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It was Monday and I was scheduled to work both the lunch and dinner shifts I pulled on a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt and took a deep breath before I could stopto wash out ofopened a bleary eye and peered atBridger and I kissed Every ti, er’s voice was never on the other end of the line I’d been tempted to call him just to hear his voice, but didn’t If he wanted to talk, he’d be calling me

I made Mrs Carpenter’s bed and then cooked oats for breakfast She’d told me several times that I didn’t need to take care of her any things for her chased away so a hard-boiled egg beneath cold running water, when I heard her cane thuer back yet?" she asked, as if one But he should be back any day" I couldn’tand wishedWould he be back? No one ever came back into ht," I said, scooping oatht is the fullto shift and explore the countryside"

"Do you think that’s wise?" Mrs Carpenter asked "What if the wolves are out? Or the wild dogs?"

"I’ll go somewhere far away Like the old mine It seeh "The oldto happen! What if you fall into a mine shaft?"

"I can see in the dark I won’t fall," I said

"You let et ho Bee ladies are co in your birthday suit!"

I laughed "All right"

"Do you want me to drive you to work?" she asked

I shookclears my head And it’s a nice day"

"Suit yourself"

As I shut the front door, I wondered at the dread curling in my sto to Mrs Carpenter’s concern

A thick layer of clouds hid the late olden eagle circled, its feathers a dark re up as I walked to work The bird stayed overhead, always circling

On the e expanse with no houses and hardly any cars, the hair on the back ofand tiltedleaves, no droning bees Not even a bird chirping

I resumed my steady pace, but before I’d taken three steps, I paused, peering into the sparse woods that fra, or dry weeds rustling, the noise a snakeht, wiping ain andyet again This tih, it was on the far side of the road I had the eerie feeling that if I started running, I’d be chased I walked as fast as I could, trying to ignore the instinct to bolt

But then I heard it again

I stopped dead and slowly turned, peering into the wild, scraggly underbrush hugging the edge of the road where the noise had coht beside me--so close I could have reached out and touched the source of that sound I tried to quietoverin the weeds, yet I kneas being followed Every cell in e, I crouched down and peered into the underbrush Rocks and dry soil littered the ground beneath shrubby green-and-brown plants loaded with thorns Cactus plants spotted the dirt in places, little tiny things hardly bigger than my palm, and a little ways back, pines shadowed the weeds My hu out of place, but I heard the rustling again, now right in front of ht the corner ofout of the underbrush Ito see what it was And that hen the bushes in front of ht hitrappled with fur and paws, trying to get a look at the ani, just a scrawny coyote, but it was smart and it was fast Yellow teeth snapped at my nose just as I thrustfor the teeth to sink into razed the skin, I openedoff fro screech of a bird echoed as a dark ust of dusty air into le clutch the coyote in its long, sharp talons The bird of prey held the anis before dropping it The coyote thuot to its feet and started to run, but the eagle dove in again

I didn’t see more, for aup in grass only a few inches tall, or walking out from behind a tree trunk no wider thanfrantically, clumsily, in the opposite direction of the bird--away froolden animals burst out of the underbrush on the other side of the road, two ars They sprinted past me, flush on the heels of the coyote pack