In Some Dark Holler

Chapter 9: A Night Out

Two weeks after that gilded day by the water's edge, Cole kept his word and paid a visit to Asheville on a sultry Friday morning.

Johann showed him around one of their active work sites and introduced him to the forestry students and hired men. A few were already acquainted with Cole or Cole's father, Obediah Sluder. It turns out that "Old Obie" was a prominent community leader from the area around Brevard, something Cole had never mentioned.

After a few hours, Johann started his weekend early. He and Cole traveled back towards Transylvania County for a short hike and a night under the stars. Johann was nervous and thrilled to spend so much time with Cole and hoped he could make the most of their short holiday.

Cole was the vision of relaxed comfort as he slid on his backpack after double-checking the straps holding his banjo. "I can't let anything happen to my darling," he said. "She cost me dearly - a month of work, at least!"

They headed up a deer trail, Cole in the lead. Johann was happy to follow him, as it allowed him to appreciate Cole's confident footwork through the snarled undergrowth, among his other pleasant attributes. Their path wended through laurel thickets and blackberry brambles rich with dark fruit. Birds alerted to their presence with bursts of song and fluttering, and the sound of deer running away from their crunching footsteps punctuated their trek as they made their way to Cole's secret camp spot.

The wild journey was worth it, though. From the stony vantage point, Cole and Johann could see out over the valleys and hills while the trees rose tall behind them. They worked together in the sort of comfortable silence that comes from shared travel and labor, and soon they had a small, cozy camp set for the night.

Johann began to prepare a fire once the sun started its descent, but Cole stopped him. "Wait - no fire yet. Trust me. You won't want to miss this."

Cole lay a blanket down near the edge of the overhang where they camped, overlooking the beautiful view of the rolling land below. He sat down and motioned for Johann to join him with a finger to his lips, asking him to be quiet. Bemused and more than a little bit intrigued, Johann carefully made his way over and sat down next to the beautiful man with mischievous eyes.

"Just watch," Cole murmured, his eyes locked on the horizon. Johann watched, but not in the direction Cole intended. His eyes passed over the brown hair that curled itself over Cole's ears and the curls that clustered at the back of his neck, thanks to the humidity of the summer evening. Johann was transfixed by his rough beauty all over again and was lost for a moment before he forced himself to look away and follow Cole's gaze into the setting sun.

The clouds stretched into thin stripes across the sky, this one pink, that one orange; a cacophony of color and light that grew brighter as the sun sank behind the mountains. The peachy glow lit up their faces as they watched the night's approach.

Cole sat up suddenly and tilted his head to listen. He whispered, "Here they come!" Johann heard a strange noise coming from below their perch, a susurrus of fluttering punctuated by high-pitched squeals. He had only a moment to wonder before a stream of bats erupted from the caves in the rock face and entered the sky like a cannon shot. The cauldron of bats split into black ribbons as they wheeled and scattered, screeching and hunting for their nightly repast.They kept spilling out of the caves in numbers that stunned Johann. He laughed out loud in awe and looked over at Cole, whose face was as bright as a child's on Christmas morning. Their eyes met in delight before they turned to watch the last of the bats straggle from their rocky home and launch themselves helter-skelter into the darkening skies.

"Ain't that something?" Cole said after a while. "I nearly keeled over dead the first time I saw that as a kid. I was sure they were coming to get tangled in my hair and eat me up! My Pa nearly laughed himself sick at how scared I was. He told me, 'Son, we live in Transylvania county near the town of Bat Cave. You'd best make your peace with these flying rats, as they surely don't care about you!'" Cole shook his head with a wry smile. "Still though, he called me Bug for a few years after that!"

Johann smiled. "Thank you, Cole," he said. "I have never seen such a sight, and I will always remember this moment. I did not know what to expect from your shushing and your secrets, but a flight of bats was not on the list of possibilities!" He looked over at Cole shyly, then back over at the valleys and skies as they faded into blue and purple hues and the first stars began to appear.

"I am glad you brought me here with you. I...," Johann fiddled with a frayed edge of the blanket. His voice trailed off as he searched for the right words. This was the perfect intimate time to state his love, was it not? It seemed the right moment to express his affection and attraction, but he was tongue-tied by terror. What if he ruined this perfect night and dear friendship by saying the wrong thing, or what if he had misconstrued Cole's interest in him?

Cole glanced at Johann and hid a smile. He stood up and brushed his palms on his pants before reaching out a hand to help Johann stand. "I think it's past time for a bit of supper, don't you?" He whistled a tune as he picked through the pile of twigs and dry branches they'd gathered during daylight and kindled a lovely fire. They roasted a few potatoes in the coals and cooked sausage on sticks over the orange flames as the night drew around them like black velvet, thick and humid.