They spent the next few minutes getting a quick bite to eat. None of them were very hungry. John unsaddled Ole Ned. They wouldn’t be taking their horses into the battle. This mission required total silence and the horses couldn’t be depended upon to maintain that silence.

With rifles and packs, John led the way to the small stretch of timber. By the time they arrived, there was just over an hour of sunlight left.

“I suppose now would be a good time to let us in on your plan, John,” Levi remarked.

John chuckled. “Yeah, I suppose it would be.” His faced turned hard and his voice took on a commanding tone. “I want you to follow me. Step exactly where I step. One wrong move will get us all killed, do you understand?”

Rusty had been watching from the crest of a small rise a quarter mile to the north. He’d watched his two old friends talking casually for the better part of an hour, before John arrived back on the scene. He’d then followed silently as they gathered their weapons and walked west towards Swine Creek. Finally, he’d seen them disappear into the thin stretch of timber. So that’s your little ambush point, Rusty grinned. This shouldn’t be so hard.

John led them through the gauntlet and returned them back to the starting point without injury. His face revealed a small, but distinct smile that Levi immediately recognized as pride. He wondered if his own face had looked like this earlier when he was talking to Brian about instincts.

“I’ve got two questions for you,” Brian said. “First, you had said earlier that this was going to happen in the daylight. It’s getting dark now, and you still haven’t explained how you’re going to get these apparently brilliant animals to wait until daylight to cross through here. Second, how in the hell can you insure Grady’s safety with these snares and trip wires scattered about in your little gauntlet here?”

“You’ve got to think like the enemy,” John replied, as though talking to a child. “What do these animals want? They want to go south. We know that much. We know that they stick to the trees whenever possible. Odds are pretty high they will be coming through here. We’ve got a pretty narrow stretch of timber here. I’ve made it even narrower by strategically placing brush that forms a funnel. The funnel leads right to us.”

“That still doesn’t answer the question,” Levi observed.

“Let me finish,” John admonished him. “I’ve set 3 snares covering the end of the funnel directly in front of us. When they come through here this evening, we’re going to snare at least one of them. The others will panic in surprise and head back the way they came.” John smiled. “But they’ll be back.”

Levi was nodding his head. “I think I understand. You think that since they came back for their dead when you and Grady shot one that they will surely come back for a live one.”

“Animals, including humans, are nothing, if not predictable,” John said. “They revealed a vital piece of information when they came back for their dead. If we capture one of them, they will come back.”

Brian was starting to feel very uncomfortable with this plan. “The last time they came back at night. Who’s to say they won’t come straight back while it is still dark or even wait until tomorrow night?”

“First of all,” John replied, “I’ve got the distance they travel pretty well figured out. If I’ve figured correctly, they should come through here a few hours before daylight. We’re going to scare them bad enough to where they won’t be eager to come straight back. Also, this is a different circumstance,” John explained. “This time, we’ll have a live one. These beasts obviously care for one another. If come morning time, our captive starts to get uncomfortable and starts making distress calls, I reckon they’ll come a runnin’.”

“And why would it be making a distress call?” Levi asked, fearing the answer.

“Because it will be in distress,” John replied simply. “I’ve seen a bullet in the kneecap make the most stoic of heroes cry for their mother.”

Brian was horrified, but knew it was a better plan than he could come up with. “You still didn’t answer the other question. What about Grady?”

John bit his lower lip. “A rescue operation is always risky. Luckily, Grady’s been through one or two before. He’ll know what to do. If he is able to escape in the frenzy, he will. There is also the possibility that we will catch him in the snare. If so, then we’ve got him safe here with us. If they snatch him up, and they’re half as smart as I think they are, they’ll bring him back with them. Hell, they may even offer a trade.”

Brian and Levi considered the plan for a moment. It appeared John had this planned out pretty thoroughly, but both still had a lot of doubts it would work out the way he thought.

Levi broke the silence. “You think those snares are really going to hold one of them?”

“Well,” John said, “I’m using ten strands of braided 550 pound-test Para Cord, so you’re looking at 5500 pound-test strength. I don’t doubt these creatures are strong, but I doubt they’re that strong.”

“I got another question,” Brian said.

“Make it quick,” John said. “We’re running out of daylight and still need to get set up.”

“Okay, I want to know what part Levi and I are to play in this plan.”

“Simple,” John replied. “Watch my back. These are clever creatures. I’ve got the front covered and it’s going to take all my attention to pull this off. You both have to cover my back with the rifles.”

Satisfied for the moment, and sensing John’s growing impatience, Brian and Levi stopped the questioning for the moment. With just a few minutes left before the sun disappeared over the horizon, they settled down into their positions. John had constructed a small blind using brush he had intertwined with cedar limbs. Even in the daylight, it offered incredible concealment and matched the surrounding growth.

John sat at the front of the construction with wires, strings, and batteries strewn about him. Levi whispered to Brian that he looked like a puppet master holding all those strings. Brian thought the term fit quite nicely.

Rusty thought it all seemed too simple. He had watched them slip into the narrow stretch of timber and he was confident of where the ambush was supposed to take place. His plan was to wait until dark and slip into the timber about a quarter mile to the north. The sasquatch would be coming from the north, therefore would come across him before they got to the ambush site. Rusty would simply cause a disturbance that would frighten the creatures and send them back the way they had come. He’d then mount up and head back to the ranch with no one the wiser.

Rusty was unaware of the fatal flaw in his plan. When John had led the other two into the timber, he had done so about a quarter mile south of where the actual ambush site was located. Unknown to Rusty, his ambush site and John’s were one in the same.

Rusty sat on small rise and watched the sun set slowly below the horizon. He felt a sense of peace inside, knowing he was doing the right thing. John’s earlier accusation that he was a coward had stung. He had to admit to himself that part of the reason he was doing this was to prove John wrong. A coward would never put himself in danger to save someone or something else. He felt a sense of pride in himself, knowing that he was the only one out of the four who had chose a noble course.

He waited another hour after the sun went down before mounting up and heading to the timber. It was a clear night and the moon and stars gave him enough light to find his way. About a quarter mile from the timber, he dismounted and tied his horse to a small sapling.

Over the past few days, Rusty’s skills at riding had improved vastly. He gave the horse a pat. “I’ll be back for you soon, my friend.”

He walked low to the ground to minimize his silhouette and tiptoed towards the timber. Reaching the tree line ten minutes later, he paused and took a deep breath. You’re doing the right thing, he reminded himself. About to set off an unstoppable series of events, Rusty stepped quietly into the timber.

—

To be continued…