Scott awoke to what sounded like a distant rifle shot. He sat up in bed and listened. When a second one came he leaped out of bed and rushed to the hallway to see his sister standing there. "Where's Duke?" he asked through the lack light.
"In my room," Sidney told him, wiping sleep from her eyes. She motioned to her closed bedroom door. "They're all in there." When the third rifle shot came, the woman's gaze jetted to the nearby window on the other wall. "That's coming from the south slopes," she said in a low voice. "About two hundred yards out."
Scott had always marveled at how she could pinpoint a direction and distance so quickly and was sure it had to do with her five years with Tongo and Duke. "That'd put it on our land."
"I hear a truck."
He strained to hear something in the quiet but knew, from past experience, that her hearing was much better than his; something else he attributed to her time in the wild. "What kind?"
"Not a big one. A little smaller than our new four by four."
Their new four by four, which they had purchased the previous winter, was a Dodge with a huge hemi engine under the hood. When another shot rang out, Scott's gaze jetted to the woman he could barely see.
"That one was closer. So is the truck. I'm going to turn on the yard lights," she told her brother and went through a nearby door and into the kitchen.
Moments later Scott saw the main yard lights come on and the hallway filled with spots of dusky light that filtered in through the four windows that lined the north side of the long hallway that connected the three sections of the cabin. He saw the blonde who was dressed in black pajamas stop near a window. "Be careful Sid," he told her. "The guy might be trigger happy."
"I'm watching."
Scott could now hear the truck and told his sister so.
"He's coming down the south slope," she whispered. "He'll be in the yard in a little bit." Her gaze jetted to the window and, a minute later, "Here he comes."
Less than five seconds later the north shed was lit up by the glow of headlights and Scott heard the roar of an engine as it was gunned. He heard the squeal of dusty brakes then heard a thud before another rifle shot rang out. The pair ducked as glass shattered somewhere not too far away just before the roar of the engine rose again and the truck raced out. Scott raised up and looked out the window to see something laying in the middle of the yard. "What's that?" he whispered.
"A coyote."
"Do you know it?"
"No. It's a grey. Most greys stay south of here, lower in the valley." Sidney shot a glance at her brother. "I'm going to go see it."
"Be careful Sid," Scott called after her knowing there was no sense in telling her no. She still had too much wild blood in her to be stopped. He watched her walk through the yard in her bare feet. She looked around then stopped beside the motionless animal. She squatted down, touched the fur tenderly, then got up and came back to the cabin.
"She's dead.”
Scott sighed and hugged her tenderly. "I'm sorry." He felt her arms go around him and felt her shoulders tremble.
"All they're trying to do is survive. Too many people and not enough hunting ground. I'll take Duke and we'll bury her in the morning."
"Did you get a good look at the truck?" Scott asked, knowing her keen night vision. "I noticed it was a Ford and it looked black."
"It was dark blue," she corrected and shifted her gaze out the window. "Two men in it, both had cowboy hats on, something like Josh wears but dark brown. The passenger was older and had gray hair. The driver was younger with dark hair."
"Did you catch the license number?"
"Part of it. California truck plate, One-T-Seven-Two something."
"We'll call the sheriff first thing in the morning. By then we'll be able to find out which window he shot out."
"Left one on the big shed," she told him then smiled at his expression. "Sometimes it pays to have friends in the wild."
Scott chuckled then gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight Sid."
"Goodnight Scott," she smiled then disappeared into her bedroom and shut the door.