Masters of the Arches

The land ahead of him was still sloping down but it was grassland now and there were no more rocks to be seen anywhere. He was standing about half a mile from the river and he was exhausted. Having not done much exercise in the last couple of years, his body was not in the best of condition and he had to sit in the tall grass so as to catch his breath. Except for the twice a year hunting trips that he went on, he had spent most of his time sitting behind his desk. Also, being in his early forties he no longer had the vitality of his youth. Besides he was at least twenty pounds overweight and even though he was still in fairly good health otherwise, he certainly was no longer the young man he used to be.

The river was wider than it had appeared when he had examined it from the ledge in front of the cave. As far as he could tell, it was about four to five hundred feet wide on the average and the flow of its water seemed fairly slow. It took Vincent another twenty minutes before he reached the closest bank, and once he stood on the shore of the river he noticed that the water was extremely clear and deep. On closer inspection, he was able to see a few fish swimming in it, some small and some quite big.

He raised his eyes toward the horizon and he saw on his left the end of the grassland and the edge of the dense forest. He did some quick calculations in his mind and he figured that he could walk to the forest and then return back home without putting too much strain on the muscles of his legs. Of course he had to get back to his home before nightfall since he had no intention of spending the night in this strange place. Even though he hadn't seen any animal life yet, there was no way for him to know what kinds of predators were living in these fertile grasslands. Without a rifle to defend himself, if he were to encounter an animal like a cougar or a bear he would have no chance at all.

He was too much of an expert hunter to take things for granted, and spending the night on this plain could lead to all sorts of unpleasant surprises. Had he been armed it would have been different, but when he had crossed over that morning, it had only been his intention to have a closer look at the base of the solitary peak.

Walking was now relatively easy in the knee-high grass. When he was a few hundred yards from the first trees, he suddenly heard shouting and strange squealing noises coming from the direction of the forest ahead of him. He couldn't understand any of the words, neither was he able to see anything, but prudence told him to hide himself in the high grass and to wait. He remained lying flat on his belly for a couple of minutes then he made up his mind to turn back and not let his curiosity control his actions.

As he walked back toward the solitary high peak, he had the feeling of being followed. Then he was once again standing on the bank of the river. Suddenly he heard the voice of a woman. He turned just in time to see her. She was almost naked and she had both of her arms waving high over her head trying to attract his attention. The cause of her great agitation then became clear to him. She was trying to warn him about the charge of a strange animal that was charging straight toward him. Vincent remained frozen for a few seconds as he watched the beast running in a straight line in his direction. It looked to be a cross between a pig and a rhino and although it was running on short legs, its speed was incredibly fast for its great mass. It must have come out of the grass somewhere between him and the woman, and for some reason that he couldn't understand, she must have been following him after he had turned back at the edge of the forest.

At last, the urgency of the situation hit him. He looked to his right and to his left for a place to run. On his right was the strange mountain, which was his way back home, but there was no way for him to outrun the beast coming after him. On his left was the river while straight ahead was the mile long bank of the river.

He looked again at the woman and he saw her running straight into the river. Could it be that she was trying to tell him where to go? Could it be that this rhino-pig beast would not follow him into the river? There was no more time to debate. He accelerated as fast as he could and threw himself into the river just as the beast reached the spot he had been standing only a second before.

The water felt very cold as he swam away from the shoreline. At last, after some long minutes during which time he did manage to swim to a good distance from the bank, he looked behind him and he saw the rhino-pig animal still on the bank of the river watching him with angry looking pink eyes. He could see its long teeth and the dripping saliva from its mouth as it watched its meal escape in the river. Being over four foot high, it was much bigger than he had first judged it to be and he was now most grateful for the warning that the woman had given him.

Now that his thoughts had return to the woman he began looking for her in the river and on the shoreline. There were no signs of her. It was as if she had never been there. The water felt very cold but he remained in it long after he saw the creature turn around and walk away. As soon as he was back on the embankment of the river, when he felt safe enough to walk again, he began to look for signs of the woman. But nowhere could he see her.

Carefully he went to the spot he had last seen her and when he looked in the wet clay of the bank, her naked footprints were very visible. But it was getting late now judging by the height of the sun in the sky and he decided to continue to walk back home. He wanted to get to the cave before it got dark. It took him over three hours to climb back to the ledge at the top of the peak and when he entered the cave it was almost completely dark outside. He came out of the cave into his own world and it was after midnight there. After a good meal -- he hadn't eaten for the whole day -- he sat down to think. After much reflection on the matter, he promised himself that he would return and try to find the girl that had saved his life but this time he would bring his rifle with him.