Morgan Tally, Jason Tanner and Burt Combs have been friends since
early childhood, the last day that they have spent here in the deep woodlands of Jasper county has severely tested their friendship. they hiked up here from Crows Crossing Road, and have come too far, They have been on one hiking expedition together besides this one, and once they have traveled more than five miles from the road they begin to realize that their G.P.S. is no longer working. now close to night fall they stop to make camp, and decide to go on in the morning. One hour later the rain begins to fall, not heavily, not at first, then all hell seems to pour from the sky, it rains through most of the night drenching everything, and when they first light of morning appears the three friends awaken to find that nothing looks familiar to them and they are lost. Morgan decides that they should try to return to the road while the other two want to keep going, finding himself over ruled and out numbered he stands down and follows his two friends deeper into the woods. It is 11:45 am when they come to a steep ravine, where at the bottom, the Saddlehorn river is waiting, the night long heavy rain showers have once again forced it from its constraints and it is rising quickly. Burt Combs foolishly decides that he should try to make his way to the edge of the water to see if there is any possible way to cross the raging river. There is a fine line beneath foolishness and bravery and Burt Combs blindly crosses it. Against the advice of his companions he slowly climbs down the side of the ravine and halfway down loses his footing and he falls into the water, desperately he tries to grab a hold of anything to pull himself free from the grip of the angry Saddlehorn, for an instant time stops, no sound, no nothing, he can see his two friends running back and forth along the length of the ravine, they are screaming out his name, and he can almost hear them.. Just before the water washes him away.



It is 7:00 pm, one hour past nightfall, Morgan Tally and Jason Tanner are wet, tired and hungry. They stopped to try to make camp over an hour ago and are clearly not thinking strait, they have lost their friend, and spent most of the afternoon trying to find him, but the failing light stopped the rescue efforts, their friend Burt is more than likely dead. The rain has stopped but everything around them is soaking wet, and with nothing to help them navigate their way back to the road through the dark woods, all hope is fading, that is when Morgan sees the first one through the trees. A crow sitting on a branch watching him and Jason, against the backdrop of the full moon Morgan soon sees others. As they begin to circle above he begins to wonder, the crow on the branch leaves twice but returns each time to the very same spot on the branch and again looks patiently at the two lost friends. Morgan urges Jason to his feet, “What’s up Morg?” Morgan studies the birds flying across the moon. “C’mon Jay, its time to go.” they follow the birds on through the night and each time they would stop to rest, what seemed to be the same crow would return to watch them. Until in the distance Morgan soon hears the faint sounds of a diesel truck making its way down the road, and he knows that they are close now to Crows Crossing. They push on for another twenty minutes when Morgan hears the faint cries of help coming from the trees, he and Jason quickly move to the sound and there just twenty feet in front of them sits Burt Combs. He tells them that all he remembers is something or someone pulling him free from the river, and never seeing who nor what. He wandered around for most of the time seemingly lost until he ended up here, without further questioning the relieved friends all push on to Crows Crossing Road together, when they reach it, a Highway patrolman spots them and pulls over, “Are you Boys Lost?” he asks them, they tell him their story, and he tells him his. “I can always tell when something ain’t Right on C.C.R., those damn birds just won’t let me be until I come and have a look.” Morgan asks him Puzzled. “So how do you know where to look?” the patrolman smiles and nods at the Moon, “Easy son.. I just Follow the Crows.”

Scratch.. © 2006.