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With that, he opened his door.

“He’s the better shot,” the smaller man said, noticing Steph staring at him. He too got out of the cab. Steph followed.

“Hang on!”

“What?” asked the larger man, turning around.

The smaller man then chucked the keys to the truck to him. The large man caught them, looked at them, rolled his eyes and put them in a side pocket before zipping it up.

“Zip pockets.” The smaller man shrugged. “I know I need them, but they never seem to be on the clothes I like.”

Steph then noticed his eyes flick towards the rear of the truck before he turned to follow his partner.

FORTY-THREE

The walk was a slow one. Firstly, there was the slope to deal with. There was no man-trodden footpath worn into the ground over the years; there was only the light outline of the preferred route probably taken by the bear. A large footprint in the dirt made clear that this was the case. On top of the need to navigate the terrain, which sloped upwards at a gradient steeper than Steph expected and yet still seemingly able to anchor a healthy number of trees, there was the worry of the bear itself. In fact, there was the worry of more than the bear. There were other bears, that was true, but it was the wolves that really concerned Steph now the lion was secure – or at least was assumed to be secure. There was a reckless abandon that enveloped the wolves. They were willing to take risks in a way the bears weren’t from what Steph had seen. Would they risk venturing close to the cave bear’s actual cave? She wouldn’t put it past them.

As they moved up the slope, Steph noticed collections of bushes here and there that seemed out of place; blackberry, raspberry. Davey’s doing, she assumed. Food for a creature who was, after all, an omnivore.

As they ascended the slope, Steph kept her eyes peeled for any sign of the others. She knew the plan was to actually reach the cave before they revealed themselves, but plans changed. In the current climate, it would make more sense to expect it to change than stay the same. Perhaps it would help if the strategy altered slightly, and they ambushed early; Steph was not wholly sure she was going the right way. It was only the assumption the faint outline of an animal highway would lead them there that made her think she was even possibly going the right way.

“What do you keep looking around for?” the larger man said, jerking his balding head in the direction of the bushes Steph hadjust been looking at.

“Keeping an eye out for danger,” she whispered.

The man looked around again. Then he said, matching Steph’s whisper,

“Wouldn’t the danger come down the path we’re following if it’s going to come from anywhere?”

“Or up it,” Steph replied, using a partially exposed rock as a step to power herself upwards. “I would assume the bear wouldn’t really deviate from this track, but you never know. That said, we’d hear it before we saw it in this vegetation. It’s the wolves I’m more concerned with.”

“Why wolves?” the smaller man whispered, stopping.

Steph turned around. The smaller man was clearly calling a break as he sat down on a naked tree root which curled into the air before plunging back underground. He took out a flask of water as he awaited a reply.

“Why not wolves?” Steph said, holding out her hand for the water. The man hesitated a moment and then passed her the flask which she greedily tipped back.

“Wolves are hardly a big issue for people these days,” the man replied. “Basically, big foxes, aren’t they?”

“Not these ones.”

“Why? They dire wolves or something?”

Dire wolves? Were they? Nobody had ever said. Did anybody know? Steph hadn’t really thought about it before. She supposed they were on the larger side of things for a grey wolf, but nothing obscene. Was it possible that they’d found a preserved specimen from which they could extract the DNA? From what Steph was experiencing, it was possible. However, as far as she was aware, it was only the lion and the bear that had been genetically modified. Popular television dramas had made dire wolves out to be gargantuan in size when really the truth wasless impressive. That’s certainly what she remembered one of her dates saying once. His shoe-horning dire wolves into the conversation as a way to impress her was why he was onlyoneof her dates.

“As far as I’m aware, they’re just wolves,” Steph said. “Although they have rather unforgiving competition all around them, so I don’t doubt only the largest of the pack survives. Or the most ruthless.”

The smaller man shrugged and then nodded back up the slope. Steph groaned slightly but began moving once more, followed by the others.

Although the direction in which they walked filled Steph with anxiety, she was once again struck by how peaceful the place could be. Sure, the birds were singing, but apart from that you could hear nothing except the larger man’s panting. A chill ran over her skin.

She stopped walking and listened. The others stopped too.

“What is it?” asked the larger one, not working too hard to keep his voice down.

Steph turned and mouthed ‘shut up’ before cocking her ear again.

“You’ve got a bit more wind in your sails since whimpering in the cabin,” the larger man snarled, at least attempting to lower his voice this time.