Four
Wolf tracks surrounded the elk. It was hard for Samuel to tell how many wolves there were. This elk had no chance to escape, even less since the elk had walked out into the high plateau. Samantha nervously sniffs the elk. The elk was large in size. Bite marks covered the elks rear legs. The upper legs and body of the elk were white bloody bones. The head of the elk was not in the best of shape, although not as severe as the rest of the body.
Glancing up momentarily, Samuel spots a shape in the shadow of the tree line. Samuel squints to see better, and a single large grey wolf slowly emerges from the tree line. The wolf is looking directly at Samuel. Samuel curses and in one fluid motion he unslings his rifle. As Samuel aims down the gun sights, he looks towards the trees where he spotted the wolf. It disappeared. Where did it go? Samuel keeps his rifle pointed at the tree line and he runs the sights left and right at the tree line. No wolf in sight.
Samantha looks at Samuel holding up his rifle with a startled look. Samuel imagines Samantha asking why he was holding up the rifle. Samuel commands Samantha to get to the jeep, and Samuel slowly follows walking backward with his rifle pointed at the tree line. Once Samuel reaches the jeep, Samuel decides to aim at a tree and he fires a shot. This is to potentially scare away any wolves and to alert nearby rangers. Samuel gets in the jeep and pulls out the tablet to submit a report and to respond to any ranger calls.
It was Wyatt that makes first contacts Samuel on the crackling radio. After a few quick exchanges, Samuel tells Wyatt what happened that led Samuel to take a warning shot. Wyatt then reprimands Samuel for taking a shot. Wyatt suggests that he could have shot a flare, because harming a tree was bad for the environment. Abruptly, Wyatt stops talking, and boss’s voice fills the radio. Boss says the exact same thing as Wyatt.
Boss orders Samuel to stay put and the they would rendezvous with him to verify that the elk had been attacked by wolves. Samuel would also need to be on the lookout to see if any wolves appear again. Boss asks him if he understood, and Samuel responds affirmatively.
As Samuel stands on the lookout, he calls for Samantha. Samantha comes obediently, and Samuel gives her a pat on the head. Afterwards, Samuel gives some encouragement to Samantha as they stand around. After a moment, Samuel realizes that he is sweating. He also notices that he is tightly gripping the rifle. Samuel wipes his brow and loosens up.
Then Sam remembers the morning phone call. He thought it was her. Why did he think it was her? It was true she calls in the mornings, although she had not called for a while. Why did Samuel think of her?
About an hour passes, and boss and his posse arrive at the plateau. Boss’ posse leaves their jeeps and they walk to Samuel and Samantha. A few of the other rangers brought their dogs too. Samantha gives a very low almost inaudible growl. Samuel nudges her with his heel.
Wyatt sees the elk and moves to it. Samuel stands away from the posse as his frustration slowly starts to grow as Wyatt declares that it was a wolf attack. Boss turns to the posse and says that the park definitely has wolves, and all rangers need to answer calls to come in to work. Samuel looks away when he mentions phone calls because boss probably looked at him. After the quick meeting Samuel and Samantha return to their jeep and head back to headquarters. It has been quite a day.