Off Road Read online

  “Yeah, that’s right!” Wyatt shouted, startling both the cat and himself with his sudden confidence. “You leave me and my friend alone, got that?”

  The cat took a step back, startled by the swinging helmet. But it was still snarling. Wyatt knew that it was only a matter of time before it tried to pounce again, and he wasn’t sure how long his helmet would last against a 120-pound cat.

  Just then, over the growl of the mountain lion, Wyatt heard something else. The hum of a motor and the crunch of tires on gravel.

  Car headlights swung into view around the bend in the road, almost blinding after the darkness of the woods. Wyatt and Tanika squinted in the sudden burst of light. The mountain lion’s tail twitched uneasily at the intrusion.

  The car horn began to sound, the piercing beeps punctuated by flashing brights from the headlight. The mountain lion had clearly had enough. It turned, its claws scrabbling on the wood planks of the bridge, and bounded away into the woods.

  The horn fell silent. A car door slammed, and a park ranger got out of the jeep, which was marked Evergreen Wilds Park Security. “Wyatt and Tanika?” she asked as she stepped around to the front of the car. “You kids all right?”

  CHAPTER NINE

  “You have no idea how perfect your timing is!” Tanika exclaimed with a relieved look on her face.

  “How did you know to come look for us?” Wyatt asked.

  “Your parents called the park when you weren’t home by sundown.”

  Wyatt felt a twinge of guilt that they had scared their parents, but he was thankful that they had known to call the park. If the ranger hadn’t shown up, he wasn’t sure how they would have dealt with the mountain lion. But Wyatt suspected they wouldn’t have made it out so easily.

  The park ranger’s walkie-talkie squawked, and she replied. “Yeah, it’s fine, I found them. They’re hurt but not in critical condition as far as I can tell.”

  There was another burst of static from the radio.

  “I’ll drive them back. Can you get the first aid station prepped? I’ll need to get a better look, but I think we’ll be able to patch them up with the supplies we have on site.”

  Wyatt helped Tanika into the jeep, letting her stretch her injured leg out on the back seat. Then he climbed into the front and the park ranger drove them back to the Evergreen Wilds Visitor Center. The warm glow of the electric lights was a welcome sight after the dark of the woods.

  The on-site nurse handed them drinks and packets of trail mix, which they accepted gratefully. Then he reapplied the bandage on Wyatt’s arm and checked his head for signs of a concussion.

  The park ranger asked them questions about everything that had happened that afternoon while the nurse examined Tanika’s bruised and swollen ankle.

  Tanika launched into the story of their ordeal, complete with blow-by-blow descriptions of how they had fought off a mountain lion—twice.

  The park ranger’s expression alternated between concern and wide-eyed amazement.

  “Well, you’re safe now,” she said, “thank goodness.”

  “I already called your parents to let them know you’re all right,” the nurse added. “They should be here to pick you up soon.”

  “I’m sorry,” Wyatt blurted out, turning to Tanika.

  Tanika raised her eyebrows. “For what?” she asked.

  “For being a jerk,” Wyatt explained. Wasn’t that obvious? “You’re one of my best friends. And it seems really stupid to ruin all that just because you forget your phone sometimes.” He gave Tanika a sheepish smile, which she returned.

  “I’m sorry too,” Tanika said, wrinkling her nose. “I definitely contributed to the stupid arguments. I’m still going to forget my phone sometimes. But I’ll always make sure I have enough water with me,” she smirked.

  Wyatt snorted. ”And maybe next time I should bring a paper trail map.” He realized that the park ranger and nurse were listening to this whole conversation with amusement.

  “It was kind of a long day,” Wyatt explained to them.

  “I’ll bet,” the park ranger said kindly. “We’ll get that warning sign repaired and add a few more. And we’ll see about relocating that mountain lion to a safer place away from humans. In the meantime, I think we should be able to figure out where you had to abandon your bikes and return them to you soon.”

  Wyatt felt relief wash over him. It would take the bike shop a while to repair all the damage on his bike, but it was still better than having to save up to buy a new one. Tanika grinned excitedly.

  ***

  A couple of minutes later, Wyatt and Tanika sat at one of the tables in the Evergreen Wilds Visitor Center café. The park ranger made it clear she didn’t think they were in any state to drive themselves. And Wyatt had to agree. So they sat together under shiny silver emergency blankets eating trail mix while they waited for their parents to arrive. With all they had gone through that afternoon, Wyatt had hardly noticed how hungry he was. He ripped open a second packet of trail mix.

  “It doesn’t seems possible that all of that just happened,” Tanika said, leaning back in her chair. Her injured leg was propped up on a second chair, an ice pack wrapped around her ankle.

  “But somehow, we survived.” Wyatt folded his non-injured arm on the table and rested his head. “Yay, us,” he mumbled sleepily.

  He was glad that the only thing he had left to worry about was repairing his bike. Normal, everyday stress seemed much more manageable now that he no longer had to worry about his survival.

  About the Author

  Raelyn Drake thinks the Midwest is pretty swell, even if it’s noticeably lacking in mountains. When she and her husband aren’t traveling, they live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with their rescue corgi mix, Sheriff.