Free Alligator by Shelley Katz Page A

would be mapping out the strategy. Randy had always been proud of his ability to delegate authority; he figured he could change around the details of the death struggle after the skin was lying snugly in front of the fire.
    "We'll circle him. You stay well behind, and I'll signal when you've got the shot."
    Lee started inching toward the clearing, but he'd lost the feel of the woods. Something didn't seem right to him; he sensed trouble from the two men. He tried to reassure himself. After all, he'd had dozens of clients as bad as they, some even worse, but still his instinct told him to be on the alert.
    Out of the corner of his eye, Lee saw Clete moving up behind him. That idiot didn't trust Lee to give him the first shot. He must want to get Papa real bad. Lee turned to warn him to stay back, but it was too late. Clete tripped over a log and fell to the ground. There was no question that the bear heard him. The startled animal let out a terrified shriek, and, growling angrily, he took off into the forest. He crashed through scrub willows and catkins like a ten-ton bulldozer, leaving behind him a thick swath of destruction.
    Randy pulled Clete to his feet. "Asshole," he growled.
    "It wasn't my fault."
    "Asshole."
    Lee remained impassive. "We'll try to follow him," he said as he disappeared into the trees.
    Like a complicated sensing device, Lee's body was alive to every nuance of the woods. Broken trees limbs held whole stories for him; he could read an animal's entire life just by looking at him. He was back with his instinct again, and the trail of the bear was as easy to follow as Highway A1A.
    Ahead he could see the flash of Rab's tail through the trees. He slowed up, knowing the bear could not be far away. Suddenly, a terrifying, fear-tinged howl cracked through the forest and chilled Lee. It was Rab's warning. The bear had turned.
    Lee rushed ahead, circling toward Rab and the bear. He danced over dead logs and leaped huge patches of mud with a surefootedness that was almost unearthly. He checked behind for Randy and Clete, but they were nowhere in sight. Rab howled again. The cry told Lee that Rab was holding the bear.
    He stopped. Ahead, through the trees, he could just distinguish the outline of the bear and Rab's brown-and-white body darting back and forth. He'd bayed him. Where the hell were those two, Lee thought. Rab was good, but he couldn't keep the bear indefinitely.
    Lee heard the crack of a bullet. There was a terrible roar. It was a cry of pain and fear, and it came from the direction of the bear. Lee knew instantly what it meant. Clete had taken a shot and it was a bad one.
    Lee rushed forward toward the clearing. As he was running, he heard another shot. This one split a tree limb.
    He stopped at the edge of the clearing. Ahead was the bear. He hadn't seen Lee yet, but Lee had a good view of him. His huge gut was split, and blood poured from it in a thick, angry stream. His eyes were frenzied, and his mouth hung open.
    Suddenly the bear reared onto his back legs. He thrashed at the air for a moment, then crashed-back down on all fours and charged. Crazy and careless, throwing off blood like sweat, the bear crashed toward Lee. Rab howled, trying to divert him, but the bear had smelled human, and he knew where the danger lay.
    Lee lifted his rifle. With luck, he had time for only one shot. All at once, Rab made a leap for the bear's throat. The bear lunged forward and swiped at him with his enormous paw. It sent Rab flying into the air.
    Lee aimed. For one split second, he caught sight of another movement in the slough ahead. Shifting slightly under the surface of the muddy water was a huge black shadow. Suddenly the shadow rose up, and the enormous back of an alligator broke water. His body was as long as three tall men, and so wide it almost filled the entire slough. Lee thought it impossible that anything living could be that big. And then it was gone. It had all happened so quickly that Lee wondered if