Chapter 16

Lance dropped what he was doing and hurried to the house for his bow. The scream had raised the little hairs on the back of his neck. He rushed toward the sound, sliding on the slick ground, grabbing bush and shrub to help him down the slope. His heart was pounding and he feared what he might find. Gilbert and Belinda were nowhere to be seen, and his intuition was tripping like a live wire.

Watching the ground closely for signs, he spotted some scat and noted the prints as he hurried along. The light snow covering would make it easier for him to track the beast, but he worried he would be too late.

Lance hit a particularly slick spot, a leaf-covered slope wet with snow, and slid several yards before stopping himself by grabbing a low-hanging branch. His bow fell from his hand and tumbled to the bottom of the incline. Dangling from the limb, he tried to calm his breathing and use his head. It wouldn’t pay for him to get hurt. Carefully, he released his hold and made his way down, retrieving his bow from where it had fallen. Glancing around, he picked up the cat’s trail again and using a little more caution, he moved alongside the prints.

He saw no hoof-prints in the fresh snow, but that didn’t mean anything. The snowfall had been light but steady all morning and would have covered any signs left by the goats. He tried to remember if he had seen either goat since he’d released them that morning, but he couldn’t recall. He’d been too wrapped up in his fence project to really pay attention. However, the big cat’s tracks were fresh and he hoped she was just trolling for a mate, not for prey.

As he went deeper into the forest, his hand clenched the bow tighter. How he hoped he would come upon the great cat and bring her down! The trail led around a copse of aspen and through some underbrush, which he skirted. As he cleared the brush, his eyes found the sight he had been dreading. His heart raced as a flush crept up his neck and over his face.

Ah, damn it all to hell! He dashed into the clearing where Belinda’s bloody remains lay lifeless in the snow. He rushed to her side, dropping his bow to the snowy ground. Lifting her mangled body to his chest, he howled like a madman.