Saving the White Cougar by Terry Spear

Chapter 16

Stella wished she'd gone with the men, though she knew they'd only worried about her safety, but sitting on the rocks was boring. She was ready to walk home to the ranch and the bunkhouse so she could do something else, even watch a movie or something.

She pulled out her phone and realized she didn't have any cell reception. Great. If she ran into trouble, she couldn't call anyone. She hadn't realized that before when she was out here because she'd been running as a cougar.

She took a couple of pictures of the mountains, but with a cell phone, they weren't as great as if she'd had a camera with her.

Then she saw a black bear headed her way. Holy crap! Now what was she supposed to do? She didn't have a gun or rifle, not that she wanted to shoot the bear, but she would have fired a warning shot and chased it off, hopefully. She moved up higher on the rocks. He could climb up there, she figured. She was a sitting duck. He was sniffing the air, probably wondering if she would make for a good meal, though she didn't think humans were normally on the menu. And the bear didn't have cubs with him, or her, whatever it was.

He stood on his hind legs and though she was still much higher than him, it made chills run down her spine. Then he smelled the air and right before her eyes, he shifted!

Her jaw dropped. "Ohmigod, you're a shifter." Obviously. And big and naked and big. She really shouldn't be staring since she was used to some cougars stripping and then shifting around her. But not bears. Never a bear. That was big. Really big. She felt her face flush with heat.

"Ted and Chase captured one of the men and are after the other," the bear told her. "My name is Blue, and I’m a friend of theirs."

"Oh, uh, thanks for telling me." She motioned with her cell phone. "No reception way out here. I had no idea how things were going with them."

"Hopefully, fine."

Then shots rang out and he shifted in a blur of human and fur combined until he was a bear again and ran off toward where the gun shots rang out in the woods. "Ohmigod, no!" When Stella heard the shooting, she was glad she and Ted had left Zula and Koda at home. She knew they would want to go protect Ted and could have been shot. Her heart was beating like crazy and she wanted more than anything to help out, but she didn't have a gun and she knew she'd just put everyone else at risk.

She was afraid Ted and Chase had found the other hunter and he wasn't turning himself in. But the bear would be in peril if he got involved. She needed to get help to them, if they hadn't called this in themselves, but they might not have been able to if they couldn't get reception either.

She stared in the direction of the shots fired. Several more shots rang out. She felt a cold sweat cover her skin and she prayed Ted and Chase were okay. That if there were any casualties, it would be the man shooting at them.

Then she heard a vehicle pull off onto the old wagon road, and she was thinking help was on its way.

She held the binoculars up and searched the area for any sign of who was in the vehicle.

"Someone else is here," Sims said.

No! Sims was back? Was he friends with the two men Ted and Chase had been after? She wouldn't be surprised. Now she wished she had been armed. She could just envision being shot again—only this time as a human, for real, and she wouldn’t live to tell the tale. When Sims showed up, she was again glad the dogs hadn't been with her. They would have barked and given their location away and she could just imagine the hunters shooting to kill them and both she and the dogs would have been in danger. She really didn't want to have to face that again.

"He told us to pick him up here," Clayton said. "Where the hell is he?"

There had been no more shots fired after Sims and his buddies had arrived. She could see all three men now from where she peered through the rocks, a gap between a boulder and two others that made for the perfect spy hole so she could stay low and hidden. The men didn't know that there had been a shootout. But who had won the confrontation?

She ground her teeth, wishing she could call someone, anyone, to come and arrest these men again. Though unless they climbed the fence, they weren't trespassing.

"Maybe we should climb the fence and see if we can locate them," Clayton said. "Hell, I don’t have any phone reception."

"We could climb up on top of the boulders and see if we can get cell reception up there," Sims said.

No! No reception up here!

She looked around for some other location to hide herself. They probably wouldn't just shoot her, but what if they did? Still, just because they illegally hunted wild animals, rare wild animals, didn't mean they would shoot people. At least not on purpose.

She did have the notion that the men might leave if she stood up on the rock and told them she had just called the sheriff's department. But what if they shot her? Again?

Clayton held the barbed wire fence down with his boot and Sims crossed over the fence. They had crossed the line. Or at least Sims had. Now he was trespassing again. And he could be charged with it and maybe even returned to jail. She checked her phone. Still no bars.

Then the other man, Braxton, said, "I'm staying here with the vehicle in case Fenton and his friend show up." But he held down the fence for Clayton.

Clayton climbed over it and Stella was thinking the Havertons needed to put up a better fence to keep hunters off the land. She was still shocked about the bear, but glad he had run off and these men hadn't seen him. They were all carrying rifles. She'd thought they'd had them confiscated because of shooting her, but she suspected they had even more from where those had come from.

Then she saw a couple of Land Rovers tearing across the terrain toward the trees as Clayton started to climb up the cliff.

"Hell, that doesn't look good," Sims said. "Let's get out of here."

"You think someone caught them trespassing?" Braxton asked.

"Maybe. Hopefully they shot the cougar before we arrived and they already sent us pictures of it," Sims said.

"Well, if they didn't, they don't get paid for the job," Clayton said.

"You know," Braxton said, getting his keys out. "If they got caught, they could spill the beans on us."

Sims scoffed. "They wouldn't dare."

Then Clayton pushed the barbed wire down so Sims could get over the fence, and then Sims reciprocated while Braxton had hurried to get into the truck and started the engine.

"We better hurry," Sims said. "Looks like one of those Land Rovers is on its way to the cliffs."

"Hell, do you think they saw us?" Braxton asked.

"We'll be out of here before they reach us and they'll never know we were here," Sim's said, climbing into the passenger's seat up front.

"What about the cougar?" Clayton asked, moving faster now as he jerked the truck door to the back seat open and jumped in.

"We'll have to come back some other time. I'm determined to prove we were right," Sims said.

Clayton slammed the back door shut and Braxton drove off down the old wagon road.

Stella breathed a sigh of relief that they were gone, but she was so worried about the others, she could barely think straight. She saw Hal driving the Land Rover toward her as she used the binoculars to make him out.

She was glad someone was coming for her, but she sure hoped everyone else was all right. She waved from her perch above and then headed down the cliffs, carefully. She didn't need to fall and injure herself.

Then she was down at the bottom just as Hal pulled the Land Rover to a stop.

"What happened? Is everyone all right?" She hurried to get into the vehicle. She wanted to tell Hal about Sims and the others, but she had to know about Ted and Chase.

"Ted and Chase are okay. They had to shoot Fenton, one of the two hunters. The other had gone with Chase and Ted. He was handcuffed. But Fenton was shooting at them, not about to be taken into custody."

"Don't tell me. He has warrants out already for his arrest."

"Yeah, he does. The other man doesn't. A couple of traffic violations is all. But the guy he'd come out with? Fenton? He murdered a family in Denver, and he'll be sent up there to face charges. He has been shot, not fatally, but Ted shot him in the arm and Fenton might have lost the ability to use that arm."

"But the guys are all right?"

"Yeah, the hunter with Fenton? Man, was he mad. Fenton could have killed him in the barrage of bullets Fenton was firing at the three of them. Maybe he thought the other hunter would rat him out so he figured he'd just take all three of them out. Ted roped the other hunter.” Hal chuckled. “Chase said that was a sight to see.”

She smiled, glad Ted could use his roping skills to take down a bad guy. "I couldn't get any cell phone reception. Not even up on top of the cliff. How did you get word about the shootout?"

"We heard the shooting. Chase hadn't reported in on his radio when he was supposed to. We figured there was trouble. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, you came in the nick of time. Sims and his buddies had shown up and he and Clayton climbed over the fence. They were supposed to pick up Fenton and the other guy, then they saw the Land Rovers and figured you'd caught the men."

"Hell."

"Yeah. I was worried. They were planning to climb the cliffs to get cell phone reception. I was hiding because I wasn't sure how they would react if they found me up there. Anyway, they said they were still going to find the cougar, to prove it existed, but they were going to wait."

"Did you get a picture of them on this side of the fence?"

"No. They might have seen me, and they were armed with rifles."

"Okay, well we have to make this area off-limits to cougars running for now. And we'll keep up surveillance of the area. I'm sorry that Ted and Chase left you to fend for yourself, but I'm glad you weren't in the middle of the shootout either."

"What about the horses?" Stella should have thought of them sooner.

"They were tied up out of the range of all the shooting. They were fine."

Stella sighed.

"I swear we don't usually have this much trouble."

She smiled at him.

"Really."

"I believe you. Maybe I'm just bad luck." That's what she was beginning to think. If the men hadn't believed the white cougar was still on the property, they wouldn't have sent more hunters to try and kill it or bag it or whatever they planned to do with it.

"You're not bad luck. We've had issues before. Every situation is different."

"Maybe we could make a Photoshopped version of a white cougar and share it, saying these hunters had killed it. Maybe they would get some bad publicity for it. And that would be the end of anyone coming to kill it."

"But then we would be saying the men hadn't made it up or imagined what they had done was real. And their lawyer would want to see the body of the cougar for evidence they had shot it."

"Oh, true. That wouldn't work. I just thought if people believed it was gone, no one would bother the ranch and the lands any longer."

When they finally reached the ranch, she saw Ted coming out of the barn where he must have put up the horses. He raced to hug her.

"Ohmigod, Ted, I was so worried about you and Chase." She hugged and kissed him. "Are you both really okay?"

"Yeah, we are. Sorry it took us so long to come and get you. I would have, but Hal said he could get there faster, and I needed to take the horses in."

"Be sure and tell him about Sims," Hal said. "I'm off to talk to Chase and Dan about it." Then Hal took off.

Stella hadn't wanted to talk to Ted about what had happened to her when it was nothing like what had happened to him and Chase with regard to the wanted criminal. But it was better if it came from her first.

Ted took her inside the bunkhouse and they both got some water to drink. Then she explained what had happened to her.

Ted's face turned a little red and she smelled the anger he was feeling about the men being so close to her again, and maybe that they had been a danger to her. "Damn, Stella, I thought you would have been safe where you were." Then he told her what had happened to him and Chase. "Fenton began shooting at us and we had to protect his partner because the guy was shooting at all three of us. His partner wanted his rifle back and the handcuffs off so he could shoot back, but that wasn't happening. If Fenton had killed us, the other guy would have to have taken his chances, but we couldn't risk freeing him and then him shooting us in the back. Then I finally managed to get a shot off and hit Fenton in the shoulder. I swear I heard the bone shatter. Maybe his shooting days are over, if he manages to get himself out of the murder charges he's up on in Denver. Though he’ll be charged with his crimes here too."

"Did his hunting partner know he was wanted for murder?"

"No. He was shocked, and he said he knew Fenton wasn't just trying to kill us, but him too. He's eager to testify at the trial against him," Ted said.

“Oh, I forgot to mention, a bear shifter named Blue came to tell me what was going on with you guys. Scared me to pieces when he showed up and then stood up. I was afraid he would climb up the rocks and fight me or something. Anyway, then he shifted and said he was friends with you and the others in Yuma Town. But he heard the shooting you all were doing and left to help, I think, before Sims and his cohorts in crime arrived.”

“Hell, it’s a good thing Sims and the others didn’t see him.”

“I agree.”

"I need to take a shower."

"Do you want to do a solo shower or—"

"With you if you're agreeable. I need to think of something else. I won't be able to quit thinking about you being alone when Sims and the other men showed up."

"I would have called for help, but my cell phone wouldn't work."

"We need to get some more of those satellite phones. Chase had said his wasn’t working, so he needs to replace it."

Ted and Stella took a nice hot shower, soaping each other down, kissing, rinsing off, but not making love in the shower. Some other time would be fine, but they both had just been through an experience and a half, and they needed to just chill.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" Ted asked.

"A romantic comedy. No wild west shootouts this time, or thrillers, or dark dystopian."

"You got it," Ted said.

They got dressed, then ended up in the living room with a bag of popcorn and curled up together, a blanket over the two of them, glasses of water, and the movie that promised to make them laugh.

"Are the horses okay? I asked Hal. He said they were, but I worried about them with all the shooting."

"They're not gun shy and they were way out of range."

"Okay, good." Then she finally relaxed and enjoyed the popcorn, cuddling with Ted, and the movie, glad they had gone for the ride to see the cliffs, which she'd hoped would reassure her that it was safe now to go there. But maybe, with this latest roundup of hunters, they wouldn't have any more hunters entering the property—not if they figured they would be arrested too. Not that Sims and his buddies would stop trying, but it was easier to go after three men, than a bunch of different ones if he should hire others to accomplish the mission.

"You know eventually, if the cat died, the vultures would feast on it and it would be gone. So they're going to have to figure the cougar won't be around much longer," Ted said.

She hadn't planned to say any more about it, just enjoy the movie, but like him, she was still thinking about it. "Right. But if they think they didn't kill it, they could still keep looking for it, just to prove they had truly shot a white cougar."

“I understand what you mean. What would you like to do now?" Ted asked.

"Is it too cold for a barbecue on the back patio?"

"It's never too cold for grilling. I've even done it when it's been snowing."

She laughed.

"Seriously. I had the steaks, the plans, and the snow came in early. I wasn't going to let that stop me."

"I love you."

He chuckled. "I love you too, honey. So what do you want grilled?"

"Chicken legs, if you’ve got them. I've been feeling like having them for a while."

"Chicken legs it is."

"I'll make us mashed potatoes and gravy and—"

"Brussel sprouts?" he asked.

"Sure, that sounds good. Not to change the subject, but that's scary about the pot growers in the area. I've read where people have been killed who come across the plants in state or federal parks," Stella said.

"Yeah, the first time we found acres of the plants growing in sprout form, we got rid of them in a hurry. Some of us were running as cougars and smelled the plants growing and followed our noses. A couple of growers were sleeping there in a tent and I stayed with Hal to watch them while Tracey ran back to the ranch house by herself to call up the troops. We couldn't do anything to them until we had agents in human form to arrest the men."

"Were the men armed?”

"They were. People like that are dangerous. They make so much money from those crops that they'll kill anyone without any remorse at all."

"Have you ever had to kill anyone who fought back?"

"Yeah. It's our property and our lives at stake. If they won't give up and choose to shoot first, we aren't taking any chances. The thing we've found is that rather than them pushing the issue and attempting to grow the illegal crops on the Halvertons’ land, once they have the problem with us, they realize it's a losing battle for them and they cease and desist. We're not just a horse ranch, but a unified cougar community. Not to say that we won't ever have an issue with it at some later date. We might. Which is why we keep an eye on it. They never come anywhere near the horse ranch though. We have too much activity going on there."

"Good."

"What did you want to do for the rest of the afternoon?" Ted asked.

She noticed the clouds were beginning to form again and she suspected they were going to get a repeat of yesterday's afternoon storms.

"It looks like more storms might be coming in this afternoon. So after grilling, we can watch a show? And whatever else that comes to mind." Taking a nap came to mind because they had made love a couple of times during the night as if to make up for the two weeks she would be gone. And of course if they took a nap, they would just have to make love too.

He smiled at her. "You read my mind."

Rather than barbecue the chicken, Ted made lemon and pepper chicken that was absolutely out of this world. Once they cleaned up the grill and put it under wraps, the clouds were darkening, worsening, streaks of lightning shooting down to strike the ground off in the distance.

"We timed that right," she said, grabbing the last of the plates and cups from the patio table before the rain came down in sheets, hitting the patio cover and Ted closed the door against the blowing rain. They laughed and hugged each other after they put the dishes and cups in the dishwasher.

Then the electricity shuddered and went out. It was still daylight, but it was dark because of the pounding storm.

"Bed, then the movie, if our electricity comes on after we're done taking a nap and whatever else we can come up with." Ted chased her into the bedroom.

They made love, napped, and finally woke to find that the electricity was back on. Snuggling on the couch, they watched a movie and she wondered how it would be to stay here with Kolby in residence also. It wouldn't be quite the same. After the movie, Ted and she went over house plans and they decided on one they both loved with an open kitchen/living room arrangement, a master bedroom and bath, and five bedrooms—one for an office, one for a game room, and the other three for guests when Ted's family came to visit and for kids when they had some.

"The dogs will stay with us, won't they, once we move into the house?" she asked.

"You bet, but don't be surprised if Kolby starts asking Hal if he can have a dog too."

Stella laughed. "As long as we have our two. Oh, and a garden wall, just like Tracey has with the fancy garden gates too."

“Naturally.” Ted kissed her.

She loved how Ted was a man of action and the first thing he did was call up a contractor—a cougar—who would build the house of their dreams.