Sometimes I even see them, but I can't get within range of the targeting scope. I don't get it—I used to walk right up to them.'
'These animals seem capable of adapting their behav-ior.'
'I thought dinosaurs were stupid,' said Joe.
'They're as smart as birds,' said Rick, 'and some birds are pretty smart. Crows understand about guns.'
'So I'm walking farther and farther to plug the igno-rant ones who haven't figured it out.'
'That sounds like the case.'
'Well that's great!' said Joe. 'Those sneaky bastards are still around, and we can't even eat them.'
'Did someone say 'eat'?' asked Con, as she brought some wood up to the ledge. Joe smiled. 'I was saying the nightstalkers are getting scarce.'
'Scarce?' said Con incredulously. 'I had to scare off three from the canyon this morning.'
'What!' said Rick.
'Yeah, right after Joe left,' said Con. 'I was cutting firewood, and they walked right in, bold as anything. Threw rocks at them, and they ran off. Hit one.'
'I don't like the sound of that,' said Rick. 'Not at all.' THE NEXT DAY, sleet fell. The three of them hunkered on the ledge, leaving it only to get wood for the fire. Joe did not hunt, and they dipped into the store of smoked meat for the first time. The fire was a meager one, and they retreated to the sleeping area while it was still light. There, they huddled together for warmth and tried to sleep and forget the cold.
They awoke to find snow on the ground. There was only an inch, but they knew it would not melt. The pall of ash over the sky stopped the sun's warmth. Every snowfall would remain to form an ever-deepening blan-ket.
'Now that it's stopped raining,' said Rick, 'we should think about heading to the island.'
'Yeah,' said Joe without enthusiasm. 'I'd feel better if we had more rations to take with us.'
'So would I,' said Rick. 'We can put off leaving a day or two.' As soon as he finished eating, Joe left to hunt. He did not return until it was almost pitch-black. He was empty-handed and discouraged. Con built up the fire while Rick got some dried meat to make broth.
'I found tracks,' said Joe after he warmed up a bit, 'but I didn't see a damned one.'
'Couldn't you follow their trail?' asked Con.
'I tried that without luck. They avoid me now.' Joe shook his head. 'I never thought I'd want to see a night- stalker.'
'They seem to be particularly adaptable animals,' said Rick. 'I can't think of a paleontologist that would have predicted it.'
'Rick, why don't you go out tomorrow?' said Joe. 'You're the guide, I'm only an engineer. Maybe you'll have better luck.'
Rick agreed to Joe's suggestion and went hunting early the next day. New snow had fallen, and he was surprised to find his first evidence of nightstalkers right below the ledge. The tracks of three animals were plain in the snow. They were obviously fresh, for a light snow was still fall-ing.
Rick abandoned his pursuit and headed for the river. The flood was over, and the river was returning to its original size. To reach it, Rick had to travel over the muddy ruin of the valley. It was not yet cold enough for the mud to freeze, and he sank up to his ankles in cold muck while walking to the shrunken river's bank. He was looking for carrion, nightstalker food. All that he found had been picked clean. The snow hid the tracks of the scavengers, but he assumed they were nightstalkers. Rick followed the river for miles, but the only living thing he saw was a single bird, pecking at some bones on a mud bar in the middle of the river. The desolate landscape looked caught in the midst of winter, not late spring. The brown water provided the only color; everything else was black, gray, or white. When the light began to wane, Rick headed back to-ward camp. He avoided the muddy floodplain, to make better time and investigate new territory. He was still over a mile from camp when he spied blood on the snow. He hurried to the site and found the remains of night-stalkers. It was impossible to tell how many, because they had been so thoroughly torn apart. Blood, feathers, and scattered bits of gnawed bone were all that was left. Tracks made it clear they had been slaughtered by their own kind. Rick knew that cannibalism among adult pred-ators was high- risk behavior, an indicator of desperate times.