Page 65 of The Search

Unconscious?

No, she could see the gleam of his slitted eyes. What was she doing, sitting there? It didn’t matter what weird thing was happening between Monty and the wolf. Seize the moment. She started working at the trap, every moment expecting the wolf to make a move.

Lights suddenly speared the area.

The jeep.

“Stop, Logan.” She froze, her gaze on the wolf.

No motion. As if Monty’s touch on his throat were paralyzing him.

“Can I help?” Logan called from the jeep.

“Get the first aid kit under the front seat and then come and help me with this trap. I’m not strong enough to do it alone.”

A moment later Logan was kneeling beside her, his gaze on Monty and the wolf. “What’s happening here?”

“I’ve no idea. I think Monty’s hypnotized him or something.” She opened the medical kit and withdrew a hypodermic and sedative. “Get ready to spring the trap after I give him this shot.”

“Why not afterward?”

“He’ll run away. I have to take care of that leg before he bolts.” She kept her eyes fixed warily on the wolf as she gave him the injection. No movement. Maybe the pain of his leg dwarfed the little pinprick.

Monty was the one who gave a low moan as if in sympathy with the wolf’s agony.

“Just keep him quiet a minute more and we’ll have him out, Monty,” she murmured. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but keep doing it.” She said to Logan, “Be ready to jerk open that trap when I tell you.” She put her hands beside Logan’s on the iron. “On the count of three. One, two . . .” She glanced at the wolf. He had gone limp. “Three.”

She and Logan pulled with all their strength. The iron jaws slowly parted. “Can you hold it open while I get his foot out?”

“Do it,” he grunted.

Carefully she freed the wolf’s leg. “Let it go.”

The trap snapped shut with a lethal click. How she hated those traps. She unwound the shirt from around her arm, formed a pressure bandage, and bound the wolf’s leg. “Get in the jeep, Monty.”

Monty hesitated, then got to his feet and ran toward the jeep.

“What now?” Logan asked.

“We get the wolf back to the cabin, where I can tend him.”

“A wild animal?”

“A wounded animal.” She picked up the wolf and carried him toward the jeep. “Come on. I need your help. You’ll have to drive while I keep an eye on him.”

“Okay.” He struggled slowly to his feet as she settled the wolf in the backseat. “There’s blood on your arm.”

“He barely broke the skin.” She jumped in the passenger seat. “Hurry. I’m not sure how long he’ll be under, and I want to work on him without giving him another shot.”

“Right.”

Logan pulled the jeep in front of the cabin in less than five minutes and Sarah jumped out. “Go on ahead and open the door beside the fireplace. It leads to a small screened-in back porch.”

He limped into the cabin. “Anything else?”

She followed him. “Grab that throw on the back of the couch and put it on the floor of the porch.”

He did, then asked, “Next?”