Mysteries in Our National Parks: Wolf Stalker: A Mystery in Yellowstone National Park

“And they would have been a whole lot better off if people had just left them alone. Right?”

It was a question that wasn’t quite a question. Was he talking about the wolves or about himself, Jack wondered.

Olivia took the hint and left Troy to his own thoughts. She faced forward again, took out her cell phone, and punched in Mike’s number. Once more she only got his answering machine. This time she didn’t bother to leave a message.

Steven turned on the car radio, maybe so the two of them could talk about Troy without being overheard. Or talk about the wolves, or the demonstrators, or about what they were going to do now since they couldn’t connect with Mike.

“Can’t you put on some better music, Mom?” Jack asked. “That station’s dumb.”

“Yeah. Dumb,” Ashley echoed.

“OK.” Olivia started to change the dial on the car radio, but stopped abruptly.

“Listen!” she exclaimed.

“…question of wolves in Yellowstone. This is JJK-Talk Radio. Because of intense public interest, we’re rebroad-casting last night’s interview with Mr. George Campbell,” an announcer was saying. “Campbell is the man whose dog was viciously attacked and killed by wolves in Yellowstone yesterday. All right, folks, here we go. And after we play this, we’ll be ready to take your calls on this explosive issue.” There was a slight clicking sound, and then, “You told us, Mr. Campbell, that you weren’t actually in Yellowstone Park when your dog was murdered.”

“That’s right. I was hiking in Gallatin National Forest, which is right next to Yellowstone, when the wolves came after me and my dog.”

“So,” the announcer continued, “the wolf pack chased your golden retriever over the boundary line into Yellowstone.”

“You got it, Gary. I paid five hundred dollars for that dog when he was a pup. After I trained him to hunt, he was worth a whole lot more than that. Rex was the best hunting dog I ever owned. That wolf pack ran him down and ripped him up, and there was nothin’ I could do to save him. People better start being careful—before you know it, wolves’ll be snatching your dogs off your front porch and babies outta their—”

“That’s ridiculous!” Olivia was getting more upset. “Wolves don’t—”

“Take it easy.” Steven reached out his hand to calm her, then turned the radio louder.

“Mr. Campbell, there’s been some question about Rex being found inside Yellowstone Park. Just so our listeners understand, dogs are allowed in Gallatin National Forest, where you said you were, but no dog is allowed to roam Yellowstone’s back country. Not even on a leash.”

“Yeah, but see, Gary, I wasn’t in the park until after the wolves chased Rex across the boundary. I mean, I was close to Yellowstone, you know? Maybe even real close. But it was the wolves’ fault Rex ran into the park. They chased him, and then they killed him.”

Another click, and then the announcer said, “Okay, folks, that was last night. Now it’s Saturday afternoon, we’re on the air live, and all our lines are open. Just pick up your phones and punch in JJK-TALK. Remember, the JJ stands for Judge and Jury, and that means all of you great folks out there in our listening audience.”

There was the sound of a ringing phone, followed by, “Here’s our first caller: Martha from Billings. This is JJK-Talk Radio, Martha. Go ahead.”

“Well….” A woman’s voice crackled over the radio. “Uh—am I on the air, Gary?”

“You sure are, Martha. Go ahead.”

“Well, I just want to say, those vicious wolves are the Adolf Hitler of the animal kingdom. I’m scared to let my kids stand on the corner to wait for the school bus anymore. Like Mr. Campbell said, what if a wolf or a whole pack of those killer wolves came running out of Yellowstone? No one is safe.”

“All right, thanks for calling in, Martha. Let’s get another opinion. This next caller is Larry from Pocatello. Larry’s with a group that is picketing at Yellowstone right now to protest the wolves. That’s pro-test, folks, not pro-tect! Go ahead, Larry. Tell us what you think.”

In a deep, deliberate voice, the new caller declared, “When this country was founded, it was the people who decided what was done and what wasn’t. Now everything’s run by the government. A bunch of Washington suits sat down with some tree huggers and dictated that killer wolves should come back into our national park.”

“So what’s your point, Larry? Can you sum it up?” the announcer asked.

“The point is—the government’s cramming this wolf thing down the regular citizens’ throats. People, we don’t have to take it! We got to unite and rid Yellowstone Park of those bloodthirsty wolves before it’s too late!”

More phones rang in the background as the announcer asked, “Just how do you suggest we do that, Larry?”

“If I could, I’d say, ‘Men, take up your rifles and go into Yellowstone and—’”

“I can’t stand it!” Olivia cried, snapping off the radio. “How can people talk so crazy and get so worked up over this kind of hysterical propaganda?”

In the backseat, Troy glanced from Olivia to Steven and back again. For once, he seemed interested in what was going on.

“Just wait till we get to the site of the so-called wolf attack, Steven,” Olivia vowed. “I’m going to reconstruct what happened with that dog. I have a feeling there’s more to it than George Campbell is telling.”

“You’ll find out the truth, Mom,” Ashley said confidently.

Steven shrugged. “The guy’s dog is dead, Olivia. That much of it is true. Even the park officials admit the wolves killed the dog.”

“Well, I still want to hear what Mike has to say,” Olivia answered. “If I can ever get through to him.”

Since Ashley was kneeling in the tailgate, she had a good view of the highway. “Watch out, Dad,” she yelled. “Cars are stopping up ahead.”

As they slowed down and drove closer, they could see the cause of the traffic pileup: three big, shaggy, bearded bison were standing in the middle of the road. Cars from both directions had stopped in long lines; doors were flung open as people jumped out, cameras in hand, to take pictures of the massive beasts.

“Don’t the visitors read the warnings?” Olivia asked, exasperated. She rolled down the window on her side of the jeep and leaned out—head, shoulders, and torso. “Stay away from those bison!” she yelled to the people on the road. “They can charge you and gore you. Please! You’re putting yourselves in danger.”

A few people turned to stare at Olivia, but most of them just kept taking pictures.

“Listen to me! Those bison look big and slow, but they can move fast. Thirty miles an hour!”

“Give it up, Mom,” Jack said, embarrassed that his mother was sticking out of the jeep window like a jack-in-the-box, waving her arms and shouting that way, especially since no one seemed to be taking her seriously. Only the big bull buffalo raised his head to stare at Olivia with his beady eyes. Slowly, he shook his massive head, as if agreeing with Olivia that tourists could be unbelievably, dangerously reckless. Rippling the dust off his dark hide, he turned and trotted down an embankment into the field below. His pair of buffalo cows followed him.

Taking their time, people returned to their cars. Doors slammed and motors revved up as the caravans started out once more, now that the unexpected bison appearance had ended. When the Landon jeep finally got moving again, they’d lost close to 15 minutes. Olivia began to chew her fingertip.

“What time were you supposed to meet Mike?” Jack asked.

“Around noon. But I can’t get him to answer his phone, and it’s already almost two o’clock. I’ve left my cell phone number on his machine four times already! The problem is he never told me where we were supposed to meet him—he just said to phone him when we got close. This is so frustrating!”

“Look, he knows we’re coming, and you’ve done everything you can. I think the best plan is to go to the wolf office like you suggested,” Steven said.

“Where’s that?” Ashley wanted to know.

“Close to Mammoth Hot Springs. Just down a side road.”

“I love that place!” Ashley exclaimed. “Can I show Mammoth Hot Springs to Troy? Wait till you see it, Troy. It’s like a great big layer cake with lots of different colored icing.”

Why bother, Jack thought. Even though Troy had never before been to Yellowstone because he’d lived in Wyoming for only a couple of months, he seemed totally bored by everything they’d seen so far. When he condescended to look at anything, it was with expressionless eyes, through half-lowered lids.

“Sorry, Ashley,” Steven began, “I don’t think we can fit that in right now. Your mother has to handle the wolf crisis—”

“Oh, go ahead and take them,” Olivia interrupted. “I’m a little tense over this whole thing, Steven. It really might be better to just drop me off at the wolf office while the rest of you take a quick look at Mammoth Hot Springs. I’ll try to get all the details before you come back for me—like, where’s Mike, and what’s happening with those demonstrators!”

Within the next half hour, Steven took Olivia to the wolf restoration office, parked the car near Mammoth Hot Springs, and shepherded his own two kids and a reluctant Troy along the boardwalk.

Water didn’t shoot up into the air in Mammoth Hot Springs. It flowed up or brimmed over from cracks in the surface. On the flat topmost terrace, which seemed wide enough to make a table for all the gods and giants of Olympus, steam rose in gentle wisps. Since each day two tons of water-dissolved minerals bubbled up and got deposited on the crust, Mammoth Hot Springs looked different in shape and color every time Jack saw it.

Ashley stood next to Troy at the railing and said, “See how the water comes up? It’s full of—what do you call it, Dad? I never remember.”

Before Steven could answer, Jack did. He had decided he should teach Troy a fact or two about the natural wonders of Yellowstone, especially since Troy was from the city and wouldn’t know anything about hot springs. Loudly enough that the tourists around him could hear, too, he announced, “It’s calcium carbonate, Ashley. That’s what the water’s full of—calcium carbonate.”

“From limestone,” Troy said.

Jack looked at him in disbelief. Who’d have thought Troy would know that? “Not really,” Jack said stiffly, still talking loud. “The carbonate dissolves out from the calcium when it gets on the surface. What’s left—that’s the stuff that builds up these terraces—is called travertine.”

“Yeah, but it starts out from limestone and limestone’s white,” Troy said, “so how come some of the rocks look pink and green and orange?”

“What a great question, Troy,” Steven exclaimed, making Jack want to grind his teeth. “The colors come from different kinds of bacteria and algae that have adapted to survive in really hot water. I have some books about it at home—when we get back, we can look it up. But now we better drive back and get Olivia before we get into hot water. She’s probably waiting for us.”

At the wolf office building, Olivia was sitting on the front steps, her crossed arms leaning against her knees. When she saw them she cried, “Don’t get out. Don’t even stop the car—we have to leave right away and meet Mike.”

As she reached to open the jeep’s front door, Troy leaped out of the back.

“I’m not going,” he said.

Jack groaned. Why did Troy have to be so difficult?

“What’s wrong, Troy?” Ashley asked.

“What about my mom? I want to find out if the police have heard anything.

Steven cleared his throat. “That’s reasonable, Troy. I’ll run inside and use their phone, but maybe I’ll call Social Services instead of the police. They’ll know what’s happening.”

“Why can’t you use Olivia’s phone?”

“Because it won’t reach that far. I’ve tried to call Jackson Hole on the wireless cell phone, but all these mountains around here cause interference. The signal gets blocked. So I need to use a regular phone, with wires. Okay?”

Troy nodded, and watched as Steven climbed the few steps into the relocation office. Olivia started to explain to the kids that Mike had already gone ahead, and they were to meet him at Slough Creek.

“I’m tired of riding in the tailgate, Mom,” Ashley complained. “How far is it to Stew Creek?”

“Not Stew Creek,” Olivia corrected her. “Slough Creek. It’s spelled S-L-O-U-G-H, but it’s pronounced like ‘he slew the dragon.’ And we’ll be there in less than half an hour.”

His eyes trained on the building in front of him, Troy twisted an end of his T-shirt into a thin rope. When he let it go, it fell into a mass of wrinkles. Finally, the screen door swung open and Steven clattered down the steps, shaking his head. “No news,” he said. “I’m sorry, Troy.”

Quietly, they took their places back inside the jeep. During the half-hour drive to Slough Creek, they kept their voices low—that is, the Landons did. Troy didn’t talk at all. “I did get some more information about the dog’s death,” Olivia told them. “They know wolves were in the area where the dog was supposed to have been killed. But they lost contact with one of the wolves, a young male. His radio collar stopped transmitting. He could have wiggled out of it, or the batteries might have failed, or—”

“Maybe he got killed, too,” Jack said.

“Mmmm, that wouldn’t be why the collar stopped transmitting. When a wolf doesn’t move for four hours, the radio collar goes into what’s called ‘mortality mode’—it gives off a really rapid signal. This wolf’s collar just stopped working, period. The whole thing’s kind of mysterious.”

The Landons discussed the possibilities, but Troy didn’t speak or move. He just sat with his hand over his eyes. Jack wondered if maybe he was crying about his mother. But no, a tough kid like Troy would never cry.

CHAPTER THREE

After they turned off the highway, they drove a few more miles down a dirt road to a parking lot in the middle of nowhere. A very odd place for a parking lot, Jack thought. But several campers and vans stood there, so people must have left their vehicles behind while they hiked the trails.

“This time everybody can get out and stay out,” Olivia said. “Because there’s Mike, waiting for us.”

A man came toward them.

The first thing Jack noticed was the man’s cap, decorated with a logo of a wolf and the words Project Wolfstock, Yellowstone—definitely not part of the regulation Park Service uniform, but cool.

The second thing Jack noticed was Mike’s expression. He looked very surprised to see all of them. “What’s with the kids?” he asked.

It was Olivia’s turn to look surprised. “Didn’t you get my messages? I called and left several voice messages on your answering machine—that we were bringing our own two kids and an extra one.”

“Shoot, Olivia,” Mike exclaimed. He took off his cap and scratched his head. “You wouldn’t believe the kind of day this has been! I’ve been out of the office all day because of all the trouble—demonstrators picketing, and about a zillion news reporters—”

“We heard about it,” Steven told him.

“I never even had a chance to check my voice messages,” Mike apologized. “Anyway, I figured it was just the two of you coming, so I only brought three horses. I wish we could take the kids with us—kids have such sharp eyes, they might notice things we miss—but there’s no time now to go back for more horses. If we don’t get started, we’re gonna run out of daylight.”

The tall horses were already saddled and waiting, stamping, snorting, and touching each other neck-to-neck. Their reins were looped around hooks on a red trailer that was hitched to a Park Service truck.

“That’s OK,” Steven said. “I’ll just stay here with the kids while you and Olivia ride up to the site.”

“No, Steve, that won’t work. I need you to take pictures of the scene. And we need to get there as fast as possible.” Mike tugged the brim of his cap, pulling it down to his eyebrows. “Not just because of the light, but because of scavengers getting at that dead dog’s remains. Every minute we wait, another raven comes to feed on the carcass. If we don’t get there soon to examine the area and take some good pictures, the evidence will be gone.”

Jack interrupted, “It’s OK, Mom and Dad. Us kids’ll just hang out here till you get back.” Before he even finished, he saw Steven shake his head.

“Can’t do that,” Steven said.

“Why not?” Mike asked. “They’re big kids.”

“No. Definitely no,” Olivia declared.

Troy scowled. “Because of me, right? You think I’m gonna run. Where would I go, around here?” He gestured at the steep hills that rose into even steeper mountains, covered with pines and thick scrub.

No one answered, because all of them knew that the road they’d driven in on cut through those mountains, right back to the highway only a couple of miles away. Troy could easily hike back and thumb a ride. With the grown-ups gone, there was no way Jack and Ashley would be able to stop him.

“Tell you what,” Mike said. “Since you brought your cell phone, I’ll call over to headquarters and have one of the park rangers come by to get the kids. Nicole,” he said to Olivia. “That’s her name. In fact, right now she’s not far from here, at Roosevelt Lodge. She can drive here in ten minutes.” When Olivia unfolded the small phone and handed it to him, Mike dialed the number.

They couldn’t hear what he was saying into the phone because Steven gathered the three kids around him and started talking. “I don’t know how this is going to work out for you guys,” he said. “I’m not sure how long we’ll be gone.”

“Probably four or five hours,” Olivia broke in.

“Ask Nicole to take you straight to Roosevelt Lodge,” Steven decided. “She’ll stay with you until we get back. I’ll give you money so you can get something to eat.” Jack and Ashley nodded.

Mike snapped the phone shut and gave it back to Olivia. “It’s all set,” he told them. “Nicole’s on her way. You kids wait right here beside the truck.”

“How will we know it’s Nicole and not a stranger?” Ashley asked.

Mike grinned at her. “Because she’ll be wearing a national park ranger’s uniform with a name tag that says ‘Nicole Hardy.’ That’s how you’ll know. OK?”

Ashley smiled back at him. “Just checking.”

While Steven loaded his camera equipment into the saddlepacks of one of the horses, Olivia adjusted the stirrups on another one.

“I forgot you’re a short person,” Mike teased her, “or I would have pulled those stirrups way up high.” He looked at his watch. “We need to mount up and get moving. Nicole should be here in about two minutes. The kids’ll be all right for that long.”

From high in her saddle, Olivia looked down at Jack and Ashley. Jack could tell his mother was worried. “Mom, we’ll be fine,” he echoed. “We’ll stay right here till the ranger comes. Promise.”

With a creak of saddle leather and the crunch of hoofs on gravel, the three horses moved out of the parking lot, toward the banks of Slough Creek. Steven was already deep in conversation with Mike. Olivia turned to wave and called out, “Take care, OK?”

After the adults were out of sight, Troy kicked at some rocks. Then he picked up half a dozen stones and threw them, one at a time, hitting a metal sign that showed a circle with a crossbar across a picture of a dog on a leash. “No dogs,” it meant. Not even on leashes.

Bored with that, Troy climbed onto a fender of the horse trailer and peered inside. Next he tested the door of the Park Service truck, but it was locked. “How long are we supposed to wait here?” he grumbled.

Ashley was rummaging through the tailgate of the jeep, searching for something to eat. “Look, Jack,” she called out. “Here’s my parka and your parka and here’s Dad’s old red one. I bet Mom packed that for Troy, ’cause it’ll get cold tonight.” She held it up for Troy to see.

Troy sniffed disdainfully. “You think I’d wear that? No way! It’s red!”

“Just wait,” Jack said, “till the temperature drops really low and we’re in a cabin tonight and you have to go to the bathroom—which is about a block away from the cabins. You’ll wear it.”

“I wear black,” Troy said.

It wasn’t worth arguing about. Jack didn’t have a watch on, but it seemed to him that Nicole, the ranger, should have reached them by now. Tree shadows were beginning to lengthen; the sun hung halfway down the sky.

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