Old Soot
Out on top of the island, the three cave-dwellers are basking in the springtime sun. Sea Lions splash and bark in the ocean below as Sea Gulls’ cries rise and fall with their wings. The Old Woman is spinning new yarn on her spindle as she walks about, crooning to each of her Plant children unfurling after their long winter’s rest. Little Snake has found a warm flat stone to bask on. Her green scales look brighter than they have all winter.
“Rhak! Rhak!” Raven swoops low over The Old Woman, pulling up just before he collides with her. “The Bears are awake,” he announces.
“I should think so,” replies The Old Woman, glancing up at the black figure in the brilliant blue sky. “They must have come out at least a month ago by now.”
“They told me a story.”
“We’re listening!” The Old Woman calls. “Aren’t we, Little Snake?”
The reclining reptile flicks her tongue. “Listening,” she murmurs.
Raven swoops lower and lands in a nearby Willow Tree. The branch sags under his weight. His sharp eye has caught sight of the mesmerizing twirl of The Old Woman’s spindle. She catches it, winds her fresh yarn on the cop, deftly flicks a half-hitch so that the yarn stays put, and sets it spinning once more.
Raven can’t help himself. Flapping down from his bouncy perch, he catches the yarn in his beak, trying to wrest it from The Old Woman. The half-hitch slips off the end and the yarn unwinds. The spindle falls as the Trickster flies. The Old Woman tries to catch it, but so does Raven, and they collide in a mess of flapping wings, yarn, and fingers. Little Snake laughs at the debacle and slithers to another stone farther away to avoid getting stepped on.
The more Raven tries to get out of the tangle, the more the yarn wraps around him. The Old Woman has gotten caught in his web as well and the two of them seem inextricably bound together. While Raven flaps, The Old Woman stills. With curved bony fingers, she catches hold of the black Bird and calms his frantic movements.
“Raven, would you tell us that story now - the Bear story - while we figure out how to unravel this mess?” The Old Woman invites.
Properly distracted, Raven begins, “Old Soot, an ancient Black Bear, perked up his ears one morning to an agitated Forest. This was nothing new. The Tree-cutting and gun-shooting Humans caused much agitation in the Forest these days. But on this particular morning, the message carried on the breaths of Birds and across the Moss struck an even more personal note.
“‘A Hunter is in our midst, and he is searching for the largest Bear.’
“With an angry grunt, Old Soot lifted his nose and sauntered through the Trees in search of this Hunter. Old Soot heard the Human swearing when he slid in a pile of Bear scat, and decided to employ some ancient magic reserved only for times of great disruption, when the balance of Life is so askew that drastic measures are needed.”
“Trickster times,” supplies The Old Woman as slips the yarn’s end through a few loops in the tangle.
“Rhak! Yes! Trickster times!” Raven calls out delightedly. “Old Soot worked his magic, and the Hunter became spellbound so that he had to do whatever Old Soot wanted. He led the Hunter back to his den to sleep.
“While the Hunter slept, breathing in the musky scent of the Bear, Old Soot curled up beside him, working his magic until he, too, fell asleep.
“When the low angled light of evening stretched into the den, Old Soot rolled over to watch the Hunter as he opened his eyes.”
“I bet you wish you had been there,” says the Old Woman.
“Naark!” croaks Raven. “I would have given two feathers to watch the Hunter panic when he saw the Bear, then panic some more when he realized he had become a Bear himself!
“Old Soot was feeling rather spiteful that day and he told the Hunter, ‘If you want to become Human again, you must catch a pregnant female, cut out her fetus, and raise the child as your own.’”
“Oh, how horrible!” interjects Little Snake.
“That’s just how the old magic works,” explains Raven. “Isn’t that right?” he asks the Old Woman.
She nods as she pulls out a pair of scissors from her pocket. “Indeed, there are many an ancient tale with that theme,” she agrees. “How did you get this yarn so tight? It’s cutting off your circulation,” she mutters, snipping a section of yarn from around Raven’s foot.
“Much of the night had passed when Old Soot caught a confusing scent hidden within the usual smells of the Forest. He lifted his discerning nose and followed until he came upon another Black Bear in the Forest. Now, this Bear was acting strangely and smelled odder still. He wondered if the Bear were ill.
“The new Bear turned out to be a Human medicine man seeking help for his kind. A wasting disease had taken root in his town, and had been festering for generations. The disease disintegrated connections, painfully dissolving tendons and ligaments in some bodies, pattern recognition in some minds, and empathy and compassion in some hearts. Emotionally arrested as toddlers, the heart-sick bullied others to gain power in their families and in the town, effectively disintegrating relationships.
“Kinship dissolved, starting with the living world and reaching deep into families. Though the disease had wreaked havoc on the first generation infected, the subsequent infestation tore life in the town apart from the inside out. The medicine man was old enough to remember that his family had once called themselves the Bear Clan.
“The Medicine Bear explained how only the body-sick like himself seemed to recognize the disease. Yet they were in such pain and so outnumbered by the mind-sick who believed their compartmental thinking was normal and the heart-sick who did not want to risk losing their power, that nobody had been able to find a way to cure the disease. Using the old magic his elders had taught him, he followed his intuition that the cure lie somewhere where the kinship connections were still healthy.
“‘I can help you,’ Old Soot told the Medicine Bear, ‘but you will need to do exactly as I say or it won’t work.’
“‘What won’t work?’
“‘The magic.’ Old Soot stepped forward. ‘Now listen closely. In the next valley south lives a white she-Bear called Moon. You will need to mate with her. She has a twin sister named Rosehip and the two must not be separated. Watch over the sisters and see that no harm comes to them, but do not use violence. Oh, and do not let the Hunter near the sisters.’
“‘Who is the Hunter?’
“‘He is a Bear infected with the wasting disease.’ The Medicine Bear wanted to ask more about this Hunter, but Old Soot continued, ‘You must stay with Moon and Rosehip though the winter until they emerge in the spring. If you have followed all of my instructions, then Moon will have a healthy cub-child. Do not eat this cub—’
“‘Why would I eat my own child?’ the Medicine Bear asked, baffled.
“‘You are more Human than Bear now, but you will feel differently come spring.’
“Now, while Old Soot and the Medicine Bear were working their magic, the Hunter paced the edge of the town, trapped in the Forest because he was trapped in a Bear. He could not return home - he could not even return to his rightful body - and his anger was mounting. Loathing the smelly body he now wore, he plotted how, when he was back in his Human body, he would hunt that old Bear down and make him pay. How dare that Bear ruin his life like this? He was so wrapped up in his murderous thoughts that the snap of a branch startled him and he lunged, long claws flashing and mouth wide open, at the source of the sound.
“‘It’s their own fault for sneaking up on me,’ was the Hunter’s only thought when he saw that he had killed a Human.
“From the shelter of the mountain-side trees, the Medicine Bear espied the two females playing in the milky green waters of the glacial stream. Though they were both Black Bears, neither wore inky fur. The one called Rosehip had the reddish-brown fur of a cinnamon Bear, while her twin sister, Moon, was as pale as her namesake. Immersing himself in his ursine senses, the Medicine Bear wallowed in the pleasure of watching the females in the water. Slowly, on silent paws, he descended the slope toward the stream.
“The Medicine Bear stayed downwind of the females. With the patience of a Trickster, he had slid completely into the water by the time Moon and Rosehip realized he was there. Startled, they splashed about and swam to opposite stream banks. Realizing that he had failed Old Soot’s first warning, the Medicine Bear followed after Rosehip. He chased her back to the stream and across the water toward Moon’s trail into the Forest. He stayed close to Rosehip until the sisters reunited.
“The Medicine Bear shadowed Moon and Rosehip for days. He followed them to their shared den, and dug out one for himself nearby. Watching closely, he learned a great deal about where to find the best food, and which Trees were good for back scratching. He learned to walk like a Bear, and sniff and listen like one, too. He lived with the two females until they became so comfortable with him, they turned in circles, noses in the air, when they thought he had gone. Moon half-heartedly swatted at the Medicine Bear when he mounted her.
“The Hunter missed Human food, and the closest he could get were the garbage bins some people carelessly left out. He prowled the town at twilight, knocking over the bins and eating what scraps of old, rotting food he could find. As summer ripened the Salmonberries growing along the edge of the Forest, he claimed the berry patch as his own personal property.
“Salmonberries and garbage were not enough to sustain him and he needed to get back to his real life. The Hunter knew that to become Human again, he had to tear the unborn child from a female, but the old Bear hadn’t specified which species. He found he could use his Bear’s sense of smell to hunt down every female, Bear, Human, or otherwise, that wandered through his territory.
“One summer day, the Hunter caught the scent of three Bears in his Salmonberry patch. The Hunter sniffed deeply, momentarily using his Bear senses to gather information. There were two females, one of which was marked by the male traveling with them. He must have mated with her. The Hunter shut out his Bear thoughts. Here was a pregnant female he could steal a fetus from.”
“But, hadn’t they just mated?” asks the Old Woman.
“Yes,” replies Raven. “The Bears who told me this story said that if the Hunter had listened to his Bear wisdom, he would have known that. They said that not only was his heart sick, fighting his Bear was addling the Hunter’s mind as well.”
“As Moon and Rosehip pawed branch-loads of Salmonberries into their mouths beside him, the Medicine Bear marveled at how much better his aching body felt the more he embraced being a Bear. He had barely completed that thought when his acute ears picked up a rustling sound in the Salmonberry patch. He saw Moon and Rosehip’s ears twitch as well, but they kept on browsing. The Medicine Bear dithered. The two young females had taught him so much about being a Bear and trusting his instincts. Their own did not seem to sense any danger, but the Medicine Bear’s spine tingled uncomfortably and his hair stood on end.
“The Medicine Bear grunted at the females to move along. He wanted to put more space between them and whatever was shaking the Salmonberry bushes. Old Soot had warned him not to use violence, otherwise the magic would vanish, but the Medicine Bear did not know how else he would protect the females. The shaking drew closer and The Medicine Bear smelled another male Bear laced with Human. This must be the Bear called the Hunter that Old Soot had warned him about.
“When the medicine man donned the Bear skin, he immersed himself in being a Bear, though he never lost his Human-ness. So now, when faced with the Hunter, he stood solidly on the leaf-littered ground and donned the body of the Forest as he had the Bear hide. The Medicine Bear became the Medicine Forest and he asked the life therein to be the claws and teeth that he could not use himself. Straight away, a hedge of Nettles and Cow Parsnip grew up, thick and stinging.
“Upon seeing this, the Medicine Bear backed away, urging Moon and Rosehip to move faster. The Hunter swiped at the stinging plants with his angry paws. They held him just long enough for the three Bears to disappear among the Trees.
“Following the calls of Ravens and Eagles, Old Soot headed down the mountain. As he neared the edge of the Human town, his keen nose picked up the pungent scent of something large rotting. He found not one, but three female bodies - two Humans and one Bear - splayed out around the Hunter’s den as if they were some sort of macabre decoration.
“Old Soot left the Hunter’s territory without encountering the sick creature. He perched himself above a different part of the town to watch. If the rest of the Humans were as ill as the Hunter, then the magic Old Soot used on the Medicine Bear might not be enough to cure their disease.
“Moon and Rosehip followed a trickling waterfall down the mountain toward the Salmon stream below. The Medicine Bear walked a short distance behind. Late summer sunlight filtered through the evergreen canopy and onto the Blueberry bushes along the water’s edge. Though the day was exquisite, the Medicine Bear felt a persistent sense of foreboding.
“Since the Day of the Nettles, as he referred to it, the Medicine Bear often sunk into the body of the Forest. He learned so much more about life than he ever could have done otherwise. With dread nagging at him like a Mosquito in his ear, the Medicine Bear again donned the Forest and not a moment too soon, for the Hunter was closing in on Moon and Rosehip.
“The Medicine Bear called on the Forest to once more become the claws and teeth he could not use. Immediately a dense thicket of Devil’s Club grew up along the edges of the narrow waterfall. Their broad leaves shielded the female Bears from the Hunter’s view. The Medicine Bear raced down after the sisters, urging them on to the stream and away from the angry, thrashing Bear. Looking over his shoulder at the Hunter’s cry of pain, the Medicine Bear realized that the thorny plant was named for the club that strikes the poor greedy devil who walks carelessly in the Forest.
“Old Soot had been watching the mother and child playing near their Human den for some time now. Silently, he beckoned the youngster close, but the mother hovered closer. He was a patient Bear, though, and so he waited. The child showed great spirit, always running, uphill, up towards the Black Bear in the Forest.
“The child finally escaped its momentarily distracted mother, launching its small body up toward the Trees and Old Soot’s expectant paws. He gathered the small Human to his chest as the mother chased after. Old Soot let her catch a glimpse of him holding her child before he disappeared like a shadow into the dense Forest.
“The last of the Salmon had passed upstream. The three Bears had eaten well this year, but they could still use a few more meals to hold them through the winter. The first snow drove Moon, Rosehip, and the Medicine Bear down out of the Blueberry patches, toward the Rose hips, Crabapples, and Cranberries at lower elevations. Following a trail of nibbles through the marshy Meadow beside a stream, the Medicine Bear felt his spine tingling and shackles rise as they neared the Forest’s edge.
“He slipped into the body of the Meadow and sent his senses through the waters and soil and roots until he found the source of his unease. Once again, the Hunter stalked Moon and Rosehip as they pulled plump red hips off of Rose bushes. The Medicine Bear called on the Meadow to be the claws and teeth he was forbidden to use. The thorny Rose bushes grew so dense, they became an impenetrable hedge protecting them from the Hunter.
“As autumn transitioned to winter, a lone female Human called out in the Forest. She was out of the Hunter’s claimed property, but near enough he could smell her when he let the Bear out just a little. She smelled intoxicating. The Hunter stalked.
“He was going to kill her and there was going to be a baby inside her. She was going to make him Human again. But the closer he drew, the more familiar she smelled. When she caught sight of him, he stopped because he…knew her. She marched up to him and spoke to him, as if he could understand.
“Her eyes roved as if she were looking for something else and when she did not find it, she backed away from him fearfully, like he had seen her do when he was Human. But he needed her, so he grabbed her with his big Bear paw and hauled her to his chest. He took her back to his den and kept her there because she was his.
“Old Soot wrapped his magic in the form of a fur skin around the Human child, and made the child-cub feel safe with him. Winter was near, and for the last few days of autumn, the old Bear brought the child with him everywhere, teaching the little one to eat like a Bear, drink like a Bear, climb like a Bear, and sleep like a Bear. When winter dropped like a shroud over the Forest, Old Soot led the child-cub up to his den and together they slept under the snow.
“When winter sent Moon and Rosehip to their den to sleep, the Medicine Bear looked toward the town below. He would not be home to welcome the youths from the town who needed a safe place to stay and a hot meal. He never had much in his life, but he shared what he did have with those in need. He hoped they would come anyway and warm themselves with the last of his firewood, and eat any leftover food in his pantry. He wanted a better life for them, and that was why he was staying on the mountain until spring.
“Rosehip awoke in the dead of winter to the grunts, moans, and squeaks of her sister laboring. She rubbed a loving paw over her sister’s bone-white belly and helped her to breathe in a slow, even rhythm. When a single cub emerged, Rosehip nudged the newborn to suckle at Moon’s milk-swollen nipples. She brought Moon’s placenta to her mouth to nourish her depleted body. The three of them nestled together and fell back asleep, the cub waking to nurse through the rest of their hibernation.
“The first scent that filled the Hunter’s nose when he awoke was his slumbering wife curled into his chest. The second was the fetus inside her belly. His blood ran both hot and cold. The magic Old Soot had used on him made him ache to slice the tender skin of the mother’s belly and pull out her unborn child. His humanity was so close, he could smell it, but he wasn’t sure he could live with the cost. At war within himself, the Hunter forced his paws to carry him out of the den.
“When the Human mother awoke alone in the Bear’s den, she climbed out and stared at the bones of three bodies laid out before her. Aside from the skulls, the Bear and the Humans looked strikingly similar.”
“I wonder what she thought of waking up in a Bear’s den?” muses Little Snake.
“Who knows?” replies Raven. “The Bears told me this story and they don’t know what Humans think.”
“Some of the old stories told by Humans,” The Old Woman supplies, “say that when the Bear brings the woman home, she sees him as a Human, and the other Bears look and live like the Humans in a village. So, perhaps somewhere along the way, she recognized her husband.”
“Whatever she thought,” continues Raven, “she went looking for her lost child Old Soot had taken.”
“The Medicine Bear emerged in the spring to find Moon and Rosehip fiercely protective of Moon’s new cub. He now understood Old Soot’s warning, because he was ravenous and the cub looked like an easy meal. Easing back out of his Bear a little, the Medicine Bear set off down the mountain, back toward the town.
“When spring woke them, Old Soot knew in his old bones that the time was right to descend to the town to put the ancient magic to its test. When he saw the child’s mother climbing the mountain, he changed the child-cub back into a Human.
“Old Soot watched the mother approach. She was heavy with an unborn child. Briefly, he hoped the Hunter was nowhere nearby. Old Soot stood on three legs, one massive paw holding the child to his thick-furred chest. The child squirmed, but did not cry.
“‘Bear, will you give me back my child?’
“‘He says no,’ her child answered for Old Soot.
“‘Ask him if he would trade anything for you.’
“‘He says no.’
“‘Ask him if I can do anything to get you back.’
“‘He says we have to change our name. He says he is my new Papa. He says his name is Old Soot, so you must call me Young Soot.’
“‘What difference will that make?’ asked the mother.
“‘He says it will remind us that I have a Bear Papa and that we are family with the Bears. He says we have to call ourselves the Bear people now, and remember our connection.’
“The weary mother dropped onto her knees before the Bear. ‘Old Soot, I promise that I will call my child Young Soot. I do not understand, but we can call ourselves the Bear people if it means you will give me back my child.’
“The Black Bear lowered the child to the ground. He realized she must be one of the mind-sick who could not yet see the web of connections all around her. In time, she would. Old Soot turned to leave.
“‘Don’t go, Papa Soot,’ the child hugged the old Bear, pressing its face into the dense black fur.
“‘We will see each other again, Young Soot.’ With that, the old Bear sauntered away.
“The Hunter was hungry. He ate the bitter plants that made him defecate a sticky plug. He dug up roots to ease the pangs, but there simply was not enough to eat. He could smell the food scraps in the garbage bins. Hunger drove him down into the town in the middle of the day. Humans yelled at him, and made a lot of noise, but the smell of food held all of his attention. So when the gunshot hit him squarely in his chest, the pain and shock caught him completely by surprise.
“From time to time, Old Soot encountered Young Soot in the Forest, wearing a Bear skin, playful as a cub. Though male Bears would sooner eat than converse with a cub, the magic of their winter together lingered on between them. His foster child told him when the new baby was born, hairy and strong, and how the mother became the voice for the Bears in the town. Everyone called her ‘The Bear Lady.’
“‘Young Soot, how do you walk as a Bear?’
“‘Two men brought a dead Bear to our house. When they pulled back the skin, the Bear looked like my Human Papa. He even wore a belt and his knife had Papa’s name on it. Mama and I kept the skin, and sometimes I wear it and it makes me like you, Papa Soot.’”
“Just as Old Soot had said, Moon’s cub eventually grew big enough to live on her own. Sometimes, she would shed her Bear skin and walk to her father’s house. When his child arrived, the medicine man gathered everyone he knew to listen to the stories from the Forest. Slowly but surely, Old Soot’s magic took root, and the Humans’ wasting disease began to heal.”
“There. That’s the last of it,” says The Old Woman as she unwraps the final loop of yarn from Raven’s wing. “What a mess you made!”
“Why did the Hunter have to die?” Little Snake asks from her basking rock.
“Someone was always going to be killed in the Hunter’s storyline,” remarks Raven.
The Old Woman holds up a small section of yarn. “When the tangle squeezes too tightly, sometimes you have to cut the yarn before you lose a foot or a finger.”
Freed at last, Raven takes off for the sky, while The Old Woman splices the frayed ends of her yarn back together and spins them anew. Little Snake slithers off her hot rock to cool in a nearby patch of Violets.