Grizzly

Grizzly by Will Collins Page B

Book: Grizzly by Will Collins Read Free Book Online
Authors: Will Collins
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think I'll eat for maybe another year. Or sleep. I kept coming awake with their faces staring at me—"
    Her voice was on the verge of trembling. She brought it under control by finding something else to talk about. She pointed at the big map of the park on the wall. It had several red and blue-headed pins stuck in at different locations.
    "What's with the pins in the map?"
    Kelly said, "The red pins show where we found the girls. The blue ones are places where I think our animal may have gone off to digest his meal."
    "Animal? Then you still aren't sure it was a bear?"
    He said, "Nearly sure. But there's still the faint possibility that—" He broke off the sentence, said into the phone: "Yes?"
    The other voice said, "I'm ringing Mr. Scott now."
    To Allison, Kelly said, "Sit down, this'll only take a minute.'' Into the phone: "I'm holding, son. Keep on ringing until he answers."
    The voice said, ruefully, "Yes sir. But I hope you explain to him that you made me do it. Mr. Scott's not going to be very happy about this."
    "Don't worry," Kelly promised. "I'll get you off the hook."
    Few modem humans have ever seen a herd of bighorned elk close up with the naked eye. If the whitetailed deer is considered nervous and shy, the elk is a wild-eyed paranoid about his privacy. Where many of the park animals had become accustomed to humans, and even tolerated them, the elk left the paths of man strictly alone.
    The small herd here in a high altitude clearing were miles from the nearest road, and not even a foot trail came anywhere close to this place. Still, the huge buck who led the herd kept his head turning, his wide nostrils sniffing the air for alien scent. The does and young calves grazed while he kept watch.
    Once, his great head lifted and he stared, with his four-power binocular vision, at a shape that stood near the edge of the clearing, just within the forest. He sniffed, but the acrid scent of man did not soem present. For a moment he waited, alert to any movement that might be hostile.
    But none came. Satisfied that the furred thing within the trees was not an enemy, he lowered his head again and grazed. But one eye was always turned toward the forest.
    The bundle of furred hides stirred slightly. The movement did not go unnoticed by the elk, but it did not alarm him.
    Within the hides, strapped around him like a giant deer pelt, a man smiled. His lips moved soundlessly. A lip-reader would have seen the word, "Good" formed on them.
    Then a harsh "Beep" shattered the calmness of the quiet clearing. The elk herd reacted by freezing all motion. For a fraction of a moment, they became living brown statues, poised for flight, yet avoiding movement that might attract a preying eye.
    The man inside the hides mumbled a curse and made a grab for the two-way radio in its holster strapped to his belt. He was too late. The harsh "Beep!" came again.
    This time, the elk herd was energized into frantic movement. The buck leaped first, covering more than twenty feet from a standing start. The rest of the herd followed him, and in seconds the clearing was empty and still.
    Arthur Scott threw off his fur hides and yanked the offending radio from its holster. He whipned up the antenna, pressed the transmit button and shouted, "What the hell is the matter witla you, Barney? I gave you strict orders not to contact me. Do you know what you've —"
    The young man's voice said, "I'm sorry, but Kelly Gordon said it was an emergency. He insisted—"
    "Oh?" snarled Scott. "Kelly insisted ? Well, put him on, I'll insist him!"
    "I'm on," said Kelly. "Listen, Scotty, we've got ourselves a problem—"
    "You've got a problem," Scott yelled into the radio. "Do you know what you just blew for me? A whoIe week's work!"
    Kelly tried to cut in, but Scott kept shouting. "I had me a family of elk. I've been on their trail all week, moving with them, damned near living with them. I've seen behavior that—"
    "Damn it, will you shut up and listen?" Kelly finally

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