Photographs and Shortstory page nine


				Chapter Three page 9




	Chapter Three dna put the Fudgesicles in the refrigerator in the kennel. She left a little note on the counter saying that if he were as clever as he claimed, he might hook up the disconnected phone line which was in that building. Getting him out of her house would be a step in the right direction. Though she went for a long hike that afternoon, she got no e-mail from Henry. He ate all the Fudgesicles overnight. She had brought a dozen. All twelve wrappers were strewn in a line across the yard as if he had been eating as fast as he walked. Edna mowed the grass and weeded the garden. On this day, she knew just where Henry was because her older cat sat at the edge of the woods staring intently into the bushes. Her tail switched slowly back and forth. Every fifteen minutes or so she would get up and, still watching intently, walk parallel to the woods for a few feet. Then she would sit and stare again, motionless except for her tail. Twice, Edna saw small rocks come flying out of the woods in the cat's direction.

	In the afternoon, when she headed out to take pictures, she put the cat in the truck. The other cat looked so indignant that she took her too. They all had a lovely time at a little waterfall up the valley. Judging from the kitties’ unfocused wandering, Henry had stayed home. Twelve Fudgesicles will do that to you. t dusk on the way home from her hike, Edna decided she would ambush Henry. From the top of the last mountain behind her house, she went at a dead run straight down. She headed for where he left most of his trash. The dogs were well ahead of her, but she was flying, too. Suddenly the dogs were attacking something. She could hear frenzied thrashing and screaming mixed with violent barking. Horrified, she plunged through the last bushes. They had caught a half-grown bear cub. It was down, screaming and writhing under a mass of dogs. In the same instant that Edna came on the scene, the mother bear blasted out of the underbrush opposite. For what seemed like a lifetime, the dogs and mother bear tore and screamed and rolled, advancing and retreating. The cub managed to escape in the confusion and scramble to the top of a nearby tree. As suddenly as it had started, it was over. The mother bear shook loose and disappeared. Its crashing progress could be heard for a moment and then all was still. Edna was in shock. All six dogs were bleeding. She checked them one by one. Miraculously, there were no broken bones. Just as she was rounding them up to head for the kennel, the injured cub gave a weak, wailing cry and fell out of its tree. The mother must have circled back even before that because Edna could hear her coming immediately. When she could see the bear, she also saw Henry. He had been hiding behind a tree that was now directly in the line of the bear's approach. He was as fast as a rabbit, but the sow was already at a dead run. It got him by one leg and Edna lost sight of him as the bear mauled him. The power and violence was outside of anything she had ever seen. The dogs began barking and circling, but only one, Buster, attacked. The bear was lost in its frenzy. The dog jumped fully onto its back and was tearing at its ears before it showed any awareness of his presence. They fought for a moment and then both bears bolted. Henry appeared to be unconscious. He was lying on his side, but his face was to the ground. The bear had torn away the scalp at the back of his head. He had a massive wound in his right thigh where the bear had first grabbed him. His right arm was mangled. There was so much blood that it was not possible to tell if there were more injuries. When she stooped to check for a pulse, he said, “Do not touch me.” She could just barely hear him. “Henry, just keep still. I'm going to call an ambulance. I'll be right back. I'll be bringing some blankets. Just be very still. Buster will stay here and keep you company.” She knew nothing about emergency First Aid. She knew she should apply pressure to stop the bleeding, but she had nothing clean to do it with. Her hands were covered with dog's blood. “No, no, no, no...” “I'll be right back. I'm not abandoning you. I'll be right back.” “No, no, no ambulance. No, no, no people touching me. Please, please, please, no, no, no.” “You are going to die if I don't get help immediately. Just be still. I'll be right back.” He was pushing his face into the dirt, trying to twist away from her sight. When she turned to go he began dragging himself in the opposite direction. Edna could feel herself verging on hysteria. She went and stood over Henry. She told him that if he moved one more inch she would kill him herself before the ambulance got there. He curled up in a little ball, crying or gasping for air, she couldn't tell which. Edna was crying too as she ran to the house. The blood covered dogs straggled after her. cont. on page ten

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