Joe rolled further into the safety of the loft where the soft hay of the loft made a perfect bed. Like fingernails grating on a chalkboard, nails squealed and wood splintered as the bear ripped the ladder from its place. Joe had known as he had looked into his brother's eyes that the life was draining out of him. He had also known that the bear wouldn't stop with just the one kill. Joe heard the tortured cries of the animals as the bear continued his reign of terror through the barn. His brother's last word reverberated in his mind, "Stay."
Joe laid in the loft, waiting for his parents to get home. The cacophony below him finally ceased as he heard the snuffling of the bear leave the barn. Darkness overcame him as the storm continued to rage outside.
Near dawn, a vehicle pulled into the yard. His father's anxious cries for the boys reached his ears stirring him from his restless sleep. He heard his father order his mother to stay out and call for help as he spied the limp, bloody form on the floor.
Strangled sobs echoed through the barn as his father gathered Jim into his arms. Joe cried along with his father, knowing his brother was gone. The wailing of the ambulance broke through their grief. The medics pried Daniel's arms from around his dead son. Joe could hear his mother's grief-stricken cries as Jim's lifeless body was wheeled out through the new snow.
Daniel walked around the barn, surveying the carnage. Every animal there was dead. None had been eaten. The bear had wreaked havoc because he craved the death and gore, not because he had been hungry. Daniel stopped just below where Joe lay. A droplet of blood splattered onto his forehead and ran down his nose.
Daniel ran to the door and called back the ambulance crew. They hurriedly climbed into the loft and gasped at the sight. Joe lay motionless in the bloody hay. His skin was deathly grey. He looked up into his father's eyes.
"I couldn't help him," he whispered. "He gave his life for me." Joe took a shuddering breath as darkness overwhelmed him.
YOU ARE READING
Saving Grace
RomanceAfter losing his twin brother in a vicious bear attack, Joe Chapman wants nothing to do with the world or with God. Joe is thrust through time where he rescues Grace and her family from freezing to death on a mountainside. As he concentrates on savi...
