Redwood Bend

conceal it. “Okay, pal,” Dylan said hoarsely. “Come on, let me give you a hand.” Andy turned and Dylan picked him up, but this time he pulled Andy up facing him and Andy wrapped his arms around Dylan’s neck and his legs around his hips. He held him up under the rump. “That’s a little better,” Dylan said. And they set out again.
Dylan’s watch told him it was eight-thirty and just as he read that, he noticed a glow up ahead. They’d be coming to a clearing and the final rays of the setting summer sun would have lit the way—he just hoped it was the right clearing. He didn’t feel lost and he had seen what he thought were his markers, hoping they weren’t someone else’s.
“Getting there,” he said to Andy.
He felt Andy lean away from him and wipe his cheek; the kid didn’t even cry out loud.
“Do you have any idea how brave you are?” Dylan asked him. “You were still and quiet with that big old bear practically on top of you. You’re the bravest kid I know.”
“I was backing away like you said and tripped over that stupid tree,” he grumbled.
Dylan actually chuckled. “You did good,” he said.
“I’m gonna be in trouble,” he said.
“Aw, you might escape trouble—your mom is going to be so glad to see you. Never do it again, though. Never.”
“’Kay,” he answered. “I have to pee.”
“Hold it,” Dylan said. “Really, I see light. If it’s not the cabin, we’ll take a break and a whizz.”
“’Kay.”
The path came down the hill right behind the blackberry bushes and he saw that it wasn’t the setting sunlight, but headlights. The clearing was full of trucks and SUVs, all with their headlights trained on the forest in every direction. There were only a couple of men in the clearing, among them the town doctor and Conner. Jack’s wife was there, too, probably anticipating Andy’s possible injuries. Wouldn’t they be surprised. Katie was in the clearing, pacing. Leslie was on the porch, doing likewise. He put Andy down.
“Mom!” he yelled and ran, limping, to her. “Mom!”
“Andy! Oh, my God, Andy!” She ran to him and snatched him up in her arms. Mitch burst through the front door from the cabin, charging across the porch and yard to his brother.
Dylan just smiled.
And then he sank to his knees.
“Andy’s bleeding! Andy, where are you bleeding?”
“I’m not,” he said. “I don’t think I am. I didn’t get hurt, only that bear scared me.”
Mel Sheridan ran to them and with Katie, they were examining Andy’s face and hands, looking him over, finding nothing.
Then Conner was striding toward Dylan. “You get a little dehydrated, bud?” he asked calmly.
Dylan just shook his head, looking up at Conner with glassy eyes. It was as if all the adrenaline that got him down the hill and back to the cabin with Andy had drained out of him, leaving him weak. Andy must’ve gotten blood from Dylan’s back on his hands before he wiped his cheeks and eyes. Dylan had a brief and crazy notion that he was glad he couldn’t see his back. In fact, he decided he didn’t want to ever see it. He started to shake a little bit and looked down, trying for composure. Shock. He was going into shock.
Conner stood over him. It took him only a second. “Doc! Mel! Over here!” Then he gave Dylan a little support under one arm. “Christ, man, you got mauled. Here, sit down—let’s get you looked at.”
“Don’t look,” Dylan rasped out. “Bet it’s awful.”
Cameron Michaels was assisting Dylan on his other side. “Easy does it,” he was saying. “We’ll get the gurney over here.”
“I can walk,” Dylan said, more than aware how weak his voice was. “And don’t tell me what it looks like.”
“I’m going to wet your shirt before I cut it off,” Cameron said. “I want better lighting than this.”
“Better than this?” Dylan croaked. “I thought it was daylight with the cars.”
“If we help, think you can make it to the cabin?” Cameron asked. When Dylan nodded, Cameron said, “Let us do the work. You’re weak.”
“That five-year-old is heavy,” Dylan said. “Big for his age. Plus, he had to pee.” The men chuckled as they pulled him up. “God, I’m out of shape,” Dylan muttered, letting them lead him to the porch.
“Mel, will you grab my bag and a set up for IV Ringers?”
“Gotcha,” she said.
“Tell Katie…” Then his voice trailed off.
“Tell me what, Dylan? I’m right here.”
He looked around until he saw her, his eyes