Page 69 of Circle of Days
Not long afterward, Fell’s dog became agitated. It did not bark, but it started to run from side to side and sniff energetically.
Fell said: “He’s scented the bear.”
They picked up their pace.
Bez saw a flattened fern. “The bear’s running from us now. Look, he squashed that fern in his hurry.” He felt the tension of upcoming peril, perhaps just moments away.
He heard distant barking that seemed to come from both left and right. The dogs that had been at the ends of the line had now scented the bear, he guessed, and were moving toward it. The people would be following the dogs’ lead.
They were closing in.
Bez came to an area of low bushes leading to a dense grove of young beech trees growing close together, competing for the sunlight. He gestured to the others to stop. The bear was in the grove. It had tried to smash its way through, but the trees were too thick, and it was stalled.
The creature was dark brown, almost black. It was medium size: if it stood on its hind legs it would be about as tall as Lali. Its fur seemed loose on its body, as if it was starved. It was panting after running, saliva dripping from its open mouth, its sharp canine teeth like flint arrowheads, designed to kill. It turned and looked at Bez and growled, a deep, guttural noise that seemed to vibrate in Bez’s heart. It was as if the bear hated him.
Fell’s dog barked, but did not move forward.
Lali threw a stone, and it fell short. Gida said: “Wait till we’re closer.”
Then dogs came into the clearing from left and right, barking madly. One leaped at the bear, flying through the air with its teeth bared and its clawed forelegs extended. The bear swiped with a paw as big as a man’s head, shockingly fast for such a big creature; the dog crashed to the ground and lay still.
The other dogs backed away.
“That was quick,” said Lali in a shaky voice.
The dogs formed a rough half circle, pinning the bear in place with its back to the beech grove. They began to work as a team. Three or four would run at the bear from the left, then back off before it could reach them. Meanwhile others would attack from the right, running in and biting it then running away again before it had time to turn to them. The bear barked, a sound much deeper than a dog’s woof, and it seemed to settle down to fight for its life.
Bez’s arrows were having ominously little effect, and the same was true of the other archers. Points that hit the bear’s head or chest broke through the fur and skin but seemed to bounce away without doing serious harm. The bear pulled out the ones that penetrated the flesh of its four legs. Its back would have been a good target, but most of the time the bear was upright, facing its assailants. The ideal now was a serious wound to the throat or belly, but so far it had not happened.
Eventually the bear would tire, but the dogs might tire first.
Bez moved closer, and others did the same. The arrowheads began to bite deeper. The bear bled from several wounds but continued to fight, and soon a handful of dogs lay on the ground,dead or dying. However, Bez thought, loss of blood must weaken it soon.
The bear may have figured this out. It was smart. Bez’s father, long dead now, had said that the bear was the most intelligent of all the animals. But what could it do?
A moment later, Bez found out.
The bear dropped onto all fours, put down its head, and charged.
It began by jumping with all four legs, covering a lot of ground and picking up speed, then it began to gallop. The dogs chased it. It raced toward Bez and his companions. Without thinking, he picked up Lali with one hand and dashed out of its way. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Fell and Gida leap in the opposite direction.
He smelled a powerful stink as the bear went by.
It did not attack anyone; it was bent on escape.
Surely, Bez thought in dismay, the beast cannot elude us now?
It crashed through the undergrowth, dodging trees and flattening everything else in its path. The dogs went after it and the people followed. The vegetation slowed the bear, and the dogs caught up with it and attacked from behind as it ran, biting its hind legs.
The noise it made now was a loud wail, like the cry of a giant baby.
The hunters came close enough to shoot arrows again, and several struck in the creature’s broad back. It slowed. It was nearing its end, Bez thought hopefully.
It stood, turned, and made a weak effort to bat away the dogs.Fell’s big dog leaped for the neck, slipping between the front paws, and sank its teeth into the bear’s throat. The bear clawed at the dog, striping bloody cuts in its shaggy coat. But the dog’s jaws were clamped and it held on. The bear went down on all fours and shook itself violently, but could not get rid of the dog. Blood poured from its throat, around the dog’s muzzle and onto the trampled vegetation. The struggle went on for long moments. Then at last the bear faltered. One foreleg bent and collapsed, then the other, and it lay prone.
The dogs rushed in to eat, and the hunters quickly stepped in and kicked them away before they could spoil the carcass.
Both the bear and Fell’s dog were dead.
