Chapter 37

I have no words to explain the speed at which my heart was beating, or the rate at which my lungs were trying to take in air. I was blinded by adrenaline, and it’s amazing the variety of things a person can do under its influence. I didn’t even feel, at that moment, the pain that went through my body when my injured shoulder collided with the monster’s stomach.

The only impulse that dominated me was to get out of there, get the children out, and survive. Suddenly, I heard Mirko’s whimpers, muffled screams, and canine yelps.

Again, cold ran down my back. Howls of pain! I had heard Paul’s Labrador, Toby, moan like that enough times to identify the sound.

That was my cue to shout again:

“IVAN, IT’S HERE! THE PANTHER IS HERE!”

Even today (and I’ve gone over it a thousand times), I can’t make it completely clear what happened in those mere forty seconds, or a little more. My vision was clouded by the intense purple color of that thing that was swinging viole