Three mouths watered.
Their eyes followed the same unseen thing.
The wind brought the smell of meat over the ridge. Three noses lifted, and a thread of saliva reached the dust before any of them moved.
Below, a thorn bush shivered in the breeze. Something pale showed beneath its branches.
The broadest hyena started down. Beside her, the one with the nicked ear was already passing.
Below the Bush
Evening light warmed the stone buildings at the edge of Wadi Nara. Farther out, zebras grazed along a strip of grass, their tails moving against flies. The youngest hyena glanced toward them, then followed the other two into the shallow dry channel.
Under the bush lay the remains of an antelope. Much of it had been eaten, but meat still clung to a hind leg caught between two exposed roots. Its narrow lower end pointed into the channel; the thicker joint rested behind the fork.
The nicked ear went straight to the leg. He closed his teeth around it and backed away, drawing the remaining hide taut. A branch shook above his head. The joint pressed against the roots and stayed there.
He put his feet farther apart and pulled again.
The broad female sniffed along the bush. Behind them, the youngest paused at a rustle in the grass, watched a bird hop clear, and hurried back. He found a strip of hide beside the other hyena’s mouth.
There was room for his teeth, which seemed sufficient reason to put them there.
Two Pulling
They leaned backward together. Their forepaws scraped pale lines through the channel’s sand, and a low growl trembled through the nicked one’s grip.
The leg shifted a little. Both pulled harder.
Behind the fork, the joint turned crosswise and wedged tight. The youngest released his strip, licked his nose, and looked into the gap. Less meat was within reach now. He pawed loose sand out of the gap, exposing the thicker joint behind the roots.
The nicked one kept hold. When the female came close, he curled his lip around the bone.
She lowered her nose beside the youngest to inspect the cleared gap, then moved past them. A low branch brushed her back as she followed the roots toward the bank, where an opening gave her access to the thicker end. She lowered her muzzle through it and bit down.
He braced for another pull.
She stepped sideways.
The bone knocked against a root. His head jerked to the left, and he let go.
Across the Fork
The female took another sideways step. Without the pull from the channel, the joint slid along the wider root, carrying a fold of hide with it. A few dry flakes of bark fell onto her paws.
The nicked one pushed his nose beneath the branch again. He caught the lower end, but this time walked around the root before leaning back. The leg turned lengthwise through the opening.
A strip tore loose beside the youngest.
He caught it, retreated two paces, and put a paw over it while the other two dragged the larger piece clear. Neither looked up. He picked his strip up again and retreated farther.
On the open sand, the female lowered her end. The nicked one immediately pulled toward himself. She planted a paw on the hide and gave a short growl.
He shifted around her paw and bit into the meat.
A Place to Eat
The bush settled behind them. Chewing replaced the scrape of feet, with an occasional crunch carrying across the channel.
The youngest lay a little way off, his strip between his paws. He watched the other two until both had their heads down, then lowered his own.
A gust ran along the channel and dusted his portion with sand.
He licked it, stopped, and lifted the strip. Behind a stone, he found a sheltered patch and set it down again.
The next gust curled over the stone.
He finished his strip before the weather could add anything else.
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