Black Hills Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

was going to come calling.
    And then she heard it. To the casual ear, it sounded like scratching, with an occasional paper bag ripping open. But to Dixie, it meant someone—or something—was in the only food supply she had for three weeks, until her next check from the church arrived.
    Anger hit her first, coursing through her. She jumped up so fast, she became tangled in her sleeping bag and fell in a painful and undignified heap. Unfortunately for her, aching muscles hadn’t magically disappeared while she slept, however much she’d prayed they would.
    With a muffled groan, she rolled over and tried again, this time managing to free her feet from the confining folds of the bag before trying to stand.
    Once she was standing and stable, she stomped noisily toward the door of the tent, with every intention of going out to tell the overly ambitious animal to take a hike.
    She kneeled down and reached for the zipper, then froze midreach, panic surging through her.
    Exactly what kind of animal was rummaging through her supplies?
    A bear.
    A bear! What was she supposed to do when confronted with a bear? Stare them in the eye. No.
    Don’t make eye contact. Look at the floor. Try to look unappetizing. Turn and run.
    No.
    Freeze. And then what? Offer herself as dessert?
    She frowned and forced air into her lungs. She was being a little farfetched.
    It couldn’t be a bear.
    Okay, it could be. But it wasn’t likely. So what, then? Wolves were common, and foxes, and mountain lions. What else? Nothing she wanted to deal with, especially on her own.
    And she was definitely on her own. Fear and frustration quickly replaced anger.
    What on earth was she supposed to do? Since she was already on her knees, she clenched her hands together in her lap and prayed.
    Then she heard a low growl, and a new wave of apprehension washed through her.
    Relax. But she couldn’t.
    Think. Not much better.
    Concentrate!
    If her ears weren’t letting her down, the growl in question was distinctly canine. Her throat tightened, forcing the breath from her lungs.
    The thought of tangling with a snarling wolf was only marginally better than the thought of tangling with a bear. She shivered, though the night was warm.
    What if more than one kind of animal was out there?
    She wrung her hands in her lap. What to do?
    She heard her grocery bags rustling until another growl came from the other end of the tent. Her mind raced through her extremely limited and definitely secondhand knowledge of wild animals.
    Wolves.
    Wolves moved in packs, so likely it was wolves, if they were on both sides of her tent. Had they surrounded her?
    How would she escape?
    Think.
    It might be foxes, but she couldn’t recall if foxes growled, never mind if they moved in packs.
    Wolves. Wolves!
    What did one do to fend off wolves? Frustration and fear battled for prominence, twisting her stomach into hard knots.
    Fire.
    She’d seen that in a movie once.
    Peachy. She recalled too late she’d been too tired to light a campfire. She had matches in the tent, but nothing to use as a torch came to mind.
    There were things outside she could use, but that meant facing whatever was out there.
    Could she do it?
    Alone. So dreadfully, fearfully alone.
    Dear Lord. It was all the prayer she could manage through her blurred and frantic mind.
    Taking a shaky breath, she decided to attempt to sneak out of the tent without being seen. It was her only chance. She couldn’t just sit in here and do nothing, waiting for them to do whatever it was wolves did with frightened humans.
    She had some old rags and a bottle of lighter fluid with the supplies. If she could find a decent branch, she might be able to put together a torch and scare away the wolves.
    Or else she’d be dessert, since they were obviously having dinner on her account right now, if the sound of shredding boxes and the crackling of wrappers was anything to go by.
    Slowly, quietly, she unzipped the tent.
    It stuck, and her heart lurched