Fishin' For Bears
John eyed Cassie's rig, where it stood, the rod in it's holder securely staked into firm, sandy soil...as it was designed to be, along a shore next to some of the deepest water with it's lure in the water where lived the biggest potential fish.
She had also secured the rig to a handy scrub oak...: He hadn't expected that kind of rig, though he should have...since she had been doing all her fishing in surf until now. So, of course she had a really good rig, but it was a salt rod and had 300lb flatline test.
He sighed, hoping Roy was doing alright with Jo and Chris. He kept an eye on the girls and finally shrugged, there wasn't much that rig couldn't handle, that was for sure, it was set up for shark, after all. This area had a few pike and some of those were massive, but not big enough to break his Cassie's line. Cassie wasn't old enough to require a fishing license anyway, but he couldn't help wonder what was next.
This trip, including the planning stages, had already been something of a series of problems.
First, the trip to the ER for x-rays to see if the cast could come off the week before had taken four attempts just due to how busy the rest of the department had been on their day off...the ER was so packed that while Cassie waited her turn, Dixie had pressed-ganged her Dad and Uncle John into service. It had taken nearly ten hours to clear out enough so that Cassie's non-emergency x-rays could be taken...but the cast came off as soon as the results came back to Joe. And by that time her temper was shot and she was having a screaming tantrum...she wanted her Daddy back and wanted him back right now! Which after ten hours surprised nobody...Roy had scooped her up and headed out the door while the ER still counted itself lucky that he was removing the source of those diamond-shattering squeals.
Getting the time off had been a pain, even though both men had six months of paid vacation time saved up. The scheduling was a pain in the ass, truly, but they finally got the full month they had wanted. John had spent the four months they had to wait to get it teaching the children everything he could about horses and trail riding.
One of those long, slow afternoons had seen a call from Jo Anne having him have to send Cassie into tears that lasted for days when a neighbor's dog somehow got into the fenced backyard and killed her rabbit before Holler and the twin's re-named mixed breed Catchit! could drive it off. He'd had to tell her and his big heart ached when she'd folded up on herself and tears fell like a thunderstorm of rain. She'd crawled into John's lap and stayed there, sobbing until Roy got to Johnny's ranch. Not that the twins weren't upset, because they were, but it wasn't their rabbit.
Once her Dad got there, she set up another deathgrip on Roy and time stopped for a while. He'd already buried it and set up a marker, grateful she'd neither seen nor heard it die, or saw the dogfight that had followed. The bluetick had ripped the neighbor's dog up pretty bad, actually, without being touched much, a few scratches was all, easily dealt with. The heavier mixed dog, Catchit, had mostly kept the trespasser from escaping until Holler finished punishing it...the trespasser had been ready to leave a good while before the hound was ready to let it run away. The hound and Mr. Dibbles had been babies together.
What had taken so long to get to her was the police having been called by the neighbor who owned the chewed up dog. Nothing had come of it, both the DeSoto dogs were in their own back yard and the ripped up bunny spoke for itself. The neighbor's dog had caused problems before and this time the owner had been arrested for several crimes and was going to be jailed as well as fined and his dog was picked up by the pound as a vicious if poor fighter. One that needed a vet, rather badly considering all the wounds Holler had inflicted.
"The neighbor's mutt tied it on with a hound, one bred to hunt, fight and kill raccoons...and raccoons are vicious fighters." the cop had said. "His mutt killed your daughter's pet and the owner was seen by another neighbor letting the dog in, then opening the hutch and putting the poor rabbit on the ground. It was deliberate and he's going to jail for several things, one of which is several counts of animal and child abuse. He admited to placing a large rattlesnake in your garage for fun and said he was angry at the girl who killed it. Letting his dog destroy her pet was revenge, apparently. He didn't count on that bluetick of your's kicking the shit out of his dog."
Roy was infuriated but there had been little he could do except press charges and go to his child.
He had talked her into allowing a new pet a few weeks after the killing, saying her rabbit would expect her take care of some creature who needed her. She agreed, but not right away. She would know the right one, she told Roy once the waterworks ceased for a while. She said she didn't want something so defenseless again so a cat or another rabbit was out.
John supposed he should've see it coming, Roy and Jo Anne had to agree to that, it should have been obvious after Gage took Roy's kids to the BLM's local mustang corrals a couple times, then let them come along to pick up one he'd bought, letting the people who worked there explain to the kids how mustangs could be purchased. Cassie had brought enough in her wallet for a pregnant mare who was considered 'obstinate even for a mustang'. "Gonna give the mare to my Uncle Johnny, but her baby or babies if there's twins, are gonna be mine." She told the BLM man as she paid cash. She also told him what her Dad said her rabbit wanted and what had happened to Mr. Dibbles. "So, you guys gave up on the Mama but the babies deserve a chance. So, she's Uncle's and the foals are for me." She pointed at the rover and the trailer behind it. "He's got his trailer, right there. He got a gelding and he's at the chute already."
The BLM rep went to talk to her Uncle, who turned to look at her, eyebrow raised and then just nodded. "Works. I'll train the foal or foals myself. I've got plenty of stable space and pasture. Lots of room...and a chainlink, not barbwire, fence."
"Works, Gage. At least we know you and that you're able. She told us her Dad claimed her rabbit would have wanted her to get a critter that needed her."
"Yeah, I was there for that conversation. Roy knows that Cassie is an obedient little thing, so he brought this on himself." He chuckled. "Since his wife agreed, they're just going have to suck it up, since once she foals and that child sees the baby or babies, she's going to be in love and that will be that."
It had been too...the mare was in late pregnancy and the move caused her enough stress to foal within a couple of days. What shocked Johnny was that the mustang seemed to understand that Cassie was a human foal and would let the girl handle her though not John...not until Cassie insisted. Chris, Crystal and Jo Anne had watched outside the loose box as John helped the mare to foal, Cassie and her Dad a few feet away. She had twins, both colts and soon Cassie was sprinkling ground up salt and mineral block bits on the toweled off, but still damp babies.
"Uncle John, harness team and trail horses, both, for the colts."
"Yeah, that certainly works." He agreed. "What about names?"
"I want to know what kind of personality they have first...and they haven't got one yet."
"That's fair." Roy nodded. "There's plenty of time to decide on names. Eventually, she'll start calling each of them some sort of nickname and that will do."
"Yeah, that works, Daddy. I like that idea. I think they'll name themselves like the dogs did and like Mr. Dibbles did." She looked sad for a moment. "I miss my bunny."
"I know sweetheart." Roy answered softly, drawing her close for a hug...and got pushed out of the way by the mare who drew the girl in close with her muzzle. John stared thoughtfully.
"I'll saddlebreak her for Cassie...I don't think there'll be a problem. Cassie, the mare needs a name sooner."
"She's Salted Mama Redux, since salting the babies'll fix that one bad habit she's got." The little girl looked at him like he was nuts. "Can't you tell?"
"Ah. Good point, 'Mama' I can see...sometimes it really is that simple. And the Salted part?"
"Can we mineral-mix the salted babies now?"
"Yeah, let's do that. I guess it does make sense."
"Uncle Johnny, I love you, so it's okay that you're silly."
He eyed her for a moment, avoiding Roy's grin and ignoring the three giggling people in the audience. "I love you too, kid." He finally answered, chosing to ignore the 'silly' accusation...though Chris' laughing 'Uncle John's always like that' didn't help. Neither did Jo's 'Oh, she's got you pegged, John.'
The mare needed the salts and was a lot more dedicated about getting every last bit from both foals. She had a history of rejecting one of any set of twins, but the salts headed that off nicely. By the time the second foal was clear of minerals, there was a proper tight bond between the mare and both twins...and Cassie was feeding her bits of sweet fruits, not just apples, either. She introduce Redux as she'd named her, to dried pineapple which was sugary and to salted cashew nuts and bits of banana and papaya. And then gave her a bran mash and a double measure of sweet feed before John told her that was enough food.
She freshened the mare's water bucket and put hay in it's pile in it's corner of a clean stall. They got the babies up and moving in their wobbly way, following Redux into the new stall...twice the size of the one she'd foaled in and she settled easily.
The thick straw had tripped her babies when they tried to explore after nursing, but they were content to sleep, their first few hours had been tiring. The mare was aware of the presence of other mares, some with foals, in the surrounding stalls...all calm and happy...and this reinforced her notion that the human foal had brought her to a good place. She had no solid thoughts or words, but she, in her vague animal way, understood enough. The little mustang had more than three quarters Arab in her and in her horsey way had decided that the little human foal who brought her to safety and plenty was her human...she'd waited for so long. Sometimes bonds set that fast, too.
The trail ride had started off well enough. The first couple of days had been a lot of fun, in fact. If Chris hadn't decided to pet a black bear cub, things would have continued to be fine. One squall...John shuddered at the memory, glad it hadn't been worse, but Roy and his wife had been chopper lifted out with their badly injured son while John stayed with their daughters. Several bites and a clawing from the dam had been the result. John wished he could say the boy didn't know better, but he did. Gage said nothing, keeping his mouth shut. Roy knew that, so did Jo, they didn't need to hear it. Squad 18 showed up in copter 5 and at least it was a squad that used the same hospital they did.
"You going too, Gage?"
"Nope, patient is Roy's son and his wife is along. You won't have room. We were on vacation together so his daughters are here, too." John sighed. "I need to stay with the girls. Backstory is simple, Chris messed with a bear cub, Mama bear got to him before we did, messed him up. He's got a few bites and a claw raking. Roy and I cleaned him up and got some dressings on him with what we had, on vacation so we didn't have decent gear...Roy's daughters threw rocks at the Mother's head until she left him alone, big rocks. Angry sisters. Brave little girls." He was stroking his fingers through Crystal's hair trying to keep her calm. "This one is your patient's twin so she's going a little nuts. The younger girl is his newly adopted...oh, you heard."
"I think Dix has told everyone about Cassie, John. The photos have made the rounds, too."
"Well, Cassie was screaming at the bear to let her big brother alone, Crystal was screaming for her to leave her twin alone and both of them were halfway between ticked off and terrified. And then Cassie called the dogs...the mixed breed and the bluetick. Bluetick showed the shep-lab mix how to handle a bear. Cassie gave Roy a stack of paperwork on the hounds training but I don't know if he actually read it, the dog cetainly knew what he was doing, though. Which was a damned good thing for Chris.
I think maybe he needs to because Cassie wants him for a search dog attached to 51. Roy's been hesitating. Anyway, go on, I've got this." He told the other paramedic, lifting the 12-year-old into his arms and felt the tug of Cassie's hand on his back pocket which made him shorten his stride on the way back to the tents as the chopper took off with their parents and brother on board, leaving John behind.
Honestly, it felt weird not to be on it...but Chris was in excellent hands and his crying sisters needed him where he was. Jo had insisted he finish the trip as planned, since she didn't want the girls associating camping with disaster...with a glance at Cassie, Roy had agreed. She'd actually hit the she-bear with her hoe, twice, before starting to throw rocks instead. And she'd hurt her, since there was blood on the blade.
It was late before he finally got Crystal to sleep, though Cassie had been out and snoring for hours. He took the hoe to clean the blade and that's when he realized she sharpened it. It was very sharp, actually. No wonder she cleaved that snake's head off with one blow. It also explained the blade guard she had on it, easy on and off, but not likely to cut anything accidentally. He seemed to sigh a lot, when eyeing that girl or her stuff...mostly her stuff. The things she'd figured out how to do, during that awful year alone on that beach...he had the feeling they'd barely scratched the surface of a very large iceberg in that regard.
He stepped out into the warm midAutumn night, ordered the bluetick to 'guard' and watched the hound take up a very alert appearance, though it did not rise or move...he was a hound, not a rottie...and John knew that the hound's senses were 'on', monitoring the night for threats, causing another sigh.
Yeah, they really needed to actually read the paperwork on that dog...and went down to the river for chilly, quick rinse and a change of clothes. Catchit was already in 'support' mode, curled around Crystal anyway.
He settled into his bedroll between the girls and the doorflap, one dog outside in guard mode, the other watching over the injured boy's twin. He wasn't all that surprised to feel Cassie roll over and plaster herself against his back inside her sleeping bag. He turned just a bit, then got his arms around the child and felt her settle back down immediately, without waking.
This child was an odd mix of capable with not so much...but she trusted him despite everything and that was enough. Well, tomorrow was fishing and that wasn't going to be causing anything weird or odd. Fishing was simple. He contented himself with that thought as he dozed off.
He heard Cassie's rod sound the song of a hard, fast strike on the lure as it played out line, watching her set the rod's brake and jerk the rod to make sure the hook was set. It bowed the rod, but not like it would have one of his bass rods, large pike had been known to break his.
"Pike, pretty big, too, I think, to hit and run that hard." He told her when she asked him to see if he'd bring it in. He took the rod from her and grinned as he started to reel it in. "Yes, a grown man's strength is better for a large pike, but nothing in these waters is big or heavy enough to break your rod or line. Not 300lb test on a big salt rod, no they will not. Nor using the kind of hooks you do. Not in this river, anyway." It still took him close to an hour to get the pike landed, it would make a good lunch for all three of them with left overs for the ice chest and supper.
Three days later the two girls woke from a late afternoon nap near nightfall...John had insisted because of a meteor shower that was going to be tonight, so he wanted them to get some extra Zs...to Roy's voice...he'd gotten a ride back up in a chopper and Jo had stayed with her son. He was still in the hospital, but out of ICU at least and in a normal room. He got his arms full of his son's worried twin and watched a little concerned as Cassie held back to let Crystal have her Father to herself for a bit. John had been landing another large pike as the chopper left. Roy was still chuckling a bit over the answer to his tease.
"I don't recall you having this much luck with pike...especially big ones."
"It's Cassie's rig."
"And?"
"Cassie was surf fishing, against tide and with bigger fish striking her lures...she's got a really nice, big salt rod...and it's carrying 300lb test. Enough for landing a five or six hundred pound fish. The leader on Cassie's rig was set up for sharks. I switched it to one for pike and I am licensed for those. Pike aren't big enough to so much as test her rod, nevermind damage it...and breaking her line isn't likely, either. At the same time, she's not strong enough to land a medium to big pike. So, I'm using her rig. I let her land bass, catfish and trout herself...when she's awake."
"Why are they sleeping at 3 in the afternoon, anyway?"
"Meteor shower tonight, the one Cassie wanted to see but in order to not fall asleep before it starts, they need to sleep now. We'll wake'em up at six or so." He paused, then asked gently, "Chris?"
"He'll have big claw scars but the bites will fade soon. He's fine. Jo wanted one of us with the girls and told me I was the one who could hitch a chopper ride back up here. So, she's staying with him and here I am."
"Cassie cut that bear with her hoe. At least one good hit and it was likely deep, the thing was bloody to the handle...and I found out why she keeps a blade guard on it after she went to bed the first night...I cleaned it for her and was going to put it away when I realized that it's sharpened to a near razor edge. That's why she beheads big snakes with ease. Based on the amount of blood, I'm guessing the wound she inflicted was as deep has the hoe's blade...four or five inches, anyway. She hurt that bear, not enough to incapacitate it, but between the cut, the rocks and the return of her cub, she wasn't interested in continuing the attack...at all. She broke it off." He let the remark fill Roy's mind. "Crystal said that Cassie didn't appreciate the attack on her 'brand new' big brother."
"Wow." Roy gave a low whistle.
"You are a lucky man with extremely brave little girls. From what Crystal said, I think Cassie was just too mad at the bear to be scared of it. Now, Crystal needs some Daddy time and then I think Cassie does too. But she might hesitate to ask...or approach. She's been acting a little funny...keeps an eye on Crystal and usually has the hound close to her sister. Just in case, I think. She's worried."
"Probably beach related, she just got a family, she's probably afraid of losing us. I'll talk to her later." Roy told him. "If I can't figure it out, Jo will when we get home."
"Yeah, found one of those myself." He pointed at the big rod. "Speaking of figuring things out, did you bring that hound's paperwork?"
"No, but I did finally read it: Yes, there's a crap ton of good reasons she wants Holler in the station. I spoke to all three captains explaining the dog is my daughter's and is on loan...as a people finder. And of which breed. I got smiles when they read the training documentation. Squad gets the hound. Yes, he's the station dog but also a working, well-trained trail hound. Search dog."
"Good." John paused, cast, "Grab a normal rod for freshwater and see if you can catch bass or something until it's time to wake up our girls."
TBC