The Trail

By Ramsey Coutta

Ray Shattles lived a blessed life, never experiencing the harsh realities of evil, until tragedy suddenly strikes. During a storm tossed night on a rural road, an unexpected accident leads to the inexplicable loss of his wife and unborn child. Ray seeks to uncover the mystery of their loss while struggling with a sinister spiritual darkness that threatens to compromise his very soul.

At his lowest point, Ray encounters an enigmatic man who offers to reveal to him the true nature of evil, including that residing within him. Upon agreeing to accompany the stranger down a wooded trail, Ray finds himself on an epic journey in which he comes face-to-face with some of the most heart shuddering encounters of evil imaginable.Through this journey, Ray comes to recognize the insidious nature of evil in the world and its role in the loss of his beloved wife and unborn child. The more he learns about the true nature of evil, the closer he comes to understanding God's immense love and finally unraveling the mysterious loss of his loved ones.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jul 26, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462019014

Ramsey Coutta

Ramsey Coutta is a doctoral graduate of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and has previously published Storm Surge: A Novel of Hurricane Katrina. He lives with his wife Jenny and their son near Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Book preview

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Afterwards

Acknowledgements

About the Author

To Jenny and Micah

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?

Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. The woman replied. It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’

You won’t die! the serpent replied to the woman. God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God knowing both good and evil.

The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.

-Genesis 3:1-6

Chapter One

Ray Shattles woke early, donned his clothing and well worn hiking boots and started out of the house. Thirty years old with light brown hair and dark eyes, his strong yet slender frame contrasted sharply with his pronounced limp, which seemed particularly out of place. On the front porch he grabbed his long walking stick leaning next to the door. He used it for support as he hiked the undulating wooded hills behind his home—support that his disabled left leg could no longer reliably provide. The early spring morning felt crisp and refreshing. Light grey clouds painted the sky, while enough sunlight stole through to leave doubt as to whether the day would remain cool or gradually warm.

The morning hike originally began as therapy to strengthen his leg and provide mood boosting exercise. Initially, he experienced improvement in the strength and motion of his leg. However, he never regained full mobility and maintained a pronounced limp. Despite this, he persisted in his morning excursions forcing his injured leg along the nearly two mile trail. After these hikes, he prepared for work and spent the rest of the day in the nearby town laboring impassively over paperwork at his office job.

Limping toward the woods, he attacked the well worn trail with as much energy as his body and leg allowed. While fresh spring buds sprouted on the trees, the scent of decaying leaves from the previous season reminded him of the brevity of life. The dimness of the trail in the early morning hours mirrored the darkness that constantly overshadowed his soul the past ten months. Each hard fought step reflected his own personal battle within to move beyond the loss and sorrow that continually accompanied him. Strangely, like his own emotional ups and downs, he never knew exactly how each hike would end. Some days he emerged from the woods feeling an enthusiasm for life he once used to know. Other days, his memories left him feeling as if he was struggling to climb out of a deep, miry pit. Nevertheless, something about the trail and how each hike transformed him in some small way kept him at it morning after morning.

The further he pushed forward along the trail the brighter the woods became as the overcast sky began to clear and the sun slowly rose. He found the constantly shifting patterns of light through the trees visually pleasing in the morning mist. After the first portion of level terrain, the trail cut sharply downward heading toward a stream gurgling along at the bottom of the ravine. Any other man would be able to walk straight down the hill simply by bracing himself, but Ray was forced to make gradually descending switchbacks to reach the bottom. Here, the trail cut to the right and followed streamside until ascending the first hill, then edging back down towards the stream again.

This pattern of up and down, diverging and converging with the stream, continued for the majority of the hike until the trail looped back toward the house. Growing along the stream and underneath the tall hardwoods were several thick stands of low growing wild magnolia trees. Ray enjoyed walking through the magnolias and smelling the distinct fragrance of their leaves.

Hiking energetically, he eventually approached the largest stand of magnolias. He noticed the breeze begin to pick up causing the thick perennial leaves to rattle like pieces of cardboard rubbing against one another. Strangely, with each step closer the breeze grew stronger, eventually transforming into an unexpectedly stiff wind. Ray found the suddenness of the wind change to be odd. He stopped and scanned the sky to see if a storm might be blowing in. Nothing indicated that this was the case.

The trail darkened as he entered the thick stand, and the wind continued to pick up even further. The magnolia began to whip back and forth, while the hardwoods towering above swayed threateningly. Despite the relative lack of cloudiness, the sky began to noticeably darken. Leaves and branches broke free and flew about erratically. In the violence of the commotion, he feared a large branch from one of the hardwoods would fall and strike him. Pushing anxiously through, Ray noticed the wind was no longer remarkable just for its intensity. Now, it was accompanied by a high pitched rushing sound. It seemed as if a thousand unseen spirits were howling through the woods. Shaken at the unusual events, his instincts kicked in and he quickened his pace. As he struggled through, he held one arm up to avoid being lashed by the whipping leaves and branches.

Attempting to force his injured leg to do what it physically could not, he slipped and fell painfully bruising his forearm as he braced himself from the fall. Slowly pulling himself to his feet while holding his injured arm close to his body, he struggled to relocate the trail. It was now obscured by the back and forth of the magnolia as well as the leaves and branches being torn free about him. By gut instinct, having hiked the trail countless times, he fought his way through in the right direction and at last reached the opening on the far side. Staggering forward he broke free from the stand. Astonishingly, a startling drop in the wind occurred, the rushing sound subsided, and even the sky seemed to abruptly brighten. The magnolia and hardwoods, responding as if on cue, now stood calm and erect with only the slightest of motion.

Taking little time to consider the cause for this unusual show of nature, he hurriedly limped up the trail eager to return to the house.

What just happened? he kept thinking as he drew further away. Never before had he experienced such bizarre events during his hike.

. . . .

I enjoyed dinner tonight, Emily said smiling.

Ray looked over at the woman in the passenger seat next to him as he was driving. He could only glance as he needed to intently focus on the road. A raging storm howled around them and heavy rain beat against the SUV. Even with the windshield wipers on high he still had trouble seeing out. In that brief glance at his wife, her beauty stood out in the luminance of the console lights. Her eighth month of pregnancy only added to her glow. How fortunate he was, he thought, to have such a lovely and loving wife. He was truly blessed. Their four years of marriage only increased his love for her, and the news of their first pregnancy launched them both into emotions of excitement and even greater bonding. Though they decided not to know the gender of their baby they enjoyed the time preparing together for its arrival.

He smiled. I did too. I’m sorry I haven’t taken you out more lately.

We’ve had a lot going on, she said. But I did enjoy the night out even if I know it won’t be as frequent now.

I’m glad, Ray said. Now if I can just get us home safely the evening will have been a success.

I know. Isn’t this weather awful, Emily said leaning forward trying to see up through the windshield into the sky. I didn’t even know it was supposed to rain tonight.

I didn’t either, Ray agreed. It must be one of those summer storms that just pop up out of nowhere. I can barely see.

At that moment, a brilliant flash of lightning illuminated the sky momentarily making it impossible the see anything as the rain on the windshield reflected its glare.

Wow! That was close. Ray blinked trying to regain his night vision.

Oh honey, be careful. Drive slower if you need to, Emily suggested.

Yeah, I think I will.

As Ray started to slow down, suddenly out of the corner of his eye he caught the motion of a tall pine being blown across the road just ahead of them. Realizing if he slowed at this point they might run into the tree or be struck by it he mashed the accelerator. Emily also saw the tree and instinctively put an arm up while letting out a peal of fright. Fortunately, the pine was so tall that when it fell it didn’t block their path. It became lodged in another tree across the road and was left leaning diagonally over them. To Ray’s horror though he sped up just as they were entering a sharp curve. With the amount of water covering the road and their increased speed the SUV couldn’t maintain its grip on the asphalt. Ray felt the vehicle starting to hydroplane as he fought to maintain control. Seeing his frantic efforts and feeling the unusual movement of the vehicle Emily instinctively grabbed hold of whatever she could to brace herself.

Hang on! Ray exclaimed not noticing Emily already was.

The SUV fish tailed to the right into the curve, but as he overcorrected it swung back to the left with the front end now pointing directly toward the right edge of the road. Sliding sideways there was nothing he could do to alter the direction of the vehicle. The SUV slid jarringly off the road and down the steep embankment. His side of the vehicle was positioned to take the impact of whatever they encountered. Reaching desperately for Emily, suddenly everything exploded on his left side in a bright concussion of lights. Then everything went black.

Ray bolted upright in his bed sweating and shaking anxiously. A deep, wrenching pain gripped his heart as he awoke to himself groaning in distress. Gradually, realizing it was just a dream he fell back on his pillow throwing both hands over his eyes. Over the past year similar dreams gutted him over and over. Recently, however, they seemed to be receding in frequency. Mentally and emotionally exhausted he tried to calm himself. However, he couldn’t assuage the feelings of hate and loathing he felt for himself. He knew he was responsible.

Chapter Two

Ray laid in bed for close to two hours after his dream trying to go back to sleep but with no success. It didn’t matter too much anyway, he thought. Today was Saturday and he didn’t have to go to work. He could take a nap later in the day if he needed to. At four thirty in the morning, it would be another couple of hours before sunrise so he decided to make a pot of coffee and relax as he tried to calm the swirling thoughts in his mind.

Setting up the coffee maker he sat down in his recliner and listened to the gurgling of the coffee being made. Laying his head back he thought about Emily and the moments in the morning they used to enjoy together before work. How he missed her and the way her loving spirit made their house into a home. Now, it felt like a cold barren tomb to him. He didn’t change anything significant in the house in the past two years. He even left the nursery like they originally decorated it. He kept the door closed and almost never went in. It was simply too hard.

He dropped many of the activities they used to enjoy together. He rarely worked in the yard nor did he travel anymore. He also dropped out of the little country church they attended though all of the members had been exceptionally thoughtful and kind to him in the aftermath. Spiritually, he couldn’t reconcile why God would allow such evil to happen. Since it obviously did, he didn’t see a need for such a