“Huh? No, well… I mean, yes.” I hurried to say, impatiently. “They’re some friends from Minnesota, but it’s early and they’re still sleeping. I get up with the sun. You know—writer routines and all that. You still haven’t told me what brings you out here. Has something happened?”
“Well, to tell you the truth, we’ve had some strange reports at the office these past few days.”
I tensed. For a moment, I thought my shot or the noises of the morning fight had been heard all the way down to the valley and some neighbor had called the police. On a day this clear, with the mountains so silent, anything seemed possible to me.
“Strange reports?” I asked, uneasy.
“It’s odd. We almost never get news of loose animals this time of year, but it seems there are some scavengers awake. Someone even said
