Kendra jerked awake to the sound of a gunshot. She held tightly to her knife and looked around her. She was surprised to find no one. Her eyebrows furrowed. That didn’t make any sense. Did it? Who would be shooting at what, if it wasn’t the General hunting. “Maybe I’m not the only one he’s hunting,” she suggested to herself. She stretched and looked around. What should she do now? There was no sign of the General or anyone else for that matter. Of course, she didn’t know what she would do when there was sign of the General either. She sighed and looked around again.
“Maybe I should find a place to hide or make a trap,” she remarked. A thought suddenly occurred to her. Her father had had a book about wilderness survival. It was full of all sorts of knots, types of fires, and animal traps. A smile grew on her face. Oh yes. This would work. Four traps she remembered; four traps she would make. She would have to figure out how to up the scale to kill a human instead of a small animal, but she could do it. She just needed a few bendable saplings. She pulled out her hunting knife and began to cut the bag in which the food had been given her into small strips, and then set about her work.
A few hours later she was done. Still no sign of the General, but she hoped that wouldn’t last too long. She was eager to try out her skills with a knife and wood. She made sure the traps were spread out, all in different areas of the jungle. She wiped the sweat from her forehead; all that was left to do was wait. Kendra had already figured that part out. She had found several trees far enough away to keep her hidden, but still giving her a good vantage point for what she hoped was the General’s demise.
She climbed a tree again the way she had the night before and waited. Almost as if on cue, she could hear foot-steps through the vegetation and soon enough the Cossack was visible. Her face suddenly furrowed. In front of the Cossack was a dog. Already? The General had said he only brought the dogs out when his prey had evaded him for close to the allotted time. She’d only been out a day. She shook her head slightly and bit her lip to keep from making any noise. It was time. Kendra caught her breath and waited, but at the last second turned away. Her eyes squeezed closed tightly. She couldn’t bear to watch. She heard a slight yelp and after a moment opened one eye. Then suddenly both eyes flew open.
On the ground below, the dog’s limp body hung from another tree. Kendra swore silently. “I’m impressed, Rainsford,” the Cossack’s voice sounded. Rainsford? She didn’t have time to question this before he began to talk again. “Or perhaps it was you this time, Colonel, either way not many people know how to make a Track Spring. I’ve been losing dogs left and right today,” he said with disapproval and a shake of his head. “But don’t worry,” he said smiling once again. “I will return.” And with that, the General walked away, back towards the chateau.
After Kendra was sure he was gone, she hopped down from the tree where she had been waiting and inspected her trap. It was a fairly simple trap, but had taken her the longest. A small sapling near the trail was bent and tied to two other trees on either side of it. A small contraption was attached to the bottom of the sapling that both triggered and held the trap together. In the middle of the contraption was a noose. As something stepped on the bottom stick, it fell away, triggering the device. Then it flung the sapling upward and pulling the noose tight around the victim’s neck. She took out her hunting knife and cut the rope releasing the dog. It was a shame it had died. The dog had nothing to do with what was going on here. It had simply been following orders from its master. After this was done, she once again began to traverse the jungle.
