Archer

My name is Archer. I think I was named appropriately. My father had been an avid hunter. Somehow, hunting came naturally for me. I was holding a bow by the time I was three, and hunting by the time I was six.

It was a perfect morning for hunting. It was cool outside. The sky was littered with stars. I went into the woods before the sun came up like always. I was walking down an old abandoned road to the tree stand that I enjoyed the most. I'm not suspicious, but I always had good luck hunting in that stand. Scout followed along with me. He doesn't stay with me all day. He explores the woods, then walks back with me when I'm done. Scout is my dog. He's a beagle, and he got his name because he can find anything I harvest.

I climbed up the stand and sat down. I watched the sunrise. It was beautiful with orange and pink hues. I listened to the birds as they began to wake up. I am familiar with the different sounds each bird makes. I listened as the squirrels began chirping. There was something different about this part of the hunt that enlightened my senses. I felt at one with nature. I sat as still as I could. I didn't move. Any movement or noise could run off a deer. They are smart animals. Just as I thought, a doe came right by me. Nevertheless, I waited patiently for the buck deer.

Suddenly, I heard a vehicle coming down the abandoned road. I wondered why anyone would be driving down that road. It hadn't been used in years. I have lived here all my life, 16 years. It hadn't been used in all that time, as far as I knew. It's my family's land. Scout began barking. I hushed him just in time. He listened, but he was on guard. I watched curiously. I saw someone throw something out the back window. The car stopped. They weren't far from me at all. Two huge men got out of the front of the car. They began looking for whatever it was that was thrown. I thought I knew the area it landed, but I wasn't at all sure I should help these men. They didn't look like nice guys.

Every once in a while, they would look my way. I was doing my best to keep my head down. 'Lord, please let my camouflage be working today.' I didn't want them to see me. My heart was pounding just as hard as if I had taken a buck deer.

One of the big guys knocked on the window of the back seat. "Marcello, get him out of the car." I heard him just as clear as if he were talking to me. One of the men is definitely called Marcello. He got out with a gun held to the other guy. The guy they were holding the gun on looked very frightened. I thought about trying to help, but my tree stand was facing the wrong way. What if I missed any of them? That gun would be held on me for sure. I have to admit that I was fearful. I didn't know what to do except hide and watch.

Marcello began talking to the man he was holding his gun on. "Stefan, why did you have to go and throw your little black book out? You know this leaves us with no option?" Stefan replied, "I didn't have an option anyway. I know where these back roads lead."

"Look for your book, Stefan." "Or what? You'll kill me?" Stefan began laughing maniacally. The first big guy who asked Marcello to get him out of the car spoke up again. "Just get rid of him already. He's been nothing but trouble." Then it happened. Marcello shot Stefan! I have never seen anyone shoot anyone else before. I almost fell out of the tree stand. It was crazy! The three of them pulled the body over into the thickets where it was well hidden. They didn't even take the time to bury Stefan.

I was so frightened at the prospect of them coming back, that I sat in the tree stand for a couple of hours after they left. Scout was at the bottom of my tree whimpering. Once I was convinced they probably weren't returning, I climbed down and went to get the little black book. I couldn't find it, but Scout knew what I was looking for. He came over and took me right to it. "Good boy, Scout." I was afraid to go all the way to the body. The thought of seeing a dead body in the woods terrified me. It was bad enough that there was a human blood stain on the old dirt road now. Our woods felt somehow soiled or impure.

I went straight to my room and took off my hunting clothes. Once I had washed up and changed, I settled down to look through the little black book. I had to know what was so important that a man could lose his life over. At first, all I saw were names and phone numbers. Then I realized that quite a few of the names had a locker number next to them with three more numbers, which were sure to be the combinations. I also noticed that a lot of the names were very important people. Some were from the Callisto crime family. The District Attorney and the Police Chief were in it. There were several top political people in it. In fact, the Stefan who was murdered would have been Senator Stefan Rhinhold. There are judges in this book, along with attorneys. I couldn't figure out what all these people had in common. Obviously, I couldn't go to any of these people for help. Who is to know if the Police Chief or the District Attorney is just as corrupt as the Callisto crime family?

I decided to watch the news to see if anything was revealed on it. I sat down in the living room when the news came on. Dad asked, "What's going on, Buddy? Do you need to talk?" "No, Dad. I just want to see the weather for tomorrow." He asked, "Are you doing something special?" "Just hunting." "Are you sure, Son? I don't want you to be worried about losing this land. I always come up with something to save it. The bank gave me two more months. If we must, we will sell it off in lots and keep the home." "I know, Dad. I hope it doesn't come to that. New owners might not let me hunt." "There's more important things in life, Son. Soon you'll understand. Besides, I almost have it all. I just need another $20,000." "I trust you, Dad. I know everything is going to be okay." I really did trust Dad. He always kept our land. He has come up with some strange ways to keep it before, but he has never let it go. Once, we even rented out some of our property to sharecroppers.

The weather would be great tomorrow, according to the news. I happened to also notice that Senator Stefan Rhinehold was missing. They didn't have much to say about it, just that he was missing. There was nothing about who he was with last... nothing, no clues. I went up to my room to plan for the next day. Scout was already sleeping at the bottom of my bed. I guess the only thing for me to do was figure out where these lockers were that the book mentions. Some lockers are at the airport. Some are at the train station. Some are even at gyms. These people seem important. I think I will try the airport first. I better get a good night's sleep. I climbed in bed with Scout and settled down for the night.

Morning came fast. I must have slept hard. I fed Scout and myself. I grabbed his leash. He was excited. He didn't get to go with me too often, but I didn't want to go by myself today. I asked Mom if I could borrow the car to take Scout to the vet. I told her they were giving free rabies vaccines today. She agreed. I hated lying to her, but I couldn't exactly tell her the truth. I put Scout in the back. I drove to the airport. I didn't have any idea where the lockers would be kept. We walked around the terminals. I finally saw them. I saw the locker that belonged to Senator Stefan Rhinehold. It wasn't difficult to find. It was being guarded by Marcello and another large bulky guy. I guess they were expecting someone to come and get whatever is in his locker. Perhaps, I should leave that locker alone. I didn't want them to see me looking at the book. I went around the corner to pull it out. I decided to check the locker number 12 for Judge Nora Reese. It was on the other end of the room from the senator's locker, and slightly hidden by a fake plant. Marcello and the other guy glanced at me, but that was all. I walked right over to the locker, my heart was beating so fast. Scout sat next to me, as if he was guarding me. Did he know it was a special mission? I reached into the locker and took out a thick envelope. I put it inside my jacket. Then, I closed the locker again. I walked away quickly. We got to the car. Scout jumped in the back seat. Suddenly, Marcello was right behind me. Scout began growling and barking. "Hey boy, do I know you?" "I don't think so. I just saw you inside with another big guy." "What locker did you use?" I answered, "Number 14." It was next to the Judge's locker. "Oh, sorry to bother you." I was shaking the whole time. Scout was barking the whole time. He walked back into the airport. We drove away.

We got home and went straight to my room. Inside the envelope was a stack of fifty-dollar bills! I counted them out carefully several times. It added up to $20,000! It was as if God sent us the money to save our land. I knew Dad wouldn't accept it this way. I had two things to accomplish. I had to get the money to Dad, and I had to let people know about the body. I typed up a letter about how wonderful a person he had been in the community. I wrote that it was an anonymous gift to save his land. I also wrote to please accept it because of everything he had done for others. I put it in the local post office mailed to Dad. Then, I went out to the woods to where the body was located. I put on disposable glove, and pulled the body right on the side of the old road. I put the book beside his hand. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever had to do.

When Dad got the money, I called the local paper. A reporter came out to do a story. I told her how happy I was to be able to continue to hunt. The reporter, Dad, and I went for a walk around the property. She got the scoop of the year. She found Senator Stefan Rhinehold dead with a little black book full of conspiracies by his hand.