After about a half hour of observation, Grady thought he had an accurate count. In total, he counted only eight animals. The group was comprised of three adult females, three adolescents, one infant and Rhino, the apparent patriarch of the group.

He knew other information as well. For example, he knew these animals were capable of throwing rocks with deadly accuracy. He also knew them to be incredibly strong and well capable of violence if threatened. As bad as he hated to admit it, each attack had been provoked. He also knew that they were primarily nocturnal. The bulk of their activity apparently took place in the evening.

I wonder what the hell they got in mind this evening, he questioned to himself. He couldn’t escape the chill of dread that ran down his spine. What do they want with me he wondered for the hundredth time since he awoke to find himself captive. Is this really about revenge? Chuckling to himself, Grady wondered if they were going to fatten him up on tree roots and eat him.

“Hell, I’m fat enough already,” Grady said aloud, followed by a deep laugh from his belly.

“He, he, he!” Doc exclaimed only inches from Grady’s ear.

Grady hadn’t seen the youngster sneak up behind him and the noise made him jump. “What the hell are you doing?” Grady yelled, whirling around to face Doc.

This threw Doc into a state of excitement. He turned taking huge leaps away from Grady, all the while, beating his chest and repeating the mantra, “He, he, he!”

Doc’s playful display immediately attracted the attention of the lumbering sasquatch. Two of the adult females began to growl, eyeing Doc with apparent malice.

Another adolescent, about six inches shorter than Doc, sporting short, black curly hair leapt up to join Doc. Together, the rambunctious duo disturbed the afternoon calm with a cacophony of vocal displays.

It was Rhino that put an end to the child’s play. He reached down and picked up a stick about two inches in diameter. With a ferocious roar, he hurled the stick, striking Doc’s little accomplice square in the back with an audible THWACK!

Doc immediately screamed and took off running, apparently in fear that he’d be next. His friend however didn’t make a sound. He simply froze in place. Slowly the youngster turned around to face Rhino, who was still growling. Grady was surprised to see outrage on the youngster’s face.

The young, black-haired sasquatch began to growl, not nearly as deeply as Rhino, as he reached down to the ground and retrieved the stick. Doc could still be heard squealing with terror more than a quarter-mile away. Grady found he was holding his breath as the young sasquatch drew the stick back in its arm. With a high-pitched roar, he threw the stick back at Rhino! Grady was impressed with his accuracy and even more so with his nerve. The stick caught Rhino directly in the left shin and broke in two with a loud crack.

Rhine couldn’t hide the grimace of pain that briefly marked his face. He stood in shocked silence for a moment. All members of the sasquatch family were now standing, peering intently at the two combatants. Suddenly, Rhino let out a bone-chilling howl and leapt at the youngster, which Grady had just decided he’d call Psycho.

Psycho leapt aside at the last moment and missed Rhino’s grasp. As Rhino slid through the dry leaves trying to change direction, Psycho finally showed some brains and took off running. He ran quickly, but silently. Rhino on the other hand howled like a fire engine as he pursued the brazen adolescent out of the camp. The other sasquatch, which had been silent up to this point, finally came alive. They whooped and hollered hysterically, running after their leader. Only one remained. It was the adult female with an infant that Grady guessed to be just over a year in age.

Levi barely had time to cast the track. He peeled some bark off a nearby tree and created a square shaped dam about 6 inches off the outer edges of the track. He quickly dug through his backpack, producing some pre-measured dental stone and water containers. He stirred the mixture, carefully considering its consistency, as John stood impatiently above him with his arms crossed.

Finally, achieving the mixture he was looking for, he poured it carefully into the track, filling the two inch indention half-full.

“Alright, let’s get going,” John said impatiently, nodding his head toward the horses.

Levi’s focus remained on the track as he pulled three metal rods from his pack and laid them carefully into the thickening mixture. “Give me one more minute, please,” he said quietly.

John exhaled irritably. “I don’t know why you’re worried about a footprint. I’m going to show you the whole damned creature.”

“Thirty more seconds,” Levi responded calmly, while pouring the remainder of his mixture. It filled the track and overflowed to the borders he’d created.

Bryan watched Levi work his magic with a slight smile on his face. “You might not realize it, John, but you’ve just witnessed a work of art.”

“Or an incredible waste of time,” John snorted. “Come on now, saddle up. We’ve got a lot of ground to make up.”

The three amateur cowboys reluctantly got back in the saddle. As they rode away at a trot, Levi took one last look back at his cast, hoping he would get a chance to recover it later.

John led the men at a trot through the wooded areas and pushed Ole Ned to a full gallop in the open terrain. We’re a day behind and I got a bunch of greenhorns for company, John thought with growing frustration. He made a decision that he was going to have a long talk with the men that evening when they made camp.

Bryan couldn’t help but marvel at how John managed to keep the trail at such a pace. If it weren’t for John pointing out a fresh track now and again, he wouldn’t have believed it.

Rusty was thinking no such thing. All his concentration was focused on keeping up. His hands were now worn raw. His back was aching noticeably, but it couldn’t compare to the torment his tailbone had withstood under the constant up and down motion in the saddle.

Levi was the oldest of the three researchers and his joints weren’t what they used to be. However, he took to the saddle fairly well. He watched John carefully, noting the way his body became part of the horse’s motion. Now and again, he would stand in the stirrups and allow his backside some relief. He was feeling the pain of a day in the saddle, but thanks to his ability to learn quickly, he was faring much better than Rusty.