The Close Call

 By Naomi J. 

 

Andi Carter sprinted down the rocky mountain path and skidded into the opening of a small, rickety barn, slamming the door shut behind her. Gasping for breath, she crumpled down onto the sawdust-covered floor and gazed at her surroundings. Heaps of hay towered on either side of her. Beams of afternoon sunlight seeped through large slits in the roof, casting light on the shadows of the dim barn.

Slowly, Andi crawled away from the door and scrambled into the shadows of the hay. There her eyes squeezed shut as she waited for the searing pain shooting down her leg to go away. A few minutes later, she took a deep, shuddering breath and, glad that the danger of fainting had at least dimmed, chanced a peak at her leg. When she saw it, she gasped. A scarlet stain showed on the leg of her overalls. Holding her breath, Andi carefully rolled up her pants. A deep, blood-dripping gash went all the way down the side of her leg. “I can’t believe I ran down the side of a mountain with that.” Her whisper sounded loud in the dusty silence of the barn.

All of a sudden, the door jolted as if hit. Andi froze. Shoving down her pant leg and ignoring the sharp pain which her roughness caused, Andi backed further behind the haystack, panic seizing her. The same bear which had scared her horse, Taffy, into throwing her, forcing her to run away from the massive creature and into an unknown barn, was going to break in and eat her. She was in too much pain from where it had lashed at her leg to get up and hide; she would have to stay where she was and try to hide in the haystack.

The rusty latch rattled harder, then eased open with a squeak! Andi held her breath as the huge black bear lumbered into the barn and lifted its nose to smell the air. It trudged just a few feet away from where Andi hudled, then paused and sniffed again. Andi sat perfectly still, cold sweat breaking out on forehead, her heart slamming inside her. One wrong move, one little noise, and the bear would immediately know where she was. Mind whirling, she sent up a desperate prayer. Please, God, don’t let the bear find me. I don’t want to be eaten. And please help Taffy be okay.

Suddenly, a cold, wet nose was shoved into her sweaty, clasped hands. The next second, a shout went up and then a bang! sounded through the barn. Andi didn’t hear anything else. She tumbled in a dead faint onto the floor next to the haystack.

Andi woke up lying on a narrow cot in a dark, musty-smelling room. A quiet clink of dishes came from the next room. Her shoulder ached from where she had hit the floor, but the piercing pain in her leg had eased to a steady pang. Scanning the small room, she found that she was not alone. The silhouette of a woman perched on another bed on the other side of the room.

When the woman saw Andi, she gasped and scrambled over to her, lighting a candle on the way. “Oh, thank goodness you’re awake. How do you feel?”

“Only a little dizzy. Where am I?” In the dim light of the candle, the woman’s slightly wrinkled face smiled.

“My husband found you hurt and unconscious in our barn, right after he shot that ol’ bear that’s been botherin’ our animals.” She raised an eyebrow. “Was the bear after you?”

Andi blinked, dazed. “Bear?” she mumbled. Then it came back to her. “Oh! He shot the bear? Why was she chasing me? All I was doing was riding. And have you seen my horse?”

“I’m sorry. We haven’t seen any horses.” The woman smiled sympathetically. “The bear could’ve charged at you for all sorts of reasons, though it’s strange she’d follow you so far. Now, let me see your leg.” She carefully rolled up Andi’s pant leg, which revealed a clean linen bandage with a dark red streak showing down the middle. The woman frowned. “Well, you’ll definitely need a doctor to take a look at this, but it’ll keep ‘till you get home.”

“Thank you,” Andi murmured, closing her eyes.

“Take a rest, darling. I’m sure your family will show up soon.”

It seemed like she had slept only a few minutes when she was awakened by a gentle shake. “Andi! Wake up.” At the whisper, Andi’s eyes flew open.

“Chad! You came for me!” Her brother grinned.

“’Course I did, silly. You feeling all right?”

“Only tired, since someone woke me up.” She giggled. Chad shook his head.

“You worried us all when Taffy came home without you,” he said, scooping Andi up.

“She came back?” Andi exclaimed, delighted. Thank you, God, for bringing Taffy home.

“Yep,” Chad replied, carrying her to the kitchen. An elderly man looked up and smiled at Andi as she came in.

Handing a cup of coffee to Chad, he told Andi, “Sure is good to see you with rosy cheeks. You were lookin’ awful pale out there ‘till my wife fixed you up.” Andi blushed. Chad gulped down his coffee and shook hands with the man. “Thanks again. That was real kind of you both,” he said, then turned to Andi. “Ready to go home?” he asked.

Andi nodded. “Yes. My leg is starting to hurt again.”

“I’ll send for the doctor when we get home.” Turning around, Chad slapped his hat down on his head and waved to the couple as he walked out. Then he swung Andi up onto his horse and grinned at her. “You have a lot of explaining to do when you get home.”

Andi sighed, shifting uncomfortably in the saddle. “I sure won’t go down that trail anymore.” With that, they started down the long, dark trail for home.