by C. L. Stone
@anders_aj
AJ Anders (Author)
www.AuthorAJAnders.com
[email protected]
Ellie’s Bears
G.E. Kelly
Prologue
Pop! Pop! Pop! Shots rang out in the distance.
“Ellie, stay in the house!” Julia said to her three-year-old granddaughter. Tears poured down Ellie’s face, but there was no time to comfort her. The shots fired were close—too close—and Julia needed to investigate, fast.
“No!” Ellie threw her baby doll on the worn carpet. “Ellie go, too.”
Bending down to Ellie’s level, Julia brushed the tears away. “Don’t cry honey, I’ll just be gone a minute. Stay in the house for Maw-Maw, okay?”
Ellie stomped her little foot again, but soon her determined face fell and she nodded. Julia handed her the doll before racing out into the darkness surrounding her cabin. Stopping in the middle of the woods, she listened. Funny thing about woods at night, there’s always something moving, calling, or singing. When the night turns suddenly quiet is when you need to be worried. It was too quiet now. The animals in the woods were scared and with good reason, someone had been poaching again. It happened too frequently, city folks came out to the country with a gun and a mission. They wanted to bag themselves a big ole bear. Bears aren’t protected in Missouri like they are in some states. While they weren’t found in all parts of the state, the southern areas like Cedar Gap were often frequented by bears moving up from Arkansas.
“Uhhh…” The sound could be heard drifting through the trees. Julia turned and raced after the noise—someone was shot. Luckily, she was a veterinarian. She technically wasn’t allowed to practice on humans, but in a life or death situation she refused to sit back and do nothing. After many years of practicing, she’d found many reasons to treat humans. Today would just be another time she bent the law. Unfortunately, all her supplies were at her office, she didn’t keep much at home since Ellie started spending time with her.
“Yshhhhhh…uhhhh…” The cries grew louder, and Julia turned her footfalls in their direction. Faster and faster she pushed her old bones, it would kill her inside if she arrived too late. Racing around the cedar trees, Julia looked for signs of blood. The noises had stopped; she wasn’t sure how much further the sound had come from. There, a slight trace of blood in the grass. The drops grew larger the farther Julia ran, whoever had been shot, they were starting to lose a significant amount of blood. She’d need to stop the bleeding soon if she wanted to save them.
Through the leaves and over the next hill, a chest rose and fell in the moonlight. Blood was visible even from the distance between them. Julia’s heart plummeted. It was a woman, maybe in her forties. She pressed her hands to several holes in her chest, but blood bubbled up between her white fingers. Taking in the rattling sound when she breathed, the amount of blood on the ground, and the pallor of her skin—the woman didn’t have long to live. Julia refused to stand back and watch—her steps were fast and true. Ripping her jacket off, she pressed it to the congregation of wounds on the woman’s torso, pressing as hard as she was able. It was summer, but luckily she was always cold.
“Arhhhh!” The woman cried, ripping at Julia’s hands with—claws?
Bear claws sprouted from the woman’s hands as she growled with fever. Her eyes were glazed, no longer seeing the world around her. Julia had heard the rumors about shifters living in Missouri, but she’d never seen one…until now. Shifters were only a myth until a few years ago.
Pulling back slightly, she kept her hands pressing the jacket against the wounds, but with less force. The dying woman gasped…and sighed. Her eyes were no longer closed tight, and the lines on her face went smooth. Fingers replaced the claws as she lifted them toward Julia, with a trembling hand, she beckoned her closer.
“T-the…t…the…c-cubs…” The hiss of air was faint, but Julia heard her. Cubs? There were kids in these woods? A rattled breath escaped the woman as Julia watched her chest rise and fall for the last time. Smoothing her hand over the woman’s eyes, she closed them to the world. She’d need to contact the authorities, but first, she needed to look for the cubs. Julia listened for rustles on the forest floor. There was nothing. Her eyes searched the darkness, but no shadows resembled anything larger than a squirrel.
Ten minutes went by before Julia remembered bears could climb trees, even as cubs. These were werebears, they were smarter and stronger than regular cubs, if the tales could be believed. Julia walked back the way she came and followed the trail of blood. Each tree she passed was examined closely; halfway between the dead woman and her cabin, she spotted the first cub. Two others were clinging to the tree next to it, she looked for more, but three were all she could see.
How do you get a werebear cub out of a tree? Julia didn’t know. She thought about her own grandchild. How would she get Ellie down from a tree? Easy, with sweets. Ellie would do almost anything for a snack, but she couldn’t feed them candy. Bears liked honey, right? She hated to leave them alone, but she needed to grab supplies.
“Stay here little ones, I’ll be back soon. I’ll keep y’all safe,” she said softly, careful not to scare the cubs.
When she was far enough away, so as not to startle them, Julia broke into another run. Her hip protested, but she pushed through the pain. The cabin grew closer, and her steps faltered as she tripped over a small stone. Luckily she didn’t fall, she didn’t think she’d be able to get back up if she had. She limped the rest of the way into the house, nothing was broken, but her body was pushed beyond its limits.
“Ellie! Ellie!” Julia shouted quickly as she stumbled around the yellow kitchen; she needed to see that her granddaughter was safe. Her daughter would never forgive her if anything happened to her precious child, and you didn’t let down the deceased. Ellie’s father wouldn’t be back in the states for several months, and right now, she was all the little girl had.
“Maw-Maw, blood,” Ellie said, her eyes swelling with tears.
“Aw honey, it’s not mine, Granny’s okay.” She hugged the squirming girl tight before returning to the pantry to rifle through its contents. There had to be a jar of honey in there somewhere…pickles, tea, pie filling…ah ha! There, the honey. Julia grabbed the sticky bottle, holding it high with a grin; she paused uncertain how to proceed. Should she put some in a bowl or on a plate? The cubs were humans part of the time, so she didn’t want to pour it on the ground. The plates were kept in the cabinet to her right. She pulled out a stack of paper ones, taking the whole stack. This better work.
When she reached the area she’d seen the cubs, Julia pulled out the plates. She dumped a big dollop of honey onto the first plate and set it on the ground, then backed up several paces and waited. The bear cubs scented the air; she couldn’t see it, but she could hear the snuffs in the still night. Bears have great senses, but their keenest sense is of smell. Claws scraped bark as the bravest of the cubs scurried down the tree in search of the food, the closer he moved, the more features she could see.
His coat was red, but he was clearly a black bear—he lacked the hump grizzlies have on their backs. His ears were longer, typical of a black bear—grizzlies’ ears were short and round. Black bears are the only native Missouri bear, and Julia had lived there all her life. The cub was a male; he eyed Julia warily before making a mad dash to the plate and licking the honey clean off.
It was working! The other cubs were cautiously moving down the tree. The second bear was brown in color, and the last was black—they were all black bears or black werebears. The other two bears sniffed the plate, but seemed miffed there wasn’t any honey left. Moving as quickly as she dared, Julia filled another plate with honey. She stepped several more paces back and set it on the ground. She waited, they waited, but neither moved. Sighing, she took several more steps backwards as she filled plates with honey, slowly luring the young werebears back to her home. When she reached the porch, she turned and went inside. Julia didn’t bel
ieve the bears would cause any trouble, but she also knew they weren’t likely to trust her enough to come into her home. After all, they’d never chosen to shift back into little boys.
After putting away the food, Julia gathered blankets, bowls of water, and a lantern to make the boys more comfortable during the night in hopes they would stick around. She couldn’t tell how young they were since normal bears reached maturity after just a few years, but due to their dual nature, she didn’t think that was the case here. A real bear their size would still be a baby; she guessed they were near to Ellie’s age by their behavior. She quietly placed the items outside on the ground, arranging them in an inviting manner. Satisfied with her efforts, Julia returned inside to put Ellie to bed, as it was well past her bedtime. When Ellie was snoring loudly, Julia finally called the local sheriff’s office and explained the whole situation—minus the cubs. Several officers would be over in the morning to begin investigating the murder, but the coroner would be out within the hour to collect the woman’s remains.
When Julia pried her eyes open the next morning, she wondered what woke her. The sun was still hanging on the horizon line. Then, she heard it, giggles from outside. Ellie was outside! Throwing her covers on the floor, she hurried out the front door. The sight before her was hard to swallow, Ellie was petting the werebears and they were letting her. Frozen, she merely stood there with her mouth hanging open.
Beckoning with her hands, Julia tried to keep her facial expressions calm and happy. Inside, she was a mass of nerves. “Ellie, honey, maybe you should come ‘ere.” They were boys—on the inside, but she didn’t know how old or how in control they were, and she couldn’t risk Ellie getting hurt.
“Maw-Maw, puppies! Ellie like puppies.”
Flabbergasted, Julia didn’t know how to respond. Didn’t Ellie know what bears were? What had they been teachin’ her in daycare? “Ellie, not puppies…bear cubs, they’re bear cubs.”
“Bear-bear,” Ellie shouted as she leaned down to wrap her arms around the black furred one.
“Ah,” Julia said. Her heart slammed against her ribs, but the bear didn’t panic. He leaned into Ellie’s chubby fingers, not even wincing when she pulled on his fur.
Maybe Ellie is the key to helpin’ these boys… “Ellie, would ya like to feed the bears?” I can’t believe I’m encouraging this behavior. You should never feed wild animals, but these weren’t really wild animals. Still, Ellie didn’t know that. PETA would have a field day with this. Oh well. These young boys could be starving. She didn’t have any idea how long they’d been in the woods or under what conditions, making sure they were well fed was a high priority.
Ellie bounced on her toes. “Ellie feed the bears.” I really need to get her to stop speaking in third person, but she’s so stubborn. Just like her father.
“Yes, Ellie. You can feed the bears, let’s get them somethin’ to eat.” Julia gestured for Ellie to follow her into the house. What she didn’t expect was for the bears to follow Ellie. “Ah, why don’t you sit on the floor and I’ll fix y’all some food.” For once Ellie did as she was told and Julia was relieved, finding something to feed the werebears was challenging enough. Bears are omnivores like humans, only kids are notoriously picky eaters. She still couldn’t imagine feeding bear cubs mac and cheese. Maybe hamburgers…kids loved hamburgers and the meat should satisfy their bear sides. She’d leave them a little pinker than she normally did—at least on the boys’ burgers, she preferred her meat lightly charred. That way I know the bacteria is dead, my meat needs to be killed twice.
Ellie continued to treat the bear cubs like dogs, but they didn’t seem to mind. Julia feared they’d find it demeaning, but maybe they were too young to think that way. Kids do love to pretend. Ellie had a wild imagination, and would make up the most elaborate tales during play. When Julia turned her attention back to Ellie, she was rubbing the red bear’s belly. He’d obliged her by rolling on his back and licking her face. Ellie let out a round of boisterous giggles. Julia couldn’t keep referring to them by their coat color, but until they shifted, she wouldn’t be able to ask them their names.
“Ellie, would you like to name the bears?” She felt slightly guilty, but once the boys shifted it wouldn’t matter anymore, as she could pretend the bears were separate from their human alter egos.
“Yes!” With her hands on her hips, Ellie turned to the black bear. “Bear.” She touched his head like she was playing Duck, Duck, Goose. Moving on to the brown bear, Ellie struck another dramatic pose before tapping his head. “Bear!” It was no hardship to guess what she’d name the red bear. “Bear.” Ellie skipped around him before returning to the floor to pet his fluffy coat again.
“We can’t name them all bear, Honey.” Julia frowned, and Ellie looked crestfallen. Tears appeared in her green eyes, even the curly pigtails she wore seemed to droop.
“Alright, Honey, but what if Maw-Maw calls them bear in different ways?” She had an idea, who knew if it would satisfy the three-year-old, but it was worth a try. Pulling out her phone, Julia researched names meaning bear, and chose three that sounded the most normal. “Here we are, Granny found three names that mean bear, would that be alright?” Ellie nodded vigorously, and Julia smiled. “Okay, how ‘bout Dov,” Julia pointed to the black bear. “Torben.” She pointed next to the brown bear. “And finally, Mathin.” Her hand gestured to the red bear and Ellie clapped. Julia was quite proud of herself as she’d made Ellie happy, and now she could refer to each cub by a name.
After what she’d seen in the woods, Julia couldn’t help, but wonder if the woman was the cubs’ mother. Why else would three cubs be with her? Either way, she was gone now. Did they have any family left? Being with their own family or at least their own kind would be best for them; she was sure of it. The woman in the woods didn’t have a purse with her, it didn’t look like she was carrying a wallet and the pants she’d worn didn’t have pockets. They would have to hope the police found something that would lead them to an answer. In the meantime, she would need to make sure the cubs were well looked after, she hoped she could get them to shift eventually. It couldn’t be good for them to stay bears forever.
The bears responded to Ellie calling them by name, confirming Julia’s guess about their age. If they were babies, they wouldn’t know how to respond. While they could still be younger than Ellie, her mothering instincts told her they weren’t. Julia finished the hamburgers laughing at herself. They were having hamburgers for breakfast, meat was meat, but maybe she should give them something else later. Some fruits and grains maybe? She didn’t know if she had any muffins, but she could bake some.
“Good Mathin.” Ellie stroked the red bear’s fur as he licked her cheek, Julia laughed and shook her head. They all needed baths, but she wasn’t sure how the cubs would react—if they had been girl cubs she might have used Ellie to lure them into the bath, but with boys that wasn’t proper. Unless…I could ask Ellie to put on her swimsuit. There was a blow up pool in the garage that would fit the four of them, so long as their claws didn’t pop the plastic, she could get the cubs cleaned up with Ellie’s help.
“Here, Honey, can you give them their food?” Julia passed Ellie one plate at a time, and she went back and forth between the stove and the floor giving each cub their fair share. When Ellie was finished, Julia kissed her forehead and gave her a plate of her own. “Thank you, Honey. I couldn’t have done it without you.” Ellie beamed at the praise, her smile stretching as wide as the day was long.
After the bears were well fed, which took more burgers than she thought it would, Julia cleaned up the dishes. “Granny needs to go to the garage. Will you be okay in here a minute?”
“Maw-Maw, Ellie play with bears,” she said, in the loud way toddlers did.
“Yes.” Julia laughed. “Play with the bears, I’ll be right back.” Most three-year-olds had trouble with parents and guardians walking away; they always wanted to know right where you were. They didn’t like getting left behind, in tha
t way, Ellie was special. She didn’t fuss or cry when Julia left, unless she wanted to go where Julia was going. Ellie’s father often went out of the country on business, Julia would take Ellie some of the time, while her other grandparents would take her the rest. Ellie’s mother, Sandra, had passed away in childbirth. Sandra was Julia’s only child, while Julia was heartbroken, it had helped to have Ellie around to numb the pain. She looked so much like her mother; her sandy brown curls looked just the same framing her face still rounded from infancy, even her green eyes sparkled in just the same way when she was about to do something ornery.
Julia managed to blow up the pool quickly with the use of an air pump, filling the pool took a bit longer, but Ellie was happy watching TV with the boys. They were slightly bigger than Ellie, but they were relatively careful with her for children. Perhaps they’d been taught to be gentler with humans. Julia couldn’t be sure, but it seemed to be the case. After all, they were traveling through her woods, they had to have been in contact with humans along the way. She wondered where they’d been headed, it wasn’t hard to figure where they’d come from since there was a conservation area just south of her property. If she were a werebear, that would be where she’d hide out. The conservation area stretched hundreds of acres and the only homes around were farms, there weren’t any big cities for many miles. She hoped they would learn more about the cubs when the Sheriff showed up.
Julia hadn’t mentioned the cubs, because she knew the sheriff, and he didn’t have a clue what to do with human children. He would be beyond help if she dumped three werebears on him; it was better they stayed with her until their families were found. If the boys ever shifted back, she could ask them where their parents were, but for now she waited. The sheriff’s office wouldn’t be open for several hours since small towns didn’t get in a big hurry to open in the morning, although they sure got in a hurry to close well before dark.
