The Cynic and the Wolf by Julie Steimle (ebook voice reader TXT) 📕

 Off in the distance people were night skiing. She could see them in the lights which glowed off the snow. For a brief moment, she yearned to be with them. But that was not what she was outside for. She was outside to check out her equipment and collect data. Despite all that, before she left the back porch, Audry gazed enviously on the night skiers. Regardless of what Rick had said about safety, it was the perfect night to ski.

 Putting on her snowshoes, tucking in her scarves, lifting her hood for warmth, heaving up her camera, and rechecking her backpack, Audry left the lodge and slowly trudged her way toward her first station. Snowshoeing was not as easy as going out on skis, but she preferred it as she sometimes needed to creep into tight places that skis did not fit into and these were easier to carry if she needed to take them off.

She visited near the rabbit warren and checked on the camera set up there, trading the sim card. As she did, she heard a wolf howl in the distance. Her first thoughts went to the rabbits. As much as she understood rabbits were part of the food chain in the area, this wolf was not a local and she feared its intrusion might upset the balance of the ecosystem.

However Audry checked herself. Lone wolves were part of nature. It was how genes spread to other packs to keep them from genetic stunting, and she knew that should not hold disdain for a creature who was just trying to survive.

Yet thinking on that, she wondered where it had been all day. Certainly somebody would have spotted it. Audry then reminded herself that wolves were shy creatures and would have stayed away from human beings. Only… last night it had come close to the lodge and had killed that chicken. And some of the workers had talked about a migratory pair of wolves which occasionally came and went and had killed their chickens in the past. And though wolves were shy, that one was hungry. Hungry carnivores were dangerous.

After checking in on the rabbits, she went ahead to the next station. That camera was hidden inside a bush with a clear view of the fox den. The camera had been secured to a peg which had been hammered into the ground so it could withstand animals bumping into it and touching it. One time, she had actually gotten footage of a fox snuffling up the lens with its nose to check it out. Because of that, she had to clean the lens and reset it. As soon as Audry collected the footage her, she walked along the ski line towards the trees to check the camera watching the ski lane traffic.

A ranger spotted her.

Audry waved, holding up her pass which hung from a lanyard on her neck. She had put reflective tape on it and on her backpack in the beginning, so the rangers could see it and her at a distance and know who she was without having to trudge all that way to check her id. However, this one just watched her like he was uneasy about her.

When she reached her camera, he approached her. "You know, it might not be a good idea for you to make these collections at night."

"I've always done this," she said, surprised. It wasn’t even that cold. And the snow was hardly falling. And on a full moon, she had clear visibility.

He cringed, his eyes tracking the darkness. "Yeah… I know. But it is not exactly safe."

She moaned. "Look. I need to collect the footage from the day. My sim cards are full. And I need to put in fresh sim cards for the night. It’s that simple. I go this same route every time, and I have done this for two years now."

He frowned. However, he had no argument. He only said, "Be careful."

Audry nodded, rolling her eyes. "I got it."

She changed these cards, checked the angle of the shot then moved on, continuing along the trees inside the ski lanes.

Lots of skiers zoomed past.

Audry kept out of the way, her eyes tracking into the darkness until she found the curve where she had stationed her time-lapse camera. Carefully crossing over the ski lanes, trying to step in well-established tracks, Audry reached the other side and inspected her camera there. It was in good condition. So, she thought, those littering thugs had not damaged it in revenge or stolen the camera as she had suspected they might. Audry chastened herself for being so cynical. Most people wanted to avoid trouble. She should have known it.

Rick Deacon really had nailed her on that one—cynical Audry.

Cynicism was her worst character trait. Her mother always said so. Generally she tried to quash that cynical, critical part of her personality as it made her pessimistic, but it came out when people acted below their best like those men had that morning. But still curious, still not trusting that things had panned out as she had liked, Audry trudged up along the tree line to see if the trash they had thrown was gone.

There was nothing there.

Audry sighed with relief. Either the rangers had made them clean it up, or they did it on their own to destroy the evidence. It made no difference, really. She had succeeded in preserving nature, and that was what mattered.

Gazing up over the ski lanes, pausing in her work, Audry drew in a deep breath. Her eyes raked over the scene. Skiers skidded past. Friends were laughing. She exhaled again. Another wave of envy rushed through her. And a wolf cry echoed it, lifting on the wind to her far right.

But to her left, she heard rustling in the trees.

Audry lifted her camera, hoping she would get a picture of a deer or some other animal. She had a number of priceless animals-in-nature photos which she intended to turn into a book when she published. Through the lens, she saw no animal, but the silhouette of a man.

No. Three men, possibly four. It wasn’t entirely clear as it was dark there.

For a second Audry stiffened, thinking in panic that it was those jerks from earlier that morning trying to sneak up on her. But as she peered through her low light lens, she realized these people were dressed in heavy winter gear with camouflage, carrying long… things. Her brain imagined spears for some reason, but she knew they had to be rifles. They were too thick for ski poles, and no one carried ski poles like that.

Hunters.

And they were not aware of her.

They must have snow-shoed in or are slogged in over a fence or across someone else's property to get in there. Audry realized as she watched them that if the wolf could just wander in, the fence around the properly could not have been that substantial. In fact, Audry could not recall if the property line even had a fence. Not even barbed wire to keep out cattle. But that didn't matter. What mattered was that there were signs everywhere warning people not to feed the animals and that hunting was prohibited. It was private property. And as she thought this, she realized what Rick had said about it being dangerous going out that night was true… in that these hunters could accidentally shoot her.

Growing incensed that they would dare hunt on an animal reserve or even near an outdoor recreational facility, Audry carefully slipped behind a tree for cover in the shadow. She had half a mind to tell them off. The other half of her mind was in panic. They were armed. She was not. They had not seen her yet, and she didn't want them to see her at all. If they did, they might shoot to silence her. They were, after all, illegally on the property.

Lowering her backpack to hide the reflective strips, and tucking away her id card on the lanyard, Audry lifted up her camera. Taking some quick pictures of the hunters while the moonlight illuminated around their silhouettes, Audry held her breath. Once she had enough evidence, Audry packed up her camera and backed away towards the downhill slope, remaining in the shadows. If she went for the near ranger up the hill, they were sure to see her. And then they would not only shoot her, but the ranger also.

As soon as she was far away enough so she could start to jog, Audry hurried down the hill toward the lodge. There had to be at least one ranger on duty, or at least the ski patrol.  

"Get off the ski run!" someone shouted at her. "You're ruining the tracks!"

Ignoring him, Audry lifted her feet high while rushing over the snow. Her legs ached as she searched around. Mostly she saw skiers. And when she finally spotted a ranger, he was standing in the middle of a bunch of snow bunnies, savoring their flirtatious attention. Shoeing over the ski-carved snow, Audry heard more cries for her to not tromp all over their smooth skiing surface—especially from Rick's pals from Brown University who appeared to be done with night skiing and were now planning to go up the cabin they must have rented not far from the lodge.

"Excuse me!" Audry called out to the ranger. "Hey! Ranger! I need to show you something."

Seeing her, the ranger rolled his eyes and said, "What are you doing snow shoeing this time of night? Were you outside the lit zone?"

Audry moaned. "Of course I was. I—"

"You are not allowed in the no-lit zones, especially at night," he snapped. "And no snowshoes on the ski run. You should know the rules."

Audry lowered her scarf and hood so he could see her face better. "I am not a patron here. I—"

"Did you sneak onto the property?" He grabbed her arm.

"No." Groaning, Audry pulled back and dug into her coat for her ID badge. "I come here for a few days every month—"

"You what?" he flustered, raking in her face, but not recognizing her. To be fair, she did not recognize him either.

Holding the badge before his face so he could see Mr. Deacon's signature, Audry said in a loud voice, "I have special permission from the Deacon family to survey the wildlife in this area. This gives me full access to all the grounds, including the unlit ones."

He grabbed the ID card and peered hard at the small print and signature on the card. Then he looked to her face, confused. But he let go of her arm and asked, "Ok. So… what is it you want?"

Finally.

Audry said, "While I was out collecting data, I saw hunters on the lot."

His eyes widened.

She lifted up her camera. "I got pictures."

He reached out for the camera to see them.

Audry pulled up the pictures she took, pointing to the shadows and silhouettes. In some of them, their shapes were not easily to make out, but in three they could see at least two of the hunters very clearly. Camouflage alright. And rifles.

"Oh no." He immediately pulled out his radio and pressed the call button. "This is Ranger Timmons at the lodge. One of the patrons here just reported seeing hunters near—" He turned to Audry, "Where was this picture taken?"

She nodded. "The curve just west of here. You have a ranger on the other side where I saw them, but I didn't think it was wise to run across to alert him in case they saw me."

The ranger nodded. "At curve twelve. Be careful. They are armed with rifles and in camouflage. Do not approach alone. Repeat. Do not approach alone." He let go of the button.

Audry heaved a breath of relief. The rangers would take care of it.

"Thanks for acting safely and quickly reporting this. You may have saved some lives."