Whitewater Rendezvous

as her right arm extended towards him, pointing the pepper spray at his eyes.

He rocked from one huge paw to the other and let out a woof that sounded like the bark of a dog. Then he stood on his hind legs, sniffi ng the air noisily. Frozen in place, she had just enough time to guess his height at roughly nine feet tall, before he dropped to all fours and charged her.

Time slowed.

Chaz stood her ground as she depressed the trigger, determined not to miss. He roared as it hit him, the sound reverberating in her ears, but he kept on coming.

And the wind was not on her side.

The spray came back at her in the blink of an eye, and she sucked in great lungfuls of the stuff as it blinded her. The pain was everywhere at once. She took a great gasping breath for air and began coughing.

She rolled to the ground and curled into a fetal position, head down and hands clasped together behind her neck, trying desperately to suck in fresh air. She felt the enormous bulk of the bear pass her by inches, close enough that she could smell the warm stench of his breath as he went past, bellowing in pain and anger.

Her lungs burned and her eyes were agony. She could hear nothing but her own coughing. Every gasping breath took in more of the noxious fallout. She coughed and coughed until she felt her lungs would come apart. There was no relief from the burning pain. Her eyes streamed tears.

It had all happened in seconds.

Before she knew it, a shaken Sally was at her side, and the rest of the group was not far behind.

“My God, Chaz, what the hell happened?” Sally asked, coughing herself from the remnants of the spray that lingered about the camp.

Some of the other women were coughing, too.

“Are you all right?” Pat asked.

“What was that?” Justine asked. “Was that a bear?”

Chaz gasped for air. Megan, she wanted to say. Is Megan all right?

But she couldn’t speak; her throat was raw.

“Someone get some water, will you?” Sally asked as she led Chaz back to her chair by the fi re. Justine handed her a water bottle. “Lean your head back, Chaz, and let me rinse out your eyes.”

• 111 •

KIM BALDWIN

Sally poured fresh water carefully into both of Chaz’s eyes.

“A bear came into our t…tent,” Megan stuttered. In all the excitement, no one had noticed her, standing off to one side, trembling and ashen. “God, he was huge.”

As soon as she heard Megan’s voice, relief poured through Chaz like a soothing balm.

“A grizzly bear?” Linda asked. Her eyes got wide, and she glanced around as if expecting the beast to return at any moment.

“Are you all right, Megan?” Sally asked.

“Yeah, but he sure scared the shit out of me,” Megan said. “I guess I fell asleep. Next thing I know I’m hearing this crunching noise, and I wake up to fi nd this big-ass bear head right next to me.”

“Holy shit,” Yancey said.

Sally motioned her over. “You look like you need to sit down.

Come over here by the fi re.”

On shaky legs, Megan stumbled to the fi re and collapsed next to Chaz.

“Eyes still burning real bad?” Sally asked, after they’d used up the fi rst bottle of water.

When Chaz nodded, Sally made her recline her head again, and she poured another bottle carefully over her eyes.

“How you doing, Chaz?” Linda asked, as Chaz sat up, eyes still streaming tears.

She tried to speak, but her throat felt like she’d swallowed acid.

She fumbled for the water bottle that Sally had been using and took a few sips. It eased the burning only slightly. “Man, that stuff is awful,”

she rasped. Her eyes felt a bit better, but she could hardly stand to open them, even to squint. “Someone have a Kleenex?”

Pat handed her one and Chaz dabbed gently at her eyes.

“My fault,” Megan croaked out. She was still shaking.

“What?” Chaz turned to face Megan. Her eyes were tiny slits.

Tears ran down her cheeks. “What did you say?”

“My fault,” Megan repeated. “I left my kit in my bag. He went right for it.”

“What was in it?” Sally asked.

“Toothpaste, deodorant.” Megan shook her head. “Hand cream.

Lip balm. All sorts of stuff. I’m so sorry. I completely forgot about it.”

• 112 •

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14