by J. T. Cross
“That can’t be good,” Kate said.
“It’s the same type of call the dire wolves made at the helicopter and cabin,” Christie said.
“What did you call them?” asked Luc. He hadn’t heard that term before.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, the wolves you saved us from are a species we thought were extinct.”
“Not another one,” Luc said with a groan.
“They’re called dire wolves.”
Once again, the yaps could be heard in the distance. Luc focused on the sounds and realized they were getting closer.
“I think they may be tracking us, but I don’t know which direction they’re coming from.”
“I think they may be coming from behind us,” Kate said.
“Would you mind letting Chuck use your rifle?” Luc asked.
“Not at all,” she said handing it to Chuck.
“Chuck, you cover the trail leading to the north and I’ll cover the other one. If they’re closing in on us, it will be from one of the two directions.”
From within the trees near the clearing, Luc heard the sound of cracking branches and of air being exhaled by a large animal of some type.
“What was that?” Chuck asked.
“I don’t know but whatever it was, it’s big and it’s close,” Luc said. Then he saw something he would have never believed possible. A massive brown woolly mammoth burst into the clearing.
“Everybody back!” Luc pulled the bolt back on his rifle, slammed a shell into the chamber, and took aim.
“No, don’t shoot!” Christie ran in front of Luc’s rifle, holding up her hands. “I recognize it from back at the helicopter. It drove the wolves off when they attacked us.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. It’s a female and has a calf, which is probably around here somewhere.”
Luc slowly lowered the rifle, but kept it ready. He didn’t know what to think. It was a massive animal that could literally crush them in seconds.
“We need to back away from it. If she has a calf, she could be very protective,” Luc said.
“She didn’t act protective before. She was almost friendly,” Christie said. “Not defensive.”
“She saved us from the wolves, Dad,” Stuart said as he inched closer to Luc.
From somewhere in the trees, he heard a short trumpeting sound. He glanced in the direction of the sound and saw the calf walk quickly into the clearing and move close to its mother. The mother turned its head to the south and stared intently. Luc guessed it was listening to the sounds of the wolves.
The mammoth raised her trunk high and let out an ear-deafening trumpet blast. Her ears flapped back and forth and she moved her head from side to side.
Luc could tell that the animal was clearly agitated and he was pretty sure why. He could hear by the constant yelps and howls that the wolves were getting close. He guessed they would be coming at them from the south.
“We need to get out of this open area,” he said, and led them onto the trail that led to the north.
He glanced back at the mammoth and her calf. He was afraid of how she might react if he fired his rifle. He decided not to fire on the wolves unless absolutely necessary. There was a chance that the massive animal might intimidate the wolves and send them packing, he thought.
The wolves attacked from the south, just as Luc had thought they would. When the first one barreled into the clearing, the mammoth grabbed it with its trunk and slammed into the ground, breaking its back.
Another large wolf took its place and lunged at the calf. Once again, the mammoth grabbed the wolf and threw it across the clearing. It limped into the woods and was gone.
Luc glanced back at the southern trail as four more dire wolves appeared. They stood there growling, trying to intimidate the mother mammoth and get it to leave its calf. The mother would have none of that and charged at the four wolves.
Two of them immediately skirted around its side and raced at the calf. Luc was ready and figured he had no choice. The shot rang out from his rifle and the first wolf went down. Before he could eject the spent shell, Chuck fired and killed the second wolf.
The mammoth turned toward them for a moment, unsure of where the loud sounds came from, but then turned back to face the remaining wolves. Once again, it charged at them. They turned and ran back to the south at full speed with their tails down.
Then all was quiet. The mammoth let out a low rumbling sound as if relieved that everything was over. She walked down the trail to the south and then came back into the clearing and began inspecting her calf. Luc watched as it took its trunk and touched the calf on the neck, appearing to soothe it.
It then turned and ambled toward Luc and Chuck and stopped in front of them. It let out a loud snort and moved its ears back and forth. The calf came up and stood behind it. The mammoth took another step toward Luc and huffed.
“Let’s slowly move back out of its way,” he said, holding out his arms and pushing everybody up the trail. The mammoth immediately followed after them. It was then he realized it probably only wanted to go around them.
“Let’s move off into the forest and let them pass,” Luc said.
They moved into the trees and Luc watched as the mammoth walked past them with the calf following closely. Once they had passed, they moved back out onto the trail.
“I say, we follow her as long as we can. That’s the second time she’s saved us from the wolves,” Christie said.
“She definitely knows how to handle the wolves,” Luc said.
“They’re natural enemies,” Christie said.
Luc looked north along the trail and could no longer see the mammoth.
“She’s not waiting around for us, so we better get moving if we want to catch up with her,” Luc said.
“It’s not like we’re going to lose her,” Kate said.
* * *
Victor was furious that they hadn’t yet been able to catch up with Moon and the others. He thought he had them for sure at the cabin, but somehow Moon had gotten them out just before several sticks of dynamite had brought the cabin down.
He had followed them south into the forest and been surprised when they had turned east, going deeper into the valley. Why not west, back the way they had come in, he wondered. After a moment’s thought, he realized they were simply doing the unexpected. Exactly what he would’ve done in their place.
When their tracks led him to the open area and then back to the north, there was no doubt in Victor’s mind that Moon was leading his group back to the quads. When he had finally gotten back to the disabled quads, Moon and his group were already gone.
Victor felt his frustration growing ever deeper as he stood just outside the area where Moon had hidden the ATVs. He thought of how nice it would feel to finally see the expression of defeat on the man’s face, right before he killed him.
Victor changed his focus to the problem at hand. He needed to make a decision concerning which direction along the river they would proceed.
“Let’s get on the quads and head back up the river. They can’t have more than an hour or so head start,” Turner said, throwing a cigarette to Russell then lighting one for himself.
“I don’t know about that,” Victor said. He thought he was beginning to get a feel for the way Moon thought. Why would he go to the west, the obvious way out of the valley, when he knew there were people after him? People might be expecting him to do just that. He had already done the unexpected once. Wouldn’t he continue in that vein?
“Let’s get the quads,” Victor said. He walked back into the woods where he had hidden their quads. He stuck his rifle in the boot and climbed on his machine. Starting the ATV, he rode back out and down to the riverbank and waited on the smooth river rocks for the other two men to join him. As they pulled alongside, he made a decision.
“We’ve got the advantage because we have speed. We’re going to go east. Moon’s too smart to go to the west. He knows they’d be too vulnerable. If we don’t f
ind their tracks within an hour, we’ll head back to the west.” Victor didn’t feel he needed to get agreement from them and accelerated away to the east.
He pushed hard and within a short time, they had entered a forest. They came to a place where several logs had fallen across the river. A little beyond that was a spot where the forest elevation dropped and the river formed a small waterfall. He saw footprints everywhere.
“Yes!” he shouted. He got off his quad and began walking around the area as he studied the footprints. He approached the logs that lay across the river and climbed up on them, carefully walking across the river to the other side. The tracks led to what looked like a natural path heading north through the forest.
There was no doubt in his mind that his hunch had been correct. The proof was the footprints heading north deeper into the valley. Once again, it was what he would’ve done.
He climbed back up on the logs and slowly walked back across the slippery surface while he judged its width then jumped down and went back to his men. He turned off the engine on his ATV, and the others did the same.
“We’re going to have to carry the quads across the logs,” he said. “We’ll take mine across first.”
He grabbed the front end of his machine and Russell, the larger man, grabbed the back end. They lifted it up onto the logs. They shoved the machine a few feet farther out and then both men climbed up, picking up the heavy machine.
As they slowly shuffled across the logs, Victor could hear cracking sounds. As they got to the middle, the logs began to give way under the weight.
“Back. Go back!” yelled Victor.
Slipping and struggling to stay upright, they rushed back to the other side and put the quad back down on the riverbank.
“It’s not going to take the weight,” Russell said as he stood, catching his breath.
“Then we’ll continue on foot,” Victor said pulling his backpack off the ATV and slipping it on. He pulled out his rifle from the boot. “Let’s move out.”
The men followed him over the logs and then north along the forest trail. Victor set a fast pace. He was tired of Moon always giving him the slip.
Chapter 17
Luc grabbed Kelly’s hand and hurried after the mammoth. After catching up with it, they were able to slow to a more comfortable pace. It turned out its normal walking speed was about equivalent to theirs. As they hiked, they found the massive animal would often stop to graze on various types of vegetation before continuing on with its leisurely walk.
Christie jogged up next to Luc. “Did you know that elephants are very social creatures?” she asked.
Luc thought that sounded rather odd. “I don’t know about that. I’ve yet to see one at a party,” he said chuckling.
“That’s not what I meant, silly. They live in groups for companionship and protection. One of my theories concerning mammoths is that they shared similar behavioral traits with modern-day elephants.”
He looked up at the baby mammoth following its mother. “Well, how does real life jive with your theories?”
“I’m beginning to think I might have been wrong. Look at the mother. She’s alone out here with her calf. That’s a pretty solitary way of life.”
“Not exactly a social butterfly,” Luc said, grinning.
Christie looked at him, frowning.
“I think they’re a solitary animal, Mom,” Stuart said in the same serious tone as his mother.
“Very interesting, Stuart,” Luc said and felt a brief pang of bitterness as he realized how much of his son’s life he had missed over the last few years.
Christie continued. “Elephants have even been observed showing compassion and grief. It’s thought that they have a high degree of intelligence and a long memory.”
“I heard a story once about an elephant that recognized a poacher from twenty years before and went after him the minute he saw him,” Chuck said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised at all,” said Christie then fell silent.
Several times as they hiked along the trail, they heard the call of wolves in the distance. Each time, Luc would switch the safety off on his rifle and keep his attention focused on the trail behind them for a season. The last thing he wanted was a surprise attack from the rear because he wasn’t being alert.
At one point, they reached a high spot in the forest and he was able to see over the tree line. He was relieved to find out they were still heading straight toward the nearby mountain.
Since they had been in the valley, they had seen several plateaus. It was a common characteristic of the mountains in the valley that he hadn’t seen elsewhere.
An hour later, they broke out of the forest and found themselves in a rocky area covered only by light brush.
From their position, Luc could now clearly see the plateau for what it really was, a flat part of the mountain that was the beginning of a long mountain range. Strangely enough, the mammoth appeared to be following a trail that appeared to head straight toward it.
As he stared at the looming mountain, he wondered how they were going to get to the top of it. From his perspective, the sides appeared too steep to be easily climbed. He decided he would worry about getting to the top of the mountain they got closer to it. For now, he was content to just continue following the mammoth.
He checked his watch; it was almost five in the afternoon. In a few hours, they were going to have to try to find a safe place to sleep for the night. He wasn’t looking forward to that.
They had almost reached the base of the plateau, but during the last hour, clouds had descended and a light fog now obscured most of the detail of the mountain.
Despite the light fog, Luc thought he could see a trail winding back and forth up the mountainside. How one would get to that trail, he had no idea.
The mammoth showed no signs of slowing, and in fact, seemed to be picking up speed the closer it got to the plateau. Luc pulled out his binoculars and stared at the vertical face of the mountainside in the distance.
“I think we have a problem. The trail seems to dead-end at the base of the mountain,” Luc said.
“Does this mammoth know something we don’t?” Christie asked.
“Maybe she’s not that smart and doesn’t realize she’s coming to a dead end,” Stuart said.
* * *
After an hour and a half of jogging, Victor broke out of the forest. He stopped and waited for his men to catch up. When they reached him, they bent over resting their hands on their knees as they struggled to catch their breath. He could tell by their heavy breathing that he might need to slow down.
After a while, Turner began to slowly walk around while he continued to recover. Victor saw him squat down and look at something on the ground.
“What the hell kind of an animal makes a print like this?” Turner asked.
Victor walked over and examined the print. It certainly wasn’t the first time he had seen the large circular depression that day. He had purposely avoided mentioning the footprints as he didn’t want to spook the men. He actually had no idea what kind of animal made them. He could only hope they wouldn’t run into it.
“I don’t know what made the print. Whatever it is, it’s probably more afraid of us than we are of it,” Victor said.
“Yeah, just like those freaking wolves were afraid of Moon’s people on the mountainside last night,” Turner said.
“Don’t worry about it. We have a job to do,” Victor said then continued moving northward following the trail over which the occasional footprints of Luc Moon’s party could be seen. He couldn’t help but wonder what had traveled over the area enough to wear a trail into the hard-packed earth. He also wondered why Moon and the others were following it.
* * *
Luc put his hands out and stopped everyone a safe distance back from the mammoth and her calf as they stopped in front of the plateau and seemed to hesitate for a moment. The last thing he wanted to do was spook the giant animal.
He took out his bino
culars and studied it. From where he stood, it appeared the mammoth had come to a part of the trail that diverged into three different directions. One trail went to the left and appeared to skirt the western edge of the mountain. The other trail went east. Unexpectedly, the third one appeared to go straight into the mountainside.
Luc watched as the mammoth began moving forward again along the path that went straight. He watched her make a turn to the left and suddenly disappear. Her calf followed closely.
“Hey, where did she go?” Chuck asked with a confused expression.
“Come on. Let’s go before we lose her,” Luc said and took off at a jog. Several minutes later, they were standing at the spot where the mammoth had disappeared. Luc walked along the narrow trail that appeared to go straight into the mountainside and found it curved to the left behind a long jagged wall of granite.
The narrow trail, that had not been visible from a distance, climbed the mountainside. Luc watched as the mammoth began working its way up the trail with the baby close behind.
“I think she knows the area a lot better than we do. We should probably continue following her,” Luc said and began hiking up the narrow trail.
“I wonder how she’d fare against a saber-toothed cat,” Kate said.
“Let’s hope we don’t find that out,” Luc said grimly.
The mammoth made steady progress, traversing its way across the southern side of the almost-vertical mountainside. Each pass across the face took it closer to the top. Luc and the others struggled to keep up.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say somebody cut this trail into the side of this mountain,” Christie said after they had traversed across it several times and were nearing the top.
“No one’s ever lived out here, as far as I know,” Luc said.
“If they did, they probably got eaten,” Stuart said.
They watched the mammoth reach the top and move out of sight. They followed after her.
As they crested the top, the wide expanse of the plateau came into view. The mammoth was already heading to the north toward what looked like a sheer rock wall with a structure of some type in front of it. Along the eastern side of the plateau were trees that gradually climbed up into higher elevations to the north.