The bear snuffled the ground, pretending to ignore her, but she wasn’t fooled.It knew where she was.What did it take to feed something this size?Because from where she was standing, she looked like a snack.
The scientist fumbled his camera from a box next to his camp chair and took a few quick shots.
His movements, or possibly the faint clicks of the camera’s shutter opening and closing, drew the bear’s attention to him.The bear stopped.Reared to its hind legs.Huffed a few heavy breaths, then its front paws slapped the ground, and it surged forward at an impossible speed.
The scientist, seeing the bear barreling toward him like a bullet train on a fast track, let out a high-pitched squeal tight with fear.He dropped the camera, and ignoring his own advice, he turned and ran, hurdling the bear fence with the agility and speed of a gold medal Olympian as he made his escape.
Malika snatched the bear spray from the holster strapped to her waist.Electrified or not, no single-wire fence would stop a creature that size moving at such a great speed.The scientist could never outrun it.Her brain spit-fired Jayce’s instructions at her.She flipped the safety tab off.
Fifty feet.
She wasn’t sure how much distance made up fifty feet but decided this was close enough.She stepped into the bear’s path, aimed low, as she’d been instructed, and discharged an orange mist.
The mist immediately morphed into a weapon of mass destruction that spread mushroom-cloud-like in multiple directions.
Her eyes watered.Her chest burned.She coughed, unable to draw air into her crippled lungs.She dropped to her knees.At least if she died, it would happen before she was eaten.
A gun barked close by, followed by swearing.Seconds later, someone caught her by the shoulders.
Someone familiar and human.It could only be Jayce.The little out-of-stater was likely in Wyoming by now.
“I’m blind,” she croaked, her throat lined with lumps of flaming coal, because she was destined to become mute, as well.
She clutched the front of Jayce’s shirt and struggled to breathe.Being eaten alive might not be such a bad fate.
“You’re not blind.It will wear off in a half hour or so,” Jayce said.
She tried to rub her eyes, because the burning was almost unbearable, but he caught her hands and stopped her.
“Don’t touch your face.Come on.Let’s see if we can get some of it washed off in the creek.”
He helped her up, then guided her, stumbling, until they reached the pebbled shore of the creek.She knelt on her hands and knees while he splashed her face with cold water.
“The little out-of-stater,” she said, when she could speak.“Did the bear hurt him?”
“No.But he’ll wish it had the next time I see him,” Jayce said, sounding grim.“The bear wasn’t interested in you.Why did you attack it?”
“Because it didn’t seem inclined to listen to reason.”She heard a rumbling and realized he was laughing.She hammered his shoulder with the fleshy side of her fist.“It’s not funny.I tried my best to scare it away.I did everything you told me to do.”
“And you did a fantastic job of it.”
She could hold her eyes open for a few seconds now, and even though they teared up, which was unlikely to add to their beauty, she could see the relief behind his amusement, and something else she was unsure of, but it warmed her.
“You sprayed low,” he said, “and from the right distance, and forced the bear to veer away.You caught blowback because of the wind direction.Nothing you could do about that.I fired a few shots and scared it off, but it was already losing interest.”
She remembered Side-eye and Saber.“The bear wouldn’t hurt the horses, would it?”
“The horses are long gone.Side-eye took off for the ranch.Saber is on his way back to Burning Scrub and the stable.Which means someone will be out looking for us any time now.We should get back to the trail.”
But he didn’t move from where they sat, facing each other, knee to knee.His fingertips grazed her cheek.He was looking at her as if she were special, and as if he might kiss her, and Malika forgot all about how unfortunate her eyes must appear.
“You really were amazing.I’ve never seen a woman so brave,” he said.
“Not even Tilly?”
She admired Tilly.It would be so wonderful if he thought Malika were braver.
“Tilly would have fed the scientist to the bear if it gave her a chance to escape.So would most men.”
