DECEMBER 22, 1861

Jacy was dressed all in pink. Her dress was a bright pretty pink with some white lace trim. She had pink ribbons securing her ponytails. She felt good and beautiful. She was happy to be going to the Christmas Eve dance with Cody. Jewel had tried to damper her evening by deciding not to go, but with her prompting and Jedidiah needing a partner for the evening, they had finally managed to persuade her to attend.

It was d�j� vu all over again. It had been Jacy’s turn to close up the newspaper office, so the rest of her family had gone on to the dance. Because of a mail run, Cody was suppose to meet her at Caller Bob’s. So here she was again. Going alone to the dance driving the buggy that Jedidiah had rented for her from the livery stable. Jedidiah had ridden his horse to town, and Jacy and her sisters only had one buggy, and the rest of her family had left town in it. They had wanted to stay and wait for her, but she had made them go on ahead, but now she wished she hadn’t. It wasn’t quite dust, but it soon would be, so she swatted the horse into a run. She hoped to make it to Caller Bob’s before dark. Unfortunately she didn’t make it. As the buggy clipped clopped on down the road, the light started disappearing and before Jacy knew it, it was pitch dark. Well, at least she was almost there.

All of a sudden the horse slowed down and started backing up. He didn’t want to go any further. She heard some noises in the woods to the left of her. She tried to start her horse again, but he only went a few feet and then stopped again. Jacy heard a noise, and it sounded like a bear. Now she knew she wanted to get going. She gave the horse a harder swat on the rump and the horse bolted into a fast run. It was so unexpected that she almost fell forward sprawling over the buggy, but her instinct took hold and she loosened the reins in her hands so that she wouldn’t. However, she was pulled out of her seat but quickly regained her position and composure.

As the vehicle came to the barn, the young girl pulled back on the reins, and the horse stopped before running right into the structure. She jumped down and quickly ran inside. Her brother saw her enter and went to her side immediately. “Jacy what’s wrong?”

“Something’s out there. It spooked the horse. I think it was a bear. It sounded like one.”

“Are you sure?” Heyes inquired as he was near enough to have heard what she had said.

“Of course I’m sure. What? You think I’m making it up. You think I’m lying?” She went on the defensive, challenging him to question her rationale.

“No, but it could have just been the wind and a noise that spooked your horse. Horses are very skittish creatures. I don’t think you’re lying.” He replied trying to smooth over her ruffled feathers.

Jacy calmed down and took a deep breath. She shouldn’t have flown off the handle like that. Now that she thought about it, he hadn’t said it in a doubtful tone. “I heard something that sounded like a bear growl. Maybe there is a bear in these woods. Remember when I came here last time. I thought someone was following me, maybe it was a bear.”

“Could be! I’ll go take a look around. I have my rifle in my scabbard on my horse.” So Jedidiah walked outside and grabbed his rifle. Cody came riding in at that moment, and upon hearing where Jedidiah was going, he decided to join him.

Meanwhile inside the barn, Aaron and Brandon overheard Jacy telling her sisters what had happened and why their brother had left, so they decided to go out and give their boss a hand searching for the bear.

About a half an hour later, all four gentlemen came back inside. They hadn’t seen a bear or any other animal for that matter, but that could have been due to the darkness. Well, at least most of the people thought or hoped that the bear had left the area. The rest of the night nothing out of the ordinary happened. It was just a fun-filled evening. Everyone had a great time square dancing.