Everyday Edam went through the trails of the camp stapling POSTED signs to trees and sweeping each area closely for traps. Often times he'd have animals accompanying him. He saw Bob again and even met her cousin Bobbi. He'd taken to walking around with a stick or broom handle out in front of him so that his leg wouldn't find itself in a trap. And it was working. For the most part.
Although there was that one time when he almost stepped on a trap similar to Harvey's. And if the animals hadn't stopped him. Well, it would have been bad.
And the time the rattle snake stopped him from stepping on a particularly well hidden one.
Both times he had used the stick to set the traps off and then gathered the spent hunks of metal to be destroyed.
So far a staggering eight traps had been found on camp property. And as far as Edam was concerned, that was eight too many. The worst part was, he couldn't make the hunters stop. If he saw them, he could have said something to them and proceed accordingly. But he hadn't seen any trace of the person(s) responsible.
And every night he went home to Jerry. They would talk about their day. Jerry had incredible stories of campers. Edam had tales of the animals. All in all, Edam decided he was quite content with his life. He reckoned, besides the annoyingly dangerous traps, everything was as it should be. He was happy.
He decided he was a lucky guy to have the kind of life that was suited for him.
So, of course something would happen to change his state of contentness.
Edam had finished his sweeps earlier than normal and decided to meander through the woods with no real destination in mind. He had set his stick down somewhere along the way and hadn't bothered to pick up a new one. It had been a while since he had found any traps and Edam figured that there were no more on camp property.
He lazily walked on one of his favorite routs in the camp. A deer trail that had beautiful tall grasses and many happy animals to talk to. It was quiet in the area, but that wasn't much of a surprise. Rain was coming and the animals had already taken shelter. He loved the smell that came before a storm. Didn't like getting wet much, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make in order to walk on the beautiful trail. He looked up at the sky. It was gray and seemed to be getting darker all the time. The direction of the wind shifted and it was wonderful. He heard the pitter-patter of a hard rain as it slowly advanced towards him. And then it was there and he was soaked.
Edam smiled and decided he'd continue on the path a little more before calling it a day. There was no point in just turning around now. He was already soaked. And the cool rain felt good against his skin. It had been a rather hot and humid day.
He heard a clanging of metal. And toppled to the ground. Then the pain hit. A horrible pain… on his right ankle. He looked to see a trap clamping tightly into his flesh.
"Oh," was all he managed to say. He realized quickly that he was in a bad position. Not only was it raining, but it was nearing night time. Blood was flowing freely from the wound and the clamped teeth were embedded so far into his flesh that he could have easily severed the little remaining strings that were keeping the appendage from being completely severed. But if he severed the appendage completely, how would he get out of the woods? Heck, how would he get out anyway? The walk was long and there was no question that he'd have to crawl.
First thing first, he'd have to get the trap off of his leg. Or out of the ground.
He tried in vain to get the trap off of himself, but the blood and water made the metal slick and his hands would slip into the meaty ruins of his leg. "Shit," he hissed. It hurt like a son-of-a-bitch. Even if he did get the trap off there was no way he was getting out of the woods without help.
"Somebody help," he called hoarsely. Desperation causing his voice to crack. Who was going to hear him out in the middle of the woods? And there were no animals around. They all had taken shelter from the rain. "Help," Edam tried again weakly. If nobody came he knew he'd bleed, bleed probably until he died. The pain was already starting to disappear, turning instead to an alarming numbness. His heart rate increased, he'd rather feel pain than nothing. Nothing was bad.
Just as he was ready to call for help again, a family of opossums ambled their way over. "Oh my, that's one mean trap you've got there."
"Oh yeah, real doozy," the other agreed good-naturedly.
"Please," Edam gasped out, "please find Harvey or Priscilla," he practically begged. They needed to hurry. He didn't know how long he had before things got bad… Okay, things were already bad, but they could get a lot worse.
"Oh, those bears?"
"Yeah the bears," the other one confirmed, "We better hurry. When the buzzards start landing you know they don't have long." They scooted away as fast as their tiny legs would carry them.
Buzzards? Edam looked up to the trees in a haze. There was a buzzard there. Watching him with beady eyes.
"I'm gonna eat you," it said.
Edam's eyes fluttered closed. If the buzzard wanted to eat him, he wouldn't even be able to put up a fight.
"Edam!" Harvey roared, seeing the human laying on the damp forest floor. He thought the opossums had been exaggerating with how bad the groundskeeper's condition was, but if anything he looked worse. His leg was in ribbons, bloody and distorted. Muddy clumps clung to the torn up flesh. His breathing was shallow and there were three buzzards patiently waiting for him to die.
Harvey growled at them, "Nobody's eating him." He rammed the tree for good measure and was satisfied when they squawked and flew away. Until they landed in a different tree.
He growled in disgust. Edam wasn't dead.
"Harvey?" A weak voice whispered. And just like that, the birds didn't matter anymore. He only had eyes for Edam. He nuzzled the boy gently with his snout. Edam chuckled and reached a shaky hand up to pet the velvet fur above the bear's nose. "Harvey… can you… get Jerry," the human managed to gasp out.
"Priscilla's already gone to look for him. She'll bring him back here soon," the bear assured gently his heart clenched in a pain he had never felt before when he watched the human smile weakly. This was an animal filled with hope, a will to live so strong. Harvey knew Edam would try his hardest to stay alive. He only hoped that his friend wasn't too late to save him.
Priscilla paced back and forth on the green. She saw the human she was looking for enter a building, but she couldn't very well go into the place after the guy. She whined. If Edam died…
She was about to go find another less intimidating animal to get the man's attention when he exited the building. She called to him in greeting and then remembered that he couldn't understand her. Not everybody was like Edam.
Okay, why is there a bear standing outside the dining hall? Was the first thought that formed in Jerry's mind upon seeing the animal so close to main camp. Then he realized he knew the bear. It was the smaller one from the woods that day. She was looking in his direction and making whining barking noises.
Jerry's stomach dropped through the floor. She had made those noises when Harvey was in trouble. What if something had happened to the bear? Edam was still out doing his sweeps of the area. He might not make it in time to help the bear.
Jerry decided it was up to him to save the bear in Edam's stead. He couldn't imagine how upset Edam would be if something happened to the bear. Jerry walked up to the bear and squared his shoulders saying, 'Show me where he is."
The bear nodded.
She lead him through the woods at a fast pace, constantly peering back over her shoulders to make sure she wasn't losing the human. The man kept up remarkably well. When she reached her area where Edam and Harvey were located she went and stood next to her mate.
"How is he?" she asked.
Harvey just shook his head.
Jerry realized the bear had stopped… and Harvey was standing next to her completely unharmed. Why had she brought him into the woods?
Then he smelled it. That metallic stench that came with blood. Lots of blood. But nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. That prone figure on the ground. "Jesus, God," he breathed bringing a hand up to his mouth. "Edam!"
He raced over to the man. Oh god. He was stuck in a trap. The flesh of his leg looked like ribbon and the appendage hung at a weird angle. It looked like there was barely anything keeping the limb together. Edam's eyes were closed, and his breathing was shallow.
"Shit," he swore. He had to get the trap off. He tried prying it apart but his hands became slick with blood. "Hang on Edam," he ordered.
He quickly pulled his shirt over his head and began wiping his hands and the trap off, wiping gently at the areas that were biting into Edam's flesh. He didn't want this to hurt anymore than absolutely necessary. Then using the shirt as a grip he tried again to pry the trap off and was successful.
Jerry thought he was going to be sick. The leg looked so much worse now that it was free from the trap. He could tell it really was just dangling there. Jerry took his shirt and tied it around the wound hoping to stem the blood flow and keep the limb attached.
He gingerly picked the man up and turned to the bears. "Thank you. I promise I'll save him."
They nodded and Jerry nodded back to them. They understood even without a shared language. He turned and made his way swiftly through the woods.
It was time to make good on his promise to the bears. He had to make sure Edam lived.
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