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

his mind’s eye he could see the tragedy unfold. Cougars bit into heads and necks of their prey. Survival would be impossible. It was too dark for it to be seen. It would kill and drag away, and the camping party would be up in arms, wailing and moaning as Audry would chase down the cougar with the chosen victim and shoot it—if she could get to it in time.

He scrambled up the hill, cresting it. Looking down, Rick spotted the distant campfire. He saw the shadows of men, women, and children—two children. And the cougar, he could only smell. It was lurking in the shadows, preparing to pounce.

Still downwind, Rick stalked closer to the camp, keeping an eye out. There was a little girl down there, laughing while roasting a marshmallow over the fire on a wire stick. She was next to the boy whose marshmallow had caught flame and was now charring sugar as a torch. He was pretending to be the Statue of Liberty.

Quietly getting in closer, Rick kept his eyes out for the cougar, whom he could smell, but still could not see. The smells of the fire, the food, and her overwhelmed his senses as he hurried in close. Rick’s heart boomed in his chest, seeing Audry get up from a log, her beautiful bushy brown hair pulled back in a frothy ponytail. If she got hurt, he’d never forgive himself.

Where was the cougar? Where was the cougar? He could still smell it.

Then he saw it—its shining eyes in the darkness. Its hungry gaze was fixed on the little girl.

It crouched down.

Bloody

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Three

 

“Is he really a werewolf, Aunt Audry?” Maris asked.

Audry laughed, shaking her head. “No. Of course not. There is no such thing. This is just a story people share because they are a rich family who happen to protect wolves. And jealous people make stuff up.”

“That is so wrong!” Maris exclaimed, her cheeks coloring.

“Why would anyone believe it?” Doug rose from the log he was sitting on, stretching his legs. The sun was lowering in the sky. The insects around were humming. They could hear the rush of the water not far away and squirrels scurrying up in the trees. Jean was also calling them to get the first of the kebabs.

Rising also to joining them, Audry shrugged half-heartedly. “Unfortunately, yeah. There are crazy folk out there that actually go hunting werewolf every full moon. There is even a website tracking the moves of the Deacon family each full moon.”

“No way,” Skyler said, laughing, following her.

She just shrugged. “I’m telling you the truth. When we get home, I can show you the website.”

“So…” her father said with a tone to change the subject. “What exactly is your subject of research out here in the West anyway? You’ve been researching wild animals for months. You must have some kind of dissertation or something you are putting forward.”

Audry chuckled, nodding. She peered over Jean’s shoulder to see if the kebabs were ready yet, lingering near her mother who had the veggie ones. “Do you remember that research video I showed you about how wolves changed rivers?”

Her father nodded, as did Jean and her brother Doug. Her mother listened as she assembled more veggie kebabs, putting on mushrooms in place of meat. Two were almost ready.

“Well,” reached for one kebab, but dropped it back down as it was still hot. “Ow. I was hoping to have a hand in something like that. You know, something that brilliant. And I got to thinking… I want to find a win-win scenario for preserving wolves while preserving cattle farms as well—mostly for the sake of peace. I’m not for cattle ranching; but as I don’t have power to end that quite yet, I do believe that I can at least find a way to prevent ranchers from shooting wolves. They do it mostly to preserve their livelihoods. It is an admitted fact that some wolves do stray into neighborhoods that skirt farmland and forested area seeking food. Dogs and cattle have been attacked. So, I am seeking a peaceful wolf deterrent for settled areas.”

“Such as?” Doug glanced to the area where they had heard yet another wolf howl in the distance, answered by another pair of wolves. He then looked to the fire and grill. The sky was now getting dim.

Audry shrugged. “Well… there are already non-lethal wolf deterrents on the market, but I don’t know if neighborhood areas are equipped with them. Some cattle ranchers will have them to preserve their herds. But I am concerned about local dogs mostly. I think what I really need to do it find a way to get communities to equip themselves with non-lethal wolf deterrents The problem is that wolves learn quickly and can overcome their fear of certain scare devices such as sounds or lights if they are repeatedly exposed to them. So they can’t just set it up and then forget about it. A program or system needs to be created for a regular changing devices to keep wolves from getting habituated to them and losing their natural wariness.”

“Not a bad idea,” Doug murmured with a slow nod.

“You mean like handing out dog whistles?” Skyler asked, listening in.

Nodding to him, Audry grinned. “Kind of. More like creating a rotation of different methods. Like an invisible fence that is alive.”

“They already use those non-lethal solar powered deterrents in pest control shops,” Jean said, carefully plucking off some finished meat kebabs. She held one out for her kids to take. “They have them for voles, mice, and rats that people can buy. They might already have them for wolves.”

“I don’t know if pest control shops think of wolves,” Audry said. “There are several brands of deterrents on the market online, of course. But it is the program that I want to set up. I’d rather have a program than hunters going out shooting wolves.”  

Jean merely shrugged. “What do I know? I’m a nurse. But whatever you do, shouldn’t it be cheap?”

“Inexpensive, yes. But not cheap. I want things to work correctly.” Audry nodded. She sighed. “I still need to think it over. It would be great if I could just snap my fingers and have something economical and environmentally friendly.”

“Wolfsbane,” her father said, chuckling.

Audry inwardly laughed, shaking her head. Wolfsbane made her think of Rick Deacon, who was deathly allergic to the plant. The other name of the plant was aconite, also called monkshood. It grew blue to purple flower spires, low shaggy leaves, a fat taproot, and fat bean shaped seed pods clustered in threes. It was poisonous to most animals, but Rick was deathly allergic to its pollen. Of course, he was allergic a lot of things. And thinking on that, she did not think it a good idea to plant something which would make wolves sick. Some fools might actually try it.

“Are you still funding your research with tee-shirt sales?” her father asked, merely curious.

“I think she sleeps in that wolf tee shirt of hers,” Doug said. “I think she’d in love with it.”

“It’s a comfortable shirt,” Audry protested, coloring.

“No,” her brother corrected with a teasing laugh. “I meant the wolf. You are in love with the wolf. It is still the screensaver to your computer, isn’t it?”

Audry colored. “No. It’s not. I’ve replaced it with a cheetah. Actually, I’ve been rotating the pictures on my screensaver, thank you very much.”

But he laughed more.

Audry did not know why that embarrassed her. It wasn’t the first time someone accused her of being in love with that wolf, either. Her ex-fiancé, Hogan, had said the same. Silvia had teased her about it also, though not as jealously. And yet… admittedly, Audry found that one wolf with the soulful gray eyes entrancing. If he had been a human male, she would have married him in an instant. Though, how could one convince a wolf to be vegan? It was an impossibility.

Her mind flickered to Rick again. She shuddered.

Why did she always think of him whenever she thought of that wolf? Did they really own that wolf? Was it safe? Was it alive? It followed that family, or so it was rumored. She wondered.

The sun was soon full into setting as they all sat down to eat their kebabs and baked banana treats. When they finished, they roasted the remaining marshmallows on the extendible wire skewers. Audry found one that had only fruit on it.

“Tell us another story, Aunt Audry,” Maris said.

Audry moaned. “Ok, but not a scary one. Alright?”

“Ah, why not?” Maris hung her shoulders, her marshmallow dripping from the end where she had pulled it off with her fingers.

Looking around, hearing yet another wolf cry, this one close, Audry replied, “Because it is dark, and I don’t want you to have nightmares.”

“What story can you tell?” Skyler asked, grabbing one of the last marshmallows from the bag.

Shrugging, Audry thought a bit. “Let me think. Uh, how about the time I was nearly licked to death by cheetahs?”

“Licked to death?” Maris’s eyes went wide.

Skyler snorted, nodding.

“I’ve got pictures on my cellphone,” Audry replied with a broad grin. “Do you want me to go get it? I can show you. We’ve even got video.”

“Yes!” Maris hopped up and down.

Skyler shrugged. His marshmallow immediately caught fire. He held it up like a torch. “Oh say can you see!—”

Doug rolled his eyes, watching Audry get up and go to fetch her cell phone. “Is it charged?”

“I have a solar charger,” Audry explained, heading to her tent.

But then everything went wrong.

She had turned her back for just a second, when out of the darkness sprang a hungry cougar. Its jaw aimed for Maris’s head, but Maris had moved that same instant, and it had bit down into her arm instead, claws also missing its intent to wrap around her to pull her in it. Instead, it skidded, almost knocking Doug into the fire. Doug caught himself on a log, and grabbed for his daughter.

The cougar opened its jaws again for a more sure bite, ignoring everything but its intended prey.

As Audry snatched the pistol from her hip, pulling at it out and clicking the safety off while her brother seized his daughter who was screaming in sheer horrified agony, a wolf sprang out of nowhere onto the cougar, clamping its jaws around the cougar’s throat.

Yowling, clawing at the wolf, the cougar struggled to make the wolf let go. But the wolf held on as if for dear life, biting down harder to drain out the cougar’s jugular.

Everyone backed away in terror. They watched the wolf and cougar battle it out.

Both animals clawed each other, though the cougar had the advantage with his giant paws and wide reach, digging his scythe sharp claws into the wolf’s back to tear off its skin. Straining to get a bite of its assailant to no use, the cougar was entirely unable to dislodge the wolf’s jaws. After a minute, it bled out from the wolf’s bite, coating the wolf’s face in blood. No way would a wolf win this battle if it let go at all—even for a better bite. Audry and everyone scrambled to the other side of the fire, while she took aim. Or she tried to take aim. Both animals