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Image: Free Wallpaper from http://www.scenicreflections.com/ ~Sephrena.

Author's Note: Thank you Hope for your encouragement and help in editing. Thank you Sephrena for making the post appear professional. Most of all thank you to all who have commented or left Kudos. For those who have left comments, I answer them with what I hope is something witty and appreciated. ~Barbara.

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Chapter 31: The Plan
 
“Jesse and her... family can see better in the dark than the rest of us, so here is what we are going to do,” said Mr. Johnston. “We really don't know how far into the forest the men have run. I doubt that it's very far. They are probably watching us wondering if we will leave for the evening or if there is a way to get away. The trucks are disabled and we have the four wheelers, so that limits their ability to get away. They could try to wait until we are asleep and steal a vehicle or the horses. No doubt they probably heard the wolves howling. Man's ingrained fear of wolves will work to our favor.”

“Here is what I propose. We get on the Sheriff's PA system on his jeep and tell the bad guys that we will be bringing in dogs to track them in the morning if they survive the night. Also, we will tell them that the smell of the slaughtered animals has brought in a pack of wild wolves looking for an easy meal. We have the Sheriff tell them to come into camp with their weapons held high above their heads. If they don't come before dark we, we start a fire cook some of the beef and make ourselves at home. A little while after dark we have the wolves start howling all around the area.”

“Alex, you sound like you think the wolves are intelligent as we are,” the Sheriff said to Mr. Johnston.

“Sheriff, if you haven't noticed the large black wolf standing next to Jesse. He has been listening to every word we have been saying.”

“Come on Alex. That's just the young lady's pet. He is probably more tame than my shepherd at the house.”

Silver Ears bared his teeth and started growling at the sheriff. “Young lady you had better control your pet wolf,” warned the Sheriff.

“Sheriff, first, this is Silver Ears. He is the elder of the wild pack of wolves that lives on my ranch. He does things for me because he wants to and for no other reason. Second, he his more intelligent than most people I know. And third, if you or one of your men harm him or any member of the pack, your body will never be found. Do I Make Myself Clear!”

“Are you threatening me, Young Lady.”

Jesse stepped up nose to nose with the Sheriff. “Sheriff, I don't threaten. I promise, and I don't take kindly to boorish men who come on my property and threaten my family. If you would get you head out of your ass long enough to listen to Mr. Johnston, we can end this tonight without any more bloodshed, and you can claim credit for finally capturing the rustlers that have been eluding you.”

The Sheriff started sputtering. He had never had someone so young take him to task as this young woman was doing. His face was turning red as his anger rose. He started to speak when he felt the tingle in his arm and his chest tighten. He felt the nausea in his stomach as the pain in his arm and chest began to intensify. He knew he was having a heart attack. He tried to call out to his deputies, but the pain was just unbearable. It was a relief to black out.

Alex Johnston recognized the signs of the heart attack and step forward to catch the man to keep him from falling heavily to the ground. He called to the deputies who rushed to lend a hand and call for an ambulance. The helicopter was not available. It was still in route to Helena. The deputies were taking turns administering CPR. Jesse sat and started chanting. All that could looked in her direction wondering what the woman was doing. One of the deputies was from the local tribe of First Nations. He sat next to the woman, “She is a shaman” and then started following her chant.

Jesse found herself outside of her body looking down on the activity. She noticed the Sheriff standing a little way off doing the same thing. She walked over to him. “They are trying to save your life,” she said.

“I know. The doctors have been warning me that this was going to happen. Who are you? Are you an angel?”

“No, See the young lady that you have been mad at. That is me. I am a shaman.”

“So what are you doing here with me? Come to gloat?”

“No, Sheriff. You are a good man, but you have let the office get the best of you lately. I am here to offer you a choice. I can escort you to Coyote in which case you will leave this world, or I can help you begin to recover, but it may be a long recovery. You won't have too many residual effects from the heart attack like brain loss, but you will have to begin to take care of yourself. I can heal most of the damage done today, but the root cause will take time to heal.”

“I would like to stay.”

“Why?”

“I love my wife and it would hurt her badly for me to die, and I love doing things with my grandchildren, although the office of sheriff keeps getting in the way. I became sheriff to help people, not to enforce laws. I guess I have forgotten that lately. I need to get back to that.”

“I'll lead you back to your body. You'll be sore for awhile, but if you forget why you're going back you will have another heart attack.”

“I won't forget.”

“Okay. Are you ready?”

“Not for the pain, but for life yes.”

“Pain is part of life.” Jesse led the Sheriff back to his body and his heart started beating on its own. Jesse came out of her trance to watch the sheriff regain consciousness.

The deputy gave a sigh of relief, “I thought we lost you Sheriff.”

“I thought I was lost to. I am glad to be back among the living.”

“We are going to get you to the hospital. You rest. We have enough people here to catch the rest of the gang.”

“Sounds good. Do me one favor?”

“What's that, Sheriff?”

“Take good care of the young lady and her wolf pack. I have a feeling they may become more than just friends.” The Sheriff was loaded into a jeep and driven to the hospital. He would make the recovery that the young shaman had foretold.

The Deputy turned to older rancher, “You had a plan before the sheriff collapsed?”

“Yes. My idea was to announce our attention to stay through the night and bring in tracking dogs in the morning. I'm sure that the two that got away aren't far and are watching us hoping to steal a vehicle or a horse. We'll let them know that there is a pack of wolves in the area drawn by the smell of blood. If they don't come out before dark, we will have the wolves circle around and start howling. That should scare them enough they will give up. All we need to do is build a fire, cook some of this beef and wait.”

“Jesse can you tell Silver Ears the plan?”

“He already knows and has taken off to inform the others.”

A few minutes later, a wolf could be heard from the ridge where the family had taken up firing positions during the day. The young wolf wanted to run to the call of assembly, but she forced herself to stay in the camp. The howl of the wolf could be heard down the valley, and answering calls were heard.

The deputy then activated the PA system on the siren of his jeep to entice the escapees out of the forest. There was no immediate response, so the team decided to settle in for the night. The three deputies took the four wheelers off to get some wood for the fire. They wanted to be far enough away that the men in the forest couldn't jump them and take the vehicles.

Alex Johnston and his two sons took a carcass out of the refrigerated truck and began to carve steaks out of the most tender parts of it. The ranch owner looked in the butcher's truck to find a grate that the rustlers were using to cook on. She brought out the grate and began to look for water. The nearest source was close to the forest. If she wandered too close, then she might get caught and held hostage. She had seen too many movies where the heroine would wander off without thinking and get caught to be held hostage. She was going to stick close to camp. They would have to wait until the deputies came back before they could get the water needed. She decided she would explore the butcher's truck some more to look for a pot or something to boil water in.

Five minutes of searching provided two pots that needed to be cleaned and some potatoes to go with their meat. Her neighbors had finished cutting up the beef when the deputies came back with enough fire wood to last through the night. She sent the deputies to the creek to clean up the pots and to bring back plenty of water. Gabriel started the fire and had some good coals going by the time the deputies returned.

One of the deputies washed the potatoes and started them boiling in some water and started the other pot boiling for drinking water. The boiling process would kill any bacteria or virus in the water. They set the grate next to the pots and built up the fire so it burned off any residue from previous uses. The deputies brought out some plates and cups from their jeeps and some coffee. The wind had changed direction during the day and was blowing toward the forest. The smell from the cooking would penetrate some distance into the forest adding to the misery of the escapees if they were near enough to smell the food.

After everyone had eaten and they cleaned up, Silver Ears came back into the camp. {The weather is changing Far Wanderer. It may be raining by morning. We'll take refuge under the big moving cave if it does. We've smelled the others they are close by. I'm sure the human's plan will work. The others seemed to be restless.}

“Thank you, my friend. I could not eat all of this steak. You eat it and when this is over, we'll leave a carcass for you and the rest of the pack.”

The deputy called out over the PA system of his siren again making the demands of earlier. He added the news that it would be raining before morning, and to twist the knife just a little more, he added that the rain may turn to snow before sun up. If the men they were trying to catch were not locals or familiar with the local weather, they may not know about the spring weather. It has been a strange spring anyway as there have been some late snow falls.

The daylight faded toward dusk and took the warmth of the sun with it. Jesse and the Johnstons huddled closer to the fire sipping coffee and talking. Two of the deputies disappeared into the moonless night with night scopes on their rifles. The third remaining deputy sat with his back to the fire as if keeping it warm. He was actually keeping his eyes adjusted to the night as best as possible. If he had faced the fire he would have been totally night blind by the flames.

The deputy called the ranch owner over to him with out turning to face the fire. “I guess it is about time to turn your friends loose with some howls. Please relay that to Silver Ears.”

The young rancher was pleased that the Deputy put her pack on even par with the rest of the company. She walked back to the pack elder, “Are you ready to give the hunting howl?”

Silver Ears had been lying quietly next to her chair. He sat up grinning, “Let's do it.”

The two wolves walked a little ways into the dark and separated for full effect. Silver Ears being the elder would lead off the howls. He raised his voice and howled mightily and long. The howl was designed to frighten and separate prey from a herd. The rancher followed giving lung to her own howl. It was followed by howls in the forest. The party of hunters heard the crash of deer panicked by the howls trying to get away. They heard other animals nearby trying to find places among the trees to hide from the hunting pack.

The wolves closed in a little to the humans they were hunting and howled again. They could hear the men shooting wildly into the forest to scare them off, but as the shooting quit, the wolves howled again. There were no yelps, so the company knew that no wolf was hit.

The deputy called on his PA system, “The wolves smell your fear and are circling. They can see you, but you can't see or smell them. You still have a chance if you come out of the forest where we can protect you.”

The butcher's aide had enough, “Sheriff, I'm coming out don't shoot.” He held his weapon above his head as he emerged from the forest.

“Slowly walk toward us until you get to the creek then lie down away from your weapon.” The scared man did as he was told and as he lay on the ground a deputy came out of the dark to cuff him and hurried him back into camp.

“Who is the other man in the forest,” demanded the deputy of the captured man.

“His name is Mike. He was the one who killed the cattle we were processing. He seemed to take a perverse pleasure in it. He was going to kill the prisoners before we left, so they couldn't identify us. The helicopter flew over and spooked him. I don't think he will give up easily.”

The deputy decided that waiting out the man was infinitely better than trying to get killed by going in to the woods after him. “Jesse, have your wolves howl again, then call them back. It's going to get cold and wet soon which should take some of the fight out the fugitive. We'll have to set up watches through the night to make sure he doesn't sneak past us or into camp.”

{We will have a member of the pack stand a watch with which ever humans are watching.} said Silver Ears. The girl interpreted the messages between the deputy and the wolf. The pack elder gave voice to the hunting howl, and was answered by several other wolves. Jesse was counting the number of howls when the sound of automatic gun fire erupted in the forest. The fugitive was firing blindly at the wolves to scare them off. Again, they heard no yelp of one of the animals getting hit. The elder called to the wolves to gather to him, and as they answered back the man in the forest fired his weapon again. The company could tell by the gun fire the man was nervous with the wolves around, but not being able to see in the darkness meant he couldn't hit them. The most he was hoping for was to chase them off.

When the pack members arrived, the elder informed them of the plans for the night. He would take first watch with their human pack member. The others would take refuge out of the rain under the moving cave.

Alex Johnston asked Jesse to take first watch with him. This would give them a chance to talk and later when it started raining the girl would be in her tent out of the weather. “I understand that my son is smitten with you. I can see why. You are beautiful and fearless even if a tad bit...Well, I don't know what to call it, but you don't back down.”

“My grandfather called it stubborn, but I learned I had to stand up for myself early on. If I came home telling my father that I was being bullied at school, he just told me to suck it up and be a man. I had to fight back to protect myself.”

“Why would he tell you to be a man?”

“Because I was a boy at the time.”

“Don't you mean a tomboy?”

“No, I was actually a boy.”

“But you make such a pretty girl, I can't believe you were ever a boy.”

“I was and I was happy to be a boy.”

“Then why did you change?”

“That is a long story.”

“We have time and it will keep us awake during our watch.”

“How much do know about my family?”

“Your grandfather and my father were always fighting over the same girl until he went to Vietnam. They were best friends until they started noticing girls. They were always pulling pranks on each other. They drifted apart when you grandpa went to Nam. Bill could've not gone to Nam, but his Native American Heritage wouldn't let him shirk what he thought was his duty.

“When your grandparents married, my father breathed a sigh of relief that Bill wouldn't steal my mother. Your grandfather didn't try, and my father didn't have any reason to think my mother would leave him, but they had the same taste in women and my father... Well, let’s just say he was nervous about things until the marriage.

“Your grandmother was a God fearing woman and kind to everyone she met. Her influence seemed to mellow your grandfather, but she couldn't turn him from his beliefs in the old gods of his ancestors. Oh she tried and got him into church a few times. I think he like the singing, but as for the message, he just didn't have much use for it. Still, if I had to pick one member of the community that displayed the love of God more than anyone else, it would have been your grandparents. They were always there to help and tried to help in such away that a man maintained is pride.

“Your father and his sister were born a few years after Bill and Joanne married. They were only two years apart. It seemed every time your father had a growth spurt, your aunt had one too. They were about the same size until your father hit puberty and then he shot up like a weed. Unfortunately, by that time he was an angry young man. I was a couple of years ahead of him in school and watched him get bullied because he was small and scrawny. He used to get into fights if someone looked at him wrong. He hated the fact that he was the same size as your aunt. He fought with her constantly. He didn't show any emotion when she died.

“Your grandmother lost it when your aunt died, and Roy wasn't there to comfort her. Your aunt was a bit of a tomboy and I tried to date her when she was older, but she had eyes for another boy. She died the night they broke up. There was a big fight in a restaurant, she stormed out, and on her way home she must have been crying so hard she didn't see the semi run a stop sign. The driver had been on the road for so long he must have blacked out. He was just a few miles from his home and thought he could make it. The semi driver was fired and started drinking. He died when his car ran off the road and struck a tree.

“Your grandparents had been friends with the other family. They knew how badly the man felt about killing their daughter and tried to get him help. His wife decided she couldn't live in the community any more and moved east to live with her daughter. When she left she gave her home place to Bill and Joanne. I don't know what happened to the place after that. Joanne became depressed until you came along. I know she doted on you as she would go on and on about you when they came to visit.”

“You must've really cared for my aunt. I can hear it your voice.”

“I did, but your grandparents were there for me as well. When I was sixteen, Dad and I had a falling out over something stupid. I don't even remember the event, but I took off. I got as far as your place when I ran out of gas. I would've filled up at the ranch as usual, but I was a hot headed teen and had to leave. Bill was working on a tractor in the barn when I came walking up. We exchanged pleasantries and I asked for enough gas to make it to town. He asked why I hadn't filled up at the ranch and I told him I wasn't going back. He didn't ask why or nothing. He just asked me for a wrench. The next thing I knew we had torn down the tractor and rebuilt it late into the night. He had let me talk about my troubles with my dad and what led up to the argument.

“I finally realized that what caused the falling out wasn't worth the drama or the grief I was putting my father through. We put some gas into my truck, and before I left, he told me if I ever get that angry again or if I just need to talk come on back and we would rebuild the tractor again. I asked him what he does with his own son when they get to where they couldn't talk. He told me he would give him a tent and a horse and send out to on a ride until he felt they could talk again. Come to think of it. I never did see that old tractor run, but he was always rebuilding it.”

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To Be Continued...