Page 85 of Wilderness Daddy

The Sasquatch or wild man, or whatever he is, took care of the blonde. He’ll take care of Kari too. At least that’s what I tell myself, trying to quell the fear.

I haven’t slept for two days and my body and brain are buzzing from exhaustion. And as much as my mind doesn’t want to quiet, it eventually succumbs to sleep somewhere in the wee hours.

* * *

“She’s safe, Landon.”

I start awake, squinting at the bright sunshine and jump to my feet. The voice at my back is deep and craggy. My stomach twists as my adrenaline spikes and I spin, fists poised ready to strike when the words sink in.

The man, and he is a man, looming over me is at least half a foot taller and a good deal bigger than me. He’s got to be close to, or maybe even over seven feet tall. Fur pelts cover him from shoulders to feet. His hair, longer than Akari’s, is a dirty strawberry blond and messy but not scraggly and his reddish beard, chest-length, is bushy. It covers a lot of his face. But when I look past all of that at his eyes, I see intelligence, compassion, and benevolence.

I relax, my firsts unfurling and my arms resting at my sides as I concentrate on the man’s eyes.

Those light blue eyes are exactly as Stella described.

They’re wild.

I’m looking at the wild man.

“Where is she?” I ask as soon as my brain pings back online, knowing I’m no longer in imminent danger. “I need to see she’s okay.” I need to touch her, hold her, tell her I love her.

“Inside,” he says. It comes out like a growl, as if his voice hasn’t been used much in years. Probably hasn’t, I decide. He points further up and although I can’t see anything beyond trees and rocks, I nod.

He clears his throat. “I have Lucy, too. Come on. They’re in my cabin.” He turns. “Lucy’s the reason I found you. She told me what happened.”

I follow. “Lucy? That’s the blonde’s name? She’s awake?”

He doesn’t turn back but grunts his reply.

“We were taking her for help when they ambushed us. Left her for dead.” Now that I know we’re all safe for the moment the guilt and grief of the situation hits me hard in the chest. It takes my breath away and despite my urgency to see Akari, I have to stop.

“Is she okay?” I ask as I regulate my breathing.

“Still not good.” The man stops and looks down at me patiently. “Better than before though. She said you put something on her. What was it?”

“Bearberry. I ground it up and put it on the open wounds. Wasn’t sure it would work but I had to try. Honestly, I thought she’d die through the night with the fever she had.”

“I used yarrow. I travel all through the Rockies and know many First Nations people. Found it in Alberta and had it on hand. When it didn’t seem to be working, I brought her to you.”

“Yarrow’s supposed to be good.” I say and the wild man extends a hand to me. I take it and he gives me a boost up a large rock.

“Keep moving.” He looks around. “I caught the one man pissing in the bush yesterday.” He grunts. “He was out cold when I left him. The kid was looking for him so he’ll live.”

He helps me up another steep incline before continuing.

“I purposefully left tracks so you’d find us but they’re good hunters.” Again he scans the mountain around us. “They track well despite their lack of scruples.”

I follow his line of sight. “I got the other guy’s weapons, but you’re right. They’ll likely track us. And they’ll likely want revenge.”

“Your woman sent an SOS with her GPS yesterday. Search and rescue will come. No signal here, but they’ll track us from her last known coordinates.”

“I saw a SAR chopper yesterday before nightfall,” I say and he nods.

“Almost there now.”

* * *

The wild man’s cabinis surprisingly well made and comfortable, partially built into the mountainside. Thick logs cut with an axe form the large front living area. There are lots of window openings with basic shutters in the main part that make up for the lack of light in the underground portion and the shutters would provide protection from the elements when needed.

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