by a truck. Next to it was an enameled steel saucepan that had also been
badly scratched and dented. They located Markov’s axe, its handle
gnawed to splinters. His latrine, his beehives—everything that might
have his scent on it—had been thoroughly explored and much of it
destroyed. His washstand had been knocked off the cabin’s outer wall,
and there was a swipe of tiger blood by the door. Tiger tracks were
everywhere, circling the cabin, interrupted only by packed depressions in
the snow where the animal stopped to wait and watch before circling the
cabin yet again. In one spot, by the wellhead, the tiger had lain on a patch
of snow long enough to partially thaw it out. When it finally moved on, a
furry shadow of itself remained behind, frozen in place. The tiger had
clearly been on the premises for a while, perhaps days—long enough to
defecate at least twice, both times within a few feet of the cabin. It was as
if the tiger had staked a claim to the premises and all they contained.
Animal attacks are relatively common in the taiga, but they probably
would be anywhere you had two species of bear, two species of big cat,
and humans all vying in earnest for similar prey. In Amgu, a dicey, off-
grid village on the coast, an alarming percentage of the male population
carries evidence of mauling; even Trush has been attacked by a bear.
However, such encounters are usually spontaneous, impulsive responses
to immediate threats, competition, or surprise. Everything Trush was
seeing now suggested something else. With each piece of evidence, new
colors were being added to the spectrum of his understanding.
Tigers are ambush hunters, and this—the practice of stealth coupled
with the element of surprise—is what has enabled this solitary predator to
kill fast-moving, often dangerous game for eons, through major
variations in climate and landscape. But this tiger, on this occasion, made
no attempt whatsoever to conceal itself. Not finding what it sought at the
wellhead or around the cabin, the tiger lay down in the open by the
entrance road and waited—again. Seen together, all of these signs, and all