I am not a big game hunter. However, my depiction of hunting a man-eating cat is an accurate one, as my source is James Corbett, a British officer who hunted man-eating tigers and leopards for the Indian government for thirty years. Mr Corbett wrote about his experiences in Man-Eaters of Kumaon, The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag, and The Temple Tiger and More Man-Eaters of Kumaon. I am deeply indebted to Mr Corbett for the information which helped make Tommy and Irisa's hunt more realistic.
The landscape Tommy and Irisa walked through would probably always seem strange to someone like Nolan who remembered the world before the Arkfall, but there was a weird beauty to it. The starkness of the mountains was softened as they melted into the distance and the plants which had not evolved over eons still presented colors and shapes pleasing to the eye. The air was fragrant with flowers that had been changed by technology but still attracted bees, themselves of a different form than the familiar insect but still producing honey. The very creatures flying overhead-one couldn't think of them as birds in the traditional sense-had all the grace as they swooped and soared of the avians that had disappeared forever. The only thing that hadn't changed was the sky, clouds drifting on the wind and dappling the ground with shadows as they cut off and revealed the sun.
The two deputies saw none of it. Intent on the trail they were following, they moved rapidly until it suddenly disappeared and Irisa squatted down, scanning the ground with puzzlement. "We have a clear drag mark this far…now there's this flattened patch of grass…" She mused half-aloud as Tommy peered over her shoulder.
"It looks like the cat shifted its grip," said the young man. "It started out holding the victim by the throat-that's why there's no blood and such a heavy drag." He pointed at some drops of blood. "It dropped the man here, then picked him up by the small of his back and carried him that way."
Irisa studied the ground again. "I see it now. There's a very faint drag…it's not going to be easy to follow." She stood up and frowned. "And the light's going. We're going to have to camp and start again in the morning."
"Great. There isn't a sizeable tree for over a mile." The Irathient looked at him questioningly and Tommy smiled ruefully. "The last time this happened, Clancy and me wound up staying out almost a week before we got the cat. That first night, we camped on the ground. Big mistake. We jumped at every noise, every shadow-I bet we saw a hundred bobcats coming for us and none of them real…After that, we slept in trees."
"Bobcats can't climb trees?"
"They can," said Tommy judiciously, "but a cat would find it very hard to climb up a tree without us hearing it."
"So we find a tree." Irisa gathered some rocks and made a small pile to mark the spot. Tommy nodded approvingly and they set off again, walking almost two miles before coming across a suitable tree.
"This ought to do." Tommy pointed to a large crotch where the trunk divided about twenty feet off the ground. "It won't be very comfortable, but we can sleep there tonight." He rummaged in his backpack. "I don't know about you but I'm starving." He opened a can and started to eat the contents cold and Irisa wrinkled her nose.
"What about a fire?"
Tommy shook his head. "These cats get real unpredictable when they turn man-eater. A fire is just as likely to draw the cat as scare it away and I don't want to do either with the light going."
They ate in silence, then climbed into the tree, settling down as best they could and trying to get comfortable as the sun set. Tommy opened a flask and offered it to Irisa. "Drink?"
"What is it?"
"Whisky." The Irathient shook her head and Tommy shrugged. "Okay, but it's starting to get cold. This isn't much of a substitute for a fire but it'll help keep you warm."
"I don't drink."
Tommy raised his eyebrows. "Ever?"
"Ever." Irisa turned her shoulder on the deputy. "I'm going to sleep." She closed her eyes, thinking about the one time she had tried drinking, four years ago…