Free Blind Fury by Linda I. Shands

Colin. “But you can only borrow it. I need to keep it under my bed in case of emergency.”
    â€œThanks. I promise we’ll take good care of it.”
    Kara could feel Colin staring at her. She finally looked up.
    â€œAre you about ready, Wakara? Winter Warrior hasn’t done us any favors, but at least the training will be more realistic.”
    His eyes dared her to laugh. She almost choked trying not to. She nodded, washed down the last bite of waffle with a swallow of coffee, and pushed to her feet. “I gathered some supplies. They’re in my backpack. Do you have the manual?”
    â€œRight there.” Colin pointed to his own backpack propped in the corner by the coatrack, right next to her dad’s tool kit and a ball of thick twine.
    She paused. “What’s with the tools?”
    He stood and flexed his arms, rolled his shoulders, and did some deep side bends. Kara flinched when she saw the pain flash across his face.
    He must have seen her concern. “Just limbering up.” He moved past her to the coatrack and grabbed a thick, brown parka off the hook. “And to answer your question, we need the tools because we’re going to build a travois.” Ryan’s head snapped up. “What’s a travois?”
    â€œA cart without wheels. You pull it with ropes or strap it behind a horse.” Kara stared at Colin. “Why do we need a travois?”
    Anne spoke up. “It is a way to carry those who cannot walk, especially over snow.”
    Ryan’s eyes widened. “Like the toboggan they use when they rescue people from avalanches and stuff?”
    â€œNot exactly,” Kara broke in. But Ryan was too excited to listen.
    â€œThey wrap them all up, tie them in, and ski down the mountain. Can I help? I’ll be the hurt guy.”
    â€œNot this time, Sport.” Colin grinned at Wakara. “A travois is also good for carrying wood. I thought we’d take advantageof the trip into the woods and clean up some of the debris along the trail. Anne can use the smaller pieces for kindling.”
    â€œThe trail? I thought we were going to practice in the pasture?” Kara felt a chill even through her sweater. She hadn’t been on the trail through the woods since the Carlson boys chased off that cougar, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to go back again so soon.
    Colin wrinkled his nose. “For what we’re going to do, I’d rather avoid the mud.” He grinned. “Besides, cow pies are great for building a fire if they’re dry, but they’re no good to us frozen.”
    She couldn’t argue with that. Still, she hadn’t counted on venturing into those woods this soon. What if the big cat was still around? Worse, what if Lily was still spooked and wouldn’t go? Cut it out, Wako—if you’re nervous, Lily will feel it for sure .
    She gathered up her dishes and carried them to the sink. Anne nodded her thanks, then whispered so that only Kara could hear, “God has not given you a spirit of fear.”
    Where had that come from? She spotted Anne’s Bible on the counter next to the telephone. That’s right, it was part of a verse in 1 Timothy. She had probably read it a dozen times, but she couldn’t remember the rest. She’d have to look it up later. Right now, Colin was waiting for her.
    By the time she gathered her stuff and met him in the barn, Colin was busy on his project. While he finished nailing boards together, she pulled items out of the backpacks and went over the checklist.
    â€œFirst aid kit, waterproof matches, space blanket.” She checked space blanket off the list. “We should carry two of these. In this kind of weather one wouldn’t be enough.”
    â€œGood thinking.” He put the hammer away and came over to stand beside her. “What about a signal mirror?”
    â€œI thought we’d use Ryan’s. If we don’t use something from his