Melinda and the Wild West (7 page)

Gilbert laughed in a low pleasant tone.
“You’re quite refreshing.”

“I take that as a compliment.”

“It was given as one, Miss Gamble. As I
think about it, I’ve never met a woman who’s so darned stubborn and
self-willed as you are.”

Melinda frowned. “Self-willed?”

Gilbert grinned and nodded. “Yes. If you
hadn’t persisted, I wouldn’t have gone to the mountains. And I did
have a good time, too.”

“I’m not self-willed,” she defended herself.
“Determined, maybe, but not self-willed. You’ve misjudged me
altogether. There’s a difference between determination and being
headstrong.”

Gilbert laughed. “A difference?”

“Mr. Roberts, how can you say that I’m
self-willed when you don’t even know me?”

Gilbert chuckled. It did not take much to set
her anger aflame.

When she saw him grin, the blood rushed to
her face and she was not in the mood for any more talk. “Mr.
Roberts, thank you and good-bye. I have more productive things to
do than to stand around here and be insulted by you.”

Melinda picked up her skirts and quickly
walked toward the carriage. Self-willed! How she hated that word!
Her mother would call Melinda self-willed when she had an idea in
her mind and would not give up. Melinda knew that she was stubborn,
but not self-willed. She hated it when others reminded her of the
fact. She knew her faults and weaknesses and she did not need to be
reminded of them.

As she walked toward the carriage, Gilbert
watched with interest. What an intriguing woman! She had such
grace, even when she was angry, and for some reason that attracted
him to her. She was not afraid to speak her mind at all. He burst
out into laughter.

“Well, I now know to never tell her that she’s
self-willed ever again.”

The week passed into October and Melinda
wondered if she had done any good or made a difference in the lives
of anyone yet. As she sat on the bank of the creek at the edge of
the mountains, she noticed the leaves had turned orange, yellow,
and red from the cool nights, and the beauty of it was
breathtaking. It appeared as if paints had been spilled upon a
canvas and there were blotches of color everywhere. What beauty
there was in these mountains!

As she gazed at the colorful leaves, Melinda
felt at peace. The river shimmered as the sun shone upon the water.
The days were already chilly and she wore a light wrap around her
shoulders. Melinda found herself taking a walk almost every day.
She found comfort being among nature, where she could think without
interruption.

Wispy clouds were floating in the breeze as Melinda
walked. Her spirits rose as she journeyed along the hillside. She
strolled to a grove of quaking aspen near the river and sat on a
log. The bubbling brook was a soothing sound that filled her
solitude with pleasant, fanciful thoughts.

As Melinda sat quietly thinking, something
disturbed her reverie. The few birds that were twittering stopped
suddenly and flew away. She looked toward a marshy area and saw
something moving. She stood and slowly walked toward it. To her
amazement, she saw a grizzly bear digging and eating roots in the
marshy ground near the river. She smiled and was amused at how wild
the West really was. But she was not acquainted with the nature of
these animals and she was very curious. Melinda stood quietly
watching the bear as it dug for roots. She was about two hundred
yards away—a safe distance, she thought to herself.

As she watched contentedly, Melinda heard an
irritated grunt as the grizzly raised its head and saw her standing
off in the distance. The bear snarled with anger as if warning her
to leave. Then it let out a hideous growl and leapt clumsily toward
her. Its enormous jaws were spread wide and its eyes were flashing
fire. Melinda had never seen anything so frightening in her
life.

Fear overtook her and Melinda could not maintain
adequate presence of mind. Her chest tightened and her face drained
as she tried to catch her breath. She panicked and quickly turned
and ran as fast as she could go. Her heart was pounding rapidly
with each step she took. She felt as if she were running in slow
motion. Surely this was a dream. No, it was more like a nightmare.
Suddenly, to her horror, she lost her balance as she tripped over a
rock and fell face down on the ground in a cushion of soft weeds
and mud.

In the distance, she heard a deafening shot
and immediately the bear growled as if in pain. Someone had shot at
the bear and it was furious. Terror filled her soul as she
scrambled to her feet. She noticed the bear had lunged to the
right, heading toward the man with the rifle. When Melinda turned,
she saw Gilbert standing with a rifle in his hand, aiming at the
grizzly.

As the bear bounded toward Gilbert, he
quickly reloaded his Remington 45-70. Gilbert’s heart beat rapidly
as he watched the bear run clumsily toward him. When it came within
twelve feet of Gilbert, it suddenly stopped and raised its massive
body erect, its mouth wide open, showing its enormous teeth. The
grizzly stared at him with fire in its eyes and it gave a
blood-curdling roar. With its mouth agape, the grizzly was a
savage-looking beast.

Melinda started screaming. She had never
seen such a hideous sight before and she became paralyzed with
fear. The feeling of terror that rose in her throat made it hard to
breathe and Melinda shook uncontrollably.

The grizzly started walking on its hind legs
toward Gilbert. It was an enormous animal, between eight to nine
feet tall. Gilbert carefully aimed his rifle at the grizzly’s heart
and waited. He hated to kill this remarkable animal but he had no
choice. The grizzly came within six feet of Gilbert before he
pulled the trigger. As the bullet pierced its heart, the bear gave
a deathly roar and fell dead at Gilbert’s feet.

As Melinda stood shivering, she cried
uncontrollably from the fear that had built up inside her.

Immediately Gilbert ran toward her, dropped his
rifle, and held her in his arms as she wept. He tried to soothe
her, but it was to no avail. As she wept, he rubbed her back and
shoulders, trying to calm her down and relieve her tension. Then he
took his handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the mud from her
face.

With tenderness, he asked, “Shall I take you
home?”

Melinda could not answer. She could not even
speak. Gilbert knew she was in shock. When he tried to encourage
her to leave with him, she did not respond. He looked into her
beautiful green eyes and his heart went out to her as he saw the
fear that was still in them. So he swung his rifle over his
shoulder and picked her up in his arms and carried her toward his
home.

When he felt her head resting against his
shoulder, warmth filled his heart and he realized that he had not
felt the softness of a woman for eight years. He had not courted or
even been interested in any woman because he had devoted all his
time to Jenny and his ranch.

When he arrived home, he sent Jenny to get a
doctor. Then he laid Melinda on the sofa, got a wet rag from the
kitchen, and wiped the rest of the mud from her face. Then he
gently rubbed her arms and shoulders, hoping it would relieve her
anxiety, but she did not respond to his touch. Gilbert became
worried as he observed the blank look on her face.

He noticed that she was still shivering, so
he put a blanket over her and tucked it around her body. Then he
got a pillow and gently placed it under her head. Gilbert did not
leave her side. He was so worried that he pulled up a chair and
watched her intently. The concern he felt deepened the lines
between his eyes.

“May I get you some water?” he asked.

When Melinda did not answer, he decided to
talk to her and tell her any kind of news that came to his mind.
Maybe if she thought of something else, she would not think of the
bear attack. Gilbert rubbed her soft hands between his to warm them
up as he spoke.

“Did you know they caught Meeks for the bank
robbery? They didn’t catch Cassidy or Lay, though. I understand
that you had to give a description of the bank robbers to Sheriff
Davis and give an account of what happened.”

Melinda looked up into his face but did not
say a word. She shivered for half an hour, but she listened
gratefully to the soft deep tones of his voice. After a while, she
began to calm down.

“Do you want a drink now?” Gilbert
asked.

Melinda nodded and he quickly got up and
brought her a glass of cool water. Then he sat down beside her.

After drinking the water, she looked at
Gilbert and with a shaky voice said, “I’ve never seen such a sight
in my whole life. It was the scariest experience I’ve ever had.
What did I do to make him so mad?”

Gilbert rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Well,
it could be a variety of reasons. First, you might have startled
him, which probably was the reason. If one comes upon a bear, you
just quietly walk away. But there are a number of other reasons,
too. Such as coming too close to a mother bear’s home when she has
little cubs. She feels the need to protect her home and family, but
I doubt that was the reason.”

“Why?”

“Well, grizzlies usually make their home in the
mountains and not in the valleys where people are. I doubt she
would have any cubs down this far among civilization.” Then he
grinned from ear to ear with a mischievous look in his eyes. “And
this bear couldn’t possibly have cubs since it was a male,” Gilbert
said in a teasing tone, hoping she would get his little joke.

Melinda got the joke all right and she
groaned good-naturedly. “You think you’re funny, don’t you?”

“Sure do. I need to make this situation
light so you’ll recover. Talking about recovering, I sent Jenny for
the doctor. He should be here anytime.”

“I don’t need a doctor. I’m not ill.”

“Not sick, but mentally stressed and maybe
he can give you something to relax you. That wasn’t some trivial
experience that happened out there. It was a frightful experience
for you. It might take a few days to get back to normal.”

“Mr. Roberts…”

“Please call me Gilbert.”

“Was it your first time shooting a
bear?”

“No.” He scratched his head, remembering.
“One time a bear moved into our area and killed a few sheep and a
few calves. A bunch of us had to go after it. Once they begin to
kill our animals and get the taste of blood in their mouths, they
don’t usually stop. So, a few of us had to go out and find the
culprit. It’s such a shame to kill such a magnificent beast,
though. But our cattle and sheep are what we live on and if we let
a grizzly get away with it, it won’t stop killing.”

Gilbert knew one thing, though, bears could not be
killed very easily. Many times the bullets did not penetrate deep
enough to kill it because of its thick hide. So, he had learned to
take careful aim and make sure the shot counted because if it
didn’t, there was a good chance he would be mauled or killed. He
knew the only places to kill a grizzly, for sure, were in the head
or in the heart. Anywhere else, and it would not drop
immediately.

Melinda was watching Gilbert with curiosity.
His eyes were staring off in the distance and he seemed to be deep
in thought.

“Mr. Roberts?”

Gilbert’s eyes turned toward her. “Yes?”

“I appreciate your help. If you hadn’t been
out hunting I don’t know what would have happened to me.”

“I wasn’t hunting.”

“Why were you in the area with your
rifle?”

“Don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Yup. Don’t know.”

“I don’t understand.”

Gilbert leaned forward, facing her, and
rested his arms against his legs. “Well, I live by instinct, so to
speak. I felt an urgent feeling come over me and didn’t know why.
I’ve noticed that when I don’t listen to those feelings, then I’m
sorry afterwards. So when I felt this urgent feeling come over me,
I just grabbed my rifle and headed out the door. I first walked
down to the pasture to see if my cattle were all right and they
were, so I just continued northward toward the West Mountains for a
ways. It’s not too far from my pasture, so when I heard the hideous
growling in the distance I quickly ran and made it there just as it
began to leap towards you.”

“Oh, a premonition.”

“Don’t know if that’s what it is. I just go
by instinct mostly.”

Melinda steadily watched Gilbert as he spoke.
There was something about this rancher that intrigued her beyond
words and she didn’t know what it was. He seemed so rugged, yet
there was something gentle about him at the same time. She quickly
dismissed the idea of getting to know him better because Melinda
was his daughter’s teacher. Anything else would not be proper.

Gilbert’s home was a cozy place with the
living room, kitchen and dining room all in one room with no
dividing walls. The walls were made of dark wood, but no pictures
hung there. A sofa and two stuffed chairs faced a rock fireplace on
the right side of the room. The kitchen was at the left side of the
room with a cabinet that separated the living room and the kitchen.
If a person was preparing food, then he or she could communicate
with someone on the sofa. The table was near the kitchen end,
towards the hall that led to three bedrooms.

While waiting for the doctor, Melinda’s mind
was in a whirl. After the bear attack, Melinda relived that moment
of terror over and over again in her memory. The vision of the
grizzly kept haunting her. She felt anxiety rise within her as she
thought of it.

Melinda shivered as she realized how close Gilbert
had come to being attacked. If he had not aimed carefully
enough…

She shook her head and quickly put the notion out of
her mind. It was too terrifying to even imagine.