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There was silence amongst the others.

FORTY-NINE

Steph stood up. Another death. Death seemed to be everywhere. It hurt her to admit it, but the feeling of disgust and pity in her stomach was not as strong as it had been the first couple of times.

A sense of self-preservation caused her to look around once again. It seemed the others had similar thoughts. Still, nothing else seemed to appear between the trees.

She gazed down at the dead wolf, blood trickling from its snout. It looked like it had gone through a rough time recently itself. It had wounds on its muzzle and flanks. They looked days old like the wolf had gone through one hell of a fight.

“I’m not sure that we should dwell on this,” Roger waved a hand in the direction of the two bodies on the floor, “for too long. I imagine the rest of the pack will be here soon.”

“Maybe,” Steph said. “But maybe not.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think that this one was an outcast.”

“A lone wolf?”

“Not by choice. Something must have gone on. Maybe it challenged the alpha of the pack, who knows? It is just that the injuries it has don’t look like they were caused by any bear, certainly not any lion.”

Roger raised his eyebrows as he too studied the wolf.

“Even so, I’m sure that something will have heard the gunshot, and I am not sure I trust the behaviour of these creatures enough for them to be appropriately scared.”

Steph supposed he was right. She looked at Davey who was still clearly at a loss as to what was going on. However, he was no longer quite so angry now that the target of his fury had just had his throat ripped out.

“Come on,” she said, putting a hand on his back to push him into motion.

The group walked. They walked in silence until they reached the fence. As Steph suspected might happen, they were forced to walk quite a way further until they inevitably reached the path leading to the house. At this point, each had their own reasons to return to the house before heading back to the main gate.

They could have decided to rest there but none of the party were inclined to do so.

Steph and Davey retrieved a few belongings, including the contract that was shoved at the bottom of her bag. Roger allowed Martina to retrieve some of her own possessions, as well as insisting on various bits of research that she had saved onto numerous memory sticks. Then the group made their way through the gates and out onto the road that led to the house from outside the two fences. They would have each taken a quad bike if it wasn’t for the fact none were in the vicinity, each lying motionless somewhere amongst the trees.

They headed back down the path that ran all the way to the main gate. From there, they followed the small road that connected the place to the outside world. It was empty. Empty except for the sound of birds singing.

After a longer walk than Steph had anticipated, they reached the main road. It was the main road in the sense that it wasthemain road to the area. Even so, the traffic on it was still sparse. A car drove past as they stood on the grassy side. It was almost surreal to see one go past, with people going about their business oblivious to the mess just a few miles through the trees. Steph wondered whether the driver had clocked the rifle Roger still held limply in his hand, ready to direct at Martina should the need arise.

“Well,” Roger smiled, “this is where we part ways.”

Steph turned her bleary face towards him. Despite the rings around his eyes, there was still an energy about him.

“I believe – correctly, I hope – that someone should be coming to pick me up any moment now.”

“How could you…?”

“I contacted someone whilst we were in the cabin. Goodness knows when they actually got here. Probably been going up and down the roads so as not to draw attention to themselves by staying in one place.”

“And they knew you would be here?” Davey asked.

“Not exactly,” Roger replied. “Things rarely work out so perfectly. They’re probably covering a whole stretch of road. My intention was to meet someone a little further north of here. I dread to think what the petrol cost will be.”

Davey puffed out his cheeks and shrugged his shoulders.

It was oddly calm as they stood there.

“I would suggest that after you have gathered yourselves, you head towards the village. I am sure that Jackie will look after you in the hotel’s bar. No doubt you are in need of a hot meal and an ale.”