‘Stop freaking me out,’ I say.

‘Sorry.’

We layer on clothes, put on snowshoes, turn on our torches and start following their tracks. The snow is deep and it’s slow going. Jaxon calls out, whistles and calls out again, but there’s no response. I see a glow of light on the horizon—dawn. We walk through a valley, up and down a hill, and lose the footprints for a while in a cluster of trees. The sky is brightening, and soon we turn off the torch beams and with them, my fears of the dark. We find the tracks again. My head is spinning from lack of sleep and the cold.

‘I hear something.’ Jaxon stops dead and when I hold my breath, I can hear it too. A metallic sound, something shutting and clicking. ‘Let’s go to the top of the hill and try to get a better view,’ Jaxon whispers.

At the top of the small mountain, my breathing is rapid. Jaxon squints through his binoculars and suddenly freezes. He puts his hand out, pointing.

The light is still low, but I see them clearly, my father and Ralph crouched behind a tree in full camouflage gear. Adam is wearing a big backpack and Ralph holds a large gun. I follow their line of sight and see the head of a moose.

He’s absolutely huge, chocolate brown, long legs, shoulder hump and long snout—twice the size of a cow. A beard hangs from under his chin, and his antlers look like giant tree branches. The early morning sunlight makes his fur glow. He’s bent over, nibbling on the twigs of a small bush. A bird calls out.

I need to shout out. Tell them not to shoot. But for a moment, I just watch the moose, mesmerised.

Bang!

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

‘No!’ I shout, but my voice is drowned out by another bang! As the noise explodes, the moose falls onto his front legs.

‘Damn!’ Ralph yells. ‘Where did I get him? I still don’t think I got the neck; this snow is too damn deep, can’t keep steady.’

I wave frantically at my father and Ralph, but they don’t see us. The moose exhales a groan, deep as buried bones.

And then I’m running, my legs moving so fast I trip over myself, lose my snowshoes and roll down the hill.

‘No!’ I hear myself scream again, jumping back up. Despite the knee-deep snow, I’m next to the moose in seconds as he slowly falls to his side like a felled tree. Snow sprays up around him.

‘Sky!’ my father cries. ‘Get out of there!’