"What's wrong with him? Do you know? Will he be all right?"
Alexis hurried off the porch to rescue the ranger from Jody's questions, but he was already answering them.
"I'm guessing he'll be fine. You don't need to worry."
"Can I come see him?"
Alexis reached Jody just as the little girl noticed a bandage on the koala's shoulder. "What's the bandage for?" she asked accusingly.
Matthew fastened the lock on the cage before he turned. His eyes sought Alexis's, and she knew he was trying to phrase his answer carefully. "He was bleeding," he said finally, turning his gaze to Jody.
"What from?"
"A bullet hole."
Alexis drew in a sharp breath, and she instinctively reached for the little girl. But Jody had already figured the worst. "Poachers?" she asked, her high childish voice at odds with the adult word. "Was it poachers?"
Matthew frowned, puzzled. "How did you know that?"
"Koalas are protected. Only a poacher would shoot one."
He looked to Alexis for explanation. "She reads everything," Alexis told him, shrugging. "Is she right?"
He nodded, and concern broke through his carefully neutral expression. "I'm afraid so. This isn't the first koala that's been shot at, and I doubt it will be the last. It takes a ruthless man to kill one. Until we find out who's behind it, you may want to reconsider living way out here by yourself."
"Why? It's koala skins he wants, isn't it?"
"Right. But you might as well be a koala if you get between one and the man who wants it. A poacher's bullet could be as deadly to a woman or child as to an animal. And next time our poaching friend might do more than injure his target."
OUT OF THE ASHES is available on Smashwords.
Smoke Screen Page 32