Gibraltar by Matthew Thayer

Author:Matthew Thayer [Thayer, Matthew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780988387928
Publisher: Matthew Thayer
Published: 2013-12-16T05:00:00+00:00

To their credit, the Neanderthal sprung a dandy trap. They placed themselves below a choke point where the gulch narrowed into steep, sheer walls and the river’s rapids began. Along the east bank of the stream, our side of the water, there was a muddy path about 20 feet wide. With all the different kinds of tracks in the mud it was easy to see it was heavily used.

In less than a half hour, light winds drifting down the valley carried the smell of smoke. Not long after that, faint shouts and whistles echoed above us. As the chants grew louder, we realized that the Neanderthal had sent a force of hunters above and around the lions to chase them to this particular gulch. Unless I miss my guess, the cats were two gulches to the east when we first heard them this morning. I imagine the Meh-meh-meh boys would have set the whole hillside afire if they could’ve, but after three days of rain, everything was way too wet for that. As it was, they used conch shells full of embers to start smoky fires that drove those giant cats to the exact place they wanted.

Without any sound of warning, an alpha lioness rounded the bend in the trail and padded through the mud to stop within 20 feet of where the front line of hunters were hidden. Earlier, while we were waiting, Maria had pointed out Hercules and Blondie, Grammy, Beno and Bette, and others we recognized. The two primary clans were well represented. Catching a whiff of something she didn’t like, the lioness stopped dead in her tracks and put her nose in the air. Tail twitching, she turned back to watch as three more females and two males also stopped.

The cats were as big as any we had seen up north in Bordeaux or Tuscany. My guess for the weight of the biggest male was 1,000 pounds, but Maria says more like 800. Whatever. They were huge. With tawny coats wet from the leaves, or maybe sweat, they stood panting, deciding whether to go on or turn back.

The Neanderthal showed excellent control as they waited like seasoned troopers for their fire-starting brothers and sisters to seal the trap upstream. In minutes, the sound of pine cones cracking and the smoke of a wet fire billowed around the corner. The lions had taken their first cautious steps to escape the smoke when the old leader from Cueva del Boquete de Zafarraya barked out an order and the Neanderthal rose from their hiding places as one. I expected pandemonium, but the hunters had a plan. Ignoring the females, letting them gallop right through their lines, the people concentrated their attacks on the two males, somehow knowing they would be the last two cats to face the danger.

Grammy’s crew was tasked with bringing down the younger male. A scrapper with torn ears and scarred snout, the lion wasn’t as big as the alpha, but if the old dude was 800 pounds, this one weighed at least 700.

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