The thunderheads were advancing rapidly as the skies began to darken. Harold quickly grabbed his hat just before it blew off his head. Baron and Moses, his two Labrador retrievers were barking incessantly into the strengthening winds. His son, Charlie braved the oncoming wind and approached his father.
“ Lilly flat out ran away and up into them hills!” Charlie turned into the wind and pointed at the low lying hills that dotted the landscape. Harold stared off into the distance as a thick bolt of lighting rained down from the sky and split one of the neighboring trees in half. The splintering crack was jarring. Rumbles of thunder reverberated throughout the heavens as the sky opened up. What seemed like buckets of rain crashed to the ground as Harold turned to his son and shouted.
“ Get Barron and I’ll get Moses! We’ll head straight to the house!” Harold waved Charlie over towards the dogs. He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at his father. Before he could say a word, his father was already on his way to get Moses. Charlie shook his head in the pouring rain as he raced to find Barron. The rain poured down harder by the minute. Harold and his son managed to round up the dogs in the swirling winds and thunder.
The door swung wide open with the force of the wind and rain. Barron and Moses leaped into the veranda while they vigorously shook water from their skin. Donna was standing by the kitchen as Harold and Charlie entered the house right after the dogs. Young Lisa Olsen was sheepishly standing at her mother’s side diligently watching the dogs. After a few minutes, Harold and Charlie had taken off their soaking wet clothes. Lisa began to look around frantically as she began to call Lily’s name.
“Daddy! Where is Lilly? Lilly!” Lisa shouted with her hands cupped around her mouth as if she had a megaphone against her lips. Harold’s wife Donna gathered Lisa close to her waist as she began to cry. With a confused look on her face, she stared at Harold. Her husband gestured to her that he wanted to talk to her alone. Handing off Lisa to her brother Charlie, she beckoned Harold to follow her into the master bedroom. He reached over and firmly closed the door.
“ What happened? Where the hell is Lilly?” Donna asked with a wild look in her eyes as she stared at her husband.
“ We lost her in the storm. I mean she was there one minute and the next she was gone. I think it was a stroke of luck that we even managed to bring Barron and Moses home. Honey, we almost got struck by lightning. We had no choice,” Harold said as gently as possible. Pulling his wife close, he hugged her tight.
“ What about Big Walt? What if she crosses paths with him?” Donna asked with tears in her eyes as she disengaged from his embrace.
“ Honey ,Big Walt hasn’t been seen around these parts for months. Believe me I have been checking. Sometimes multiple times a day,” Harold hugged his wife even harder.
“ Well what are we going to tell Lisa?” Donna cried softly, fighting back the tears.
“ Tell her that she is staying over a friend’s house. Visiting friends out of town. Then we will see what happens after that. In the meantime, first thing in the morning I will take the boys out with Baron and Moses and we will look for her.
“ Thank you, darling,” Donna kissed her husband before she left the room to put Lisa to bed.
The sun made its presence known the next morning, almost as if it felt upstaged by the horrendous rainstorm yesterday. Harold rose out of bed immediately and woke up his sons, Michael and Charlie.
Moments later Donna had managed to make breakfast and wish them well. Everyone was as quiet as possible as to not awaken Lisa. Thankfully she remained asleep the whole time.
Charlie and Michael were holding Baron and Moses. The dogs immediately put their noses to the ground and lead the way. Harold was carrying a shotgun just in case they happened to run into Big Walt.
They headed down a somewhat pristine path that led to the forest which eventually would turn into the hills. Both dogs still had their noses to the dirt, diligently searching for Lilly. Charlie and Michael were struggling with the dogs who really wanted to do this on their own.
“ Dad do you think Big Walt got her?” Michael said in a somber tone. Charlie turned and stared at Harold out of curiosity.
“ Like I told your mother last night, I haven’t heard a word about him. I listen every day so I would know. So get that out of your head! All that’s going to do is get the both of y’all scared. Then the dogs will get all spooked. After that happens we could end up with all three dogs gone. So just keep moving!”
Both of his sons turned back and continued to head down the path. Charlie looked over at his brother for a second. Michael was glaring ahead, worrying about Big Walt.
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Lilly was cowering in the corner whimpering. All she could do is stare at the enormous grizzly bear who was in the opposite corner of the cave. He was staring right back at her, seemingly just as nervous as she was. The wind howled as Lilly shivered.
Suddenly out of nowhere, a large mountain lion appeared, apparently having traversed the cliffs in silence. The bear had his nose up in the air prior to the mountain lion’s appearance. Slowly navigating the rocky edges leading up to the cave, the big cat licked its lips. Its huge claws grasping to the rocky outcroppings, it swirled its tail behind itself.
The huge bear was slowly rising on both of his hind feet. A low guttural growl was starting to emanate from the depths of its belly as he bared his sharp teeth. The mountain lion wasn’t impressed in the least as it returned the favor and let out a strong howl that was unnerving. The bear returned to its four legged stance.
Lilly attempted to maintain an aggressive stance in the face of imminent danger. Baring her adolescent teeth fearlessly, she growled as loud as she could. The lion and the bear turned their heads at the sound. After they both briefly glanced at the little Golden Lab, their eyes became glued to one another.
The lion flicked its tail and slowly crept into the cave. Growling softly it began to head towards Lilly. His progress was short lived as he stopped in his tracks as he noticed the bear moving towards him. Instantly reversing its direction, the mountain lion turned to face the bear. The huge grizzly opened its mouth, its sharp teeth resembling huge stalagmites in a deep cave, and growled considerably louder than before.
Watching the two large predators square off, Lilly gingerly crept to the corner of the cave. There was a small tunnel adjacent to the far corner. The very same tunnel in which Lilly arrived the night before.
Slowly retreating back to the front of the cave, the lion bared its deadly teeth as well. This was unfortunately not that much of a deterrent for the bear as the towering Grizzly continued its lumbering approach. Sensing as if it might lose valuable ground against the bear, the lion reared up on its back feet.
With sudden speed and dexterity, the bear wasted no time and charged directly into the lion. They both howled as the momentum took both of them over the cliff. Their cries echoing throughout the rocky hills, momentarily startling Lilly as she moved faster down the hill.
The lion fell into some jagged rocks down below and cried out in pain. The bear landed on a long thick rock. Howling in pain, the huge bear just put its head down on the rock.
Baron and Moses approached the smooth rock where the huge Grizzly lay. The dogs slowly continued their approach until they stopped in their tracks. Harold shouted from behind the dogs, ordering them to stop. Charlie and Michael stood at the bottom of the rock, looking very frightened.
Everyone’s head turned as Lilly pranced down the rocks wagging her tail like she had been there the whole time. Harold and his sons ran over to hug Lily and welcome her back. In the midst of the hugging and smiling, Charlie’s voice rose above everyone else’s.
“ Dad? Dad?” Charlie didn’t want to shout. Luckily his father heard him and turned around. Charlie simply pointed towards the rock where the bear was laying. The mountain lion was standing at the edge of the long rock slowly waving its tail in the air. The lion’s eyes were fixated completely on the bear.
Lilly began to bark loudly as she ran up to the edge of the rock that the bear was lying upon. The great Grizzly slowly turned its head and stared at Lilly. She was barking loudly and jumping up and down. Charlie looked over at Lilly then over towards the lion.
Harold was ahead of the game. Pulling out his rifle, he brought it up to his eye and aimed. With the stroke of his finger, the big gun fired a loud shot that hit the hungry mountain lion right between the eyes. It dropped like a bag of softballs face first on to the jagged edge of the rock. It’s lifeless body crumpled and slid off into the rocks below. The large bear slowly reared its head and made a noise that sounded like he was squealing. Looking straight at Lilly, seemingly invigorated, rose to his feet. Making the weird squealing noise again he walked around the rock waving his paws. Lilly was sitting on the ground with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. She looked at the bear and began to bark repeatedly. After a few moments, the bear fell to all fours , crawled off the rock and wandered away.