Page 26

“What happened?”

Kelvin asked.

Steph found herself back in the lounge, a whiskey in her hand. Davey had poured one each for himself, Michael and Steph. They sat together on one sofa whilst Kelvin paced up and down the room. Martina was with him, of course, spinning a pen in her fingers.

“What happened was that Daniel got eaten and the big fucking bear got in the way of us bringing in the lion,”

Davey replied.

Kelvin stopped pacing and stared out of the window into the darkness.

“How did he get Daniel?”

“Dunno,”

Davey shrugged, knocking back his drink.

“He could smell him,”

Steph said.

The others all turned to look at her. She didn’t look up. She just stared into the bottom of her glass.

“When we first arrived, it must have picked up our scent. Probably changed its plan right there and then.”

Martina laughed. Even Michael frowned.

“I’m sorry, what exactly do you think you were dealing with?”

Martina said.

“It is an oversized cat – a primitive cat at that – and not some neurologically superior super killer!”

Steph still did not look up.

“I am not saying that. I am saying that it knew enough. There was enough in the memory to trigger a change in choice. It can make choices. Even the more simple-minded of creatures can make choices. It scented a target it recognised, calculated based on previous experience that it was an easier meal, and went for it.”

“But then how did you miss it?”

Kelvin asked, turning to look at her.

“How is it that you didn’t see it first?”

It was Michael who answered.

“We went one way around the bison to try and change the fact we were upwind of it, and it must have gone the other way because it was already downwind.”

Steph raised her eyebrows and nodded. It was that moment she chose to take a sip of the whisky. She shuddered. It was quite revolting. She took another sip before continuing.

“What is less clear is why Daniel was outside of the buggy. Had he stayed inside, he might have survived due to the protective bars. It doesn’t make sense that he stepped out.”

Martina shifted in her seat slightly. Kelvin flicked his eyes to her briefly. It was enough. Steph might have missed it with her eyes down, but she suddenly heard Davey pipe up.

“What? What do you know?”

Steph looked up. Davey was staring at Martina.

Matina looked at Kelvin. Kelvin looked back out the window, his hands clasped behind his back. She sighed, almost growled.

“I asked Daniel what was going on. You guys were not picking up.”

“Right. We were using common sense there; it’s hard to sneak up on a creature when you’re shooting the breeze with someone over the radio!”

Davey replied.

Martina ignored his tone.

“We were worried as it had been a while and had heard nothing.”

Kelvin shifted slightly but did not look around.

“It started to feel as if it wasn’t going to plan.”

“You can say that again!”

Michael whispered, getting up to pour himself another drink before topping up Steph’s and Davey’s.

“Daniel said he would go and find you.”

“What?”

Steph spat.

“You should have told him not to!”

Davey snapped.

“I did… at first.”

“What do you mean ‘at first’?”

Davey asked, his voice lowering to a dangerous level.

“He insisted,”

Martina said.

“How was I meant to stop him? Besides, both he and I had concerns over the lion.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean we were both concerned what would be used to subdue the specimen: the tranquillizers or your revolver!”

Davey choked a little on the words he was about to say.

“Yes, everyone knows about your revolver,”

Kelvin said, turning around. “However,”

he looked at Martina here, his voice becoming stern.

“Nobody really thought you would use that. I know you are not one to give way to panic. We really were concerned for your safety – rightly so as it happened.”

Davey paused for a moment before puffing out his cheeks, shrugging and letting himself collapse back onto the sofa.

“Well, there you go then,”

Steph said, sipping her drink and grimacing.

“The lion was probably waiting for him to get out and got him as soon as he did. I doubt Daniel even considered it was close by, what with us having gone looking for it.”

“What do you mean by ‘waiting’”

Kelvin asked.

Steph considered her next words.

“I have no definitive evidence, save for Fergus, but I suspect that the lion has not learnt this overnight.”

“Go on…”

“I mean I suspect that the lion has stalked individual people and started to learn patterns. I don’t think it would learn the patterns of individuals exactly – although that is not out of the question – but more general patterns of human behaviour in its environment. Once it had decided that we were a prey animal, it then set about testing what it had learnt. In very simple terms, once we are out in the open, we are an easy target. It would not have known Daniel would step out of the buggy, but once he did, he was easy prey. More so because of his leg.”

Steph knocked back her drink. Did she really think that? Probably. It was just that she had not thought about it until she said it. She had essentially given voice to it at the same time the others had. It made sense. Certain pressures pushed animals to hunt humans, and there were certainly pressures for the animals in this place.

“Well, maybe this is all something to keep in mind,”

Kelvin said.

“Whatever the case, we need a new plan.”

A new plan. Steph knew that this would include not involving the police. Not just yet. Kelvin would want more time to regain the illusion of control, tightening it under his fist.

“We can discuss it in the morning,”

Kelvin continued.

“For now, let’s just get to bed. We all need some sleep. No sensible decisions are to be made now, and we owe it to Daniel to ensure his legacy is not in vain.”

Steph smiled to herself and shut her eyes. Legacy. A word consolidating, potentially, what Kelvin thought was important in all of this.