In Wilderness Found

Chapter 6: Urgency

“Let’s go!” Ellis yells in something as close to a whine as he can get.

He throws the rifle over his shoulder and starts trekking off the porch and out to the woodline without his companion. “Better hurry!” He hollers over his shoulder.

When things are too busy on the farm, Ellis usually settles for chicken as sustenance, but he has to be watchful of his numbers since he also sells them occasionally in town. The same with cattle. Hunting wild game has proven to be a sufficient means of providing for himself. Small animals, like rabbits, are the easiest and quickest to capture when you don’t have a lot of time. 

With the barn roof finally patched, the cattle situated, and the garden weeded, Ellis finally has some time to spare. Today, he hopes to come home with something big enough for several meals.

After about a minute of walking, he hears the rapid thudding of footfall behind him. A tornado of tri-colored fur barrels into his legs, and he nearly topples over.

“Gal, quit fooling around,” he scolds the dog, who isn’t bothered in the least by her own clumsy introduction. She simply wags her tail and falls into step beside Ellis.

“We’re looking for deer today,” he tells her.

As if she understands, Gal loses her silly disposition and sticks her nose in the air, which has turned slightly brown from her latest digging adventure. Ellis inwardly cringes. He’ll be filling in holes later. That’s no doubt what Gal has been doing all day while he was working around the farm.

The pair enter the woods, and Ellis slows his footsteps, willing his heavy boots to be silent.

In her typical fashion, the hound takes off in a sprint with her nose alternating from the air to the ground. In spite of her excited movements, she somehow manages to maintain a reasonable level of quiet.

Ellis quickly loses sight of her, but he follows in her direction, keeping his eyes peeled for wildlife and his ears alert for a warning from Gal. 

He has bush-whacked a few decent trails into the woods here, so he can maneuver his way well into the forest without the constant worry of thorns, poison oak, and snakes hiding within the grown-up laurels. 

Despite the day turning to low evening, a good time to find roaming animals as they seek out their resting spots for the night, he sees nothing. Not even a rabbit or a squirrel. 

After an hour of silently wandering the wilderness, Ellis is still empty-handed, and Gal has not returned to him. This is unusual. She only stays gone if she’s discovered the trail of a critter, but he has not heard her tell-tale “I found something” bark.

“Gal, come on!” He yells for the dog. But she doesn’t return.

>>>>>>>>>>>>

Madison was never the most graceful of human beings, but falling barefoot in a creek is a first, despite the many times she’s frequented creeks in her 22 years.

Since being in North Carolina, it seems that she’s completely abandoned all rational thought. First, she ignored all sense of direction on her way to the new homestead. Second, she left that homestead with nothing but a gun, enough food for a couple measly meals, a few changes of clothes, and a horse that is now missing. And third, she’d gotten into a flowing stream without shoes for tread and solid footing.

You know better, Madison scolds herself mentally. She pulls her body out of the creek on wobbly feet. The bottom of her dress drips cold water onto the ground as she sits with a thud on the bank next to a vibrant display of green ferns.

After several resting moments, she realizes that the ankle is still sensitive to the touch and beginning to swell.

“Ridiculous,” she mutters to no one in particular.

Distracted by the throbbing in her ankle and her own frustration, Madison doesn’t even notice the way the forest has quieted drastically. She doesn’t even notice the movement taking place in front of her.

It’s not until she hears a twig snap underneath dog-like feet that she lifts her head, instantly becoming stilled by fear.

She knows that coyotes are nocturnal hunters that travel in packs, and they are mostly skittish of people. So, why is this one alone and staring at her, seemingly unfazed by her presence in the plain morning light?

The brown and gray-furred creature stands across from her on the other side of the narrow creek, in an agile position, head low and limbs that look ready to pounce. Its golden eyes are unreadable as Madison watches it blankly. 

Neither of them move for a moment, and finally Madison’s brain starts to catch up with her shock.

“Hey, you! Leave! Now!” She yells, forcing herself to stand despite the soreness in her ankle. She waves her arms frantically at the coyote, who shows no movement besides a flick of his ears.

Madison swallows hard as she thinks of the prospect that the coyote might be crazed by infection or disease. That could explain the odd behavior.

“Leave!” She screams again. Unlike the raccoon from last night, this animal does nothing but look at her. The two study each other for a long moment before the coyote brings one foot forward and stills again.

The pistol. It is just out of reach inside her satchel. She figures the ringing of a gunshot will be the only thing to scare the coyote off, but there’s no way she can get to it without turning her back to the creature.

Instead, she settles for reaching forward and grabbing a smooth river rock from the creek bank. “Get out of here!” She screams, launching the rock in the coyote’s direction. 

This gets his attention - the coyote lifts from his crouched position and moves slightly to miss being hit. 

Madison keeps yelling as she throws more rocks to the other side of the creek. After emitting a low growl, the coyote turns from her and heads in the opposite direction, his bushy tail swaying behind him. 

She lets out a shaky breath and sinks back to the ground, feeling a new and sudden urgency to find Peaches and get far away from this forest.

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A/N
I just wanted to note that it is very much illegal to hunt deer with dogs in western NC today. But Ellis is in the first half of the 19th century - there were no wildlife regulations or designated hunting seasons back then - so he and Gal get a pass on this one (aaaand some of the other things they do haha).