Ran had no doubt that if he gave her a reason, she would throw it at him without a second thought. Her name was Aina. Ran did not know that yet. All he knew was that she was wounded, cornered, and still dangerous enough to fight anyone who came one step too close for the wrong reason. Ran stopped about 6 ft away and lowered himself until he was closer to her eye level.
"That's a bounty man's trap," he said, though he had no idea whether she understood a word. "Somebody said it here. It wasn't me." He pointed towards the iron jaws and then lifted both empty hands again. I'm going to open it. It's going to hurt.
I'm sorry. For several long seconds, she simply watched him. Then slowly, she took her hand away from the stone. The trap had a powerful spring on each side. Ran dropped one knee into the pine needles, wrapped both hands around the release levers, and pushed with everything he had.
The iron barely moved. His forearms tightened. His shoulders shook under the strain. The jaws opened perhaps 2 in before the springs fought back with brutal force. For one uneasy moment, Ran wondered whether he was strong enough to hold them.
He clenched his teeth and leaned harder into the steel. The jaws finally spread to nearly 4 in. Aina jerked her foot free with one sharp, tightly controlled breath. It was the only sound she allowed herself. When she tried to put weight on the injured leg, it gave beneath her.
Ran caught her before she hit the ground. Aina immediately pulled away. Ran released her just as quickly and stepped back. She looked down at the wounded ankle. Then she looked at him.
Beneath the warm copper tone of her skin, she had gone pale. Ran could see how much effort it took for her to remain upright. Holding the pain out of her face seemed almost as difficult as enduring the injury itself. The ankle was in bad shape, though he did not believe the bone was broken. The jaws appeared to have closed just above it.
Her moccasin had probably kept the teeth from cutting deeper, but the skin had been badly crushed, and swelling was already forcing the leather tight around her foot. "You can't walk on that," Ran said. "Maybe she understood the words. Maybe she only understood what her own body was telling her. Either way, she tried.
She managed one step before the ankle failed again. Ran caught her a second time. This time, Aina did not pull away immediately. "My cabin's about a mile and a half down the slope," he told her. "There's nobody else around here.