Above the Falls by John Harris

Author:John Harris
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-926971-08-7
Publisher: Touchwood Editions
Published: 2011-01-16T16:00:00+00:00

32

Wade tried another ambush on the barren alpine slope higher up, in a narrow litter of talus at the base of the pass. He laid his track up to the top of the pass, to and behind a strange configuration that turned out to be two long-dead bull caribou who’d got locked together during the rut. Then he went backwards in his track into the talus. From between a couple of boulders, he had a clear view across a snowbowl that was fringed on the opposite side by willow, and could see where his tracks came out of the bush. To his right was a glacier ringing a small mountain; to his left, a steep, rocky slope that would provide cover but make for difficult walking.

In moonlight, the enemy would be visible.

He waited through the afternoon and the night, restless, dozing for too long sometimes, his arm and leg throbbing. Then he waited through the morning.

He was just starting to think that maybe the enemy had given up and turned back when he saw some movement in the willow. The movement stopped, and a few minutes later a column of smoke drifted up.

Christ, he was having his lunch! Wade realized that the smoke was drifting slowly back the way he’d come, and that the dog could be catching his scent.

Lunch lasted all day. Wade lit a fire himself, made tea and then more tea, following it up with the last of his prunes. He was incredibly thirsty. Then he slept, confident that his pursuer would not chance crossing the open snowfield. At dusk, figuring that the dog had caught his scent for sure, he broke from cover.

Eppler, sitting in the willow at the edge of the snowfield, caught a glimpse of him disappearing over the pass.

“We’ll cross the snowfield now, Kubla, and make ourselves comfortable in the talus. You keep those big ears of yours open and that nose up.”

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