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a little faster than that or brer wolf is going to die of old age before we make it back to the car." |
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The path was going to take them through a thick stand of sagebrush. Cyrus didn't like the idea of walking blind so he tapped Kyna on the shoulder and motioned her back down into the creek bed. As he stared down behind her, he noticed a gnarled tree branch sticking up out of the soft dirt. The branch was about five feet long and a quarter inch in diameter and looked like it had been used by some other hiker as a walking stick. The branch's size and shape reminded him of the broom handle that he used to push when he worked for the neighborhood butcher, and for some odd reason one of his mother's favorite Bible passages flitted through his head"thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." |
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Cyrus grabbed the stick and used it to steady himself as he climbed down the crumbling embankment. A few minutes later they rounded the bend and lost sight of the wolf. |
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"Let's pick it up," Cyrus whispered. |
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"I don't see it anymore." |
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"That doesn't mean he can't see us." |
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Every couple of feet Cyrus took a peek back over his shoulder. He was no Marlin Perkins, but rabid or not, he didn't think the wolf was acting right. When they reached the mouth of the wash, Cyrus glanced back once more. As he did, his ankle turned on a stone that had been polished smooth by aeons of snow wash and he fell, dropping the walking stick as he threw out his hands to catch himself. |
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Kyna turned around and gave him a look. |
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"You just going to lie there all day?" she asked with a grin. |
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Cyrus rolled his eyes to Heaven, pushed himself up on his knees and dusted his hands off on his cutoffs. |
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The wolf seemed to come out of nowhere. It slammed into Cyrus's back and knocked him flat down on his face again. When Cyrus rolled over, the wolf was standing over him, a huge paw on either side of his head. At first, the animal only |
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