Lou listened, frozen, as the rustling grew louder. He was no expert at such things, but this was nothing small. In deciding not to leave Cap alone while he scaled the steep dirt and rock cliff and ran back to the lodge, abandoning him to the jaws of a carnivorous animal had never even been a consideration. Perhaps it was just a deer. Whatever was moving through the dense net of brush was closing on them fast.

A pit opened in Lou’s gut. Beside him on the ground was a thick, barkless branch he had rejected for the splint, but was keeping near in case he needed it for the litter. It was longer than his arm and capped at one end with a series of short spiked branches, giving it the heft and feel of a medieval mace.

Shirtless and shivering, scraped and bruised, Lou crouched in an attack stance, holding his weapon like a baseball bat. Cap lay on the ground nearby, eyes closed, breathing shallow and grunting, unaware of this newest danger. From the beginning, he had been going in and out of shock due to diminished blood volume and dilated vessels caused by pain. Cap was a fanatic about working out. Now, every minute spent toning his muscles and strengthening his cardiac status was going to be brought into play. But, as with everything biological, the ability to resist shock had its limits. Renal shutdown … cardiac arrhythmia … brain cell death. The window to getting Cap medical attention, especially fluid replacement, was closing fast.

Lou was uncertain whether to remain absolutely quiet or get noisy. No half measures.

“Who’s out there?” he suddenly heard himself shouting. “Anybody out there?”

No answer.

The sound of rustling bushes grew louder. Now Lou could see movement of the topmost branches. He gritted his teeth, tightened his grip on the rain-slicked club, and eased closer to Cap as the muscles in his arms, back, and neck tensed. His gaze was riveted on the spot where whatever was approaching would soon emerge. With a steadying breath, he raised his weapon.

Bear?… Wild boar?… Coyote?… Mountain lion?… Deer?…

To Lou’s astonishment, it was none of the above. The creature who entered the small clearing was human—a ragged, weathered man, tall and lanky, with a craggy face that was, for the most part, buried beneath a billowing, gnarled gray beard. His hair was tucked inside a hat made from the pelt of some black and tan animal.