The Incident at Cowles' Pasture, part 1

"What?"

"I dunno...something moving."

"Something's out there?"

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"Yeah, that's what you said."

"Shut up. I think it's coming this way."

"IT?"

"Shut up!"

"Okay."

A long thirty seconds of silence followed. The two men stood silent, crouched in an
instinctive hunter's stance more graceful than any they might have produced if they
had made a conscious effort. The night continued to be cold and quiet, the wind blew
lightly across the mostly frozen cow pasture.

"Charlie..."

"What?"

"What do you mean when you say "it"?"

"I told you, shut up. It's getting closer!" Charlie's voice choked with excitement.
Another seemingly eternal thirty seconds passed.

Even softer than before, Joe whispered, "Do you think it's a...a...a deer?"

"Not with all the noise you've been making. I'd be surprised if it wasn't the farmer
with a gun about to shoot us for trespassing. We'd be damn lucky if you haven't waken up
some of the neighbors."

The wind picked up out of the south west which kept Charlie and Joe down wind of
"IT." They now sat directly between "it" and the tree line.

"Charlie?" Joe whispered while sniffing the cold air.

"What Joe?"

"Whatever "it" is, smells like cow shit."

"Joe?" Charlie whispered.

"Yeah Charlie?"

"Shut the fuck up."

"Sorry Char."

"Yeah, yeah...s-s-shhh...

I think it stopped moving."

"How do you know that?"

"I don't hear it moving anymore, how else do you think?

"Oh."

"Jesus Joe, I don't know why I bring you out on these trips. I honestly don't."

"You asked me to go Charlie, don't you remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. I meant I don't know why I ask you to go?"

"Oh. Me neither."

Charlie crouched down and slipped down onto his knees. Joe followed suit, sitting on his
feet, laying the rifle across his thighs.

"Joe?"

"Yeah Charlie?"

"You got the rifle?"

"Yeah. You want it?"

"No, not yet."

"Want the light?"

"Yeah, pass it over," Charlie said turning towards his partner.

Joe leaned forward a little and twisted trying to get the pack off his back. It was
particularly difficult because he had the bulky parka and polar mittens that ran up to
his elbows still on. He struggled and finally, in desperation, knelt up off his feet
and stood up straight on his knees.

Charlie looked straight at Joe and then down, a second too late. The gun slid off Joe's
thighs and slammed to the ground, butt first. Joe grabbed for the gun a split second after
Charlie had his finger on the trigger guard and forced Charlie's finger against the trigger.
The weight of the gun and Joe's clumsy hand pulled his Charlie's finger back enough to fire
the rifle. The bullet exploded out of the muzzle with a deafening bang and a burst of flame
and smoke.

As it cut through the night air, a split second passed, then the noise came from whatever
"it" was.

Charlie and Joe struggled to drop the gun and finally it was on the ground. Charlie, seeing
the gun on the ground, lunged for Joe's throat. Joe never saw it coming.

"You stupid sonabitch! I ought to kill you Jesus Christ how many times did I tell you
not to close the bolt?! How many times you stupid sonabitch?! Tell me! Tell me!"

"Charlie! You're...arghh...ggggglllle...me...pleeeaaarghssee...stooooollllpp..."
Joe gargled out while slowly turning colors from the pressure Charlie was putting against
his throat and from the weight of being sat upon. If it weren't for the shots that rang
out, the screaming, and the barking dogs, Charlie would have beaten Joe's head into the frozen
ground. Charlie jumped off of Joe, rolling onto the ground, and finally rested on his stomach
anxiously looking into the darkness. A chorus of grunt, groans, and prolonged moos sounded
from the animals in the barn.

"Charlie, was that gun fire?" Joe said rubbing his head hoping that the ringing in
his ears was only from the pounding in his head and not the gun fire he thought he heard.

"Shut up! Someone's coming this way!"

"Someone? Sure it's not an "it"?"

"Shut up I said, I think there's more than one of them...and they got guns!"

Joe had words almost formed but kept them to himself. Charlie reached around him and put
his hand into Joe's pack, digging around, and finally pulling out a small flashlight. He
shoved it into his coat pocket, zipped up the pack, and resumed his position on his
stomach. Joe struggled for a moment to get his pack off and then laid down, the pack in front
of him.

"Charlie! What the hell are we going to do?"

"Joe," Charlie said in a very calm voice, "for the hundredth bazillionth
time SHUT UP!"

"But Charlie, what are we going to do? Whoever owns this land is out there and they're
gonna figure out that we shot one of their animals."

"Shut up a minute...I gotta think...we're gonna crawl over to whatever it was that we
shot and see if it's still alive."

"What then? What if it's still alive? What if it's dead?

What will we do then? What?"

"Shut up Joe," Charlie whispered.

A spot light made a sweeping pass over their heads not stopping until it was pointed at the
tree line to their left. Another shot sounded, this one was different from the first's shotgun.

"Hey you poacher scum! We know you're out there and we know you killed one my cows,"
a voice bellowed.

"We heard it cry out...they only make that noise when they know they're going to
slaughter and they don't know that until one of their own is dead. You'd better hope we
don't catch you 'cuz we're gonna send you to the slaughter house," a second, younger
voice yelled out.

Another shotgun blast sounded.

"Remember that sound because that's the last sound you'll hear if we catch you!"

"Holy shit Charlie! They're gonna kill us!" Joe screeched, "I'm getting scared
here Charlie...you didn't say anything about people killing us when you asked me to go."

"Chrissake Joe, I don't know what my sister sees in you...you're a pussy, you're a chicken
shit, and you cry at every little thing...my little niece has more balls than you. I'm beginning
to think Jolene's gonna funny on us...dating a girl like you..."

"Charlie I ain't no pussy...I just ain't never been killed before and I don't want to
start now!"

"Ain't nobody gonna kill you, you stupid fuck. They just want us to get off their land.
They don't want anymore dead livestock. Frankly I don't blame them, if I'd realized what a
pain in the ass you were gonna be I wouldn't taken ya."

"Oh sure, blame me for killing that cow! I'm not the one who done pulled the trigger...you
did it not me!"

"Shut up Joe! Get down! Here comes that spot light again."

The spotlight began a second sweep toward them. Joe ducked his head down again, Charlie lay
still next to him holding his breath. The light passed over their heads at the same time a
low, pain-filled moan emanated from a patch of grass.

"Charlie, the cow!" Joe yelled.

"I know! Shut up! We got to get to it before they do. Let's get movin' I think they're
gonna start searching the field," Joe said as he started moving, crawling on his stomach.

"Okay, okay but I don't want to get shot..."kay?"

"I promise you won't," Charlie said, stopping and sitting up, "you won't get
shot or killed or anything else..."

Before Charlie could finish the spot light made another pass and stopped on him. He turned
to face the light.

"There he is!" the younger voice yelled.

A shot exploded from the farmer's rifle and just as the sound reached Joe's ear he felt
something rip through the sleeve of his left arm followed immediately by a warmth that
encompassed his arm and shoulder. Charlie looked down at his sleeve and saw that a cloud of
down feathers were flying out of his down jacket.

"Got him!" the older farmer yelled.