The First Jumper

08: Little Bear: Forest Dangers

Little Bear, stop!" Normally quite willing to walk beside his father, the seven-year-old Little Bear was so excited by all the things he was seeing that he had run ahead at the flash of color beside the game trail.

It was a bright orange caterpillar, munching on a leaf. The boy knew better than to touch it. The fear in his father Raccoon's voice, however, caused him to freeze, looking around him. Something scary is here.

Moving slowly, his spear at the ready, Raccoon crouched beside his son. Very softly, he said, "What have I told you about running ahead?"

"Littles must always—"

"Shh!"

The boy continued in a whisper. "Littles must always look about them, and never get far enough ahead that something could attack before adults could get there. But Father, I was looking about me. I saw that thing—what is it?"

Raccoon chuckled, quietly. "It is called a caterpillar. We eat some of them, but those orange ones are poisonous. That means it would make you sick if you ate it."

"I wouldn't eat something you didn't tell me to."

"I know, son. But caterpillars aren't the only things out here."

"I was watching!"

"Were you? Do you see anything around you right now?"

Little Bear frowned and looked around him. This was his first time out in the forest with just his father. He had never been allowed to go with his father to Moon Rock and the Cave of Flying, and he was bursting with excitement. He knew that even hunters did not go alone through the forest, but his father regularly went out to gather his magic alone, and always came back safe. He was sure nothing could harm him if he was with his father. Not even Chief Cave Bear went into the Cave of Flying.

So he looked about him, his shaggy hair about his neck. He craned his neck and sniffed the air, but he had not learned how to differentiate complex smells yet. The forest was rich with smells, but he couldn't tell them apart.

"I don't—"

"Shh! Listen, and look up."

The boy looked up, and listened. He realized the forest was much quieter than usual, where they were. There were leaves and branches above him, and tree trunks, but nothing else. Then he realized one of the branches just a few steps ahead was curling. His blood ran cold as he realized it was a tail.

Gasping for breath, his heart pounding, Little Bear traced back to where the tail disappeared behind a larger trunk. Then he made out the ears just visible in the leaves, and a trace of the eyes, watching him.

Trembling, he whispered, "Is that a saber-tooth?"

His father chuckled quietly. "No, those are much bigger, and they don't hunt from trees. That is a leopard, Little Bear. He won't attack me with my spear, but you are just the right size for him to eat."

Little Bear swallowed. "Would he have eaten me?"

"Yes. If you had gone five more steps, he would have had time to drop onto you, then run off into the trees with you before I could catch up. I could not have stopped him, and only a very lucky cast would have killed him. By that time, you would already have been dying, if not already dead."

Raccoon looked sternly at his son. "You forgot my teaching," he said, "and you almost died because of it. Do not forget again!"

Tears in his eyes, Little Bear promised he wouldn't. He looked up at the cat. He could see it clearly, now, although it blended in with its surroundings. The tail was still twitching.

"Leave humans alone!" Little Bear shouted at it, although he was still trembling with fear. The leopard stood, still looking down at them.

Raccoon chuckled, then said, quietly, "Hush. Remember, there are things more dangerous than leopards out here. But let's do a little teaching of our own, shall we?"

He bent down, picked up a stone, and handed it to Little Bear. The boy turned with it, but the leopard did not wait for him to throw it. It leaped from the branch to the next tree, and was gone with a snarl. Little Bear decided he would keep the stone in his hand, in case the leopard came back.

"I see that one has already encountered humans," Raccoon said with a small laugh. Then he bent down again to Little Bear.

"You are my only son," he said. "I have no other. I don't want to lose you, and if you ignore me again, you might die. That was very brave, facing the leopard, but bravery is not enough, especially when you are still a little. You also must be smart."

Little Bear swelled with pride as his father called him brave. He turned eagerly back to him. "I won't always be a little, Father. Someday, I will be the greatest warrior in the tribe!"

"You will be a medicine man, like your father!" said Raccoon, sternly. "There are many warriors, but only one medicine man."

"But Tiger says warriors have many women!"

Smiling at hearing this from his seven-year-old son, his father put a hand on his shoulder, and they began walking on.

After a moment, his father said, "Son, there are indeed advantages to being a warrior, but do you realize that Cave Bear is the oldest warrior in the tribe?"

"That's why he's chief."

"No, son. He is chief because his father was chief, and he is able to lead us. If he couldn't lead well, another of the warriors would challenge and kill him, and take his place."

"And take his women."

Raccoon sighed. "Yes, and take his women."

"Tiger says that you can tell how important a man is, by how many women he has."

"Tiger is only a small boy, Little Bear. He knows little of life."

"But why don't you have any women, Father? Why don't you have any other sons?" Little Bear had always wanted to ask this question, but the one time he had asked it, his father's voice had sounded funny, and he had told the boy not to ask about that.

This time, however, the father stopped and looked long at his only child, and then said, "Your mother died the day you were born, son, and she was the only woman I ever had, or ever wanted. Not being a warrior, I can't take another woman in a raid. Women with choice rights choose warriors. Your mother chose me when we were both young, but now I am almost as old as Cave Bear.

"I asked you if you knew he was the oldest warrior. Cave Bear is twenty-nine years old. I am twenty-eight. Cave Bear may lead us for many more years, but as the strongest and bravest of the warriors, he is not likely to live much longer. He might last two winters, or maybe even three. As a medicine man, I may well live many more years, as long as I can run fast enough to keep up with the tribe."

"But Cave Bear has ten women, father."

His father frowned. "You should not be concerned with that at your age. Keep your mind on the world about you. You must learn to hunt and to fight, but you will never be a hunter or a warrior. If a tribe or a beast attacks us, you must know what to do, but do not be so foolish as to think you can be those for real. You are the only son of the medicine man; a medicine man you will be. It takes bravery to enter the Cave of Flying, too."

That ended the conversation, for they were in thicker trees, going steeply uphill, and Raccoon bid Little Bear be silent. Softly they moved, through hemlock and pine and then brush, to where the rocks began. A long, hard scramble later, they arrived at a broad ledge that jutted out over the valley.

"This is Moon Rock," said his father, puffing from the effort of the last climb.  

If you are enjoying what you are reading, please click the star!