Chapter 9 - The Bear on the Mountain
“You are not hunting that bear for revenge.”
Ellie stood with her arms folded.
Jasper loaded supplies.
“I’m not.”
“You’re carrying a rifle.”
“I generally don’t negotiate with grizzlies.”
Despite herself, Ellie nearly smiled.
Samuel had reported that the bear was raiding livestock near isolated homesteads.
It had to be driven away or killed before someone died.
Jasper was the best tracker available.
Ellie understood.
That didn’t mean she liked it.
“You almost died last time.”
“I remember.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
He put down the rifle.
“Come here.”
She resisted for approximately two seconds.
Then stepped into his arms.
“I’m afraid,” she admitted.
Jasper kissed her forehead.
“So am I.”
That surprised her.
“You?”
“I’m not stupid, Ellie.”
“Debatable.”
He smiled.
“Fear isn’t the problem.”
“What is?”
“Letting it choose your life.”
The words stayed with her.
Jasper and Samuel left.
The first day passed.
Then the second.
On the third, a storm rolled over the mountains.
Ellie couldn’t sleep.
At dawn, a horse appeared without a rider.
Jasper’s horse.
She was saddled.
Blood stained one stirrup.
Ellie’s world narrowed.
She grabbed her medical bag.
Harlan stopped her outside.
“Wait for a search party.”
“No.”
“Ellie.”
“The last time someone told me I couldn’t survive those mountains, Jasper was dying.”
Within twenty minutes, twelve people were ready.
Not mocking.
Not whispering.
Ready to follow her.
Harlan.
Barnes.
Ranch hands.
Even Mrs. Whitcomb’s two sons.
Ellie looked at them and realized Copper Falls had changed.
Or perhaps she had.
They followed tracks into the mountains.
Near sunset they found Samuel.
His leg was broken.
“The bear charged,” he gasped. “Jasper drew it away.”
“Where?”
Samuel pointed uphill.
Ellie climbed.
Snow began falling.
Darkness approached.
Then she found blood.
Human.
“Jasper!”
Nothing.
Again.
“Jasper!”
A faint answer.
“Ellie?”
She ran.
He lay beneath a pine tree.
Alive.
His shoulder was injured, but there were no claw wounds.
Ellie dropped beside him.
“You idiot.”
His smile was weak.
“Good to see you too.”
She touched his face.
“What happened?”
“I fell down the slope.”
“And the bear?”
“Gone.”
“You killed it?”
“No.”
Jasper pointed.
Tracks disappeared toward the northern wilderness.
“I fired over it. Drove it away.”
Ellie stared.
“You didn’t kill it.”
“It was defending territory.”
“You nearly died because of that animal.”
“Wasn’t personal.”
Ellie laughed and cried simultaneously.
“You impossible man.”
Jasper reached for her hand.
“You came.”
“Of course I came.”
His eyes held hers.
“That’s still something I’m getting used to.”
The search party carried Jasper and Samuel home.
Weeks later, Jasper recovered.
Autumn arrived.
Their wedding day approached.
The entire town contributed.
Rose sewed Ellie’s dress.
Cream-colored fabric, simple and elegant.
When Ellie first tried it on, she stared at herself in the mirror.
For years mirrors had felt like accusations.
Now she saw something else.
A woman who crossed mountains.
A nurse who saved lives.
A woman loved by a good man.
Rose stood behind her.
“You’re beautiful.”
Ellie swallowed.
“I think I finally believe that.”
But three nights before the wedding, a telegram arrived from Helena.
Silas Cain’s old ranch had been recovered from Boone’s fraudulent holdings.
Legally, it belonged to Jasper and Rose.
The property was valuable.
Very valuable.
Jasper could become wealthy.
And with wealth came people who had never considered him worth knowing before.
Among them was Clara Whitmore.
Beautiful.
Educated.
Daughter of a wealthy cattleman.
May you like
And according to half of Copper Falls, exactly the kind of woman Jasper Cain should marry.
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