Andy nodded; this plan sounded fool proof. “I will!” She rolled her shoulders once, loosening them, before bolting out, away from her companions, and heading right for the herd of caribou. At first, the grazing beasts were oblivious to her silent approach. But suddenly, they were off, panicked and confused. Andy felt overjoyed by the feel of the chase.
The tawny female snapped at the ankles of some of the beasts, delighting in the hasty leap they would make to avoid her gnashing teeth. They would land clumsily, stumbling slightly before running at full speed again.
Just as planned, the bewildered animals ran straight for the cover of the trees. Andy swerved in and out between several of the caribou, leaping up to their eye level and snapping her teeth. The more frightened they were, the better. Easier for the wolves to take one down if they were blinded by fear.
The Tenens hoped her companions were ready, because the distraught herd was nearing the trees, and fast. The sound of their pounding hooves was thunderous in Andy’s ears, and it was all she could do to stay among the mass of heaving brown bodies. She looked around, hoping to locate one of the young caribou. But it was too difficult to navigate amongst the herd and look for a target at the same time.
With a burst of speed, she ran to the head of the pack, hoping to slow them down a little to allow Naniko and Zynex to catch up and select one of the caribou. The herd was startled to see the source of their panic suddenly in front of them; many skidded to a stop and turned, while others, who were running too fast, simply chose to jump over the predator. But it had worked; the herd had been scattered, if only a little.
Andy looked ahead just in time to see a large male caribou running right for her, its eyes wild with fear. He jumped over her at the last minute, his take off too late; one of his back hooves collided with the side of Andy’s head. He fell to the side, stumbled, and took off. Andy shook her head, trying to rid her vision of the blurry shapes the blow had caused. Luckily, it hadn’t been a devastating hit. But it had been hard enough to knock her silly momentarily. She got up and peered through the trees and caribou running amuck, trying to locate her companions.
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