Long Range (Joe Pickett Book 20)(4)

And the story Talbot told wasn’t only wild, Joe thought, it was bizarre.

According to Talbot, they had ridden two horses and trailed a packhorse into the hunting area the day before. Around noon, Trenary pointed out a small herd of elk standing in the shadows of a wall of trees on the side of a mountain meadow. Talbot picked out the largest bull with a set of five-by-six antlers. Trenary used his range finder to determine that the target was one hundred and fifty yards away.

Although it should have been an easy shot, Talbot had missed and the herd had spooked and run away.

The guide and his hunter walked their mounts across the meadow where the elk had been, Talbot said. They were going to follow the churned-up trail of the animals with the hope of finding them again. But before they got close enough to find the tracks, they heard something that sounded like a freight train on the mountain ahead of them. They could hear branches breaking as it crashed through the timber toward them.

“Stand your ground and get out your bear spray,” Trenary ordered Julius Talbot. “It might do a false charge, so be ready.”

Talbot said he did as he was told.

The grizzly bear flattened a row of willows and came straight at them, Talbot said. It was unbelievably fast and huge, cinnamon in color, with a large hump on its back. It grunted as it ran, and Talbot said he could hear its plate-sized paws thump the ground.

The horses they were holding panicked and bolted, running back in the direction from which they had come. Talbot showed the two game wardens the abrasions in his palm where the reins had been pulled through.

Both the hunter and the guide extended their canisters of bear spray toward the coming grizzly.

“He’ll turn,” Trenary said.

But he didn’t. Both men pulled the triggers of their canisters of bear spray, which should have created large red plumes of noxious pepper spray in front of them. But Talbot had forgotten to pull the pin that would arm his spray, and it didn’t fire. Trenary’s blast had been shot too soon, before the grizzly was in range, and the bear ducked nimbly to the side of it as the spray hung in the air.

In his peripheral vision, Talbot said he saw the guide throw aside the canister and reach for his holstered .44 Magnum revolver.

According to Talbot, the grizzly hit Trenary before the guide could aim his weapon. The bear struck the guide so hard it knocked him backward off his feet into the grass. The revolver went flying. The bear went straight for the guide’s throat and face, furiously slashing with three-inch claws and teeth.

Talbot said he couldn’t shoot the grizzly himself because the fury of the attack was so fast and intense that there was no way to get a clean shot without hitting Trenary. Since he’d fouled up his chance to use the bear spray, Talbot said he’d retreated to the other side of the meadow, hoping he could draw the bear away from the guide and get a shot. While he did so, the guide had screamed and fought back the best he could by hitting the bear in the face and kicking up at him.

Then, Talbot said, the bear wheeled and ran back up the hill. He’d moved so fast Talbot couldn’t steady the crosshairs of his rifle enough to fire.

Talbot found Trenary mauled, disemboweled, and bleeding profusely. The horses were long gone. But Trenary was still breathing.

Talbot tried to call for help on his phone, but there was no service. So he placed the .44 on the guide’s bloody chest so he’d have it handy if the bear came back. Then Talbot started the long hike out to get help. He never caught a glimpse of the horses along the way.

It took four hours to reach the two-lane highway to the south, where he was able to flag down a deputy sheriff and hitch a ride to Jackson.

*

AFTER JULIUS TALBOT had left the room to get his hand attended to at the medical clinic, Martin had turned to Joe with a doubtful look on his face.

“Did that sound as hinky to you as it did to me?” he’d asked.

Joe nodded.

Martin asked, “Did you notice that he never used Jim’s name? Only ‘my guide’?”

“I noticed.”

“I’ll get him to agree to lead us to the location tomorrow,” Martin said. “I’d really like you to come along.”

Joe didn’t respond at first. The Jackson office had more personnel than any other office in the state.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Martin said, as if reading Joe’s mind. “You’re wondering why I don’t put together a team from here.”

“That’s what I was wondering.”

“Because I trust you and you’ve been around the block, just like me,” Martin said. “In fact, as you know, you’re kind of a legend.”

Joe felt his face flush hot.

“I’d appreciate your expertise,” Martin said. “Besides, I know the folks here. Half of ’em would spend the whole time trying somehow to blame the bear attack on climate change. I want a straightforward assessment from someone I trust. Another set of experienced eyes. I’ll ask Eddie Smith to come along with us. He’s a good hand.”

“What about the Lifeseeker test?” Joe asked.

“We can do both things at once,” Martin said. “We’ll send up the bird with the equipment while you and me and the wildlife supervisor go into the timber on horseback with Julius Talbot. Maybe the bird will locate Jim Trenary before we do. Maybe not. Either way, it’ll be good to have air support if we need to fly him out.”