“Now, listen to me,” ordered Skenan as he took hold of the musket. “If this bear starts toward us and paws at me, you are to turn and run fast—do you hear me? You are to run away from here as fast as you can. Do not climb a tree. These black bears can climb trees.”
“I won’t leave you!”
“You have no choice. I give you no choice. If I say ‘run,’ you are to run. If I am to fight him, I cannot worry about you!”
The bear came up onto two legs and pawed at the air. Then it started forward.
“Run!”
Turning, Abagail began to run, but instead of racing into the forest, she ran back into the cave. What could she do to help Skenan?
She glanced at the pine boughs, then at the fire. That was it: fire. All animals were afraid of fire, weren’t they? Hadn’t the hunters mentioned this a time or two?
As she ran toward the fire, she heard the bear’s growls; then came the loud blast of Skenan’s musket.
Had his aim been good?
The sounds of the bear and the loud shot reverberated against the cave’s walls. Were they in a fight to the death?
Please, Dear God, do not let it be so!
Unable to think now, she acted, and picking up several sticks from the fire—those that were burning red hot at their tips—she rushed out of the cave, hoping against hope that she was in time.
Skenan was on the ground, the bear almost upon him. From where she got the courage to do as she did, she might never know. But, this she knew: if this man were to die here, so would she.
With the fire in her hands, she rushed at the beast, shouting, “Shoo! Shoo! Get out of here!” Her voice pierced through the air as she waved her fire sticks at the bear and tried to get close enough to it to light its fur on fire.
And, that’s when it happened. Quickly, as though it took no time to remember it, she recalled something completely out of whack with the present danger. But, there it was: a remembrance having nothing to do with the danger she was facing.
At the inn, Mr. Wilson had bumped into her shortly before Miss Stockenridge had declared Abagail to be a thief. Did Mr. Wilson have anything to do with the necklace Miss Stockenridge had found within the pocket of her apron?
The black bear batted at her, jolting her back to the present, and she saw at once her efforts were doing nothing to set the animal on fire. But, her activity did one thing: it burnt the animal and the bear retreated a little. She was in the act of running toward the bear again when the beast jumped back, which, she was to learn later, allowed Skenan to fit an arrow to his bow and get off a good shot at the animal.
His aim was good, striking the right eye of the bear.
The bear’s howl was a sound like Abagail had never before heard. But, she was not finished. Picking up a musket ball and Skenan’s powder horn from the ground, she shoved both at him, allowing him to furiously reload.
Still animated, however, the bear didn’t leave. Then…
Blast!
So animated was Abagail, she almost collapsed when she saw the bear take one more step forward, and then, as though it thought better of it, it turned away, gave one last growl and then it was gone, running through the woods like a beast on fire. She looked at its retreat in horror. What if it were to return?
She was breathing hard and fast when she heard Skenan speak up from behind her, and, although he was out of breath, he roared, “I told you to leave!”
“I could not leave you!” she shouted right back at him. “What kind of a person do you think I am? Do you honestly believe I could desert you when your life was in danger?”
At last, she turned around to look at him. And, though she wished to cry, she didn’t.
He was on the ground, his chest torn by two huge claw marks, as well as big marks upon his arms. But, though his chest was bare and his leggings and breechcloth were blood-soaked,he tried to struggle to his feet, couldn’t do it and sat back down on the ground.
She said, “Look at what he’s done to you.”
She took the necessary steps toward him and came down onto the ground beside him.
“These?”He pointed to them.“These are mere scrapes. But, come, I might need your help to get up from here.”
She sprung up to her feet at once, unmindful that her own clothing was becoming bloody. He put his arm around her as he walked a little unsteadily toward the entrance to the cave.
