“Get down and stay here,” the man’s still deep voice pleaded.
Raven crouched into a ball with her back against the wall. Not knowing what to expect she pulled her knees to her chest and placed her palms on the cold ground. Lifting her hands to her face she smelled the earth. It comforted her. Uncertain of what would come next, it was the only thing that did.
Hearing the scuffle of the man’s hard rubber boots on the icy dirt floor, she wondered if she should get up. She couldn’t let him leave the cave alone. And the truth was that in the shape that he was in, he would never survive. When the small space was illuminated by the blinding beam of his flashlight, she was startled. As her eyes adjusted to light, she saw her fearless rescuer standing in front of a motionless grizzly bear with on
