As soon as dawn broke, we started on again, but this time I walked beside Vince instead of riding him.My foot still hurt like hell, and I was limping along, but we needed to find Ripley before we got too far away from the Revvers territory.I figured she would stay around the area for a few days at least, and I was going in the same direction I had last seen her run – into the forest to the west.
When left to her own devices, Ripley typically did most of her hunting at dawn or dusk.Those were the times of day she was most alert and active, so if she was around here, she’d likely be awake.
I stopped and cupped my hands around my mouth, calling for her.My breath hung in the cold morning air as Vince and I made our way along the snowy trail toward the mountains and away from the Revvers.
For a long while, the only replies to my calls were the gravelly croaks of ravens and the sharp chirps of chickadees.
Finally, as morning deepened, I heard a heavy crunching sound moving through the nearby underbrush, and my hand went to the maul axe tied to the side of the mule’s pack for easy access.Then I heard a familiar excited grunt.
Ripley burst from the trees in a flurry of snow, her golden coat flashing between the shadows.She bounded toward me, and I knelt down just in time to brace for her greeting.The lioness collided with me, knocking me back into the snow and rubbing her big head all over me.
“I missed you, too, girl,” I told her as I pet her.She had a few patches of burs embedded in her thick fur, and I’d have to dig them out tonight when we camped around a fire.
Once Ripley finished greeting me, she even turned her attention to Vince.They both sniffed each other with their necks extending as they chuffed, their ears posed forward in friendly curiosity.
With just over seven hours of daylight right now, we didn’t have time to waste, even if I would’ve loved to sit and check Ripley over more right then.I climbed back onto the mule, and we continued our journey.
According to the map I’d copied from Lazlo, the next place we could stop and take a serious break was Xwechtáal.He’d said the town was friendly to outsiders and even had rooms for rent.My plan was to hunker down there through the coldest days of the year.All of that meant that we had a two-week uphill hike through snow if we hoped to arrive by January.
Soon it all became a blur of frigid nights and long, exhausting days.In the beginning, I walked as little as possible, riding on the mule, to give my foot some time to heal.But the extra weight was hard on Vince, and he couldn’t make it to sundown carrying me.
As soon as I was able, I trudged along beside him, and the cold helped numb the throbbing pain in my foot.
Sometimes the wind howled so fiercely it felt like it would strip the flesh from my body.At those times, I’d find any wind block I could – trees, an abandoned shell of a barn, even a large rock.If there was nothing, I’d hurriedly build a berm of snow, and then the three of us huddle behind it, sharing our body heat under the blankets and furs I’d packed.
In the evenings, I tended to the animals first.Grooming them, wrapping any wounds, and making sure they got plenty of food and water.With it being so cold, I’d taken to boiling snow over the camp stove, and then I mixed the hot water with Vince’s oats and Ripley’s dried meats.It helped warm them up and ensured they got enough to drink.The high altitude, the freezing cold, and the long days of walking meant that dehydration was a constant threat for all of us.
At night, the three of us huddled together around a fire.I slept in brief stretches – an hour here, a few minutes there – because keeping the vital fire going meant constantly feeding it and stoking it.
When it was too cold, I wouldn’t sleep at all.It was too easy to drift off and freeze to death, so I’d pace around our little campsite to keep the blood moving.I was constantly checking to make sure the animals were still breathing and making them get up and move around if need be.
In the morning, we shared another warm breakfast of boiled water with oats or meat, and then we packed up, and we were on the move again.
We crossed frozen creeks, navigated shadowy forests, and climbed slow inclines.We kept moving forward, because that was all we could do.Even when things hurt.
One day, I noticed the tip of Ripley’s ear had started turning black, so I bandaged it.Then I wrapped a scarf around her head, covering both her ears.She didn’t love it – she shook her head a lot while wearing it and made annoyed guttural sounds – but she tolerated it, which made me believe she understood the warmth in her ears was worth the discomfort.
Since we’d left Fort Lately, I had only taken my boot off twice to change the bandages.I’d liked to have done it more often, but the other days were too cold.As it was, I didn’t even look at it much or clean it.I switched out the bandages and changed my socks as quickly as possible.
All in all, it was a brutal trek that had me questioning so many of my life choices, and I still had a long way to go until we reached Xwechtáal.
It was on that day the foothills shifted from sloping to a much sharper incline.The path was slick with snow and ice, but Vince and Ripley were able to easily maneuver it.I, on the other hand, kept struggling to find my footing.
Suddenly, my boot slid out from under me.My hand still held the mule’s reins as I trudged beside him, but the cold got through my gloves enough to hamper my dexterity and grip.In an instant, the reins slipped through my fingers, and I was tumbling down the slope, the world a blur of white and gray as I slid downward.
The slide ended abruptly as I crashed off the edge and fell down a three-meter drop, slamming hard against the frozen ground below.Pain burst through the left side of my chest and my left shoulder.I gasped, and it intensified ten-fold, exploding into a blinding agony that lanced straight through me.
When the pain subsided, I tried again, and deep breaths were nothing short of torment.Shallow ones still hurt, but I could manage them.
I tried moving my left arm, and when I did, the sound of my broken collarbone grinding against itself echoed disturbingly loud in my ears.That alone was enough to make me want to vomit, but the agony that accompanied it was what really did me in.
I screamed louder than I had ever screamed before.Or at least not since Max had died.I screamed because it was all I had, all I could do, and even though it hurt like hell, I screamed.
Vince and Ripley’s heads appeared over the top of the cliff, staring down at me.Vince made a loud braying sound, and he looked about as concerned as a mule could look, with his big eyes nearly bugging out of his skull.
“I’m still alive!”I shouted at them, so they wouldn’t worry.“I am seriously fucked, but I am alive.For now.”
Ripley let out a low, anxious chuff and nimbly stepped over the edge.Even with the ice, the big cat agilely found her way down the cliff face.
