We gathered on the flat ground and solemnly stood where Shane had been injured. I walked to where the bear had appeared. Richard followed me. There was a narrow cleft in the hillside where rain water had washed dirt and rock away over the years. Blood soaked a small portion of the ground. Forty or so feet past the cleft, a den was dug into the hillside. Both cubs huddled in the near dark and growled at us weakly.
We rejoined our friends. "I'm guessing Shane was walking along the flat spot and his left foot slipped in the mud. It skidded down the slope and into that groundhog hole. He was thrown off balance and fell sideways breaking his leg. He surely screamed in pain from the compound fracture, and the bear heard him; he likely lost his rifle then. Later, after he'd worked his leg free, blood was flowing, and the hungry bear smelled him. It and the cubs would have recently woken from hibernation and were hungry."
Richard said, "The bear probably charged him like it did us. His drew his handgun and fired several shots before it got him. The blood back there where the bear was laying proves he hit it."
Harshly, Larry said, "Lets skin that damn'd bear and cut it up to take home. We'll eat it in honor of dad."
Another doe was shot and field dressed on our way back. Dusk was upon us when we got home, and we had lots of fresh meat to distribute. Excess meat was hung in the smoker before the fire was started, and then we headed our separate ways.
Kira and our children met me at the door. Instead of eating supper right then, I opted to read a story to my young-uns. When the story ended, I helped Kira wash them for bedtime. With the kids down, we were alone. Kira sat beside me on the couch as I ate; she seemed absorbed in thought. She remained quiet as I relayed the details of our bear hunt.
When I finished, she snuggled and looked at me with moisture in her eyes. She couldn't keep the pain from her voice, "Vivian is pregnant. She'll start showing soon. I can't imagine what she's going through."
The next morning, I took a team of draft horses and continued the plowing that had begun the previous day. The twenty acre field lay across the road from our cabins. Martin Radcliff Jr. joined me a quarter-hour later. At mid-morning, it occurred to me that I'd only noticed a few people out and about for the last hour or so. I stopped the team for a short break and walked to the edge of the field for a drink from the one-gallon plastic jug I'd placed there before starting to plow. A strong breeze carried the sound of singing from the cabin area to me. A large number of voices were singing hymns. I squatted on my haunches in the warmth of the sun as I slowly swallowed several drinks of water. I rose at the same time people emerged from the horse barn. That was the first organized church meeting I was aware of. There was work to be done, so I went back to the horses and watered them. Shortly, Tony joined me in the field with another team.
Our next monthly group meeting was scheduled to take place in six days. As the days crept by, many of our group seemed unusually reserved. They surreptitiously avoided me and Kira. I learned Richard's family, Vivian's family, and several others were purposely shunned also. I'd tired of all the innuendo crap and longed for the confrontation that was building. Some of this group had been my closest friends starting over twenty years ago; we'd faced countless dangers daily for over ten years and now they were acting like cowardly strangers. In the last three or four years, some of us had drifted apart, and I'd formed close relationships with others. Still, I resented their behavior and felt they should have known they could broach and discuss any subject with me. An errant thought took hold of me suddenly; the conspirators had also singled out my present closest friends and supporters. Their complaints had to concern major issues if they were applied not only to me but included my friends.
Time passed quickly, and we were soon into the first week of April. Our entire group was busy from dawn to dusk every day. The garden acreage was plowed, disked and harrowed and divided into twelve equally-sized plots. Some eager folks had even begun planting.
Kira reminded me one morning that our monthly meeting was scheduled for early that afternoon right after lunch time.
About half the people were already in the horse barn when my family arrived. Folding chairs were still being placed in the open area between the stalls that bordered both sides of the barn. I took my place in front of the group and
