thing. Let’s talk about our new property. We’ll be saving so much money that you can get that EV you’ve always wanted because we’ll live like the pioneers. You said you admired the settlers who broke the land. You wanted to do that, too.”
Eryn laughed. “Oh, really? I don’t remember talking about any of this. Also, pioneers didn’t have EVs.”
Jesse ran ahead of Eryn on the faint trail that was no bigger than a deer path. “Would you love me no matter what?”
Eryn noticed something like Spanish moss hanging from all the trees, which was odd considering they weren’t in a southern state. “You know I love you, but enough goofing around. This is a serious purchase.”
Jesse stopped and faced her. “I know you would do anything for me.”
Eryn looked down at her arms and pulled off another crawling mole. “If we buy this, we need to keep a better path out to the water. Nobody wants to take a walk and pull off a dozen ticks later.”
Jesse quickened his pace. “The clearing is up ahead. When we get to the clearing, we’ll cut east to an easy slope to the water.”
Eryn tilted her head. “How do you know this? You said you haven’t been here before. Also, I’ve been meaning to ask you, but what was in the envelope you gave Hacker?”
Jesse gave her a sly smile. “Money.”
She stopped walking. “Why money?”
Jesse scratched his palm. “He helps me, and I pay him for his professionalism.” Jesse veered to the left. “Ah, here we are. See? Isn’t this a perfect spot?”
Eryn crossed her arms. “We’re finally here. I also see an old bonfire pit. Look at the huge metal spit. For roasting wild game, maybe? It sure is private. I think you’re right about this place.”
Jesse sneered. “I’m always right.”
Eryn nervously laughed to cover her frustration. “Sure, buddy. Sure.”
Jesse reached behind a tree and pulled a long bungee cord out.
Eryn saw that one end of the bungee was tied to a shoreline tree. “I think it’s a rope swing. This place just keeps getting better and better. We can swing on the rope into the water.”
He snapped the bungee cord between two hands and pretended to choke her. “Just kidding. I probably won’t choke you. Yet.” He laughed. “I know the people who are staying in a cabin near here. We’re in a type of club and we meet out here to play games. Friendly betting. Have a cookout. You’ll like my friends. Today is a party day.”
Jesse let the bungee dangle freely and stared at Eryn.
It was the disconcerting type of gaze from someone with flat emotion.
Eryn looked nervously around this small clearing surrounded by sentinel red pines.
She saw another headless bird hanging on branches by a rope tied to their feet. “You’ve never mentioned this club before.”
Jesse rolled a log over for her to sit next to the bonfire pit. “Sit here and don’t move. I have a surprise for you.”
Eryn sat down. “A surprise for me, huh? Is it your group of friends?”
Jesse took the end of the bungee cord and spun it around in a circle. “Well, you could say that.”
Eryn saw Jesse’s wide-eyed vacant expression and she was afraid to move.
She noticed three or four people wearing brown hooded robes coming toward the pit.
She looked at Jesse. “Is this a joke?”
Jesse started walking around the log.
Eryn sat until he stopped before her and bent down on one knee.
For one hot minute Eryn thought he was going to propose again, only this time in front of his weirdo friends.
Then Jesse clicked a carabiner around the bungee cord and her ankle.
He used a shorter bungee cord to wrap her hands behind her back.
Eryn stood up. “Not funny, Jesse. Take it off.”
She wouldn’t wait for permission to leave.
Her struggles were valiant, but unsuccessful.
She continued to protest, beg, and berate Jesse.
The sun leveled into the horizon.
Eryn memorized where the trail was in case she had to run in the dark.
Jesse stood smiling at her. “I pulled a trick on you. Don’t be too mad. You see, this is already my property.” His deranged laughter cackled. “Hacker and I have been friends for years.”
The brown hooded friends helped Jesse put a filthy plexi-glass with brown splatters around Eryn like a portable fence.
Her neck tendons bulged. “Jesse, if you loved me, you wouldn’t do this.”
Jesse opened the plexi-glass door and approached her. He poked her nose. “If you loved me, you would do what I tell you.”
Jesse addressed the group. “Good to see you. Let’s start. But first we need a fire.”
One of his brown cloaked compatriots lit a fire in the pit.
Jesse ripped Eryn’s jacket that she had tied around her waist and threw it in the fire. “We’re going to play the Bear Hug game first. If there is a next game after that, it will be Deadman’s float.”
Jesse led their group in a chanted membership pledge.
Two of Jesse’s so-called friends held Eryn down while he smeared honey and other sauces over her clothes, skin, on top of her hair.
He took a large jar of grape jam and forced it over her nose and mouth.
She struggled to breathe. “Eryn honeypie? Did you know it’s possible to purchase exotic animals for pets?”
Another member wheeled a metal cage with an enraged, trapped black bear into the plexi glass surround.
Jesse put on his own brown robe and got his clipboard ready. “Okay, time for bets. Who thinks she’s going to last twenty minutes? Anyone? Who thinks twenty? Do I hear a twenty? How about ten?”
Members placed their bets and threw their money into the pot.
Eryn’s screams elicited their laughter.
Jesse slowly opened the galvanized gate door and released a full-grown black bear into the enclosure that surrounded Eryn.
Members pounded on the plexiglass and riled the bear into frothy roars.
They socialized and chatted amongst themselves.
Eryn popped her double-jointed hands to free her wrists first.
She bent over like she passed out, but instead dropped her hands down to the ground so she could release the carabiner.
Jesse hit her with a stick. “Wake up honey. Company’s here.”
Everything happened so fast, but Eryn remembered sprinting untethered to the shore’s edge and diving into clean water.
Eryn’s strong strokes helped her swim toward the road between two lakes, but it was also the most logical place Jesse would search for her, so she back tracked.
This low land that Hacker described was filled with shallow pools.
Eryn broke off a common snap weed to use as a straw to suck in air and submerged herself in one.
Cattails and watery bog grass hid her form.
Eryn kept her body motionless.
She sucked air using the straw-like snap pipe and waited.
And waited—she waited until her pained lungs felt shriveled.
When she felt certain she was alone, she quietly raised her head above water and gulped fresh air.
She started walking on land.
She didn’t know where she was going and didn’t care, so long as it was far away from her crazed psycho fiancé.
Eryn didn’t get far.
A noose bungee cord wrapped around her ankle, lifting her off the ground.
She swung by one leg from a sturdy oak and tried unsuccessfully to pull herself upright.
She didn’t want to scream because Jesse would hear her.
Blood rushed to her head.
She felt she might black out as her arms dangled below her.
Eryn saw hanging on the same branch headless birds tied to a branch by a string.
Her shriek pierced the darkness.
She realized the swinging dead birds were once like her.
Alive.
Waiting.
Eryn contemplated her future when she felt a whack against her backside.
