By Lyn
Copyright 1999
Buck thought he must have heard wrong. The confusion must have shown on his face because Brooks began to chuckle.
“What do you mean, for your hunt?” Buck asked when he regained his ability to think and speak.
“As I said, I’ve hunted the world over. Sought out every manner of beast.” Brooks walked toward the animal heads on his wall. “This is an Indian elephant. I nabbed him five years ago. This one is a zebra, from Africa. What a wonderful trip that was! More game than you can ever imagine, just waiting for the taking. More in one spot than any buffalo herd I’ve ever seen. Can you imagine?” Brooks turned toward Buck as if expecting a reply from the young man. When none came, the man continued on his tour.
“This little beauty is a tiger. He was a wonderful challenge. Very stealthy. He led me on one of my most exciting hunts. I came close to losing him, but I was the victor.” He reached up and patted the beast’s stuffed head. Buck shook his head ever so slightly, not believing what he was seeing and hearing.
Brooks stopped in front of the bear. The taxidermied animal stood at least eight feet tall and was displayed with paws upraised and teeth bared.
“This one was my first real kill. You know, a life and death kill not just a hunt for meat kill. I had captured one of her cubs and was having some fun with it. Obviously she didn’t like it when she found us. But the gun is mightier than the claw.” Brooks chuckled at his play on words. When the man turned back to him, Buck saw the insanity in the man’s eyes. For the first time a shiver of fear passed through him. Brooks was crazy and crazy men were dangerous.
“I’ve been pursuing the hunt ever since.” Brooks continued. “But most of these beasts were too easy. I need more of a challenge. I’ve talked to other hunters, followed their advice for finding a worthy adversary. But I’m bored with them. I want….no, I need to hunt something with intelligence, something that will make me have to use all my skills as a hunter in order to conquer it.” Brooks turned toward Buck suddenly, striding toward the young man’s cage, grabbing the bars and staring right at him, a crooked little smile gracing his face.
“That’s why I’m going to hunt you.”
Buck sat in the corner of his cage. Occasionally Brooks’ two employees would walk in to the room, pulling large fancy guns from a rack and gathering up knives and spears. Buck watched them, his mind working hard at a solution to this situation.
When the men would leave the room, Buck would stand and check out the cage, but he found no area on his little prison that he would be able to escape through. He looked for anything he could use as a weapon, but there was nothing. The cage was bare and there was nothing loose that he could use.
Before Brooks had left to finish up on some business, he had told Buck that he was an importer, traveling the world round for business purposes, buying goods and bringing them back to the states for sale. He had done very well for himself and was able to purchase homes on both coasts and land in many different countries. He had also bought this large parcel of land in the territories and had stocked it with exotic animals to hunt. But he had grown bored with these and had started to look for more interesting prey.
Buck sat and mulled over the knowledge that in the morning he would be set free, to be hunted down like an animal by a man with limitless artillery and assistance. Top this off with the fact that the land he would be moving through had been filled with animals that Buck was not acquainted with, and therefore could not predict, and Buck knew he was in some big time trouble.
The cook came with his lunch, but Buck didn’t feel like eating. He reluctantly ate the supper that she brought in later, knowing that he would need all the strength he could come morning. He was restless, but pacing wasn’t satisfying in the confined area he was in. He also found it hard to just sit. Time drug on, minute by minute, hour by slow hour. Buck finally tried to meditate, closing his eyes and running through several Kiowa prayers. It helped calm him so that he wasn’t as restless. Time became bearable.
Brooks came back in after supper and stood before the cage studying Buck. Buck returned his stare, sizing up the man himself. Brooks was the first to speak.
“I have to admit, I’m was a little disappointed that you speak English. I was wanting a wild savage.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
“But then I decided that it was all right. It might be more of a thrill to hunt someone that I can communicate with. Mathews told me about your skills. Oh yes, they had been watching you, following you. You’re a skilled hunter yourself. It will make the hunt that much better.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re looking forward to it. That I can supply you with some form of entertainment.”
“I like you. I really do. You’ve got spirit. I like that. Most people around me, they jump when I say jump, they run when I say run, they sit when I say sit. They’re no better than trained dogs. Usually I like it that way. But you’re different. I have a feeling you’d stand up to me, argue with me if you thought I was wrong.” Brooks turned and walked to the door.
“Too bad I’m going to kill you tomorrow.” And he walked out.
On to Chapter Six
