Still holding his rifle, Sandy walked unsteadily over to Mike.
“You all right?” he asked huskily.
Mike gulped and nodded wordlessly. His face was completely drained of color. He made no attempt to stand up.
The next moment, Mr. Cook was bending over his son, but Mike refused any help and scrambled to his feet. He walked over to Sandy and extended his hand. “Thanks, Sandy,” he said quietly. “I never expected to come out of that alive.”
Sandy took the outstretched hand and gave Mike a friendly punch on the shoulder. “That makes us even, Mike.”
Mike managed a weak grin of acknowledgment. “Let’s not do it again,” he said.
Hank, who had been covering the south side of the shed, was the last to arrive on the scene. When he was told what had happened, he frowned and walked over to Mr. Cook.
“Listen, Arthur,” he said sincerely, “I’m sorry Mike had such a bad time, but I guess it’s my fault. I should have stalked that lion alone.”
“Don’t talk nonsense,” Mr. Cook replied. “The boys wouldn’t have let you.”
“Anyway,” Hank went on, “I never expected to see a mountain lion attack from cover. They don’t normally do that, unless they’re being deviled by dogs. I’ve been going after them for more than twenty years and this is the first time anything like that’s ever happened. I knew there’d be a little danger, but I didn’t think it would be quite so serious. I was confident the boys would have plenty of time to place their shots.”