16
Zillah Moody
prints and then just the horses again."
"Who was it Tėtis?" said Jonas eagerly, his appetite now thoroughly
whetted by this tale.
"I reckoned, judging by a faint scent on the wind that wafted back
towards me from ahead, that it was a couple of men on horseback
who had been on the road for some time. The smell was such and the
tracks so fresh that I thought that I must be hard behind whoever it
was. This continued for about a mile or so and then the most recent
tracks took a turn off to the right and disappeared and the air became
fresher. I could see the wolf's trail again and decided to follow it just a
little further. I was beginning to think I had come far enough and had
almost decided to give up and turn round when I heard the sound of
a click behind me. Coming up behind was a huge man riding a horse
and leading another. He was obviously a fighting man as he was carrying
a long spear and a musket which was pointing straight at me."
"'Tovarich?'" he half asked, half stated in Russian.
"'Tovarich!'" I shouted back confidently, being as definite as I possibly could.
I asked him if he was going far. He said he had come a long way but
that he hoped he wouldn't be going much further. He asked me who I
was and I told him. He asked me what my business was. I mentioned
the wolf. He must have been reassured because he lowered his gun.
He told me he was also hunting vermin and suggested we do it
together. I was a little afraid so I agreed and we continued along the
way. As he pulled up alongside me the stink became apparent again.
He told me that he had been on the trail of this creature and others
like it for weeks until he realised that he was being followed himself
which was why he had doubled back and come up behind me and had
taken me by surprise.
'"How did you know I was there"' " I asked him."
'"Let's just say I can sniff people out, I have finely tuned field skills
coupled with acute intuition,"' "he answered with a smirk, waiting
for me to smile. I thought that coming from him it was strange. His