The first item of note was that there was
quite a bit of snow on the ground. Even Ranger Rick’s little station parking
lot had a nice fresh 6 inches of fluffy overnight snow lying on it. The canvas
was ready.
The second item of note was Maeve. High above the tops of the firs, she coasted, using just a few wing beats to stay aloft. The wind did the rest.
Maeve’s point of view is a marvelously beautiful thing. It gives her a special perspective on things. Up there, the sky is uncluttered by the stuff of land. It’s a clear mystic medium, and she is its oracle. The sky stretches out, the land reaches up, and Maeve soars between them.
Then there is this; Maeve saw activity down below. She saw something moving around in that parking lot. It was still quite a while before Rick should be unlocking the door and starting his day. Some trees blocked her line of sight. She needed to drop down closer and get a more accurate take on this crack of dawn business.
Maeve parked herself on the roof of the station to watch. From there she could see it all, and it was something to see!
There were two of them. They were dressed all in black from head to toe, with hoods. They were giggling in hushed tones. As Maeve watched one of them pulled something out of the back of their old station wagon.
It was a rather large box. When the box was opened the head guy, it looked like, pulled out two sets of enormous feet.
Now, these feet weren’t stiff and wooden like regular fake Sasquatch feet. Oh no! These were rubbery and yielding. They were very footlike, actually.
“These are yours, Dave,” sniggered one of the guys to the other one.
“Shhhh, thanks Markie,” said Dave, the shorter of the two forest “ninjas.”
“This ain’t gonna take long! But, it’s gonna be great!” said Markie.
Maeve watched Markie and Dave pull a trainer off of one foot, stick that foot in a big prosthetic foot, throw the shoe in the back of the station wagon, and then do the same with the other foot.
“I can’t believe this,” she gurgled quietly to herself.
“Meldrum will slaughter us if he ever figures it out,” said Markie.
“That is correct,” mumbled Dave, sounding less enthusiastic than he had minutes before. Perhaps it was just the picture in his mind of the doctor’s reaction to the prank.
Apparently Markie and Dave were university habitués of some sort.
Nevertheless, Markie and Dave set to work on the parking lot. When Markie said “that’s enough” it was a sight to behold. One had paced around the building. One left tracks up to the old bear-proof dumpster. There was a lot of random walking apparently. Both of them walked into the forest by that path behind the dumpster, but both started feeling hinky. So they didn’t do any more of that.
But they did a good job of it. The foot prints were lined up in straight lines just like they should be, almost to a fault.
They stomped all over the spot where they had been standing in their trainers. They crawled into the back of the station wagon, pulled off the big rubbery feet, put their shoes back on, shut the back of the car from the inside. Then they had to crawl up to the front seat. Markie pulled the car up a bit, Dave got out with a broom and tidied up some more, then threw the broom in the back of the car and they took off.
Maeve had seen quite enough. She set out to find Ralph without hesitation.
When she got to the fire circle, there was a nice layer of untouched snow on everything. A small column of smoke rose from the coals within the rock circle. None of the family were awake yet. She flew up to a sheltered branch to wait. Waiting was hard for Maeve. She didn’t care for it at all. She began muttering to herself about how she would describe what she had seen. She walked up and down her branch, keeping a black eye open for Ramona or Ralph.
Eventually Ramona appeared blowing smoky breath out and knocking chunks of firewood together to get the snow off of them before she put them in the coals.
“I need to talk to Ralph,” sang Maeve on her way down through the air.
“He won’t be long, Maeve. What’s up,” said Ramona.
“I just watched two guys make fake Forest Keeper footprints all over Ranger Rick’s parking lot,” said Maeve, all in a rush. “I have to tell Ralph!”
“OK, Honey. I’ll go get him for you,” said Ramona agreeably. She ducked into the cave.
In a moment Ralph came out with Ramona. He brushed snow off of one of the logs and sat down. He yawned and rubbed his eyes.
“Hello Maevie. What’s all the excitement about this morning?” he said.
So, she told him all about seeing the two men from way up in the sky, and then watching what they were doing, then deciding she had better report it to him.
“That’s interesting. Let’s go take a quick peek, Maeve. I want to see this before it melts or people walk all over it!” said Ralph.
She sat on his shoulder, and he walked the two of them over to the parking lot to admire Markie and Dave’s work.
Ralph bent over and looked closely at the artificial tracks. “Not bad, Maeve. Not bad at all! These fake feet were obviously cast off of some real track castings, in some kind of soft medium! Ooo! Wait till that doctor catches up with them!!”
“But, Ralph, this is terrible! It will attract Bigfoot hunters and all kinds of news riffraff!” Maeve said urgently.
“No, listen, Maeve. Let it be. This is alright. I’ll tell Rick about it, so he doesn’t get the wrong idea and maybe wipe the prints out or something,” Ralph was thinking. While he thought, he kind of pulled at his chin whiskers in a thoughtful fashion.
“Let’s let the first people to come here discover them. Then, when someone who knows something examines what we have here, and analyzes it, they will understand that these are not real tracks, however well done they seem to be. This expert will notice that they are too close together, the stride isn't nearly long enough, and also the tracks aren't deep enough. Whoever made them was not as heavy as one of us! On top of that gaffe, Maevie, driving the car down here was flat stupid!
“The net result will be that the news and everyone will believe it’s been proven that all tracks are as fake at those. It’s going to be alright, Maeve. Don’t you worry now,” said Ralph with a big happy smile.
"I’ll talk to Rick when he gets here,” said Ralph.
Maeve had to see the wisdom of that ruling and be content with it. So, she was.
The second item of note was Maeve. High above the tops of the firs, she coasted, using just a few wing beats to stay aloft. The wind did the rest.
Maeve’s point of view is a marvelously beautiful thing. It gives her a special perspective on things. Up there, the sky is uncluttered by the stuff of land. It’s a clear mystic medium, and she is its oracle. The sky stretches out, the land reaches up, and Maeve soars between them.
Then there is this; Maeve saw activity down below. She saw something moving around in that parking lot. It was still quite a while before Rick should be unlocking the door and starting his day. Some trees blocked her line of sight. She needed to drop down closer and get a more accurate take on this crack of dawn business.
Maeve parked herself on the roof of the station to watch. From there she could see it all, and it was something to see!
There were two of them. They were dressed all in black from head to toe, with hoods. They were giggling in hushed tones. As Maeve watched one of them pulled something out of the back of their old station wagon.
It was a rather large box. When the box was opened the head guy, it looked like, pulled out two sets of enormous feet.
Now, these feet weren’t stiff and wooden like regular fake Sasquatch feet. Oh no! These were rubbery and yielding. They were very footlike, actually.
“These are yours, Dave,” sniggered one of the guys to the other one.
“Shhhh, thanks Markie,” said Dave, the shorter of the two forest “ninjas.”
“This ain’t gonna take long! But, it’s gonna be great!” said Markie.
Maeve watched Markie and Dave pull a trainer off of one foot, stick that foot in a big prosthetic foot, throw the shoe in the back of the station wagon, and then do the same with the other foot.
“I can’t believe this,” she gurgled quietly to herself.
“Meldrum will slaughter us if he ever figures it out,” said Markie.
“That is correct,” mumbled Dave, sounding less enthusiastic than he had minutes before. Perhaps it was just the picture in his mind of the doctor’s reaction to the prank.
Apparently Markie and Dave were university habitués of some sort.
Nevertheless, Markie and Dave set to work on the parking lot. When Markie said “that’s enough” it was a sight to behold. One had paced around the building. One left tracks up to the old bear-proof dumpster. There was a lot of random walking apparently. Both of them walked into the forest by that path behind the dumpster, but both started feeling hinky. So they didn’t do any more of that.
But they did a good job of it. The foot prints were lined up in straight lines just like they should be, almost to a fault.
They stomped all over the spot where they had been standing in their trainers. They crawled into the back of the station wagon, pulled off the big rubbery feet, put their shoes back on, shut the back of the car from the inside. Then they had to crawl up to the front seat. Markie pulled the car up a bit, Dave got out with a broom and tidied up some more, then threw the broom in the back of the car and they took off.
Maeve had seen quite enough. She set out to find Ralph without hesitation.
When she got to the fire circle, there was a nice layer of untouched snow on everything. A small column of smoke rose from the coals within the rock circle. None of the family were awake yet. She flew up to a sheltered branch to wait. Waiting was hard for Maeve. She didn’t care for it at all. She began muttering to herself about how she would describe what she had seen. She walked up and down her branch, keeping a black eye open for Ramona or Ralph.
Eventually Ramona appeared blowing smoky breath out and knocking chunks of firewood together to get the snow off of them before she put them in the coals.
“I need to talk to Ralph,” sang Maeve on her way down through the air.
“He won’t be long, Maeve. What’s up,” said Ramona.
“I just watched two guys make fake Forest Keeper footprints all over Ranger Rick’s parking lot,” said Maeve, all in a rush. “I have to tell Ralph!”
“OK, Honey. I’ll go get him for you,” said Ramona agreeably. She ducked into the cave.
In a moment Ralph came out with Ramona. He brushed snow off of one of the logs and sat down. He yawned and rubbed his eyes.
“Hello Maevie. What’s all the excitement about this morning?” he said.
So, she told him all about seeing the two men from way up in the sky, and then watching what they were doing, then deciding she had better report it to him.
“That’s interesting. Let’s go take a quick peek, Maeve. I want to see this before it melts or people walk all over it!” said Ralph.
She sat on his shoulder, and he walked the two of them over to the parking lot to admire Markie and Dave’s work.
Ralph bent over and looked closely at the artificial tracks. “Not bad, Maeve. Not bad at all! These fake feet were obviously cast off of some real track castings, in some kind of soft medium! Ooo! Wait till that doctor catches up with them!!”
“But, Ralph, this is terrible! It will attract Bigfoot hunters and all kinds of news riffraff!” Maeve said urgently.
“No, listen, Maeve. Let it be. This is alright. I’ll tell Rick about it, so he doesn’t get the wrong idea and maybe wipe the prints out or something,” Ralph was thinking. While he thought, he kind of pulled at his chin whiskers in a thoughtful fashion.
“Let’s let the first people to come here discover them. Then, when someone who knows something examines what we have here, and analyzes it, they will understand that these are not real tracks, however well done they seem to be. This expert will notice that they are too close together, the stride isn't nearly long enough, and also the tracks aren't deep enough. Whoever made them was not as heavy as one of us! On top of that gaffe, Maevie, driving the car down here was flat stupid!
“The net result will be that the news and everyone will believe it’s been proven that all tracks are as fake at those. It’s going to be alright, Maeve. Don’t you worry now,” said Ralph with a big happy smile.
"I’ll talk to Rick when he gets here,” said Ralph.
Maeve had to see the wisdom of that ruling and be content with it. So, she was.
💚
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