Its 1918, a cold October day in the Bothwell Settlement, what is now known as Tynehead in Surrey, BC.
Rory McCaskill has lived in his self built modest house on Townline Road for 13 years. His wife Catherine is not home, she is out helping Doctor Sinclair with a baby delivery in the town of Cloverdale, and will not return for several hours as the roads are rough because of the recent rain, making for a slow trip.
The air is crisp; Rory can smell the Cedar being cut for shingles at the Miraki Cedar mill a half a mile away on the other side of the forest.
A short walk out the back of the house brings him to the river. It is thick with Salmon and you could walk across the creek on their backs. Dead and dieing fish litter the shoreline and float downstream.
Rory stops, and examines something odd in the mud along the river. He is used to seeing bear prints, especially with the feast of fish nearby but these prints were something different. Who would walk around in bare feet in this weather? Such huge feet at that! My, they must be at least 18 inches long, and so deep in the soil!
A wild screech echoes through the forest. High-pitched, long and bone chilling, it sends shivers down Rory’s spine. Rory thinks a saw must have jammed in the mill, back to the house to retrieve a lantern as dusk is quickly approaching, then he proceeds along the trail to investigate.
The light casts strange shadows on the trail, the leaves rustle under his steps, and small glowing eyes can be seen moving away from the trail on his approach.
CRACK, a large branch has broken off nearby. Rory stops and listens. He hears heavy, raspy breathing off to his left, very close. He is not worried, the bears are well fed and shy. Rory raises his lantern, and hollers to scare the bear away.
Thud! Snap! Something moves towards him. He holds the lantern higher. Large red eyes glow in the lantern light nine feet above the ground. No bear stands that tall! A putrid smell assaults Rory’s nose, the smell of rotting flesh. Rory sees branches and leaves entangled in the beast’s long hair.
An ear piercing scream erupts from the beast, a huge hand moves towards him……..
The next day Catherine and some neighbors find a lantern on the trail. A small path has been made in the mud, something was dragged through it. Rory McCaskill was never seen again.
Listen carefully when wandering the trails of Tynehead Park; you may hear piercing screams off in the distance, the moans of agony from a man in his last moments of life or the crying of woman, mourning for her lost husband from an old house. Look carefully into the forest. You may see the swinging light of a lantern through the trees, the shadow of a sad widow sitting in the window of the McCaskill house, or large red eyes peering at you from above.
Yes, it’s a little fiction around some real people and places from Surrey’s Past.
Please adhere to Metro Vancouver's regulations for park hours.
You can find this a step or two off the tail/path/walkway (don't want to give too much away!).