Ho'Nehe
Author's Note: The title, God I hope it's right, but I believe it's the Cheyenne word for "wolf".
The bitter wind blew through the bare branches of the trees that populated the area. The wind found its voice in these denuded limbs and a strange, haunting whisper kept the lone rider company as his black horse with the blaze face carefully picked his way along the hard, frozen track. The unusual whispering made the rider uneasy and he hitched his shoulders to shake the chill that had crept along the back of his neck. He urged his horse into a faster clip and drew his coat tighter around his body.
The cold, unearthly whisper was relentless and it followed him along the path that was guarded on either side by twisted tree trunks. Warm and inviting in the summer months with their green foliage and in the fall with their blaze of russet and golden hues, the trees where now naked and forbidding as they showed bark blackened by the winter cold.
Isolated and alone in this desolate spot, the rider’s imagination began to create dangers that were not there. Shadows took on sinister forms. The crack of a branch weighted by too much snow made him swivel his head quickly to find the source of the noise. And through it all, there was the constant cold, soft whisper of the wind.
“I knew I shoulda stayed over in Blaine,” Vin Tanner mumbled as his eyes scanned the area around him. “Come on, boy,” he commanded Peso quietly.
The horse snorted once, his breath a plummey cloud of white and stepped a bit more quickly.
He had gotten a late start and knew that prudence dictated that he stay within the warm shelter of the town of Blaine rather than making the long trip back home. But Vin had grown uncomfortable in the bustling town that was a metropolis in comparison to Four Corners. Add to that the fact he had recognized two bounty hunters whom were once former colleagues, but were right now a threat to him, and Vin felt the need to head back home.
When he had spotted Case and Riley in the saloon, his first instinct was to greet them. While never close, they were friendly acquaintances. He had started forward, when he realized that he was no longer a fellow bounty hunter to these men, but their means of income. He had become a commodity to them, one that they needed in order to survive. Instead of sharing reminisces and a beer or two with Case and Riley, Vin had quietly slipped out of the saloon and gone to saddle his horse for the long, cold ride back to Four Corners.
Not that he would blame Case or Riley if they had tried to take him in. While they knew each other, Vin had not become friends with either man. There was no deep bond between him and the two men as there was between himself and the six men who were back in Four Corners. Case and Riley owed nothing to Vin Tanner and he in turn owed nothing to them.
He was once the hunter who had now become the hunted.
So lost was he in his private thoughts, that Vin did not notice Peso’s increasingly nervous behavior. The animal’s loud snort and abrupt toss of his head finally caught Vin’s attention.
“Whoa boy,” Vin said soothingly. One gloved hand firmly held the reins while the other patted the animal’s neck. “What’s wrong?”
He had stopped the horse, but he could feel Peso pulling to continue. The horse began to stomp his hooves and snort in loud, nervous spurts. His ears twitched constantly as though trying to pick up some elusive sound.
Vin’s eyes carefully scanned the landscape. Night had not fallen yet, but it was darker here where the trees grew. Even without their leaves, the twisted branches did much to block out the pale winter light.
The tracker cautiously looked around, every sense on alert for danger. He saw nothing, heard nothing.
“What do you think is out there, Peso?” Vin asked uneasily as he tried to find the source of the horse’s disquiet.
Peso’s agitation grew and grew and he leaned hard against the reins that held him back. His snorting became more nervous and his hooves danced a tune that spoke fear and imminent danger.
Every instinct told Vin that he should give the horse free rein and allow Peso to run as quickly and as far away from this desolate spot as possible. But those were the instincts of an animal that had long been repressed by man’s more evolved intelligence and reason. Vin held fast and made soothing noises to the horse even as he continued to scan the area for any sign of danger.
The ex-bounty hunter had been lulled into complacency and comfort over the past year. His senses were not as sharp as they used to be solely because he was no longer alone. Now, he had six other men watching out for him, so he had relaxed and allowed the finely tuned instincts of a man who was a hunter become dull and slow. But he was alone now. There was no other man to watch his back for any possible danger he might not see.
Had his senses been at the point they were a year ago, he may have sensed the threat before it was too late. However, Vin only had time to hear the slight hush footfall in the virgin snow to his left. It was no louder than the sound of snow falling from a tree branch, but it was repeated.
Distracted by this sound, Vin turned his head towards it and loosened his hold on the reins ever so slightly. Peso, sensing the slack in the lines and well aware of the approaching danger snorted loudly and bolted.
Vin uttered a loud yelp and felt himself tumble out of the saddle and land hard onto the pack snow that covered the road. With a small grunt of pain, he looked up into the direction of the noise he had heard moments before in time to see two large shadows rapidly approaching his way.
Wolves.
A mixture of dark and light gray fur, the two animals ran side by side towards what they sensed was possible prey and sustenance. Vin gasped in part terror and part surprise and he scrambled backwards, away from the approaching menace. Frantically, he fumbled for the mare’s leg in his holster. He had just pulled it out when one of the wolves leapt gracefully into the air and landed upon him.
Instinctively, Vin threw up a forearm to fend off the powerful jaws that descended upon his neck. The yellow, razor sharp teeth clamped down and tore through buckskin, cotton and wool to reach flesh and blood.
He sensed the other wolf launching himself towards him and his legs flailed out. He landed a fortunate blow on the wolf’s head that sent the large animal flying backwards into a bank of snow to lie stunned.
The wolf on Vin began to chew through his clothing and he felt the ferocious teeth tear through his skin to draw blood. Frantically, Vin tried to free his arm, but the animal held fast. When it had launched himself at the man, it had knocked the mares leg from Vin’s grasp. The gun now laid five feet from Vin’s hand.
He stared into the yellowish eyes of the creature as it continued to gnaw at his arm. Vin could feel warm blood soak his clothing and flow into the wolf ’s mouth as flesh was torn. In desperation, he began to punch the wolf with his other hand.
He landed a blow above the animal’s eye and stunned it enough for the wolf to loosen its grip slightly. Vin viciously yanked his arm free, feeling cloth and flesh tear further as it caught on the wolf’s teeth. He quickly pushed the animal off his body and rolled towards his weapon.
It was stunned only for a second and it hurled itself again at the tracker who had managed to grasp the gun. It landed on Vin again but before it’s jaws could fasten upon any part of him, he hit it with the mares leg. The creature was once again momentarily stunned, giving Vin enough time to prime and cock his gun. Snarling, it turned back to look at Vin, baring teeth that dripped in pink tinted saliva, colored by Vin’s blood.
Vin shoved the muzzle up against the torso of the wolf and pulled the trigger. The sound was muffled against the large body of the animal, but the wolf’s cry of pain and surprise was deafening. Its body jerked and fell heavily forward onto the tracker, the smell of burnt fur and blood filling the cold air.
With a grunt, Vin pushed the carcass off his upper body and sat up to look over at the other wolf. It had gained its senses and approached him with snarling menace. Hastily, Vin aimed and fired once more. He missed the animal, but he did frighten it.
The other wolf turned and began to race off towards the trees. Vin fired again, narrowly missing the fleeing creature and hitting the tree next to it.
Wearily, Vin slumped back down onto the road, the body of the dead wolf still lying across his legs. The adrenaline had kept pain at bay, but as the threat grew further way, the natural narcotic began to wear off. His wounded arm began to burn and throb. Through the torn opening of his clothing, he could see his arm was a mass of gnawed muscle and flesh with blood to cover it all. He was relieved not to see any bone showing, but the blood was still flowing freely.
Vin tore off his bandana from his neck and wrapped it around his arm. A poor bandage, but it was the best he could do right now. He looked around him and knew that Peso was far from where he was.
Slowly, painfully, he got to his feet. He looked down at the body of the wolf he had killed. He felt no satisfaction at what he did. He could clearly see the ribs of the great animal. The creature had been starving. From its size, he knew it was a buffalo wolf. There weren’t too many of its kind left. Most had been killed or driven into extinction by man when he made his way out west and slaughtered the source of the wolf’s sustenance. With a pang of regret, Vin realized he had played a part in driving this animal into oblivion for he too was once a buffalo hunter. It seemed rather fitting that this wolf would decide to make him its prey.
With a sigh that spoke of his situation and past regret, Vin turned towards the way that led to Four Corners. He would have to make his way home on his own two, quickly weakening legs as the precious blood that kept him alive continued to flow from his arm.
As he began to walk, the woods descended into quiet once more. The only sound was the crunch of hard snow under his feet and the soft, haunting whisper of the wind in the bare trees.
Vin shivered as another icy blast seemed to cut through his clothing. The bleeding had stopped, but he knew he had lost a fair amount of blood. He had no provisions and the majority of his ammunition was in his saddlebag that was with Peso whom he had seen neither hide nor hair of since the horse bolted. “Dumb horse,” Vin mumbled.
He grinned to himself. Who was the dumber animal? Peso was the one who wanted to head for the hills right before the wolves attacked, but it was Vin who had remained in that spot, trying to figure out what was going on. “Maybe not so dumb,” he amended.
He only had one shot left in his mare’s leg and two extra shells in his pocket. In this desolate stretch of road, he had not thought he would encounter much danger. The cold kept both man and animal under shelter, but the two wolves that had attacked him had been starving. Vin hoped he had sufficiently scared the one that survived off.
But he didn’t think so.
He had been walking for about an hour when he sensed it. The sensation of being watched by some unseen presence. The hairs on the back of his neck began to stand on end and a prickle of disquiet ran its chilly finger down his spine.
Was it the other wolf or some other predator? Vin wasn’t certain. If it was the other wolf, he had never known it to stalk its prey with such tenacity. Normally, an animal would think twice about attacking prey that had successfully fought it off. But this was a desperate wolf. Who knew what it might do?
Vin clutched his mare’s leg closer against his body. He tried to keep each and every one of his senses on high alert, but the pain of his wounds and the loss of blood was making him sluggish and unfocused.
There was a slight rustle to his left. Vin spun around and caught a fleeting glimpse of something running. A black shadow that didn't have any particular shape.
He saw the shadow out of the corner of his eye and spun again. There was nothing there.
Adrenaline and fear made his breath come out in small, rapid pants. Vin's eyes darted widely as he tried to pinpoint where the shadow was.
There was the sound of something landing solidly behind him. Vin turned and fired, the shot from the mare's leg echoing loudly in the stillness of the cold, winter's night.
There was nothing there.
Hastily, as fast as his wounded arm would allow him, Vin reloaded his weapon with the last two shells, his eyes constantly roving the area.
It was gone.
For now.
His eyes still glancing about him, Vin began continued his walk towards Four Corners. It was still there, the wolf. Still watching him. Waiting. It was choosing its moment before it would attack. Waiting for him to weaken, to be too tired to fight. It was a hunter and it knew how to stalk its prey.
He had hunted everything out West. Buffalo, turkey, deer, panthers and wolves. One time, before he was smart enough to know better, he had gone after this great big wolf because some fancy Easterner wanted its pelt. Vin had tracked it for days until he had the beast cornered in a small ravine. One clean shot was all it took. He could still see the wolf's body jerk in midair as the bullet hit him as he was springing to attack. The old wolf landed in a heap of gray and black fur, breathing heavily. It stared at Vin with its bottomless eyes as to say, "Are you a man now?" And then it died.
Guess this is payback time, Vin thought to himself as he trudged along.
Each step became more and more difficult. It felt as though lead weights had been attached to his feet. His vision blurred slightly a few times before he could focus his eyes again.
Town ain't too far, he kept saying to himself. It ain't too far. It ain't-
Rapid, soft footfalls on the snow were almost upon him before his slowed reflexes reacted. Vin turned and fired a shot that went wild, but distracted the approaching shadow enough to make it veer slightly off course. The shadow brushed past Vin and knocked him down.
Dazedly, he looked up into the yellow eyes of the wolf. It bared its teeth at Vin and snarled viciously.
The mare's leg had fallen from his hand and landed a few feet from him. Slowly, very slowly, Vin reached for it, but the wolf snarled even more fiercely. It was too far. He would never be able to get to it.
Holding his breath, Vin eased himself up on his knees and hands, his eyes never leaving the wolf, forcing it to look at his face. One hand gathered a fistful of snow and dirt from the road. Summing his courage and speed, he tossed the slush into the face of the wolf.
The wolf caught the missile full in the eyes. It yelped and began to shake its head. In that second of distraction, Vin leapt to his feet and began to run to the other side of the road.
The wolf was right on his heels. He dashed frantically knowing it was only a matter of seconds before the wolf brought him down like some deer and finally killed him.
Vin's feet skidded out from under him and he went sliding several feet across a slick surface. A pond. He was on a pond that had frozen over. The surface was as smooth as glass and very slippery. He heard the wolf's paws land hard on the ice and the scratching sound its nails made.
Vin stopped sliding and saw the wolf coming right at him. It had regained its balance much more quickly than Vin and it slowly came forward, walking carefully on the icy surface.
Just as slowly, Vin inched backwards, his eyes never leaving the wolf.
Inch by inch, the wolf drew nearer. The air was still except for the sound of them sliding across the ice and Vin's panting breath.
Still moving backwards, Vin pulled out his hunting knife, the only thing he had left. He knew though, with his injured arm, he was no match for the wolf.
Slowly, he crept backwards as the wolf came forward.
Then he heard it. A loud crack. A black, zigzagging line appeared on the ice. Similar branches appeared, arching out across the smooth, glass surface, marring the perfection of it.
The ice was breaking.
Vin risked a glance over his shoulder. He was close to shore. It was only a few feet away. He looked back at the wolf who was only about ten feet from him. He gripped the knife more securely when he heard a louder crack. A jagged line appeared between his legs and spread out towards the wolf.
With one last desperate burst of energy, Vin pushed off and propelled himself towards the shore right when the ice finally gave way. His torso landed on the edge and he felt his legs fall briefly into the cold water before he pulled them out. Vin turned to look at the wolf.
When Vin leapt, so had the wolf, but it landed heavily on the ice instead and fell through it into the cold water. It yelped loudly as it sank and began to thrash wildly around. The wolf whimpered and cried for help as the cold water pulled it down into the murky depths.
Panting, Vin watched the wolf struggle for its life. He stood and started to walk away. The wolf yelped again, halting Vin in his tracks. Conflict raged inside of him until one side won out. He turned to try to help the wolf just in time to see it sink one last time down into the water.
"Wolf?" Vin called out. He hurried to the edge and peered out into the pond. "Wolf!"
It was gone. Claimed by the cold waters, the wolf had slipped under never to be seen again until the pond thaws in the spring.
Emotionally and physically spent, Vin sank to the ground. He drew his knees up and dropped his head between them, too tired to move.
Cold began to seep into his body once again. His legs were wet and he had lost too much blood. It was only a matter of time before he too was claimed by winter.
He felt something warm nuzzle his arm. Too tired to be afraid, he looked up into a pair of warm, gentle eyes.
Peso.
"You ugly son of a bitch," he said lovingly as he stroked the horse's nose.
The horse snuffled against Vin, encouraging him to stand. It took a few moments to make his stiff legs respond, but he finally got up. Through a Herculean effort, he began to walk Peso up back to the road. He found his mare's leg and sheathed it before swinging up into the saddle.
With the last ounce of energy he had, he pointed the horse towards home and spurred him into a quick pace.
The trip was a blur to Vin, but Peso was a trusted creature. He got the tracker home. The next thing Vin knew, he was being surrounded by the other men.
"Looks like something attacked him. Something big." Nathan. Nathan was the only one who would be poking around his arm like that.
"He's wet too. We best get him up to your place, Nathan."
Two pairs of strong hands gripped him and carried him down the street and up the steps to Nathan's. Chris and Buck. He could smell the whiskey on Chris and the cheap perfume on Buck.
"I'll get Mary to help."
JD. The quick running footsteps on the hard packed street belonged to the youngest of them.
Oh, it was so nice and warm. He never thought one of Nathan's beds could feel so good.
He felt large, gentle hands pulling at his boots. Josiah. Chris and Buck would have been a lot clumsier.
Deft hands were helping him out of his jacket and shirt. Ezra. Them quick fingers come in handy sometimes.
Shit!
Not deft enough as the material of his shirt sleeve was torn away from his wounded arm.
"My God."
Mary. Not only was the voice a dead give away, but only she smelled that good. Sure as hell none of the other men did. He felt her clean away some of the blood.
"It ain't all that bad," Nathan murmured. "But he's going to need a lot of stitches. Looks like a wolf or something got to him. If Vin got it, you best go out and make sure it ain't diseased."
"On the road back from Blaine," Vin muttered. "A few miles out. But I don't think it was."
"It ain't going nowhere. We can look for it tomorrow at daybreak," Chris said.
"He'll be okay, but he ain't moving from here for a few days," Nathan continued.
"Don't wanna," Vin slurred.
"I bet you don't wanna," Nathan returned lightly. "Well, let's get something for his pain. The next bit ain't going to be nice."
Vin was already drifting off into a haze. He was safe now. Warm and secure. But before he dropped off completely, he remembered seeing one last thing in his mind: a wolf, standing proud and erect on top of a snow bank. The moon was behind it, highlighting its gray fur into silver strands. It was simply staring. Staring at him and cold and silent in the winter's night.
The End