Carol was exhausted. It took about an hour to drag Duncan into what was left of their small cabin. At least the door still worked. Duncan was two to three times bigger than she was and it took all of her strength just to drag him across the rough ground. She was afraid of pulling on him too hard and breaking his leg even worse. It looked like his right arm was broken too.
And then there was all that blood. She wasn’t sure whose blood it was exactly – Duncan’s or the bear’s. There was plenty more coming out of various deep bite marks and scratches on his arms and legs. He wasn’t able to help her very much and went in and out of consciousness. Several times, she wasn’t sure if he was going to come back or not, but he always did. Finally, she got him up into their bed, at nearly sunset.
Off only a few hundred yards away, she heard a wolf howl.
Duncan opened his eyes and looked at her.
“Them wolves smell old Deadeye’s blood,” he gasped. “You got to put a blanket over that hole in the wall and get a fire going in the fireplace.”
“Okay,” she said.
“But you – got to go get Sally. I tied her to a tree down the trail a piece. Tie her up in the corral by the door. Them wolves won’t come near her up here.”
“Okay,” Carol turned to go.
“Wait,” Duncan grabbed her arm. “Jerk a hair out of Sally’s tail, but make sure you stand off to the side when you do it, or else she’ll kick your head in.”
“Why do you want a hair from a mule’s tail?”
“I’m still bleeding. You got to stitch me up.”
“Duncan – I don’t know how to do that! We have to take you to a hospital. Sally and I can take you to Dull Axe City and – ”
“No. No hospital.”
“But, Duncan, I – we – ”
“No hospital! I’ll bleed to death first. You got to do it.”
“Okay,” she sniffled. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
“I’ll tell you how.”
“Okay, Duncan. Thank-you.” She kissed him tearfully. “Thank-you for saving me. That’s the second time you’ve saved my life. You’re my hero! Don’t you die on me.”
“I won’t.”
Carol took out an old woolen blanket and carried it out through the hole in the wall. The sun was just starting to go down between the mountains and she heard another wolf howl in the distance. Sally snorted and pulled at her halter only about fifty yards down the trail. Carol tucked the blanket between the logs and the shattered window until it fell down, just big enough to cover the huge hole. She turned around and saw the shotgun still lying on the ground where she left it and picked it up, looking fearfully at Deadeye’s huge carcass. Another wolf howled, closer this time and she went in through the hole carrying the shotgun.
“Duncan?” She said. “Duncan?” She held it up. “Will this thing still shoot?”
“No,” he said and shook his head. “You blew off both barrels.”
“How do I load it?”
“You got to go get Sally.”
“I know, I know. I need something for the wolves.”
“My knife.”
“I can’t hold off a pack of wolves with just a knife!”
“Up there on the mantle, by the oil lamp is a box of shotgun shells. Get them for me.”
Carol found the box of shotgun shells and brought them down to him. Duncan pushed a lever on the back of the shotgun and it opened up both barrels as if the entire gun was broken in half and swung open on a hinge. He groaned and let his head flop back on the pillow.
“I’m as weak as a kitten,” he said. “I’ve lost a lot of blood.”
Carol only nodded as she watched him take two shells out of the box and put them into the barrels. He swung the shotgun back up together again with a click. Another wolf howled and another one answered him. Sally snorted. He gave the shotgun to Carol.
“You can fire off just one barrel at a time, if’n you pull just one trigger,” he said.
“Okay, okay.” She kissed him again. “I’ll be back.”
The last rays of the sun were just disappearing behind the mountainside when Carol came out of the cabin with the shotgun under her arm. The door squeaked on its hinges when she opened it up and stepped outside. Sally was nervously stomping her feet as Carol reached down and picked up Duncan’s huge Bowie Knife. Her heart was beating a million miles an hour as she made her way down the rocky mountain path. All around her were shadows. It felt like they were watching her.
Sally was snorting and skittish when she reached her and Carol had to put down the knife as she untied the mule from the pine tree. Off in the distance, she heard an owl hoot. Everywhere else though – it was eerily quiet. Nothing else moved or made noise except for Sally.
“Whoa,” Carol said. Her voice echoed in the silence. She patted Sally’s neck and pulled on the halter. Sally raised up her head and brayed. There was a rustling noise up the mountain about a hundred yards away and Carol thought she saw shadows moving in between the trees. She gasped and picked up the Bowie Knife. She held it in the same hand as she held the reins and turned toward the noise, pointing the double-barreled shotgun along with it.
There was nothing.
“Come on, Sally,” she said as she pulled on the reins. All along the way up to the cabin, she could still feel eyes watching her and when they got near the body of old Deadeye, Sally shied away and wouldn’t go near it. Carol took her to the side of the cabin, and put her in the corral. Then, she stood off to the side, like Duncan told her and jerked a long hair out of Sally’s tail. The mule kicked back and snorted, missing Carol by mere inches. There was another rustling up on the mountainside and Sally brayed again and her tail twitched. Carol went out of the corral and closed the gate. Again, there was a rustling in the bushes up on the mountainside and she thought she saw the outline of a wolf before it disappeared behind a big Douglas Fir tree.
Carol backed up into the cabin with the shotgun pointed outward and closed the door. She heard a wolf howl near the spot where Deadeye still lay. Picking up some of the small splinters of wood from the bear’s attack, she quickly stacked it together in the fireplace and took up some of the small logs she bounced off Deadeye’s head. Her hands were shaking as she put them all together. She picked up the box of matches from the mantle near the oil lamp and struck a match. She could hear the wolves snarling and snapping at each other near Deadeye’s body and in the corral, Sally brayed and stomped her feet. She held the match to the small kindling wood but it failed to light.
“Oh, no,” she said and turned around to look back at the blanket and could hear sniffing and panting. It was almost dark now and when the fire died out, it was difficult to see in the waning twilight. The bottom of the blanket moved and there was a nose sniffing underneath it. She picked up an iron skillet still on the floor and threw it. There was a “yip,” and the nose disappeared.
Rapidly, she rearranged the wood and struck another match, blowing on the kindling this time and it burst into flames. She added more small pieces of wood and then larger ones until finally, there was a good fire going in the fireplace and she didn’t hear any more sniffing near the blanket.
She collapsed in a heap near the fireplace, exhausted. She looked back at Duncan who wasn’t moving on the bed and she gasped.
“Duncan!” She said, and shook his shoulder. “Duncan!” He opened his eyes and looked toward the fireplace.
“Oh, you got it going. Now them wolves will keep away from the blanket.”
“I hope so,” she picked up the shotgun and held it near. She caressed his face and kissed him. “How are you?”
“Weak. You got to stitch me up. You got to stop my bleeding.”
“Duncan – I don’t know how to stitch you up! We have to get you to a doctor – to a hospital!”
“No. No hospital. Too far. Too far – away.”
“I don’t know how!” She sobbed.
“If you can kill a grizzly with a shotgun – you can do this.”
“It’ll hurt!”
“No worse than that bear.”
“Okay,” she kissed him tearfully. “Okay. I got the hair out of Sally’s tail.” She held it up.
“Good,” Duncan smile. “You know where my needle’s at?”
“Yes.”
“Go get it – while I’m still conscious.”
“Okay, okay.”
It took most of the night to stitch up Duncan’s wounds. Carol worked by the oil lamp and firelight. The stomach wound was the worst. It was four parallel deep scratches. One of them was deep enough that she could see some of Duncan’s intestines. By the time she was done, it was nearly dawn.
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