If possible at all it was raining more than ever and a strong wind whipped the water across the road in front of the Sheriff’s car.
‘Wish I had the Jeep’, Bill Logan thought for the tenth time ‘that four-wheel drive would have made our task so much easier, but it’s lying in a ditch somewhere, damn that bastard Cotter’.
Aloud he said to Jake “You know the mountain trails nearly as well as I do Jake, watch for the first turn-off. We’ll go up the mountain as far as we possibly can by car”.
Having located the trail, he found the going at the start of the unpaved road surprisingly easy. Visibility was better being shielded from much of the rain by the canopy of tree branches. The road surface was rocky, so not much mud to battle with.
It still took them two hours to get close to the first cabin. Bill Logan pulled the vehicle to the side where the road widened a little and both the Sheriff and his Deputy got out, into the wet and rain.
“I am afraid the easy ride is over for now”.
“Listen Sheriff, I have trained in the Marines for similar situations, let me go first and asses if we are dealing with any danger”.
“No way Jake, I have decades of law enforcement experience under my belt and I will be damned if I let another Deputy go out in front while I hold back. You stay behind me and watch my back”.
The two men started to scramble uphill through the trees to get to the first property they intended to check about a mile ahead.
All they could hear was the rain and an occasional rustling of leaves in the undergrowth, made by small animals trying to find shelter from the never ending rain.
Finally they saw the outline of a dwelling in the dim light through the trees and Sheriff Logan called for a stop.
“Ok, Jake, here it goes, you approach from the right and I go left, staying under cover as long as we can. We circle to the back while checking if there are any signs of a break-in”.
Both men drew their guns and proceeded slowly and careful. When the met up at the back of the cabin none of them had anything suspicious to report.
After a second check they confirmed that the place was untouched and unoccupied.
“If we cut through the woods from here on foot, it’s about three miles to the next property, again all uphill, but it will be faster than going back to the car and trying to find a road we can navigate”.
It was heavy going, both of them slipping and sliding on the thick layer of leaves and pine needles that covered the ground, the few trails they came across had become waterlogged and muddy.
Repeating their approach at the second cabin, the two men satisfied themselves again that everything was safe and secure, no sign of any human having been near in quite some time.
“There is a third one downhill from here. We might as well look it over on the way back to the car”.
By the time they got to their vehicle without finding anything amiss, the dark clouds had become nearly black and the canopy of trees that had protected them from most of the rain was cutting the visibility close to zero.
“There are still two cabins left up here, but they are much further out. So we are going to check the nine less isolated ones today. We will be able to get to them by car”.
He called his wife on the radio to let her know where they were and their plan on how to proceed. He could hear the relief in her voice.
“John Bailey called” she informed him “there were some reports of someone who fits Chase Cotter’s description having been spotted closer to Portland trying to flag down cars and all the Marshall’s resources are concentrating on that area now”.
Sheriff Logan swore under his breath.
“What about the men he promised for searching the woods?”
“That’s on hold for the moment until they have followed up on the latest information. He said that he just doesn’t have enough manpower for an extensive search of the mountain, but he promised to send a chopper as soon as the weather clears”.
“Ok Annie, thanks. See you later”.
He turned to his Deputy and filled him in on the latest.
“Looks like we are on our own for now”, he added.