Bear and I 2

Chapter 2

Rick had Alexis in the tub and he played with her and helped her splash water. Then he got her out and dried and dressed her. They went into the kitchen where he sat her down. "Breakfast." Rick put it in front of her and watched her reach for it to eat it. It was just what she always did. Using silverware was probably still a little ways off.

"I have to go hunting for a moose today so we have meat for the winter and you get to stay here with Shadow," Rick reminded her.

"MOO!" The word moose was still a bit much for her but she knew what one was. She had already seen her fair share of moose in her young life. They were incredibly big but not nearly as big as her dad was. He was really big.

"This shouldn't take me too long. I'm going to lock the door and you get to play with Shadow and your toys while I'm gone," Rick told her.

"Kay." Alexis didn't mind, she loved Shadow.

"That's my girl." Rick gave her a kiss.

Rick was dressed for this and had his orange vest on. He doubted there was anyone near them but he also didn't want to get accidentally shot.

Rick got his weapon of choice out of the gun safe in his bedroom. He checked it over and made sure he had enough ammunition. He was, of course, going to have to clean it when he was done. He left his bedroom and found Alexis already all over Shadow who was playing back. "I'm going now. You stay inside and play with Shadow. And you!" Rick pointed at Shadow. "Do not eat her toys. The closest vet is over 2 hours from here." Rick knew this for a fact since he had to take Shadow to the vet to get shots.

Rick kissed Alexis, petted Shadow, and locked the front door behind him.

Since he planned to cheat he hooked up the sled to his quad so he could use it to tow his dead moose back with him. He actually had two sleds. One for snow behind his snowmobile and one wheeled to go behind his quad.

Putting on his helmet he stored his rifle, pulled the cord to start the engine, gunned it a couple of times, and took off. He had just the spot he was going to look at first.

- :: - ::: - :: -

The first thing he spotted was a black bear looking around. He was too small to kill a moose but it also told Rick that he was in the wrong spot. The moose didn't know this but it meant he would leave this area just to be safe.

"One down." Rick restarted his quad and headed for spot number 2.

He had been going for maybe 20 minutes when he spotted a male moose ahead of him off to one side. "You'll do nicely." Rick killed his quad and moved a lot closer till he had a really good shot. He lined him up and shot him in the head. His moose was dead before it hit the ground.

Now he had to get his moose to his quad and back home followed by stringing it up so he could skin it, gut it, and start cutting it up so it could go in his underground cold storage at first before getting bagged and into his freezer.

One moose per year was more than enough for the two of them. Next would come going fishing to fill his freezer. Not to mention checking his greenhouse.

Living alone with a little girl was hard work but he wouldn't change anything. There was nothing he wouldn't do for his little girl.

- :: - ::: - :: -

"MOO!" Her daddy was home and it wasn't even lunch yet and he had it hanging already. They both watched Shadow look it over and sniff it. This was his first dead moose so he needed to decide just what this thing was.

"Diaper change?" Rick questioned her and watched her shake her head. She had been a good girl. "You going to watch me skin it?" Rick asked her and saw her smile at him. "Okay but there's going to be blood."

Rick began at an ankle and started skinning it first followed by gutting it. He had all the guts in a bowl that would go out for a bear or someone to eat far enough away from his home. Someone would eat it and he didn't want to waste any of it.

He thanked the moose for its life. "We thank you for your meat and your nice warm skin, Mr. Moose." It wasn't the gralloch prayer but Rick felt the moose's spirit was at peace.

Hearing Shadow bark had him turning to look what he had spotted. He had blood and guts and a dead moose so it could be anything looking for an easy meal.

But what he did see didn't make him happy. "A helicopter and I don't think they're supposed to spin like that." It was going round and round and down toward the ground.

He saw it vanish behind some trees and then saw smoke. "It crashed. Looks like 4 maybe 5 or even 6 miles from here." He knew it wasn't so much the distance but there were hills between here and there and likely more than one stream. Thankfully most of the snow was long since melted and filling various streams.

He also knew there was no one even near there. In fact as far as he knew he was the closest person. "Damn!" This wasn't what he needed.

"Daddy?" He had said a bad word. She wasn't allowed to say bad words but her daddy just had.

"Sorry, Pumpkin." Rick looked at her and then looked at the smoke. If there were survivors he might be their only chance.

"Okay, I need to get this into the cold cellar first." He couldn't just leave his moose hanging like this. That would be inviting disaster.

Next came his next big choice. Did Alexis and Shadow stay or did they both go with him? Five to maybe as much as 6 miles meant he would be gone a long time.

"Let's get you dressed for this." Rick decided she should go with him. Maybe she would see something she shouldn't and maybe she wouldn't. However, at 2 years old she might not remember ever seeing it when she got older.

It meant Rick needed things. His sled was still attached to his quad. He filled the quad with gas. Then he strapped his First Responder backpack to the back of the quad, put some emergency blankets under it, and threw some tools into the sled. He did his best to strap them all down. Then he put another blanket over all that and strapped it down.

"Let's put your helmet on." Rick had a little pink one just for her and she had her coat on and boots instead of shoes.

Rick sat down on the quad and started it. "Up you go." Rick lifted Alexis and put her right in front of him. "Grab hold of me and don't let go." He waited until Alexis had hold of his pants.

"Let's go, Shadow." His place was locked up tight including his workshop. As he left he saw clouds coming over the side of the closest mountain. "A little early for a snow storm."

Rick had had his fair share of snow storms already. None of them were really all that bad. However, this was Alaska. Just wait an hour and the weather would change. It was cool outside but not that cold yet. If he was going to get snow this early it was going to be a long winter. Maybe another moose instead of going fishing depending on how fast it got here.

- :: - ::: - :: -

The view was spectacular and then they landed on a glacier just like advertised. The pilot had them out and let them wander around. Feel the ice and even try sliding on the ice.

"MADDY!" Kate was sliding right for her and was smiling. She hadn't acted like a kid for so very long. This was turning out to be the very best vacation ever.

Now she had Madison sliding with her and she was smiling and screaming and having fun. "This is the greatest thing ever! Right?" Kate asked her and watched her smile get wider.

All too soon they had to go. "That was lots of fun, wasn't it?" Kate said happily.

Kate was sitting in her space with Madison next to her and her parents right behind them. Kate felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to look; it was her mother.

"Thank you." Her daughter was smiling wide and Julia knew it was because of Kate.

"It was fun!" Madison was showing that she was a good kid.

They had their headphones on again and once the engine was running they couldn't talk to anyone or hear anyone except the pilot.

The engine had been running for a little while. "Up we go." He lifted up and just like last time they didn't really feel it till they were actually in the air.

"I've gotten a weather report. We're the last helicopter to come here. Because of the weather we're going to be taking a different route back to the airport." He was a little surprised at a storm showing up at this time of year. It was a little early, but this was Alaska.

They were doing fine when suddenly they were all thrown to one side as the helicopter started spinning. They didn't hear the pilot cussing up a storm and they didn't hear him telling the airport anything but he was. He was giving them his location and what was going wrong.

"I've lost the tail rotor. We're going down! Everyone hang on!" the pilot suddenly told them.

He had gotten them to stop spinning this way but now they were spinning the other way and they were going down nose first. Kate grabbed Madison's hand and held it tight. She would look at her and tell her they would be fine but she wasn't going to hear her. Plus it was hard to even look that way.

Then suddenly they were sideways. Kate didn't know much about helicopters but they weren't supposed to be flying sideways. Only military jets did something like this.

"HANG ON!" the pilot yelled one last time and then the main rotor started cutting tree tops off and the nose slammed into the ground; that was the last thing any of them saw.

The pilot knew someone knew exactly where he was. However, depending on how fast that storm was coming it might be a while before anyone reached them. So someone would show up eventually.

- :: - ::: - :: -

Rick needed to stop to check on everything including Alexis and Shadow. He was betting they had at least another 2 miles to go. "Up you go." Rick picked up Alexis and put her on the ground.

"Here, Daddy?" She knew they were going somewhere. This was her idea of "Are we there yet?"

"Not yet, Pumpkin. This is a rest break." Rick got out his canteen and gave Alexis a drink. Then he got out his folding portable doggie bowl and poured out a little water for Shadow to drink.

Rick still saw a little smoke but not that much any longer. It was fading fast which wasn't good. He was using it and his compass to make sure he was going the right way. All these trees were slowing him down.

"You hungry?" Rick asked her and watched her shake her head.

"Okay break's over." He dumped out what Shadow didn't drink, folded it up, and put it back in his coat pocket. "Up you go." Rick picked her up and put her in front of him.

He started his quad and took off making sure Shadow who was still nice and young, was keeping up. Maybe he shouldn't have brought either of them but it was too late now.

- :: - ::: - :: -

What he needed was to find this helicopter which wasn't putting out any smoke any longer. Damn thing could be anywhere.

Thanks to all the trees and the terrain he was already going slow and had been for over an hour now. "Bingo!" He saw a glint of something shining in the distance.

Rick got as close as he dared. Now he just needed to find someone to make this trip worth it. "Up you go." Rick picked her up and put Alexis on the ground. "Do not move, Pumpkin. Shadow! Stay!" Rick didn't stay, though.

He found the pilot first since he was out of the helicopter and had a big piece of metal in his chest. He checked him anyway. "Dead. Sorry guy." Rick moved to what was left of the helicopter.

He found two up front and two behind those two. He started with the girl first. "Alive! Let's get you out of this." Rick needed to figure out how to get her out.

He had to risk it and carried her to his sled. "Daddy?" He was carrying someone.

"Stay right there, Pumpkin. Don't you move." He had to put her down first, empty his sled, and then put her on the sled. Then back to the helicopter.

Rick checked the woman up front. "Alive!" So far he was batting a thousand. She, however, was taller and bigger and was trapped. He retreated to his tools.

"Daddy?" Alexis wanted to know what was going on.

"Stay right there, Alexis! Don't you move." Rick pointed at her and went back to the helicopter.

He needed to do some cutting to free her and then had to cut some more to free her leg. Rick picked her up. "You weigh more." He lifted her easily but she did weigh more than the little girl.

Now Alexis watched as her daddy carried someone else and put her in the sled and was gone again. But this time Alexis didn't stay in place. She wanted to see these two.

She found a pretty lady and a little girl older than her. And she saw something else. "Daddy!" Only her daddy could fix this. "DADDY!"

"Just stay there, Pumpkin. I'll be right there." Rick almost had to get inside to reach the two in the back. "Dead. I'm so sorry, guy." Rick moved to the woman. "Dead. SHIT!" He was betting these were the parents and maybe just maybe the other two were related somehow.

"Sorry guys." He just didn't have the time to do anything for them. "ID!" He was going to need names. The man's wallet went in one pocket and he found her purse and picked it up.

"Pumpkin?" She had moved like he had told her not to.

"Boo-boo, Daddy." Alexis pointed at the blood she saw.

"Shit! Sorry." He had used a bad word in Alexis's presence again. He really needed to stop doing that.

He unstrapped his First Responder backpack and opened it. Cutting her jeans away on this leg showed him what he didn't need to see. "Compound fracture."

"Ooo, Daddy" Alexis covered her eyes and turned around. Rick couldn't help but grin at her.

He needed to do something about this now or she wasn't going to make it home.

He saw blood and bone but at least she wasn't pumping blood.

Rick talked to himself. "Stop the bleeding, apply pressure, apply and splint above and below the break, pad the splint to help prevent pain. I don't think you're feeling pain at the moment." Rick got to work.

"Cover it to keep it from getting more dirty. Fix all this when we get home." He didn't dare do what he needed to do here.

"You're next, sweetie." Rick moved to the little girl and saw it was mostly just a head wound. He cleaned it, wrapped it, and got busy strapping both of them into place. He also put his tools back in and secured them.

With his First Responder backpack in place he picked up Alexis and put her in front of him and started the quad. "Let's go home, Pumpkin. Shadow, home!" Rick yelled for him since he had wandered off while he was working on the woman. As soon as he showed up Rick started the quad and took off and had to turn around in a wide arc.

He had a nice path to follow to get home and didn't need to check his compass.

- :: - ::: - :: -

"Daddy! Pee pee." She really had to go and her daddy was trying to get her to use the toilet. She didn't understand why but he was trying.

Rick hit the brakes and needed to decide how to handle this. His first idea was to pull her pants down and pull her diaper off or at least down. But she would need to squat and how was he going to teach that out here?

Rick had her stripped including her boots in under a minute. "Cold," Alexis complained since she was naked.

"Shift for me and go pee and then come back," Rick told her and she looked at him. Rick encouraged her. "You know how. You've done this before. We need to get these two home so be fast."

Rick stood there and watched his little girl shift into a really cute bear cub and then jog away. When she came back finally she stood there on all four paws.

"That's my girl! You're so cute. I could just gobble you up." Rick tickled her and listened to her complain. "Fine. Stay a bear for me." Rick picked up all her clothes and her helmet and added them to the sled. He checked on both of them. He still had two live girls in his sled.

"Up you go." Rick picked up his little bear and put her in front of him. "Try not to move," Rick told her. He started his quad, began moving again, and checked to make sure Shadow was keeping up. He had chosen to take up the rear and was following.

- :: - ::: - :: -

"Rest break." Rick was betting about a mile to home. He put Alexis down, got out his folding portable bowl and filled it with water and let Alexis drink followed by Shadow.

"Great, now I have to pee." Rick walked to a tree, opened his pants and peed, followed by zipping back up. "That's better. And stop grinning at me." Rick pointed at Alexis who had a look on her bear face.

Suddenly Shadow howled. This was a new sound for him. Rick didn't know Shadow knew how to howl. He was also sitting next to the sled and howling at the sky.

Rick hurried to the sled and checked the older female first. Then moved to the girl. "DAMN IT!" He didn't say sorry to Alexis this time. He was too upset and angry to apologize for his bad language.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie. So very sorry." He had lost her. He took a shaky breath and wiped away his tears. If that was her parents and he was betting they were, that meant their entire family had died in that crash. All he had left was this woman.

Rick sat down and wiped away more tears and saw Alexis walk up to him. He held her in place so she didn't get too close. She was only two and didn't need to smell death. That was a smell she didn't need to learn this early in life.

"You're a good bear, Pumpkin." Rick hugged her and kissed her fur. Holding her made him feel better. Suddenly this trip had gone to hell.