Chapter 17
Suddenly, Grayson’s father fell on the roller-skating rink floor, making Grayson gasp, and his heart beat like crazy.
Before he and Kendra could skate across the rink to help him up and make sure he was okay, Ivy and her friends were there, and then Marcus assisted them.
Their dad laughed good-naturedly and gave them all a thumbs-up. Thankfully, he hadn’t broken anything.
Grayson’s dad might be strict about some rules, but everyone, including Ivy’s friends, adored him.
He was the dad who gave the kids lifts when their own parents couldn’t, or who went to school functions and acted as though he was everyone’s father, cheering them on and being there for them.
Grayson hoped he would be admired like that when he was a dad too, which made him glance at Kendra and think about her being pregnant with his kids.
He smiled at her. She smiled back. If she had known what he was thinking, she might have socked him.
Marcus stuck close to their dad after that to make sure he didn’t fall again.
They stayed at the rink much longer than Grayson had anticipated, the laps around the perimeter giving them some great exercise.
Sometimes he and Kendra broke free of the crowd, skating side by side, sometimes they got separated because of the crowded rink and caught up with each other again at the snack bar, breathless and a little sweaty.
“This has been so much fun,” Kendra said, drinking a bottle of water.
“Yeah. It’s perfect for Ivy’s sixteenth birthday party. I never thought I would have a date at the party, which makes it extra special to me.”
“Yeah, me too. I haven’t gone skating in years, and wouldn’t have thought of doing it for anything, but it sure is great exercise. I feel it in all my muscles.”
He chuckled. “Me too.”
They finished their drinks, and Kendra asked, “Do you want to race?”
He smiled. “I sure do.”
They headed back out on the skating rink, and when she easily outpaced him, she didn’t gloat, just smiled and grabbed his hand again as if the competition had been nothing more than a way to get his attention.
He was happy to give her all the attention she wanted.
Between sessions, he watched his sister gleefully skating with her friends. He looked at Kendra, who was watching his sister too.
“She’s really good,” she said.
“Yeah, and after what had happened to her, this is a good way to get her mind off it.”
“Until we tell her about the three girls the police had found.”
“I still think she’ll appreciate us telling her about it.”
“I agree,” Kendra said.
Dad was now sitting out with Marcus, talking at one of the tables and drinking sodas. Grayson wondered if they were ready to return home and hike in the forest.
Once the laughter and circling of roller-skating partygoers were finished, the five girls skated to the refreshment stand and got some more drinks.
“Do you think they’re ready to return to your dad’s house?” Kendra asked.
“Yeah.”
Hand in hand, they skated toward the refreshment stand, figuring it was time to leave.
“Are you ready to return home?” Grayson asked Ivy and her friends.
“Yeah. Dad told us how you were attacked by a wild bear that wanted to mate Kendra. Will she and the rest of us be safe enough when I can shift into my bear after the cast comes off?” Ivy asked.
“You girls will be. You’re too young in bear years to be mated,” Grayson said. “Kendra’s young, even for being mated in grizzly bear years. A six-year-old grizzly is approximately equivalent to an early to mid-thirties human female.”
“But close enough to the right age for a wild bear to go after her and fight you,” Ivy reminded him.
“Yeah. He might have figured that since I was with her, she was mature enough to be mated,” Grayson said.
After the bear discussion, they finished their refreshments, changed out of their roller skates, and headed out to the vehicles.
Ivy drove her new Jeep home with Kendra and Grayson. Marcus and Ivy’s girlfriends went with Grayson’s dad. It didn’t take them long to drive to the house.
Ivy and her friends went to her bedroom to change into hiking clothes. They came out of the bedroom, playfully pushing each other down the hallway until they reached the back door.
“Just wait on the back deck for us, and we’ll hike together,” Dad said.
Grayson wished his sister and her friends could shift and be bears because it was always part of their birthday ritual.
“We ought to install a large dog door so we could go in and out without shifting outside,” Dad said.
“Sure, we could go in and out, but other bears could also,” Grayson said.
“True,” Marcus said.
The neat thing about grizzlies, even as massive as they were, if they could get their heads through an opening, because they lacked collarbones, they could squeeze the rest of their body through it.
So doorways were no problem, or getting in through an open car window, or any number of small spaces.
And with their paws, they could easily push open doors or pull handles to open them.
The tightly woven woods bordered the backyard, and most of their neighbors were grizzlies or black bears, so they had no trouble if they were caught in their fur coats.
Each of them had acres of Whitefish Lake front property, so, like with Kendra’s property, they could easily swim as bears or humans whenever they wanted. And fish too.
But Whitefish Lake was only 5.2 square miles, whereas Flathead Lake was forty times larger at 197 square miles. Whitefish Lake had calmer water for water activities, while Flathead Lake was one of the largest freshwater lakes in the western United States.
Knowing what Grayson had gone through before with the fight with the wild bear, Kendra was glad they weren’t running as grizzlies.
She could imagine all the girls scattering and the havoc that could cause.
She worried, too, that the girls’ parents might be mad that Ivy’s dad had allowed Kendra to go with the girls in case she caused trouble because a wild bear was interested in her.
Grayson glanced toward the lake, looking like he wanted to take a swim, but he couldn’t yet. Kendra rubbed his uninjured shoulder and kissed his cheek. He kissed her back, his eyes smiling with sweet humor.
Everyone stayed where the girls were while they explored a bit.
Earlier than she expected, Ivy patted her friends’ shoulders and then headed to the house. Kendra suspected her arm was really giving her trouble.
When Ivy reached the deck, she headed for the door. Marcus hurried to open it for her.
Ivy went inside, all her pals hurrying after her as if she were the queen of her sleuth.
Then she disappeared into her bedroom with her girlfriends.
Kendra and Grayson entered the house. “She was hurting.”
“Yeah, I saw that. She overdid it. The girls are staying overnight, but Dad and Marcus will handle it. They’re going to roast hot dogs and marshmallows on the campfire,” Grayson said.
“What about telling her about the girls who were rescued?”
“I figure once Ivy’s friends are on the back deck, we’ll have a private discussion with Ivy while my dad and Marcus watch the girls.”
“Are you going to tell your brother and your dad too?”
“Yeah, they’ll need to know.”
Then they left the bedroom, and Grayson saw Marcus gathering hot dogs and buns together. Grayson grabbed the condiments while their dad took out packages of chips.
The girls carried out drinks and marshmallows. Then Grayson said to Ivy, “We’re heading back to my house.”
She smiled, like she knew just why they wanted to leave.
“But first, we need to tell you something, privately.”
Marcus overheard him. “Can I listen in?”
“Sure. Then, when you are alone with Dad, you can tell him. Let’s go to the den.”
A large flat-screen TV hung on the wall.
Gray velour couches and chairs filled the room.
A table for games, boxes of games, and books on shelves was the perfect place for the girls to enjoy the rest of their night, after they had eaten their dinner.
Sleeping bags were rolled up in the corner of the den, and he realized Ivy and her girlfriends would probably sleep in there.
“I’ll tell Dad that you wanted to talk to Ivy for a moment, so her girlfriends don’t come looking for her.” Marcus left the den and headed outside on the deck.
“It must be something bad,” Ivy said, taking a seat on one of the recliners.
“It’s good and bad,” Grayson said.
Kendra left the den and returned with water and some over-the-counter pain medication for Ivy’s arm.
Marcus joined them and took a seat on one of the couches while Kendra and Grayson sat together. “So what is this all about?” Marcus asked.
Grayson told them about the girls who had been taken hostage and where they ended up, just like Ivy and Anne would have.
Ivy wiped away tears. “I can’t believe I was stupid for falling for their tricks.”
“The other girls did too. Anne was just caught off-guard on the hiking trail,” Kendra said. “That’s why you always have to be aware of your surroundings and make sure someone doesn’t try to take advantage of you.”
“Are the girls all right?” Ivy asked.
“I’m sure they were traumatized by it, just as you were. But because you had freed yourself, you might feel somewhat more empowered,” Kendra said.
“I do.” Ivy was quiet for a moment, thinking about what had happened. “I would have shifted and torn apart the cage I was in if I hadn’t been able to free myself earlier.”
“But the other girls would have seen you shift,” Grayson said.
“In the dark? At night? They probably would have been terrified that a growling grizzly had gotten into the room, but once I freed them, I would have shifted back and dressed. Then I would have joined them, telling them that the bear was one I had raised from a cub, that she freed us, and we had to get out of there.”
Grayson smiled. “Yeah, I hadn’t thought of that, but you would have too.”
“Sure, I would. I take it all the other girls, and Anne are human.”
“They are.” Kendra sighed. “If anyone could have done it, you could.”
“Yeah, and if Younger and Billy had come for us before I had freed the other girls, I would have finished them off.”
Kendra would have done the same thing. But she looked to Grayson, since Ivy was his sister, to see what he had to say about it.
Marcus responded first. “Fighting a full-grown bear or a teen male bear wouldn’t have worked for you, but an unaware human, sure.
It would have been best if you could have just knocked them out, but there would be the threat of them being armed also—knives, guns, tasers, or other weapons.
Still, rather than have you shipped off and separated from the other girls, it would be better if you stopped them right there. So I’m with you on that.”
“I agree,” Grayson said. “I wouldn’t have thought we would ever face that situation with you, but a cage like the girls were kept in wouldn’t have been strong enough to keep you in it. So fighting your way out of it and ripping up the other cages so the girls could escape would be the way to go.”
“Though the girls would have thought you would kill them first,” Kendra reminded them.
“Right. She would have had to have broken through the door to the basement also, if it had been locked,” Grayson said.
“But once that was done, she could have returned to her clothes, shifted, and gotten the girls out of there, reassuring them that the bear had already left the house, if she didn’t tell them the story that she had raised it from a cub. ”
Ivy smiled, to Kendra’s surprise. “I feel better about it now. I would have saved the day as I did by saving myself from the kidnappers.”
“Exactly,” Kendra said. If Ivy ever got herself into a similar situation in the future, she would know how to handle herself. They were taught not to shift in front of others, but if it were a life-or-death situation, they would do what was necessary to survive.
“Maybe I should try to be the bait,” Ivy said.