Her Tortured Bear

Chapter 12

Not five feet from Miranda’s head, stood a black bear, waiting patiently for her to make the first move. It’s teeth were exposed in an angry fashion. They were sharp, white daggers, hanging inside a dark moist cave ready to slice her body until she bled to death. It’s paws were rooted to the ground, but no doubt ready to clobber her if she made any sudden movements. But there was something off about this particular bear, it had an ocean blue eye on the left, and a blood red eye on the right. She had never seen anything like it before. On the first glance the beast looked angry but then she could understand that it was not the anger that it was displaying towards her but the boy who had been left behind by his friends. Miranda could not believe that in a place and in a time when hunting was something outlawed and banned these idiots were still coming to hunt in the forest.

What was this? A game? The chance of finding a few wild animals so that they could cut off the head and show them off that they were the ones who were the proud descendants of the Texas ranchers???

Miranda scoffed at her own thoughts and then a sudden low growl brought her back to the reality. There was a grizzly standing before her and there was a high chance that even though he had saved his life she might not leave the forest alive.

The bear on hind legs was taller than any man and he swayed this way and that as he watched her. He reminded me of my Grandpa waking after a nap, his brain active in its steady way and his feet planted firmly on the ground. If he could talk, this bear, I wonder if he would have a voice similar to the caterpillar of Alice in Wonderland, "Who... are... you?"

But then nothing happened at all and the bear stood down on its all four and then started backing away from her and then turned back and went deeper in the forest. Miranda did not know that she was holding back a breath so tightly in her chest that once the bear was no longer standing close to her she loudly let out a sigh. And took a few gulps of air deep in her lungs fast enough and then calmed down. Miranda took out a bottle of water from the duffel bag and opened the cap and gulped the water. Then she opened the ties of her boots and then winced at the feeling of pain. With the bear gone she could take a look at the swelling in her ankle. She did not have any first aid as well which she could use to tightly wrap it like a crepe bandage. Miranda had no idea what she was going to do when she poured some of the cold water on her feet and then softly felt the coldness feel slightly good on her swollen foot.

“Hello there!!” said a husky voice from in front of her and Miranda again screamed out loud at the surprise that she was being accosted by a stranger in the woods.

“Who are you? What do you want? Get away from me,” said Miranda loudly as her face contorted at the pain that she was feeling in her ankle.

“Hey!! Whoa whoa calm down there lassie….I am not here to hurt you. I heard gunshots and then roar or something and I came to inspect. I stay close to the woods alone,” said the beautiful and handsome man looking at her with a kind smile. He also had beautiful blue eyes, the kind of like ocean in a warm sunny day which would make you want to dive straight in the water without feeling the coldness touch your skin.

“Sorry actually. There was bear attack here, just now. It went away and I was scared. I did not mean to be rude at all,” said Miranda, trying to be apologetic.

“No no…I get your state dear. I don’t mind at all. So are you hurt? I mean did the bear hurt you in any way?” asked the man as he looked at her and then knelt down on his knees before her.

“The bear did not do anything to anyone at all. Those boys there were hunting, one of them is my stupid fiancé and when I said I would tattle against them they were going to kill me probably. So the bear saved my life. I am thankful to him for that. But this, I have hurt my feel since yesterday night when I stepped on a wrong place and since then it is extremely difficult for me to move at all,” said Miranda as the man looked at her swollen ankles and sucked in his breath.

“Well well well, are you sure that nothing is broken? The swelling is a lot and I guess that it has not been attended to since sometime. When did you twist your ankle yesterday?” asked the man and then Miranda realized that she did not even know his name and neither had she told him hers.

“I cannot tell you the time exactly. But it was late. Then only I decided to stop moving and sleep here in the forest underneath this tree,” said Miranda and then she said,” My apologies. I have been very uncivil towards you. My name is Miranda Cooper.”

“There is nothing normal about this whole situation at all Miss Cooper. So I take that you came in with your fiancé for camping and then had a spat? I am sure that killing and all is too much, isn’t that the case?” asked Salem with a gentle chuckle but the expression on Miranda’s face said something that this was not the situation. So he said,” By the way, I am Salem Bloom. I live here nearby. So would you like to come with me so that I can give you some first aid and then we can arrange for a transportation back home?”

“Nooo!” shouted Miranda and Salem was taken aback by the ferocity of her negation.

“Alright…calm down…I am just saying. If you don’t want to go home then it is fine. You can go to some place where you are safe. Will that be fine? Any friend’s house maybe?” asked Salem and Miranda looked at him with so much of helplessness in her eyes that his heart clenched at that.

“It is not necessary to decide that at all now dear. Come on, let’s get you out of here and then we can decide what to do next,” said Salem as he caught hold of Miranda’s duffel and wore it like a backpack and then he helped her up but before she could put any pressure on her ankle he caught hold of her and then lifted her in his arms like as if he was carrying a doll.

“Hey!! Put me down..I am not a kid,” said Miranda as she blushed out of embarrassment.

“There is nothing to be embarrassed as such and I am only going to be carrying you till we are in the area of the woods. So you better get adjusted to it. And you might very well tell me what is the issue with you all together Ms. Cooper. You don’t seem to be very old as well…are you sure that you are old enough to have a fiancé?” he asked with a chuckle.

“I am eighteen if that is what you are saying Mr. Blood. But I did not want this to happen and I am not even keen on this arrangement. That boy is a freaking bastard and my step-father wants me to get married so that he can control my property,” seethed Miranda as Salem remained silent.

“How does that exactly happen?” he asked softly. Miranda looked at him as if he was an i***t and was asking a stupid question.

“But why are you so interested?” asked Miranda as she looked at his warm blue eyes which were slightly hooded. Mindy’s father used to say that the eyes of a person are the windows to their soul and she carefully believed his words just like she believed every single word of his but had not found it to be true till now.

But strangely, this man, this awfully good looking man who had the power to take someone’s breath away but were still absolutely unaware of the fact was asking her questions and was interested in her. Even though she could not understand why he was closed off, she could feel that his interest in her was genuine.

“I am trying to understand the situation that you have gotten yourself into and whether I am taking in an outlaw or not. Or night be you have killed someone and are running away…so many possibilities. I just want to know your version,” said Salem as he still chuckled at her. As he smiled Miranda felt that her entire body was filled up with a warmth, this was of a different kind than she had ever felt before.

“Don’t you think that I am telling you the truth?” asked Miranda slowly as she winced again at the movement that she was feeling in her ankle.

“Are you comfortable? I hope your leg is not giving you too much of pain,” said Salem as he stopped and Miranda found that they were close to the brook of the forest. It was so serene and so beautiful that if she was given a chance then she might not ever want to leave this place again in her entire life. But then again she was not at all well versed with how to deal with surviving in the wild. Today she might have well survived a grizzly attack but this was not going to happen every single time that she was in the woods.

“It is really hurting,” said Miranda as he settled her down near the water on a smooth stone slab.

“Yeah I figured that part. So do you think you can handle me touching your feet for a moment?” asked Salem as he looked at the sweet little girl and she bit her lip with her teeth and then nodded. Salem caught hold of her swollen ankle and then dipped it in the ice-cold water. It would help to numb the pain a bit as he probed. He could feel that nothing at broken, it was only a sprain. So he did not give her a chance to say anything and before she could Salem snapped the ankle bone back to it’s place making Miranda let out a piercing shrill scream which again caused a flock of birds to fly away from the top of the trees.

“What did you do that for?” asked Miranda, so loudly that it felt like she was shouting at him.

“It is an old practice that we were taught when we were in the Army. Twisting of the ankle is just the bone getting displaced, causing a sprain and it was in such a state since last night. The swelling would have increased a lot further if I did not do this. So you are welcome. Try wiggling your toes now,” said Salem and Miranda looked at him with a scowl but she moved her toes and then started moving her foot.

“It is still paining but it is a lot gone. I think I am going to be able to walk now. You won’t need to carry me like a child again,” said Miranda and Salem laughed at her manner of speaking. There was something about this girl that he could not put his finger on and that was not at all desirable.

“I am sure I won’t have to do that. But I think you should not wear your shoes so that the swelling does not happen again,” said Salem as Miranda nodded at him.