Why a Wolf Cries - Julie Steimle (read a book .TXT) 📗

asleep, lulled by the motion of the car. When she got the stretcher down, Skyler helped her heave the wolf back onto it.

“Thanks for staying to help me,” Audry said.

Skyler shrugged. “It beats being the car while Mom is freaking out over Maris.”

She blinked at him. Jean did not seem like she was freaking out.

And recognizing her looks, Skyler added, “Mom snaps at you when she stressed. And I just don’t want to be near her right now.”

To that, she nodded.

It took a bit to figure out where they would find park rangers. There wasn’t a building labeled ‘Ranger Station’. The closest thing to it was the Canyon Visitor Education Center. She wasn’t sure what she would find there. It looked too nice. She expected displays and some sort of shiny floor suited for crowds and not the private utility cabin she wanted for delivering a wounded wolf to.  

“Follow me,” Audry said to Skyler.

They went in through the front doors, looking for front desk. When they found it, a slightly thick in the middle ranger marched up to them, eyes widening, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing in here with that?”

“Hi. My name is Audry Bruchenhaus—uh, Skyler can you reach into my wallet for my I.D.?” Audry stopped the ranger before he got to the wolf. “Look, I’m a licensed animal rescue worker currently working on my PhD and—”

“Oh, no, stop right there,” the ranger said. “We’re not letting you take any animals from the park for—”

“We’re not asking for that!” Audry snapped. “I’m here to tell you about the cougar that attacked my niece last night!”

He clammed up, pulling at his satellite phone from his hip. “What?”

Nodding, taking a breath, Audry explained the entire attack the evening before, going into detail while Skyler chimed in on occasion. She gestured to the wolf, explaining why she brought it. And when she was done, she drew a breath and said, “So all I am requesting right now is for some care for the wolf so he can recover. If you have a vet, please call for them. If not, do you have a kennel he can stay in? He’ll just need a little water and food, and you can release him again into the wild.”

“Hold on,” the ranger said with a look to her, frowning slightly. “Let me call in the attack and have someone check out the cougar and the camp.”

Audry nodded. She had already shown him the pictures they had taken and given him the location.

“And you are sure it is dead?” the ranger asked as he waited for a ranger closest to her family’s campsite to respond.

“The wolf tore out his throat,” Audry said, gesturing to him. The wolf’s eyes were closed. It seemed to be sleeping. “Most of the blood on him is from the cougar.”

The ranger nodded mutely.

The other side of his phone responded. A ranger was going to the site. Audry stood there with Skyler, listening to the conversation. They would ride out to check it out and call back in.

“Where did they take the girl?” the ranger asked, taking out an accident report form.

“My niece?” Audry said, feeling a degree of coldness from this ranger. Something was off. “To the Lake Clinic.”

He nodded, but then looked to the clock.

“What’s wrong?” Her eyes narrowed on him.

Sighing, he replied, “She will probably need stitches…”

With exaggerated nod, Audry said, “Yes. Hopefully from a doctor for humans.”

His eyes narrowed back on her. “Your attitude is not helping.”

“Right back at you,” Audry said. “You don’t seem to be taking this very seriously.”

The man set down his clipboard. “Lady. You dragged a dead wolf into our—”

“He’s not dead,” Audry snapped.

“Look, our mission is preservation, not rescue and rehabilitation,” the ranger said.

Audry stared at him, exasperated. “I am a licensed animal rescue worker. I will take full responsibility. I just need you to call in a vet to deal with his wounds. And when he is healed, we can release him back into the wild.”

“The death of some animals is a necessary part of sustaining our populations of predators, scavengers, decomposers and, eventually, herbivores once the nutrient cycle comes full circle,” he said as if not hearing her at all. Audry wondered if he were in fact an animatronic figure with how robotic his response was.

“I don’t want him to die!” Audry snapped.

“Our focus is on sustaining viable populations of native wildlife species, rather than protecting individual animals,” the ranger explained in a rather rote voice. “An animal’s survival depends on its own daily decisions and natural selection. Actions like feeding, husbandry, and rehabilitation contradict the National Park Service mission by shielding animals from the forces of natural selection and creating a zoo-like atmosphere where animals require assistance or protection from people. Rehabilitation itself is a difficult task with an uncertain outcome. These activities are expensive and divert funds that could otherwise be used on more widespread conservation and restoration efforts.”

“What did you do?” Audry’s eyes fixed darkly on him. “Memorize all that from your website?”

He colored, going behind the counter. “It is our policy.”

“Screw policy.” Audry growled, following him, grasping the counter. “You have to help me save this wolf.”

He returned with a dry gaze, “No. I don’t.” And he went back to his paper work.

“If this wolf dies, I will hold it over your heads. This wolf saved my niece’s life.”

“Right…”

“She did,” Skyler protested, butting in, his face paling as he watched the ranger continue on without even looking at the wounded wolf.

Audry propped the drag stretcher against the top edge of the counter. “Look, if you don’t do something, I will. I do know people who care about this wolf. I just need a little more time. I don’t have the supplies right now, and I don’t know this area enough to get a good vet. Now are you going to act like a forest ranger or not?”

The range shot her a funny look. “Excuse me?”

“Look! This is not a Yellowstone wolf! It is not part of this ecosystem. It is roaming, lone wolf. I know this wolf!” Audry snapped.

“You’ve tagged it?” This time the ranger pulled back and actually peeked at the wolf, perhaps looking for a tag.

“I rescued it once, back east!” Audry snapped. “But it’s not tagged. Rather, it’s connected to a powerful family…. And I can’t even believe I am saying this.”

He stared darkly at her.

“Look,” she said. “Can you at least, and I really mean at least, keep him in a kennel of some kind where he can rest until I can come back with a veterinarian or something?”

The ranger shook his head, walking away. “We don’t do that sort of thing. I told you, if nature has selected him to die, so be it. I am very sorry about your niece, but as you said, they went to the Lake Clinic. She will be cared for there. Now get that wolf out of here. Put him back where you found him.”

Groaning, Audry swore under her breath.

Skyler pretended not to hear it. Instead, he said as he watched the ranger go back to his station at the desk, “What now, Aunt Audry?”

She looked to the wolf, then to him. “I’ll think of something.”

Turning, Audry grabbed the handle to the stretcher, wondering who she knew in the west coast who could help her with this. To be honest, she didn’t know anybody. She was an east coast citizen. Did she even have Randon’s phone number?

No. Audry halted on this thought. But she did have Silvia’s. She wondered if it was still good. Calling her old roommate might open herself up to old problems, but then again, this wolf’s life mattered.

As they dragged the wolf laden stretcher to the doors, a younger ranger walked up to Audry. “Hey, I’m really sorry we can’t help you, but… maybe… I can hold your wolf for a while until you do get a vet.”

Audry looked to him. He was a good looking young man. Brown hair. Blue eyes. Perhaps in his late twenties. And he smiled with interest. Was he flirting, or was he sincere? Audry was tired of falling for men only to find out they were sexual predators. For all she knew, this ranger could be another, seeing her desperation and possibly expecting to get laid as a gesture of thanks. However, she did have her newest tazer and her tranquilizer gun. She could handle a horny ranger. And Skyler was with her. Nobody with a brain would try anything with her nephew there. Besides, she really just wanted to save her wolf.

“Look,” Audry said to him with a glance about the building, “I see now you don’t have rescue facilities here. But I am desperate. This wolf means a lot to me. I don’t want to see him die now. Can you really help me?”

The younger ranger nodded, peeking over his shoulder. In a lower voice, he said, “Go outside as if you are returning to your car. Turn left, and I’ll meet you at the side of the building. There is a cabin I can keep the wolf in. I do have a spare cage we’ve used for some animals we have rescued.”

Her jaw dropped open, looking back to the counter where the other ranger was still working. They did do rescue work after all!

“It was used for peregrine falcons we were restoring,” he said.

Audry nodded, relaxing. She had heard of those rescue efforts. Apparently wolves were not considered valuable enough to them.

Audry and Skyler did as the ranger requested. When he met them outside a few minutes later he jerked his head one direction and said, “Follow me. By the way, I’m Jason. Jason Douglass.”

Skyler shrugged, muttering, “Not an H name….”

Shooting him a look, she said to Ranger Douglass, “Thank you for helping us. This really means a lot to me.”

He gave her a winning smile and continued onward. For a moment, he looked like he hesitated asking to help drag the wolf, but then thought better of it. Of course it probably would be a giveaway if he started to help her directly, that he was disobeying park rules.

The cabin was old, small, but isolated. He unlocked the door and let Audry and Skyler in. The interior cabin was cozy and clean. It had one bed, a side table lamp, a chair, a desk, a mirror, and a side room where Audry assumed was a bath. There were two cages in the room. Both the same size and just large enough to hold a wolf comfortably.

“That will do,” Audry said, staring at it. She then looked to the ranger. “Uh, Ranger Douglass—”

“Jason,” he said, smiling.

Blushing, Audry tried again, “Jason, can I really leave the wolf here? You won’t get in trouble? I don’t want to affect your job.”

“Not a problem,” he said, grinning wider. “You’ll be gone a couple days?”

“Yes. Can I get your phone number so I can let you know when I’ve gotten a vet to claim him? I’ll either come with the vet or I’ll send the vet to collect him.” She sighed glancing to the wolf again. “Hopefully this won’t take longer than a week.”

He nodded. “I write my number down—or I can put it in your phone.”

She smirked back. He was definitely flirting. But he was also cute. However, so was Hogan, Harlin, and to be honest… so was Rick Deacon. It was best to stay away from dangerous men. She took out her wallet and extracted her business card. She always had a few for contact purposes. “Here’s mine. And please write yours down. Let’s keep this professional.”

Coloring a little, he shrugged, then went to get a pen and some note paper.

Audry laid the stretcher down and got Skyler to help her select the cleanest cage out of the two. It was the bottom one. The shifted the other to the side, then loosened the blanket from around the wolf. Getting him through the door without waking him would be the difficult part. She