Michael stood absolutely still, trying not to panic, trying to think through the situation. It was too late to debate whether he would meet the bear’s gaze or not—they were staring at each other. Michael’s heart raced as his mind jumped through his options. Though he could hear the faint grumbles of a snowmobile and maybe a plow in the distance, they were too far away to be of any help. His instinct was to run, to head for the forest, climb a tree, somehow get some distance, but that was a terrible strategy. First of all, bears were great climbers, much more agile than Michael, especially considering the wound at his side. Also, running changed this into a game of chase, which he definitely didn’t want. The only real option was to stand his ground and try to scare the bear away. It was a long shot, but it was the only thing he had.
The trick was to show greater strength, to make the bear think it didn’t have the advantage, that it was going to lose this standoff. If it worked, even just to stall, Michael could slowly back away. This would have been a little easier without the scent of blood Michael was carrying, but he was going to fight despite the odds.
He needed to be taller and louder than this bear to have any hope of carrying out his plan. Slowly, Michael bent down and grabbed the front plate of the snowmobile, the one he’d been using as a sled. It wasn’t big, but it was better than nothing, so he lifted it over his head. His wound throbbed at the movement, and he tried to ignore it. Stretching was one of the worst things he could do for his side, but it wouldn’t matter if he didn’t make it through this.
Michael started talking calmly. He prayed for help aloud, talking to Him about his fear of the bear. The bear stopped. The animal remained focused on him but was no longer advancing, so he kept talking. And he found himself talking to Ellie.
“I’m coming to find you, Ellie,” he said. “I won’t let you down. I’ll be there for you.”
He gave out more promises, which he hoped he had a chance to fulfill. Somewhere in the back of his mind, as he waved and talked, it occurred to him that he was fighting for his life. Just this morning, he had been buried so deep in his grief that he couldn’t see his way out. But now, with the bear in front of him and Ellie somewhere, struggling on her own, it was quite clear how much he had to live for. He had his family, he had the ranch and, today, he had Ellie. He wanted to live this life so badly. Why did it have to take this for him to realize it?
The Lord works in mysterious ways.
The answer came to him in Sunny’s voice. This had been at the center of their conflict in the months before she died. She had accepted the path in a way that had sometimes even angered Michael—why hadn’t she fought harder?
But right now, as he called out into the forest, with the bear staring at him, Sunny’s message was what he needed to hear. Live the life the Lord has given you, Sunny told him, somewhere deep inside him. Live this life, wherever it takes you.
The bear still hadn’t moved, so Michael stepped back, testing the animal. The bear stepped forward, shooting another spike of fear through him. No amount of survival skills could overpower the scent of Michael’s blood. The animal headed straight for him, so he did the only thing he could think of. Michael poured out his heart.
“I’m not leaving the ranch,” he said to his parents, miles away. “I’m sorry. I know that hurt you for me to say it, but I couldn’t see a way to stay. But now I can. I want to be there for you. I want to honor our family.”
It felt so good to say that, a relief, despite the bear’s moving closer and closer. It was only ten feet away now. Michael’s side burned, but he swung the front plate, ready to fight. Because, despite the fact that he would never get over losing Sunny, he wanted to live. He wanted to experience the joy that there was in life, even knowing that sorrow was there, too. He wanted to experience that with Ellie.
“Sunny, I miss you. I will never stop missing you. And nothing will change that.”
He wasn’t sure who he was talking to anymore. Was he talking to God? These were the things that he had buried deep in his heart, when the suffering had felt like too much. But now they were coming out.
His mind registered a snowmobile wailing in the background, and it was getting closer. Had someone heard him? Were they looking for him? The bear was approaching, its eyes hungry, its mouth open. The snorts came from inside the animal, deep and threatening.
The bear continued forward, growling. Michael took a swing with the front plate then doubled over in pain. The bear stopped. Then the animal reared up on his hind legs and growled. It must have been six feet tall, Michael’s height, but it had a few hundred pounds on him. Even under the best conditions, there was no way that he could fight off the bear with a piece of plastic, and these were far from the best of conditions. But he was going to try.
He swung his shield again, and the bear batted it away, out of his hand. Now it was just him and the bear, facing each other. If this was the way Michael was going to die, he wasn’t going down without a fight. Somewhere in the back of his mind that thought clicked together with his tangled-up feelings about Sunny: the guilt that plagued him was tied up in his grief. He had wanted her to fight harder.
Through the pain of that thought, he had a hard time registering the roar of a motor coming up from behind him. Then the noise clicked and he glanced over his shoulder. A snowmobile stopped right behind him. A driver in a ski patrol jacket motioned to him.
“Get on.”
She didn’t have to tell him twice. Michael jumped on, ignoring the screaming ache from his side, and the snowmobile started forward, away from the bear and into the forest. Michael turned and caught a glimpse of the bear lumbering after them, but they were moving far too fast for the animal.
Thank you, Lord. This time he prayed with meaning. For the first time in years, he felt thankful. Despite the awful turns of the day, there was something to be thankful for. And in that prayer, a glimmer of his old self reawakened, the man who was thankful for what he had. His gratitude had pulled him through many of the difficulties and injustices of the world. He had thought this part of him was dead forever, but here, despite his fear of yet another loss, he was thankful.
Michael held on to the stranger as the snowmobile rattled underneath him. He had never noticed how much these machines shook until now, when he felt every vibration in his aching side. He could barely keep his left arm up, let alone hold on. The adrenaline of coming face to face with the bear was fading, and the cold, the loss of blood and the pain were all setting in.
Everything inside him wanted to ask this driver to just pull over and let him sit for a while, but he refused to give in. Not when Ellie was somewhere out there on the mountain—or worse.
The driver followed the path down the slope of the mountain through the deep snow. The wind whipped icy flakes at Michael’s face as he searched for tracks, for some sign of Ellie as they descended. The avalanche storm had coated the trees in white, thicker and thicker, until they came to a mound of chunky snow that covered the path. The driver brought the machine to a stop, letting the motor idle.
She pulled off her helmet and turned around. She had short, brown hair and penetrating brown eyes. Across her nose was a spray of dark freckles. “You okay?”
Michael didn’t even know where to begin with that question. “I’m alive. Thanks for that.”
“You didn’t have much time left,” she said. “I thought bears generally left people alone.”
Michael wiped the melting snow from his face. “They do, but I smell like blood.” He pointed to the hole in his jacket. “I was shot.”
The woman’s mouth dropped open. Then her gaze turned wary, like she was no longer sure she should have picked him up.
“I don’t have a gun,” he added.
The woman nodded and the lines on her forehead smoothed a little, but the alarm hadn’t left completely. “Hunting accident? Or something else?”
Michael searched for a way to explain the situation that didn’t sound so outrageous. Ellie’s appearance on his property, the amnesia, the go bag, the fight in Ellie’s house... Yesterday, if someone had told him what this day would look like, he would have laughed at them. Michael felt a flash of sympathy for Ellie. It was no wonder she’d been so hesitant to tell him—or anyone—about her situation.
Still, he had to try.
“Someone is chasing a woman I...” Michael swallowed. “A woman I care about. I’m worried she’s out here, alone in the wilderness somewhere, with the man who shot me. We have to help her.”
The woman blinked at him like she had no idea what to do with this information.
“Please,” he added. “This is really important.”
“You’re bleeding,” she said. “You need to go to the hospital.”
Michael shook his head. “First, I need to make sure she’s okay.”
The woman just stared at him. Was she going to overrule his request and do what she thought was best? Ellie didn’t have time for him to go to the hospital.
Slowly, her eyebrows raised. “Look, I was almost caught in the avalanche, so when I heard you calling, I couldn’t ignore it. I had to help. But do you hear what you’re asking me to do? I have a family.”
