Messenger: A Walt Longmire Story Read Online Free PDF Page A

heads in unison toward the propped open door of the restroom where the sow black bear was sniffing the ground just off the concrete pad. “Vic . . .”
    “Hold it steady, I’m making my move . . .”
    The black bear raised her head up and looked into the restroom at the sound of my voice. You really don’t get a sense of how big the things are until you’re up close and personal with them. The sow was roughly our height, but the months of summer bounty had helped her to pack on the weight, and I was betting she weighed as much as Henry and me together. Their eyesight isn’t the greatest, but their sense of smell is extremely acute and the things that repulse us smell like the Usual at the Busy Bee Café to them.
    I spoke voce sotto. “I thought you said they wouldn’t double back?”
    The Bear’s whisper was low and steady. “They did not, but evidently she did.”
    “I think we should pull Vic out.”
    “I agree.”
    We were about to do it when Vic made her move, a jarring lunge that made for a mad fluttering and some vicious swearing along with a certain amount of animation translating up her legs to us.
    The sow huffed a few breaths and then moved as she’d done when we pulled up in Rezdawg; she bounced twice and stood up to her full height, the bunching of muscle mass in her shoulders and back threatening without so much as a gesture. I’d heard it said that the beasts were about six times as powerful as a man and looking at the sheer girth of her, I didn’t have many doubts—it also meant that Henry and I were outmanned by four.
    She sniffed the air again and peered into the semidarkness of the enclosure, perhaps four yards between us.
    I spoke as quietly as I could. “Henry?”
    “Do not move.”
    Vic’s voice rose again at our boots, a little more frantic this time. “I’ve got her! I’ve got her! Pull me up before she gets away, damn it!”
    I figured I could get at my sidearm, even holding Vic, since I had Henry’s help, even if all I wanted to do was fire off a warning shot. The bear cocked her head like a dog, and all I could think was that as horrible as Vic’s predicament was, she was the one most likely to survive this situation without getting mauled.
    Vic kicked a little. “Hey, get me the hell out of here!”
    The bear took a step toward us, still sniffing the air.
    I spoke through the side of my mouth. “Vic, stop kicking and . . .”
    “What? Hey, this bitch bird is sinking its claws into my boobs!”
    The sow took another step toward us, chuffing and ducking her head down like she might charge.
    The Bear’s voice remained calm. “She will bluff at least once, maybe twice, before she really charges, if she does.”
    “Ouch, damn it! Motherfuckers, this isn’t funny!”
    I continued speaking out of the side of my mouth. “Do you think if she realizes there are three of us, she might back down?”
    “That or we can feed her Vic.”
    The sow lunged forward, even going so far as to swipe one of the support poles at the edge of the pad, which sent a shudder through the structure. At the same time, we yanked as hard as we could, sending my undersheriff up and out of the hole. The bundle she was carrying exploded in a flurry of copper yarn and wing flapping as the great horned owl wasted no time in freeing itself, sending Vic to the floor and the two of us against the walls.
    Up close, she was an amazing thing to see—the radiating feathers splayed out like a serrated sunburst, and even though she was only an adolescent, her wings seemed to fill the room. Three powerful swoops, and she levitated and blew out the open door straight into the bear.
    It was as if Henry’s prophecies had come true and a possessed soul of the underworld had exploded from the depth with all the fury of a feathered banshee.
    The sow didn’t know what hit her, and she didn’t care; as soon as the owl started out, the bear beat a hasty retreat as fast as four legs could carry her and the last we