“Where do we go?Do we run?”She jerked to her feet and grabbed her stick-cane.
He beat the rocks some more.The bear rose to its hind legs and roared.
The sound scraped across her heart and nerves like metal-on-metal squealing.Her stomach clenched, her mouth went dry, and she sucked in several deep breaths.
Bears.Why did it have to be bears?She hated bears.
The enormous black animal dropped back onto four legs, roared once more, and lumbered into the woods.
“See,” Eric said soothingly, “it’s gone.We’re good.”
“H…h…how do we know it’s not sneaking through the bushes to attack us?”Her knees shook, and she lowered herself back onto the rock before she fell down.
“We’d hear him if it were.Bears aren’t exactly quiet, and we’ll make more noise.Unless it’s completely starving, or has cubs, it’s unlikely to attack.”
She hugged herself and stared at the point where the bear disappeared.
“That was amazing.What a great looking animal,” Eric said, dropping the rocks and picking up a piece of firewood.Their blaze was small.If they were rescued, they didn’t want to spend much time ensuring the fire was out.
“Hey,” a distant voice called out.“I see them.”
Wanda leaped up, stumbled on her sore ankle, and bumped into Eric.His arm slipped around her waist.“People!”she shouted.
“Indeed.”
He didn’t sound disappointed, did he?No.Couldn’t be.
“We’re saved!”she blurted.
“Indeed.Let’s go meet them.”He bent over and grabbed her cane.“Here.”Side by side, they made their way down to the water.The canoe was a big one, much larger than the one they had destroyed.After a few minutes, it pulled up to the bank, and two men stepped ashore.
“Eric.Wanda.We were worried when you didn’t come back to camp,” said the shorter man.He was one of the team leaders who helped track all the participants and their needs.
“Yeah, we were too,” Wanda said.She recognized both men but could not remember their names.
“Thanks for coming.Got room in there for two hitchhikers?”Eric asked.
“Sure do,” the second man said.“Everyone else has headed out for the last stop, and then to the bus, which is taking them home.”
“I’ll just grab our bags and put out the fire.”
“Let me help,” the short man said.
“Thanks, Josh.Wanda’s hurt.I think she may have broken her ankle.We’ll need to take her straight to a hospital.Can you let someone know, Jim?”
He nodded and pulled out a satellite phone.Call complete, he said, “I can look at that.I’m a first responder with the Calgary Fire Department.”
“It’s okay,” Wanda said as Eric and Josh walked toward the fire.She lifted her ankle.“Eric wrapped it up.Tight enough to be steady, but not too tight.Though it itches like heck.”
“It’s probably swollen.We should check it; make sure it isn’t too tight.”He smiled reassuringly.
“Let me help you sit,” Eric said from behind her.“It won’t hurt to have it checked.”His arm slipped around her waist, and he lowered her down.Kneeling before her, he lifted her foot and unwrapped the bandage.
Jim gave them a quizzical look but said nothing; he just waited until it was unwrapped and gave it a quick examination.“If it isn’t broken, there is some serious tendon damage.Definitely needs a doctor.Let me wrap it back up.”
Warmth flooded through her at Eric’s protectiveness.He hadn’t taken his eyes off Jim during the whole exam.It was like he didn’t quite trust the man.She hid her smile.
“I’ve got it,” Eric said and started re-wrapping it.
