On occasion it occurred to her that she could die in the hunt field. She didn’t much mind, though she hoped it wouldn’t be until she’d cleared her one hundredth birthday, which she envisioned as a five-foot log jump.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Sam Lorillard struggling with Cloud Nine. He finally got the big gelding straightened out, prudently pulling him back, forcing him to follow the others. The horse, accustomed to conventional trainers, wanted to be first. If he was going to win races, he needed to be rated. This was a good time to learn.
Tedi, Edward, Walter, Dalton, and Gray kept snug in Sister’s pocket. Crawford, Marty, and Sam fell farther behind with Ronnie in the middle between the two groups.
Ronnie saw Clement charge over the next hill. Hounds were far enough in front he need not worry about lifting their heads.
“Tallyho!” He hollered, taking his cap off and pointing in the direction in which the fox was traveling.
Sybil saw him, too. Sister did not, but she knew Ronnie knew his business. She pushed a little closer to the tail hounds, Delia and Asa, perhaps five yards from the main pack.
A large fallen walnut, as luck would have it, had crashed into the old coop in the next fence line. The branches fell forward of the coop so the massive trunk, its distinctive blackish bark, added a new look and height to the coop. Sister saw Shaker practically vault over it.
Aztec sucked back for an instant. Sister hit him with the spurs and clucked. Aztec knew if he refused it made for trouble behind him, but this jump might bite.“Well, itlooks funny,”the horse grumbled before sailing over.
Behind, Cora and Dragon with Dasher and Diana couldn’t see the fox.
“You’ll chop him!”St. Just screamed with triumph.
Clement’s normal arrogance evaporated. He now ran for his life, running for the covert up ahead. Maybe he could foul his scent in there somehow.
He made it, flying by a pile of dirt about eighteen inches high. Farther into the underbrush, thinned by the weight of the snows and frosts now, he smelled a cache of deer meat.
He was smack in the home territory of a female mountain lion. A cave or rock den had to be close by. If he could find it, he’d duck in. Better to face one lone female than a pack of hounds.
He didn’t worry about young. Usually lion cubs are born midsummer.
As luck would have it, a huge rock formation in a slight swale of forest jutted out ahead. He leapt into the opening, large enough for the mountain lion and therefore large enough for hounds, one by one.
Awakened by the cry of the pack, the mature lioness weighed a well-fed two hundred pounds. She was just rising when the medium-size red fellow, all of seven pounds, invaded her home.
Panting, he looked up at her, crooning in his best voice,“How beautiful you are!”
Vanity is not limited to the human species. She blinked.“And who are you?”
“Clement of Mill Ruin, son of Target and Charlene, theirsecond litter from last year. I confess, I’ve ducked in here tosave my skin, but I had no idea I would find such a beautiful mountain lion. How could I have missed you? I thoughtI knew everyone.”
“My hunting range doesn’t overlap yours. Game is sogood down here, I and some of my relatives came downout of the mountains. And …”She stopped a moment; the fur on her neck rose slightly.“Impertinent slaves!”she said of the barking hounds.
Before the words were out of her mouth, Dragon blasted into the cave. He skidded to a halt as both the lioness and Clement stared at him.
The rest of the pack piled in after Dragon, except for Cora, Diana, Dasher, Asa, and Delia. They knew what was in there.
Even Cora couldn’t stop the young entry.
Enraged at this trespassing, the lioness stood. She could leap twenty feet without undue effort. She bared her fangs, emitting a hiss.“Get out!”
Clement, too, bared his fangs, puffing himself up as best he could.
Shaker dismounted, handing Hojo’s reins to Betty. Sister didn’t know if a bear was in there or a mountain lion. She’d been running so hard she’d missed the telltale signs, the piles of dirt kicked up by the big cat’s hind legs to mark her boundaries, the slash marks on the trees much higher than those of a bobcat.
She couldn’t hear the hiss because the hounds were bellowing.
Shaker pulled out his .38. He didn’t want to kill any animal, but he had to protect his pack.
He put his horn to his mouth and blew the three long blasts. The smarter hounds turned to emerge from the opening, one by one. Shaker quieted them. Dragon, alone, remained inside. The hissing could now be plainly heard followed by a terrifying growl.
Hojo was brave, but shaking like a leaf. Mountain lions and horses rarely formed friendships. Hojo wanted out of there.
Outlaw, a little older and a quarter horse, said,“Hojo,Shaker’s a good shot. If he has to, he’ll kill the lion. We’resafe.”
Hojo rolled his eyes.“They’re so quick.”
“Dragon, come to me.” Shaker called outside the opening.
Hackles up, Dragon slowly, without taking his eyes off the mountain lion, backed out. She advanced. As Dragon made it out, the big cat stuck her head out, beheld the audience, and emitted a growl that turned blood to ice water.
“Tedi, get the field back,” Shaker said calmly.
“Janie, come on,” Tedi firmly ordered her old friend.
“I’m not leaving my huntsman, Betty, or the hounds. Now, go on.”
Reluctantly, Tedi moved the field back.
Shaker quickly mounted, not taking his eyes off the lion, who seemed content to scare the bejesus out of them.
In a steady voice,“Come on, come on, foxhounds. Good hounds.” Shaker turned, trotting off.
Betty, back on Outlaw, kept on his left side. Sybil was on the right. She’d stayed a short distance from the den in case hounds bolted. As Shaker and Betty had been on foot, this was a prudent decision.
Sister watched the mountain lion, whom she faced at a distance of thirty yards. She wanted to make certain the animal wasn’t going to chase them. She cursed herself for not carrying a gun. A mountain lion can bring down a deer at a full run. If the deer has enough of a head start, it will outrun the lion, but for a short distance, the speed of the mountain lion is startling. This powerful animal could easily bound up to one of the staff horses and attack. Sweat ran down her back and between her breasts.
“Let’s get out of here.” Sister turned Aztec as the pack drew alongside her. They continued to trot. She glanced over her shoulder to see the beautiful cat still standing in her doorway, now a red fox sitting next to her.
Dragon, not a scratch on him, bragged,“I denned thefox. I stared down the mountain lion.”
“Idiot!”Cora cursed.“You could have killed half thispack.”
“But I didn’t,”he sassed.
That fast Cora turned, seized Dragon by the throat, sank her fangs into him, and threw him down hard. He fought back.
“Leave it! Leave it!” Shaker commanded.
Cora leapt up. Dragon, too, quickly got to his feet, blood trickling down his white bib.
“I will kill you one day if you don’t listen,”Cora growled low, almost a whisper.
The young entry, frightened of the lioness and blindly following Dragon, were now scared to death of Cora. They avoided eye contact with the head bitch.
“The fox was in the den!”Dragon coughed.
“Yes, he was,”Asa sagely replied.“Scent was hot, so hotnone of us paid attention to the other scent. But, Dragon,when we reached those rocks, even a human could smellthe lion. You were wrong.”
“My job is to chase foxes, put them to ground, kill themif I catch them.”Dragon coughed again. Cora had hurt his throat.
Cora whirled on the handsome dog hound.“Do you want me to shred you right now? I don’t care if I do get thebutt end of a whip!”
Dragon shut up.
The pack trotted all the way back to Melton. Everyone had had quite enough for one day.