THE HUNTER, part 2
Marguerite was not the most patient woman to have ever been born. When she ran out of excuses to search around the vase of the treehouse, she took to making a circlet of the balconies. Five to ten or maybe even fifteen minutes on each one looking for Roxton to return to her. After all he had said that he would always be with her, to look after her soul as he had put it to her one night after the nightmare of their encounter with Ossric.
Her nervousness was, however, beginning to wear on Summerlee. He too was becoming anxious for Roxton to return. He knew the man could take care of himself, but taking care of Marguerite was a wholly different matter. He felt that if he did not take action soon, Marguerite would work herself into a very bad frame of mind and that would in turn lead to her doing something very rash. Like heading out into the jungle to find John.
"This simply will not do," he said aloud. "Marguerite...when do you think John will be back? Soon maybe? When do you think we should begin preparing lunch for the others? You know it's close to one o'clock and Challenger is always famished after collecting specimens, you know."
"What did you say professor? I couldn't hear you over those squawking birds."
"I asked if you think John will be back soon. It's been an awfully long time since he left."
"I-I'm not sure. I think he's has been out there too long on his own. There are things out there that could hurt him." Marguerite replied. "But, hey, what do I know about hunting? He could be having the time of his life for all I know." She hugged herself and started to pace around.
She refused to say that some of the things out in the jungle could kill Roxton. To Summerlee, she sound as if she was trying to convince herself that John was safe.
"Marguerite" he said quietly."What would you need to go out there and bring him back?" he asked softly. If she accepted this challenge that he laid gently before her, he knew that he could keep her safe until the others returned.
"You'd help me? To go out there and get him?"She lifted her head up. Taking a deep breath she started into a list of what she would need.
"Malone's rifle. He's always leaving it behind. It should be over by the desk." She was off searching for what she would need before Summerlee could say a word. Instead, he just smiled, knowing that he could keep her safe.
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Roxton quickly analyzed what had just taken place before him. The t-rex had long deep scars running down its sides, over the rib area. It seems to be, thought Roxton that this rex has been on the receiving end of Mummy's bite.
Once rex was gone, the tree adult raptors looked to Mummy. She squawked at them and as they went back to finish their meal, she went back into the undergrowth. By watching the shaking of various bushes, he was just able to track her movements. She was defiantly headed in the direction of his tree. Roxton decided to take his chances up in the tree. He doubted that he would have a chance against her on foot. Mummy is just too smart for her own good, as far as Roxton was concerned. She would be a big danger to them all, epically Veronica if she stayed here to look for her parents. And besides, he really did not want to spend the night up in a tree. With the strange way things were going on around him, he half expected to see Marguerite come marching through the jungle to find him. He could just picture her fighting through the jungle, dragging the rest of their party along behind her. If for once, life worked out the way he hoped it would, Marguerite would always be by his side no matter where he went on safari. He thought of their life together as days filled with adventure and nights filled with passion. Maybe, just maybe, fate would be kind to him after all the cruelty it had inflected on him, he mused idly.
Down below, at the base of the tree, Mummy and her babies settled down for a nap. A little later, the rest of the pack wonder over, and arranged themselves around Mummy with the babies in the middle, protected from harm.
Roxton had lost track of Mummy while daydreaming and cursed softly under his breath. Then he noticed that the three adults that had been feeding were also gone. The carcass of the heard beast looked as if it had been picked clean. Roxton began to think that the pack had moved on until, as he began to start his climb down to the floor of the jungle. Only two branches down from his blind, his heart stopped. His fanciful daydreams came crashing down around him as he tightened his grip on the tree branches. Without thinking about it, he slowly moved back up into his blind. Instead of racing with possibilities, his mind went blank. All he could do was breathe. A sleeping nightmare of fangs and claws waited below for him to step into.
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"How do you know that? If Roxton's hurt you'll need at least one, if not two of those first aid kits. Now, back to work on these last four. The sooner we're done the soon you can go after him."
Marguerite dropped the bowl of leaves she was holding for Summerlee. She went pale and collapsed to the floor before Summerlee could catch her.
"Oh, god, He's in trouble, bad trouble. I have to go to him. Now." Her hand griped tight to the gold locket that she always wore over her heart. The sudden heavy weight on her heart lessened slowly as she began to plan a course of action.
"I know dear." Summerlee realized that he could not stall Marguerite any longer. She looked up at him from where she sat on the floor. Her eyes meet his.
"Summerlee, I don't know how to survive in the jungle. All the ammo in the world won't help me to save him." She started to cry. "John could be about to die if he doesn't get help soon and I can't do it on my own. Damn it, damn it, damn it. I don't know what to do!" As Marguerite cried into Summerlee's shoulder the elevator rumbled to life. Summerlee sent a thank you to the maker for the help he'd received in finding ways to Marguerite safe and for the help that had just arrived.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Slowly, Roxton's mind started to work again. The clam, cool head that he had cultivated as a world-class hunter came to life.
He began to put together a plan that just might get him out of this mess. He had climbed up in to the tree to what he guessed was about forty feet. There were too many branches between him and the raptors too just aim his rifle and shoot them. He stood a better chance of shooting a leaf than a raptor he mused. If he did try to pick them off from up in the tree, he would have to move down to lower braches to get a clear shoot off at them. The disadvantage to this was the raptors ability to jump very high. All one of them had to do was get a claw on his foot or leg and it would all be over for him.
But they do have full bellies and have been out for a bit, he thought. If I could take one out, the rest will wake up and could find me. No, make that they will find me. Either the sound from the rifle or my climb back up the tree will tell them exactly where I am. If I could take out one of the raptors, it'll have to be Mummy. If she's gone the others may revert back to their base instincts and go into a feeding frenzy. If they do that, they won't come after me. I hope. Maybe there's still a little room left in their bellies for a little more food. Well John me lad, there's no sense in wasting time. Let's get this over with.
Roxton started to move slowly and as quietly as he could down the tree branches. A bit of regret began to seep in to the hunter's heart the closer he moved to his target. He wished that he could hunt Mummy one-on-one. She would've been my greatest hunt and possibly my last one, he thought. He stopped about fifteen feet from the ground. At this point the branches were sparse and would allow him an almost clear shot. He would also be able to move back up the tree with little effort. He slid his bolt-action rifle off the back of his shoulder and brought it up in to position. Through the eyepiece mounted atop the rifle, he found one of the babies and when he moved to the left, he found her. She was resting her head across the bodies of both babies. The sense of regret urged him to aim for the spot just behind her closed eye. He thought she would have made a magnificent trophy on his wall. He drew in a breath and steady himself. One shot would be all he could safely get off. He also did not want Mummy to suffer. With his next breath he gently squeezed the trigger. Before the recoil of the rifle moved his line of sight, he saw Mummy's eye open and look directly at him. He could not take the time to see if he had made a clean shot. Slinging his rifle over his shoulder, he started climbing back up the tree to safety. He had expected to hear hissing and screeching. Instead he heard nothing but the birds over head. He stopped his upward rush and crouched down. Extending both arms out in front of him, he held on to a branch in front of him. Looking down, he could see the other adult raptors looking up at him. They did nothing else. Still as statues, they just stared at Roxton.
Roxton leaned back against the truck of the tree. He moved his rifle in front of him to empty the spent cartridge shell and load another round. With the rifle ready, he took the chance to kill another adult without stopping to think about what he was doing. He worked his way back down to the branch where'd he shot Mummy. He drew a bead on the raptor closest to him. The three adults continued to stare at him doing nothing. He squeezed the trigger. The shot went through the head of the raptor with a cloudburst of blood. Still, the other raptors just stared at him, still doing nothing. He quickly emptied the used shell from the rifle and took aim at the next raptor, felling it. He reloaded again and shot the last one. He lowered his rifle and looked at the dead raptors. Four in all lay dead on the ground surrounding the base of the tree. Breathing heavily, Roxton wiped his sleeve across his brow to keep the sweat out of his eyes. The hunter in him did not like what had just happened. It seemed as if he had simply slaughtered the reptiles in clod blood. They had just stood still like targets in a child's shooting gallery. Their actions, or rather, lack there of, confused him. He could see no reason for the irrational behavior of these creatures.
Marguerite was not the most patient woman to have ever been born. When she ran out of excuses to search around the vase of the treehouse, she took to making a circlet of the balconies. Five to ten or maybe even fifteen minutes on each one looking for Roxton to return to her. After all he had said that he would always be with her, to look after her soul as he had put it to her one night after the nightmare of their encounter with Ossric.
Her nervousness was, however, beginning to wear on Summerlee. He too was becoming anxious for Roxton to return. He knew the man could take care of himself, but taking care of Marguerite was a wholly different matter. He felt that if he did not take action soon, Marguerite would work herself into a very bad frame of mind and that would in turn lead to her doing something very rash. Like heading out into the jungle to find John.
"This simply will not do," he said aloud. "Marguerite...when do you think John will be back? Soon maybe? When do you think we should begin preparing lunch for the others? You know it's close to one o'clock and Challenger is always famished after collecting specimens, you know."
"What did you say professor? I couldn't hear you over those squawking birds."
"I asked if you think John will be back soon. It's been an awfully long time since he left."
"I-I'm not sure. I think he's has been out there too long on his own. There are things out there that could hurt him." Marguerite replied. "But, hey, what do I know about hunting? He could be having the time of his life for all I know." She hugged herself and started to pace around.
She refused to say that some of the things out in the jungle could kill Roxton. To Summerlee, she sound as if she was trying to convince herself that John was safe.
"Marguerite" he said quietly."What would you need to go out there and bring him back?" he asked softly. If she accepted this challenge that he laid gently before her, he knew that he could keep her safe until the others returned.
"You'd help me? To go out there and get him?"She lifted her head up. Taking a deep breath she started into a list of what she would need.
"Malone's rifle. He's always leaving it behind. It should be over by the desk." She was off searching for what she would need before Summerlee could say a word. Instead, he just smiled, knowing that he could keep her safe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Roxton quickly analyzed what had just taken place before him. The t-rex had long deep scars running down its sides, over the rib area. It seems to be, thought Roxton that this rex has been on the receiving end of Mummy's bite.
Once rex was gone, the tree adult raptors looked to Mummy. She squawked at them and as they went back to finish their meal, she went back into the undergrowth. By watching the shaking of various bushes, he was just able to track her movements. She was defiantly headed in the direction of his tree. Roxton decided to take his chances up in the tree. He doubted that he would have a chance against her on foot. Mummy is just too smart for her own good, as far as Roxton was concerned. She would be a big danger to them all, epically Veronica if she stayed here to look for her parents. And besides, he really did not want to spend the night up in a tree. With the strange way things were going on around him, he half expected to see Marguerite come marching through the jungle to find him. He could just picture her fighting through the jungle, dragging the rest of their party along behind her. If for once, life worked out the way he hoped it would, Marguerite would always be by his side no matter where he went on safari. He thought of their life together as days filled with adventure and nights filled with passion. Maybe, just maybe, fate would be kind to him after all the cruelty it had inflected on him, he mused idly.
Down below, at the base of the tree, Mummy and her babies settled down for a nap. A little later, the rest of the pack wonder over, and arranged themselves around Mummy with the babies in the middle, protected from harm.
Roxton had lost track of Mummy while daydreaming and cursed softly under his breath. Then he noticed that the three adults that had been feeding were also gone. The carcass of the heard beast looked as if it had been picked clean. Roxton began to think that the pack had moved on until, as he began to start his climb down to the floor of the jungle. Only two branches down from his blind, his heart stopped. His fanciful daydreams came crashing down around him as he tightened his grip on the tree branches. Without thinking about it, he slowly moved back up into his blind. Instead of racing with possibilities, his mind went blank. All he could do was breathe. A sleeping nightmare of fangs and claws waited below for him to step into.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How do you know that? If Roxton's hurt you'll need at least one, if not two of those first aid kits. Now, back to work on these last four. The sooner we're done the soon you can go after him."
Marguerite dropped the bowl of leaves she was holding for Summerlee. She went pale and collapsed to the floor before Summerlee could catch her.
"Oh, god, He's in trouble, bad trouble. I have to go to him. Now." Her hand griped tight to the gold locket that she always wore over her heart. The sudden heavy weight on her heart lessened slowly as she began to plan a course of action.
"I know dear." Summerlee realized that he could not stall Marguerite any longer. She looked up at him from where she sat on the floor. Her eyes meet his.
"Summerlee, I don't know how to survive in the jungle. All the ammo in the world won't help me to save him." She started to cry. "John could be about to die if he doesn't get help soon and I can't do it on my own. Damn it, damn it, damn it. I don't know what to do!" As Marguerite cried into Summerlee's shoulder the elevator rumbled to life. Summerlee sent a thank you to the maker for the help he'd received in finding ways to Marguerite safe and for the help that had just arrived.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Slowly, Roxton's mind started to work again. The clam, cool head that he had cultivated as a world-class hunter came to life.
He began to put together a plan that just might get him out of this mess. He had climbed up in to the tree to what he guessed was about forty feet. There were too many branches between him and the raptors too just aim his rifle and shoot them. He stood a better chance of shooting a leaf than a raptor he mused. If he did try to pick them off from up in the tree, he would have to move down to lower braches to get a clear shoot off at them. The disadvantage to this was the raptors ability to jump very high. All one of them had to do was get a claw on his foot or leg and it would all be over for him.
But they do have full bellies and have been out for a bit, he thought. If I could take one out, the rest will wake up and could find me. No, make that they will find me. Either the sound from the rifle or my climb back up the tree will tell them exactly where I am. If I could take out one of the raptors, it'll have to be Mummy. If she's gone the others may revert back to their base instincts and go into a feeding frenzy. If they do that, they won't come after me. I hope. Maybe there's still a little room left in their bellies for a little more food. Well John me lad, there's no sense in wasting time. Let's get this over with.
Roxton started to move slowly and as quietly as he could down the tree branches. A bit of regret began to seep in to the hunter's heart the closer he moved to his target. He wished that he could hunt Mummy one-on-one. She would've been my greatest hunt and possibly my last one, he thought. He stopped about fifteen feet from the ground. At this point the branches were sparse and would allow him an almost clear shot. He would also be able to move back up the tree with little effort. He slid his bolt-action rifle off the back of his shoulder and brought it up in to position. Through the eyepiece mounted atop the rifle, he found one of the babies and when he moved to the left, he found her. She was resting her head across the bodies of both babies. The sense of regret urged him to aim for the spot just behind her closed eye. He thought she would have made a magnificent trophy on his wall. He drew in a breath and steady himself. One shot would be all he could safely get off. He also did not want Mummy to suffer. With his next breath he gently squeezed the trigger. Before the recoil of the rifle moved his line of sight, he saw Mummy's eye open and look directly at him. He could not take the time to see if he had made a clean shot. Slinging his rifle over his shoulder, he started climbing back up the tree to safety. He had expected to hear hissing and screeching. Instead he heard nothing but the birds over head. He stopped his upward rush and crouched down. Extending both arms out in front of him, he held on to a branch in front of him. Looking down, he could see the other adult raptors looking up at him. They did nothing else. Still as statues, they just stared at Roxton.
Roxton leaned back against the truck of the tree. He moved his rifle in front of him to empty the spent cartridge shell and load another round. With the rifle ready, he took the chance to kill another adult without stopping to think about what he was doing. He worked his way back down to the branch where'd he shot Mummy. He drew a bead on the raptor closest to him. The three adults continued to stare at him doing nothing. He squeezed the trigger. The shot went through the head of the raptor with a cloudburst of blood. Still, the other raptors just stared at him, still doing nothing. He quickly emptied the used shell from the rifle and took aim at the next raptor, felling it. He reloaded again and shot the last one. He lowered his rifle and looked at the dead raptors. Four in all lay dead on the ground surrounding the base of the tree. Breathing heavily, Roxton wiped his sleeve across his brow to keep the sweat out of his eyes. The hunter in him did not like what had just happened. It seemed as if he had simply slaughtered the reptiles in clod blood. They had just stood still like targets in a child's shooting gallery. Their actions, or rather, lack there of, confused him. He could see no reason for the irrational behavior of these creatures.