Chapter 28

We didn't get attacked, but we did get awakened. It was just past midnight when the sounds of ravenous animals reached our ears and startled us awake.

We moved quickly. I grabbed my holster and headed for the trailer flap, quickly unzipping it and slipping out into the night. The trailer exit was facing away from the fire so that it would be the furthest point away from any danger. As my bare feet hit the hard soil of the ravine, I snapped on my holster and pulled out the pistol. Then I peaked around the tent. All I saw was darkness. While I was doing that, Karen and Samantha piled out behind me. As I stared into the night, they quickly pulled on their boots and picked up their carbines. They'd left them lying underneath the rear axle of the trailer. They had their weapons cocked and ready a second later.

By then my eyes had started to adjust to the night. Both moons were up and the sky was filled with stars. Eventually all three of us were able to see enough to move around. Since the noises were still filling the air we moved towards them. It didn't take us long to figure out what was going on.

The sounds were emanating from the valley. They were ferocious and loud and unnerving, but they weren't approaching us. In fact, it sounded like several animals were fighting each other. There was growling that sounded like it came from a lion and a throaty rumble and the savage snap of a wolf or two. It was disconcerting. Yet it made sense, at least to me. I told the girls what I thought it was.

"They're fighting over the carcasses of the three dead birds," I told them as we stood by their Argos at the bottom of our encampment. By then I'd grabbed my rifle as well. We'd all taken a look through the night sights, but hadn't spotted a thing. "The smell of their blood probably brought every predator for miles to feed on them. I think we'll be safe."

The girls didn't take my word for it. Both wanted to stay and wait until the noise died down. I didn't fight them on it. I stood right there beside them, stark naked and barefooted, in the chill of the night. It took a while for things to settle down. From the sound of it, one or two big animals had laid claim to the dead birds and there were a lot of smaller predators who were taking turns trying to get a piece of the kill. Eventually things did die down. When it did, we went back to bed. Boy was I cold. The girls were as well. We all cuddled up under our sleeping bags and went back to sleep.

It was Mother Nature that woke me. I was bagged but my bladder was full. It was still later than I'd have liked it to be. I went and took care of business and then went and started our fire again. I had a pot of coffee going before I woke the two girls. They weren't impressed.

Breakfast was simple. I made scrambled eggs, bacon, and campfire toast. We ate it quickly and then started cleaning up. There wasn't any hope for even a quickie that morning. I wanted another look at the valley before leaving. Both girls knew it. They weren't happy about it, but they kept their comments to themselves. They did make me radio in once more to the settlement. Once more I got my wife. I told her what my plan was and that I'd radio her again in an hour. I warned her that we'd probably be late coming home. Then I signed out.

We made a deal. The deal was that we'd take only one vehicle. Once we'd hitched up the tent trailer to my Argo and we'd stored everything that we didn't need into the other trailers, we dropped Samantha's trailer where it was and loaded up in her Argo. Then we headed back down the ravine and back into the valley.

Samantha drove. I sat in the passenger seat and Karen rode in the cargo deck. She was locked and loaded and ready for action.

We took it slow. Essentially we put the Agro in neutral and let it roll down the grade into the valley. We didn't want to have a reprise of what had happened yesterday. When we came to the bottom of the ravine, we braked for a moment and gazed about. It was quiet but not unnaturally so. We could hear a bird or two chirping away in the distance. Samantha put the vehicle in gear and then inched out onto the rise. As she did, Karen rose up and stood on the cargo deck, holding on tight to the roll bar as she did, so she could have a look around. She reported seeing nothing.

We drove on. Samantha took us down the small rise and out onto the flat. At my urging she drove towards where we'd left the carcasses of the three 'big birds'. There wasn't much left of them. As we approached the spot a few small creatures went scurrying away. A couple looked like rats.

What was left were a few bones that had been chewed upon, a clump of meat or two that had been missed, and a tuff of feather. In fact, there were a lot of feathers scattered about the ground. We spotted the remains of one of them lying in the river several feet away. Something had tried to drag it off. It all made us wonder and think. What was worse was the sign. The whole area was torn up by sign. There was blood everywhere on both sides of the river, there were tracks of animals in the soft earth and there were areas of brush and grass that had been torn up. The tracks were mostly of large animals bigger than anything that I'd seen before. Mixed in amongst it all were smaller prints. There were hundreds of those compared to the bigger ones. The feeding frenzy must have been impressive. I suddenly decided it was time to move on. The girls didn't object.

We drove north. We followed the flow of the river keeping to the side closest to the ravine. There were less trees on that side and from all appearances, fewer spots for something big to hide. There was no guarantee that we'd be safe there but we decided not to take any chances. As well, we kept our speed down to about five miles per hour. We didn't want to startle anything.

Fifteen minutes later we reached the body of water that I'd spotted the day before. It was an inland lake. From what we saw, I'd say it was about a mile long and only a quarter mile wide. The eastern side of the lake was mostly flat grassland with a few hillocks that reached up towards the sides of the valley wall. The western side was denser in vegetation and in earthwork. I spotted at least three major hills that rose behind the screen of rushes lining the western shore and one prominent rock out cropping that stuck like a finger into the lake. It was so prominent that we spotted a small pride of sabre-tooth tigers lying upon it, oblivious to everything about them. Through my binoculars I counted a male, two females, and a cub. Thankfully, they were three-quarters of a mile away and totally disinterested in us. It still made us aware of our danger and we paused for a couple of minutes to scan our surroundings to reassure ourselves. During that time, I marvelled at what we saw.

The lake was populated by birds. There were all kinds of birds from small songbirds flitting from one bush to another, to a multitude of ducks, geese, herons, cormorants, and amazingly something that looked like a flamingo. They weren't pink but they were just as big as any that I'd seen on television and they all had that long curving neck that they were famous for. It was a sight to be seen. There were of course other creatures to see, most of them small. I spotted something that looked like a racoon fishing in amongst the reeds on the far western shore and of course dozens of different types of squirrels and there were frogs and all sorts of bugs buzzing about in the air. I even saw the ripple of something splashing in the water that suggested a fish. I certainly hoped it wasn't a 'crocoshark'. The lake looked beautiful and so peaceful that I had a desire to go fishing.

It didn't happen. Instead we drove on for the length of the lake. It was a very short drive and thankfully, uneventful. The sabre-tooth tigers watched us pass by them with indifference and we thanked fate for putting them on the other side of the lake. We stopped again when we reached the upper course of the river. It was slightly deeper but just as wide and just as full of rocks and debris. It was lined on both sides by tall grasses and clusters of marshland reeds. Naturally, neither girls wanted to go beyond that point nor could I blame them. I ended up giving into them after their first protests. I did make a suggestion though. An Argo is an amphibious machine. I wanted to take it back across the lake. Unfortunately, once more the girls said no and since Sam was driving, I didn't get my way.

We drove back with me up on the cargo deck having one last look around with the binoculars while Karen sat in the passenger seat. We drove even slower. My main interest was the wall of the valley. I was scanning it to see if I could spot any caves. If we came back here again I wanted somewhere we could camp in relative safety. I thought a cave would do. We might have to clear it out of any creature that was living there already but it would give us an alternate spot other than in the ravine. Since the vegetation was sparser on this side of the valley I thought we had a better chance of finding one. Unfortunately, if there was one I didn't spot it. The chances were that I'd have to walk the perimeter if I really wanted to find one and I knew suggesting it to Karen and Samantha was just going to get me some more grief. Sighing to myself, I told Samantha to head for the ravine and home. I didn't have to tell her twice.

We made it back to the ravine without an incident and were back to our campsite a few moments later. Once Samantha's trailer was hitched back up, we were ready to go. I led the way. It was almost noon by the time we exited the ravine and it was one o'clock when we crested the hill overlooking it. We stopped for a quick lunch there, spending our time stretching our legs and watching the great herds grazing on the plain that lay beyond the ravine. The girls were in a happier mood. Then we headed home. We got there late as I had expected. We pulled in around eight at night.

Our homecoming was okay. We weren't swarmed but we weren't ignored. We were allowed to unpack our gear, secure our weapons, and have a shower and put on some clean clothing. Nothing happened in the shower. We were all tired and just wanted something to eat. While we were showering, Angela and Betty unloaded our cooler and disposed of our waste. When we were done, they had supper waiting for us. There was roast beef, baked potatoes, carrot coins, and deep rich gravy. The family actually let us eat it in peace. Then we got swarmed.

The moment our dishes were taken away, everyone showed up and found a place at the picnic tables. Emma sat down beside me, my mother sat across from me, and Tilly found a spot nearby. The rest of the family gathered around us, taking seats as they found them. They all looked at Karen, Samantha and I and then they asked the all important question. What had happened on the trip? I told them.

"What?" my mother squawked in horror. "You were attacked by giant birds. You've got to be kidding."

"He's not," Sarah announced before I could defend myself. In her hands, she held her trusty tablet. "I found what he's talking about. Here's a picture of it."

People fell silent for a moment as the tablet got passed around. Then they started squawking again. I just sighed and shook my head.