Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

“Quit fuckin’ with that thing, shithead!”

The mountain lion hissed and swiped at the stick Walt poked between the metal bars. The animal was old and skinny with a mangy coat. Not the specimen Clem was expecting for this private hunt, but it was the best he could find. They’d lugged the animal in a cage barely big enough to hold it on the back of their largest four-wheeler to the isolated cabin. The client had delayed four times over the holidays and now had delayed again. At this rate, they’d be lucky to have this fucking hunt at all. That left Clem stuck with a mountain lion that he had to feed. He’d already paid for the damn thing, and getting another one would be impossible this time of year. He hoped it ate leftover dog food.

“If that asshole don’t get here soon, I’ll shoot the cat myself.” Clem’s fierce thoughts were accompanied by a thwack of his ax as he swung to split another log. Six. Six hides had been ruined. Not because of them or their process, but because some fucking scavengers had discovered the cabin and torn into the stretching frames and upset the curing barrels. Had to be a bunch of coyotes, as those were the only ones left that might still be roaming. Normally, coyotes hunted individually but lived in packs. He didn’t think they would be brave enough to approach the cabin, but there was a lot of free food laid out for them for the taking.

He’d arrived that afternoon with a spitting, hissing big cat to a huge, smelly mess. With the loss of those hides, he didn’t have enough to fill the order from the taxidermy place. With the rangers combing the forests and the Dragon Runners MC activated, getting more hides was a tall order. Most of the bears were denned about now or at least should be. Two of the dens he’d marked had tagged bears wearing radio collars, so killing them would be risky. Another one had been empty, so either the bear that planned on hibernating there changed its mind or was still thinking about it.

“Fucking shit!” Another thwack cracked through the air as Clem brought the ax head down. Nothing was going right, from the dry, unseasonable weather, to the lost hides, to the client who thought nothing of making them wait with an unreasonable mountain lion.

The animal hissed and roared again as Walt ignored his cousin and continued to harass it.

“Goddamnit, I done told you to leave it alone!” Clem picked up one of the split logs and hurled it at Walt. It knocked the man back and left a streak of blood across his forehead.

“Whad’ja do that for?”

“You’ve got to be the dumbest motherfucker ever born. We got shit to do, so get off your ass and get it done.”

Clem ignored the confused look his cousin gave him and went back to splitting firewood.

Thwack!

Thwack!

Thwack!

Firewood. One more fuckup and he’d light it all up and watch it burn.