Idaho Wild Child

{There is almost no sex in this story, so be warned...:).. MGM)

The full moon peeking over the canyon rim lit up the valley down below nicely. The view was as bright as it sometimes is in early morning or late evening.

The canyon was a short season's graze but it was always lush. The melting snow fed streams, and kept the ground moist. The tender grass shoots the Sheep loved seemed to know there was little time, they made up for it in explosive growth once the warmer late Spring days arrived.

Dan could see his flock of Sheep, several thousand of them, bedded down for the night.

He could also see the damn pack of Wolves sneaking up on his line fence.

"Ain't no Wolves up there, Dan. What the hell are you talking about? It must be Coyotes or a big cat or something." The Sheriff had looked at him like he was crazy when he drove to town to try and get some help.

"I know a Wolf when I see one, I know their damn tracks, too!" Dan had retorted.

All that got him was a shrug from the Sheriff.

"Worthless fat lazy bastard!" Dan thought, heading for the gun shop. He made a mental note to vote for anybody else come next election.

That was how he ended up on his big deck looking out over the valley, he had just had it with the damn things killing several of his animals almost every other night. His Winchester 30-30 was loaded and ready to go.

They had gotten Jen, his big Border Collie, too. Jen was 9 years old and at her peak. She would get right up on the back of the lead Ewe and ride her all the way to the barnyard, the flock following along behind.

Hell, she could be a quarter of a mile away and all Dan had to do was point left or right and her response was instant.

Coyotes? Jen was big and could be mean, no Coyote on Earth could stand up to her, she would just kill the damn things. But Wolves? No way in hell. She had tried, she had fought them to the death to save her flock and lost.

Dan had collapsed in tears when he found her torn body. Then he was filled with hate.

He was left with just with Jojo and Runt. Dan always named the Border Collies different so they wouldn't confuse his commands, although most of the time he just used sign language. Runt was only two, far too young to really get it yet, Jojo was four and getting the idea that the flock was his responsibility. He still sometimes looked confused, but he was trying. Both of them were out of Jen, and one of his neighbor's best work dogs, so he knew he had good stock there.

Damn he missed Jen, she used to curl up at his feet and wait for him wanting anything. Anything at all, she had that sixth sense the Border Collies develop, it's hard to explain.

After losing Jen Dan would not let Jojo or Runt out into the fields at night, whatever had taken Jen down could handle those two with ease.

He watched as a large dark shadow came up to the gate, he knew the gate should stop them now since he had carefully wired it. Somehow the damn predators kept getting through the gate, the line fence was tight woven wire, high enough he was pretty sure they couldn't jump it. The Sheep would untie ropes, unhook any kind of catch, so he had always used a wire they couldn't figure out.

Well, usually they couldn't figure them out, anyway.

But something had, so he used his fence pliers to wrap the wire and crimp it over on the end. That would stop any animal. Over time, a few Coyotes had dug under the fences here and there, but Jen had just made short work of them so they knew their place, that was rare now.

Dan rode his big 4 wheel drive ATV the entire length of the line fence to double check, just to be sure. There were a few places where he could see wool caught in the wires. One thing about Sheep, they were smart and always looking for a hole or worrying the fence line trying to find a way out.

Now it was late, the predators were coming in like he expected, they moved towards the gate.

He almost dropped the rifle in surprise when he saw the big one seem to stand up and mess with the gate for a few moments, then it swung open.

The pack started to run across the field towards the sleeping flock, Dan pointed his rifle a bit in front of them and fired. They swapped ends in mid stride and headed back the other way. He touched off another round to hurry them along.

Hell, the last thing he wanted was to kill one of them, the goddamn treehuggers would be all over his ass for that. They had released a couple of breeding pairs the year before way up in the hills, to "restore" nature. Those should be miles away, he knew. Besides, this pack was no less than a dozen of the damn things.

They had to be wild, but the wild ones were supposed to be extinct.

Yea, sure, no wild ones. Still, Dan knew damn good and well he couldn't just drop any of them, even shooting at them got the environmentalist's panties in a bunch real quick.

Damn location devices all over the ones they released, shoot one and the assholes would show up to run everything from ballistics to DNA profiles.

Hell, they were goddamn Wolves!

Then he saw the big one that had somehow got the gate open, it stood there staring his direction...partially upright? Then it dropped down on all fours and took off like a shot.

Something was wrong with the way it ran, it flashed in his mind that maybe it was crippled or something? It wasn't running like any Wolf or Coyote, plus it was big, too.

He sighted on it, had it dead to rights, it was 150 yards and he was sure he could hit it. But he didn't fire again. Sighing, Dan went back inside. Jojo and Runt were all upset, wanting to get out there and fight whatever it was. He patted them and spoke softly to calm them down, finally they retreated back over to in front of the fireplace. Jojo kept looking around in suspicion, the hair on his back upright, bristling. Runt just plopped down and promptly went to sleep.

The next day Dan went back to town and bought a big net. It was the kind that was normally used for temporary fencing, so he spent the afternoon tying long rows of it together. He set the net over the gate on poles with catches designed to trip and drop it. It was way up high, Dan ran a tripwire line to his deck.

He had himself a plan, by golly.

He waited all that night and the next, nothing. He guessed shooting a couple of rounds at them had made them skittish. He was sleepy coming up on midnight the 3rd night, he had been catching naps during the daytime. The Moon was far less bright but he could make out the motion as something moved towards the gate.

It stopped short of the net, seemed to be looking around. Dan kept quiet, it was a good hundred and more yards away. He got the impression that whatever it was was looking his way, that was unnerving.

Then it turned and ran. Damn, that close. The trouble now was it would soon be too dark as the Moon went into it's phases, no way would he be able to see them coming.

Back in town, he bought a battery powered light with one of those little beams that set it off when tripped. He installed that under the net.

That night he was on his deck, waiting. It was closer to one in the morning before he sensed rather than saw motion again. Dan tried to see in the near dark but was having no luck. When he saw the light flash on, he reached down and jerked the wire.

All hell broke loose, snarls and racket. He grabbed his rifle and headed down there with a flashlight. He shined the beam on the netting and came to a stop.

It wasn't a Wolf like he expected, it was a dark hide of some kind and he saw a mass of long hair. Something was wrapped up in a hide and the net, kicking and snarling. He saw a long bare leg sticking out, realized it was some person and starting to get loose.

Fucking poachers!

Dan leaned over and used the butt of his rifle to bonk him a good one.

The struggling stopped. Dan pulled the netting loose, tugged the hide off.

It wasn't a he, it was a woman, and she was naked as a Jaybird! The beam from his flashlight showed small breasts capping the skinny chest, her muscles were thin and hard looking. There was a huge mass of pubic hair, and even more on her behind. Dan stood there in shock, staring. There was blood coming out of a cut just above her right eye, he realized he had done that with the rifle butt. He looked closely, she had impossibly long hair, it came clear down to the top of her legs. There was some kind of fur wrapped around her feet and lower legs, it had come loose on one side. It seemed to have been just rolled and folded into place. He reached out and touched it, his finger came back sticky with pitch.

Not entirely sure what it was he had here, he reached for his handkerchief and wiped the cut, looking at it closely. Just then her eyes opened up, her lips curled back into a snarl and she bit him on the arm. He jerked backwards in surprise, she came over the top of him trying to bite his neck.

"Knock it off! I won't hurt you!" Dan yelled, as he went over backwards with mayhem on top of him. She was raking his chest with her fingernails, he had gotten a glimpse of them, they were long and wicked looking. She was also snarling and trying to bite him.

God she stunk to high heaven.

He at first tried to just control her but that wasn't working worth a damn. Finally he got a hand free and belted her one, but not before she got her teeth sunk into his leg and raked his side, ripping his shirt drawing a streak of pain. She leaned backwards, dazed, he belted her a second time with all he had.

That did it, she went down in a heap. He checked where she had bit and scratched him, blood was flowing freely.

Dan was wondering just how in the goddamn hell he was going to be able to explain this one? Blood was pouring out of his arm and his leg, self defense maybe?

Yea, sure. She couldn't be more than 110 pounds, less than half his size. The stupid ass Sheriff would just throw him in the can and go back to the bar playing poker.

He cut off a couple of pieces of the rope and tied her hands and feet securely, he wasn't in the mood at all for another struggle like that, she had lit into him intending to kill him. Then he checked her closely, she was still breathing so at least he hadn't killed her.

Dan threw her slight frame over his shoulder, took her up to the barn and locked her up in his big walk in cooler. She would be warm enough in there with the cooler shut off, he knew. He reached down with his knife and cut the ropes.

A bit pissed off at her, he shut off the light. At his house, he checked his wounds. They were deep, the one on his leg needed stitches. He got out his kit he used to sew up his lambs when they got hurt, poured a liberal shot of whiskey on the wounds, another liberal shot into his stomach.

Then he gritted his teeth and sewed himself up, putting a bandage on it. Getting up, he went back out to check on the woman, he still had no real clue as to what the hell to do with her, or even for sure what the hell she was?

She was curled up in a tight ball in the corner when he opened the door. He had retrieved the tattered hide she had when he netted her, and he handed it to her. She looked at it and back at him, but didn't move. Dan looked her over, she was filthy. He started to step towards her but she snarled, so he backed off.

He noticed she made no attempt at all to cover her nakedness, that was really strange. Hell, maybe she was a mental case, escaped from someplace? But if that was the case, how in the hell did she end up way up here in the mountains. And outside at that, she should be dead from exposure if nothing else.

He went up to the house, made a meal of vegetables and some hamburger, plus some water. He took that down to her, set it down and left. He also set down a bag with a heavy work blouse and a pair of blue jeans his ex-wife had left behind. They were too big for her but it was all he had.

He left the lights up on one side this time, setting the rheostat to dim. Leaving her in there in pitch black was a little bit mean. Then he got some sleep, he was now way behind on that.

The next morning the food was untouched, but some of the water was gone. She instantly jammed herself back into the corner and growled at him. She hadn't touched the clothes, the bag still sat right where he had dropped it. He tried to talk to her, got nothing but snarls in return. Dan tried again to feed her, he took her some waffles and jelly.

She ignored that, but again, she had taken some water. By the 3rd day he was getting nervous, she would not eat at all.

He realized that by not calling the sheriff and keeping her locked up, he was now a kidnapper.

Damn, what a fucking mess this was!

Getting an idea, he went out to his Rabbit cages and got one, giving it a quick bat on the back of the head. He started to skin it, changed his mind. He opened the door, she jammed back into the corner. Then she saw the Rabbit in his hand, her eyes showed interest.

He laid the dead Rabbit down, closed the door. A few hours later, he found her jammed up in the corner again but all that was left of the Rabbit was fur.

Dan was reasonably sure before that he had a wild thing here, but now he was completely sure. She had carefully gone completely across the small room to defecate, so he went and got a shovel and a bucket and cleaned that up. She looked at him with interest as he did that, but made no move to attack. She just sat there, the dirty tattered hide over her. That was when he noticed she was panting. He was almost back to the house when it hit him she was panting just like the Dogs did when they got too warm. It was around 75° in there.

Dan went back down and set the cooler on 60°. She stopped the constant panting in a few minutes after the fan kicked on.

It took a quite long time, finally one day she took meat from his hand, then darted away. After that she began to get used to him, she even accepted a clean blanket. He had brought in a mattress, she had sniffed it carefully, then curled up on the hard floor. Finally she accepted that, and he found her sitting on it when he opened the door.

All that time Dan spoke to her in a soft voice, saying words over and over, pointing. Mostly he got a show of teeth or a snarl in return.

He tried again with the clothes, holding them up to demonstrate. She cocked her head and her eyes showed she understood. If he could just get her calm enough to let him wash her first it would help, but if he reached for her she instantly backed away and went tense.

Dan was careful to not get too close, he had barely healed from what she had done to him that first night.

She had the blouse on when he came back that evening with some raw chicken. She had her arms in the sleeves but hadn't buttoned it. Dan unbuttoned his own shirt and then fastened it back up. She was eating the chicken but watching him as he did that over and over several times. The next morning she had it fastened, but she still hadn't put the pants on.

Nothing to do but show her how, Dan undid his own pants and pulled them off. Using exaggerated motions, he put them back on. She sat there and stared at him. When he tried it again, she moved forwards slowly on all fours and sniffed at his groin.

Dan froze and blinked at that, ready for her to try and bite but she didn't. She lifted her hind end and twitched it. Dan realized he had seen that exact same movement when his dog Jen had gone into heat.

He opened his mouth and laughed, for some reason that was hilarious. She instantly darted back to the corner and snarled at him.

Dan left. He never did understand women anyway, but this situation was fucking impossible. No point in telling anyone about it, nobody was going to believe him anyway.

But the next day she had the pants on. They were too large, they kept slipping down. Every once in awhile she would pull at them with little effect. He drove to town and bought some soft woman's slacks that looked to be the right size, getting an odd look from the storekeeper in the process. He managed to get the oversize pants off and away from her, she shivered and trembled but allowed it. He handed her the new ones, she sniffed of them and then just put them on.

Dan was quite pleased with himself, he was getting her tamed.

Next he took a pail of warm soapy water in, took off his shirt and washed his arms. Then he used a soft cloth to dry his arms. She watched that with interest. He left the pail and soft washcloth there and went back to the house for several hours.

When he got back with food, she was curled up on the blanket and reasonably clean. He put the food down, then noticed she was sweating, her eyes looked dull. He mouth was hanging open, she was panting? He carefully reached out and touched her forehead, she was hot as a pistol. She didn't even respond, always before she would instantly huddle back if he got too close.

Damn. Now what the hell? He went back up to the house and got some aspirin, mixed it in with the food. She ate a few bites but curled right back up. Dan brought more blankets, and was careful to keep lots of fresh water close to her.

She was drinking the water, he had gotten used to the way she leaned over the bowl and lapped at it.

He now knew she was also very ill. Over the next two days he watched as she got weaker and weaker, finally Dan knew he had no choice. He went up to the house and got the local doctor on the radio.

Dan knew old Doc Barker fairly well, he was a short balding no nonsense kind of guy. He also doubled as the local Vet. It was almost two hours before he arrived.

"So what's up, Dan?" Doc asked as he climbed out of his ratty old four wheel drive.

Dan started to explain, then stopped when Doc's eyebrows went up.

"She is sick, I need your help!" Dan finally said, in frustration.

"Well, let's take a look then." They went into the cooler, Doc Barker came to a stop, his mouth hanging open.

"What in the hell?" He exclaimed.

"I tried to tell you, she is a wild one, she was running with the Wolves."

All that did was get him a funny look. But the doc checked her out, she looked up at him with blurry eyes but didn't resist.

"Infection of some kind, I think." Doc said, finally standing up. He went out to his truck, came back with a needle.

"Uhhh...Doc?" Dan said.

Doc leaned down and slid the needle into her arm, he pressed the plunger. She came up off the blanket snarling, Doc moved his hand just in time as she snapped at him. Dan stepped in between, she looked at him but stayed tense.

"What the hell is she?"

"I told you, wild one. She was running with those Wolves."

Doc just shook his head.

"You know I have to report this."

"Yea, I figured on that."

"My God she stinks!"

"You should have smelled her before." Dan grinned.

Doc left, Dan just went about his daily business, knowing what was coming. It was late afternoon the next day when the sheriff and several men showed up, plus a nurse. Dan had checked on her a few times, she now seemed to be better, sitting up and actually eating.

Dan just sat out there as the sheriff went inside the cooler, he managed to stifle a laugh when he came right back out a bit on the quick side. There was quite a discussion, then several of them went in. They came out with her handcuffed, she cast a sideways look at Dan as they loaded her into one of the rigs.

He felt a little tug at his heart at that, her face was screwed up in terror.

"Be best you stick around, Dan." The sheriff told him, glaring.

"I got a few thousand head of Sheep, I ain't going anywhere."

The sheriff just looked at him and nodded.

There was a whole series of meetings, Dan just told them the truth. Finally after quite a long time just some of them began to believe him, Dan could understand that, he almost didn't believe it himself.