Back To Our Beginning

by C. L. Scholey

  A polar bear? In this region?

  “Run, oh my God, run!” penetrated Cords brain.

  Well hell that’s damned good advice.

  He started for Tansy and the door. Racing wildly through snow wasn’t easy and Cord wasn’t sure if it was his heavy breathing or the bear’s he was hearing in his ears.

  “Your gun.”

  Hell, more good advice.

  He’d known the woman possessed intelligence. Dropping down and spinning in one easy flowing motion Cord had his handgun out and pointed. Good thing too because he knew he never would’ve been able to outrun this bugger. He fired, aiming for an eye, its brain, its nose, its heart, something that would slow it down or preferably stop it. Six rounds exploded into the furry beast until it lay near Cord’s feet, its hind legs still flailing.

  Cord stood over it, took aim and finished it off with wonder. It was a polar bear all right. A big one.

  Now where the hell had it come from?

  Scratching his head, Cord turned and saw Tansy and the rest of his newly developed...clan...looking at him. He resolved they must have come running at the gunshots. No doubt they thought he’d blown away Miss Opinionated.

  Chapter 7

  It took all three men to butcher and skin the male, thousand-pound polar bear. They did it where Cord felled it. Still puzzling, Cord was commenting on his surprise at how out of place a polar bear was in this region.

  “Not really,” Tansy offered; she had sent the girls back down to the basement with a good-sized piece of meat to cook.

  Michaela had become distressed at the amount of blood oozing from under the black skin of the bear and its thick coat of fat. Her eyes widened as Cord sliced it from anus to throat then began skinning it. Clint raced to tell the child Cord was helping the bear remove its winter jacket while it slept, the blood was paint.

  “How’s that?” Randy asked. He was digging out the razor sharp canines as souvenirs, and paused to cast her a questioning look.

  “Well,” Tansy pondered, “we have lots of zoos. The animals, at least some, must have escaped and survived, they’re most likely roaming free.”

  “Makes sense,” Cord reasoned; he tossed bones into a pile off to the side.

  Clint’s head came up and he offered a thought, “You mean there could be lions or tigers out there runnin’ ’round loose?”

  “Perhaps,” Tansy said. “Lions and bears like caves and may have survived better than the other animals.”

  “You mean there could be elephants out there?” Clint asked, looking incredulous, giving his head a shake.

  “I don’t see why not,” Tansy answered. “They’re smart animals. If they found shelter, I guess anything is possible.”

  “You mean there could be anteaters out there?” Clint continued, dumbstruck.

  Tansy smiled at his wide-eyed expression. He was so big and powerful and yet at times so childlike. Other times he seemed to possess a great deal of knowledge. Though still frightened of the men, she realized if not for Clint she’d be dead, her girls alone.

  “Definitely anteaters.”

  “Well holy cow.”

  “I wouldn’t mind a cow; I wouldn’t mind its meat,” Randy said, pocketing the treasures of the bear’s teeth and admiring the thick long claws attached to massive paws.

  “I wouldn’t mind more help,” Cord snapped, knee-deep in blood and guts.

  “What can I do?” Tansy asked, she noticed Cord was becoming irritated. An angry Cord was a frightening Cord. She also wanted to make sure she could secure some of that meat for her and her girls.

  Eyeing her, Cord thought for a moment. He disliked the fact she saved his life by warning him about the bear. She could have let it kill him; why she hadn’t made him wonder. He supposed he should be grateful. Then she had offered the good sense to use his gun.

  “Most women don’t like blood and guts,” Cord said, unable to hide his somewhat devious expression. He was fishing for a reason she seemed so helpful.

  “Most women, I imagine, don’t like it when you get angry,” Tansy told Cord, eyes downcast. It was the truth, although only half of it.

  Cord nodded his head in agreement, remembering he was abrupt with Randy and he had seen Tansy shrink back. Another thought struck him, Tansy had kept her girls and the others alive for months before they met up with them. She must’ve killed some animals to provide for them. She wasn’t like the pretty, useless things he liked to date that jumped to do his bidding, she seemed to have brains. Whether or not that was a good thing remained to be seen.

  “You see those bones?” Cord gestured, Tansy nodded. “They need to go in, too. You stick them in a stew for the marrow. Once they’re clean we can burn them as fuel as long as we can keep the fire hot enough.”

  Understanding lit; of course the bones would be useful; she had made her share of stews. As she gathered up an armload, her thoughts clouded. She wished the men weren’t so threatening, they could learn so much from each other. She wondered how long the grace period would last before they became demanding.

  Hauling as many of the heavy bones as she could, Tansy returned to the pile again and again, her arms began to ache as well as her back. She swiped at her runny nose as the cold air filled her chest with her efforts. After her last load, Clint watched as she walked back to the diminishing pile, she reached up a weary bloodstained hand to rub at her neck. Then bent down to begin again.

  “Jist a minute,” Clint said.

  Tansy looked up in surprise, as did the other two men. Taking in her bedraggled appearance, Clint noticed she’d shed her outer clothing as she became hot and sweaty. Her slight form seemed smaller and a wave of compassion washed over him.

  “Leave those and I’ll get ’em.”

  “But I’ll be done in a few more loads.”

  Tansy was fearful the men decided to keep all of the meat for themselves and would only hand them bits and pieces if they relented. Thankfully she’d had the insight to grab a chunk of meat for the girls to cook. She’d also collected some of the small meatiest bones first, which the girls wrapped in a few of Marge’s old shirts. Those were hidden and packed away. Now that the weather was clearing, Tansy felt certain they could come up with some kind of escape plan. They’d need the meat they could pack to continue their journey.

  “You’re worn out,” Clint said, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

  Tansy looked down. It would be so easy to give in. She was worn out; exhaustion ruled her life. If she were alone, she would consider their offer; she was that tired and afraid. But she wasn’t alone and had witnessed the murder of a boy, which gave her resolve to keep to her plan. She had to get her children to safety, which meant away from these men. There was no telling what else they were capable of.

  “Clint’s right, go on in and make sure the girls aren’t burning my dinner,” Cord agreed, he cut another good chunk of meat and handed it to her. “I like medium-rare.”

  Tansy accepted the meat and followed the snow-packed bloody trail inside. Once in the basement, she was happy to notice Michaela stuffing herself with pieces of meat cut into tiny slices. Emmy made sure, after hearing about how Clint’s Bess had died, she cut up her sister’s food into extra small bites.

  Tansy cut strips off the bigger raw piece of meat to skewer; Emmy offered her a piece that was roasted. The heated crisp outside fat dripped tantalizingly down the smoldering blackened sides, the tender inside moist, red with dripping blood and succulently juicy. Taking a bite, Tansy sat back and savored the taste, she never in her life thought she’d eat polar bear.

  “Why didn’t you let it kill him?” The sentence startled Tansy and she looked into Shanie’s accusing eyes.

  Tansy finished chewing then chose her words with great thought. “I couldn’t have watched if the bear had torn him apart.”

  “You should have looked away.”

  “Killing Chris was wrong,” Tansy began. “It was a horrible act of violence. But at that moment, as the bear wa
s racing for him, I couldn’t help but think if I didn’t warn him it would be me killing him if I kept silent. I’m no judge, Shanie; you’re not a jury and the bear wasn’t the executioner. He became just a man, flesh and blood, not a monster...Shanie...sweetheart. I was afraid of losing my humanity.” The last was spoken sadly, as Tansy’s eyes pleaded with her child for understanding. But she could see Shanie didn’t understand; the death of her young friend was still too raw and agonizing.

  Tansy put down the rest of her dinner, unable to eat past the lump in her throat. The hate-filled look of her middle child plagued her into indecision. Did she make a mistake thinking the life of a man more important than revenge? She didn’t want her daughters harmed. Tansy knew the men would provide a certain amount of security and food; they’d traveled so far without seeing anyone else alive. Winter was here; the snow gave testimony to that.

  If they did manage to escape would they freeze or starve first? Would a wild animal get them? If they stayed, would they risk rape or possible death if they fought back? Her thoughts flooded and overwhelmed her. If Cord hadn’t killed the bear it might have come for them next; it would have come for them next. It had taken seven shots for Cord to kill the beast, a desperate though seasoned hunter. What if Randy and Clint were to decide to leave them be after all and moved off without a backwards glance? The rifle held only one shot, if they were to leave it behind for them. Tansy had lied to Clint; she couldn’t shoot well at all.

  Chris and Marge are dead.

  They would be alone out there in a new and frightening world. Which choice was the least dangerous? Which of the two was the lesser evil? It was all so confusing. Tansy settled Mike for the night, pulling a blanket up to her chin and nestled beside her. The men came in. They made no pretense of having separate fires. They let theirs die down while building up the other one until it blazed brightly with logs and burnable debris they carted in from outside or found within the building. They ate hungrily and noisily then settled themselves down for the night near the women.

  Tansy lay with the knife she used to cut the meat within her hand. She’d defend her children, as exhausted as she was; she’d kill for them. She couldn’t take a life out of malice or vengeance; a life taken in self-defense, hers or her children’s, was a completely different matter. But as her eyes closed she sent up a silent prayer all would be quiet for the night.

  * * * *

  A shrill scream shattered the silence. Tansy was up on her feet in seconds as was everyone else. She looked to a frightened Emmy then Shanie in the dying firelight. Oh my God. Where is Michaela?

  “Mike,” Tansy screamed. Terrified, she dropped the knife she had slept with and grabbed at a piece of wood from the fire to use as a torch, burning her hand. She dropped it grasping her wrist, but lunged for it again as Michaela screamed in fear. Clint grabbed her from the back of her jacket and yanked her away from the fire. He took up the wooden torch after first wrapping the end with a piece of clothing.

  “What the hell?” Cord said, looking around in the dark. A low growl emanated from a far corner where the men had begun preparing the meat to dry.

  “They’re after the bear,” Randy said.

  “They’re after Michaela,” Tansy cried out, desperately reaching for the torch Clint held. “Please help me find her, please.”

  “Mike, call to us, button,” Clint ordered.

  “Mommy.”

  Gun out, both he and Tansy ran toward the small terrified sound. Tansy reached her child first and grabbed her up off the floor. A shot fired; she turned to shield Michaela against her as a large furry body dropped to the ground near her.

  “Mommy!” Shanie screamed.

  Tansy was again on the move toward her middle child. Another shot fired and the large furry beast was felled near Shanie. This time by Cord’s gun, he was happy he’d had the insight to reload his weapon the night before, but had been dismayed by how close Tansy and Michaela had been near the blast as she sought to defend all of her children at once. He could’ve killed one of them. Angered, he realized they were getting in his way.

  “Damn, they’re all over the place,” Randy shouted then took a shot that sent an animal spinning.

  Cord reached for Emmy by her jacket collar and practically tossed her to her mother’s side, pushing all of them behind him, out of his way.

  “Sit there and don’t move,” he ordered the four of them over his shoulder.

  They sat. Huddled closely behind the fire, their backs pressed to a cold hard wall. All three men stood before them, one in front and one off to either side. Again shots were fired as the dogs tried to get close to the ones they deemed most vulnerable but failed.

  Clint saw the huge black dog approach from the corner of his eye; he raised his gun to shoot, but the dog jumped and landed squarely on his chest knocking the wind out of him. His gun flew backwards out of his grip and only one left hand under the dog’s throat was keeping a mouthful of bloody yellow dripping fangs from his face. As the feted breath came closer, Clint could see into the dog’s mouth. The thought that time really did move in slow motion when you were about to die crossed his mind.

  The shot rang out so closely it made Clint’s ears ring, the body of the furry beast collapsed on top of him. Clint heaved once and sent the limp body off him and rolled to his feet in time to see two or three dogs slinking back up the stairs now as dawn ascended.

  Clint turned to offer his thanks to Cord or Randy who saved his butt more than once, yet this time he was really grateful. Death by dog was definitely not how he wanted to exit this world. Looking up, he then thought frantically, death by furious child was not a way he wanted to go either. For there stood Shanie, his gun in her steady hands and it was leveled at his chest.

  “You gonna shoot him kid?” Cord asked, holding his own weapon loosely. “Hell, he just saved your mother’s life.”

  “No,” Shanie said, even toned. “Not him.” The gun was then centered on Cord’s chest.

  Blue eyes locked with brown eyes. Shanie was so angry; this was the chance she’d been waiting for, the power was in her hands. She knew all it would take was to pull the trigger and Chris would be avenged. Cord would be dead; they’d be free. But free to what? Leave into the snow where the dogs went. No, she resolved, they would make Randy and Clint leave. But what if the dogs came back? She wasn’t naive enough to believe they wouldn’t. Her indecision battled.

  Then she remembered what her mother said, she wasn’t battling indecision, she was battling her humanity. Cord was flesh and blood, human, if not humane. Could she take a life, for any reason? She’d seen what guns could do, experienced it firsthand. Could she look upon his lifeless bloodied body, stare into his vacant gaze; see his friends’ anguish knowing it was she who had caused his demise? What would her father say, what would he want her to do?

  “You gonna shoot me kid?” Cord asked; he held his arms wide making a clear shot available.

  Shanie looked at her mother. Tansy’s eyes gaze settled onto her middle child wearing a soft, loving expression, unconditional mother’s love. Consequences, circumstances, be damned. She wasn’t angry and didn’t seem worried, she looked proud of her. The young girl’s judgment cleared, her indecision vanished.

  “I’m not a killer like you are,” Shanie spat. “I’m not a judge, jury or your executioner. We don’t belong to you, and it looks like maybe you need our help as much as we need yours.”

  “So what is it you want?” Cord asked, looking amused.

  “I want my father’s rifle back.”

  “All right. Anything else?”

  Blinking, Shanie nodded as her weapon lowered. Tansy rose to her feet and removed the gun from Shanie’s limp hand; she passed it back to Clint who looked relieved. With Tansy’s arms around Shanie she held her daughter who sobbed quietly. Tansy looked up at Cord angrily.

  “She needs an apology. We all do. You had no right.”

  No longer amused, Cord tucked his gun in behind his belt. It had
never been easy for him to say he was sorry for anything, hell was he even sorry?

  “Yeah, I guess I am,” Cord volunteered thoughtfully.

  “What the hell kind of an apology is that?” Shanie countered, her head snapping up off her mother’s shoulder. Clint clutched at his gun possessively wondering if she would try and get her hands on it again.

  “The only one you get.”

  “Don’t you think we have more important issues to deal with?” Randy demanded. “Those dogs will be back. That meat might attract bigger worries. If Tansy’s right, and I bet this ole polar bear proves it, we could be looking at lions next, or hyenas or Christ just about anything zoos hold.”

  “This place isn’t as safe as I thought,” Cord said looking around. There were a few basement windows, too many places to enter or exit. They couldn’t heat it well and most of the corners stayed in darkness all day.

  “Where do we go?” Clint asked.

  Cord looked at the dead dogs lying around. If they left some of the meat and the dogs’ bodies, they could leave and hopefully find some other place to stay without being followed. The weather had cleared for now. He thought if they left the women and children they could travel faster, but dismissed it. They could help carry the meat, and he doubted Clint would agree to leave them anyway. Besides, the girl had shown courage to stand up to him; she was tougher than she looked. If he had to admit it, Cord liked their company.

  “What do you know about this area?” Cord asked Tansy.

  “Not a lot, we were heading north.”

  “What’s north?”

  Pausing, Tansy thought for a moment then shrugged; even if she did tell him, he’d never find it without her help. The logging trails were too confusing.

  “We were headed to the abandoned mines. Underground is safer.”

  “Hell,” Cord said on an expelled breath of air. “Well hell, honey, you are smart.”

  Tansy’s return look was less than appreciative. She was thinking of a response when a delighted squeal sounded. They turned to see Michaela dragging a plump light gray puppy with black paws, in front of her. It couldn’t have been more than two months yet it was almost as big as the child who held it, the hind legs dragging along the floor while it eagerly licked at Michaela’s chin and cheek.