She jerked around. Eric was running pell-mell down the river bank toward her, pistol in his hand. She leaped up, only to collapse instantly as her foot hit the ground, leaving a smear of blood.

Eric reached her and jammed the pistol back in its holster. “Come on,” he said urgently, jerking her to her feet and putting his arm around her waist to support her. “Let’s get out of here!”

The mother grizzly saw the movement and, with a bloodcurdling roar, caught Cricket with one massive paw and sent her tumbling tail over nose and yelping in pain. The bear crossed the river again in two splashing leaps.

“Run, Nicole!” Eric shouted, giving her a hard shove as he spun around, yanking at the pistol. As it came out of the holster, the bear was on him. He had time only to hurl it into her face as he dove to the side. The gun caught the bear just above the eye, causing her to jerk away, but her paw flashed out as she hurtled past him, catching Eric’s leg in a sweeping blow that turned his diving fall into a head-over-heels crash into the brush.

“Eric!” Nicole’s scream was lost as the bear wheeled around. But once again Cricket smashed into the fight, slashing at the bear’s hind flank and heading off the attack. With an astonished cry of rage, the grizzly swung around to meet her attacker, forgetting Eric. But Cricket had learned a painful lesson. A snarling, snapping fury, she circled the bear again and again, driving her slowly down the hill but always staying clear of those massive, flashing paws.

Nicole reached Eric in a hobbling run. He rolled over, writhing in pain, and she gasped as she saw his upper thigh. A two-footlong patch of his pant leg had been sheared away as cleanly as if cut with scissors, and even as she stared in horror, four bright red streaks blended into one great smear of blood.

“Eric, help me!” She put her hands under his arms, trying to drag him up the hill. “Help me! We’ve got to get away!”

“Get out of here!” he cried hoarsely, trying to pull himself up. Then suddenly his eyes rolled back and he collapsed, dragging out of her grip.

“No, Eric! No!” Nicole sobbed. She tried to drag him but his dead weight was too much to move more than an inch or two.

The battle between Cricket and the grizzly was still raging only twenty or thirty yards from where Nicole and Eric lay defenseless. Another lucky swipe of the paw and Cricket would be—

With a cry of surprise, Nicole spied the pistol lying on the ground a few feet away. She scrambled for it, then hobbled to her feet. Fearful of hitting Cricket, she pointed the gun above the bear’s head and pulled the trigger.