Warriors for Wildlife is a serial novel, with a new episode published each week. Start from the beginning with the prologue and contents, or jump right into Episode One. If you are enjoying this project, I encourage you to purchase the prequel War on Wildlife trilogy!
Episode Nine - Lighting the Fuse
Caleb was awakened by Pam unzipping her backpack. His eyes were still blurry from the previous night’s beer and the brutal dryness of the Rocky Mountain West. He watched her turn her back, pull off her shirt, and quickly slip a hooded sweatshirt over her topless form before crawling toward the tailgate.
“Are you okay?” asked Caleb.
“I’m fine, I just need to find the outhouse.”
“Yeah, me too,” he replied. “I’ll go with you.”
Caleb emerged from his bag and slipped on his hiking shoes without bothering to tie them. He reached outside and opened the tailgate. “Did you sleep well?”
“Best night’s sleep I’ve had in a while. Thank you Caleb.”
“I slept hard too, probably the beer.”
“I haven’t felt safe enough to sleep like that in a while.”
Caleb cast her a sideways glance, but didn’t follow up.
As the two walked side by side toward the outhouse, Pam said, “I don’t have a good feeling about today.”
“I don’t either, but I’m here to document it either way.”
“Can I ride up to the courthouse with you?”
“Of course.”
A large crowd had already gathered outside the building by the time they arrived at the courthouse in Easton.
Caleb reached into the back seat and pulled out a couple of camping chairs. “I guess we might as well make ourselves comfortable. It’s probably going to be a long day.
“Let’s set up under those big trees over by the park,” Pam suggested.
“Good idea, we’ll have some shade when the sun gets hot.”
As they rested and sipped water, others arrived and set up pillows, lawn chairs, and blankets to wait out the hearings.
“What are we going to do if he gets nothing?” wondered Pam.
“Nothing much we can do,” replied Caleb. “Don’t stress though, we are playing the long game. We will use whatever comes out of today to raise awareness. Today we have a world stage, and we’ll make the best of it.”
“That’s a good way to look at it.”
Pam turned her chair into the sun and pulled her leather cowboy hat down over her eyes. Caleb stared at the black-haired beauty next to him, and wasn’t quite sure what to make of his new partner in the war for wildlife. He knew nothing about her, but knew for sure that he admired her spirit. It had taken a lot of grit to get all the way from South Dakota to stand up for a single insignificant wolf pup.
From her rhythmic breathing, he could tell she was sound asleep, and he wondered what demons had kept her awake before he arrived the night before. A moment later, he pulled out his phone and texted Angie: “I’m at the courthouse, waiting for the sentencing announcement. How is your day going?”
He was surprised to receive her reply almost immediately. “We’re fine, almost ready for the weekend’s fashion show. Oh, and Jessie and I both got our concealed carry licenses.”
“That’s awesome Angie. How’s Michelle?”
“She’s kind of moping around. I think she misses you, or maybe she just upset about missing the adventure.”
“Oh, I know. She doesn’t like being left behind, but I really feel better having her there, with her knowledge of guns and all. Tell her I appreciate what she’s doing, and she will definitely be included in the next adventure.
“I’ll let her know. When are you coming home?”
“I’m thinking I’ll get some sleep tonight and head back in the morning.”
“Okay, I hope you’re here for the weekend show. It’s going to be amazing!”
“I’m sure it will be, and I will do everything I can to be there!”
“Okay Caleb, be safe.”
“You know me!”
Angie laughed, “I know, that’s what I’m worried about.”
He chuckled, “It’ll be okay this time.”
He put the phone back in his vest pocket, and noticed a commotion in the lobby. It appeared that officers were leading Daniel Martin to the front door, indicating perhaps that the ruling had been made. Pam was still sleeping soundly, so Caleb reached over to gently touch her shoulder. She awoke with a start and stared at Caleb for a few seconds, as if unsure where she was or who was waking her up. Her confused expression quickly softened into a look of sad longing, and she asked, “What’s going on?”
“Something’s going on, I think they are bringing him out.”
Suddenly fully awake, she took a deep breath and turned toward the building in anticipation. “Is that him?” she asked.
“I think so.”
Suddenly, a crowd of reporters with large cameras rolling pushed ahead of everyone else and began shouting questions. There was no way for Caleb and Pam to break through the wall of onlookers at that point, so they just sat still and waited for information. Meanwhile, Martin was rushed to a nearby police cruiser and whisked away while court representatives addressed the press.
Caleb and Pam watched intently as reporters began packing up their gear. The crowd of support personnel also began to disperse, departing in different directions. A grim faced well dressed staff member walked in their direction, and Pam rushed out to quiz him. Caleb got a bad feeling when the man wearily shook his head, indicating the sentencing had not gone well.
Pam slowly walked back to fill Caleb in on the results, her demeanor a mix of bitter disappointment and dejection. Caleb looked at her sadly and said, “I surmise it did not go well.”
“No, just a slap on the wrist. No jail time to deter the next asshole who gets a notion to abuse a wolf.”
“What then, just the two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar fine?”
“No, a thousand dollar fine and eighteen months probation with no hunting or going to bars.”
“Big deal, he misses one hunting season and then he’s right back at it,” commented Caleb
“Yeah, that’s about right.”
“Do you want to hit the pub for a beer?”
“Yeah, I could use a drink after all this.”
Caleb pulled out his phone and searched for pubs in town. “Looks like walking distance to the closest one.”
“Sounds good to me,” she replied.
“Okay, let’s load up this stuff first.”
Many cowboy hats swiveled to stare when the two wildlife advocates took a seat at the bar.
“Looks like we’re not too popular here,” commented Pam.
“Well, we’re here now... We have to at least have one drink.”
The bartender walked over and asked, “What can I get you today?”
“I’ll have a draft,” replied Caleb.
“Same,” added Pam.
Soon they were sipping cold beer when Caleb interjected, “Oh, shit.”
Pam turned just in time to see a mountain of a man, with a full beard and a dirty cowboy hat, moving toward them, with a scowl on his face. “Look boys, a couple of snowflakes in town to see what we do with strangers getting in our business.”
No one else moved, but the man kept coming.
As the man neared, Caleb swiveled on his chair into a better defensive position. The big cowboy sidled up to Pam and knocked her hat off. “Hey Pocahontas, how about you and me go out back and have a little fun!”
As the giant reached for her neck, Caleb whirled around. As he struck, the sickening sound of cracking bones reverberated around the bar. Caleb had broken the man’s leg at the knee, and he crumpled, screaming, to the floor. Two of his friends rushed Caleb, who downed the first one with a throat punch and the second with a crushing blow to the diaphragm. With both of them on the floor, one gasping for air and the other clutching his knee, Caleb took Pam by the arm and said, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
They quickly exited the building, and Pam pointed down an alley. “This way,” she exclaimed.
The two of them ran down the alley, and then circled back to Caleb’s truck. “Stay down,” Caleb said to Pam as he wheeled around onto one of the back roads. Caleb spotted a few men pouring out of the bar, but they didn’t seem to recognize his vehicle.
“I need to pick up some of my stuff at the campground, can you take me there?” asked Pam.
“Sure, we’ll swing back through there real quick.”
They arrived to a cloud of dust, chaos, and people’s belongings scattered everywhere.
“What the hell happened here?” Caleb asked a distressed looking woman who was fleeing the scene on foot.
“Bunch of guys in pickup trucks,” she said. “They tied a rope between their trucks and drove through the camp, dragging everyone’s stuff everywhere.”
“Damn,” commented Pam. “How am I going to find my stuff in this mess?”
“What did you have here?”
“My cooler and some food, a bag of extra clothes.”
“Okay, well let’s split up and take a walk through the camp. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
A quick walk through the camp yielded little, just a smashed cooler and a couple of dusty articles of clothing, reduced to rags under the wheels of 4x4 trucks.
“What are you going to do?” asked Caleb.
“I don’t know,” replied Pam.
“Do you need a ride to a bus station?”
“No, I don’t have a ticket and I don’t have any money left.”
“Do you need a ride back home to South Dakota?”
“South Dakota isn’t my home anymore.”
“What are you saying?”
“I couldn’t pay the rent after my ex split, so I just packed up a few items and bought a bus ticket here.”
Tears welled in her eyes as she gazed into Caleb’s dirt-caked face. He watched with a heavy heart as a single tear cut a clean trail through the dust on her cheek. In that instant, he knew he couldn’t leave her there… stranded in the middle of nowhere, destitute and alone.
Episode Eight «««< >»»»Episode Ten
