Baiting.

(Knacker Wagon Chronicles - VII)


"All this for roadkill?", muttered Baye. He was mystified as to the great ordeal displayed to come to this spot. They raced to arrive at this location, this non-descript stretch of road, with nothing to boast of but a furry flesh pile. The urgency seemed all out of proportion to anything he could relate to. The crew were not only excited by the chase, they were moreso by its finish, the fact that they arrived to this destitute place first, to lay claim to a dead animal. Baye had to take a closer look, maybe there was something special about the deceased rodent.

He casually walked to the animal. Its head was crushed. Dark, purple stains emanated from the flattened skull. The mouth was slightly agape - maybe the beast was shrieking. The remainder of the body wasn't too bad off. One could believe that it had been hit only once. On closer inspection Baye thought is was an oppossum; the bald tail, black-tinged greyish-white fur, the hand-like appendages were still distinct. It didn't even give off much of an odor, only slightly metallic. There wasn't a tremendous amount of blood, just what squeezed out of the skull and intermixed with brain matter. No, Baye thought, there wasn't anything extraordinary about this creature.

Tweed pushed his way to the animal. He pulled out his knife and slashed downward into the neck of the critter. With another swing, this one from the side, he speared the animal through its neck with the blade thrusting into the rib cage. "HAMM!" Tweed yelled, "Let out Beauty!" Tweed thrust the knife high into the air above his head, the carcass skewered upon the blade.

"Catch!", he yelled toward Baye. To Baye's horror, Tweed flung the carcass straight towards his face. Instinctively, Baye pulled up his arms and caught the object. Anger burned through him and he glared Tweed, who was busy laughing. "Better turn around, man!" Tweed said.
Baye whipped his head around in time to see Beauty charging toward him. "Crap, crap, crap, crap", gasped Baye. From the direction Beauty had charge, Baye saw Rev waving his hands. Baye heaved the possum to Rev.

"Good one!" yelled Tweed. Baye was in no mind for a compliment by this maniac. Beauty halted, spun around, and lunged toward Rev. Rev waited for a couple gallops and tossed the carcass to Tweed. Tweed in turn, waited for Beauty to charge toward him before tossing the object back the Rev. This back-and-forth proceeded a few more times then Tweed ran with the carcass toward Beauty. Sweet, thought Baye, the idiot is going to get some well-deserved quality time with the dog. Tweed flipped the carcass upwards. It landed with a small thud atop the van. Beauty went ballistic, snarling and growling and clawing at the van. She was desperate to climb the sides. Too bad, thought Baye, just when this stupid game could have become entertaining. Rev and Tweed egged the dog on.

Baye quickly tired of these antics and looked for a distraction. He saw Sarge and Pudgi talking by the squished head. He thought they might be less bothersome and walked toward them. Pudgi bent over as if examining the head closely. He further stooped on all fours as if to get a good look. Then Baye watched him lick the freshly severed edge of the head. Baye was aghast. Pudgi stood up quickly, cupped his hands and shouted, "Hey guys! This one's exquisite - don't let the dogs get it!" Baye felt woosy.

Hamm chucked debris in a wide spray from the back of the van. Beauty arced away from the van and rushed to the scattered tidbits. As Beauty snarfed down the apparent food morsels, Hamm collared her. He stroked her in a soothing manner.

Sarge spoke, "Tweed, get up the ladder, check if we're gonna have company. And get that possum in the meat locker."He turned to Pudgi, "No... get back in the van." Pudgi lumbered obediently away. Baye waited for some direction. He was dumbstruck and at a loss for his next move. Sarge looked at him but said nothing. "Rev! Get up here and keep an eye on Baye. He's gonna get in the way if we have trouble."

Baye was braced for more insults and felt Rev's hand on his shoulder. To his relief, he heard merely "Let's get in the van." He turned and watched Pudgi climb in the passenger door. Baye made his way, along with Rev, toward the van. Atop the vehicle, Tweed was busy rotating a crank. A metal pole protuding from the roof of the van was extending skyward. Tweed stopped cranking after the pole reached a height of about twenty feet. He Tugged a lever on the side of the pole and short extrusions snapped outward along its entire length, on opposite sides of the pole. Tweed clambered up the pole using the extrusions as hand and foot rests. "Baye, having fun yet?!", he called down.