Jaci Dawn

The first whizzing bullet overhead caused Ella to startle and lose her grip on the bear. Aric reached for her as she slid, mouth open in panic, but unable to scream. Kyle twisted suddenly, causing Deke to lose his grip. Deke tumbled into Aric, who was hanging on with one hand, and they both went flying and tumbling onto the ground. Kyle was already gone from view, although they could hear him crashing up the hill through brush, encouraged on by Gran and Dish.
Aric cupped his paws and shouted, “Ella!”
“Over here!”
They found her hiding under the brown remains of a bracken fern. She motioned for them to be quiet before they all embraced in a group hug. “Men coming,” she whispered. The mice scooted as far under the bracken as they could. They shivered.
Boots scrambled up the hill.
“It’s gone, Hank.”
“Shit. It was a big bear, too. Could’a filled my freezer with sausage.”
“You got a bear tag? Because all I have is a buck tag.”
“No, I ain’t got a bear tag. Not worth tracking him. But there was something funny about him. Looked like there was something on its back.”
“You’re seeing things. And now you’ve alerted every damn buck within a mile that we’re hunting here. Let’s go back to the rig and drive on around the point. Maybe it’ll cross the road up there – that’s the direction its heading. We can cover it up with a tarp.”
“Okay. Sure hate to miss out on a fella that big. I know who makes good summer sausage.” A boot stopped just inches from where the mice held onto each other.
“C’mon. I ain’t climbing no hill.” The other pair of boots was already headed back down the slope.
The boot before them turned toward them, and the other boot just missed Ella’s toes. The hunter followed his friend back down the hill, snapping twigs and muttering loudly about how much he hated how his knees hurt. The mice sank to the ground, and exhaled at the same time.
“Whew.”
“We lost Kyle and the others, though.” Aric sniffled.
“Maybe they’ll come back looking for us.”
Ella looked at Twerp. “No, they won’t. They just got shot at. They won’t know the hunters aren’t following them, or even where we fell off. We’re on our own.”
A miserable silence engulfed the trio.
A misty rain began to fall, adding to their despondent mood. Ella put the hood up on her hoodie, but neither Aric nor Twerp wore a hoodie. “We can’t just sit here, she said. We need to follow the map in our heads, and hope we can make it to wherever we’re going. Maybe Horace will fly by and find us, and we could ride with him.” She forced a smile.
“Not likely.” Aric grabbed a pebble and threw it. “Screw it. Let’s march.”
“I’m sorry I fell off and made you fall, Aric.” Twerp sniffed.
“No, that was a good thing. Ella fell first, and I was trying to reach for her. Better its all three of us together, than just Dork out here on her own.” Aric lightly punched his best friend’s shoulder.
They stayed to the low growing plants as they started hiking again. “At least the rain should keep the crows at bay.”
“What about raccoons?’
“I think there are a lot more things to watch out for than just crows and ‘coons.” Aric studied their surroundings as best as he could. They stood four inches tall, at most, he thought, and couldn’t see much further, except for general impressions. “I wish we could find some ten penny nails or some human discards we could make into weapons. My barbecue skewer was awesome.”
Ella led by her nose and whiskers. “We’d probably have to stumble right over the top of an old campsite or pioneer dump. I don’t think the odds are in our favor.”
“’If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.’” Twerp quoted a nursery rhyme his grandmother used to say to him.
“’If turnips were watches, I’d carry one by my side.’” Ella laughed. “Did you guys know the original jack o’lanterns were actually carved turnips, not pumpkins?”
“I hate turnips.”
“Turnips sound wonderful to my mouse taste buds.” Deke tripped. “OUCH!” The other two turned around and came back to help him up.
Deke brushed himself off. “Sorry.”
Aric was looking at what Deke had tripped over: a short strand of barbed wire. He held it up. “This could be very handy.”
Ella and Deke crowded close. “Think there’s more? Why such a short piece?”
“There could be a fence here, and we wouldn’t know it because of our eyesight,” Aric replied. He was scavenging around, working his nose. “Maybe some fence staples or something.”
“What are fence staples?” Deke nosed the ground. He came up with a two-pronged piece of galvanized steel that just fit into his paw like brass knuckles might. “Will this work?”
“That,” Aric said, “is a fence staple. A new one, at that. Find another one and you’ll have a two fisted weapon.”
Ella held up a short piece of wood with a square nail jutting out one end. “I think this will be handy. Old nail. Did our prayers just get answered?”
“Or our wishes. This Kitsune might be nearby?”
They peered around, trying to see into the mist. Nothing moved.
Aric , Ella, and Deke marched in the open now, their weapons held at the ready. They sometimes jogged, hoping to make better time. The mist let up, and the sun came out, causing the earth to steam where the sun touched it. The steam was worse than the rain, as it created a low fog. Their tummies were growling, their clothes were wet, and despite the weaponry, their spirits began to sag. They had no idea how much ground they had covered, but they knew it couldn’t be as much ground as Kyle could cover. They hoped Kyle had turned and started to follow the mind-map. They hoped he had not continued uphill, and across the road where the hunters were waiting. They hoped they would find shelter and food.
Ella was climbing over a little hill in the ground when everything gave way. She disappeared into a hole with a sudden squeak.
Aric and Deke ran forward and peered down. She was sprawled in a large tunnel, her nail-on-a-stick next to her. “Ow,” She moaned.
“Boomer hole,” croaked a nearby voice. “Nasty creatures.”
“It’s a boomer hole. We gotta get you out of there!” Aric yelled down to his sister.
“That’s not so hard,” she answered. “I can climb out. It’s just it’s dry, and smells unused. I thought we could sleep in here.”
“Oh, no, no.” A large toad crawled forward from under some large, brown leaves. “You must not do down there. Boomers are evil.”
“Um, Ella, there’s this frog up here that says whatever lives down there is pure evil.”
“Toad,” the toad corrected. “They eat mice.”
“Frog? A talking frog?” Ella looked around. The place certainly seemed deserted. She tried to remember what she knew about frogs. “Okay, I’ll climb out.” She used her nail on a stick to help herself up.
“What eat mice?” Deke stared at the dark, lumpy form.
“Boomers, of course,” The toad replied. “I can show you a place to stay the night, if you need one.”
Aric helped Ella out of the hole. “The fro- er, toad, says he can show us to shelter.”
She dusted herself off and turned around, looking for the toad. It was large, lumpy, and blended in with the world around it. It’s eyes were yellow. It seemed to smile, and it croaked, “My name is Veneno.”
Ella felt a shiver run down her spine. “No, I think we’ll just continue on our way. Nice to meet you, Veneno.”
“Vennie, for short.” The toad hopped around in front of the trio. “I’d really like to be your friend.”
“No, I think we really should just go.”
“What’s wrong, El?” Aric shifted his weight and looked from toad to his sister. “I could use a place to sleep, and Vennie is offering us one.”
Ella shook her head. “No. We need to get going up the hill, or we’ll miss the rest of our gang. Nice that you offered, Vennie.” She waved at the other two to follow her up.
“Wait, I thought we were going d- “ Deke caught himself. “Yeah, you’re right, Bellwether. Up we go.”
Aric stared at his sister and friend. “Okay guys. Sorry, Vennie.”
“No, I am sorry.” The toad jumped and landed in front of Ella. “I cannot let you go.”
“How are you going to stop us?”
“Um, El… There’s, like, a line of red-bellied salamanders surrounding us.” Aric slowly turned around, surveying the danger.
“Great. You’re not very nice, Vennie.”
The toad blinked.
The three mice backed into each other as the salamanders advanced. The teens moved in a circle. Aric grasped his barbed wire strand. “Guess we’ll have to fight.”
“Fight?” The toad almost laughed. “Mice can’t fight, except with their teeth.”
“You have bad eyesight, toadie,” Aric swung the barbed wire strand, catching a newt with a barb. It screamed.
Ella waved her stick threateningly. Deke jabbed with his staples, trying to look brave.
“Dork! Give me your stick!” Aric handed his barbed wire to her. “You can handle that better.”
Deke swung wide at an advancing newt and poked its face with a staple. It hissed in pain and backed rapidly up.
“What are you doing?” the toad croaked. It leaped upward as Aric swung down with the nail. Aric followed it, this time swinging the nail sideways. He caught the toad in the eyeball. It screamed, and thrashed. The newts all disappeared backward, hissing angrily.
Aric brought the nail out and brought it down hard on the toad’s head. The toad splayed out and kicked a few times before dying. The mice, horrified at the turn of events, backed into the base of a tall Douglas fir tree. Deke recovered first.
“I think we better scram. That was a familiar, and his wizard is bound to be on the way.”
“Uphill,” Ella said. Together, the three mice pushed upward, still carrying their weapons. They were no longer tired.

21,375 words