Part 3
Her ear moved when Ray pulled the door almost shut. Then a shallow breath lifted the blanket beneath her shoulder. Daniel backed into the vestibule, where he could watch through the small interior window without standing over her.
“Leave her quiet,” Ray said.
Daniel nodded. His hands had begun to shake now that they had nothing to hold. He put them in his pockets, found the watch, and pressed its smooth case into his palm until he could manage the radio.
Mae took the new report without interrupting. The animal was off the rails, the trap was removed, and both men were uninjured. She kept their section closed while the wildlife truck worked along the service road.
The work car smelled of oil, wet wool, and an animal that belonged nowhere near either. Daniel watched a drop of melted snow run down the inside of the equipment door. He had imagined getting the lion into warmth would look like an improvement, something he could recognize immediately. She remained very still.
Ray brought the first-aid kit back to its hook. They had used the blankets and left everything else alone; neither man knew what the human supplies might do to her.
“Take turns?” he asked.
Daniel moved aside. “I’ll call if Mae needs you.”
With Ray at the window, Daniel went back for the trap and loose chain. He set them in an empty tool tray for the officer, keeping the broken link with the rest.
They waited that way, exchanging the narrow place by the window. Once the lion looked toward them, and Daniel withdrew until she lowered her eyes. He wanted to touch her, to give her some sign she wasn’t alone, but wanting it didn’t make his hand useful to her.
Nearly two hours after Mae had requested wildlife help, the truck appeared on the service road below the embankment. Ray went to meet it while Daniel stayed by the work car. A woman in a heavy green jacket followed Ray up, carrying a medical case; behind her came a younger officer with more equipment.
“Dr. Lydia Shaw,” she said. “Where can I see her without opening the compartment?”
Daniel stepped away from the window. She watched for a while, asking what the lion had done when they moved her and whether either man had given her anything. Her questions were short enough that he could answer without losing his place.
“Nothing,” he said. “Just the blankets.”
“Good. Stay back here now.”
Daniel described the wolves on the track and the chain they had uncovered when the pack moved aside. Shaw frowned. “We’ve had reports of illegal traps out here,” she said, then returned her attention to the lion.
Officer Evan Reyes helped her arrange their equipment. Shaw used the separation the compartment provided to sedate the lion, watching her closely and waiting until it was safe to begin the examination. Only then did she go in and kneel beside the blankets.
Daniel kept his shoulder against the vestibule wall. He had been close enough to the lion’s mouth to see the snow caught in her whiskers; now he could barely watch Shaw move the injured leg. The veterinarian’s hands slowed, but she didn’t put the leg down and stop.
“Young female,” she said. “Probably not two yet. She’s dehydrated, and she’s lost condition. I need a proper look at the tissue once she’s at the center.”
“Can you save the leg?”
“I can’t promise that from here.” She glanced up. “There’s something to work with. That’s what I can tell you.”
Shaw began stabilizing her, giving pain relief and antibiotics for the contaminated wound. She checked the lion again before turning to Daniel. He realized he had been waiting for permission to breathe normally.
“Getting that trap off gave her a chance,” she said. “But you were fortunate she couldn’t fight you. Don’t take that stillness for trust.”
“I know.” He looked through the doorway at the blankets. “I know that now.”
Reyes had taken the tool tray outside. Daniel joined him while Shaw continued working, and showed him where the chain had been secured. The officer photographed the trap and the attachment point, then asked Daniel to describe the arrangement before he cut it.
“This wasn’t an animal dragging a trap onto the line,” Reyes said after examining the rail. “Somebody fixed it here.”
The trap was crudely made and had no identifying mark. Reyes handled it carefully, explaining that they had investigated two other illegal trapping cases nearby that month. Daniel asked whether someone had intended to come back for the lion’s coat.
“Possibly. I don’t have a person to put with this yet.”
“Can you find one?”
“We’ll work it. That’s all I can give you today.”
When Shaw was ready, they helped transfer the sedated lion into the secure transport crate. The equipment ramp that had seemed so steep on the way in was easier with four people sharing the load. At the truck, Daniel stood back while Shaw checked the crate and Reyes secured it.
Daniel looked toward the place where the wolves had stood. Empty snow stretched to the trees. He hadn’t seen them leave, and for a moment their absence felt as strange as their arrival.
Reyes followed his gaze. “They could have been waiting to scavenge.”
“They stayed between her and the train.”
“I heard you.” The officer closed the tray. “I’m not saying you didn’t see it.”
“Have you ever seen wolves do that?” Daniel asked her.
Shaw looked up the embankment. “No. I wouldn’t call it normal. I can’t tell you what brought them there.”
“It looked like they were keeping her safe.”
“It may have. We only saw the end of whatever happened.” She shut her medical case. “They were there, you stopped, and she’s alive. I’m glad you called us.”
She gave him a card before getting into the truck. Daniel held it by the edges so his damp glove wouldn’t blur the number.
“I’d like to know how she does.”
“Call,” Shaw said. “The wound’s the first thing. After that, we’ll have to find out whether she can hunt on that leg.”
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