Wilderness Double Edition 32, page 26
There was another cough but from a different spot.
“Blue Flower,” Bright Rainbow whispered, and extended a quaking finger. “Do you see them?”
Deep in the grass, eyes gleamed in the flickering light of the brand.
Evelyn jerked a pistol. The rifle was more powerful and could drop bigger game, but she preferred to save it for when she truly needed it. She thumbed back the flintlock’s hammer and set the trigger and took deliberate aim—just as the eyes vanished. She fired anyway. The pistol boomed and spat smoke and lead. Nothing happened. There were no shrieks of pain, no sign that she had hit it.
Bright Rainbow dropped to her knees and wrapped an arm around Evelyn’s leg. “Do not let it kill us.”
“Get up,” Evelyn said. She jammed the spent pistol under her belt. Suddenly pain seared her leg. Bright Rainbow had held the brand too close. “Get up,” she said again, and pulled her to her feet.
“We should go back.”
“No.” Evelyn needed the coffee to stay awake. Alert for eye shine and bent at the waist so she could see into the grass, she came to the bank. Normally the gurgle of the water would delight her, but now it made her uneasy; it would be harder to hear the mountain lion. “Fill the pot. Hurry.”
Bright Rainbow moved to where the bank sloped, and stopped. “I cannot do it.”
“I will protect you.”
Her Adam’s apple bobbing, Bright Rainbow hopped down. She quickly squatted and dipped the pot in the stream. With her other hand she held the brand high over her head.
Evelyn gave a start. The brand was burning low. They would be lucky to make it to the clearing before it went out. “How much water do you have?”
Bring Rainbow raised the pot and shook it. “Only half.”
“That will have to do. Climb back up.” Evelyn reached down to help her—and her heart seemed to stop in her chest. Across the stream, in the grass on the other side, the slanted eyes had reappeared, fixed intently on her and the little Sheepeater. She tucked the Hawken to her shoulder but didn’t fire. She wanted a clear shot.
“What is it?” Bright Rainbow asked, and looked in the direction Evelyn was looking. Uttering a squeal of terror, she scrambled up the bank. “Kill it!” she cried, slipping behind her.
“I need to be sure,” Evelyn said. She blinked, and the eyes weren’t there. Suspecting that the cat was circling them, she shifted to either side but saw no trace of it. “Go slow,” she cautioned.
“I can feel its eyes on us.”
So could Evelyn. She put each foot behind her with care so she didn’t stumble. Any mistake now, however slight, could cost them their lives. It took forever to reach the clearing. The brand was nearly out. The fire itself was low but still burning. She moved toward it, intending to add firewood.
A living lightning bolt streaked out of the trees and launched itself at Buttercup—a black lightning bolt.
Evelyn barely had time to bring the Hawken up when the Devil Cat leaped and landed on Buttercup’s back. Buttercup whinnied and sought to rear, but the picket rope hampered her. The cat, about to bite at her neck, was unbalanced and nearly fell off.
Evelyn saw it clearly for the first time. God help her, but it was exactly as Bright Rainbow had described: a huge cat as black as the bottom of a well with eyes that blazed with ferocity.
“Kill it!” Bright Rainbow yelled.
Evelyn was trying to fix a bead, but Buttercup, bucking and kicking and turning, was doing all she could to throw the cat off, and the cat was never still. Its neck filled her sights, only to be replaced the next instant by its tail.
Bright Rainbow tugged at Evelyn’s dress. “What are you waiting for?”
Buttercup was frantically pulling at the rope. Already her flanks were red with blood. The mountain lion snapped at her throat and ripped out a chunk of hide. Squealing, Buttercup reared, the picket stake pulled free, and she flew toward the forest.
Evelyn lunged for the rope, but the horse was moving too fast.
Buttercup raced into the trees, the mountain lion clawing and tearing. By happenstance Buttercup passed under an oak and a low limb raked her back and caught the cat across the chest. With a piercing yowl the mountain lion went tumbling and Buttercup disappeared into the darkness.
Evelyn was rooted in dismay. She’d had the buttermilk for years and adored the animal. Then she realized she shouldn’t be worried about the horse; she should be worried about them. Whirling, she added fuel to the fire and yanked Bright Rainbow down beside her.
“What do we do?” the girl asked.
“We stay put.”
“Is that wise?”
“Yes.” The way Evelyn saw it, the fire was still their best defense. She realized she had made a grave mistake in not leaving when they had the chance. Now they were stranded afoot, the worst fate that could befall them.
From the woods came a shrill shriek.
“The Devil Cat is mad,” Bright Rainbow said.
“I aim to make it madder if it comes anywhere near us.” Evelyn commenced to reload her spent pistol. She would need all three guns to stop a mountain lion that size, and even they might not be enough.
“We will still wait for your parents?”
“We are not budging,” Evelyn confirmed.
“I hope you know what you are doing.”
So did Evelyn.
Bright Rainbow anxiously regarded the wall of vegetation. “Why did the Devil Cat go after your horse and not us?”
“Who can say?” Evelyn said.
“One thing I know. We are next,” Bright Rainbow said.
Evelyn slid the ramrod from its housing under the barrel. “Yes,” she agreed. “We are.”
Chapter Seventeen
THE FIRE ROARED, the flames two feet high. Its comforting light lit the entire clearing and the fringe of woodland.
Evelyn sat with her knees tucked to her chest and the Hawken propped between her legs. Next to her, curled in a ball and sound asleep, was Bright Rainbow. Evelyn refilled her coffee cup and glanced at the firewood they had left. She frowned. It wasn’t enough to last the rest of the night.
Hours had passed since the Devil Cat attacked Buttercup. There had been no sign of it since. Evelyn hoped – she prayed – the mountain lion had been hurt when the tree limb struck it. Hurt so badly, it had gone off to its lair and would leave them be.
By her reckoning it was past three in the morning. Another three hours, or so, and the sun would be up. Another three hours and her parents would be there. She was a little surprised they weren’t there already. She’d figured her father would ride like a madman to her rescue. She gazed along the dark funnel of the valley as she had a dozen times since she sat down and did more praying.
“Where are you?” Evelyn wondered out loud. The only reason she could think of for them not to show was that something had happened to Dega and he never got to them. The prospect terrified her.
Evelyn sipped more coffee. There was about a cupful left in the pot, and that was all. So far it had kept her awake and alert, but she could feel fatigue nipping at her mind and body and every so often she stifled a yawn. She envied Bright Rainbow being able to sleep. The girl had tried to stay awake and help keep watch, but exhaustion and a full belly refused to be denied.
Down out of the moonlit peaks to the west drifted the howl of a wolf. She had heard an awful lot of wolves that night, many more than usual. She speculated on whether a new pack was roaming that region. The notion didn’t scare her. She wasn’t afraid of wolves as she was of grizzlies and mountain lions. When she was little, her brother had a pet wolf for a while, and she had liked the frisky fellow considerably. She gazed up at the beautiful full moon and almost felt like howling herself. Grinning at her silliness, she raised the tin cup to her lips—and her heart skipped a beat.
The eyes were back, across the clearing at the edge of the trees, aglow with reflected light from the fire, unblinking in their intensity.
Evelyn set down the cup and took up the Hawken. She thumbed back the hammer and set the rear trigger so that all it would take was a slight squeeze on the front trigger to fire. Her Hawken had a maple stock with a curve in the wood for her cheek. She put her cheek to the curve and sighted down the barrel.
The eyes vanished.
Evelyn held the rifle to her cheek until her arms couldn’t take the strain, and lowered it. If she didn’t know better she would think the mountain lion was toying with them. All she wanted was a clear shot, just one clear shot, and their ordeal would be over.
The flames were dwindling. She added one to the three pieces of a broken limb they had left and tried not to think of what she must do after she added the other two. To take her mind off it she sipped coffee and thought about Dega and how her picnic had turned into a disaster. So much for being alone with him. So much for sharing her heart and having him share his.
Bright Rainbow groaned and stirred and muttered in her sleep. Her arms and legs twitched. She was in the grip of a dream or more likely a nightmare because she started to mew in terror and uttered a soft sob.
Evelyn shook her.
The girl’s eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright. She looked around in confusion and then at the fire and at Evelyn. Sweat caked her face and she was as pale as a bedsheet.
“Are you all right?”
“I had a bad dream.”
“The Devil Cat?”
“Yes.” Bright Rainbow scanned the impenetrable wall of forest. “Have you seen it?”
“No,” Evelyn lied.
“Maybe it is gone.”
Evelyn bobbed her head at their meager firewood. “I have to gather more or the fire will go out.”
“I will help,” Bright Rainbow offered.
“It is safer for you here.”
“I am too afraid to be alone. I will carry a burning stick so you can see.”
Evelyn would have her hands full with her rifle and the firewood. She couldn’t hold a torch, too. “If I agree, you are to do exactly as I say. If I tell you to run, you run.”
“I will not leave you. I would rather die than be alone again.”
“Enough of that kind of talk.” Evelyn slid her hunting knife from its sheath. “To protect yourself with. Go for the eyes.”
The girl took it and lightly pricked her finger with the tip and ran the same finger along the edge. “It is very sharp.”
“A dull knife doesn’t do much good.” Evelyn rose. “We should go while the flames are still high.”
Bright Rainbow chose a brand. She held it out in front of her and clenched the knife tight. “I am ready.”
The forest was ominously silent.
Her skin rippling with dread, Evelyn crossed to the woods. Bright Rainbow’s arm rubbed her with every step. She spotted a downed limb, but it was too thick for her to break apart. Stepping over it, she went around a pine. The brand hissed and gave off smoke that tingled her nose. “Try not to hold that so close to my face.”
“Sorry.”
Evelyn roved past a thicket wide enough to hide the mountain lion. She kept the Hawken leveled, just in case.
“The Devil Cat is near,” Bright Rainbow whispered breathlessly. “I can feel him.”
Evelyn told her to be quiet. But she could feel the cat’s presence, too. She looked for eye shine.
“There,” Bright Rainbow said, and pointed with the knife. “Plenty of firewood.”
Fallen limbs littered the ground at the base of a dead tree. Evelyn stooped to grab one and a growl rumbled out of the darkness. Straightening, she jammed the Hawken to her shoulder. “Where is it?” The growl had seemed to come from everywhere at once.
“I do not know.” Bright Rainbow’s voice quaked with terror. “We should go back.”
“We need the wood.” Evelyn hastily scooped up several pieces of a thick limb and turned to retrace their steps.
The eyes were behind them. The mountain lion was between them and the clearing. It couldn’t have been more than twenty feet away.
“God, no,” Evelyn said. She dropped the firewood and snapped the Hawken to her cheek. “I have you now.” She fired. At the boom of the shot the eyes rose straight into the air and came down again, and blinked out. Drawing a flintlock, Evelyn shouted, “Stay by my side!” and charged forward. She came to the spot where she thought the eyes had been and cast about for sign and found it in the form of bright scarlet drops on the grass and the leaves. “I hit it!” she exulted.
“But where did it go?”
Evelyn turned in a complete circle. “I don’t know.” She had hit it, yes, but there wasn’t much blood, which might mean she’d only nicked it. And a wounded meat-eater was always more dangerous. Her father had warned her of that since she was old enough to hold a gun.
A snarl rent the air.
Evelyn spun but saw only dark undergrowth and trees. With its black coat, the mountain lion was practically invisible. It could spring at them at any moment. “We’re going back,” she declared, and retreated toward the clearing.
“What about the firewood?”
“Leave it,” Evelyn said. Their lives weren’t worth the risk. She was relieved when they emerged into the open but not so happy at how low the fire had burned. Another ten minutes or so and it would go out, plunging them in darkness and leaving them vulnerable.
“I am scared,” Bright Rainbow said.
So was Evelyn, but as her father always impressed on her, she was a King and the Kings never gave up. Where there was a will, there was a way, he liked to say. She stood with her back to the fire and commenced to reload her rifle.
Bright Rainbow cast the brand into the fire and gripped the hilt of the knife in her small hands. “The Devil Cat will kill us.”
“Stop talking like that.” Evelyn was trying to load and watch the woods at the same time, and she spilled some powder.
“There is only one safe place. The hole where I hid after it killed my father.”
“No.” Evelyn felt the best place to make their stand was in the open where they could see the mountain lion coming and have room to move.
“It is big enough for both of us.”
“No, I said.”
“You can kill the Devil Cat if it tries to crawl in after us.”
Without thinking Evelyn snapped, “Did you listen to your mother as poorly as you listen to me?”
Bright Rainbow’s scarecrow frame slumped in sorrow. “I always did as my mother asked.”
“Then do the same with me.”
“You are not my mother,” Bright Rainbow said, and with that, she snatched another brand from the fire, whirled, and ran toward the forest.
“Get back here!” Evelyn hollered, but the girl ignored her and plunged into the Stygian mire.
Evelyn raced after her, fully aware of the mistake they were making. “Come back!” she tried again.
As fleet as an antelope, Bright Rainbow didn’t heed. The burning brand rose and dipped and weaved right and left as she avoided obstacles.
“Please!”
Evelyn reckoned the girl was trying to reach her hidey-hole before the torch went out. Something compelled her to look over her shoulder, and her breath caught in her throat. A black blur was crossing the clearing in a beeline after them. The mountain lion had given chase.
Fear clutched at Evelyn’s heart. The cat could see in the dark and she couldn’t. It would catch up and spring on her. She ran another dozen strides and stopped and spun. Better to face it, she reasoned, than have it take her from behind. She never heard a sound, yet suddenly there it was, a darker black than the night itself, its eyes glinting in the starlight. Evelyn swallowed and brought the Hawken up just as the mountain lion sprang. She had no time to cock it. A heavy blow to her left shoulder spun her halfway around and pain spiked her body clear down to her toes. A raking forepaw had slashed her. She turned to confront the beast, but the mountain lion hadn’t stopped.
It was after Bright Rainbow.
“No!” Evelyn cried, and sprinted madly to the girl’s aid. She didn’t shoot. She couldn’t hold the rifle steady enough to be sure of bringing the mountain lion down. “Bright Rainbow!” she screamed. “Look out!”
The girl heard her—and stopped. She raised the brand just as an ebony form arced through the air. She was smashed to the ground and the burning brand fell next to her.
“Noooooo!”
Evelyn hurtled forward. She saw the mountain lion straddling Bright Rainbow, saw the girl frozen in dread. Suddenly stopping, Evelyn sighted down the barrel, and fired. She rushed the shot, but she scored; blood spurted from the monster cat’s flank. With an unearthly screech, the mountain lion spun toward her, its tail flailing like a whip. She thought it was going to charge her, but instead it wheeled and bounded into the undergrowth.
Bright Rainbow didn’t move.
In a spurt of speed Evelyn reached her. The girl’s eyes were closed and blood oozed from half a dozen slash marks. Evelyn dropped to a knee. “Bright Rainbow?”
She showed no signs of life.
Evelyn gripped her arm and shook. “Bright Rainbow? Answer me.”
The girl’s eyes opened, twin mirrors of utter and total fear. She trembled and whimpered.
Evelyn shook her harder. “Snap out of it! We must run or the cat will get us both.”
Bright Rainbow’s eyes weren’t on Evelyn; they were fixed blankly on the heavens. Tears trickled from their corners.
“Listen to me!” Evelyn demanded, and when that got no reaction, she slapped her.
A sharp intake of breath, and Bright Rainbow calmed. She pressed a hand to her cheek and said in a tiny voice, “You hit me.”
“I’ll do it again if you don’t get up. How badly are you hurt?”
“I was clawed a little,” the girl said.
Evelyn pulled her to her feet. “This hole of yours. How far is it?”
