Page 41

A mist had started to roll in from the west by the time they got moving. It was not a thick mist and visibility was still good, but it was still a variable that Davey had not really accounted for.

There had been a debate over whether to keep Calum in the cabin or not and whether he should be left on his own. As the quad bikes could only take two, it was agreed that Roger would stay behind with Calum, whilst Martina shared a bike with Kelvin and Steph went with Davey. Davey was wary of the charge left on the bikes, so stressed the importance of finding the men sooner rather than later.

It was agreed that they would first go back to where they had seen the men shoot the bear as it would likely give them a reasonable starting point to track from. The tyre tracks left by the truck would be distinctive enough.

The sun had passed its mid-point by the time they reached the site. The blue sky contrasted with the light wispy blanket trying to spread in the open spaces. When they pulled out cautiously from the treeline, they quickly realised that they were not the only ones there. Some fifty yards ahead of them was the body of the bear. Its body was not going to waste as a host of short-haired creatures surrounded it, gorging themselves as if merely eating from a trough.

“I didn’t realise that boar ate meat,”

Kelvin said, as if he were merely passing comment on the weather.

“They will if it’s on offer,”

Steph replied.

Deciding that there was no threat, they came forward. One or two of the boars looked up but then continued feeding – the new distraction evidently an uninteresting one.

“Greedy bastards,”

Davey snorted.

Steph watched the top of the body of the bear. It quivered as if there was still some life in the animal. The image was sobering knowing that it was all due to the various mouths ripping at the flesh. Upon dying, the shell that once housed everything you were could be mistreated so revoltingly. Not that Steph suspected bears really cared about all that. She wondered when in human evolution people began to care. Elephants also showed signs of caring during death. Had they always?

“Right, the tracks are pretty clear; they head this way,”

Davey said, pointing to the reasonably worn dirt track that carved itself through a small group of trees.

No other words were uttered. Davey’s assessment was accepted, and they returned to the quad bikes to follow.

The tracking was quite straightforward. Even with the gradually increasing mist trying to smother the land, Davey could pick up the deep tyre tracks. So could Steph for that matter. Every so often they would get off the bikes and Davey would assess the ground again as if he’d lose the trail if he didn’t. He wouldn’t. Even Steph could see the clear turns in the mud.

They eventually caught up with the sleek black truck outside one of the huts. Having never seen it before, Steph assumed it to be Calum’s. They parked the quad bikes someway off behind a couple of particularly large bushes that littered the heathland around Calum’s cabin.

“They’re clearly inside,”

Kelvin whispered as they hid behind the bushes.

“They’d have seen us coming otherwise. They’re distracted by something.”

“So what should I do?”

Steph asked. It had sounded straightforward when Davey had suggested the plan. She was to be caught and then bargain for safety by delivering the bear. However, now that the situation was upon her, she realised that there were numerous fine points that needed considering. For example, how would she create a fake situation in which she was caught?

“I have an idea,”

Kelvin said before Davey could tell Steph how he saw it.

“Go in there and pretend to be all grateful that you’ve found them. Say how much of a mess it is out here and that you were fearing for your life.”

“Well, it’s easier to act out reality so I guess that is helpful,”

Steph said.

Kelvin ignored her.

“Say how you can deliver the cave bear to them; it’s as simple as that,”

Kelvin said.

“These men will not want a long conversation. They just need to believe you think the cave bear needs taking down for the general safety of yourself and… well, generally.”

Steph nodded but didn’t move, looking over the top of the bush.

“Go then!”

hissed Kelvin.

“Or you’ll miss the window.”

“You probably need to run there too,”

Davey added.

“It won’t look good if you come out of hiding and meander over. You must make it look as if you ran there as soon as you saw the truck.”

Steph nodded again. But still didn’t move. Instead, she analysed the cabin. She knew she needed to go. She knew by leaving it she would either get them all caught or look like a coward. She tried to imagine what she would say and how she would act. She supposed…

Whatever it was that she supposed was cut short by a hand in her side which sent her sprawling to the ground and away from the cover of the bush. She looked sideways from where she was on the ground. It was Martina, neither smiling nor frowning.

“Go!”

she hissed.

“Stop wasting our time!”

Steph muttered a retort under her breath that she was sure was wasted on the breeze and began to run. She ran because it was her way of taking the plunge – and Davey had said to. There was no turning back now. She’d have to go for it. If Michael was anything to go by, she’d receive a bullet between her shoulder blades if she didn’t.

To her surprise, nobody came out of the front door as she approached. Had they seen her? Like the other cabins, there was a decking area onto which she leapt with a loud thud. She involuntarily glanced up at the roof before looking back to the door. There was a sudden noise of movement inside. Steph’s guts squirmed.

“Hello?”

she shouted. She hoped this warning to those inside that she was a human and not some other more worrying animal would be enough to prevent anything being fired her way through the door as a precaution. They were strong but she doubted they were bulletproof.

“Hello?”

she called again, pushing open the door that she noted was slightly ajar.

She was greeted by a rifle muzzle. It was the larger of the two men looking down the barrel at her, his finger caressing the trigger. The other man seemed perfectly relaxed. He was sitting on one of the chairs with his feet upon a coffee table.

“Who the fuck are you?”

said the larger man, sunglasses perched over his balding head.

“Steph!”

she replied. Steph? Why use her real name? Did it matter? Probably not. The man on the sofa barked laughter. The rifle-wielding one did not smile.

“OK, who the fuck are you, Steph?”

he said. There was a definite London undertone to his accent.

“And don’t say ‘me’ or I will shoot your shitting teeth out!”

“I work here but…”

Steph tried to remember what Kelvin had said. He had made out that the situation was going to be straightforward with little conversation. Instead, she already felt that the line of questioning was drawing her away from the prepared script she had in her head. She was no actor. She couldn’t improvise! Why did he want to know who she was instead of where the hell she’d come from?

“But everything has gone wrong!”

she panted.

“People are dead! The animals are… are out of control!”

Would they believe this? It sounded vaguely correct. No, it sounded very accurate. But was it what someone in her situation would choose to say?

“Are they now?”

said the man.

“Yes!”

Steph implored.

“I’ve lost friends! They’re dead! I saw my best friend getting ripped apart by wolves whilst they were still alive!”

She began to sob. At least, she was trying to sob. She cuffed at her face anyway and then turned to shut the door.

“Hey!”

said the man with the gun.

“Nobody said you could fucking move!”

“Didn’t you hear a bloody word I said!”

she suddenly screamed, whipping around. The man on the sofa sat up a bit and the man with the rifle widened his eyes. This was the encouragement she needed.

“It’s not safe out there!”

She slumped against the door looking at the shins of the man ahead.

“It’s not safe out there…”

The two men looked at each other. Through her peripheral vision, Steph could see them gesturing to each other.

“Anyway.”

She sniffed.

“Who are you?”

“Never you mind who we are!”

said the larger man before his friend stood up sighing.

“Ignore him,”

said the smaller man, walking over and putting a hand on his friend’s rifle to lower the barrel.

“We are here to sort this mess out. I must apologise for my associate’s behaviour, but his nerves seem to have got the better of him. He shouldn’t have pointed a gun at you, but as I am sure you’re aware, this is an interesting situation we have walked in on.”

“So you work for Kelvin?”

Steph asked.

“Yes,”

the smaller man said, bending down to offer Steph a hand. The lie rolled off his tongue with such ease that Steph was almost inclined to believe it despite knowing it not to be true.

“But we haven’t been able to communicate with him since we got here. Is he still alive?”

“I think so,”

Steph said, allowing herself to be guided to a seat.

“He escaped when the cave lion got loose. I saw him run into the woods but…”

“And Martina?”

Steph was impressed with the casual use of first names as if the man had been a regular acquaintance of these people.

“She’s alive, I suspect,”

Steph said.

“She was with me until we became separated.”

The man leant forward.

“Where was that? What happened?”

“We were trying to head to one of the gates, but we were cut off by the cave bear. I went one way, she went another.”

“Why did you separate?”

“Because it chased her and not me.”

“Why didn’t you head back towards the gate once it had gone after her? Are you sure she escaped it?”

The intensity in the voice was increasing ever so slightly. She pretended not to notice.

“Wherever the bear is, the wolves are not far behind,”

Steph said, gripping her hands together and squeezing periodically.

“I guess I don’t know for sure whether she escaped but I didn’t hear a scream, and if anyone is going to escape that bear, it’s the person who created it!”

The small man gave his friend a mildly concerned look. He then slowly began to walk away from Steph, sighing.

She was not sure what it was, but at that moment, Steph’s stomach clenched. She could sense danger. At least, she thought she could. There was the possibility of it. It was as if she had exhausted her use to them as far as they were concerned. She couldn’t prove this was the case, but she felt it in the way they looked at each other and the way they moved around her.

“If you’re here to help,”

Steph said, standing up.

“Then we need to kill the cave lion and the cave bear!”

The two men stopped looking at each other and turned with benign interest to face Steph.

“I don’t know where the lion is,”

Steph continued, studying the men’s faces for any flicker of a tell (there was none).

“but I know where we can get the bear. If the bear topples and the lion topples, the other animals will fall into place. There will be balance.”

The two men looked at her.

“I’m a field biologist,”

she said, again hearing how pathetic it sounded only when it came out.

“It’s my job to know these things.”

She knew that most of what she said meant nothing to the men. It intrigued her as to what lie exactly they would tell in response.

“Our instructions from Kelvin were not to hurt the bear,”

the smaller man said. This was completely believable.

“However, if you know where we could subdue the creature, then you will need to lead us there.”

Steph stared at the floor. Looking anywhere but at the two men to give herself time to think. She hoped it gave the illusion of how troubling a decision it was to lead them there. Would Kelvin’s plan have worked better if she simply pointed to a place on a map and then been free? She supposed it was perhaps beneficial for her that they wanted her to guide them. She dreaded to think what would happen if they didn’t. Also, how could she suddenly come from nowhere wanting their help and then change her mind and walk off having pointed to a location on a map? No. She needed to feign some sort of reliance on them. A need for protection.

“Al right,”

she said, raising her head.

“I can show you the way. You’ll protect me though, right? If I lead you there?”

“Of course,”

said the smaller man.

“We wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”

His facial expression reeked of deceit.

“Right, well,”

he said.

“We’d best get going then.”

“Can’t I finish my coffee?”

replied the larger of the two as he took a sip from a mug on the side and instantly recoiled with a grimace.

The other man rolled his eyes.

“Fine but hurry up!”