Chapter 20: Murder in the Woods, Part 6

"I don't think it's smart of you to be pissing off Ted," Irma said.

"I think it will be a while before Ted is thinking about pissing," Jen let her tongue dangle. It gave her a charmingly insane look.

"Well, as long as you figure out what is going on with Bob before Ted kills you."

"Bob is chasing after a cow in full rut," Nick said. "I smelled her myself."

Irma peered down her nose at Nick. "I find that highly unlikely."

"You aren't just a bit jealous, are you?" Nick said. "Some other cow is getting him first?"

Irma glared at him.

"I would know, we all would. It's early, not just by days, but by a moon. It would be.... abnormal."

"I smelled it myself," Nick remembered what the rabbit had told him. "Unless there is a way for there to be cow scent and no cow."

"It is too early for that too, and even Bob wouldn't be such a fool." Irma turned and left.

"They scared all the mice away."

"I think you ate them all, Jen."

"I almost got to eat moose." Jen looked at him and laughed. "Got a taste anyway." She bounded away and Nick trotted after her.

They spent the rest of the day dozing in the sun at the den. Nick's mind kept running over Irma's reaction to the rabbit's claim that there was a cow but no cow. It looked like she knew what it meant. She probably knew about the bull thing too. Either way, it was no longer his problem. His life, and his tail, was safe from the cow moose, though probably not from Ted the bull.

When Nick woke, the sun had dipped behind the trees, and the sandy bank was cooling. His tail hardly hurt at all. It was wonderful not having the threat of Irma's big hooves hanging over him. Bob had just run off after some other cow, and Irma was jealous. The love life of moose was far too complicated. Fortunately, the only thing he needed to worry about now was catching more mice or another rabbit.

The wolves split up again to hunt, Nick headed uphill. He had no wish to tangle with either Ted or Irma, and the swamp didn't appeal to him. He would hunt for one of the rabbit's relatives.

Once again he followed the scents of the night and walked through the boundary between the spruce and poplars. The moon lay down confusing shadows, but his nose and his ears gave him a sharp picture of the forest. Tonight, the forest was quiet. Even the mice weren't moving much, and he didn't smell any fresh trace of rabbit.

Even so, Nick wandered most of the night. The moon went down and he heard the disconsolate hooting of an owl which fared no better than him. Finally, he returned hungry and grumpy and threw himself on the sandy bank. Not that he couldn't deal with being hungry, but it was fall, he shouldn't have to be hungry. He ought to have gone down to where the moose were, and hunted the mice in the meadow.

He closed his eyes and sent himself to sleep, better that than ruminating about his failure. The warmth of the sun on the bank awakened him. The other wolves were flopped down and enjoying the last of the season's warmth. It wouldn't be many moons before they huddled for warmth in the stuffy den and Jen would somehow grab the warmest spot.

"Did Jen go out again already?" Nick asked.

"mmph," The Alpha lifted his head and looked about. "Must have." He sat up and gave a long howl. Nick joined in along with the rest of the pack. They sang with their ears perked to catch Jen's reply from wherever she'd got to. The only response was the silence from all the creatures the wolves hunted.

"Go find her." The Alpha put his head down on the bank and closed his eyes, waiting for Nick to go out in search of his pack mate.

Nick sighed, shook off his doze, put his nose to the ground and followed Jen's trail. It meandered through the forest like a bumble bee's flight. She started by going uphill, but on a different angle to Nick. There was an old rotten stump which held her attention long enough for her to lie down. From there she went downhill toward the meadow where they had talked to Ted and Irma. Nick hoped that she hadn't tried to get another taste of moose. His jaw dropped in a grin. Who knew a moose could squeak like a mouse? Her path finally took her to the meadow where it wandered all over. She didn't have much luck. They probably ate too many mice when they were there earlier.

From the meadow, she wandered down toward the swamp. There were only a few places where it was easy to move from the forest to the swamp. The underbrush was thick even for a wolf. Jen's trail brought Nick out to where she had tried to catch the duck with her flying leap. Her path wandered about as if she were trying to find where the duck nested. It probably slept safe in some tiny tuft of weeds in the middle of the water.

Her path followed the edge of the swamp toward the rank beaver. He hoped she wasn't eating that, her breath would stink for days. Then under the stink of the beaver he detected another scent, two really. One was a whiff of fresh meat, the other made his hackles rise even though it wasn't familiar.