Excalibur vs. The Wolves

Retired police officer, Ivan Rogan, owns and lives alone on his private ranch. There’s nothing or no one for miles, just him and the few animals he has left. All of which include his best friend Loki, a Bullmastiff, his two horses, a few chickens, 15 cows, 12 sheep, and one very angry bull named Excalibur. This bull thinks he is the boss of the ranch and always gives Ivan and Loki a hard time when it’s time to wrangle up the cows. Excalibur somehow always ends up with the cows and doesn’t like being kept in his pin. Excalibur challenges anyone or anything that comes near him. Ivan has had him since he was just a calf. There are times that Ivan is tempted to sell the bull, but then he remembers how much his late wife, Sylvia loved it. She made sure to wake up early every morning to spend extra time with him. He would even let Sylvia brush him. He has never allowed Ivan to do that. The old bull seemed happy then, but that all changed the day Sylvia had a heart attack and passed away. Then everything just seemed to go with her. Her flower garden that she loved so much died. Some of the animals even passed away like clockwork right after her. And Excalibur seemed to have gotten angry and distant. If that is even possible for a bull to know the loss of a person. They had a bond that Ivan had never seen between an animal of this kind and a human. But they did. And now it seems a piece of the bull died along with her. It’s been a year since she has passed, but she has definitely not been forgotten. Loki sometimes walks over to her favorite chair and lays his head on it and whimpers. She was the kindest, sweetest, most loving person to both humans and animals alike. She was loved deeply, and it shows even more so now that she isn’t here.

Ivan and Loki do their daily routine, as they go to feed the chickens, he notices three of the chickens are missing. There are feathers and blood everywhere. Ivan drops the bucket of feed and begins to search the ranch with Loki by his side and a shotgun in hand. The horses seem fine, the cows look okay, but there are remains of one dead sheep. No sign of the animal that did it. Ivan saddles up one of his horses to check the fence lines with Loki. So far nothing, but the last fence is broken, and he finds a bit of grey fur stuck to some of the boards. “Wolves.” Ivan scuffs to Loki. Loki sniffs the wooden fence and growls. This means a long night ahead for both. With supplies in hand, the two head out for a night of camping and watching. Ivan looks at Loki who stands tall by his side, “we gotta get these bastards boy, no sleeping for us tonight.” As the hours seem to drag on slowly, no sign of anything out of the ordinary. All is silent. The sounds of crickets chirping, owls cooing, and cicadas buzzing. But no sign of wolves. Ivan looks at his watch it is 2:14 am, still a long way to go till sunup. Maybe it was a one-time thing, maybe they won’t come back. Just as Ivan was about to relax a bit, there is the sound of leaves cracking in the distance. Loki quickly stands with his ears and fur up. “Heel boy, we have to let them get closer, then we make our move.” Ivan tells Loki. He looks at Ivan in agreement. Ivan kneels with his shotgun and Loki takes position and is ready to strike. They then hear the sheep screaming, “now Loki! Now!” Ivan shouts. They immediately spring into action. Loki runs as fast as he can toward the sheep, that’s when they see them, a pack of wolves. Ivan instantly fears for Loki’s life. He counts five wolves but there could be more waiting in the distance. Just as Ivan was about to shout to Loki; Loki had already charged at two of the wolves. They rolled as their bodies crashed together. Ivan hears a loud whimper and quickly shoots his gun into the air. He then fires at one of the wolves that are nearest to Loki. The wolf collapses. As Loki fights with one of the other pack members, the other wolves scatter when they hear the shots and see one of their own die. With all the commotion Ivan doesn’t notice he is being chased by one of the wolves. It is too late; the wolf chasing him has already sprung up onto his back, just before Ivan is about to shoot the wolf fighting with Loki. Ivan instantly feels an immense pain flow through his body, then the feeling of warmth dripping down his neck. He dropped his gun. As he struggles to fight for his life, he sees Loki drop to the ground. Ivan fights harder with the wolf that is on him. But he knows it will probably be the last thing he sees.

His late wife Sylvia pops into his thoughts, “you have to fight harder sweetheart. Don’t give up, it’s not too late, it’s not your time. Fight!” Ivan was ready to give up, but he knew he couldn’t. He still had too much to live for. He punched the wolf in the face over and over. It cried but wouldn’t stop biting him. Ivan grabbed the wolf by the nose and twisted it back as hard as he could. The wolf howled and finally let him go. Ivan rolled over to get up, when another wolf came and jumped on his back. “Noooo!” Ivan yelled. How can he keep fighting when there are too many for just one man? His dog is down, and his gun is too far from reach. What can he possibly do? He felt his arms, neck, and leg burning from all the bites. But he continues to fight even though he is getting tired and weak. Ivan shouted with each bite. Again, the feeling of giving up came to mind. As Ivan felt his arm being ripped off him, he heard something running up fast and hard. “Please God, not another wolf.” Ivan prayed. As the blood spilled into his eyes he felt the pressure of the wolves’ body, gone. He wasn’t getting attacked anymore. The cries of a wolf were immensely loud. Maybe Loki had gotten a second wind. Barely able to move, he wipes his eyes and sees Excalibur ripping into the wolf with his horns. The others ran off. The bodies of three wolves lie on the ground. Excalibur saved him. That stubborn, mean old bull that refused to stay in his pin, saved his life. As Ivan lies there, he felt Excalibur gently push his body with his nose. The bull was checking if Ivan was still alive. Ivan got the strength to reach up and pet Excalibur on his nose. “Thank you boy, thank you. Sylvia would be so proud of you.” Ivan tells the bull. Excalibur bobs his head and walks away.

Seven weeks have now passed, and Ivan is finally back at the ranch, healing, minus one arm. Loki survived the attack as well but needed surgery to repair the damage done to his ribs and lung. Ivan sits on his front porch with Loki by his side, thinking of that dreadful early morning. He now sees the bull in a whole different light. Excalibur now has free reign of the entire ranch. “No more pin for this hero,” Ivan tells Loki as they watch the bull proudly walk around. Ivan now realizes that an animal can mourn the loss of someone as well. Excalibur wasn’t mean and stubborn; he was just sad and alone and missed Sylvia just as much as Ivan did. He now has a new respect for the animals he has and will never forget, animals have feelings too.