Jed's Place

[Excerpt of page 188 Part Two, "Jed's Place",]
"Lord, I don't know you near as well as I should, and prob'ly don't deserve your help but for sure that bear don't need any. Let me shoot straight an' hit him hard!"
He remembered for all his remaining days every vivid detail of those next moments. He saw how the bear's fur rippled in the breeze as it ran. How the pebbles shot from underfoot as the monster strove for more speed. And those eyes! Those awful, red-rimmed, hate-filled eyes! Spittle was dripping from its jowls, and the open mouth exposed yellowed, broken teeth. The sounds coming from that gaping mouth couldn't be called a growl, or even a roar. More like a scream of rage, as Montana later recalled.