The cougar stared at me a moment longer. I wasn’t sure what I was waiting for or if any of this would work. But eventually the cougar seemed to give me the permission I was looking for. It huffed and turned its head away. A giddy feeling rose in my chest. 

I shuffled forward and got a better look at the trap. The crow landed across from me and we both looked at it together. I remembered one of the times my father took me hunting. He said there were certain traps you should never use because you didn’t want to harm the animal prematurely. He showed me a trap just like this one. There was a way to open the trap that I thankfully still remembered. 

I carefully reached forward and felt for the lever to press. When it flung open, we all jumped. The crow flew upwards and I winced backwards. The cougar pulled its leg close to its body. 

There was a quiet moment. I slowly opened my eyes that I had impulsively closed to glance at the cougar. It looked at its leg before looking at me. I didn’t dare move. Was this when it would attack me? 

The crow cawed and flew around us. Then he landed and walked around the cougar while moving his wings as if he was excited. We both watched him do his victory lap before taking flight and circling around overhead. I began to feel at ease and smiled while I watched him, my shoulders lowering. 

I realized the cougar still hadn’t moved. It hadn’t even growled or acted intimidating again. I saw it watching the crow before looking at me again. I slowly got to my feet. 

“I got the trap off of you, but will you let me treat your injury?” I asked. “We can probably get some bandages close by. We’ll find someone who can help us there.” 

The cougar only stared at me. It always seemed strange when I felt like I could communicate with the crow and the rabbit, why did I think I could communicate with the cougar as well? 

I wandered back to my bag and the rabbit who looked up at me. He seemed more relaxed. I picked both up and turned back to the cougar. 

“Follow me,” I said. “I’ll treat you and you can be on your way. If that’s alright.” 

The cougar continued to stare at me. I decided to move towards Callum’s cottage again. I saved the cougar from the trap but it had no obligation to follow me and let me help further. Its decision was its own. 

As I moved through the trees, I could feel eyes on me from behind. I glanced back and saw the cougar following me quietly from a distance. I couldn’t help feeling like it was stalking me as its prey. I shivered at the thought but tried to keep moving and not worry about it too much. When I finally saw Callum’s cottage with smoke coming out of the chimney, I felt relieved. 

I jogged up the couple steps to his front door and knocked a couple times. As I waited, I heard rustling and then a crash coming from inside.