Where were Jesse and Simon?
Travis frantically searched the dark shadows beyond the bear. There was neither sight nor sound of them.
Perhaps the whistle had been a warning to scare off the big bear, but hadn’t worked! Perhaps the two boys had become separated from Nish or taken a wrong turn.
Maybe Nish was running! Maybe that was as fast as he could go with all that equipment on!
Travis instantly regretted this whole wild scheme. They should never have agreed to send Nish out in his equipment. It might have seemed funny at the time – but no longer.
The bear settled on all fours again, sniffed and grunted loudly.
“HHHELLLLLP!”
The call came from ahead on the path. Travis swung around and saw that Nish had turned and seen the bear up on his hind legs. Nish was still wearing his goaltender’s mask, but the cage over his face couldn’t hide the pure, absolute terror in his eyes.
“HHHELLLLLP MMMMEEEE!”
Travis acted at once. His friend had called and he had to respond. He leaped free of his cover and jumped up and down, waving his arms.
“SHOOOO!” he shouted. “GET AWAY, BEAR!”
The bear stopped, rose again on his haunches.
Travis knew at once he’d made a mistake. He’d have had better luck against mosquitoes with that silly shout than against the biggest bear in the woods.
“SCRAMMMM!” he shouted with more force. He picked up a branch and threw it, spinning and crashing through the air. He wished he’d had a rock in his pocket. He looked around but could see none on the soft, needle-covered earth.
Silvertip stared at Travis, then raised his nose, sniffing. Sniffing for me? Travis wondered. Or sniffing for Nish?
Silvertip settled, then turned, his huge shoulders snapping dead twigs as he changed direction and headed off the path.
Straight for Travis.
“TRAVISSS!” Sarah shouted. “GET OUT OF HERE, QUICK!”
Travis was running before he could even think. He was pushing through spruce and cedar, the branches whipping into his face, and he was stumbling and sliding and slipping up and down hills.
He knew it was wrong. He knew that one thing you were never supposed to do around a black bear was turn tail and run. Back away slowly, the park rangers always said. Make noise, show no fear, and back away slowly. Don’t panic, don’t show them you’re petrified – and never run away screaming.
But that’s just what Travis Lindsay did.
Silvertip sniffed the air again and then picked up his pace, heading straight in the direction Travis had just taken.
“GO, TRAVISSSS!” Sam called.
Travis thought he was in good shape from lacrosse, but he had never tired so quickly in his life. He was covered in sweat. It was stinging the scrapes from the branches and raspberry bushes. He had dirt in his eyes. But he was still moving.
He crashed through the bush, down a dried-up creek, and up a small hill. He leaped over rocks, used roots to pull himself higher, swung onto a bluff and kept on running.
Travis’s lungs were killing him. He stopped, just for a moment, to catch his breath and look back.
Silvertip was still coming!
Travis hurdled logs and crashed through bogs and stumbled over stones, but he kept going.
He no longer needed to look back to see if the bear was following.
He could hear it behind him.
The big bear grunted like a pig. He crashed through the bush as if it were made of paper, not hardwood and rock. He snapped branches and ripped aside logs and sent rocks churning down slopes.
Travis leaped up a small hill and over a fallen tree and came – suddenly – to a dead end.
He could go no farther.
Ahead was open air, and thirty feet straight down was a tangle of rock and stumps and dead branches.
Silvertip was already on the hill, grunting heavily, crashing through everything in his path.
Travis had no choice. He had to jump. There was a soft ledge about halfway down. If he could land on that he might roll safely to a stop. He might even be able to stay there, out of reach of the bear.
He had no time to think. No time to cry or pray. He just leaped.
He felt the air cool on his face, welcome on his scrapes. He felt himself floating through the air, moving so slowly he almost believed he was taking flight.
Then he crashed into the ledge.
It no longer looked, or felt, so soft.
He hit hard and rolled, paused for a moment on the edge, then dropped again, heading for the bottom.