Big Sky Eyes (6 page)

Chapter 8

Before the rest of the riders went away, Ty gave Brent his
shotgun and an estimation of five to six hours before he returned in the Thing.
The shotgun served as a harsh reminder that they were in grizzly country.
Mackenna grew up in an area where black bears often wandered near her home in
the beginning of spring, but they were never aggressive and were always caught
and taken away.

During her summers in Montana she had seen several
grizzlies, but it was always from afar, and she never had any reason to fear an
encounter as she was securely in groups of ten or more and grizzlies tend to
attack smaller, less threatening prey. With her, Brent and one invalid in the
thick of the forest with only two horses and a shotgun, she tried to rein in
her fear.

Brent was less than happy with the circumstances. Ty had
mentioned that he might have seen a grizzly, but Brent had definitely seen one.
He hadn’t thought to warn anyone as the bear turned away from them and Ty
seemed to move further from it as well. With the three of them out there on
their own, he decided that they should go into the clearing that Buddy had been
running toward. It would be easier to defend them, if needs be, in an open
space where he could see in all directions. He didn’t explain his reasons to
Mackenna, but she didn’t ask. She only complied and he suspected she was smart
enough to understand his motive.

He picked Katie up and cradled her in his arms while
Mackenna followed, leading their horses. Katie winced and yelped so often that
Mackenna wanted to shout at her to be quiet. Her own knee was throbbing and she
could feel its swelling pushing tightly against her jeans and chaps. She
dreaded to see what the skin beneath looked like. She hobbled behind Brent,
grateful that he couldn’t see how painful each step was for her. It was even
harder to walk once they reached the softer, uneven dirt of the open meadow.
When they finally stopped, Sass rubbed her nose gently on Mackenna’s shoulder, as
If she knew her rider was in pain. Mackenna patted the horse affectionately.

Brent deposited Katie onto the ground and urged her to rest
and sleep if possible. He removed the saddle from his horse and set it on the
ground so she could prop her foot up on it. She fell instantly asleep, worn out
from the ordeal. Mackenna sat in the pliant, green grass and straightened her
leg. Brent brought his saddle bags over to her and sat down, offering her a
strip of jerky.

As the sun bore down on them she wished she had indulged
Bev’s pleas for her to wear a cowboy hat. She had never been fond of them,
finding them heavy and cumbersome. She always wore her bandana headband to keep
back her hair and any drops of sweat. In this, she and Brent were the same and
were both squinting now as a result.

“Well,” Mackenna began, “We’ve got nothing but time, so what
do you want to talk about?”

“Let’s talk about you,” he said.

She smiled, pleased that he’d want to know more of her. “What
do you want to know?”

“Anything you want to tell me. What grade are you in for
starters?”

“I actually graduated with Kelly.”

“Isn’t she a year older than you?”

“Yeah, but I took more classes and advanced my studies so
that I could graduate early.”

“Really?” he asked, genuinely impressed. When she nodded he
asked her why.

“Well, I don’t really see any point in hanging around high
school when I can get on with my life. I want to get started on my college
degree and get things moving.”

“What do you want to study?”

“I’m going to be a vet,” she said with a sure smile. “I’m in
love with animals. I’ve been around them my whole life. I can think of nothing
more rewarding than healing those wonderful creatures.”

Brent smiled softly and Mackenna looked away shyly.

“I guess it sounds silly, but I have my mom to blame for
it,” she continued. “My parents own about twenty acres in the Washoe Valley,
that’s kind of between Carson City and Reno. We have a training and
rehabilitation facility there. My whole life has been about healing the
physical and emotional scars of animals, mainly horses.”

“Emotional scars of animals?” he said skeptically. “Sounds
like a lefty invention to me.”

“You don’t believe animals can have emotional scars? Like a
dog
who
was formerly beaten or a horse who suffered a
traumatic injury?”

“I think animals have shorter memories than humans. Sure,
they can be traumatized but there isn’t an animal I’ve ever seen who wouldn’t
abandon his fear for a handful of food.”

“Then you’ve never been around animals like the ones I’ve
seen,” she said decisively. “Animals surely do carry scars, and they are harder
to heal than people because they can’t tell you what it is they’re thinking or
feeling or remembering. You have to really study the animal, find a way to
reach into its soul and find the hurt. If you can read an animal, you can learn
everything you need to know about him.”

Brent raised a sardonic eyebrow, but it was more to tease
Mackenna than to dispute her claim. She obviously had a talent for reading
animals, hence her pairing with Sass. She slapped him playfully on the
shoulder.

“I’m being serious!”

He laughed. “I know. I’m teasing you. I believe you. I guess
some people are better at that sort of thing than others.”

“You’re good with animals, Brent. I’ve seen you.”

He shrugged. “It’s just a job.”

“Don’t you like working the ranch and the animals?”

Brent snickered.
“Not at all.
I
hate it, actually.”

Mackenna sat back as if hit. “How can you hate this?” she asked
in wonder. “How can anyone hate this beautiful landscape? How can anyone live
without animals and mountains and freedom?”

“Maybe this is freedom for you,” Brent returned. “For me,
it’s a prison.”

“Then why do you do it?”

“Bills have to get paid,” he said tightly then directed at
her, “Not all of us can live off of our parents.”

Mackenna studied his face as he ground his teeth and
clenched his jaw. Something had changed his mood, and suddenly, too. She
started to notice a pattern with him over the past month. His insults toward
her came swiftly on the heels of his own mood swings. She had stopped taking so
much offense weeks ago when she realized this. She knew that his harsh words
came more as a result of his internal struggles than as his legitimate opinion
of her. Still, it didn’t make it fair or right for him to do that to her.

“Why do you do that?” she asked with mild irritation.

“What?”

“Why do you insult me without reason? If you don’t want to
answer a question or talk about something, simply say that. Don’t insult me as
a means of ending the conversation or changing the subject.”

Brent did not respond but stared right past her, fueling her
anger. She was about to tell him how childish he was being when the movement of
his arms stopped her. His face did not waver. His eyes never blinked. He slowly
reached down to his side and lifted the shotgun. Mackenna turned to see what he
saw and her breath lodged in her throat.

There, on the edge of the meadow emerging from the shadows
of the forest stood a grizzly, massive and bristling, shoving his snout into
the air as he sniffed the scents they gave off. He took a small step forward as
if drawn by a current of air.

“Oh my God,” Mackenna breathed in a whisper, fear clutching
at her heart as the full weight of their vulnerability rooted her to the
ground. “Brent…” she pleaded.

“Get behind me,” he said lowly and she scrambled to do so,
ignoring the pain screaming in her leg. She was thankful that Katie was asleep,
else the woman would be screaming for sure. Sass and Jake, their horses, were
tied to a fallen trunk and were already trying to pull free of their
restraints, stomping and snorting at the danger they sensed.

“What do we do?” Mackenna whispered.

“Just stay calm,” he soothed, “and be quiet. Let’s see what
he does.”

Just then Sass screeched a long and baleful whinny and the
grizzly dropped his head, glaring right at them. His lower lip curled under and
he growled, the sound an ominous scrape of thunder rolling across the space
between him and the cluster of horses and humans. Mackenna felt it in her bones
and against her will her body began to quake. The beast took another step
forward, his growl a never-ending challenge to them.

Brent slowly stood to his full height, the butt of the
shotgun pressed into his right shoulder and raised to eye-level as he pointed
it at the bear. The grizzly accepted the challenge and rose onto his back legs,
stretching the length of his body toward the sky as his claws reached out
before him. He grunted a deep-throated cough and took another step forward. Brent
pointed the muzzle of the gun toward the sky and pulled the trigger, the shot
echoing across the meadow and bouncing back around them.

The horses whined in protest, flocks of birds fluttered
noisily away and Katie awoke with a yelp. She sat up and saw the grizzly raised
up and let out a scream to rival the sound of the shot gun. The bear ceased his
growling and slowly lowered himself back to all fours. He studied them for the
longest moment of Mackenna’s life before deciding that they were not worth the
fight. Lazily, as if to demonstrate that it was his lack of interest and not
their meager show of strength that stalled him, he turned and disappeared into
the dark shades of the woods.

Brent, whose eyes never left the bear’s, slowly lowered the
gun. Mackenna released a heavy sigh and in the background Katie wailed.

“I want to go home!” she cried. “I don’t like this! This is
not what I signed up for! We’re all gonna die!”

Mackenna looked at Brent and he held up a hand to say that
he couldn’t deal with Katie just then, so she went to the woman’s side.

“Katie, hush!” she hissed. “We’re not going to die.” The
woman carried on wailing until Mackenna shouted over her. “Do you want him to
come back?! Be quiet!”

Katie cried quietly into her hands. “This isn’t happening,”
she chanted over and over again.

“We’re perfectly safe,” Mackenna said. “You see that shotgun
Brent has? If that bear gets anywhere near us, one shot from that will tear his
head open, and believe me, Brent has never missed.”

“You mean this has happened before?” Katie asked, quieting
down.

“Well, not this particular scenario, but we run into
grizzlies all the time and not one has ever survived a fight with Brent’s gun.
So, relax. You’re getting worked up for nothing. We’re going to be just fine.
Ty will be back in a few hours to drive us out.”

Katie nodded hesitantly and then
laid
back down. Mackenna rejoined Brent and stood quietly beside him.

“That’s good what you told her,” he said in a low voice.

“Yeah…” Mackenna drawled. “If only I believed it myself.”

He looked down at her. They both knew that what she’d said
was not true.

“Do you think he’ll be back?” Mackenna asked.

“Don’t know,” Brent said. “Let’s just hope Ty gets back
before we find out.”

Chapter 9

Fear is nothing if not persistent, Mackenna learned. Once
she had begun to relax into easy conversation again with Brent, the grizzly
returned two more times throughout the day to hiss and growl at them. Brent
frightened it off by shooting at the ground in front of him. Once the shot
buried into the earth it sprayed dirt into the air like powder and the animal
scurried off.

Katie could not control her hysterics and after a steady
succession of panic attacks ripped through her, Brent had Mackenna give her a
pill cocktail of a pain reliever and a muscle relaxer. Ty had left him the
pills with the instructions to use them only if Katie could not endure the
pain. As it turned out, Brent could not endure Katie.

As the day waned and the sun threatened to disappear behind
the western treetops, Brent decided to gather wood and start a small fire. He
gave Mackenna the shotgun. She knew how to use it, but had never fired a shot
outside of practice. As she peered down the barrel, watching the shadows near
Brent, her heart throbbed painfully, causing her pulse to pound against the metal
of the gun.

What if Brent were attacked? What if she missed? What would
happen to her and Katie, two women who were too injured to run? The answers to
those questions and more swirled through her mind and she shuddered. She
murmured a quick prayer to see Ty quickly returned with the Thing.

Brent made his way back and cleared a wide circle in which
to build the fire. Once the task was done and the sticks were snapping and
crackling, he took the weapon from Mackenna. She looked shaken, but was braving
her fear. He hoped that Ty would return before dark. It would be much easier
for a bear to sneak up on them under the cloak of night. Although the horses
would give them fair warning, he was sure.

Both of their prayers went unanswered and as a thick black
night descended with only a sliver of moon to light the area, Mackenna’s terror
became almost unbearable. She inched closer to the flames, and closer to Brent.
Her leg hurt too bad to bend at the knee so she kept both legs straight out in
front of her. The fear and the pain worked together to weary her and she felt
her entire body sag beneath the weight of it. Brent saw it, too.

“Why don’t you lie down and try to get some rest,” he said
softly. “Ty will be back soon enough and then you’ll have to ride for another
two or three hours.”

Mackenna knew that the last thing she could do at that
moment was sleep, but she would not speak to Brent about her leg or her fear.
She was already dreading the ride back to the ranch but she had no intention of
it taking her two to three hours, because she had no intention of walking. She
and Sass would hit the trail running just as soon as possible. So, she nodded
drowsily and
laid
down on the soft dirt facing the
fire.

In her mind, she could hear the tremor of the grizzly’s
voice. She could hear the depressions of his paws in the dirt, could feel his
hot breath breathing down the back of her neck. She knew she should turn
around, put her back to the fire so she could see anything that approached, but
she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She would rather not see what approached
since she was powerless to stop it.

Again, she began shaking. Her entire body racked steadily as
if from the cold, but she was perfectly warm. It was fear shivering through her
blood and before she could stop it, tiny teardrops formed in her eyes, slid
over the bridge of her nose and dropped onto the ground. She closed her eyes,
summoning any amount of courage she still owned to combat this weakness.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of strong arms lifting her up
until she sat with her back against Brent’s torso. He wrapped his arms tightly
around her and rubbed his hands up and down her biceps. His cheek was pressed
into the side of her head, his lips hovering just above her ear. He whispered
to her that she would be all right, that she was safe with him and other words
she could not discern. She believed him and let his warmth flood through her and
the fear left with each contented breath.

After a while, his words stopped and there was nothing but
peaceful silence in the air and a wonderful heat surrounding them. Mackenna
savored every detail, the hardness of his chest rising with his breaths behind
her, the gentleness of his embrace, the mingled scents of horse, sweat and gun
powder drifting from him. With a final sigh before fading into sleep, she
closed her eyes and knew that she was falling in love.

Brent held her until Ty returned. The horses had begun to
stamp and whinny, but it was not out of fear or warning. They whickered in
recognition of the familiar sputters and roars of the Thing’s engine. Brent
heard it shortly after they did and the sound was soon followed by bits of
white light pulsing through trees like a strobe. As the jeep rolled onto the
edge of the meadow, its headlights landed right on them and Mackenna stirred
against the brilliance of it.

Ty was driving and Kelly was standing up in front of the
passenger seat, leaning out of the roofless vehicle and onto the metal braces
that completed its frame. Mackenna’s eyes fluttered open and she turned her
face away from the bright light and buried it into the crook of Brent’s arm.
Only then did she realize that she was still in his arms and she sat upright,
staring shyly up at him. He smiled warmly back down at her.

“Told you we’d make it,” he said, then patted her shoulder.
“Now, up you go.
Time to ride.”

She had nearly forgotten the situation, lost as she was in
his arms. The second she moved her leg, a burning pain raced outward from her
knee in a starburst. She winced and Brent frowned at her.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she answered too quickly and then panted a bit.
“My…uh…leg must have fallen asleep. You
know,
the
whole pins and needles thing.” She tried to laugh it off and Brent seemed to
accept her explanation. “I’m going to sit for a minute until the feeling comes
back. You go help Ty with Katie.”

Brent left her and soon Kelly was at her side. On her face
was a mixture of concern and barely restrained anger. The intensity of it was
so strong that Mackenna flinched when she saw it.

“What?” Mackenna asked with concern.

“Sorry to interrupt your evening,” Kelly spat and Mackenna
knew that was not anger. It was pure jealousy. She rolled her eyes, not in the
mood or physical condition to indulge such ridiculousness.

“Don’t worry,” Mackenna returned icily. “Next time, you can
hang out with a hysterical, injured woman for six hours while being stalked by
a grizzly.”

Kelly’s eyes widened and all anger vanished. Mackenna nodded
in acknowledgement of the wide-eyed stare.

“Yeah, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to get out of here,”
she continued. “Help me up, will you. My leg’s gone stiff.”

Kelly did as asked and walked along Mackenna as she hobbled
toward Sass. Ty and Brent had Katie in the back of the Thing and were propping
her ankle up and securing it so it wouldn’t jostle too much on the ride back.

“Sorry, kid,” Kelly finally said. “I saw you with Brent
and…just reacted.”

“Forget about it,” Mackenna said before moving to the right
side of the horse.

“You’re going to mount from the right?” Kelly asked.

“Yeah,” Mackenna grunted as she did just that.

Brent was busy saddling Jake as Ty called out across the
meadow.

“Come on, Red! Let’s get a move on!”

Kelly ran back to her cousin and Mackenna waited by Jake
until Brent was through saddling him. She unrolled her leather duster from the
back of her saddle and put it on, fastening it up to her collar. Now that she
was away from the fire the brisk mountain air was chasing away all of Brent’s
warmth. He kicked dirt on what remained of their fire and as the smoke curled
up into the clear night sky, he returned to his horse. Mackenna picked up her
reins.

“I hope you don’t mind,” she said, “but I’m going to run
ahead. I don’t want to be out here for another two hours.”

Brent stretched his own coat over his arms as he spoke. “I
had the same thought myself. You lead. I’ll follow.”

She nodded and set her spurs to Sass, who complied
willingly. They sped passed the Thing easily and disappeared into the dark of
the forest. Mackenna had no fear here, knowing that horses see better at night
than they do in full daylight. So, she placed her full trust in her mount and
leaned forward to avoid any wayward branches. Her cheek nearly rested on Sass’s
neck as she fought the stinging pain in her leg.

An icy wind raced passed her bare face and ears and her fingers
felt like stiff rods clasped around the leather reins. She scolded herself for
not having the good sense to slip on her cowhide gloves before they left. The
only sound was the echo of metal horseshoes pounding into the ground. It was a
quick and quiet ride and they made it back to the ranch in half the time.

Bev and her husband, Grant, were sitting on a wooden porch
swing, gilded in the golden light spilling out from the inside of their cabin
home. They stood when the pair
came
riding in. Bev’s
face sagged with relief to find them well. She descended the wooden steps to
greet them.

“Thank God you’re both fine,” she said, but then her eyes
latched onto Mackenna’s ashen face. “You
are
fine, aren’t you?”

Mackenna nodded groggily, not feeling at all fine. She was
sure her pain was etched all across her face. Wearily, she dismounted. As soon
as her foot hit the ground, she yelped and tumbled. Brent was beside her and
caught her easily. Bev ran around to her side, pushing Sass away.

“What’s wrong?” she asked with worry.

“It’s my knee,” Mackenna strained, no longer feeling the
need to lie. “Buddy slammed into it and
it’s
swollen
pretty bad. I think this last bit of riding just pushed me over.”

“I thought you said you were okay,” Brent said, sounding
irritated. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It wasn’t this bad when you asked, and by the time it was,
there wasn’t anything to do but wait for Ty. I didn’t see the point in adding
to our troubles.”

Brent opened his mouth to scold her, but instead just shook
his head and huffed.
You brave, little
fool,
he thought. When she asked for his and Bev’s shoulders to lean on,
Brent scooped her up into his arms. She gasped in surprise and wrapped her arms
tightly around his neck so that she wouldn’t fall.

“Where do you want her, Bev?” he asked.

“Put her inside on the couch. I want to see what we’re
dealing with here.”

He did as instructed while Grant took care of the horses.
Brent helped remove her duster. Next, he unbuckled the straps of her chaps
while Bev went to get a pair of scissors. It was obvious in the full light of
the cabin that they would have to cut Mackenna’s jeans. The swelling was nearly
the size of a melon around her left knee. She thanked him for removing her
chaps just before he was replaced by Bev.

She worked the scissors slowly up over Mackenna’s boots and
calf. When she got to the beginning of the swelling, the jeans were stretched
so tight over it that she could not insert the scissors. So, she grabbed either
side of the cut jeans and ripped with one, strong pull. Mackenna flinched and
winced before a gasp stole her breath. Her knee was barely recognizable, so
great was its purpled swelling.

“Jesus, Mackenna,” Brent breathed.

“Brent,” Bev interrupted. “Go and get me a rag full of ice.
Now that we’ve removed the only thing keeping that swelling down, we need to
put ice on it.”

For the first time since the injury, Mackenna worried that
it was worse than she’d thought. Following swiftly was the thought that her
summer in Montana would be over. She fought the sadness overtaking her and
summoned the optimism that normally characterized her.

“It’ll be fine,” she tried. “I just need to stay off it for
a few days.”

“Mackenna,” Bev said with a shake of her head. “We need to
take you into town tomorrow to see a doctor.”