Two experienced hunters were slowly walking through the winter forest, stepping carefully so the snow wouldn’t crunch.
The day was unsuccessful — there were almost no tracks, no game either. Tired and irritated, they were about to head back to the car when suddenly a red shadow flashed right in front of them.
“Fox!” one of them exclaimed, raising his rifle.
The shot thundered, but it missed. The fox darted to the side, and the hunters, forgetting everything else, rushed after her.
For several minutes they followed her tracks until they suddenly noticed that the forest had ended. Before them stretched a huge, white field.
And in the center of it, like a black maw, gaped a deep pit.
The fox stopped at the edge and turned around. It seemed like she was waiting.
“What the hell…?” the second hunter muttered.
They came closer, and one of the hunters carefully stepped onto the snow and looked down.
“God…” he breathed out. “There’s… 
Continuation in the first comment 
**
— There are people down there!
At the bottom of the pit lay an overturned snowmobile sled and three people — two men and a woman. They were waving their arms and calling for help.
Apparently, the tourists had fallen into this karst sinkhole earlier in the morning and couldn’t get out.
— Alive… they’re alive! — shouted one of the hunters and immediately grabbed the radio.
The fox all this time was still standing at the edge, anxiously flicking her ears, as if she understood what was happening.
Half an hour later, rescuers arrived at the scene. Using ropes, they descended into the pit and pulled the victims out one by one. It turned out that the tourists were severely frozen, but miraculously survived.
When the last one was lifted up, the hunters turned around — but the fox was gone. Only paw prints led back into the forest.
— She… saved them, — one of the hunters said quietly.
The second nodded:
— And we were chasing her.
