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Taking one hand off the wheel, Davey leant down, pulled his trouser leg up a little and revealed a sheathed knife strapped to his calf. He unstrapped it and dumped it on Steph’s lap.

“There.”

Steph bit her lip. “I’d rather have something I could shoot with.”

“Throw it then. Same thing.”

Steph shook her head but remained silent. They drove on.

They knew the direction they were meant to head in and the rough area where the cave lion was when they had left. The large cat was somewhere to the northwest, completely the other sideof the compound to the house. However, they were only halfway there when the radio kicked in and Kelvin’s voice crackled through.

“How are you getting on?” came the question.

“About halfway,” came the reply. It was Michael. Steph noted that Davey seemed quite happy to sit and listen.

“Well, you might want to alter your course. He seems to be moving east.”

“Probably found a meal to chase. Fergus wasn’t the largest of men.”

Steph clicked her tongue.

“Maybe. I will keep you updated anyway. Might be best to get close and then I can tell you how far it’s moved.”

“Where do you think we should aim?” asked Michael.

“A couple of miles northeast of our small ben, seems like it might work.”

“Small ben! It’s a glorified hillock is what it is!”

“Fine, a couple of miles northeast of the glorified hillock!”

The radio quietened and they continued onwards. Every so often, the radio would kick in again and there would be a short update from Kelvin. It would be greeted by a short acknowledgement from Michael but no one else. This lasted until Davey finally communicated his own thoughts.

He picked up the radio transmitter and pressed a button on the side. “We have to be close now, surely?”

Michael must have agreed as he stopped his buggy not far ahead of them. His red brake lights on the attached trailer indicated to Davey to follow suit. Davey pulled up alongside him. They were no longer amongst trees but in another open area. Well, Steph assumed it was open. In the faint waxing moonlight she could just about see a treeline in the distance, but their position seemed to offer no shelter from the cool night wind which flicked at her hair.

Both Davey and Michael turned their lights off. Steph could make out the shadowy figure of Daniel holding up what looked like a pair of binoculars to scan the area.

Before Michael and Davey could exchange words, the radio kicked in again. “Based on where you are, the cave lion is anywhere between two to four hundred metres from you.”

“In which direction?” Davey asked.

“East… roughly.”

Steph could see Michael instantly scan his own shadowy outline in the supposed direction of the animal. The scope of his tranquillizer rifle came up to his eye.

“Bison,” Daniel said.

“They seem pretty quiet,” Michael exhaled.

Steph strained her eyes into the darkness but could neither see nor hear a thing. That was until she heard an exasperated noise to the side of her as Davey muttered something and then thrust something heavy into her hands.

“The switch is on the side,” he whispered.

Steph recognised that it was the night-vision goggles. She felt along the side of them until her fingers touched something small but pronounced which easily moved. She raised the goggles to her eyes. Instantly, things became far clearer.

Like Daniel, she scanned the area whilst Michael and Davey readied themselves and went through their little rituals. The bison were clear to see. Michael was right, they all seemed quite relaxed. Maybe they had no idea they were being targeted. They were quite content, heads down chewing on the grass save for the odd raised head. Steph found this interesting, not just because she was aware of something they were not, but also because their calmness felt at odds with what she had witnessed from the predators. It was almost as if the relationship between predator and prey was not yet in sync. The prey did not seem to realise the gravity of their situation. That, or numbers keptbeing boosted without social learning filtering through cleanly enough.