Prayer of the Black Bear

By Eddie Salas

Eddie Salas was born in southwest Texas in 1970. In his youth Eddie and his family would spend much of their summers camping out in The Lincoln National Forest. He remembers one night in particular that was a very stormy and scary night as lightning flashes filled the sky and created dark silhouettes of the tall pine trees. That night became the inspiration for this book. Eddie now lives in Southern California with his wife and two sons. He has been a background actor in motion pictures in his spare time ,and he also enjoys oil painting and writing books. This is Eddie Salass third published book ,but it is his first work of fiction. He continues to work on a fourth and fifth book due out in the not too distant future both of which will be fiction as well.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491869116

Eddie Salas

Eddie Salas was born in southwest Texas in 1970. In his youth Eddie and his family would spend much of their summers camping out in The Lincoln National Forest. He remembers one night in particular that was a very stormy and scary night as lightning flashes filled the sky and created dark silhouettes of the tall pine trees. That night became the inspiration for this book. Eddie now lives in Southern California with his wife and two sons. He has been a background actor in motion pictures in his spare time ,and he also enjoys oil painting and writing books. This is Eddie Salas’s third published book ,but it is his first work of fiction. He continues to work on a fourth and fifth book due out in the not too distant future both of which will be fiction as well.

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© 2014 Eddie Salas. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/26/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-6910-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-6911-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014903763

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are purely the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CHAPTER 1

1883: The cold night air of the mountain pierced the four men’s skin like a sharp knife and chilled them to the core. Thin clouds of warm vapor exuded from their mouths as they spoke and laughed. Their bodies shivered, but each did his best to keep this unnoticed by the other three. Otherwise the others would not stop with their endless teasing of being weak in the cold night air. The heat from their small fire was of little comfort to them, and the four men sat close to each other, seeking the bodily warmth that comes from being near someone. Of course, they would never admit to this. The men were tough, young cowboys and not at all like some of the cowardly men they made fun of at the saloon.

The men had impaled a large jackrabbit on a tree branch and were roasting it over the fire. It would be dinner for the four of them. A small black kettle of beans and rice bubbled on one side of the fire as little plumes of smoke rose from inside. The men sat and joked around as they recounted the day’s events. They had tracked and killed a young Apache Indian warrior that had been stealing cattle for food. The smoke from the fire blew high up from between the trees, and the sounds of their laughter could be heard throughout the dense forest. It did not worry them that there were Indian tribes nearby nor that the forest was full of dangers such as black bears. They were, after all, young cowboys who, like so many others, believed they were invincible with their .44-caliber guns strapped to their sides. But that night, the bears were watching, and one had been in the area where the men had killed the young Indian boy, filling his body with gunshots. It was nothing personal for the men; it was simply all in a day’s work, and the compensation for their kill would earn them enough money from the wealthy cattle rancher to buy a few days’ worth of liquor, a room, and some well-spent nights with the ladies waiting to entertain them in the rooms above the saloon.

Well I reckon she’s about ready to eat, boys, said one of the men to the others as he carefully turned the skewer to the other side. He opened a small flask with moonshine and took a drink. He poured the rest into the small pot of beans and rice. For flavor, he said with a laugh.

The others laughed hesitantly with him. One of the men got up from the ground and dusted off his pants. He adjusted his hat and straightened his gun belt. I’ll be back, boys. Got to drain it, he said before spitting chewing tobacco onto the ground near one of the other men.

Hey, watch it! said the frailly thin man with irritation as he grabbed his dusty, faded black cowboy hat from the ground next to him and moved away from the tobacco spit.

Have fun, said one of the men, pouring whiskey into a small metal cup from his flask.

Don’t let the bears bite your keister off, said another. The others laughed and teased the man with the tobacco. He walked away into the dark forest of tall trees, making sly remarks of his own. The men looked on as he disappeared into the murky canopy. They heard the breaking of small branches on the ground. As the sound faded away, the men continued discussing the day’s events.

Deep in conversation, the three men suddenly heard a panic-stricken yell and loud gunshot pierce the dark just beyond their line of sight. There was a rustling of leaves, breaking of branches, and flapping of wings as birds seemed to fly out from nowhere. The three men stood up in fright. What in hell’s nation is that? asked one of the men in a terrified voice.

They reached for their guns almost in unison as they stared into the dark trees. William! yelled one of the men. There was no answer. William, you better quit jerking us around, or we’re going in there blasting at ya. You hear me?

One of the men agreed loudly. Yeah! We’re not playing with you. Get out here now! The men cocked their guns.

One of the men turned to another and whispered, I’m sure as hell not going in there. He shook his head.

The other quickly agreed with him. "Hell,