It had been a long morning in town. The hardware store and the Mill were packed, which wasn’t too weird since it was the first of the month, but damn. Dad and I were finally able to load up the truck and trailer with the feed and lumber we needed, got the next supply of hay ordered and headed back to the ranch. It was a quiet trip, all things considered.

Once back at the ranch I backed the trailer up beside the big barn and unhitched it. We started unloading the bags of feed when everyone came to a halt. We listened closer and I knew what we had been hearing. Danny came out of the barn and I raised a brow.

“Thought you went with Jon and Abe?”

“I did. We just got back. Henderson’s only had two horses to look at.”

My head came back up at the ringing in the air. “That’s rifle fire. Who’s out in the pasture?” I asked as I tossed the bag of dried corn down.

“Pheebes and Georgie went out earlier, they haven’t made it back in yet. I dunno if the boys are still out in the back pad or not,” Cody said. He too put the bag in his grip down.

“Sissy took her rifle...” Danny said, the color draining from his face.

He and Cody both looked out towards the sounds. I shook my head and ran around to grab my rifle from the back of the truck. I checked to make sure it was ready to fire and ran to the barn. I hurried to saddle Tornado and slid the rifle into the slot. Cody was right behind me with Magic.

“Be careful, call if you need help,” Dad said as we moved out towards the back of the property. That meant to use gun fire as a signal. Three quick shots followed by a single shot then three rapid fire shots. Was it a waste of bullets? Not if your ass was in trouble, no. It was our version of SOS. Danny was at the gate and flung it open before jumping on his ATV and speeding down the grassy plains. We pushed both horses as fast as we could following along the main fence line. That was where they were supposed to be. God, I hope they hadn’t gone off and gotten hurt. The gun fire hadn’t sounded like a signal but still. Someone was shooting at something.

By the time we got to the big hill my heart was hammering so hard my chest hurt. The images that filled my head sent me heart into overdrive and I swear if I hadn’t been on the horse I would have toppled over. Danny went zooming past us and I snapped out of my fog. I put my heels into Tornado’s side and bolted for the next gate. I didn’t stop. I let him jump it and run full out to where Georgie stood, rifle in hand. A dark mound lay on the ground less than twenty feet from her. My heart stopped when I got closer. Bear. Holy. Fucking Shit.

I hopped off the horse and ran to her, grabbing the gun. She had tears rolling down her cheeks as she curled into me. Cody was by Phoebe’s side when I looked up. Danny gave her the once over. I saw the rivulet of blood coming from under her bangs. I took a deep breath before I could speak.

“Phoebe, you okay? Your head’s bleeding?” Danny was a blur of motion as he ran to the ATV and back with a first aid kit.

“I’m okay, I’m okay. Chill, little man. It’s only a scratch. I hit the fence but caught myself. Honest. The fucking horse tossed me like a sack of taters,” she said, snarling each word. “If not for Georgie we’d have been dog meat.”

I swallowed, tightening my arm around Georgie, who was still sobbing against my chest. “Shh, hey, you’re okay. Let me see you.” I said, pushing her back slightly. She had a gnarly bruise forming on her right cheek. I raised a brow. “What happened to your face?”

“Gun. Jumped. I-I…” Her words came out in shuttered breaths. I moved to sit her on the ATV and cupped her face gently, trying to see if she was focusing on me or not. I was guessing we would need to go visit Doc with both girls. Just in case.

“What happened?” I asked her. I wanted her to focus on me and not that carcass out in the field. That was when I saw the movement right behind it. I moved to grab the rifle but Cody beat me to it. He had it up and ready to fire.

“DON’T! Please-” Georgie sobbed harder and I looked between her and Phoebe.

“Don’t, it’s just a cub. We need to call the wildlife peeps,” Phoebe said sternly. “It was a mama and her cub.. I didn’t see it in time.”

I nodded at Phoebe and sighed. I was guessing this was a lot for them to wrap their heads around. It’s bad enough to have a bear charge but if you’ve never killed something before - and I was sure Georgie hadn’t - it can send you into a tail spin. I kissed Georgie’s head and hugged her tight. She was starting to calm down but the tears were still falling. Something wasn’t right, though. I looked around and then back to Georgie.

“Where’s Tango? Did he stay at the house?”

“Oh God, Tango.” She jumped up, stumbling as Phoebe and she moved passed the horses.

They both took off running so we followed them. Georgie fell to her knees and that was when I saw him. He had a bloody face and a set of claw marks down his side. His belly had been missed. Thank fuck. There was a good chance Abe could fix him up. Georgie’s crying doubled and I felt so helpless. She was begging Tango to not leave her. He was all she had left from before. The last bit of her PaPa.

“Baby. Georgie, look at me darlin’. Can you hold him while Danny drives you back to the barn? Abe can fix him…” I hoped. If not my girl was going to take it hard. I wasn’t sure what her past was like. She was closed off still. I got that. Everyone needed space when trying to sort their shit out and I was not one to push… but I didn’t want to see her broken.

“Yes,” she whispered. I gently picked Tango up and we moved to the ATV. Danny climbed on and as soon as Georgie was seated I handed Tango to her. I made sure she had a good grip on him.

“Danny, ride hard, bub. Get him to Abe,” I said, stepping back.

“Yep,” he said before he took off. He had that ATV wide open. I only hoped they made it back to the ranch house in one piece. I ran over and scooped up the bear cub. He or she wasn’t very big. Heavy, but not very big. I knew Fish and Wildlife would be pissy but what else did they want me to do, just leave it out here? Yeah, no. Cody held the cub while I mounted Tornado. As soon as the cub was laid against me I took off. Cody and Phoebe would be right behind me. I had to get to the house and get to Georgie.

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This was not how I had planned on the day going. We were going to go riding, check on the fence and gates and come back for lunch. No one said there would be a Godzilla sized bear eating a cow. No one said Phoebe’s horse was going to be a douche and toss her. No one said I’d have to scoop up a rifle and shoot a bear in order to stay alive myself. I killed that poor animal for doing something so natural. She was defending her meal and her cub. And what did I do? I shot her.

Though, now that I am staring down at my dog who has battle wounds from said bear, I don’t feel so bad. Bitch hurt my dog. I couldn’t stop my tears as Tango whined in my arms. The moment Danny slammed the ATV into park and started screaming for Abraham I felt myself start to shake and pray.

“AAAAABE!! DAAAAAD!!!!! JOOOON!!!!”

“What the hell, kid?” I heard Jon’s voice as he moved closer but I sat frozen. “Holy Shit. ABE! Shift your ass man.”

God, please, I beg you. Don’t take my baby from me. He had to be okay. I couldn’t lose him, not now, not ever. No. I needed him to be okay.

“Son of a bitch. What happened?”

“Bear attacked him. That’s all I know. Bubba sent me back with them before I got the whole story.”

I could hear the panic in Danny’s voice. It would match mine. Hysterical laughter was building inside me. Someone tried to take Tango from me. He whined and I started to cry harder.

“Georgie, sweetheart you have to let go.” Abe’s voice was soft and demanding. “That’s it honey, let me have him.”

I let Tango go and crumpled over, sobs wracking me as I saw the blood now covering me. I stumbled off the ATV and made it about two steps before I lost everything in my stomach. I was shaking violently when I felt an arm go around me.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Abigail's voice floated over me. Her grip tightened around me. “Daniel, what happened?”

“Bear attacked him. Georgie killed it... ”

“Dammit. Okay, go see if your brothers need anything. I’ll get Georgie cleaned up. Where is your sister? Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she has a cut on her head, but she’s fine. Tater and Cody were riding back with her.”

“Okay, good. Now, come on, Georgie girl, let me get you cleaned up. Is any of this blood yours?” I couldn’t answer her. I wasn’t sure. No? Yes? Shit, it all happened so fast.

“T-Tango,” I sobbed harder as she tried to get me away from the barn. I couldn’t leave him. He needed to know I was here.

“Daniel, is this her blood?”

“I- I don’t know, Ma. I didn’t get a look at her before.. Ya know.”

“Come on, let me get you cleaned up. Abe won’t let you in there right now. Let him work. Tango is in good hands. I can promise you that.” I tried to let Abigail’s words sink into me. Tango would be fine. He had to be.

The sounds of horses brought my head up and I saw Tate slide off the saddle, the small brown furball in his arms.

“Cody, take him, her, whatever it is and put them in a paddock. Not with the horses, they’ll all shit themselves if they get a good whiff. Call Jace, tell him to hightail it over here and get what he needs. Take him back out there to the site. Pa, you’ll need to go, too. The bear killed a heifer,” Tate called out. The people around us started to move.

“On it,” was all Cody said before he walked off. Tate scooped me up and left Abigail to fuss over Pheobe.

“I needed to get the blood off you baby.” His words made panic run through me all over again. I’d never been so scared in my life as I was right now. I started to sob and tried to get free of his grip.

“Tango!”

“Calm down. I got ya, darlin’, stay with me. Tango is going to be okay. Abe will make sure of it,” I said as I walked up the stairs and into the house.

I went straight up to my room and sat Georgie on the bed. After turning the shower on I kicked my boots off, and stripped down to my boxers. I helped her strip down to her undies. She had on a white bra that was red with blood. I eased it off of her and stripped her panties off. She needed no reminder of what happened right now. I moved us to the shower and helped her in.

I gently washed every inch of her, removing every drop of Tango’s blood and some of her own. She had small scratches on her arms, as well on her chest. I’m guessing those were from Tango’s nails as they rode back to the house. Georgie was like a zombie standing under the spray of the shower. It was hurting my heart to see her in so much pain and be helpless to do a damn thing.

I shifted her slightly so I could wash her hair. I massaged her head and it was then that she seemed to come around slightly. By the time I was done rinsing her hair and running the conditioner through it she was crying again. I stood under the spray and just held her. She needed this quiet time to get it all out. She would have to be strong for Tango and for herself.

When the water went cold I got us out of the shower and dried off. Ma had brought in clothes while we showered so I got her dressed, then dressed myself. Her cheek was swollen, and nice and purple. I was seriously worried that she had broken it. Doc would be making a house call today, for sure.