The Wild World of Buck Bray: The Wolves of Slough Creek
when they hit the pavement In the lead was the biggest bull bison of the herd Its small beady eyes set wide apart in its enormous head seemed to focus on Buck As it entered the parking lot it lowered its head exposing the huge hump of its back its horns now curved forward It let out a snort that steamed from its nostrils in the chilly air Then it veered toward Buck the rest of the herd following Buck turned and ran for the closest thing he saw a white SUV with a dark green stripe But the sound of hooves pounding from behind gained on him rapidly and he knew he wasn’t going to make it He still had twenty yards to go before he could reach safety behind the SUV when he was slammed to the ground As his breath was knocked from him Buck instinctively instinctively closed his eyes and curled into a ball waiting to be trampled to almost certain death Then something grabbed hold of him and pulled him backward Thinking one of the bison’s horns had hooked his belt Buck’s muscles tensed even more expecting to be tossed into the air When he didn’t go flying Buck opened his eyes 2
The fury of the beating hooves stomping on pavement continued as dozens of bison legs raced past him only inches away But a woman in a green ranger uniform had hold of his belt She had tugged him backward toward where she squatted hunched behind a big boulder in the middle of the parking lot Buck quickly scooted closer to her and the woman put her arm around him pulling him even tighter to her side They both huddled up against the rock their knees bent tight to their chests They sat that way for only a minute or two but to Buck it seemed like hours that the living wall of brown beasts stampeded around them An hour before eleven-year-old Buck and his father along with their cameraman Shoop and Shoop’s eleven-year-old daughter Toni had entered Yellowstone National Park through the west entrance before the sun was even up They were headed to Old Faithful where they were to meet a ranger who would help them as 3
they filmed another episode of The Wild World of Buck Bray television series Buck kept his eyes peeled looking through the window that connected the living area with the cab of the camper He hoped to see some wildlife but in the headlights that split the darkness he saw nothing but road Are we there Buck asked when Dad slowed the Green Beast down and turned right No it says here that it will be at least another forty minutes depending on traffic before we reach Old Faithful Toni answered using a flashlight to read from some information information pamphlets they had gotten at the entrance Buck yawned and rubbed his eyes trying to stay awake but it wasn’t long before his eyes shut and his head bobbed As they continued the sun started peeking over the mountains to their left turning the sky pink but Buck didn’t notice He was sound asleep his cheek resting on the back of the couch by the window Pull in there Shoop suddenly shouted Buck startled awake as Dad quickly swung the Green Beast onto a short drive leading to a parking lot 4
Look how the light is filtering through the steam coming off the Firehole Shoop continued Firehole Buck asked quickly looking out the window That’s the name of the river we’ve been driving alongside Toni said In the early morning light the river shimmered in a sparkling flow of fluid silver Plumes of steam rose from it Steam also dotted its banks looking like the smoke from dozens of campfires twisting and turning with spiraling tendrils The rising sun caught droplets of water in the steam and magically bits of moving rainbows flickered as the vapor swirled and rose That would make a great opening shot Shoop said We’ve got plenty of time Dad said glancing at his watch We’re not scheduled to meet the ranger until eight Where are we Buck asked Grand Prismatic Spring Dad answered It’s only a few more miles to Old Faithful Listen to this Toni said She started reading aloud again Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the United States and is photographed more than 5
