Chapter 9: Strange Company

He woke lying on his unhurt side. The grass he lay on was filled with the stench of blood, his blood. His side throbbed in pulsating pain. He was dizzy, out of breath and completely helpless. He could not move a muscle. He heard the wind blow, the sound of birds in the tress. There was the honk of the larger birds as they flew overhead. There was also a strong scent, but it was no scent of man. It was something else, a smell like dead meat mixed with wet fur. He realized he had smelled it before. It was the scent of a bear and it was close by.

He struggled to move, but the lower part of his body refused to budge. It felt asleep. The scent got so close he could smell the moist, damp, foul, odor of the bear's breath over him.

"Cannot move can you?" he heard the bear growl.

He felt the touch of thick fur on his side and something large loomed over him. He looked up into the black furry face of the bear that towered above him, studying him.

"You brought Man and his dogs to me. That was not kind of you" the bear said. "Why?"

He tried to call up enough strength to speak, "I was hit, Man followed me. I did not know you were here."

"Perhaps, but now what am I going to do with you?" he bear growled and climbed over him. He could see the black underbelly of the huge creature.

"Please, just do it quickly," he said his voice was starting to rattle in his throat. He swallowed hard. "I rather it was you than Man."

The bear paused and turned his face toward him his red eyes glowing. "Yes I think you would," the bear said calmly, almost purring. "No not today. I am afraid all I have for you today is more pain. There are two dark stones in your side. If they do not come out, you will catch fever and die. I can take them out, but this will hurt more than being hit by Man. I am sorry for what I am going to do. No matter how much this hurts, you must try and stay still."

The bear moved over him to stand next to his injured side. He felt the movement of a sharp claw move gently over his side until it stopped. Immediately his body was filled with agony; he stiffened like a tree.

"You must be still," the bear growled. "This will hurt even more."

He felt the claw again only this time it dug into his side. He felt it go into his body and stop. For a second he thought the bear was going to tear him to pieces, but it only went in a short way then out it came quickly. His body was filled with pain. He could not even yell.

"That is one," the bear said. "The other stone is deeper, I can hardly see it, but it must come out. Prepare yourself."

The claws moved toward his hindquarter, his body was racked through with pain piled upon pain. He felt the claw go in, deeper this time. A pulse of utter agony passed through him. A bright light filled his eyes, and then blackness engulfed him.

He came to his senses sometime later, body still racked with pain, but it did not seem so bad as before. He tried to move, but he could not. All he could smell was his own blood and excretions that must have soaked the grass. He was still helpless. He looked to his side. He saw he was lying on fresh green grass. He could see a depression in the grass covered by his own blood and waste. That must be where the bear dragged him. The bear must have moved him, but why? Why had he not used that large claw and broke his neck like he did to Talis. It could not hurt as much as he felt now. At least he would be at peace.

"You are still alive," he head from his other side. "I had to move you from that place of death. The Man stones are no longer in you. Now you must recover your strength. That will take time and soon I will go into my den to begin my long winter's sleep. The others like the fox, badger and coyote have not come to finish you. My scent keeps them away. When I go into my den, I will not be around and they may come in close. If they do and you cannot stand they will tear you to pieces. Do you understand me?"

"He nodded his head and he noticed he did not feel his antlers on his head.

"My antlers," he said.

"They came off as I was moving you. You deer have a strange life. Your greatest protection is your antlers and yet you throw them away every winter. It would like me throwing away my claws and fangs.

"What could he say? He tried to raise his head, but the forest starting spinning and he fell into blackness again.

This time when he awoke he felt hungry and thirsty. The air around him was cool and crisp. He could see the ground was covered in a layer of bright multicolor leaves.

"You woke up again" he heard the bear say. "You are full of surprises. You have lay there for two full days. Now you must get up. You must eat and drink or you will die and you must walk to do that. I cannot help you with this. You must do this on your own."

The bear was right, he was strong, but without food or water he would die slowly. He rolled on his side. As he moved pain shot through him almost as bad as if he had been hit again. It got him to his knees. He was upright again. He pushed down to force himself up. His front came up with no effort, His right rear leg extended, but his left leg lagged, Just using his right leg, he got up on his feet, but the moment he put weight on his left rear leg, it threaten to collapse on him and filled his body with waves of pain. He tried a step and almost fell into the bear that was lying outside a large den he had dug into the side of the hill. He caught himself and steadied his stance. He tried another step, keeping as much weight off his left rear leg as possible. He moved very slowly.

"Come," the bear said and led him to the other side of his den a few lengths. It took him time to get there, but he could move.

"See these green leaves," the bear said and pointed to a bush he was not familiar with. "Eat them, they are bitter but they will help you heal, only eat a few at a time. Next to my den here is a small stream that runs down the hill toward your meadow."

"Meadow," he said out loud. Claris and the others must think he was dead. "I have to get back to my meadow," he said and started to turn around."

"If you try and go down the hill, your side will open and you will bleed out. The others will smell you and finish you off. You have to stay here until you heal."

"But Claris and the others think I am dead," he explained.

"It is better for them to think you are dead than for you to be dead," the bear growled. "It will take time for you to heal, maybe all winter. Here near my den no one comes that can hurt you. You will have grass, and a little further past the trees are acorns and bushes you can eat. It will not be a feast like I have when I eat one of your kind, but it will keep you alive and healing."

Just taking these steps exhausted him. The bear was right, he never make it down the hill in his condition. He had to stay here."Thank you," he said never believing he ever owe his life to a bear. There was one thing that puzzled him.

"I wish to ask you a question?" he said to reclining mountain of muscle and fat.

"Go ahead," he bear said licking his paws.

"I was helpless there. You could have easily killed me and ate my body for your feast. Why did you not do it?"

The bear got up and started for his den. "That answer I will leave you to ponder during the winter. For now it is my time to sleep. I normally get up during winter. If I find you dead, I will eat you. When the wind blows and the snow comes, you can sleep next to my den. The wind does not carry the snow to that side because it is stopped by the two tall pine trees. Stay healthy Stranger. Try and get your leg to move. You will have to learn to run again if you ever want to see that Claris of yours. Good winter." he said and crawled deep into his den.

The winds turned cool and then cold. The grass turned yellow and lost most of its taste. There were still enough leaves, berries and acorns around. He ate the leaves the bear told him about, several a day, and slowly, he healed. He still hobbled around mostly on three legs, but he learned to move better. It seemed to him that his left leg had gotten shorter after being hit, but he realized it was the tightness in his muscles. The muscles would not move so far. The worst part was when he tried to stretch those leg muscles. The pain was awful, but in time slowly diminished. By the first snow fall he could walk slowly, but he could not run. By the second snow fall, he could walk easily, and even trot, but a full run was out of the question. The bear awoke after the second snow and came out of his den at night. He was sleeping and only realized the bear was there when the overpowering scent flooded into his nose

"So I do not have to eat you," the bear said. The bear actually looked to smile.

"No," he said and got up, and walked around.

"And you can walk, very good," the bear complimented. The creature then went up and smelled his side near his wounds. "I smell no sickness in you. I think you will live."

"I live thanks to all you told me," he answered. "A badger got close, but once he smelled you in the den, he ran off."

"Has it been a bad winter?" the bear wanted to know.

"Snow, but not heavy," he said.

"Pity when it is cold and the snow is deep I normally find several of your kind dead." The bear didn't seem to mind if his guest liked his comment or not. "I will go over the mountain. The deer herd over there is not as careful as your herd. I will be back here by the end

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