Henry

Chapter 13

            “Are you folks alright?” one of the hunters called, a tall and slender man with the beginnings of wrinkles and a long graying beard.

            I nodded my head. My knee no longer bothered me but my heart did. I knew, though, that Blake must have been seriously hurt. “M-my fiancé… it probably broke his leg…”

            He put his arm around my shoulder and squeezed. I let my head fall onto his shoulder and could only stare at the body of Henry. After all that I had done, I still managed to get him killed.

            “What are two hunters doing out here, anyway?” Blake croaked as the two men stopped in front of us. “I didn’t think hunters tended to come this deep into the forest.”

            “It’s ‘cause we’re not allowed ter,” the shorter man said, a beer-bellied, bald man with a black goatee. “This here area is campin’ an’ hikin’ lan’.”

            “We heard the gunshot that this here little lady done and came runnin’. We thought there be more hunters that’d found some game,” the long-bearded man said.

            I heard every word that the two men were saying, but I refused to take my eyes off of Henry. “What are the odds, eh? Hunters in a restricted area… we could have died if it weren’t for you two.”

            “I’m Alex Chandler,” the short man said, extending his hand to me and then to Blake. “And this here’s my partner, David Weinberg. We own a huntin’ business. We sell meat, guns, traps, you name it.”

            Blake suddenly gasped. “Wait, Chandler and Weinberg? As in Chandler and Weinberg’s Hunting Surplus? No way, I get my hunting supplies there all the time!”

            “The very ones! Have you tried out our new—”

            “Er—guys… this isn’t really the time to talk about hunting… no offence. I’d kind of like to get home and sleep… I don’t feel well,” I said softly, finally demanding attention to myself.

            Alex Chandler looked flustered. “Oh, yes! I’m so sorry, miss. Let’s get you both home and call a doctor in. We’ll throw this beast into our trunk, too.”

                                                                        ***

            Doctor Alfred arrived at the house once again with his X-Ray kit. Luckily, my knee was fine. The crack I’d heard was the sound of two rocks smashing together. All I had done was bruise it. Blake, on the other hand, had a multiple fractures along his lower leg.

            “Mr. Holland, you’re a lucky man. All you’ll need is a cast and you’ll be good as new,” the doctor sighed, double checking the X-Ray image on his laptop. “You should be able to walk with a crutch on your wedding day.”

            I watched as Blake’s face filled with relief. The doctor closed up his laptop and said he would get the materials needed to make a cast from the car.

            Alex and David entered the room. We told them the news and they, too, looked relieved. They told us how they felt so grateful that fate had made them stumble upon us. Had it not been for them we could have died.

            I finally looked to the hunters, my mind being made up. I crossed my arms beneath my breasts. “Take the animal. Bring it to the shelter. Tell them that it’s from Agatha Pierce and Blake Holland. They’re gonna want to pay us for the animal, but tell them that I said to send you half of the money. You saved our lives and it’s the least we could do.”