The High Hunt by Adam Connell

Author:Adam Connell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: hunting, adventure, rifle, bullet, shotgun, safari, big game, cartridge, adam connell

“Then you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

What Lansing didn’t say was that he loved all animals. He was awed by them, he was impressed with their strength. He hunted and killed them, yes, but he loved them as well. Their intelligence and beauty and quirks. No animal had ever lied to him, or been rude, or cheated him, or had gotten greedy. How the most repugnant were also, to Lansing, resplendent.

Nadia said, “But animals can turn on you, and some are mean as hell.”

“That I’m used to.”

Lansing heard the growls before Nadia. He put his hand out, hunched over, and moved toward the hilltop. Down to their right, past a stand of twist trees, a sick brindle was fighting off two swaybacks.

The swaybacks darted around the mare, barking and growling. Jumping out of reach just in time. When they moved in as a team, the mare reared up and cuffed the nearest swayback. She pounced on the second swayback and —

Lansing fired. A one-shot kill.

Nadia said, “Could’ve fired sooner, saved two swaybacks.”

“If I’d’ve had a sooner shot, I’d’ve taken it.”

“Nature’s harsh.”

Lansing claimed his tooth and walked back up the hill. “Why don’t you ask me already? There’s something you wanna ask, so ask it.”

“Why did they call it ‘The High Hunt’?”

“That’s old business.”

“No one told me it had a name. By the time I found out, the hunt was dead. I’d already had enough bad press so I never asked.”

“It’s an old term. Refers to a limited hunting season, usually sometime in the fall and at high elevations. It had rules and traditions, specific targets. It served a need. Someone applied it to Bledsoe as a joke, said our campaign to bag him was this century’s High Hunt. It stuck, and that’s what we called it.”

“Who came up with it? Who applied it to Bledsoe?”

“Seven or eight people have taken credit,” Lansing said. “Doesn’t matter who actually said it.”

“Bledsoe needed to be put down,” Nadia said. “The guild was right to hunt him.”

“Bledsoe insulted the guild, but hunting him insulted the sport, and that’s worse.”

“Can I have a cigarette?”

“No, and no more questions. Start hunting.”

Nadia held her gun at port arms. She took some subtle, deep breaths to force herself awake. Looked out on the preserve like someone who actually cared about what they were seeing.

“There,” she said, pointing at a bulb of running brindles. “I’ll take them.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.