Chapter 3 - THE BOY IN THE RAVINE
I secured Titan to a nearby tree and climbed over the railing.
“Officer, wait!” someone shouted. “You can’t go down there alone!”
They were right.
The ravine was steep, muddy, and covered with loose stones. One wrong step could send me sliding into the stream. But Mason was lying beneath a fallen tree, and whatever had frightened Titan was moving closer to him.
I moved slowly.
Every step mattered.
“Mason, can you hear me?”
The boy lifted his head.
“My leg hurts.”
“Don’t move. Help is coming.”
The leaves beside him trembled.
I stopped.
A long, dark shape emerged from beneath them.
It wasn’t a snake.
It was a broken branch, dragged by the current.
The rattle had come from something attached to it.
A metal can.
The current pushed the branch back and forth, causing the can to strike against a rock.
Rattle. Rattle.
For one second, relief flooded through me.
Then Titan began barking from above.
Not at the branch.
At the tree.
I looked closer.
Mason’s left leg was trapped beneath the fallen trunk. His right hand was pressed against the ground, only inches from a small black object.
The object moved.
I froze.
It was a snake.
Not large, but thick enough to be dangerous. Its body was dark brown, patterned with pale diamond shapes. Its head was raised, tongue flicking toward the boy’s fingers.
“Mason,” I said calmly, “don’t move your hand.”
The boy looked down.
His eyes widened.
“What is that?”
“Just keep looking at me.”
The snake swayed.
I slowly reached for the branch beside me. If I moved too quickly, it might strike. If I waited, Mason might panic.
“Officer,” Mason whispered, “it’s going to bite me.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
I spoke slowly, keeping my voice steady.
“Take a breath. You’re doing great.”
The snake turned slightly toward me.
I picked up a long stick.
Before I could move, it struck.
The stick snapped against its head, knocking it sideways. Mason screamed. I grabbed his jacket and pulled him backward as the snake disappeared beneath the leaves.
Then the fallen tree shifted.
Mason cried out.
“Don’t move!” I shouted.
The trunk had pinned his leg, but the ground beneath it was unstable. If it rolled, it could crush him.
I reached for my radio.
“Fire rescue, we need immediate extraction. Child trapped under fallen tree. Possible snake exposure.”
The dispatcher replied that the rescue team was less than five minutes away.
Five minutes could be an eternity.
Above us, the little girl was screaming her brother’s name.
“Tell her I’m okay!” Mason called.
“You’re okay,” I said. “She can hear you.”
I tried to assess his leg without touching the tree. His foot was pale, but he could wiggle his toes.
“That’s good,” I told him. “Keep talking to me.”
“What’s your dog’s name?”
“Titan.”
“He saved my sister.”
“Yes, he did.”
Mason looked toward the trees. “He found me too?”
“He did.”
The boy swallowed.
“My sister said Titan attacked her.”
“He was protecting her from the snake.”
Mason’s expression changed. “There was another one?”
I looked up toward the ridge.
“What do you mean?”
Mason’s breathing quickened.
“When Lily and I came down here, we saw a box. It was open. There were snakes inside.”
My stomach tightened.
“What box?”
“A black plastic box. It fell out of a bag.”
“How many snakes?”
“I don’t know. Three. Maybe four.”
The radio crackled.
“Officer Brooks, rescue team arriving at the north trail.”
I looked at the leaves around Mason.
The snake I had seen was not an escaped pet wandering into the ravine by chance. If Mason was telling the truth, someone had brought them here.
“Where’s the box now?” I asked.
Mason pointed toward the stream.
“Behind the tree.”
I looked in that direction.
A black plastic container was wedged beneath the branches.
Its lid was open.
The interior was empty.
Then something moved inside the water.
May you like
Not one snake.
Several.
