Between a bear and a hard place

"What's plan B when she charges?" Had she been with anyone else Rhys' answer would have been easy: every woman for herself, slowest chick is bear food. But, seeing as she was with her mother and they had only just been reunited, she couldn't very well abandon her mother to the bear, could she? Even for someone with Rhys' questionable beliefs about right and wrong that seemed a bit harsh.

"Well," she whispered back in a tone that said she was stalling for time. Honestly she didn't have much of an answer besides run like hell and throw in the occasional zigzag, and no time to think of a better plan. Except maybe...

"Seeing as only one of us has eyes..." She felt her hip brush Rhythm's chest or shoulder (she couldn't tell which without glancing back and she didn't dare take her eyes of the bear to check) as she backed up and took solace in the contact. She wanted her mother to be close just in case. "If it charges I think it will be best if you run while I distract it. We'll meet up at the barn, yeah?"

That sounded like a reasonable plan to her. Had the bear not had cubs she might have suggested they hold their ground and bluff, but instinct told her that would not help them in this scenario. The cubs were a bit too foolhardy and the mother was...well a mother bear of all things. It seemed unlikely that she would settle for running off when her cubs seemed keen to keep rolling around in the leaf litter.

Speaking of...

One of the rambunctious little bastards began to pad towards the wolves. Its expression was curious, not malicious, and yet that didn't lessen Rhys' dislike of it. "No, no, no," she groused at it as she backpedaled faster. "One of the little beasties seems to think we're worth investigating," she said to her mother. To it, she hissed, "Shoo, cubby, can't you see you're making mommy unhappy." Her gazed darted to the mother and then back to the nosy cub. The least momma bear could do was recognize that the proximity was the cub's fault, right?

Word count: 362