Page 39 of Sheltering Instinct

“That’s the plan,” Reaper turned to Enrico. “Where would I go for help if it’s three blasts?”

“Give me your phone.” Enrico stretched out his hand. “I’ll put in the emergency numbers. It's for the same team that we worked with today in Etosha.” He tapped out the information as he spoke. “If it’s a three-blast emergency, they know whatequipment to bring. They’ll come. Meanwhile, one of us can run the trail to give more information.”

“Keys in the ignition,” Goose called as he headed back. “Do you need a scent source?”

“Nah,” Enrico called back. “Not if we can’t be sure that the source belongs to Gwen. That can just confuse the situation.”

“Good that we have access to a second vehicle,” Reaper said as he accepted his phone and glanced at the information. “If someone comes down the mountain and I haven’t gotten back yet, take the pickup to the vineyard where we can use cell phones. We can set up a command center there if need be.”

Levi tipped his head back, taking in the trailhead, and followed it to the ridge. “A thirty-minute run?”

“That’s my estimation,” Enrico said. “But we’re going to be burning energy doing it. That’s not an easy climb.”

“Challenge accepted,” Levi said, tightening his shoulder straps and pulling the sternal and hip straps into place.

“Since it’s thirty minutes up,” Reaper set a timer on his watch. “I’ll take the vehicle back to the vineyard and grab our team's equipment and something that could be used as a backboard or rescue basket. I’ll be back to hear the whistle signal.” Reaper headed out.

“Closest hospital is Tsumeb?” Goose bent to retie his laces and get his equipment adjusted for the run. By far, he carried the heaviest day pack.

“It’s an hour away.” Enrico whistled to recall Mojo. “Everyone’s wearing boots, that’s good. But just so you know, the oddity of our weather in recent days has been affecting our snake population. Snakes are shy creatures. In a normal year, we don’t see any snakes at all. But just in the last few days, over a dozen sightings have been reported by our rangers working in this area.”

Mojo ran full tilt toward Enrico, coming to an abrupt seated stop. Tongue long, excited for this new game they were playing today, Mojo waited for his next command.

“Any words of advice?” Goose asked.

“Yeah,” Enrico said, “stay directly behind Mojo.” Enrico looked down at Mojo and commanded, “Mojo, search for the human, hunt for snakes.”

Mojo’s nose went up in the air. After a moment, he crouched until his nose was a hovercraft, sucking in and processing scent as he moved swiftly and purposefully up the rocky slope.

“Let’s give him a minute to settle into that search. It’s a complicated scent puzzle.”

“He performs the two tasks at once?” Levi asked.

“It’s imperative that our K9s have that skill. The dogs need to focus on their primary task, in this case, finding a human. But they must also be situationally aware. If they’re doing a great job following a trail, but they get kicked in the head by a mountain zebra, it’s a lose-lose situation.” Enrico kept his gaze on Mojo’s progress. “When it comes to wildlife scents, they have to process two directives at once. This snake tracking is one that we practice consistently, simply because this is Namibia, home of eighty different snakes, eleven species that are potentially deadly to humans. More than that can kill a dog. Anytime we’re out walking an uncleared area, we couple the directives no matter the season because that skillset is imperative to the safety of our ranger teams.”

“For example, they’d clear a campsite before the rangers bedded down?” Goose asked.

“Exactly, but unlike when Levi and I were over in the sandbox clearing for insurgents and explosives, the animals of Namibia are dynamic. What was clear at the beginning is notclear a moment later. And we train for snakes not the other crawlies that are here, spiders, scorpions.”

“Scorpions, they’re a treat,” Levi said. “He’s stopped. Did Mojo find something?”

“If it were a human, he’d run back. If it were a snake, he’d signal with a sharp bark. Then he stands very still, trying not to agitate the snake. Let’s start walking up. We can pick up the pace when Mojo gets moving. He clears pretty fast.”

“Anything else up here we need to be worried about?” Goose asked as he fell in line behind the other two.

“Baboons can mind their own business, or not. And there’s always the chance we’ll come across a black rhino. Some of the rangers have seen them in this area.”

Levi was scanning the ground, figuring out what hazards to keep an eye for once they started the run. “Rangers are outside the park, and the police and military guard Etosha?”

“That’s right.”

“What’s their emotional state with the culling that’s going on?” Goose asked.

“They’re hungry, to be honest. Their food supplies have been cut. Except for the tourists, everyone’s food supplies have been cut. I have the good fortune to supplement my wages with my savings. I can afford to go into the city centers and buy imported Western food. That isn’t true for the men and women who work for the Namibian government. Most people have pinched bellies, much like the people we worked beside in the sandbox.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Levi said.

“We’re hoping for rain.” Enrico picked up his pace to a jog.

---