Justin, the rookie Grizzly Initiative researcher, sprinted up the trail and stopped, out of breath, in front of Lex. “Double whammy,” he declared, hands on hips, sucking air. “Wolf and grizzly, right outside camp.”
Lex turned to Sarah, who held her walkie-talkie to her ear like a phone, its volume low. She nodded in confirmation, her eyes bright.
Justin spoke quickly. “Everyone’s saying they’ve never seen anything like it. The bear and wolf went back into the woods together. Toby wants to go after them, but he says we need to check with you first.”
“I have to know what happened,” Lex said. “Everything.” He stepped around Justin, heading down the hill at a fast clip. “Walk with me.”
Justin fell in with Lex. Everyone hurried down the trail behind them. Carmelita gripped Janelle’s hand and Rosie pressed herself to Chuck’s side. He put his arm around her. A grizzly in camp? This shouldn’t be happening.
Lichen on the shake-shingle roof of Turret Cabin shimmered in the late afternoon sunlight like a gray-green mirror. The meadow beyond the cabin sloped gently downward to a wall of lodgepole pines two hundred yards from the cabin and mess tent.
“Everyone’s been sorting supplies,” Justin explained to Lex, still breathless, as they passed the row of tent platforms and descended the trail toward the cabin. “Someone yelled. People were pointing. Sure enough, there at the edge of the meadow...I mean...right there in full view...” He stuttered to a stop.
“He’s right,” Sarah called out, walkie-talkie still to her ear. “A grizzly and a wolf, that’s what I’m hearing.”
“I saw them with my own eyes,” Justin said. “But only for a few seconds. They turned—I swear to God, they did it together, like they were dancing—and disappeared in the trees.”
Lex lifted his cap and scratched his head. “A grizzly and a wolf?”
“It was like they were checking up on us or something.”
“In broad daylight? You’re sure it was a wolf, not a coyote?”
“I’m not totally sure, but the wolfies are. I know my bears, though,” Justin said with pride in his voice. “It was a grizzly, all right. Big.”
“How far away were they?”
“The far edge of the meadow.”
“My God.” Lex resettled his hat on his head and gave the front of its brim a firm pull.
“Everybody saw them,” Justin said.
“Only one wolf?”
“Just the one.”
“So,” Lex said, “no sign of any other members of its pack.”
“Not at this point.”
“Who got footage? Photos?”
“It happened so fast. Nobody had their phones handy since there’s no signal out here. People were scrambling for cameras, phones, anything. Maybe somebody got something, but I don’t think so. I spotted you up on the hill and took off.”
“This just happened?”
“Less than five minutes ago.”
Lex picked up his pace, jogging down the trail. “Toby’s right,” he said. “We’ll go after them.”
“I’m coming along,” Sarah called ahead to Lex from the middle of the line, hustling with everyone else to keep up.
“I want Toby to come as well,” Lex said. “Chuck,” he called over his shoulder. “You’re coming, too. Between the two of us, we should be able to keep Sarah and Toby from killing each other.”
Chuck blanched at the thought of leaving Janelle and the girls to go after the predators.
“Can I join you?” Keith asked, his dog leashed at his side. “Chance can track both species at once. We’ll be able to determine how long the griz and wolf stayed together.”
Lex slowed. “Together,” he muttered, shaking his head.
“You should include Randall and me, too,” Kaifong chimed in from the back of the line, “in case you need some aerial recon.”
Lex commented to Chuck, “That’s a lot of people.”
“With a lot of capabilities,” Chuck replied.
Lex expelled a puff of air out his nose. He called back to Kaifong, “Okay. You’re in.”
“We’ll get fresh batteries and meet you at the cabin.” She left the trail and angled across the hillside toward the Drone Team platform.
“Wait up, babe,” Randall called after her. She didn’t respond. He groaned. “You never quit, do you?” he said to her receding back as he left the trail to follow.
Chuck took Rosie’s hand in his and squeezed it. She and Carmelita would be safe in camp with Janelle and the rest of the scientists, he told himself. Meanwhile, by going after the bear and wolf with the others, he might well learn something that would provide assurance to him regarding the continued presence in the backcountry of Janelle and the girls—or convince him they needed to return to civilization immediately.
Moreover, he admitted to himself, the sighting of the wolf and grizzly together was fascinating—not ancient-baskets-and-butchered-bone-slivers fascinating, but intriguing enough.
Sarah lowered her walkie-talkie and ran alongside the trail until she drew even with Lex. “A single wolf,” she reported to him. “Overriding color: gray. No collar, and no specific features to identify it or its pack. The griz was big. Over five hundred pounds. Presumably a male. Distinctive, light-colored hump.”
“Two grizzlies in one day,” Lex said.
“We haven’t seen the second one yet.”
Lex broke back into a jog. “Maybe there’s still time.”