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Ashley snorted.

“They’d be running scared with their tails between their legs… no?”

“No! Not these wolves anyway.”

Another howl sounded through the trees. This time closer. Ashley gave one look over his shoulder and then finally accepted that following Steph’s caution might be the most sensible course of action.

Steph made sure to climb high enough that there was a chance the wolves would miss them completely if they came through the trees to where they were. She needn’t have worried, however; the nearest wolf she saw was still some distance off. They were, quite concerningly, moving through in the same direction that Steph believed they needed to go in, but it was unclear whether they had picked up a scent or were merely heading in that direction for reasons of their own. The wolf’s leisurely padding stopped as it paused to gnaw its leg, suggesting it was in no real hurry.

To be safe Steph insisted they wait ten minutes before coming down to give the wolves a head start. Steph noted that Ashley had his rifle from his back and in his hands as soon as his feet touched the ground. Steph patted him on the back and gestured in the direction of Roger’s cabin – or at least where she thought it lay.

“Those wolves,” Ashley began as they walked, his voice notably quiet.

“Yes?”

“They’re… well… they’re rather on the large size, aren’t they? Or was I just tricked by the distance and the one we saw was closer than it looked?”

Steph scratched behind her ear as she walked. “No, they’re big. I assume Martina’s doing.”

Ashley nodded, mouthing Martina’s name under his breath and shaking his head. Steph wondered how well-known Martina really was in the circle of genetics and how she was regarded. She had clearly achieved something monumental. However, who really knew about it? Was she seen as some sort of inspiration by her peers or a criminal maverick sailing too close to ethical winds?

It was not too long after having descended from the tree that they came across the beavers. They were out of the lodge and busy working on repairing their dam. Steph watched as they worked, gently carving through the water with large logs held by strong jaws. She also noted how another couple of trees had been felled since she had last passed by. The beaver’s ability to shape its environment never ceased to amaze her. More interesting was how everything could be going on around the beavers, yet their little world seemed relatively unaffected. The beavers were focused on themselves. Everything else could do as they pleased.

Sounds from the trees made the last few hundred yards a nervous walk. Every so often Steph would find herself looking around, not for danger, but for any potential escape route. Fortunately, Roger’s cabin soon loomed into view before Steph had any need of a desperate escape route.

Steph puffed out her cheeks as she approached Roger’s cabin… again. Circles. The last few days were nothing but circles. No. A downward spiral was more apt. It was as if she had revisited places over and over again but each time at a lower ebb in her life. Even so, she couldn’t deny that the cabin made a welcome sight despite her desire to be far away from where she was, so she could put everything behind her. Far behind her. So far they couldn’t even catch up with her on the sofa of some psychiatristshe was sure she’d have to end up paying in the aftermath of the whole ordeal.

Perhaps publishing the book would be therapy enough – whatever she was able to publish. Better to have commercial therapy and be paid than to pay someone else and have them judge you.

Steph stepped tiredly onto the decking outside the entrance. She found her right leg almost giving way from exhaustion. She ignored it and knocked on the door. The heavy door eased open.

“Steph, I see you’ve found a friend,” said Roger, standing in the crack of the door, his face impassive.

Steph didn’t even look over her shoulder. She merely shrugged and pushed past Roger who opened the door a little wider to let Ashley in too.

“This is Ashley,” Steph said when she got inside and sank onto the sofa. She noted that Calum was no longer on it. He was probably lying in the bedroom making a meal of his bung knee.

Roger looked Ashley up and down.

“And, um, where exactly did this Ashley come from?”

“Hired to take the cave lion,” Steph replied, deciding to lie on the sofa as sitting was just not cutting it.

“I see,” Roger said, staring at Ashley who stood awkwardly staring back. “And he is with you because?”

“Because Kelvin’s an arsehole. So is this guy, to be honest, but really I’m past caring. What was it you were banging on about, Ashley? People getting on with their own business? Well, my business is now just about getting out of this place.”

“Kelvin won’t agree to your leaving your post before your contract is up,” Roger said, leaving Ashley to go and sit down.

“Possibly, although I suspect he has potentially relieved me of some of the contract, if not all of it already.”

“What do you mean?”

Steph turned to look at Roger. The man looked confused. Hismouth was partially open as if it was on the verge of forming its next question despite the current one still awaiting its answer. That was fair enough. Steph had come back with a strange man but with no Kelvin, Martina or Davey. Of course, there would be questions. It was just that Steph found she couldn’t be bothered to answer them.

“Don’t worry about it,” Steph said. “Just know that he places little value on any of our lives.

To Steph’s surprise, she heard Roger give a short bark of laughter at this. He still had a grim smile on his face when he sat down.