Saving Sandy

Chapter 16 - A Little Titillating Kiss in the Snowy Outdoors

My eyes popped open to shouting. Startled, I sat up in my sleeping bag, and I knew my hair was a mess—my hat had fallen off while asleep. I noticed a presence in the tent and turned to see Marjorie sitting up, her hat on.

"Good morning," she said. "I suppose you heard that, too. It woke me not long ago."

"What's going on?" I asked groggily and rubbing my face to wake myself up.

"The boys were shouting, and I opened the tent to see..."

"Get away!" one of them shouted out there. "Sandy, throw a rock at it!"

"No, she just wants food!"

"Yes, and that will be us if you don't kill her!"

"I'm not killing an innocent creature like you made me kill that fox in Spitsbergen, Rodger!"

"Oh my gosh..." I muttered. "Is the coyote back?"

"Yes, and Sandy ordered me to remain in here until the animal is gone. I have no trouble with that."

I had faced wild animals before, but only raccoons, elk, deer, and even a bear from a distance, but never a coyote in the camp! "Neither do I."

We heard a loud whack, then a yelp, like a dog yelp. "And stay away!" Rodger shouted.

"I think she's gone," I said and put on my boots.

"You are mad if you think going out there again is a good idea when that animal could come back."

"I don't think she'll come back after the guys scaring her off. Plus, I need to pee."

She said nothing to that as I finished putting on my boots, put the black winter had on and gloves. Sandy noticed me first as I exited the tent into the cold, and I immediately saw that the camp and everything around it was a snowy winter wonderland, maybe about six inches everywhere, besides the camp that had maybe only two inches since it was shoveled the night before. I walked up to Sandy in the fresh snow as both Ian and Rodger were near the snowy bush, thick sticks in their hands. It was almost comical seeing them, holding the sticks like they were ready to hit a baseball.

"Good morning, Katie," Sandy greeted me as he wore his full black winter coat and fur hat, and they were speckled with white snowflakes that were falling. His cheeks were also red from the cold. "Our apologies for waking you. That coyote came back into the camp looking for food."

"I heard, and it's okay. I figured she would be back."

"Yes, and she left only because Rodger gave her a hard bonk on the head. That made her leave."

My heart sunk. "Aw, that poor thing..."

"Yes, even I felt badly for her, but we wouldn't want her to cause harm to any of us."

"True, and thank you for not killing an innocent animal."

"If it is food, then I will do so, or if it will definitely kill us. But if it seems harmless and we already have food, then I would figure out a way to shoo them away, not kill them."

Sandy was a good person, and I liked that he was kind to animals, that is, if they weren't a threat or food. That coyote just wanted food for herself and maybe her pups.

"Did you sleep well?" asked Sandy.

I folded my arms. I wasn't cold since the coat was thick, but my faced chilled. "Yes, well enough. Marjory snores like a train, so I wasn't able to sleep for a while. What time is it?"

He checked a pocket watch that he pulled out from his coat pocket. "It is about 7:30."

I blew air out of my mouth and saw my breath. "Gosh, I got maybe five hours of sleep."