Chapter 184

It had been an interesting visit for me and I thought I might have actually learned something, or at least I had been reminded of something. I was feeling a lot more thankful for all the extras Argent had given me now and I was anxious to get back to our camp so I could continue enjoying them.

Our trip home was uneventful until we came to the side stream near our camp, the one which ran down by our logging site. It would have remained utterly ordinary if I hadn't glanced up the stream and seen some movement far up the little tributary's valley.

It must have been over a mile and without the snow on the ground to provide the white background I would have never been able to see anything.

I told Danlo to stop and motioned behind me to let all the others know about our halt. Rummaging around in our packed things I found my binoculars, uncapped the lenses, and pointed them toward where the motion had been. I didn't have any idea what it had been, but I wanted to see if I could find out.

It was Smilodon again and he'd dragged down a megaceros, quite a large one from what I could tell at this distance. At the moment his long teeth were closed tightly around the animal's throat while it was kicking its last.

The scene made me wonder if it was the same cat we had seen up on the plateau and I even speculated about whether it could be the one responsible for Shabago's demise while we were following him. I didn't really know how far the big cats ranged, but it was winter and hunting for them might be hard just now, possibly forcing this one to go farther.

Another thing about the cat nagged at me then. If it was the same one we'd seen before it must have come down the valley right through our camp. I considered this unlikely, since even in winter our scents should still be apparent.

Maybe it didn't fear us at all or else was so hungry it didn't care. Maybe this and maybe that wasn't helping a thing and I told Danlo to move out again. I explained why I'd wanted to stop and asked him to help me watch the ground for possible signs of the cat's passing.

We hadn't gone another quarter of a mile before we picked up Smilodon's trail. It was apparent he had headed down river from our camp and even I could tell he hadn't been in a hurry. He had stayed near the valley's walls and had often merged into the small groups of trees that were sporadically scattered along the way.

Neither Racaato nor Raalto had come with us for the trip and now I wished one of them had, especially I wished for Racaato. He was the best tracker in my camp by far and I knew he would be able to tell me more about the sign than just which way it had come from. Danlo and I both concentrated on keeping up with the tracks for the rest of the way.

I had Danlo stop when we were still nearly a half-mile from the horse caves. I got down and went back to explain what I was doing to Bigglieo, the next driver in the line. I told him about the cat and its sign and that I wanted to get Racaato to look at it before any of us had a chance to disturb it with our passing. He understood the reasons at once and said he would tell the others while I went for Racaato.

I walked the rest of the way to camp, being careful to stay far away from the cat's tracks. When I entered my cave many of my mates were busy in the kitchen and Gema was the first to see me. She shouted my name, ran to me and gave me a good hugging right away, the rest of them were right behind her.

"But John, where are all the others?" Gema asked after a few minutes.

"I left them waiting back down the trail in the cold. I need for Racaato and Raalto to come and look at some sign for me before the whole group covers it up."

"What sign?" Dieta asked.

"We saw one of the big long toothed cats make a kill as we were passing our logging spot and its trail comes right down this valley. It must have come through our camp and I want Raalto and Racaato to look the tracks over while they are still fresh."

"I'll go and get them," Jaada said, and waddled off.

While she was gone it was question time for Johnny. I gave them a few answers and told them they'd have to ask the others about some of it. I did tell them about Eileiea fixing Kradno's broken leg, but decided I'd let her tell them about Grotondo's later instructions.

Jaada returned with Raalto and Racaato then and I was glad to see they already had their M1s in hand and their warm clothes on. I told my mates everyone would be here soon then Racaato, Raalto, and I left.

We were barely out of the cave when Racaato spied the cat's tracks on the other side of the river. We went over to them and after a few seconds he began following them down toward the waiting travelers I'd left behind.

"This seems very odd to me John, the cat was in no hurry to leave our camp -- he was taking his time, but I'm sure he must have been able to catch the sent of us, even though we were surely all inside.

Another strange thing is the wolves' behavior -- at least some of them must have been aware the cat came close. Even being inside the caves shouldn't have masked his passing from all of them," he said.

"Maybe they didn't think it was worth howling about?"

"That would be hard to believe. They are not naturally disposed to bother each other since wolves and cats are hunters and there is no point in them hunting each other. The wolves would know they had no chance with one of these cats and the cat would know there isn't enough meat on a wolf to bother with. It still doesn't mean the wolves would just stay quiet while a cat was near," Raalto said.

"It is a shame we can't ask them about it and expect a reasonable answer, but we can't."

They both laughed at my joke, but they went back to studying the sign as we worked our way toward the others. When we reached them I told Danlo to go on to camp, but asked him to warn everyone not to go north of my cave while outside. We hadn't inspected the tracks up that way yet and I wanted all the information out of them I could get. The cat's unhurried trip down through the midst of our camp had my curiosity up now.

Racaato, Raalto, and I continued for another mile but the history of the cat's trip remained the same. It wasn't in a hurry and it hadn't seemed to be hunting to either Raalto or Racaato. To them it was a surprise the cat just seemed to be traveling as if on a trip.

It confounded me too. What in hell could the damn thing have been doing, walking down the valley in the middle of the night? Racaato had already mentioned the tracks had been made either last night after the snow stopped or today. It was a mystery I was afraid we would never solve.