The Picnic

In the summer of 1963, Peter and Jane had been dating for several months and it was going well.  Peter was a kind, hard working young man and Jane was smart, funny, and a very caring young woman.  She was everything he’d been looking for in a partner.  She was prim and proper when the situation called for it but also carefree and always smiling when they were spending time together.  With his mother’s help, Peter had been planning this date for weeks and was more than happy that the weather that afternoon was beautiful.  Seventy five degrees with full sun was going to be perfect for the forest picnic he had in mind.  He was just as excited about feeding her as he was about spending time with her, having made the sandwiches, potato salad, and cookies himself.  She would be so surprised!

With a packed basket of food in the trunk of his car, along with blankets and a large thermos of fresh squeezed lemonade, Peter picked Jane up from her house and started the drive to a local hiking trail he loved.  The path he planned to take them on passed a clearing about half a mile down the trail.  He thought this would be a perfect spot for their early evening dinner.  Jane excitedly sat in the car as Peter closed the car door for her.  He could see her wide smile through the windshield as he walked around it and sat in the driver’s seat.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going yet?” she asked with a smile, knowing that he probably wouldn’t and feeling fine about that.  Jane loved surprises.

“No.” he answered.  “And I bet you still won’t know what we’re going to be doing even when we get there.” he continued, feeling sneaky.  She let out a little squeak that reminded him of a mouse.  He was utterly charmed by it.  

“I can’t figure out why you told me to wear walking shoes.  I think I should’ve also worn pants but this sundress is too cute and the weather is so nice.  I hope we’ll be outside!” she said.  She was enchanting in the sundress although he thought she’d be just as beautiful in a potato sack.

“You’ll be just fine in that dress,” he answered.  “And I’ll definitely enjoy looking at you in it.”

“You smooth talker!” she laughed.  “My mom warned me about guys like you!”

“I’m glad you didn’t listen.” he said with a wink in her direction.

The entrance to the hiking trail was coming up on their left and Jane let out a giggle as she saw it.  Clapping her hands together, she exclaimed, “Yay, a walk in the woods!  How romantic!”  He said nothing but smiled because he knew she would be even more delighted with the picnic he had planned for her.  As they exited the car, she stepped towards the path but Peter walked to the back of the car.  Confused, she stopped and watched him with excited anticipation.  When he pulled a picnic basket, thermos, and blankets out of the trunk, she clapped again and bounced in place.

“A forest picnic!” she yelled as she ran to his side and threw her arms around him.

“Careful, I don’t want to drop the basket!” he said, laughing with her.

“Here, let me carry something.” she said while taking the blankets from his arms.  “How far is it?” she asked as they entered the path cut neatly into the thick forest.

“Not too far.  Maybe half a mile.” he answered.

They chatted about their work week as they walked, Peter discussing a new account he opened at the bank he worked at and Jane telling him all about the new puppies someone left on the doorstep of the animal shelter she worked at.

“Can you believe someone would leave three puppies who can’t be more than four weeks old?” she asked.  “They should still be with their mother.” she finished.  

It was just then that Jane stumbled over something soft on the ground.  Letting out a little gasp and catching herself on a nearby branch, Jane glanced behind her to see what she’d tripped over.

“Uh oh, be careful where you step out here,” Peter said without looking back.  “There’s a lot of tree roots to stumble on.”

“Yeah, I guess.  But it didn’t feel like a root.  It was kind of soft.” she said as they continued to walk.  As perplexed as she was, she really didn’t give it much thought beyond that.  They were about to have a sweet little picnic and the evening couldn’t have been more perfect.  Worrying about tripping over something just wasn’t important to her.

A few minutes later, a clearing opened up to their left and Peter told Jane to follow him through the brush to get to it.  She hesitated but Peter used his legs to push brush and branches aside so she wouldn’t scrape her bare legs.  She followed closely behind him, holding onto his pants belt, and they walked in step with each other.  She loved the excuse to hold him so intimately, purposefully letting her fingers fall just below his beltline and onto his hips a little.  The grin on his face was stretched from ear to ear as he guided her through the brush.  Once they were in the clearing, Peter sat the basket down and reached for the blankets, still smiling widely.  She blushed at the sight of his grin.  She knew he’d noticed her hand placement.

“Here, let me spread the blanket.” he said.  She stood back and watched as he chose a spot about ten feet from the treeline and flung the blanket out.  It started to fly away but Jane plopped down on it, giggling and spreading her arms across it to keep it in place.  Her flowing sundress settled perfectly around her and Peter felt enamored by her beauty.  The evening sun was still bright but also just dim enough to give her a kind of glow he’d never seen before.  Without realizing it, he froze and stared at her for a moment.

“What are you waiting for?” she asked, knowing full well that she was the reason for his dramatic pause.  Muttering a soft apology, Peter reached for the basket and sat it on one of the corners of the blanket.  Tossing the thermos on the other, he sat down beside Jane and opened the picnic basket as if revealing a great treasure.

“I’d like to present you with this evening’s dinner…prepared by yours truly!” he said while beaming proudly.  Jane’s mouth dropped open as she requested the names of the dishes on tonight’s menu.

“We have a delicious turkey and cheese sandwich complete with lettuce, tomato, and pickles if you would like to add them.  Our side for this evening is a cool, crisp potato salad -my mother’s recipe-, and a sweet and tart homemade lemonade to wash it all down with.” he answered in true head-chef form.

“My goodness, you’ve thought of everything!” she said enthusiastically.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” he shouted.  “Dessert!  I made these chocolate chip cookies!” he said, holding up a bag of cookies for her approval.

“This is just about the sweetest thing a boy has done for me!” she declared and leaned right in and kissed him.  They’d been dating for several months but hadn’t done much in the way of physical affection aside from holding hands and hugging.  Peter was very respectful and Jane appreciated that about him.  He wasn’t handsy like all the other boys she’d dated.  However, she really wanted to be in his arms right now.  In a moment of pure compulsion, she lunged for him and took him completely by surprise.  For a moment, he was wide eyed and stiff.  Then, his eyes closed and he wrapped his hand gently around the back of her neck and kissed her back.  Their kiss lasted for several seconds until Jane slowly pulled away, feeling a little embarrassed.  

“Maybe I should take you on a picnic every weekend!” Peter whispered, still catching his breath.  Jane smiled and flushed again, just as she had when she’d held onto his belt.  Shyly, they both busied themselves with getting the food out and setting up their early dinner.  While many sounds were coming from the woods around them, there was one sound that Peter thought sounded slightly out of place.  It was a kind of dragging sound, like someone was pulling something heavy through the undergrowth.  He hoped it wasn’t a large animal dragging its prey through the woods.  He didn’t think there were bears around here but maybe it was a cat of some kind?  After a few minutes, the sound stopped so he didn’t bother to mention it to Jane.  No need to get her upset about it.  Besides, they were having such a great time, he didn’t want to risk messing it up.

After finishing their meals, Jane pulled a cookie from the bag and took a bite.  After declaring how delicious it was, she leaned in and held the cookie to Peter’s lips for him to taste it.

“You’ve done such a good job.” she said as he took his bite of the cookie.  They both stared at each other while chewing and swallowing their bites and Peter felt this was his chance to make a move.  His buddies were always telling him to make a move but he was so shy and afraid of offending Jane.  However, he could tell she was into him and didn’t want to make her do all of the advancing.  After all, he was the man in this relationship.  That’s what his friends said.  Peter bent forward and kissed her slowly.  She giggled and kissed him back quickly.  Then she pulled away.

“You have to let me finish my cookie.” she said with a smile.

“I wanted to know if you made it taste sweeter.” he answered.  She kissed him again, letting her tongue linger on his lips a bit.

“Well, do I?” she asked teasingly.

“Yes.” he answered.  She could barely hear his breathy answer.  Jane knew she had him in that moment.  She went in for another kiss and he slipped his hand around her slender waist.  They stayed like that for another minute or two before she scooted closer to him so her side was touching his side.  She had his full attention and he had hers.  Neither of them heard the man approaching from the treeline.

Jane’s scream came first as the man grabbed her under her arms and pulled hard, launching her across the blanket and onto the grass.  He swung a branch hard and knocked her out with one blow.  Peter was still trying to process the change in their situation when she fell unconscious on the ground.  

“What the hell!” Peter yelled.  The man’s blank stare darted back to Peter.  With nothingness in his expression, the man took two large steps toward Peter and whipped a rope around his neck.  Peter didn’t even know where the rope had come from.  Was it in the man’s hand?  On the ground?  The man pulled and the rope tightened around Peter’s neck.  That’s when he realized it was tied into a noose.  Grabbing at the rope, desperate to get it off of him, Peter wiggled and kicked as the man dragged him by the neck towards the treeline.  

Seemingly annoyed by Peter’s efforts to stand, the man spun around and brought the thin, sturdy branch down on Peter’s right leg.  A loud crack sound rang through the air that Peter thought was the branch breaking.  The sharp burst of pain in his leg, however, told Peter that it was his leg that had broken, not the branch.  The man continued dragging him into the woods.  Surprisingly, the man began to speak while he pulled his victim behind him.  

“I thought your girl saw me back there, you know.  When she tripped over my play thing.” the man began.  “She tripped over the leg, in case you wanted to know.  I followed you to stop you from going to the cops but then you stopped to have a damn picnic.” he continued.  Peter was barely understanding what the guy was saying.  He was frantically clawing at the rope, anxious to fill his lungs with air.  

“I brought my toy with me and figured I’d just continue on but you two were eating and kissing.  Distracted.  I figured three new play things are better than one.” the man finished.  The rope loosened as the man paused to speak and Peter gasped for air.  He realized this man was calling people ‘play things’.  And Jane tripped over someone’s leg?!  Peter just hoped that Jane would wake up and run.  Run as fast as she could and as far away as she could.  The man started walking again and the rope tightened.  This time, though, Peter had slipped a stick between his neck and the rope.  That created a small bit of space for Peter to breathe.  It wasn’t comfortable but it would keep him from suffocating before he could get free and defend himself.

The man dragged Peter across the walking path and into the other side of the woods.  There was a little opening in the trees, not a full clearing like they’d been picnicking in but there was enough space in between the trees that the man had set up a little campsite of sorts.  On three of the nine trees that surrounded his campsite, the man had strung up a person.  Each of them was held in a different pose, as if they were alive and waiting for him to return to camp.  One of them was sitting on a log he had put up against the tree, a cup in their lap.  Another was leaned against a tree with their arms crossed in front of them, secured with rope, as if they were waiting for something.  The last was sitting cross legged on the ground and secured to the tree so they wouldn’t fall over.  This one had a plate of old food in their lap.  The ‘play thing’ Peter assumed he must’ve heard the man dragging earlier was still laying on the ground waiting to be positioned on a tree.  All four of them were in varying stages of decomposition, the one on the ground appearing to be the freshest.  Peter gagged at the smell.  Now was no time to be sick.  He wasn’t sure if he could with the rope around his neck and he didn’t want to choke on it.  The man turned and swung his branch at Peter’s head faster than Peter could realize the blow was coming.  The world went black.

When reality fluttered back into focus, Peter was looking straight ahead and felt like he was tied to one of the trees.  He could see there were two more trees holding people on them.  One was the woman the man had already dragged there before Peter.  The other was Jane.  She was sitting on the ground against a tree, her head and chest secured with rope so she was looking straight ahead.  Her eyes had a white fog to them and there were rope burns on her neck.  A cookie sat uneaten in her hand.  Peter began to whimper and the man’s gaze snapped over to look at him.

“I don’t like my guests to make noise.” he said as he stood and walked over to Peter.