Free Big Sky Eyes by Sawyer Belle

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