The Killing Game Read Free

government either, not with the resurgence of the Taliban, not with the constant threat of assassination, insurgents and death.
    “If we find sign of a poacher we will gather men from the village and hunt him down,” the smaller man said.
    Axelle nodded, but she was worried. This would be Anji’s responsibility when he finished training and was appointed the wildlife officer for this region. He needed to be confident enough to take charge of dangerous situations like this. She bit her lip. He was such a sweet little guy she didn’t know how he’d confront armed poachers. The idea of him hurt didn’t sit well. He had a family. People who cared.
    Isolation pressed down on her shoulders. All she had was an estranged father and a grandfather she hadn’t visited in two long years.
    Energetic clouds boiled over the top of the mountains. A spring storm was building, but it was nothing to the growing sense of unease that filled her when she thought of someone lining up her cats in the crosshairs of a hunting scope.
     
    ***
     
    Two hours later the sun was sinking into the west. Desperation and the need to hurry pulsed through her blood and made her head pound with frustration. The van got stuck twice but they’d managed to push free of the freshly thawing ground. The shock absorbers were toast. Ahead she could make out the faint outline of pale yurts set deep in the shadow of the mountains.
    A sonorous snore resonated from the back seat where Anji slept. Josef’s cheeks were ruddy from the exertion of driving in such demanding conditions. They’d all taken a turn behind the wheel.
    “Keep going,” she urged as they passed the yurts. To save time they needed to drive as far as they dared toward where she figured Sheba had denned up. Half a mile later they bumped over a rock the size of a football, and her head glanced off the side window. Dammit .
    “I can’t go much further without breaking an axle,” Josef warned.
    “Stop here.” She scrabbled in her bag for a head-torch and flashlight. “We’ll hike the rest of the way.”
    “We go now?” Anji asked groggily, throwing a blanket off his lap.
    “You take the van back to camp and man the radio, Anji.” They needed someone back at base camp in case they ran into trouble. “There’s a cave over this ridge that Sheba used as a den. If the cubs aren’t there—” Her voice wavered. She didn’t want to think what would happen if the cubs weren’t there. The Hindu Kush was no place for babies to wander alone in the dark.
    Even though they’d traveled as fast as they could, it was probably already too late. Swallowing her concern, she jumped out of the van. Josef joined her with a flashlight and radio.
    “Let’s go.” She started along the path, running because it was still twilight and the precious light wouldn’t last long.
    She tripped over a rock and Josef grabbed her arm. “Careful.”
    But she didn’t want to slow down. Despite the icy mountain air, heat poured off her body and her heart thumped like her veins were empty and desperate for blood. So many predators roamed these lands—bears, wolves, lynx, leopards, humans—how could two young cubs survive without their mother’s protection?
    They clambered over large rocks at the top of the ridge and moved cautiously down the steep slope on the other side. The sky shifted to velvet blackness with nothing but ice-encased peaks to cast a faint silvery haze over the lower slopes. Axelle worked her way along a tiny goat path carved in ancient stone. Slippery and dangerous. The narrow beams of their flashlights provided the only clue as to where to put her feet while strung high above a cliff face. She slipped, slamming her knee into a rock. Stones trickled down the mountainside, lending a soundtrack of granite rain to their frantic search.
    Her heart revved. She held tight to Josef’s hand as he hauled her to her feet. “Thanks.”
    “We should go back.” Every crease on his face told her he