Within forty-eight hours, the poacher was found hiding in an abandoned shed on the outskirts of town. The evidence Evelyn had gathered—the journal, the net, the camp—was more than enough. He was arrested on charges of illegal trapping, wildlife harassment, and possession of prohibited capture equipment. Evelyn didn’t return to the woods again that week.
She didn’t need to. Sometimes, she still thought of the cub—its pale fur glowing in the soft light, its frightened eyes, the way it had buried itself into its mother’s side. She wondered if they were still out there, deep in the forest, somewhere far from human reach.