Excerpt
The birds were still singing, but for some reason the air felt heavier; it was like the dark, oppressive feeling one got when they knew they were being watched. Miles tipped his head from side to side trying to catch any sound or smell that didn’t belong, but came up empty. He was about to dismiss the whole thing when Sherman suddenly threw his head straight up in the air and snorted.
Instantly, Miles moved next to the animal’s head and tried to quiet him. Typically the gelding was quite lethargic. In fact, this was the first time Miles had ever seen Sherman get upset about anything, but something had definitely spooked the horse. The whites of his eyes were showing and his ears were pricked so far forward that they nearly touched at the tips. Tossing his head to the right, Sherman stared into the trees. Miles was standing to Sherman’s left, and took a step forward to see what had captured the animal’s attention. At once, Sherman started prancing and snorted again. It was all Miles could do to hold him.
“Jamie, there’s something in the woods!” he yelled a warning just as the big horse tore free and bolted. Unfortunately, when Miles had stepped forward he had placed himself directly in Sherman’s escape route. There was no way to stop the thirteen hundred pounds of horse flesh as it barreled over him and trampled him to the ground.
“Sherman, whoa!” Jamie screamed. The boy was still in the rear of the wagon and had tumbled backward when it lurched forward, but somehow had managed to keep from falling out. Now he wished he had come out because he knew the two bumps he felt were the wheels rolling over the top of his father. Desperate, he scrambled to make his way up front in order to grab the reins as the wagon sped away.
Miles heard his son’s yells, but was powerless to do anything. He just hoped Sherman would calm down quickly before Jamie was hurt too. Groaning, he tried to sit up and ascertain the extent of his injuries when he heard a low growl coming from the trees to his right. He barely had time to roll his head toward the sound when the attack came.
Something very large and furry plowed into him with incredible force. Miles tried to push the assailant off with his right arm, but found that the appendage wasn’t working very well. He managed to deflect the main blow, but felt razor sharp teeth bury themselves in the flesh of his left forearm. He screamed out in pain and somehow managed to shove the attacker off, only to have it lunge on him again.
Once more it tore deep into Miles’ flesh. He thrashed about trying to shake the thing off, but it was useless. He was at a serious disadvantage and knew that within moments he would be dead. That’s when the unexpected happened; the creature leapt off him and ran about thirty feet away before it turned, stopped, and looked back at its would be prey.
Miles swayed his head to the side and found he was staring straight into the bright, yellow eyes of a full grown venom wolf. The wolf bared its teeth, raised its hackles, and took a of couple steps forward.
It was going to attack again.
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