Scott's Reluctant Rescue

Scott was hungry. This was a common occurrence in the life of a long hunter. He was laying belly down at the edge of a small grass covered clearing behind a small berm with his Ruger .375 Holland and Holland Magnum single shot hunting rifle resting comfortably on a piece of tanned animal skin, watching a huge elk slowly making it's way into the clearing.

Ammunition for his rifle was precious, so he wanted the animal to get closer before he took the shot. He knew he could hit at this distance, but he wanted a clean kill, not just a hit, and then have to track it down.

The Bull Elk was skittish, ready to bolt in a moment back into the relative safety of the trees.

Scott watched through the rifle scope as the bull grazed its way further into the sweet grass of the clearing.

He eased his right index finger inside the trigger guard just barely touching the trigger.

It only took barely two pounds of pressure on the trigger to get the rifle to fire.

Just as he was taking up the slight bit of tension on the trigger, he heard a blood curdling scream, and the elk bolted for the treeline.

Scott let out a choice epithet, cursing whoever had ruined his chance at enough meat to last him at least three months, not to mention what he could use much of the rest of the animal to make his life easier.

Life in the mountains was tough and unforgiving, and Scott was not one to take unnecessary chances.

Something vaguely human burst out into the clearing running full tilt past him. It was one of the filthiest human beings he'd ever seen. The figure was naked and he could tell it was female, but just barely so.

As she continued running, her pursuers burst out of the trees right on her heels.

Two figures, clad in dirty furs and howling like a pair of hounds caught up with her and one of the chasers struck the woman on the back of her head, sending her sprawling.

They began to beat and kick their victim before one of them pealed off his dirty loincloth.

"Just a damned minute Chew, you went first last time, it's my turn!"

"Shut up Crank! I'm goin first this time cause I caught her. And don't worry, I'll go in the back and you can have the front this time."

"Crank" seemed agreeable to this as he laughed while "Chew" lowered himself into position on the woman lying unconscious or dead on her stomach.

For a moment Scott wondered if he should get involved.

"Killing those two bastards will be easy, but what do I do with her afterwards?", he thought to himself.

He was trying to remember the last time he had been with a woman.

Then,with shrug and a sigh, he got behind the rifle and set the crosshairs of the scope on the one who'd exposed himself and was stimulating himself to full erection.

Taking up the slack on the trigger, Scott squeezed it ever so gently, and felt the rifle stock thump sharp against his shoulder.

Chew grunted as the bullet tore his spine in two, and fell face first on top of the still supine female.

Not bothering to look to see if he'd hit his target, Scott dropped the loading lever on his rifle ejecting the spent cartridge and quickly reloaded, sighting in on the second figure, rising up onto his knees, and fired again. The bullet caught Crank in the pelvis shattering it, along with Crank's big main feeder Artery.

Both of the men were down.

Slowly he crept up to the unconscious woman, wary for more pursuers.

He took a long bladed hunting knife from a leather sheath at his waist and walked over and swiftly stabbed each man in the side of the neck, and then began to quickly and methodically search both men for anything useful. A pouch of tobacco, and two worn knives were all there was.

He looked down at her. She was caked in dirt, hair, and who knew what else, and the stench wafting from her was intense.

She was as hairy as her now dead captors. He watched as some sort of vermin crawled lazily across her bare back. She was covered from head to toe in round semicircular bruises, some recent. There were scabs everywhere as well. They had bitten her all over.

"Now what do I do?"

Leaving her where she lay, he went and got his horse, and hoisted her dead weight up onto the gelding's back and tied her on.

He put away the hunting rifle, and took out his battle rifle, and slowly made his way back home.

Thankfully, she stayed out until he got her to his lodge.

He untied her, and she slipped out the horse's saddle and into his arms.

He unceremoniously hoisted her onto his shoulder and took her over and laid her onto a wooden table.

He thought about it, and decided to tie her down.

It wouldn't do for her to thank him by killing him when she woke up. He started by using several buckets of water and a bar of soap to scrub off the filth clinging to her damaged skin.

He began alternating between clipping off clumps of head hair and scrubbing her scalp. First the back, and then rolling her over and doing the front.

By the time Scott was done with her hair, she barely had any left. He washed her everywhere else but decided that she could take care of more personal grooming.

While she was still asleep, he fashioned her a poncho style garment and a loincloth to cover herself with.

"Well Scott, you've done it again. Stuck your nose in, and now you have another mouth to feed."

He untied her but kept an eye on her as he covered her with a blanket, still on the damp table.

She began to stir.

She wasn't bad looking under all of the hair, once he'd cleaned her up some.

He wonder whether he hoped she could talk or hoped she wouldn't.

Right now he would settle for not maniacal or homicidal.

She slowly opened her eyes and jolted awake.

She pulled herself into a ball and watched him.

"You can relax. I ain't in the business of hurting folks unless I need to."

Barely above a whisper she asked, "where am i now, and where are Chew and Crank?"

"My name is Scott, and this is my place. Chew and Crank ain't gonna be botherin' folks no more."

He brought her some bread, jerky, and a jug of water.

"What do I have to do for it?" she asked.

"Well, if you're hungry, eat."

She ate like a ravenous wolf.

"Slow down, woman, ain't nobody likely to take it from you."

She paused for a moment before tearing back into it.