He hesitated. They had a gun. It made more sense to stand. There was nothing up ahead except cattle pens and they were a good quarter mile away. No, the sensible thing to do was stand and if the animal attacked, shoot it.
It roared again, louder and Jim changed his mind. Maybe the gun wouldn’t stop it. Maybe it was rabid. There would be someone at the cattle pens ahead. There would be light. He matched Roma’s quick walk.
The animal stayed behind, out of sight, until the smell of thousands of cows assaulted them. The raspy roars came closer together as they got closer to the pens, and it quickened its pace, forcing the pair into a jog and finally into a run.
It picked up speed, starting to close in on them. It let out a roar that ripped into the night, waking the cows, causing them to stir silently, resembling large ghost like animals in the murky night. And Jim knew the animal, whatever it was, was going to charge, to come for them, to kill them.
It roared again, closer. They were running flat out toward the pens, but Jim saw they would never make it.
“ Jump!” Donna’s thought-scream ripped through him, a lightning-warning. He grabbed Roma’s hand, pulling her with him as he jumped feet first into the ditch that ran along the highway. They landed in the bottom vee of the ditch, Jim on his feet, Roma on her rear, six feet below the beast above and they both shivered as it roared again and moved off. Jim helped her up and they hugged in the dark-cut off from the highway, the cows, the pens, the beast and reality-by the sides of the ditch.
The dark closed in and the fresh-grave atmosphere of the ditch offered no safety. It would only be a matter of seconds before their stalker came in after them. He took her by the hand and led her, limping and falling in the wet dirt, toward the pens.
Above and behind them, they heard the sound of sliding dirt and tumbling rocks. It was sliding down the side, coming in after them. They heard it hit bottom and Jim wished they could see, so that Roma could get off a shot. But all he could do was pull her away from the steady machine-like wheezing that was down in the coffin-like enclosure with them.
When Jim judged they were below the pens, he started to climb, pulling Roma up with him. The animal was coming fast. Roma jerked her arm free from Jim’s grip and turned, with her finger through the hole in the hand bag, on the trigger and waited. The wheezing increased its tempo and lowered its pitch. They felt its strength steamrolling toward them. Then they saw its wide set yellow eyes, glowing fire-bright in the night and Roma fired the weapon.
The moon peeked through a hole in the clouds, but Roma didn’t need the light, because the flaming yellow eyes presented her with a target too close and too terrifying to miss. She fired three shots between the two glowing yellow orbs and was rewarded with a roar that shook the night. The thing stopped, the light in the eyes dimmed, but didn’t go out.
Jim grabbed her arm and hand in a Viking grip and jerked her up and out of the ditch. They ran toward the pens, visible now in the full moonlight. He felt the weight of the cast on one arm and the drag of Roma on the other. He was afraid he wasn’t going to make it. Then he heard the thing scrambling out of the ditch behind them. He forced heart and muscle to give a little more, got his second wind and pulled her with him toward the wooden fence as the clouds again blacked out the moon. The gunshots had slowed, but not stopped the beast.
The cattle, agitated now and afraid, began milling and bleating as Jim and Roma reached the fence. In tandem they hit the ground, rolled under and they were instantly covered in manure and in danger of being trampled by the nervous cattle.
They got up and started to make their way through the fenced in herd, each step burying their feet in manure as they climbed a mountain of the muck. They instinctively headed toward the center of the pen, dodging between the animals like they were winding through a maze. Then the animals began to settle down and Jim felt a tug as Roma stumbled and fell.
He helped her up and for what seemed like the thousandth time that night, they tried to hug their fright away. Then, with the cattle quiet, they moved through them toward the other side of the pen. He wanted out of the enclosure before the animals panicked.
When they slid under the fence the danger outside far outweighed the danger inside, but now Jim was acutely aware of what could happen inside and had no desire to be crushed. He was glad when again the clouds allowed a hint of light through the dark and he saw the other side of the pen only feet away.
He made for the fence, confident that the animal with the yellow eyes had gone. The cattle were quiet, sensing no danger and that was a good sign. He allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief as he reached his hand out to the fence.
Another roar ripped the night apart. It must have circled around, upwind. Now it was among the herd. The cattle started to panic, bleating, wailing, pushing against each other and them. Roma’s hand was ripped out of his as she was trampled. She screamed and he turned to help, when another roar hurled forth and he saw the beast, a giant lizard-like animal, leap onto the back of a frightened cow, then dive on Roma, mouth wide, showing razor teeth in the moonlight. He watched in horror as it dragged her among the swirling cattle. Then he lost sight of her, as clouds again covered the moon, plunging the cattle pen into blackness and dark night.
He started toward where he’d seen her last, screaming, but in the dark he ran into one of the frightened animals and was knocked down. Something banged him in the head and his world went black.
Chapter Nine
Hugh Washington and his daughter rode in silence on their way to the freeway and the beginning of their four hour drive to Collinga. He broke the quiet as they entered the on ramp.
“ I lied when I said it wouldn’t be dangerous. It could be.”
“ I know.”
“ So I want you to stay well out of the way until I see how it’s going to go.”
“ Dad!”
“ Promise me or I’ll turn the car around and take you home right now.”
“ Okay.”
“ Okay, what?”
“ Okay, I promise I’ll stay out of the way until you make sure it’s safe.”
“ That’s better,” he said. “When we get there you wait in the car till I question them. Once I make sure everything’s all right, I’ll come and get you.”
“ I’ll feel like a kid.” She pouted. He always bent when she pouted. She could get anything she wanted out of him. But this time he remained firm.
“ My way or no way,” he said in his policeman’s iron voice.
“ Your way,” she said and the subject was closed. For the rest of the trip they talked about her school, her friends, her job and police work in general. It was almost like they were on a holiday drive. She liked being with him. She liked how he was intensely interested in anything she did. He was her dad and she loved him.
Because of the rush hour traffic leaving Los Angeles, the normal four hour trip took six. Six hours that went by like twenty minutes, with Power Glide delivering a smooth, air conditioned ride. Father and daughter had a way of talking, laughing and kidding each other that moved time aside and the forty-five-year-old Chevrolet helped to keep it away.
It was 9:30 and the night was cloud covered and dark, when he took the Collinga off ramp and steered the car toward the Harris Ranch Inn. He turned into the parking lot, picked a spot opposite the driveway and backed in.
“ You still position yourself for the quick getaway,” Glenna said.
“ I’m not the only one,” he said, indicating a white Ford Explorer with a nod of the head.
“ Think he’s a macho man, too?” Glenna teased.
“ I don’t think I’m macho, just prepared.”
“ Okay, Dad, I’m sorry.” She was trying to keep a straight face, but her stomach muscles were shaking involuntarily. She was silently laughing at him. He smiled, then jammed his finger into her stomach and tickled her
