Coyote's Daughter Page 10

  "Who can say with the Trickster? But it might have been him. It would have his taste to it."

  "Coyote," I grumbled, then brightened. "At least we're here, and warm and safe, and in good company tonight. If it was him, maybe he meant well."

  She laughed.

  "I'm sure he meant to help. He often does. His version of help and anyone else's, however, may be far apart."

  She took our bowls and rinsed them in a small stream that trickled through a corner of the cave.

  I examined my surroundings. The cave receded off into the distance, gray and hazy; it was impossible to tell how far back into the cliff it went.

  "Are you here by yourself often? It seems like it would be lonely, in such a big place."

  "No. My parents are healers. Tonight there was an emergency they needed to tend to. Normally we are all here and the house seems very full indeed."

  I nodded. The mother of a friend back in San Diego had been a doctor, and she always got called out at night.

  "They will be home before dawn. But before they and the dawn arrive, we should find you a place to sleep."

  I hadn't realized until I was lying down with the blankets over me, and Jack curled at my feet, that I had been nearly asleep where I sat.

  "Thank you. You've been really nice."

  "I think I will go with you in the morning to show you the pass to Spider Old Woman's house."

  "Won't your parents object? If Shriveled Corn Man isn't angry with your family now, wouldn't it be best not to make him mad?"

  She laughed again. "There is little he can do to us. My parents are strong." Her teeth flashed. "And so am I. I will ask them in the morning. Now, Maggie, go to sleep."

  I watched her with drooping eyes as she straightened the last few things from our meal.

  "Oh!" I sat up straight. "The berries. We forgot to have dessert."

  "Lie down. We'll have them for breakfast. They'll be even better then."

  I snuggled back down in the blankets, glad to have a friend with me, glad to finally feel safe, even if it was only for one night. I pulled the idea of a traveling companion around me like another bed covering. I loved Jack, but I was tired of the sound of my own voice.

  I woke to the sound of the door in the cliff face opening. The moonlight outlined two great shaggy shapes as they shuffled in to the cave. Bear Girl ran to them, and the larger reached for her. I sat up in alarm, afraid my new friend would be torn to pieces before me. Before I could say anything, I saw the bear's arms go around her gently, and then the smaller one reached with one huge paw to pat her shoulder.

  Bear Girl turned her smiling face to them, and with a shrug they stepped out of their skins, with no more effort than if I took off a heavy winter coat. A tall man and woman stood before me, and looking at their black hair and golden faces I could tell they were Bear Girl's parents.

  The man glanced at where I lay, and turned back to Bear Girl, questions clear in his eyes. She led them away from me, and I heard them whispering. Why be worried about it now? I thought. So, they're people who turn into bears. Or bears that turn into people. She was kind to me, and petted Jack, and maybe that's all I needed. I drifted back to sleep to the soft sound of their voices.

  Chapter Ten

  When I woke again, though I couldn't see the outside, it felt like morning. My dreams had been regular dreams, and while I had wanted to ask Spider Old Woman or Coyote what, or who, had been chasing me, I was better rested for having a normal night's sleep.

  Bear Girl and her parents moved around the cave, but I couldn't tell if they had woken before me, or had been up all night talking.

  I stood up, and straightened my bed, unsure of what to say to her parents.

  Bear Girl's mother came over to me, and saved me the trouble of figuring out what to say first.

  "Good morning, Maggie." Her face was bright and open, and it was clear to me Bear Girl would grow to look like her mother. "Our daughter tells me you have made a long journey. Come, have some breakfast."

  I gestured at the half-folded blankets.

  "Do not worry about those now." She had the same laugh as Bear Girl's, but darker, smoky. "There is plenty of time after we eat." She stooped to pet Jack. "And you my fine fellow, can go out for a run."

  She opened the door to the cave, and Jack dashed out, and raced back in again. The wind through the door was brisk, and I could see the morning light had barely crossed the hills. "Very well; we will all go to eat, and see what we can find for your friend."

  Breakfast lay on woven platters. Wafer-thin bread, with honey smeared on thickly and sprinkled with the plump berries, making bright red dots in the gold.

  I tore off a piece, and tasted it gingerly. Sweet, sticky. Wonderful.

  "I'll have to tell my mother about this when I get home," I said.

  The moment I spoke, my heart fell to my stomach. I didn't know how I would get home. Worse, here I was, enjoying myself, while my parents must be sick with worry. I was a horrible daughter for not remembering them more often.

  Bear Girl's parents looked at each other, and even through my guilt I smiled to see that the secret language of parents was the same even here.

  Bear Girl noticed me smiling. "What is it?"

  "Mine do that too." She looked confused. "That thing, where they're not saying anything aloud, but you know they're planning something, or talking about you, or deciding things, all done by a glance, or a raised eyebrow."

  "Oh. That." She giggled. "Does it not drive you mad?"

  By the time her parents noticed us, we both had the giggles.

  Her father cleared his throat, and looked from one of us to the other. We took small bites of breakfast, but every time we caught each other's eye, we'd break out laughing all over again.

  "So." His deep voice rumbled. "My daughter tells me you are on your way to Spider Old Woman."

  He pierced me with his gaze. "Why should I let her go with you?"

  I stopped eating. As much as I'd welcomed the diversion, I couldn't laugh now.

  "Actually, sir, I'm not sure if you should. I'm not sure if she's told you, but I'm trying to find a way to defeat Shriveled Corn Man. I don't know if the trip will be safe, and it's bad enough that Jack and I have to go. I'll be fine if someone could just point out the way for me and give me directions."

  "You are sure you will be fine? I understand you were not doing so well last night."

  I swallowed; my mouth dry with remembered fear from last night's run. "No, sir. But it was a good thing in the end, and well, this is not anyone else's problem. I'm grateful for the place to stay, but I can't ask anyone to go with us."

  I reached over to pet Jack, who had finished a bowl of leftover stew. "We'll be alright. Spider Old Woman's house isn't very far, is it?" My voice quavered a bit at the end of my sentence. I knew what I was saying was right, but I felt crushed. It had been nice to think we might have a guide, but I could see how selfish that would have been, to take someone else and mix them up in all of this.

  I was feeling mature, an adult. I had made a decision that would be good for other people.

  Bear Girl's father laughed. "Child, I would no more send you alone out there than a naked rabbit."

  He placed his large hand over Bear Girl's own. "Yes, daughter, you may go with her to Spider Old Woman's home. You know the way, as we have traveled it often. But go no further, only to her home, and then come back again to ours. If you are not back by tomorrow evening, your mother and I will raise the land itself to find you."

  I thought of my parents, searching for me when I was little, how they must be searching for me now, and choked back a sob.

  "I'll make sure she comes back right away. As soon as we get there even."

  He shook his massive head. "No; it is nearly a full day's walk, and I would not have her travel at night. Go there, sleep, and then return."

  Her mother broke in. "I will put together a parcel of herbs and gifts for you to bring Spider Old Woman as a gift in e
xchange for her hospitality and wisdom. It is best to always give the Old Ones presents before asking anything of them."

  * * *

  We packed quickly, ready to leave in less than an hour. Bear Girl's mother had assembled a large basket filled with smaller ones. Bear Girl lifted it, and made a face at the weight. "Mother, what did you put in here? The entire larder?" Her light tone teased any sting out of the words.

  Her mother reached out and cuffed her lightly. "Foolish girl. Just a few plants that grow here that are not as plentiful by her house. And a little of this morning's baking, so that she can take a morning off herself. And a small jar of honey, for something sweet. And . . ." She laughed. "Well, maybe it is a bit much, but I often think she must be lonely out there, and we don't visit her as often as we might."

  Spider Old Woman, lonely? I thought of the proud woman in my dreams and shook my head. Maybe in the real world she was different, but I couldn't imagine her needing anyone for company.

  Bear Girl reached for her coat, and I realized she would be traveling with me in her other form. I don't know why I hadn't thought about it, probably because I had only seen her as human.

  She laughed at my expression. "Smile, Maggie. People say I am quite a pretty bear. And who would bother us on the trail, if one of our party can paw them into the ground?" She pulled the coat on over her shoulders, put her arms through the sleeves, and pulled the hood up.

  Then, it looked like she reached down to her toes to pull up an invisible zipper. When she lifted her arms over her head again, the transformation was complete. Before me stood a small brown bear with gold streaks through her fur.

  I spoke, surprised, "People are right. You are a very pretty bear."

  At her "Thank you." I let out a breath. I had been looking forward to having company on the trail, and worried that in her bear shape we wouldn't be able to talk. A guide would have been welcomed no matter what, but a friend to chat with sounded wonderful.

  We set out, Bear Girl carrying the basket on her back, me with my battered backpack, Jack with his harness and saddlebags. We took a few steps from the cave, then turned back. Bear Girl's parents stood at the door, arms around each other's waists, smiling and waving. We waved back, and Jack barked, then we turned and went on.

  Trees clustered thickly around Bear Girl's home. Here, with the taller hills to protect them from the wind, the small pines I had seen before grew straight and tall. Slim tree trunks wrapped in white papery bark, and green leaves rustled in the slightest breeze reaching for the blue bowl of the sky.

  Bear Girl saw me looking at them. "In the autumn, they turn bright gold, and looking at the hillside with the sun on it is so bright you could think it was on fire."

  "Wow. I'd love to see that."

  "Maybe after you defeat Shriveled Corn Man you can visit my family again. I am sure that my parents would welcome you back to our home."

  I watched my feet for a few minutes, then burst out, "But I don't know how to defeat him. I don't have any magic, and I don't understand how his works." My voice dropped to a whisper, and I admitted what I'd been trying not to think about ever since we left Ash's village.

  "I'm scared. Really scared. I don't want to be turned into a bird, or trapped here forever, or killed. I miss my family." I walked on for a while longer. "I want to go home."

  We walked in silence broken only by Jack's snuffling, and running around us in circles. He regarded Bear Girl as a particularly large sheep to herd, and couldn't have been happier.

  "I can't do anything about you not having magic." Bear Girl spoke slowly, as if thinking aloud. "But I can do something about you not knowing how magic works here, and not knowing how to defeat Shriveled Corn Man."

  I stopped on the path. "What? How?"

  She shrugged, an oddly elegant motion for a bear. "We have legends of people in combat with sorcerers and ghosts. Stories survive to teach us things. Maybe there will be something you can learn."

  I couldn't imagine how an old story would help, but it couldn't hurt. Besides, the stories would pass the time until we reached Spider Old Woman's home.

  "Once upon a time, a man died. No one killed him, there was no great wrongdoing; he died of illness. His family mourned him, and buried him, but they did not make the four days, and he came back as a ghost."

  "Wait." I interrupted. "The four days. Ash told me about that—that's when if you don't tell the dead person to go away after the end of four days, he comes back as a ghost, right? The same thing?"

  "Yes, the same thing." She didn't sound annoyed at being interrupted, and I was glad. I didn't want to annoy a bear, no matter how friendly.

  "So, the dead man, the ghost, came back to his village. He did not mean any harm, he did not know he was dead and was confused. He went inside one house after another, and tickled people while they slept. He wanted to have fun, and meant no harm, but the people he touched died the next morning.

  "No one knew what was going on. After several days of this, one man was appointed by the village to wait up all night and watch. At midnight, he saw the dead man come down from the mountain, and into a house, and tickle a young woman. The next morning, that young woman died, and the watcher told the village what he had seen.

  "The elders told the watcher to come up with a way to distract the ghost from the village, and then find a way to make the ghost promise to leave them alone. He thought hard for the rest of the day, and by the time night fell, he had a plan.

  "That night when he saw the ghost come down off the mountain, he took his fear and stuffed it deep inside his belly, and called out 'Friend! I am bored this night. Would you play the stick game with me? I have many fine things to bet upon.'

  "And the ghost, who was also bored and who loved to gamble, agreed. Throughout the night the two men, one alive and one dead, played. They bet and lost and won piles of jewelry and furs.

  "Finally, near the dawn, the live man had most of the winnings in a pile near him. The ghost was unhappy that he had lost so much of his treasures.

  " 'One more throw,' he demanded, 'one more throw.'

  " 'Why should I?' said the live man. 'I have all of this. What else do you have to bet against me?'

  "The ghost man thought. 'I do not have anything left. You can ask me a favor though.'

  "The live man smiled, for that was what he had been hoping for all along. 'If you win, you will have all of this,' and he gestured over the pile of jewelry and goods, 'but if I win, you stay in the underworld, and know that you are dead, and leave the living alone.'

  "The ghost man was not happy, but the large pile of jewelry kept catching his eye. 'Agreed.' They threw the stick, one time, two times, three! And at the end of the game, as the sun was rising, the live man won it all, and the ghost had to return to his grave, never again to bother the living."

  I clapped. "That was a great story." Then my shoulders slumped. "But I'm not sure how that helps me. I don't know how to play the stick game. I don't have anything to gamble with anyway."

  Bear Girl shook her head. "I am sure there are some ideas from the story if you think on it."

  "How close are we to Spider Old Woman's house?"

  "About halfway there. Time for one more tale if you would like."

  "Sure." I didn't want to tell her I thought it was pointless. I wasn't going to get any ideas from the stories, but at least they made the walking go faster, and kept me from worrying myself sick over Shriveled Corn Man.

  "There is another story about a pair of brothers who annoyed Wind." She shrugged, "I do not know why, but it seems an easy thing to do. Everyone is annoyed at everyone else in the legends, and challenges are made that must be answered." She walked without speaking for a few moments, and I wondered if she was going to continue.

  "The brothers challenged Wind to a display of powers, a test of skill, and he accepted their challenge, as he must. They wanted to prove their cleverness, and said he must find them, however, wherever, they hid. First they changed into a pair of du
cks, and Wind had to find them among his flocks. But they changed their shapes so cunningly that Wind could not find them anywhere.

  Then Wind changed his form to that of a deer. But Wind had spent so much time in the air he had forgotten how antlers should look, so the brothers spotted him easily. Three times the brothers hid, and Wind did not find them. Three times Wind hid, and the brothers found him every time, by being clever and looking closely.

  "At the end of the game, Wind was incensed and wanted to dash them out of the cloud realm in which they had played. The brothers reminded him he had accepted the challenge, and they had won, and he was bound to accept defeat. They claimed all his herds and flocks as their prize, and although Wind gnashed his teeth and rolled his eyes, he could do nothing. And the brothers led all the animals down from the cloud realm into the real world, and that is where the animals come from."

  She stopped, and I realized the story was over.

  "Um. That was very nice."

  Bear Girl snorted, sounding a lot like Jack when he's annoyed with me.

  "I appreciate the stories; I just don't know how they're going to help me. I don't know any of these games, and I sure don't know how to change my shape."

  Bear Girl broke in. "And you obviously don't know how to listen, either!"

  We walked in silence for a while, and I wondered what to say to make her not mad at me. Nothing came to mind. She'd been trying to tell me something with the stories, and I wasn't getting it. It was like asking questions of Coyote. I wished someone would give me a straight answer.

  After a few minutes, the trees thinned, and we came to a small stream. I looked up and down its path, but didn't see a bridge. "I guess we have to wade across, right?" Bear Girl didn't answer me, but shuffled down the bank a bit, so I followed.

  The stream forced us to take a break, at least for a while, so I slid Jack's harness off of him and scratched his fur hard where it had been pressed down by the straps.

  "Hello there!"

  The voice startled us both. Across the stream, where no person had been a minute ago, stood Shriveled Corn Man.