Song of the Sand Demons-Chapter 5

         Jon Manning looked over the tourist sheet once again. He made sure to do a double check of the list like Tom had advised him to do.
"Just to be sure" Tom had said. Then he had mentioned the fact that they had not lost a tourist yet!. Jon did not think that he would ever lose or misplace anyone,
'After all, how could you lose a person?' he thought.
Then muttered absently to himself as he flipped the folder closed.
"It's not like we are speaking about a dog or a cat or anything like that!."

         He blew out a long slow breath and began to fumble with the air conditioning knob. The southern Arizona heat and sun had turned the fair complected, red haired, lanky young man into one continuous freckle. Numerous sun burns had plagued him over the years, even when he lived up in northern Oregon. If he ever ran out of what he considered, 'industrial strength sunblock' a painful and hefty price would be paid. That was exactly what he had just done too. His large bottle of sun block lotion had just ran dry with this mornings application. Cringing at the thought of what was to come later on this afternoon without any, just about gave him the hives. Every job he had ever had while in Arizona, seemed to always be an outside job.

         The air conditioner finally began to blow a bit of cooler air out. He had positioned the knob to the maximum setting, but with the sun, heat, and not even a dry hot breeze blowing to help things out a little, he reluctantly accepted what ever relief he could get at the moment. Switching on the radio, which he could not have on while transporting the hikers and campers, he made sure to crank it up too. The DJ had just finished playing a commercial free set of songs. None in which he remembered to announce the names of the groups who played them, or the title's of the songs. That alway's annoyed Jon. As another commercial blasted through the speakers, he began to flip through the stations. Not much to pick from out here, a couple of Indian stations that were broadcasted from the reservation that bordered the park area, a country and western station that could still be picked up from Corona Grove, and the rock station coming from Tuscon. He finally ended up back at the Tuscon rock station listening to some new male pattern baldness product that promised to regrow new full hair within a months time.

"Only 19.99" the commercial announcer had said.

He ran a gaunt hand of thin freckled fingers through his thick tuft shock of hair and just shook his head.
"Maybe in another fifty years, if I'm lucky"

         Shoving the folder over to the passenger seat, he shifted the gear shift into drive. Turning the park van around, a thought hit him and an immediate "Yessss" almost shouted out of his pursed lips. Today was payday. It would be his first paycheck since starting this job. Number one on his list was a nice iced cold beer over at the Black Sheep Tavern. Number two, a new large bottle of his industrial strength sun block.

"No can't forget that!" Grinning, crooked front teeth and all.

"Nope, surely can't forget that at all!"

          Jon picked up some speed now, wanting to get back to the main camping areas, then down a normal road to head back to the office in town. He figured that both Tom and Greg would be headed off to lunch by now, and Jon wanted to be sure to get his long awaited two week paycheck. Always hating that extra week wait whenever starting a new job, and wondered what the point was, and just what in the name of Sam Hill these people figured you were supposed to live on in the mean time?. Jon started alot of new jobs. He did his share of waiting out way too many two weeks and was tired of it.

         Once he even lowered himself to call his father for a little money to get by on. He just about laughed at the fact that he even attempted that move. But, he was between jobs, had no money, no friends, and no luck. Anytime he thought of his father, he referred to him as 'Fat Bastard'. In all reality, thats exactly what he was too. Jon would go anywhere, work any odd job, wander, drift and survive on his own as long as it was not in the direction of home. He didn't even like to think about fat bastard due to the nausea that crept through his guts when he did.

         Deep in his own thoughts, he instantly jerked himself back to reality. Someone, or something had just run across the two rut dirt road he was driving down. Only catching a glimpse of it, he hit the brakes, skidding to a stop. Leaning forward now, trying to focus on what he thought he had just saw. If he had not been so wrapped up in his daydreaming, he figured he would have seen it sooner. Possibly getting some idea of what it just might have been, before it disapeared over a cliff, and down into a dry wash.

"What in the name of all the Gods was that?"

It was to fast to be a human, but it did not look like an animal either.

"What the hell?" he shouted out, as if anyone was anywhere near to hear him.

         A wave of panic or just plain fear coursed through him as he sat almost paralyzed, staring off at where the level part of the landscape dropped straight down.

'If it was human, it would have probably just took a long leap to its death. If it was an animal, it could not have landed on its feet!, not at the speed it had been running. If it was not dead, it would be soon on its way. Thats for sure' Jon thought.

         Jon finally blinked and swallowed. Now realizing that his throat and mouth had gone just as dry as the desert around him. He also knew that he should at least look and see if for some remote chance, what ever it was, was still alive. What he knew he had just seen, had been running on both legs, then down on all fours before plunging over the cliff and down into the wash.
He didn't want to look. The mere thought of blood and guts and death even, made him sick to his stomach. About as sick as Fat Bastard did.

         He knew he had to look though. At least to see if it was human or an animal. Slowly reaching over to the glove box he flipped the latch, opening it. He grabbed the binoculars in a sweaty palm.

"Just in case" he whispered.

         Maybe, he thought, he should radio Tom or Greg. What would he tell them if he did?. Both would at least want to know if it was a person, or an animal. Jon had no idea what it was so, sucked in another deep breath and opened the van door. The heat index was so hot now, it slapped him in the face like a hot flame.

"Nothing could run that fast in this heat" he mumbled to himself.

Then he made his way to the edge of the cliff, still not wanting to look down into the wash, he hesitated, then brought the binoculars up to look.

         What he saw was just as unbelievable as what had just ran in front of him.
Nothing.

He pressed the binoculars once again to his eyes and looked, scanning the whole bottom of the wash a little closer this time. Something went over the edge, and something had to be there. Hysteria almost gripped him seeing absolutely nothing, once again. Was this part of his job description? How could what ever it was just disappear like that?. Jon could feel a tremor begin in his hands and thought of that ice cold beer all the while he was burning up in the hot sun.

"My Gods, who will believe me if I do say anything about this? There is nothing there!"

         Jon had always been sort of a nervous type, but this was too much for him to fathom all at once. Payday, he remembered it was payday, and could feel himself starting to burn under the hot rays beating down upon him.

"Sunblock, yes, I need to get sunblock" he muttered and turned. At this point even he moved fairly fast for cover, and jumped into the van. He hit the gas. He had to make his way back to the town at least. Behind him a trail of dust billowed up, trailing the van as he disappeared down the two rut road and onto the main campsite road.

         His sun block and beer came first, after cashing his check at the Black Sheep Tavern. While there he thought, 'Then I will figure out what to tell Tom and Greg', the whole time, wondering if they would think he was suffering from heat stroke, or just gone crazy. He knew what he had seen, and then he did not see it, but it was there. He knew it was. Even if it did look like Nothing.

~~~~~

         Driving as fast as he could, to his left he could see the road cut off into the Saguaro creek campsite. Instead of driving straight to the main camp road and out of the park toward town, he decided to pull into the camping area. Someone there maybe, just maybe might have seen something out of the ordinary. That, or maybe one of the campers decided to go crazy and leap off of a cliff, and let someone know about their plans before carrying it out. Jon still was certain that what ever went over that cliff, could not be human. But, then again he thought, just what sort of an animal could it have been? He didnt recall ever seeing anything move so fast at that size before in his life.

         As he approached the main building set up at this campgrounds, he slowed the van down, pulling it off to the side of the RV registration office. This was the largest of all the camping areas, and also the closest to the area of the cliff and dry wash that something was most likely laying around in, dead. A quick glance back to that direction, and still he seen nothing.

"Are there not supposed to be vultures or some kind of thing flying around when something dies?" he muttered away at this whole idea, as still, there was nothing. Not even something flying! Was it the heat after all? or was he just plain going crazy? He did not know, nor, did he even wonder about it now. He removed his park hat and scratched a poof of cotton ball hair as he walked into the RV registration office.

         Once inside he recognized the man who was dropped off there earlier. The man with the family of five. They had tents, and this campground area also had a large tent area that stretched along a creek bottom. The RV's took up the front of the camping area where all the hook ups were. Most of the Gila National Park was for the do it yourselfer types. The primitive campers and hikers. The ones who liked to rough it a bit. The Saguaro creek campsite was for the retirees, familys who vacationed and wanted a variety of activities to take part in. Saguaro creek even offered a chuck wagon dinner on week nights, and a live band that played by the swimming pool on the weekends. It too offered horseback riding, bike rentals, and bingo nights. Due to the heat, most of the campers here were mingling around the pool area and sipping ice cold soft drinks and juices.
         The man turned, recognizing Jon as the driver and transporter of his family to the campsite and nodded a grinning "Hello there!"

         Jon returned the nod, and even added in his own," Hello" back. He was still shaken and not in much of a mood for socializing. Then he paused, and just could not help but to ask the man,

"Sir, by the way, did you happen to see anything out of the ordinary this afternoon at anytime?"

         The man just looked at Jon, his name was Bill Redding and introduced himself as such.

"Im Bill Redding, and so far its been too hot to notice much of anything. The kids headed straight for the pool, and my wife went towards the food kiosk. They left me to put up the tent. Just got done with that job and came up here to get a park map finally. What sort of unusual things are you talking about?"

         Jon just was not really sure what to tell Bill here. It was apparent that he had not seen a thing other than his tent. Not even his own family since he arrived here.

"oh, nothing really, but if you do hear or see anything unusual, will you give me a call?" with that Jon handed him a park card with phone numbers listed on it, and with his little finger, indicated where his name was on the list.

         Bill nodded and gave Jon a sort of an odd look, not really sure what he was getting at.

"Sure, no problem, I did locate the pay phones already. The wife has a cell phone too but I doubt we can find a signal out here. Sure will try though."

         That seemed to satisfy Jon some, and at that moment, the young girl who was also summer employment at the park came up from the back room with a stack of brochures and a park map for Bill.

         She offered a smile to Jon, noticing that he too was an employee of the park.

Hello, Im Jill, anything I can do for you ranger?"

         Jon blinked and had to grin hearing that and figured she was just about as new as he was on the payroll.

"Not a ranger Jill, but im Jon, and just stopped by to see if anyone had left the campgrounds?"

         He felt like saying, 'if anyone had left the campgrounds and announced to the world that they were suicidal or a cliff jumper', but, he did not push it that far. She might think he was the one going off the deep end with a line like that one.

         Jill just looked at him and smiled one of those sweet teenage smiles and shook her long blonde hair, indicating, that No, she had not seen anyone leave since she had checked in the last campers that he himself had dropped off.

         That was Jons last drop off for the day, and tapped his fingers on the counter, not quite sure what to say next. Both Jill and Bill Redding noticed Jons nervousness and glanced at each other not sure just how to react to Jon.

"Well, alright!" Jon boasted out with a slight chuckle.

"I was just curious is all, I thought I seen someone a few miles back crossing the old dirt road leading out to the trails"

         He wanted to also say, or something running like a wild lunatic, huge, on both feet, then on all fours, and for heavens sakes! He just could not manage to bark that part out at all. Let alone the part about it leaping over the cliff too even. Jon was not the most intellegent item on the face of the earth, but he knew what he seen. He was sure of it. He was also sure just what they both would think of him if he did just idly happen to bring that up in a casual conversation too!

"I won't bother you anymore Jill, I know you have work to do, but can I get an extra copy of a park map off of you while I am here, see, I just started working here two weeks ago, and still not totally familiar with the whole area yet."

         Jill just smiled and handed over a copy of the park map. She had brought several out along with a few other brochures and activity schedules for the tourists. Jon took the map, and nodded as he flipped it over in his hand, back and forth. Then he heard Jill exclaim,

"I know the feeling, Im new too, summer help, I started just two weeks ago myself. Thank goodness today is finally payday!"

         Payday, yes, it sure was payday, and Jon had let that slip his mind. He offered a wave to both Jill and Bill.

"It is payday, and I still have things to do, nice meeting you both, if you will excuse me, I will be on my way."

         With that said, he was out the door before anyone could say another word, almost running straight into a heavy set older woman with a slice of watermelon in her hands. She too was making her way, huffing and eating at the same time through the hot afternoon into the RV registration building.

The woman was so surprised, she almost dropped her slice of watermelon as Jon reached to steady her as much as he could. He had not expected to run into anyone else on his way out of the RV building, and to his van.

"OH!, excuse me ma'am, Im sorry, are you alright?"

"Im fine young man, and you better hurry and get out of the sun, your about to burn to a crisp." She smiled as she spoke and he knew she was right too, and nodded, offering her a smile of crooked teeth and all, as he made his way back into his van. He turned the key to start it, and felt the blast of hot air hit him before the cool air started to circulate through the air conditioner.

         He moaned to himself as he used the map he had got from Jill to fan himself before shoving the gear shift into reverse, then to drive again. He had to get to town and hopefully his paycheck would be ready. He just could not for the life of him stop thinking about what might be dead at the bottom of that dry wash. Once again he looked back in that direction before pulling out on to the main camp road, and still, no vultures in sight. None even in route. But, something had to have died there. Nothing could have survived a fall like that, and he was sure of it.