Chapter 53

Logan and Tyler finally were able to communicate with the Misson squad.

They are now in their camp. Logan was ready to tear off Captain Meri's neck.

He got impatient with the Captain's excesses.



Captain Meri of the Misson squad Patrol was glaring at his communication officer. "Try them again," he barked as if the unresponsiveness was the fault of the officer.



"Unit thirteen-twelve, this is Misson squad. Come in," the man waited a few seconds, then looked up. "They still don't answer, Sir."



"I know! Don't you think I have ears?" Meri whipped his head around to scowl at a group of officers gathered behind him. "Damn fools wandering off like that. Just like those wildlife people and if that wasn't bad enough, there's this." He waved a piece of paper impatiently."



"So what do you have to say about this lady?" Tyler spoke, trying to calmly seek the Captain's response.



"Look, I'm busy. I told that wolf professor not to come. Now I learn she's lost out here somewhere..."



"Somewhere where?!" Logan yelled, releasing his fangs in anger.



"The last time I -I checked, sh-she was on the Ebony Cannon mountain." Meri's Shaky voice almost failed him.



"Be clearer!" Logan ordered.

Captain Meri hurriedly gave him a clear overview of Ashley's last seen.

That was all he needed; Logan dashed off immediately.









• • •





The going was slow. As Ashley shoveled her way to the shed, she sank nearly to her hips several times and wished she'd had the foresight to don the snowshoes. But too late now. She needed to get that wood stacked.

She felt a bit edgier than she'd expected. Darkness and night sounds do normally disturb her but not to this extent. The lingering memory of the eerie howls she'd heard just before the crash still nagged at her. Besides, it was the absence of sound that bothered her most, not unusual in the wake of a blizzard, but nevertheless, the cries of a few night birds would have gone a long way toward making her feel more secure.

The loss of time wasn't helping, either. If she didn't get back before Dave woke, he'd be angry, not that she cared about his anger, she cared she wouldn't be in a better position to ask Dave to take her back to her Ranger.

He had no excuse now. The sky was beginning to lighten and clear. By morning the storm would have passed.





• • •





Soon she reached the shed, which was actually more of a lean-to. Settling the lantern on the roof, she looked around and spied a sled leaning against a wall. She kicked it down on its runners, then started brushing snow off the wood and stacking it on the sled. The ceaseless wind kept blowing fresh snow across the patch she'd shoveled, but she took satisfaction in knowing it wasn't quite as deep anymore, which meant she wouldn't be sinking to her knees



As she piled on yet another layer of wood, she heard a rumble.

Low and throaty.



She turned slowly.

Had something darted behind the corner of the cabin?

She lowered her head, looked up, and moved her eyes from left to right. All was quiet around her. Moonlight streamed on the expanse of empty billowing white.



When had she come to fear things that went bump in the night? It was only a tree branch scraping the roof, not a banshee. With a laugh, she straightened the wood on the sled, then turned for another load.



The rumble came again.

Ashley paused, searching for its source. This wasn't a scraping branch. Gingerly inching around, she picked up the shovel and angled it across her body, then scanned the snow as she turned.



Her heart gave a wild leap when she saw the large white canine loping along the horizon. Was it a wolf?



What else could it be, up here, so far back in the wilderness? She froze.

Could it really be true? A wolf? Had her instincts been correct?



She waited in excited apprehension as the animal rapidly narrowed the distance between them.