Rose Eagle Read Online Free Page B

remember the self-defense tactics that Aunt Mary had been teaching me and the other girls. Everyone had to learn the basics in the last few months, stuff that would help us survive in this new, dangerous world, not just about weapons but how to use our own bodies to defend ourselves.
    Break a grip. How do you break a grip?
    I turned, lowering my center of gravity as I did so. Then I twisted my arm in a circle.
    The firewolf’s claws scratched my wrist, but suddenly my arm was free. I took a step back and thrust out a front kick as I shouted, trying to muster that force my aunt had called chi.
    â€œHEE-YAHH!”
    Every ounce of my strength, all of my two hundred pounds, was behind that. And that front kick struck the firewolf just where I aimed it — right in the center of its belly, just below its ribs. I felt the thud of that impact all the way up into my hip. But that kick of mine actually knocked the monster, which had to weigh twice as much as I did, a good six feet backward!
    However, it was far from knocked out. Its red eyes glared at me as it dropped to all fours. The fur rose on the back of its neck and it took a deep breath, making itself look even bigger.
    â€œKILL YOU!” it snarled as it gathered itself to leap.
    Its voice was even more dreadful than the fangs it bared at me. The only thing I could think to do was to take a quick step toward it, the sawed-off shotgun pointing at its half-human face, and pull the trigger.
    There was a moment, measured in milliseconds, when I saw something in the face of that creature as I was pulling the trigger. Something that made the moment even more terrible for me because in that millisecond its face looked human. Maybe even, though it seemed impossible to me at the time, as afraid of me as I was of it. Then the
BOOM!
of the shotgun ended my speculation and its life. It fell backward, its half-human paws clutched over its face.
    I looked down at it. It looked smaller in death. I didn’t feel any sense of victory. I felt lost and, once again, afraid.
    â€œAunt Mary!” I yelled. “Aunt Mary! Help!”
    â€œHelp?” an amused voice said from behind me. “Are you kidding, little girl? After what you done to that thing,
you
are looking for help?”
    It was, of course, Lenard Crazy Dog. He stood there, shaking his head, his arm over Aunt Mary’s shoulder to take the weight off his bandaged but bleeding left leg. Both of them still held their guns in their free hands, but they were also both smiling.
    â€œHuh?” I said. For some reason that was the only thing I could think to say, especially since I realized what he was saying was sort of a compliment. I wasn’t used to being complimented.
    â€œYup,” Lenard said. “Next time I get in a fight, I want you on my side, little girl.”
    â€œForget about fighting,” Aunt Mary said. “With that leg, we need to get you back to Big Cave. Get you sewed up.”
    â€œJust as long as you do the sewing, sweetie,” Lenard said. “Eh?”
    â€œStop it,” Aunt Mary said. But the tone of her voice made it clear she didn’t really want him to stop.
    I took a deep breath. My legs were shaking, and I felt like I was going to throw up. Maybe it was the adrenaline still running through my veins. Or maybe it was the way they had their arms around each other and looked like they were about to start smooching. This was no time for snagging. Why did I feel as if I was the grown-up and they were the teenagers?
    And were we really safe now?
    â€œAre all five of them dead?” I asked.
    â€œSix,” Lenard said, looking down at his leg. “That’s how I got this. Come up behind me just after I come up behind the other ones and put a couple of arrows in ’em.”
    He squeezed Aunt Mary’s shoulder with his big hand. “Wasn’t for my sweetie here, I would have been a dead duck. She put two .44s in that sucker quicker than