FicWad

The next morning we got up and made sure we had everything packed up. After a last breakfast with Peter and Dale, we got in the RV and headed home. I did have a few stops planned out for us. And a few surprises for the kids, and for Pete.

I love Colorado and planned a few stops there. Including summiting a 14er. Bronx will be able to check one off his list. And we could do it together as a family. I also planned a stop in Vale to go to the same store I bought my cowboy hat in. Bronx had expressed an interest in getting one. I was going to buy him a Stetson and have his monogram burned into the wool for him. Mine had my monogram. I might get a new one myself if I saw one I wanted.

I took us west towards Des Moines, Iowa. We stayed at a campsite about half an hour outside the city. It didn’t have much of a hiking trail, but it did have a nice pond that we walked around and saw some wildlife, mostly ducks. Marvel thought the ducks were awesome and Bowie tried to chase them.

I was feeling pretty good for the most part. I was a bit nauseous in the mornings, but could usually eat something after being awake for a few hours. And I did notice I was tired earlier in the evenings.

The morning we left Nebraska I told everyone what our plan for the day was.

“We need to be on the road no later than 8:00 AM. We have tickets for a train ride at 1:00 PM.” I announced at breakfast.

“Train ride?” Pete asked. “What train are we taking and to where?”

“Today we are headed to a town called Manitou Springs, Colorado. This is where we were going to summit a mountain. Pikes Peak to be precise.” I told the family.

“We’re gonna summit a mountain?” Bronx asked excitedly.

“Yes we are, by train. There’s a cog train, the only one west of the Mississippi, and it takes you to the top of the mountain. Up there you can see all the way back here to Nebraska. And there’s a gift shop up there that makes and sells donuts. They’re light and fluffy, but if you take them down the mountain, they deflate because of the air pressure.”

I looked at Bronx and said, “You’ll be able to check off a mountain from your list.”

He grinned his fathers grin at me. “Moon, that’s awesome! Thank you.” He got up and hugged me.

“You’re taking us to the top of a mountain?” Pete asked me in disbelief.

“I’m gonna make a mountain man out of you yet.” I teased him. He only chuckled and smiled at me.

“You’re certainly gonna to keep me on my toes, you adventurous woman you.” He said as he gave me an affectionate smile.

“You always knew I wasn’t gonna stay in one place for too long. I told you I just wanted to take you and the kids on my adventures.” I told him, smiling back.

“I like our adventures.” Saint spoke up.

“I’m really glad you do, Sir Saint. I like having you with me on them.” I told him.

We finished up breakfast, broke down camp and got on the road nice and early. I made good time getting to Colorado. We got there in plenty of time to get on the train. The trip takes about three hours total and that’s with time to look around while at the top. Everyone enjoyed the trip up, the view, the donuts and then the ride back down.

When we got off the mountain, I took us to the RV park we were going to spend the night in. The next day I took us to Vail. That’s where the shop I had parched my cowboy hat at was. I told them all what the stop was for. Bronx was so happy he was going to get his own hat. We found him one that he liked, got a nice hat band to go on it and got it monogrammed for him. He chose a black one. I also found a new hat and got it monogrammed with GEW for Grace Ellen Wentz. I intended to change my name as soon as we got married. I wanted to have the same last name as my children. Mine was a heather gray. Both of the little kids found hats they wanted too. For them, we found cheaper hats so once they outgrew them it wouldn’t be a waste of money. Even Pete found one he liked. It was white. He actually looked really good in it too. The five of us left with a new hat each. And the young man that had been helping us got a Hell of a commission.

We left Vail and ended the day in Grand Junction Colorado. It would take us two more days to get to L.A.. Bronx asked if there was one more place we could stop and hike. We looked at a map and found a place where we could do that. It would add one more day to our trip, but everyone agreed it would be nice to get in one more hike and one more night of real camping.

We found a nice campground close to the Utah border to stay at. We got there early and made camp. After we got set up, we got geared up and headed out for the hike. As usual for me, I had a can of bear spray and an air horn on my left hip. On my right hip I had my 1911 9mm. I only pulled it out when we were in the back country or on a deep hike like we were on. The air horn and the bear spray were always carried when we were camping and hiking. I only had the gun when I thought we would be too far from other people to call for help.

We had our packs on, extra water and a lot of extra energy that the kids needed to burn off. We were about a mile into the hike and the littles were running ahead of us. Pete had Bowie on a leash. I had left the cats in the RV. Bronx and I were talking about different things we could do for dinner that night. I had my camera with me and was filming the hike for my channel.

The first thing that clued me in that there was a problem was Bowie. He started barking at something I didn’t see right away. But then I caught movement in the shrubbery ahead and to the side of the trail. It was a mountain lion. A young one by the looks of it.

I stopped dead in my tracks and screamed at the kids, “Stop! Saint, Marvel, freeze! Do not move!” They both stopped and turned back to look at me.

“Grace? What’s wrong?” Pete asked.

“Bronx, hold this.” I said as I shoved the camera in his hands. “Pete, do not let the dog go. Do as I say! Do not move unless I tell you to.” I never took my eyes off the lion. It was crouching down in the grass trying to hide. But it was far too interested in the children.

I didn’t bother to look at Pete and Bronx. I trusted them to do as I said.

I did hear Bronx say, “Holy shit! Dad, that’s a mountain lion.”

“Grace, what the fuck are you doing?!” Pete called out to me.

“Do as I tell you Peter Lewis!” Was all I said as I stepped forward.

“Saint,” I called out to him, “I need you to listen to me and do as I tell you. When I tell you to, I want you to walk, not run, to your sister. Ok?”

I could see him nod. I was walking with purpose towards him to put myself between the kids and the lion.

As I got closer to him I said, “Ok, my brave boy, walk to Marvel and take her hand. Let me know when you have her hand.” I glanced over at him and made eye contact. He started walking to Marvel who was behind him on the trail.

Once I was between him and the mountain lion I raised my walking stick to make myself look bigger.

“I have Marvel's hand.” Saint called out.

I reached down and unclasped the strap on my holster so I could pull the pistol if I needed to. I also made sure I could quickly pull the air horn and the bear spray.

“Ok, when I tell you, you take Marvel and run as fast as you can to your Dad. Ready?”

“Yes,” came his small and frightened voice from behind me.

“On the count of three. One, two, three, go!”

I heard the two of them take off. The cat watched and started to stand but I was there instead.

“No!” I yelled at the cougar. I took another step to put myself in front of the cat. “You picked the wrong family to fuck with! You will NOT get my kids! I’m bigger than you. I’m badder than you. And my bite hurts more!” I yelled at the cat as I stepped even closer. This surprised it and it forgot about the kids. Instead it turned its attention on me.

“Oh fuck! Grace!” I hear Pete yell from behind me.

The mountain lion and I were locked in eye contact. I was terrified that this animal would hurt my kids, but I didn’t care if it hurt me. I could fight back, they couldn’t.

I saw the cat start to move and I dropped my walking stick. I pulled the bear spray off my hip and placed it in my right hand, then I pulled the air horn and held it in my left. I took one more big step forward, aimed at the cougar's face, took a deep breath, and pulled both triggers. The cat was still about 10 feet from me, so not as close as it could have been. I hit the lion in the face with the bear spray and the air horn was loud. The cougar jumped, screamed, twisted in the air and ran off.

I dropped both arms and let out the breath I was holding. I was very lucky that the wind was blowing away from me. I only got a little bit of blow back from the bear spray. Bear spray was really just a big can of pepper spray. Just like the little cans you can carry for personal protection. And it hurt like a mother fucker when it got in your eyes.

I leaned over and picked up my walking stick. The lion was long gone. I turned around and saw my family. The look on Pete’s face was pure terror. It was only then that the full impact of what I just did hit me.

The adrenalin that my body had dumped into my bloodstream was hitting me full force now that I wasn't fully concentrating on the lion. I felt it hit me like a ton of bricks and I started to shake. I slowly put the bear spray and the air horn back on my hip, and using my walking stick I started back towards my family.

Saint pulled away from his father and ran to me. He was crying by the time he got to me. I dropped to my knees and hugged him tight.

“Are you ok?” I asked him.

He sniffled and nodded into my shoulder.

“You were so brave. So very, very brave. My brave son. Thank you for helping me keep your sister safe.” I told him as I stood up and picked him up. I carried him back to Pete and the rest of the family. They had not moved since I had told them to stay put.

“Moon, that was bad ass! I got it all on video too. All of it.” Bronx said as Saint and I approached the group.

“What the fuck were you thinking!?!” Pete yelled at me. He sounded angry, but I could see he was just scared. “It could have attacked you! It could have killed you! What were you thinking?!!”

I put Saint down and turned to Pete. “Better me than them. I can fight back, they can’t.”

He didn’t respond right away. Instead he pulled me into a tight hug. “Don’t scare me like that ever again. Never. I don’t think my heart could handle it if you did. That was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.” And then he let out a sob. He just buried his face in my shoulder and cried.

“I’m ok. I’m ok.” I told him. “It’s alright. I’m ok and so are the kids.” I told him as I hugged him back. “We need to head back to camp. We need to let the park ranger know there’s a cougar in the area that was stalking us on the trail.” I told him. He finally let go of me.

“And I got it all on camera too! I can’t believe you did that! Moon, that was incredible.” Bronx still had my camera and was still filming.

“Turn that off please.” I said to him. He did as I asked.

We headed back to our camp. Pete refused to let go of me. He held my hand the whole way back. Saint didn’t want to let me go either.

I went and found the park ranger when we got back to our campsite. I informed them of our encounter with the cougar. He told me they would put the word out and they would be looking for the animal.

That night as we sat around the campfire Pete said he wasn’t comfortable with the kids sleeping in the tent. Bronx and Marvel argued with him. They wanted to sleep in the tent and weren’t afraid. Saint wanted to sleep with us. Pete finally let the two of them sleep in the tent, but only with Bowie out there with them. Saint ended up in the bed with us. After that day, Saint never called me Moony again. From then on, I was only Mom.

When both Marvel and Saint had finally fallen asleep, Pete had a few words for me. He had been very agitated all evening.

“What made you think you could take on that mountain lion? Didn’t you realize how much danger you were in?” He finally asked me. I could tell he had been sitting on this all night. He was letting out all his fear.

He was sitting next to me as normal. I reached over and took his hand. “Yes, I knew it was dangerous. But the alternative was to watch Saint or Marvel get attacked by it. I could not allow that. I had weapons, I knew I had a chance against it. They didn’t.”

Pete just looked at me like I had antlers growing out of my head.

“You can’t put yourself in danger like that. I need you, you can’t just take your life in your hands like that! Promise me you won’t ever do something like that again.” Pete begged me.

“No, I can’t promise you that. I will never stand by if the kids are in danger. I will always step in front of it to protect them. I’d do it for you too. Wouldn’t you put yourself in danger to protect them?”

“Of course I would. I’m their father, it’s my responsibility to protect them. To protect you.” He answered without hesitation.

“And as their mother, it’s my responsibility to protect them. As your partner, it’s my responsibility to protect you too.” I answered right back. This made him stop for a minute. “Do you think for a second I could live with myself if something happened to any of you, and I knew I could have done something to prevent it? Could you?”

“No. No I couldn’t. And I know you couldn’t either.” He told me.

“That’s all I was thinking. My kids were in danger and I needed to get them out of it. Even if that meant I put myself in their place. I’d do it again if I needed to.” I told him.

I could tell that Pete understood what I was telling him. And he would do the same thing to save his kids. But I think seeing me do it was a totally different experience.

“I can’t argue against that. But seeing something like that… I hope I never have to see you do something like that again.” He told me. He was so earnest and insistent.

“I hope I never have to do something like that again.” I told him sincerely.

“Dad, you should be so fucking proud of her.” Bronx said from the other side of the fire. I hadn’t forgotten he was there, but from the look of shock on Pete’s face, I think he had.

“What do you mean?” Pete asked Bronx.

“Well, she’s a fucking bad ass to start with. She faced down a Goddamn mountain lion! And she proved that she would do anything to keep us safe. Dad, you’re marrying someone that would put herself and the baby she’s wanted for 20 years in harm's way to protect us.” He just gave his Dad a very meaningful look. “Don’t get all butthurt that she was the one that acted and not you. Don’t feel emasculated.”

“Bronx, that was uncalled for.” I said to him. He didn’t need to insult his father.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to be an asshole. I’m just trying to make a point.” Bronx apologized.

“No, I think you might be right. No man wants to watch his wife and kids in danger and not be able to do anything. And I didn’t, I didn’t know what to do. I’m sorry, Grace. You scared me today. You saved Saint and Marvel. But I felt useless watching you do that.”

“Honey, you’re not the outdoorsman in the family. I am. I acted on instinct. I’ve been around animals all my life. Yes, it was a mountain lion. But it was a juvenile, and it’s still just a cat. Spook them and they’ll run usually. Even big cats don’t like loud noises or pepper spray in the face.”

I couldn’t read his expression. I have learned most of the faces he makes. But this one? I’d never seen it before. I could tell he was thinking everything over. But I had no idea where he would land.

“I love you. But I never want to watch you face down something that I can’t again. I’m your protector, yours, the kids, Little Bitty, and I failed you all today.”

“No you didn’t. You helped me today.” I assured him.

“How? How did I help you at all?” He asked me.

“You did as you were told. I needed you to stay put and be there when the little kids ran to you. You kept the dog on his leash so he didn’t run after the cougar. That was helpful. You didn’t fail us.” I got up from my chair and sat in his lap. I placed both of my hands on his face, I looked deep into his honey colored eyes and said, “There are things you will be able to protect us from that I can’t. And there are things I can protect you from. That just makes us a team. And we’re one Hell of a team.” Then I leaned in and kissed him.

He kissed me back and wrapped his arms around me holding me tight.

“It’s getting late, and I’m tired. I’m gonna head in and try to get some sleep. Join me?” I said as I stood up. I held my hand out to him.

“Yeah, I’m coming with you.” He stood up and then looked at Bronx. “You should head to bed too. We’re leaving the door unlocked. You bring your sister inside if you hear anything out here. Understood?”

Bronx nodded and got up. “Goodnight Dad. Goodnight Moon. I love you guys. And I’ll bring Marvel in if we hear anything. Promise.”

He went to bed, and we went into the RV. Saint was sound asleep in our bed. We moved him over and crawled in next to him. I ended up in the middle with Pete as the big spoon, and Saint as the littlest spoon.

The next day we left that campsite and headed towards home. We had one last night in the camper. We stopped the last night in Nevada. And then, finally we were home. All of us were happy to be back home.