It was an unfamiliar area and I chose my steps carefully. The rising and falling howls behind me said it all. I was being hunted. I leaped over the fallen log blocking the path. It slowed me down a fraction of a second but it was enough for my pursuers to gain ground. The shout came from my left, a flanker keeping me on the trail. It was answered by a trio of growls from behind. A tree root caught my foot and tripped me. I tumbled head over heels, twisting to the right and finding a hill there eager to accelerate my fall. I landed a few inches from a deep hole. Scrambling to my feet I assessed the size of the pit. Too deep to jump across. I couldn’t see the bottom. It spread out to each side, the edges out of sight or obscured by deep brush. I couldn’t get around it.
