When the first shot rang out, I thought it was a firecracker or something. It was however loud enough to also get everyone else's attention as well. Mr. Parsons was at the grill, overseeing the cooking of our supper when the shot came out, and it startled him. Then three more shots rang out, proving that the first wasn't a fluke. Everyone at the camp site were looking around and at each other, unsure what to make of it. I looked over at Angie and Mrs. Parsons and they book look worried, even terrified.

"What the f.u.c.k was that?" Mr. Parsons said, still taken aback by it all.

"That was gunfire," Nicholas said, as he stood up from his chair.

"Where's Jimbo?" I called out, as I noticed he was the only person missing from camp.

"Nic," Mr. Parsons called out, passing the tongs over to him. "Watch the food. I'm going to check it out."

"Alright, boss." Nic said as he took the tongs and took his place near the food. He didn't look interested in investigating so he appeared pleased to take over the grill rather than be asked to venture out and find out what the hell was transpiring.

I stood there with Angie and Mrs. Parsons, rather shocked myself, as we watched Mr. Parsons leave the camp site and enter the woods in the direction the shots came from. I looked back at the boss' wife and could see the look of worry on her face.

"I wouldn't worry too much," I told Mrs. Parsons, "Odds are that was Jimbo doing the shooting."

"He brought a gun?" Mrs. Parsons asked, "Why would he do that?"

"I'm not sure myself," I answered, "But I'm sure we'll get a good reason rather soon."

"I'm not going to wait to find out," Mrs. Parsons said, laying her knife down. "Let's go."

Angie and I followed Mrs. parsons into the woods, and mere moments later we caught up with Mr. Parsons who was speaking with Jimbo who was unharmed and doing alright. Jimbo was also holding his gun, which I knew he had brought out with him but didn't want to mention unless I really had to. Jimbo was a bit believer in using guns for protection, and laying on the ground with several bullet holes in it was a good reason to keep one around. The cougar wasn't breathing and lay there motionless as all the ladies looked back at Jimbo with shocked faces.

"Seriously," Jimbo said upon seeing our faces, "If I didn't shoot this bugger, it would have had me for supper tonight. I will not apologize for defending myself."

No one else replied to that statement, but I walked up to my fiance and gave him a big hug. I was just happy to see him in one piece and doing alright.

"I'm sorry," I said to him, squeezing him tightly. "I'm glad that you're safe."

"Still," Angie added, "Nice shooting."

"Thanks," Jimbo said, relieved to not be getting an anti-gun lecture. "I didn't want to do it. I even warned the bastard a few times. He just came at me. Must have been pretty hungry to be desperate enough to go after one of us."

After a little debate, Jimbo and Mr. Parsons decided to bring the cougar carcass back to the camp. The ladies and I went back first while the men picked up and slowly walked the big, dead cat back with them. Nic was still manning the grill as he watched everyone return. His eyes looked as big as saucers when he saw the two men carrying back the big cat.

"Sorry guys," Nic called out, "There's not enough room on the grill for that."

"Ha, Ha," Jimbo said, as he walked past Nic with the carcass.

"This is to keep other predators away from our camp," Mr. Parson said, taking the tongs back from Nic, "Last thing we need is more of them wandering around."

"I've kind of lost my appetite," Angie said, as she didn't look that well. "I'm going to my tent."

"I understand dear," Mrs. Parsons said, looking rather sympathetic. "I'll leave something for you in case you get hungry later."

"Thank you," Angie said before disappearing behind the zipped up walls of her tent.

"Are you alright," Jimbo called out to me, "You don't well either."

"I'll be alright," I replied, "A little shaken, but I'm famished. I want some food!"

"It's coming," said Mr. Parsons, as he understood my impatience.

As Mr. Parsons and his wife resumed getting the evening meal ready, I walked over to where Jimbo was stashing the dead cougar and put an arm around his waist and hugged him as I arrived to check up on him.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, still shocked by what had happened.

"I'm good," Jimbo replied, leaning over to kiss my brow. "I've had worse."

"Seriously?" I asked him, doubting he was attacked by anything larger than that cat.

"Seriously," Jimbo confirmed, "There was one time I had to shoot a..."

"Aright people," Mr. Parsons then called out, "The food is finally ready. Come and get it!"

Jimbo and I returned to the campfire where the food was being cooked, and the two hosts handed out a plate to everyone that had steaks, a baked potato, and salad. It wasn't anything too fancy, but after all the walking and stress I had I was ready to eat anything.

"Thank you, Sir." I said, sitting down on one of the lawn chairs to eat my meal. I had to balance the plate out on my knees but it could have been worse. At least we had real plates and not something made of paper that would crumble when trying to cut the steak.

"This is pretty cool," Jimbo said as he sat beside me. "Good food, open air, and even better company."

"Thank you," Mr. Parsons replied, "This surprise hasn't always been taken well. Some people are just not made for camping."

"I think Angie might be one of them," Nic said, noticing that she never came out of her tent.

"That might be my fault," Jimbo replied, "Those shots must have startled her."

No one laughed at that, but I covered my mouth to hide a smile that might have appeared on my face. I was amused by the fact that Angie was cowering away in her tent. Was she missing Josh, or did those shots and the dead cat really freak her out that badly. I'm not sure how her hiding was going over with the Parsons but it couldn't hurt me as I was out here and being brave. She was acting like a scared princess, hiding in her metaphorical castle. It was rather funny but I tried to play it straight.

It was at this moment, when some lights started to approach the campsite. It was on the road so we knew it was a car, but as it got closer to the tents blue lights turned on to let us know that the person arriving was a member of the local law enforcement. Mr. Parsons got up and walked over to greet the man, and they appeared to know one another as they shook hands and were chummy and laughing it up.

"What's going on, Bill?" Mr. Parsons asked.

"We got reports from several campers about gunfire in the area," Bill replied, "Would you guys know anything about that?"