Part XXIII:
I was fully prepared to defend my honor to the last moment. That I can not deny. I went through several different scenarios in my head, from summoning superhuman strength to outsmarting McKinley at the perfect moment. I could tell I was on the verge of becoming unconscious. My thoughts swelled and pounded my inner mind with blackness. Each sensation sent me reeling, hoping for a positive outcome. I could hear some movement coming from inside my tent, where McKinley and the other man had shacked up for the night.
A long zipper sound, followed by a man stepping out of the tent and walking out into the woods. I suppose McKinley was on his way to relieve himself when the most gratuitous twist of fate occurred. “Yooooowwwww!” he yelled, instantly writhing in pain. If I could characterize the relief that came over me as a wave, it came over me with no less intensity and force than the Kahuna Wave. At almost the same moment I heard him begin to scream, I heard the spring of the bear trap I had placed in the woods snap shut and close instantly around McKinley’s ankle.
In some mixture of panting, screaming, and flat out crying, McKinley called out, “Somebody get over here and help me!”
Up until the point that he yelled the first time, I wasn’t completely positive that it was McKinley. While I would never wish such pain on another, I can’t say I didn’t take a bit of joy from the experience. “I would come and help you,” I said, condescendingly, but you have my hands tied behind the trunk of this tree.”
To be continued…
