 
DAVID SHATH SQUARE Chapter Twenty-five
It looked to me as if the lion was about to land on my head. Its bound was that well aimed and that well timed. But just as it was about break my neck with the force of its weight and power, a ferocious black animal erupted from the bush, pushing me away from the cougar's attack.
The black devil lunged at the cat which, terrified by the unexpected counter-attack, reversed direction and sped off toward the bush pursued by the demon.
"Shadow, Shadow! Get back! Get back!
It was no use. Shadow was after the lion and no amount of yelling was going to bring him back.
"That cat was so spooked it'll keep running 'til the sun comes up," I said to Thoreena, trying to sound confident.
She was standing spellbound over the deer, unable to utter a word or even a sound.
I handed her the skinning knife and she resumed her task, still without saying a word. I watched her make an incision that started at the animal's chin and ended beyond the anus. Then she incised the inside of all four legs to the point were the hooves met skin. The belly split open and warm entrails spilled from the body onto the cold ground where they steamed and stank.
I had watched my grandfather butcher deer many times, but I felt my stomach churn at the sight of the long intestines that seemed to wriggle like worms in the firelight. I could hear the wolves lick their chops as the aroma of the worm-feast reached their nostrils.
"Hardy, while I gut the other animal you start removing the hide. Be careful not to tear it. We'll need it for clothing."
"Well at least she has her voice back," I thought to myself.
While Thoreena butchered the second deer, I began to remove the hide from the first carcass with a small pen knife Thoreena carried in her pocket. It was slow going. I had to slice through the fat between the hide and muscle tissue and then carefully peel back the hide. The fires had died down, but sweat was dripping from my brow when Thoreena returned from her grisly task and began to help me. With two of us working, things went faster; soon we had removed the hide intact, except for a couple of holes I had made with the pen knife. Thoreena examined them critically but didn't say anything.
The wolves had crept closer while we worked. Suddenly their leader made a rush at the pile of intestines, managing to tear a mouthful from the pile before I could react. By the time I had turned to yell at him, the big male had retreated to the bush where he swallowed his prize. I swear he grinned at me the whole time.
"Think you're pretty smart, don't you?" I said to him.
I had to stifle a smile of my own. He looked like a big, lovable German Shepherd who had just played a great joke on his master.
"Thoreena, do we need these intestines?"
"No, I was going to burn them."
"Why don't we feed them to the wolves? It will keep them busy while we finish butchering the deer, and maybe they'll appreciate it as a peace offering."
"They might," she said, "I believe animals understand an act of kindness better than most human beings."
We scooped up two large piles of intestines and carried them to the edge of the bush where we scattered them so they couldn't be devoured in a hurry. As we returned to the centre of the clearing, we saw the big Alpha leader and his female partner approach the intestines cautiously, sniffing for human treachery. When they were satisfied nothing was amiss, the leader began to feed on the offal, while his mate waited patiently for her turn.
One of the smaller males with the temerity to feed before his master had finished, was attacked by the Alpha; the fight was more ritual than dangerous as the smaller animal quickly submitted by lying on its back to expose its throat to the larger wolf. My grandfather told me that wolves rarely kill each other; their fights consist of little nips and bites that serve to establish order and harmony in the pack. After the Alpha had consumed his fill, his mate was allowed to feed, followed by the lesser members of the pack.
We didn't have time to watch the complete display of wolf etiquette because we still had work to do. I had the task of removing the deer heads with the skinning knife. A sharp knife will cut through skin and windpipe as if they are cheese; the hardest part is to find the soft gap between the vertebrae at the back of the neck where the knife can slice through without encountering a lot of bone. I had removed both heads without difficulty and was about to throw them to the wolves when Thoreena stopped me.
"Hardy, you've got to smash the skulls...keep the antlers and brains, then you can feed what's left to the wolves."
"Don't tell me we're going to eat brains?"
"Of course not. That's disgusting, Hardy. We're going to make the brains into a paste to cure the hides."
"And that's not disgusting?" I said to myself, as I searched for a heavy rock to accomplish the task.
Meanwhile, Thoreena was busy making small incisions in the deer meat, then jerking strips of it from the carcasses It was the Indian way to preserve large quantities of meat by tearing it into strips that could be dried and stored for winter.
I took the brains and livers in my hands and worked them into a thick paste that I smeared over the hides to prevent them from drying out. Thoreena had scraped the hides clean of bits of flesh that still clung to them.
The sky was getting light when we stopped to examine our work. We were covered with gore and we were weary. Both hides were stretched over a smoldering fire covered with wild sage to give the curing hides a sweet smell. There were piles of meat beside each carcass; smaller piles consisted of fat, antlers, ligaments, hooves and other delicacies Thoreena deemed necessary to our survival.
We had been so busy that we had forgotten about Shadow and his pursuit of the mountain lion. As the sun began to rise, I searched the bush for a sign that Shadow had tired of the chase and returned to the clearing.
"Don't worry, Hardy. He probably went back to the cabin," said Thoreena.
But I was worried. I knew he wouldn't go back to the cabin if he was unhurt; he'd return to me like he always did.
To Chapter Twenty-six
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