Page 15 of Dead Air
“I didn’t see her. She might have gotten spooked by something or left it here because it’s injured.”
“Either way, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to interfere. Let nature take its course,” Chance urged but Niall gave him an impatient look and hurried along, ducking behind trunks and brush as he got closer to the cub.
“I’m a ranger, Chance. It’s my job to help and to protect all the park’s visitors—human, animal, amphibian, insect… I’ll be careful and I’ll back off if I see any sign of the mama or any other adult bears.”
“I’d say a lone cub is a pretty good sign.”
Niall let out a stubborn“Pffft!”and tiptoed out of the tree line and toward the creek. The water was up to his calves as he calmly waded in but the cub was too distressed to notice him. Once Niall was close enough, he unclipped the Leatherman from his belt and opened the scissors so he could start cutting away the line as soon as he had a hold of the cub.
It was as big as a medium-sized adult dog but probably weighed as much as Niall already. Niall hissed at the cub’s mangled cheek. Bits of raw tissue had been exposed from the poor baby’s attempts to scratch the hook out of the flesh. Niall’s pulse was throbbing in his ears as he eased up to it. He said a quick prayer and grabbed it by the scruff with his left hand and was able to cut the line in two places before the cub tried to swing its head and its body bucked.
“Easy, pal!” Niall said soothingly, throwing a leg over the cub and holding it with his knees. He cut fast, slicing through the line quickly and in as many places as he could. Chance had caught up to him and was pulling the broken bits of pole free and tossing them behind him at the shore.
“Hurry before this gets out of control,” Chance ordered through clenched teeth. He grabbed hold of the back of the cub’s neck so Niall could use both hands to open its mouth. The large hook was twisted in the corner of the bear’s cheek so Niall had to stretch its jaw as wide as it could while it howled in terrified agony.
“It’s alright! We’re almost done,” Niall sang soothingly, sliding his fingers in as far as he could and did his best to free the hook without tearing anything else. There was a bit of resistance and Niall apologized when he felt the slight tug of the hook’s barb as it came free. “I got it!” Niall cheered as his hand slipped out of the bear’s mouth, the hook pinched tight between his fingers.
“Let’s go!”Chance urged just as they heard a deafening roar and a massive sow came charging at them from the forest on the other side of the creek.
Niall released the cub and leaped off, tackling Chance and shoving him back in the process. The entire forest seemed to shake with her rage and Niall was in awe at the size of her paws and claws and how huge her jaws and teeth were. And the smell was bewildering! He’d often compared finding the scent of a bear on the trail to the largest, wettest, mustiest dog but it was so much more than that as she towered over him.
Niall scrambled to get between Chance and the irate mama, falling and splashing as he clicked the safety on the can of bear spray. She crashed into the water, swiping and snarling at them.
“Get back! Go away, we won’t hurt you!” Niall yelled and waved his arms.
He aimed the spray, prepared to press the trigger but she abruptly lowered and sat on her bottom. She let out a low growl, swinging her head towards the woods as the cub ambled toward her. When it reached her she gave it a gentle nuzzle before rising and slowly leading him back into the forest.
“Holy sugar, that was scary!” Niall whispered as he stood on wobbly legs and backed out of the water, then gasped when Chance snatched his arm and dragged him away from the creek.
“Scary? Do you have any idea what would have happened if I hadn’t—!” He spit out a string of real swear words as he stormed back to the trail, towing Niall along.
“You’re right.” Niall conceded quickly, hoping to calm Chance down. He looked genuinely rattled, which was completely understandable. “I couldn’t have handled that cub on my own but it all worked out. Hopefully, that wound will heal without too much infection. I should see if DeeDee can slide me some antibiotics so I can treat it next time. She’s a veterinary technician.”
“Next time!” Chance stopped Niall, cupping his cheek roughly. “You’re aranger, Niall. You don’t tackle bears and perform surgeries in the middle of a creek. You could have been killed!”
“But I wasn’t,” Niall said obviously. “Black bears aren’t aggressive. They’re food motivated and they avoid interacting with humans.”
“Unless you get between a mama and her cub,” Chance argued, tossing a hand in the direction of the creek.
“She calmed down when she realized her baby wasn’t being harmed.”
“She calmed down because I—!” Chance pulled in his lips and squeezed his eyes shut. He counted down from ten then opened them. “If I hadn’t been there, she probably would have mauled you to death and it would have been days before anyone found your body.”
“Maybe.” Niall deflated, suddenly sorry for putting Chance in danger and for upsetting him. “That was…reckless. I tend to lose my head when any kind of baby is in trouble or hurting. And I love our bears and forget they’re not for cuddling,” he admitted.
Chance pushed out a heavy sigh as he slung an arm around Niall’s shoulder. “No more bear wrestling, promise?”
“I promise. Next time, I’ll call Health Branch and let them send a professional. DeeDee’s training to be a park vet!” Niall said, excited for his friend.
“That’s wonderful for DeeDee. Let’s pick up the pace. I need to get back to my tent and change my boxers. I think you took years off of my life and that’s saying a hell of a lot, Niall.”
Nine
Ithink I’d rather be mauled by a bear…
He was glad that Niall was blissfully distracted with a safer pursuit than bear wrestling but Cenn was at his wits’ end and sick of salamanders. Thankfully, life on the summit was quieting down and Cenn had most of Niall’s attention again. The investigation into Roger Tompkins death was wrapping up with the coroner ruling it an alcohol-related accident.
Agent Shelby was proving to be irritatingly competent and was looking into the permit Cenn had obtained through the university. It was just a matter of time before he found out there was no Dr. Curn at Georgetown but Cenn would find a way to slow him down.
