Jesse has inherited his Grandfather's ranch now he must fight his father to keep it while he must honor his Grandfather's last wish by seeking Coyote.

Thank you Hope for your encouragement and help in editing. Thanks to all who have commented or left Kudos. All errors left in this story belong solely to me.

Chapter 14 A Cougar in the Night

The momentum of the leap carried the cougar past the girls. Merry landed on the larger girl knocking the breath out of Jesse. The wolf girl jumped up growling and baring her teeth to face the cougar. Big Spot's speed carried him into the clearing. When he turned, he saw the cougar facing the little girl with his rider not moving on the ground.

{{Human do you think you can stand against me?}} laughed the cougar.

Merry stood her ground growling, “I am a wolf, a member of Strong Heart's Pack. I am not scared of an overgrown cat.” She had put so much contempt in the word cat that she could see the seething rage in the animal.

{{Human, I am the puma that kills wolves for pleasure. I am the one that killed the member of your Pack. Now you will learn to fear. Before I finally kill you, you will know fear.}}

Jesse had lain on the ground listening to the exchange between the young wolf and the cougar as her breath returned to her. She started to get up and put herself between the two, when Big Spot came galloping right at the cougar. The cat dodged the charge, but now it had to contend with an angry horse. The horse had not runoff frightened as it had intended. The sharp hooves and weight of the horse could break a bone or cause deep gashes. The nimbleness of the cat was the only thing that kept it from being injured.

{{Horse, you are going to die for getting between me and my game.}}

{{You don't scare me. I have been to the wolves den and back. What more can you do to me?}}

Jesse started to get up again when she realized that her left arm was broken. It hung uselessly at her side as she stood. With her good arm she pulled Merry back and told her to run toward the clearing. Big Spot was already slowly giving ground to the cougar backing to the clearing. Jesse knew if she could get the cat into the clearing they might have a chance.

As Merry was running to the other edge of the clearing she found where Jesse's bow had fallen off of Big Spot. The sharp tips of the arrows reminded her of teeth, so she grab as many as she could to throw at the cat. Also, if the cat came too close to her she might be able to stab at it to keep it away.

Jesse seeing that Merry was intending to take part in this fight tried to tell her to stay away. Merry just bared her teeth and growled. Knowing she could not keep the small girl out of the fight, she had to think of something quick to kill the cat or run it off. Jesse remembered how the two males kept circling trying to find a weakness when she fought side by side with Merry's sister. She also remembered some of the nature shows she had watched where a wolf would attack a large or more dangerous animal from behind. When the animal turned to defend itself another wolf would attack from behind. The cat was so concentrating on the horse, it didn't notice that Jesse had slipped to the side of the clearing.

When ever the cougar came close to the horse, Big Spot would make small charges striking out with his front legs. This kept the cougar off balance enough it could not get to the neck of the horse for a kill. Once in the clearing, it could circle the horse to find a weakness. As it circled, Merry threw an arrow at the cat. It wasn't much of a throw, but as it hit the cougar the sharp point made a small cut. The cat turned quickly to see who was attacking it from behind. Big Spot charged the cat to keep it from attacking the little wolf-girl.

Jesse was transfixed when she saw Merry throw the arrow. She was sure that the cougar would kill the little girl. With her good arm she had pulled her grandfather's pistol. She had to be careful that when she was able to shoot at the cougar that she wouldn't hit one of her friends.

When Big Spot charged him again, the cat decided to ignore the humans and concentrate on killing the horse. He was circling again when Merry threw another arrow at him. The arrow didn't come close this time. He had circled close to the older human and noticed she had some strange thing in her hand, but he had circled close to her before and she did not attack.

Jesse was watching the cougar circle. And she knew that Big Spot was doing all he could to protect them. It seemed every time she could shoot at the cougar, Big Spot was opposite her from the cat. If she missed or if the bullet didn't stop she might hit the horse. Time seemed to drag as she waited for her chance. Every time the cat came close to Merry she would throw an arrow, but she just didn't have the strength to make a difference.

Big Spot knew Jesse had the gun and began to wonder why she had not shot yet. He was concentrating so hard on keeping the cat at bay he didn't see that he was in the line of fire. By about the third circle he realized he need to get some separation between him and the cat to give Jesse a chance to shoot. As the cat went by the older girl again he saw what was happening. He waited until the cat was by the girl and charged the cat. The cat ran a few steps away.

Jesse saw what happened that would give her the separation that she needed. Just as the cat passed her on the next circle she nodded at Big Spot who made the charge again. The cat ran away the few steps giving Jesse the chance she was looking for. Jesse held her breath and eased into the trigger.

The loud report startled the large cat. Something had bit deep into its side. It tried to turn and see what had attacked it, but its legs didn't move. Something wasn't right. It had been wounded in a fight before, but he had won the fight and had healed. This was different. He was on his side. He tried to stand again, but his body was not cooperating. If he could just get up and run away, he would kill the human some other day. He felt his breathing become shallow. This isn't right. He was the top of the food chain. He was the top predator. His vision was beginning to fade as he heard the human walk cautiously over to him. If she gets closer, maybe he can get up, kill her and run back into the trees. She did get closer and gently nudged his body with her foot. He willed his body to get up, but it just lay there. He tried one more time to will his body to get up as his vision faded to blackness.

Jesse walked cautiously over to the cougar. She was ready to shoot it again if it moved. She watched the tail twitch as the eyes slowly closed. She knew she had to kill the animal. It was trying to kill them. The finality of the fight sparked something inside her. She watched the tail twitch one more time, when she threw her head back and howled the howl of victory. Merry came over to her and they howled together. The other animals in the forest stopped to listen. They knew what that howl meant. A wolf had overcome its enemy.

Jesse suddenly sat down and started crying. She was emotionally spent and had only one way to express it. Big Spot came over to her and nudge her with his soft nose. {{You did good little one. You rid the forest of an evil. Merry's family will be safer now that this animal is dead.}}

“I know my friend. I just had to let my emotions out. You were so brave to face that cougar. You could have runoff and no one would have blamed you.”

{{I would have blamed me.}}

With that Jesse stood and hugged the big animal's neck with her good arm. “I am so glad that you stayed.”

Jesse then turned to the little girl. “You were so brave too. You should have found a tree to climb or a place to hide. I was so scared that you would have been hurt.”

“Wolves don't leave their sisters to fight alone. I was not going to let a cat hurt you.”

Jesse laughed at the girl. “You are just so big and brave. I am going to have to watch you.”

Jesse turned back to Big Spot. “I hope you don't mind, but I can't take your saddle off. My arm is broken. I don't know if I will be able to get back on you in the morning. Lets see if we can get a fire going and then we will try to sleep tonight.”

Jesse started gathering small twigs and sticks to start the fire. She had Merry gather sticks about the size of her arm. This size stick would burn faster than a large log, but while in a camp fire the larger logs may reflect the heat they need the smaller sticks to keep them burning. They soon had a nice fire going over which the older girl boiled some of the dried beef. After eating, Jesse thought she had better do something for her arm to immobilize it. She reached into her saddle bag to pull out her first aid kit. The throbbing pain was beginning to increase now that the excitement of the evening has worn away.

The first aid kit was prepared by her Grandfather. He was a believer in being compact, but he also believed in being prepared. She found the thing she needed in the kit, a large ACE bandage. She chose two straight sticks from the pile of wood for the fire then had Merry and Big Spot to come over to help her.

“Merry I need the sleeve from my coat. Will you please get it for me?”

“Big Spot what I need for you to do is step on my coat here and then pull the sleeve off”

The horse stepped on the coat where he was shown. Then he grasped the sleeve in his teeth to pull it loose. The older girl then carefully worked the sleeve up her broken arm to pad it from the sticks she was going to use as a splint. She had Merry hold the sticks in place while she slowly wrapped the bandage around the sticks and her arm. Once this was done, she had to find material to make a sling.

The adrenaline from the fight was wearing off, and the throb from the broken arm was getting stronger. Jesse looked in her saddle bags to find something to make into a sling. She took a shirt and tied the sleeves together, put it around her neck, and placed her arm into the loop. It wasn't perfect, but it would get her off the mountain. She found some pain killers in the first aid kit, which she swallowed with some spring water. Jesse showed Merry how to add sticks to the fire with out getting burned and throwing sparks in the air. They built up the fire and huddled together in the sleeping bag to stay warm. The two girls would depend on Big Spot to alert them of any danger. With that, they went to sleep.

The next morning Jesse stoked the fire and made them breakfast out of some of the dried beef. With just one arm, she couldn't roll the sleeping bag, so she just folded it as best she could. She had just finished getting everything on the horse, but couldn't figure out how to attach the slippery sleeping bag. She was about to give up when she heard motors coming up the trail. George came riding into camp on the ranch's four wheeler with two other ranch hands following on the other four wheelers.

“BOY! Am I glad to see you,” Jesse said as she ran over to hug George's neck. “I was stumped on how to get the equipment on Big Spot and then to get Merry and I mounted with this arm.”

George stood there stunned for a few second when this strange girl had run up to him and hugged him like she had known him all her life. He had pushed her back to get a look at her and then it dawned on him. “Jesse? You look just like your Aunt. She was a beauty, but she couldn’t hold a candle to you.”

Jesse stood there a moment blushing, then she remembered her manners, “George I would like for you to meet my new sister. This is Merry Heart. Merry, this is my ranch foreman and best friend George Shilling. His wife Gail, whom you will meet later, will take care of you while I have to go back east to save the ranch.”

“We need to get back to the ranch,” said George. “Time's getting short and we've much to do. Jerry will bring Big Spot back. Josh will bring Merry, and you will ride with me.”

Jesse walked over to the horse, “Jerry's a good hand he will take good care of you. I will tell him to let you out in the pasture tomorrow. Thank you for protecting us.” The older girl hugged the horse's neck and had walked over to get on the four wheeler when Jerry called, “George, come over here. There's something you need to see.”

George walked over to where Jerry was standing, and the ranch hand pointed out the dead mountain lion. “Jess, there seems to be more to your tale than you have let on.”

“He attacked us last night as we were coming into camp. He knocked us off of Big Spot. That's how my arm got broken. If it wasn't for Big Spot fighting the cat, it would have killed Merry and me. Merry kept throwing arrows at it to try and distract it and Big Spot kept its attention until I could get a shot at it.”

“That little girl was throwing arrows at it? And the horse didn't run away?” stated George. “We will have a very long talk on the plane trip east. What do you want to do with the cougar, now?”

“I don't care. I am ready to get back to the ranch and get a shower and clean clothes.”

“Jerry, bring the cougar with you. We will find someone who can take the hide and do something with it. The cat still had its winter coat. It might make a good vest or something.” said George. “Let's get you girls off the mountain and taken care of. We have an early morning tomorrow.”