Montana Bride (34 page)

Griffin yawned. “All right. Wake me when it’s time.”

Karl tried to sleep, but sleep eluded him. He kept thinking about that bit of ham and biscuit Dennis had set out as bait. What if it worked? He finally drifted off thinking of Hetty, of the softness of her breasts and the swell of her belly where their child was growing inside her.

He woke to the horrific sound of screaming.

When Karl and Griffin didn’t return from the hunt by sundown, Hetty convinced Grace there was nothing to worry about. “Karl won’t take any chances hunting that bear. If he’s still out there on the mountain, it means they haven’t found him yet.”

“Or they’ve found that grizzly and it attacked them and they’re lying mangled on the mountain, praying that we come find them before they die!” Grace retorted.

Hetty laughed at Grace’s hysterics in an effort to downplay her stepdaughter’s concerns, but a shiver shot down her spine at the thought of Karl and Griffin lying desperately injured in the woods, waiting for succor that wasn’t on the way.

She allowed Grace to bring Socks and come sleep in bed with her in order to comfort the girl. But Grace’s restlessness and the kitten’s playfulness kept Hetty from getting any sleep. When she did finally manage to close her eyes, she had a nightmare where an enormous grizzly with a slavering mouth and razor-sharp teeth towered over Karl, who stood helpless in the shadow of the giant beast with no weapon to defend himself.

The next morning, both Hetty and Grace were sporting sunken, sleep-starved eyes and drawn, uneasy faces.

“At least let me send Andy after them,” Grace argued as she poured a second cup of coffee for Hetty. “He could take Bao along, in case anyone needs stitches.”

Stitches implied cuts from teeth and claws.

“Maybe we should all go,” Hetty said as Grace set the cup of coffee in front of her.

Grace hugged her from behind and said, “Oh, Mom, thank you! I told Andy how we traveled all the way from Cheyenne to the Bitterroot with only Bao to protect us, and that spending a night or two on the mountain wouldn’t scare us a bit.”

Hetty knew the idiocy of running after two men and a boy who were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. She was likely going to be in for a tongue-lashing when they met up with Karl and discovered everyone was fine. He’d probably send her right back down the mountain.

But what if he wasn’t okay? What if something had gone wrong? What if he and Griffin and Dennis were lying somewhere on the mountain, bleeding to death? She knew the likelihood of all three being incapacitated was slim, but that gave her small comfort.

Hetty was startled by a knock on the door. As she rose, Grace said, “Stay. I’ll get it. It’s probably Andy again.”

It was Bao, who had definite ideas about the wisdom of heading up the mountain. He stood across the table from Hetty and said, “Not good idea.”

“Why not?” Hetty asked.

“Confucius say: ‘Real knowledge is knowing one’s ignorance.’ ”

“I think I’ve heard that one,” Hetty said.

Bao arched a brow and continued, “I not know how to find grizzly, so let Boss track bear. You know how to find grizzly?”

“No,” Hetty admitted. “But—”

“No but,” Bao interrupted. “You stay home. Boss return. You here safe.”

“What if he doesn’t return?” Hetty demanded. “How long am I supposed to wait?”

Bao pulled on his beard, ran his hand down his long braid, then settled his silk cap lower on his forehead. “Not know.”

Grace laid her hands on Hetty’s shoulders and said, “Andy believes something might have gone wrong.”

“Andy want to please you,” Bao said. “Not know what happen for sure.”

“Which is why we should go up there and make certain they’re all right,” Hetty urged. “Please come with us, Bao. Karl or Griffin or Dennis may need you.”

Bao’s face remained inscrutable for another moment. Then he said, “Not like idea. But go along.”

“Thank you, Bao,” Hetty said.

Grace hurled herself around the table to hug the Chinaman, who stood stoically immovable. “Andy’s already got a mule packed with supplies,” Grace told him. “Hetty and I can be ready in no time.”

“We can?” Hetty said.

“I already have a bag packed for us,” Grace said.

Hetty smiled at Grace, then rose and said to Bao, “We’ll meet you outside in half an hour. Will that give you enough time to put together whatever medicines you’ll need?”

“All ready now,” Bao said. “You stubborn woman. Know I lose argument.”

“I suppose Confucius has a saying for that, too,” Hetty said with a smile.

“Bao say: ‘Hurry up and get ready. Day wasting.’ ”

Hetty laughed, but she was up and on her way in moments, and within the next half hour, the four of them were on the trail. Too late, Hetty realized that Andy had not been as willing to bring her and Grace along as her daughter had suggested. The young couple spent most of the morning’s ride arguing about how dangerous it was for two women to be traveling on a mountain a grizzly claimed as its own.

“How do you know they stayed on this game trail?” Hetty asked when Andy dismounted once again to search for sign.

He pointed to a spot on the trail. “See those bear paw prints in the dust? They were following that bear, and this is the way that bear went.”

Hetty’s heart skipped a beat when she saw the size of the giant paw marks. “Are you sure that’s the grizzly they’re hunting?”

“Yes, ma’am. We saw marks like this around the logging camp. It’s missing a claw on one of its toes.” He pointed to a dried paw print, and sure enough, the third toe on the left paw had a claw missing.

“Those prints are huge!” Hetty said.

“Yes, ma’am. Are you two ladies ready to head back now?”

Hetty met Grace’s frightened gaze and questioned with her eyes whether the girl wanted to continue.

“I say we go on,” Grace said. “Karl and Griffin may need us.”

“You might run right into that grizzly yourself, if they haven’t found it yet,” Andy warned.

“I trust you not to let that happen,” Grace said.

Andy walked over to stand by Grace’s mount, looked up at her, and said, “Maybe I don’t want that responsibility.”

“Please, Andy. I know something’s wrong. I can feel it here.” Grace put a fist against her heart.

Andy grimaced. “Guess you gotta trust your gut. All right. We better keep moving.”

Soon the trail changed to softer ground, and even Hetty could see signs that three shod horses had passed that way. “How long ago where they here?” she asked Andy.

“Sometime early yesterday.”

“They could be miles from here by now,” Hetty said.

“Yes, ma’am,” Andy said. “Most likely the distance they traveled up the mountain was why they didn’t come home last night.”

“So you’re saying this is a fool’s errand,” Hetty said.

“You said it, ma’am, not me.”

It was obvious to Hetty that Andy was merely humoring her and Grace, and that he thought they were wasting their time. Hetty wasn’t so sure. She had that same strange ache in her chest that Grace must be feeling. Something was wrong. She knew it.

During the afternoon, Andy had no difficulty following the sign left by Karl, Dennis, and Griffin, even after they left the game trail. But as the day waned, and they didn’t meet up with the three bear hunters on the way back home, Hetty’s sense of foreboding increased.

Grace trotted her mount close to Hetty’s and asked in a voice quiet enough that Andy couldn’t hear, “What if we don’t find them before dark?”

“Let’s find the spot where they camped last night before we decide what to do,” Hetty replied.

“Stop!” Andy called back to them. “Stay where you are.”

Andy had been riding ahead, rifle across his arms, in case they encountered the grizzly. His cry of warning stopped Hetty, Grace, and Bao in their tracks.

Hetty felt her horse quiver and snort and sidle. Grace’s horse whinnied and backed up.

“Whoa,” Grace said. “Easy, girl.” But her horse continued its agitated movements.

Hetty’s heart shot to her throat. Was it the grizzly? Were they about to be attacked?

“Bao!” Andy shouted. “Get up here.”

“Andy, be careful!” Grace yelled.

“I’m okay. Bao, get up here,” Andy said.

“What is it?” Hetty cried. “What’s wrong? What did you find?” Hetty spurred her mount to close the distance to Andy.

Her horse resisted her kicks and tried to turn around. “Come on!” she urged, using the reins to pull its head back in the direction she wanted to go.

Grace was more successful spurring her horse, and her mount passed Hetty and reached the clearing before her. “Oh, my God!” Grace cried.

Hetty couldn’t see Andy, but she heard him say, “Goddammit, Grace, I told you to stay the hell away.”

Then she heard Grace’s anguished voice say, “What is that on the ground? Where did all this blood come from?”

Karl glanced over his shoulder to check on Griffin, who was riding right behind him, and asked, “How is Star doing?”

“He’s favoring his right rear leg,” Griffin replied unhappily.

“That pony’s fine,” Dennis said from his place third in line. “All that cougar did was scratch his flank.”

“A few of those scratches looked deep,” Karl countered. He wondered if Dennis’s bit of ham and biscuit had been what attracted the cougar that had shown up and launched itself onto the back of Griffin’s pony. It was the pony’s scream of pain that had woken Karl from his fitful sleep.

Karl had reached for his rifle, but Griffin had a bullet chambered a second sooner. Both bullets had hit the cat—which was flying through the air, lit up by Dennis’s bonfire—within seconds of each other. The cougar was already dead by the time Dennis located his rifle and pumped a third bullet into it on the ground.

Griffin was distraught when he saw the claw marks on Star’s hide, and flung his arms around the skittish pony’s neck, sobbing as though the animal had been killed, instead of slightly wounded. Karl had turned Griffin into his arms, and when he felt the boy trembling, hugged him tight.

Adrenaline was pumping through Karl’s veins, but he kept his voice calm as he said, “Star’s fine, Griffin. He nearly bucked that cougar to kingdom come. Another minute or two and Star would’ve stomped that cat flat all by his lonesome.”

“Star’s bleeding,” Griffin had said, pulling himself free and turning back to survey his pony. “What if the bleeding doesn’t stop?”

“Let’s take a closer look at those scratches,” Karl replied.

Once Griffin had something to do, he was able to follow Karl’s instructions. Karl had made a torch so they could examine the pony’s injuries and pointed out to Griffin that the wounds in the pony’s hide were shallow and barely seeping blood.

“He’ll be a little sore tomorrow, but he should heal up just fine.”

“Too bad the wrong predator showed up,” Dennis said. “Or we’d be heading home in the morning.”

“If that bear had shown up, we’d have been up shit creek without a paddle,” Karl said heatedly. “Where was your rifle, Dennis?”

“Right beside me.”

“On the ground?”

“Did you expect me to sit there holding it all night?”

“If that had been the grizzly instead of a cougar—”

“I would have put a bullet into it,” Dennis interrupted. “Just like I did with that cat. What are you so sore about?”

Karl shook his head in disgust. Dennis had plenty of experience dealing with men, but Karl had spent far more time in the wilderness. “Wild beasts don’t give you a second chance.”

“Does that mean you two yellow bellies are calling off the hunt?” Dennis demanded.

“I ain’t no chicken,” Griffin snapped. “Neither is Karl.”

Dennis turned to Karl and said, “Are we hunting that bear tomorrow morning, or not?”

“We’re hunting,” Griffin replied.

“Shut your trap, kid. I wasn’t talking to you.”

Karl turned to Dennis and said, “Keep a civil tongue in your month when you speak to my son.”

“What the hell?”

“And watch your language.”

“Son of a bitch,” Dennis muttered.

“Griffin and I will stand watch the rest of the night.”

“I’ve got something to do first,” Dennis said.

“What’s that?”

“Skin that cat.”

“That’s Griffin’s pelt,” Karl said in a steely voice. “His bullet killed that cat.”

“Prove it,” Dennis retorted. “That pelt is mine!”

Dennis’s hand tightened on his rifle, but before he could raise it to threaten Karl, Griffin said, “He can have that stinky old pelt. I don’t want it.”

Karl turned to the boy and saw anxious eyes looking back at him.

“I don’t want it, Karl. Really, I don’t.”

“The kid doesn’t want it, and I do,” Dennis said. “Satisfied?” Dennis pulled a knife from the sheath at his waist and stalked toward the dead cougar.

Karl crossed to Griffin and lifted the boy’s chin in his hand and looked him in the eye. “I don’t know if you really didn’t want that pelt, or if you didn’t want me to end up fighting Dennis.”

“I didn’t want the stupid pelt,” Griffin said. “I figure you could beat the crap out of Dennis Campbell if you really wanted to. But I couldn’t trust him not to shoot you if he got pissed off because you gave me that hide.”

Griffin turned and walked off toward his pony, leaving Karl with a great deal of food for thought. He’d never been happier in his life than when they broke camp the next morning and left the butchered remains of the cougar behind.

It was frustrating to realize, as the day wore on, that the grizzly was leading them in circles. By late afternoon, they weren’t far from where they’d made camp the previous evening.

“Maybe it’s time we headed back, Dennis. Griffin’s mount isn’t recovering as well as I thought he would. And we’re not any closer to catching that bear now than we were yesterday afternoon.”

“Quitting, Karl?” Dennis replied. “I should have expected it.”

“Griffin and I are heading back,” Karl said, refusing to be provoked. “You’re welcome to continue on your own.”

“If not for me, this whole operation would have been a bust,” Dennis continued.

“By God, Dennis,” Karl said, “When we get off this mountain I’m going to—”

The bear came out of nowhere.

“Pa, look out!”

Karl was so startled to be called
Pa
that his head shot around to gape at Griffin. By the time he looked back in the direction Griffin was pointing, it was too late. His horse crow-hopped and then reared, and Karl ended up flat on his back on the ground, a grizzly on four paws, carnivore’s maw open wide and roaring defiance, not five feet away from him.

Karl’s rifle was still in the boot on his saddle and his horse was long gone. From the corner of his eye, he saw Dennis riding hell-for-leather in the opposite direction. He was tempted to scuttle backward, but he knew any movement would set off the bear’s predatory instincts.

“Take your rifle out of the boot, son. Slow and easy.”

“My pony won’t stand still,” Griffin said in a trembling voice.

“You’ve got plenty of time. That bear’s still thinking about what he wants to do.” Karl had a pretty good idea that the first thing that grizzly was going to do was bite off his head.

He felt a fleeting fear of the future Hetty and their unborn baby would face if he got eaten by a bear, but didn’t allow himself to focus on it. He needed to think clearly if he was going to survive.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. The shaggy animal rose up on two legs, towering over Karl as Griffin urged his pony a step closer.

“Shoot for the heart,” Karl said. “Now!”

Karl heard three quick shots and saw the bear drop down on four legs again and take an angry swipe at him with its paw.

Karl’s face felt like he’d been licked with fire as he rolled away, launched himself onto his feet, and raced toward Griffin’s pony. He threw himself onto the pony’s haunches behind the saddle, spurred the animal, and yelled, “Let’s go!”

He slung an arm around Griffin’s waist as the boy yelled “Ha!” and the pinto ran for its life.

They hadn’t gone fifty yards when they saw four riders coming toward them at a gallop.

“That’s Ma!” Griffin yelled.

Karl glanced over his shoulder and said, “Don’t slow down. That bear’s still coming.”

As the riders yanked their mounts to a halt to keep from careening into one another, Karl yelled, “Henrietta Wentworth Norwood, what the hell are you doing here!”

“Karl, your face is bleeding,” she said. “You’re hurt!”

“There’s a wounded grizzly right behind us,” Karl snapped at Andy. “Get these women out of here!”

The undergrowth was thick enough that it was difficult to get five horses turned around and headed in the opposite direction.

Karl heard the bear crashing through the underbrush behind them and said to Griffin, “Give me your Winchester.”

“What are you going to do?” Griffin asked fearfully.

“Finish off that bear once and for all.”

“Let him be, Pa. He’ll die on his own. Let’s just go.”

Karl’s arm was still slung around Griffin’s waist, and he gave the boy a quick hug and said, “That’s the second time you’ve called me Pa. I’d feel better about it if you hadn’t been scared to death—both times—that I’m going to get myself killed.”

“Now that I’ve got a proper pa,” Griffin said, “I don’t want to lose you.”

“It’s that bear needs to worry,” Karl said, sliding off the pony’s rump onto his feet. “Andy, get moving! I’ll catch up with you after I kill that bear.”

“Take my mount,” Andy said, one leg already out of the stirrup.

Karl shook his head. “Horses are too skittish around this monster. I’m safer on foot. Griffin already put three slugs into him. I’m just going to make sure that grizzly’s down for good.”

As he turned, Karl realized that the grizzly had caught up to them. It was tangled up in the underbrush, but it would only take a couple of swipes from those powerful paws to set it free.

Karl turned to Hetty, his heart in his eyes, and said, “I love you.”

“Karl, wait!” Hetty clambered off her horse and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck. “I love you, too. Please come with us!”

“I love you, too, Pa,” Griffin said, coming off his horse to join Hetty.

“Me, too, Pa,” Grace said as she slipped off her horse and slid her arms around Karl from behind.

Andy said anxiously, “Better break it up, folks, or that bear is going to have himself a Norwood sandwich for lunch.”

“Get mounted and get out of here,” Karl urged, pulling Hetty’s arms from around his neck, easing Grace’s arms from around his waist, and forcing Griffin to let him go. “Let me take care of that bear, and I’ll come join you in a little while.”

Karl’s heart was filled with love. And pumped so full of adrenaline that he was afraid it would burst from his chest.

“Get them out of here, Andy,” he ordered in a harsh voice. “Take care of them, Bao.”

Then he turned and headed into the underbrush.