WELCOME JESSE
Jesse is a completed 8o,000 word adventure novel spanning 30 years and taking place in Alaska, Alabama and all the places and characters in between.
She was a strikingly beaytiful woman twelve years his younger than he and they had met at a company party given annually at Christmas. He walks in with his neatly wrapped gift under his arm and held firmly by his hand. They had drew names again this year, something he never agreed with, and he placed the gift under the tree with the others. There was an open bar and the band played something like elevator music that was not quite tempoed enough to dance to. Jesse headed for the buffet and loaded up a paper plate and found an empty small table. He took a chair and before long he was joined by three young women. He nodded for them to sit down. She sat to the right of him and chatted to the one on theleft of him. She would lean forward talking above the music and each time her face coming near his, she was close enough, intimate in that moment that he could smell her perfume and feel her breath on him as she spoke. He watched her, studied her and the tone of her voice and her lips as she spoke. He watched the graceful movements of her small hands with the tapering fingers finished with red polished nails. Her long dark hair laid soft against alabastor skin. We all have an ideal formulated, dirived from our past experiences. She was the epitome and to him an intoxicating liquor that could not be resisted. He had gotten brave and introduced himself and as they talked his mind raced ahead of his thoughts, and he struggled with his words. He would letrt her carry the conversation and he wondered, does she know how beautiful she is? Does she know what I'm thinking? Am I giving myself away to her? Jesse did not care and in fact he wanted her to know.
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Jesse has an episode, he wonders outside and is lost, Chris wakes searching and finds..........................................
Chris runs the bank downstream following the constant wail from the dog. It must be about five or six hundred feet ahead and through the thick Sitka pines Chris steady calls knowing JESSE would be there and perhaps safe with the dog. The earth began to slope downward sharply and THE BANKS BEGIN TO RISE. he LOST BALANCE AS HIS FEET SLID ON THE LOOSE SHALE STONE. THE MOUNTAINS HAD CLOSED IN FORCING THE RIVER TO RUN A FURIOUS JAGGED ROUTE AND THE once quiet river was now raging in it's new turmoil. Chris could see JESSE now. He was on the middle of the cold white water clinging to a boulder. the quick water beat his back as he clung, his arms and body wrapped around the stone like a wet rag. The dog kept on barking. He could see JESSE's face staring at him in terror and shivering, shaking. Chris must get to him before he lets go. Chris wades the water. Without his wade boots on the water is instantly cold and seeps in to his leather shoes and saturates his socks. The ice water whipped at his ankles like stinging cat of nine tale. Knee-deep Chris could not get a good footing on the uneven floor of the river giving way to pot holes and even the larger round worn stones all so slick, disturbed from their resting place were scooped up by the strong current to tumble even further downstream. Chris fumbled in his footing and the current, like a blunt force delivered behind the knees sends him submerged and tumbling. He gasped hard as reflex to shock from the ice water and chokes. He has now become part of the raging river carrying him away. CHRIS FIGHTS THE CURRENT BUT IS totally at the mercy of the swift water. It is an intense struggle to stay on top, to float, to get precious air. Chris is tossed and rolled and he fights for orientation. His heart pounds loudly even above the sounds of the turbulent water crashing on the boulders. He surfaces and his arms blindly and desperately searching for a rock hold, something to hold onto for balance but the river pushes him harder while he digs in with his heels but trips into a pothole and tumbles in the current and loses footing and is taken under again HIS EYES CAN ONLY SEE A DIRTY BLUE GREEN OPAQUE AND THE AIR BUBBLES TICKLE HIS FACE AS HE LOSES HIS BREATH. THE The turmoil and frenzy of THE RIVER SOUNDS AS THUNDER fill his hearing and penetrated his brain. He rolls banging and crashing against the stones Chris can only cover his head for protection from the collisions and tries to go feet-first. HE SURFACES BRIEFLY AND SEES A BOULDER DIRECTLY IN FRONT AND IN SECONDS HE PUSHED UP AGAINST IT. Chris REACHES AND grabs FOR A HOLD BUT THE WET SLICK STONE IS TOO LARGE AND SMOOTH FOR HIS HAND TO CLASP ANYTHING AND HE BRUSHES QUICKLY PASSED IT. THE WATER GRABS HIM AGAIN AND HE IS PULLED UNDER AND ROLLS. HE FEELS A BLUNT FORCE POUND HIS BACK BUT THE COLD WATER HAS NUMBED HIM SO HE DOES NOT FEEL THE PAIN. HE SURFACES AGAIN AND AGAIN REACHES FOR ANYTHING SOLID TO GRAB ONTO AND HE IS PUSHED UP TO SEVERAL BOULDER THAT HE HELD ONTO. first thing he comes to. He tries catching his breath but heaves up river water. HE COULD SEE JESSE CLEARLY NOW AND CALLS LOUDLY TO HIM BUT THE RIVER DROWNS HIM OUT. JESSE'S FIRM CLUTCH ON THE ROCK LET CHRIS KNOW HE MUST STILL BE ALIVE. HE IS ONLY ABOUT FIFTY YARDS AWAY NOW AND CHRIS WOULD HAVE TO RELEASE HIMSELF FROM THE BOULDER TO BE swept down but closer to JESSE. CHRIS TOOK IN A BREATH AND RELEASED THE STONE AND AT ONCE HE IS PULLED IN AGAIN. WITH HIS FEET IN FRONT OF HIM HE TRIES TO BACK FLOAT ON TOP OF THE CURRENT AND HE BANGS THE BACK OF HIS HEAD. WITHIN SECOND THE RIVER HAS DEPOSITED HIM AT THE GROUP OF ROCKS AND ALONG SIDE OF JESSE. WITH HIS STOMACH TO THE ROCK AND THE WATER POUNDING HIS BACK PENNING HIM AGAINST IT AND WITH ENOUGH FORCE MADE IT DIFFICULT TO BREATH. CHRIS REACHES FOR JESSE AND TOUCHES HIS SHIVERING SHOULDER. HE CALLS HIS NAME BUT JESSE DOESN'T MOVE BUT ANSWERS BACK SOMETHING ILLEGIBLE. He would half to get away from the stones upstream where the vortex is not so great. Chris thinks of that useless rope back at the campsite so neatly wound and hanging by a nail on the wall. There would be no going back to get it. Chris didn't want to take the chance of losing JESSE down the river. There was no time. He tugs at the belt he is wearing trying to pull it through the loops with his frozen numb fingers, his sense of touch about gone pulls his belt off and ties it around the JESSEs wrist, looping it around his own he pulls on JESSE and having a hard time of it because JESSE won't let go. The rocks are round and smooth and riveworn the water is high enough that you are too bouant to get a good footing. of the stream. Chris first attempt failed and so did the third as the quick current repeatedly slammed him to the rocks where he started. Chris was out of breath and held his position for a time to regain breath, energy and courage. Chris thought of Mindy and wondered what she was doing at this moment. Is she safe and serene and maybe sitting in her lawn chair reading as the sun goes down. Is she thinking of me? He looked downstream at the tumbling mass of water roaring so loud, constant, pounding hard in his eardrums like the river pounding hard on the rocks. If they let go, the water will pull them over the small fall but there the river widens and runs slower. There they could possibly wade to shore plus there are far more rock footholds to get to. But the fall to the rocks below would probably kill JESSE, if not both of them. There was safety in this but going over the fall was last option Still the river held them pinned. Chris tried several more times to make that short distance but exhausted quickly gasping, choking from sucking in the white foamy water. Chris knew he couldn't reach that rock . It was inevitable that will go over the fall. This will kill JESSE. Chris will have to try again. Once again he pushes away from the rock . Chris will secure himself against a rock a few feet away closer to shore he then would pull JESSE to him. He let go the rock and within a second, was pulled under and through. The leather belt went taught but held. For a brief moment JESSE was suspended underwater Chris pulled on the belt with all weight and leverage without gaining a inch. Chris felt his arm muscles were snapping or was it the belt slicing the water? He could only hold on for so long and his strength was rapidly draining . Chris put half of everything he had in holding himself tight to the rock and the other half tugging that thin strip of leather lifeline . He was holding his own but could not pull JESSE toward him and against the current. He looped the belt once around his hand and felt headway when he looped it twice but it had tightened so that it began to cut into his wrist and cut off circulation to his already numb hands. How long could this belt last before snapping un
der the strain? How long would he last? His hand turned purple and started to swell. The muscles in his arm began to quiver uncontrollably from the stress and at that moment the river yanked JESSE from the grasp of Chris and succumbs to the suction. Both are flushed, tumbling downstream, bobbing in the water like two corks on a fishing line. Chris thrashes his arms about trying to gain an upright position. Constantly he is hits again and again on the boulder under neath the foam. Chris had swallowed a good bit of water and much of it came through his nose. THE STREAM HAD BECOME WIDER, SHALLOWER AND LESS TURBULENT. JESSE was now only waste deep and could crawl. He had lost site of JESSE AND THE THOUGHT OF JESSE FLOATING DOWNSTREAM LIKE A NEW FALLEN LEAF AND MAYBE UNCONSCIOUS MADE HIM PANIC ALL OVER AGAIN. panic pulsed through his veins and tingled in his extremities. Chris could hear the dog not too far and dog is wailing sadly almost as if he were crying for his loss. JESSE stands up and does a turn looking for any sign of JESSE. There he is, There he is. JESSE lays halfway out of the water and on his chest hugging the huge rounded stone with a desperit white-knuckled clutch shivering almost violently.------ The water get to him unconscious and limp but moans and chokes. The bank if farther now but obtainable. They make it to shore . Chris is pulling dead weight JESSE has near broken his arm and he is in a lot of pain. It was as though CHRIS WAS PULLING A VICTIM OF A CAR WRECK FROM THE CARNAGE AND WHEN HE LOOKED AT JESSE IT WAS WITH THE BELIEF HE WILL SURLY DIE. He was wide eyed and confused, dazed rambling incoherently between his mones of pain. Chris FINALLY HAD HIM UP ON THE DRY BANK. JESSE WAS STRETCHED OUT SOAKING WET AND LYING VERY STILL NOT EVEN SHIVERING. NOW THAT THEY WERE OUT OF THE WATER Chris TAKES AN ASSESSMENT OF JESSES CONDITION. HE IS BLEEDING PROFUSELY FROM HIS LEFT LEG WHERE HIS PANTS LEG IS TORN ABOVE THE KNEE AND TI THE INNER THIGH. Chris RIPS OPEN THE TEAR EVEN GREATER TO FIND THE SOURCE OF THE BLOOD. IT IS HERE HE FINDS A HIS SKIN HAD BEEN SLICED OPEN AND A DEEP GASH. THERE WAS A LOT OF BLOOD AND THE SIGHT OF ALL THIS MADE THE HAIR ON HIS NECK STAND UP AND Chris FEARED THE FEMORAL ARTERY MAY HAVE BEEN SEVERED. THE GASH WAS A GOOD FIVE TO SIX INCHES AND WAS DEEP THE BOOL WOULD HAVE TO BE STOPPED. Chris TOOK THE BELT THAT WAS STILL TIED TO JESSE'S WRIST AND REMOVED IT. THE LIFE LINE THAT HAD SAVED JESSE WAS NOW TO BECOME A TURNIQUIN WRAPPED AROUND HIS LEG AND TIGHTENED. LOOKING AT THE BLOOD FLOWING HE TIGHTENED IT IN SMALL INCREMENTS UNTIL HE COULD SEE THE BLEEDING CONTROLLED AND NEAR STOPPED. HE COULD ONLY SUPPOSE A GASH LIKE THIS HAD COME FROM A SPLINTERED DEAD FALL, A SUBMERGED PROJECTILE THAT HAD SNAGGED HIM AND PERHAPS HAD HELD HIM THERE FROM CONTINUING DOWNSTREAM. "COME ON JESSE WE GOTTA GET YOU BACK, JESSE!" JESSE WAS COINCIDENCE BUT ONLY CHOKED WHEN HE TRIED TO SPEAK. "COME ON, JESSE CAN YOU GET UP? YOU GOTTA GET UP JESSE" Chris LOOKED OFF IN THE DIRECTION OF THE CABIN THAT WAS NOWHERE IN SIGHT. THEY HAVE A DISTANCE TO GO BUT Chris COULD NOT STOP NOW, HIS SHIVERING BODY WAS NOW SHAKING ALMOST UNCONTROLLABLY AND HE COULDN’T FEEL HIS FEET OR FINGER AND HIS HEAD WAS POUNDING. HE NEEDED JESSE UP AND MOBILE BEFORE SHOCK POSSIBLY SET IN. Chris SETS HIM UP AND GETS BEHIND HIM AND WITH A BEAR HUG STANDS HIM UP AND GETS UNDER HIS ARM AND A SECURE GRASP OF HIS PANTS AT THE WAIST. IT WAS ONE PAINFUL STEP AT A TIME. JESSE COULD ONLY DRAG HIS BAD LEG AND HOP WITH THE OTHER. THIS WAS TOO SLOW AND JESSE WOULD NEVER MAKE IT AT THIS RATE. Chris THIN PICKED JESSE UP IN HIS ARMS AND CARRIED HIM. JESSE WAS NOT AS HEAVY AS HE HAD THOUGHT. HE THOUGHT BECAUSE OF THE RESTRICTED DIET THEY HAD BEEN ON SINCE BEING STRANDED THEY WERE ON THEIR WAY TO BECOMING EMACIATED. Chris WOULD LEAN ON A TREE SEVERAL TIMES TO REST A FEW SECONDS AND CATCH HIS BREATH . THE CABIN WAS IN SIGHT NOW AND AS HE APPROACHED HE KICKED THE DOOR AND IT BOUNCED BACK OPEN. HE LAID JESSE DOWN ON THE BED AS GENTLY AS POSSIBLE . HE IMMEDIATELY CHECKED AND LOOSENED THE BELT ON HIS LEG AND BLOOD BEGAN TO POUR AGAIN. HE WAITED A FEW SECONDS AND TIGHTENED IT AGAIN CAREFULLY AS NOT TO CUT OFF CIRCULATION ENTIRELY. JESSE HAD PASSED OUT NOW AND Chris GOT HIM OUT OF HIS WET CLOTHES AND COVERED HIM WITH ALL THE BLANKETS. JESSE WAS SHIVERING BUT NOT IN SHOCK. SOMETHING HAD TO BE DONE ABOUT HIS LEG. Chris COULD SEE THAT STITCHES WERE REQUIRED TO CLOSE IT UP. Chris WOULD BE UNPREPARED FOR THIS. KAKET IS THIRTY TWO MILES DOWN THE MOUNTAIN AND HIS ONLY NEAREST NEIGHBOR. CHRIS WILL LOAD JESSE IN THE VAN AND PREPARES HIS BEDDING WITH HIS BEDROLL AND LEAVES THE DOORS OPEN AND THEN TRIES TO START THE ENGINE BUT THE BATTERY IS DEAD.
"OH GOD, OH GOD." HE KEPT REPEATING WITH EACH GRIND OF THE CYLINDERS. THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH JUICE IN THE BATTERY TO FIRE THE ENGINE. HE TURNED THE KEY AGAIN AND IT GRINDED SLOWLY AND STOPPED AND THEN A CLICK, CLICK, CLICK FROM THE SWITCH. THE BATTERY WAS COMPLETELY DEAD NOW. CHRIS SLAPPED THE STEERING WHEEL HARD. HE KNEW THIS WAS HIS FAULT AND HE HAD NEGLECTED TO CHANGE OUT THE BATTERY. JESSE HAD KEPT HIM SO PREOCCUPIED THE PAST FEW DAYS BUT BECAUSE HE HAD NEGLECTED TO CHANGE OUT THE SPARE BATTERY THE WHOLE TRIP. CHRIS OPENED THE SIDE DOOR AND RETRIEVED THE SPARE BATTERY. HE WORKED QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE TO TAKE OUT THE DEAD BATTERY AND HOOK UP THE SPARE. HE TIGHTENS THE CONNECTORS AND JUMPS BEHIND THE WHEEL. HE TURNS THE SWITCH BUT THERE WAS NOTHING. AND IT PROVED TO BE DEAD AS WELL. HE WOULD WALK IT BUT HE COULD NOT LEAVE JESSE FOR THAT PERIOD OF TIME AND HE DECIDED TO GIVE ONE MORE DAY TO SEE HOW JESSE TURNS. THE TURNIQIN WOULD HAVE TO COME OFF AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. HE TOOK THE MEDICAL KIT FROM UNDER THE SEAT AND IMMEDIATELY. HE WOULD NOT SLOW DOWN TO CATCH WIND, HE WAS AFRAID THE PAUSE WOULD DESTROY HIS PACE AND OVERWHELM HIM WITH THE DIRE REALITY THAT WAS OCCURRING. HE FELT A NUMBING DIZZINESS FROM RUNNING SO HARD AND STRUGGLING FOR SO LONG BUT HE WOULD NOT LET HIMSELF SLOW. WHITE VAPOR FORCED STEADY FROM HIS WARM LUNGS AND OUT HIS FROZEN MOUTH WAS BRINGING UP MUCUS AND WHEEZING AS THOUGH IT WERE AN ASMah ATTACK. HE FELT THE MUCUS POURING FROM HIS NOSE AND RUNNING DOWN INTO HIS BEARD. He gets back to the cabin and empties THE CONTENTS OF THE METAL BOX on the tabel WHERE IT ALL SCATTERED AND SOME FELL TO THE FLOOR. IT LOOKED LIKE EVERYTHING WAS THERE. THERE WAS THREAD AND SEVERAL NEEDLES OF VARIOUS SIZES, LINIMENTS ANS SALVES AND GAUZES AND ADHESIVE BANDAGES. BUT THE FOIL WRAPPED ALCOHOL SWABS HAD DRIED UP FROM THE TIME IN THEIR WRAPS. CHRIS THOUGHT OF THE WHISKEY AND IT WOULD HAVE TO DO. he finds the horse liniment and needle with thread. CHRIS TRIES TO THINK BACK WHEN HE WAS A CHILD AND REQUIRE RED A SERIES OF STITCHES ON HIS HEAD HOPING THERE WAS SOME INFORMATION HE COULD USE BUT HE ONLY REMEMBERS THE AWFUL PAIN OF IT. HE LOOKED AT JESSE WHO WAS PASSED OUT NOW. HE HAD SOME LABORED BREATHING POSSIBLY FROM THE WATER HE TOOK IN BUT THOUGHT IT COULD BE CHEST INJURY. BRUISED RIBS. HE PULLED THE COVERS BACK AND LOOKED AT HIS CHEST. HIS THIN PALE SKIN DRAPED LOOSE TO REVEALED EACH RIB. HE PUSHED SLIGHTLY ON EACH RIB TO DETECT ANYTHING BROKEN OR CRACKED. HE COULD NOT FIND ANY ALTHOUGH HE HAD BEGUN TO SHOW BRUISES. CHRIS DID NOT SEE ANY DISCOLORATION OR BRUISING BUT THERE WERE MANY LONG scratches AS HE HAD TAKEN A BLOW FROM ROCK OR DEAD FALL. HE CAREFULLY RAN HIS FINGERS OVER THEM LOOKING FOR ANY BREECH IN THE CONTINUITY OF EACH RIB. NOTHING FELT BROKEN OR FRACTURED. CHRIS WOULD NOW CONCENTRATE ON THE bleeding GASH OF HIS LEG. HE COVERED THE OLD MAN NEATLY AND PULLED THE COVER AWAY AT THE GASH. CHRIS LOOKED AT BLOOD AND WINCED. HE PULLED THE TABLE FROM ACROSS THE ROOM TO THE BEDSIDE. EVERYTHING WAS ASSEMBLED AND HE POURS THE WHISKEY ONTO A CLOTH AND CLEANS THE WOUND. THE MUSCLE HAD NOT BEEN CUT. CHRIS SELECTS THE LONGEST OF THE NEEDLES AND THREADS IT, DIPPING IT IN THE WHISKEY AND HOLDS IT NEAR TO THE FLAME OF THE CANDLE CAREFUL TO NOT COLLECT SOOT. CHRIS LOOKS AT JESSE'S FACE AND THEN AT THE WOUND AND TAKES A GOOD SHOT OF WHISKEY. CHRIS BEGAN STITCHING, THE SENDER NEEDLE HAD NO TROUBLE PIERCING THE SKIN THE TYING THE KNOT. HOLDING THE SKIN TIGHTLY BETWEEN HIS THUMB AND FOREFINGER HE METHODICALLY WOUND THE THREAD JOINING THE SKIN AND KEEPING THE TREAD TAUT PULLING THE SKIN TOGETHER AND SMOOTH, EVEN AT THE SURFACE. JESSE FIDGETED FROM THE PAIN ALTHOUGH HE REMAINED UNCONcONSE. CHRIS FINISHED THE SUTURING AND TUGGED ON THE FINAL KNOT, CUT IT THEN TOOK ANOTHER SIP OF WHISKEY AND SAT THERE FOR A WHILE. HE WAS DRAINED AND DAZED AND IN THE SORENESS OF HIS BODY BEGAN SETTING IN AND HE DECIDED HE COULD NOT FIND THE ENERGY TO MOVE FROM THAT CHAIR.
He HAD NEVER SHOT ANYTHING BUT A GOLF BALL. HE WOULD HAVE TO FOCUS AND STOP SHAKING. CHRIS PAUSED AND CLOSED ONE EYE FOR AIM. HE AIMED FOR THE NECK OF THE ANIMAL. HE DREW HIS BREATH IN SLOWLY AND HELD IT. HE COCKED THE GUN AND THE CARIBOU'S EAR PICKED IT UP. HIS EARS FLINCHED AND HE TURNED TO SEE CHRIS STANDING THERE WITH HIS GUN AIMED DIRECTLY AT HIM. IN that instant he bolted ALARMING THE HERD INTO A FRENZY. WITHOUT HESITATION CHRIS FIRED THE GUN. the jolt from recoil sent Chris off balance and on his butt. CHRIS SAW IMMEDIATELY he had shot it as it was staggering trying to get up the embankment, trying to run with the scattered herd in their escape, but it faltered after a few shaky steps and fell and rolled once. Chris heart pounded fiercely and felt luck was the better part of this fortune. He crossed the road and entered the woods a few yards where his kill laid motionless. THE GUNSHOT HAD INDEED BEEN DELIVERED TO THE NECK He had shot it in the neck and severed a carotid artery as the blood poured freely spilling onto the spongy moss. The was no sign of life as he checked the animal for breathing or movement. DEATH HAD COME QUICKLY. he felt lucky that he had killed it with one clean shot, and lucky that in was in such close range. The animal was dead and Chris felt relief that he would not have to shoot it twice to kill it. He laid the gun down beside it and gathered both of the back legs and tugged, but the animal is too heavy to pull. He would have to skin it and gut it here. He would need the Bowie knife back at the cabin and THE two five gallon buckets to carry the meat in.. He would need to check on JESSE anyway. He runs back excited and bursts into the cabin to find JESSE up and awake, sitting at the table. "We're going to have steak tonight!" "What? What's going on?" Startled JESSE asks. "I was up at the road and shot a caribou, just like that. With just one shot, I got him!" Chris quickly assembled all that he would need for dressing the animal and was out the door. He turned and stuck his head in the door. "If you think you can make it, I could use your help." But he didn't want to wait for JESSE, he was anxious to get back to the kill, LEFT THE CABIN AND GOT THE KNIFE FROM THE STUMP THAT WOULD NOW CARVE MEAT INSTEAD OF FISH TONIGHT. HE TURNED AND BEGAN ON THE PATH, his knees banging the buckets like a drum as he walked QUICKLY. He thought of the grand dinners they would now have, perhaps a stew, and of course the jerky. and soon returns with the necessary tools. He begins to gut the animal and then begins the skinning process A BEAR WALKS IN THE FORREST AND HE IS TRACKING THAT GROUP OF CARIBOU AS THEY CLIMBE UP THE MOUNTAINSIDE. HE HAD TRACKED THE HEARD FOR A MILE AND A HALF, HE IS BIDING HIS TIME WITH THIS TRACKING WAITING A LAGER IN THE HEARD, ONE THAT WAS OLD, WEAK OR INJURED AND AN EASIER KILL. BUT HE WAS CAREFUL TO KEEP HIS DISTANCE AS NOT ALARM THE HERD. THEY CLIMB TO ESCAPE AND THEY HAVE SET IN THAT DIRECTION FOR SAFETY BUT THEY SHOULD GO FOR THE GRASSY AREAS DOWN IN THE BASINS BUT THEY WERE STIRRED BY HIS PRESENCE. The BEAR WAS SO VERY CONFIDENT AND SURE OF A MEAL HE WOULD FOLLOW THEM FOR SUCH A DISTANCE BUT THIS ENTERTAINED HIM, IT WAS NOT SUCH A CHALLENGE TO TAKE DOWN ONE THE HEARD BUT IT GAVE HIM TIME AS DECIDE WHICH ONE AND TIME TO FIGURE STRATEGY. HE WOULD HONE HIS HERE HE HONED HIS SKILL AS A PREDATOR. CHRIS hears A disturbance in the forest , a grunt and then a grunt again. Chris stops to listen and sees a bear a huge brown one about forty yards away. It had paused and looking about sniffing the scent of THE NEW SPILLED in the air. CHRIS SAT AND WATCHED THE BEAR UNDETECTED He must have been following the herd following THE scent from a good distance back. The bear had not seen Chris WAS FOLLOWING SCENT OF his prey BUT HE STOPPED ALMOST CONFUSED AT THE SMELL OF THE BLOOD OF HIS PREY.. THE BEAR STOPPED AS BEING CAUTIOUS TO HIS NEXT STEP/ HE BEGAN TO LOOK AROUND AND SURVEY HE WILL BE ON GUARD AS HE JUST DISCOVERED SOME OTHER HAS GOTTEN TO HIS MEAL BEFORE HIM. THE BEAR HAD TRACKED TOO FAR NOT TO CLAIM HIS DUE AND HE WILL FIGHT FOR THIS MEAL. he was paused for direction of the scent his huge head went to the left and then to the right and his nostrils taking in the smell AND RHENE HE SAW CHRIS saw him first and froze. Chris felt the rush of blood to his head and felt a prickly chill ran over him that he could not tell hot or cold. The bear then looked Chris straight in the eyes. HE CLICKED HIS JAWS AND NOW THEY WERE LOCKED IN PLACE His ears were laid back and down as an angry dog before an attack. The bear then grunted and slammed his fore paw to the ground, so hard, Chris swears he could feel the vibration in the ground. ======= He was huge and round like a furry boulder come to life. He grunted again a kind of howl and his warm breath shot out of his nostrils like a broken steam pipe. In that instance he charged, his great weight snapping the small trees in his path, his head down and his great shoulder flanks rising above his great head. His dirty wet fir shook violently. Chris immediately bolted and cleared the woods to the road Chris ran for the cabin, the van was nearer. he didn't look behind him as he could hear the heavy breaths of the bear and the pounding of his weight on the road. He wouldn't make it to refuge. The bear ran like a horse and he knew the beast would over-take him. Chris life didn't pass before him but it was the gruesome future THAT BECAME SO VERY CLEAR. Chris pictured his feet knocked out from underneath him by one of those massive paws sending him tumbling and rolling and FINALLY laying on his back mauled over and over. Chris thinks of what was told to him about the bears, that the would decapitate a person in just one quick swipe of their paw. The four inch nails DID NOT have to be sharp with the force delivered behind it. The blood would drain from his severed head and he would watch the beast disembowel his body right before him, then it would dim and the last to go would be hearing the sound of of the beast feasting on it's flesh. He thought about the animal he just killed and the bear that would now kill him. Chris could feel his boot loosen and flopping was about to come off and Chris prayed that it would not trip him up in the process. The bear was close behind him and there would be no time to fall and regain his footing. Chris released the tight grip on his knife letting it fall as he ran bouncing several times. The bear slowed at the site of the bloody, shiney thing AND SMELLED IT but never let Chris out of sight. The bear was gaining on Chris and he knew he could not make the distance to the van. He would have to shimmy up a tree. He could see one ahead, an old, tall fir with low, sturdy branches that covered the ground around it. Chris ran straight through the low limbs feeling the stinging of the pine needles on his face. He jumps to grasp a high branch and swings his body up. His adrenalin had been pumped and was coursing through his veins through his blood and his head. He moved fast and even graceful up the tree and the clumsy bear behind him. Chris was out of reach from the bear now as the bear stopped at the base of the tree. The bear wanted the carcass of the caribou and Chris was in the way, but now he was up a tree and felt Chris was no threat to his feast. Chris didn't notice the bear was now leaving and he continued to climb to the top where the smaller branches could not support the weight of the bear and Chris would be safe. He felt that he was making distance and when he looked up he would catch the snow falling off the limbs jolted by his grasp and it would fall in his face. He kept his head down then he saw him at the base of the tree. Chris climbed even further WHERE the limbs WERE too fragile too for his weight , he snapped the next branch under his booted foot and slid down a branch. He would have to stop here. The cold back sheared his hands But now. there was a safe distance between them now and Chris looked down to see the bear had stopped and was watching, to make sure he stays put, and as a warning to Chris the bear up righted and pushed on the tree shaking it. Chris felt the tree sway knocking loose the snow off the branches and down his collar. He knew the massive weight of the bear was not enough to push the tree down or make it snap. To the bear it didn't matter, he had Chris what he wanted when he chased Chris up the tree and out of his way. His concerns were for the feast of the caribou that he had trailed for so long and to eat undisturbed and without competition. Chris watched the huge furry animal walk away towards the kill where his gun lay. The brush opened and closed behind the beast rendering almost out of site but Chris could see the beast still as it fed. This was time to take advantage of, he was occupied and a good distance. Chris thought he could escape to the refuge of the van not far. He began his descent and with his bare foot he could gauge the limb, but his other foot he veered too far out on the limb and it cracked. His grip loosened and he fell hitting every branch down snagging the broken stub ripping his pants and cut into his inner thigh. a good fifteen feet he fell. The beast should have heard this and probably did. But he was feeding and it wasn't to be bothered. Chris was flat on his back the breath knocked out he gasped and looked for the bear to come stampeding to him. He didn't see bear and struggled to get upright. He flees to the van where he sees is no bear behind him. He runs toward the cabin minus one boot. It was somewhere between the tree and the bear which he was not going to retrieve. Chris makes it to the cabin but only to find JESSE in an episode, it becomes violent as JESSE doesn’t believe in Chris. he has become a desperate intruder. and Chris talks him down. After a while JESSE is ok enough to leave alone as Chris must check on the kill. Chris had no intention of forfeiting the fresh meat to the furry demon and it had been an hour and time enough for the bear to feed and move on. The adrenalin had worn off and the anger had set in. He doesn’t have the gun, he had left it at the site of the kill, so he takes another skinning knife from the drawer, sticks it unsheathed in his back pocket and grabs his spear leaving the cabin clutching it with sweaty palms. The slow cautious pace , eyes constantly surveying the woods for the furry predator, hunched low and gripping the spear with both hands, it had stirred a primordial spirit of hunt and survival The prey and the predator. He wanted his kill and was coming back for it. There was a vengeful rage nearing the surface ib Chris, an intense feeling he had never felt before. He cursed the bear under his breath. All five senses became erect like the hair on the back of his neck, sensitive to any sight, smell, sound and motion. He is aware of every muscle in his body, every movement was directed now by instinct, motivated by the anger of having the wits scared out of him. He thinks back to the sight of the charging bear and now decides he wasn't as big as that ominous first impression. his confidence told him if he again encountered bear, Chris, armed with his knife and spear, would challenge bear and felt he could inflict as much damage to bear as what the bear could do to him. Chris pauses to take in any noises. The WAS no stirring. Just the wind whistling in the tree tops. When he arrives to the kill there is no bear, no noise. The caribou was still intact but completely visoriated and stiff, nearly frozen. The bear doesn't care so much for the meat as it did for the organs where the fatty content was. Chris rolled the stiff dead animal over and locates his gun now covered in blood. He had relief as now he felt protected. He took the back hoofs and began to drag the carcass toward the cabin made lighted from being disemboweled. The animal was tlineheavy and took a constant tugging the whole time he is looking over his shoulder left and right, left and right. He was more vulnerable now with both hands are occupied in dragging the dead weight, pulling it a few feet until his back felt it , then turning around, dragging it for a few feet more. the soft new snow where each step his foot would sink and grab his foot and hold his boot in a fist tight grip. The snow was packed hard and the carcass wold drag easier than if in He stopped periodically and often to catch his breath and listen to the Forrest to survey the safety but his hard panting drowned out any other sounds. His ears stood up and he kept a steady watch, his eyes let nothing go undeciphered. Bear could be anywhere.
THE BEAR
He is sitting against a tree quietly and checks his watch. Five more minutes and he heads back. HE DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE JESSE FOR TOO LONG ALONE. A COLD NORTH WIND BLOWS THE TREE TOPS AND CHRIS TAKES OFF HIS HAT TO FEEL THE WARM SUN ON HIS FACE. IF HE SAT HERE ANY LONGER HE WOULD FALL ASLEEP. CHRIS GETS UP AND BENDS TO GATHER HIS PISTOL. He hears A DISTINCT sound of a brittle limb being broken. LOOKING BEHIND HIM HE MOVEMENT IN THE WOODS. IT WAS A SMALL HERD OF CARIBOU MAYBE forty to fifty yards away and across the gravel road. THEY WERE BARELY VISIBLE as they weave in and out of THE FORREST. CHRIS COULD SEE AT LEAST HALF A DOZEN . HIS HEART BEGAN TO POUND HARD BUT HE REMAINED SILENT AND MOTIONLESS AS THEY CAME CLOSER . THEY HAD NOT YET DETECTED CHRIS BUT THEY SEEMED NERVOUS AND MOVED QUICKLY. CHRIS FELT FOR THE SHOTGUN HE HAD PLACED ON THE GROUND AT HIS FEET. THEY CONTINUED DARTING IN AND OUT OF SIGHT BUT FOR ONE HAD STOPPED AND IN FULL VIEW. HIS HEAD HIGH HIS EARS ERECT. THIS IS THE OPPORTUNE MOMENT FOR THE KILL. HIS SITE WAS CLEAR AND HE HAD A CHANCE FOR A GOOD SHOT BEING AS CLOSE OR CLOSER THAN THE TARGETS HE USED FOR PRACTICE. HE VERY SLOWLY BROUGHT HIS SHOT GUN UP AND BUTTED IT AGAINST HIS SHOULDER. HIS HEART WAS POUNDING AND HE THE EXCITEMENT WAS CAUSING HIM TO SHAKE. HE KNEW HE WOULD NOT MISS AT THIS RANGE BUT HE WOULD HAVE TO STOP SHAKING. THIS WAS A STRANGE AND GREAT OPPORTUNE MOMENT AND DIDN'T NEED TO SCREW IT UP AND HE HAD ALREADY ENVISIONED HIMSELF BUSTING INTO THE CABIN WITH HIS FIRST SET OF HORNS.
This is Driskell's drygood store located in St. Elmo Alabama on old highway 90. He resores these wagons and sells them.
BACK YARD IN GRAND BAY, AL.
.
JESSE
Jesse is a completed 8o,000 word adventure novel spanning 30 years and taking place in Alaska, Alabama and all the places and characters in between.
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