The Rightful Heir by Jefferson Knapp

Author:Jefferson Knapp
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kraken Books, Ltd.

CHAPTER TWENTY

A Cry for Help

THE HEAT OF THE AFTERNOON SUN made the tall bluestem grass brittle and itchy. Belshak and his pack scanned the pasture hungrily, knowing that, at some point, travelers would make their way across the fields. One of the coyotes fell over from exhaustion. Those nearest were quick to react, rushing to their fallen friend with crazed eyes. The coyote jumped to his feet. “I’m not dead yet! Go eat someone else!” He mustered a fierce growl and the others backed off.

“When are these delicious creatures coming, Belshak?” an irritated voice asked.

“Be patient! Once we’ve eaten you’ll be complaining you ate too much.” The pack laughed. “Remember, if we spot them going into the forest, we let them through.” Some of the starving coyotes howled. “When they come out of the forest, then we attack. Be patient!”

Their ears turned east, toward a faint yelping and howling. They prepared for an attack. Out of the thorn bushes and evergreens emerged another pack of coyotes, looking even skinnier and hungrier. The small leader stepped forward, his gray eyes bloodshot from exhaustion. Belshak stood his ground, growling deeply at his opponent.

“Oh, shut up, Belshak. We’re not here to fight with you. We’re here to eat!”

“Eat what?! Have you looked around lately, Dampier?” The two coyotes stared each other down.

“The word is that one of Farangis’s rattlesnakes tipped you off on some creatures leaving the forest.”

“That is our food, not yours!” Belshak snarled. Dampier’s pack took a step back.

“From the way it sounds, there will be plenty for us all. We’re only thirty more guests at your dinner…oh mighty Belshak.” Dampier bowed down, and his pack followed. “Accept us into your pack and we will no longer be enemies. We will serve you,” the leader humbly offered. The wild gray hair sticking up along Belshak’s back began to lower. “All we ask is that you let us eat with you. We haven’t eaten in days.”

Belshak took a moment to consider. His pack of forty were mostly his family. On the other hand, having thirty more coyotes under him served his greedy desire for power. Some of his own coyotes growled uneasily at the new rivals. “I will kill all of you if you disobey me!” Belshak barked.

“Oh, thank you, Belshak. You are our master.” The brown coyote groveled on the ground and pressed his dry, black nose into the grass. “Yes…you are our leader.”

“On your feet,” Belshak commanded. “We need to watch for them.” The group of over seventy ravenous coyotes moved on, surveying the edge of Persly’s Woods for their smorgasbord of traveling creatures.

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