Chapter 17: Murder in the Woods, Part 3

"What for? It's the wrong time of day for frogs."

"I'm thinking like a moose."

"Ha ha, right," Jen said, "So what does a moose think about?"

"Food," Nick said, "and their food is in the swamp right now."

Jen went quiet as they followed the trail to the swamp. The sweetish perfume of poplar gave way to the sharp scents of spruce and cedar. Moss and needles covered the damp ground. Nick detected rancid water; they were close. He sat and breathed in the other odours surrounding him. A rabbit holed up somewhere to his right. An owl left droppings over on the other side of the path, probably the rabbit's kin. The strong musk of moose remained from early in the morning, and squirrel.

"Wait here a minute." Nick moved up the path to where the squirrel scent was fresher.

"@&^%!$%^&*" A chattering squirrel sat in a branch well above Nick's reach and hurled abuse at him.

"Hey, squirrel," he said, but was interrupted by another stream of cursing. He sat under the tree and waited. The little red creature kept up the invective and tossed a pine cone at him.

"Look," Nick said, "I can't reach you. I just want to ask you a question. Answer it and I won't hunt you today."

"Liar," the squirrel said, "Liar, liar, liar, no one listens to squirrel until it's too late. Then blame the squirrel for not warning. I told him it wasn't right. He didn't listen. Why would you listen?"

"Who didn't listen?"

"Stupid moose, thinks he's bigger than everyone."

"Well, he pretty much is bigger than everyone."

"Still, didn't listen to squirrel, now he's gone. Horny cows bellow and stand on tails. We know, we watch, we watch. Everything that happens we squirrels see." The squirrel chittered laughter at him.

"What wasn't right?"

"Don't know. The morning was angry. The time was wrong. What do I know? Wolf not hunt?"

"I won't hunt you today," Nick said. He walked on toward the swamp. Behind him the squirrel chattered, then a squeak and silence. Jen came up to him.

"Some squirrel ran out on the path and stuck its tongue out at me."

"I promised her I wouldn't hunt squirrel for the day if she answered my questions."

"I didn't promise," Jen licked her lips.

Nick shrugged then put his nose to the muddy ground. The scent of moose was still there. He followed it to the water's edge. As he expected the scent stopped at the water. He wasn't sure what to do next.

"Ask the duck," Jen said.

"What?" Nick looked at her and she grinned.

"I've never eaten duck."

"What will you do if I have to talk to a moose?" Nick asked. Jen panted then licked her chops. Nick laughed at her. "At least wait until I've finished talking with him."

He walked up to the edge of the water and called out to the duck.

"Hey, duck!"

The duck glanced over at him and quacked, but didn't get any closer to them.

"Go back in the woods for a moment, Jen," Nick said. "I think your drooling is making him nervous."

Jen huffed, but went back into the forest.

Nick hopped on a small tuft of grass and balanced precariously while he looked for the next place to bring him closer to the duck without making him look like he was hunting it.

"I hate this time of year," the duck said when Nick got closer. "I'm going to have to fly through the war zone soon."

"War zone?" The tiny clump of grass wobbled beneath Nick's feet.

"It's terrible." The duck shook himself and turned upside down in the water. Nick waited for his head to reappear. "Terrible," the duck said through the weeds in his beak. "I lost a friend last year."

"That's tough," Nick said.

"That's what that moose said this morning. I couldn't decide if he was being sympathetic or rude."

"He's a moose."

"Yeah, and you're a wolf, even if a strange one."

"Which way did he go?"

"What do you care?"

"I'm going to hunt him down and eat him." Nick said and let his tongue hang out.

"Fine then, either way there will be one less nuisance in the world." The duck turned upside down in the water again and righted himself with a beak full of weeds. "He wandered off that way." The duck pointed before going head down again as Nick started to retrace his steps to shore.

Jen came running out of the woods at full speed. She launched herself out over the water at the duck still bobbing upside down in the water. It righted itself just before she landed and took off with a squawk.

Nick made it back to shore and shook the muddy water from his fur. Jen dragged herself out of the water. Mud plastered her fur to her body-- so thick even shaking hard as she was didn't dislodge it.

"You're going to have to find some clean water and wash it off," Nick tried not to laugh as he jumped back.

"I didn't think a duck could move that fast."

"He's lucky you can't fly."

"I almost got him."

"Right," Nick snorted and rubbed his nose with his paw. She really did reek.

Jen spat a couple of feathers from her mouth.

"There's some clean water this way," she said. "Then we'll find some more animals for you to talk to." She squelched off through the mud. Nick followed her. It was good a direction as any.

As they walked along the edge of the marsh, Jen stopped to shake every so often, but the mud clung to her fur like burrs, stinking worse as it got drier and thicker. Nick made out the spruce and cedar around them, but the combined smell of Jen and the swamp drowned out other subtler scents.