PROLOGUE
Centerville, Texas
September 29, 2007
Centerville, Texas
September 29, 2007
Luke Ewing manually pushed his door lock to avoid the honking horn and flashing lights from the alarm on his Ford F150. He dropped to one knee, adjusted the headlight on his cap, and reached under the truck to hide his keys on the muddy frame. He stood up and adjusted his pack, picked up his Bowtech Tribute compound bow, and quietly stepped into the woods on the faint trail.
Fifteen minutes later he reached the base of the tree. Locating the paracord rope hanging from the tree stand above, he wrapped the end around the upper limb of his bow and clipped the snap hook back to the line. He adjusted his headlight once more and began climbing the three-piece ladder that was attached to the oak tree with ratchet straps. Fifteen feet later he stepped over onto the lock-on tree stand, hugging the tree with one hand while he shucked his backpack with the other, hanging it on a strategically placed screw-in hook.
Luke stretched one last time, preparing for a long sit. It was thirty minutes until sunrise and then who knew how long it might be before the first deer appeared on the well-worn trail to his front. He started to snap the carabiner from his safety harness onto the tree strap above his head, but decided to pull up his bow from the ground and hang it on its designated hook. As he bent over to feel for the paracord rope, he felt a violent shifting to his left as both of the ratchet straps securing his stand to the tree gave way. He grunted and screamed as limbs tore at his face and hammered against his back and abdomen. The last thing he thought before blacking out on the ground was, “Nobody knows where I am”.
Comment