by C. L. Stone
Mathin was the first to jump in the water, even before Ellie got in, Torben followed Ellie in while Dov hung back. He watched Ellie for a moment before letting out a snuff, and joining the other children in the pool. The bears splashed and chased each other. Ellie giggled, scooping handfuls of water to splash anything within reach. She wasn’t too happy when she got splashed, but was thrilled to splash the others—typical toddler.
The bears stopped splashing, hunting for something to play with. Julia went to the garage and brought them a handful of toys out; Ellie happily played with the toys and the cubs joined in. Julia finally handed Ellie the soap, the face she received in return was nothing short of comical. Ellie’s eyebrows were lowered, she puckered her lips and scrunched her nose, and took the soap like it would bite her.
“Why don’t you play a game with the bears? You can play momma. It’s time to give your kids a bath.” Ellie’s eyes lit up, and she nodded. Things were always better when a game was involved. “Be sure not to get any in their eyes and only wash their legs and backs.”
Julia slowly got into the pool, when the bears didn’t object, she took the soap back and began to wash the boys. They didn’t cater to her like they did Ellie, but they weren’t weary of her anymore either. Apparently, feeding them bought her their good graces. When they were all covered in soap—her included—Julia retrieved the hose and rinsed them off. By the time they were toweled off and made it back inside, the bears were allowing her to pet and touch them. She gave them each hugs, and Mathin even licked her hand. Face kisses were reserved for Ellie.
When the sheriff finally arrived, Julia sent the kids to Ellie’s room to play so she could talk on the front porch with the sheriff alone. “Thanks for comin’, Doug. It’s a shame what happened to that woman. It’s not the first time I’ve caught ‘em on my property—the poachers I mean—they’ll shoot at anything that moves.”
“Can you tell me what else happened, Julia?” He sighed and scratched his beard. “When the coroner got out there…well, there wasn’t no body. I know you ain’t lying—there was enough blood for two people.”
“Well, it was just like I said on the phone, there were several shots fired. Too close to be on anybody else’s’ property. I rushed out without even thinkin’ and followed the sounds in the woods till I reached her. She’d been shot several times in the chest…there was nothin’ I could do, she’d lost too much blood.”
“Was there anything on the body? She didn’t have no identification? Any tattoos, anything remarkable?”
“No, I didn’t see any tattoos, but with her bein’ all covered in blood… She didn’t have anything on her to say who she was, but Doug…” Julia leaned forward. “…she was a shifter.”
“Don’t tell me you buy into all that crap, Julia.” Doug rolled his eyes skyward.
“It’s not crap. I saw her hands turn into claws…bear claws. Now y’all know I’m not a liar, and I ain’t one to tell tall tales. This woman was a shifter as I live and breathe,” Julia said, with a sigh. She wanted him to believe her, but country people were funny. They were often either as superstitious as could be or as skeptical as they come—Doug was the later. He lived up to the Missouri name, as stubborn as a mule and as thick as one. He wouldn’t believe anything he didn’t see with his own eyes.
“Either way, she’s done gone, and there’s nothing for me to do, but write up my report. If you remember anything else, give me a call.” Doug lifted his hat and took his leave.
Julia was on her own.
1
Seventeen Years Later…
Ellie straightened her spine. “Daddy, I’m going to Maw-Maw’s for the summer.”
“But Sweetheart, I just got home, we promised to spend more time together. I canceled my trips for the rest of the year. How can you abandon me now?” he shouted from his seat on the sofa.
“Abandon you? You mean like all those times you abandoned me with any relative that would have me? For months at a time, I might add. Daddy, I’m just going for the summer, I haven’t seen Maw-Maw in years now.” Ellie sighed. “I know you don’t like me going out there anymore, but enough is enough. I haven’t seen my bears in years.” Ellie grabbed the remote to shut off the television.
“That’s the whole point, a young girl should not be spending time near bears! They’re dangerous. I can’t even believe your grandmother let you near them, when I think about finding you curled around those three cubs…it still gives me nightmares!” Bradley rubbed his temples.
“You’re overreacting! They never hurt me, I spent two years with them, and they were always good to me.” Ellie clenched her fists with her spine near to snapping.
“You mean you spent two summers with them.” He rose, leaning forward to grab the remote.
“And the other months you decided to take off to Beijing! You need to face it Daddy, I’m not a little girl anymore, I’m twenty and I can do what I want.” Ellie crossed her arms and leveled her dad a mutinous look.
“I still pay your bills, how grown up can you be?” He crossed his arms too, furrowing his brow.
“I’m in college. Do you want me to quit and get a full time job waitressing? Oh, even better! I can go work for Maw-Maw, I’m sure she’d love help with the animal hospital. That is what I’m getting my degree in after all!” Her greens eyes flashing.
“Don’t you threaten me young lady, after everything I’ve done to keep a roof over our heads, and food in that stubborn belly of yours…” Bradley sighed running out of steam. He rubbed a hand over his eyes, the remote forgotten beside him. “Can’t you just spend the time with me? I won’t get to see you very often during this next school year, I just want to reconnect with you.”
Ellie threw her hands up in the air, half turning before swinging back to face him. “And I want to reconnect with Maw-Maw. I had to hear through a friend that she’s fostering some boys around my age. I want to meet them. I want to see my bears. Why can’t you understand?”
“It’s just not safe, those bears were cubs when you last saw them. They’re adult bears now, I can’t believe they’re even still hanging around your grandmother’s house. She’s probably still hand feeding the damn things.” Bradley loosened his tie.
“Hey! They’re not things, they’re living, breathing creatures, and they’re my friends.”
“I let your grandmother feed your obsession for too long…sending you pictures and updates. You were three when you saw them first and five when you saw them last. They probably wouldn’t even remember you, they could turn on you in a second.” Bradley couldn’t stop yelling at Ellie. Why is she still so hung up on those flea bags? Maybe I should have gotten her a puppy. I doubt it would work now, but I could still try.
“Daddy, please? I know why you’re doing this, but you’re being overprotective. Maw-Maw’s been around them for years, and they never hurt her either. Can’t you just give in, this once?” Ellie held her pointer finger in front of her face, her eyes pleading.
“No.”
Her arms fell to her sides. I need a new approach. “What if I promise not to go near the bears? I want to see Maw-Maw, she’s my family. You shouldn’t keep me from the only part of Mom I have left.” Ellie’s eyes glistened with fake tears; she was not above manipulating her father.
“You promise? You won’t go near the bears?” Bradley sighed, dropping his head in his hands. “I’m not sure why I let you do this to me, mentioning your mother was low.”
Ellie hung her head low. “I’m sorry Daddy.” She had it down to a science. Her dad was easy to manipulate in the end, you just had to get the fight out of him first—much like breaking a horse to ride.
Bradley rose to stand facing Ellie. “It’s fine Sweetheart, but when will I get time with you? You’re still my little girl, no matter how grown up you get.” He wrapped his arms around her, forcing a hug.
“There’s still winter break, it’s not much fun in the foothills of Missouri in winter. We could go somewhere tropical this yea
r.” Ellie pulled away while batting her eyes.
“Deal, but no backing out this time.” Bradley raised his hand, pinkie finger extended.
“Really Daddy, that’s so juvenile.” Ellie raised her pinkie and entwined it with his. “I promise.” Ellie rolled her eyes when her Dad turned back around.
Ellie packed her bags, a chore that should have only taken a few minutes took much longer, primarily due to Ellie’s entire closet winding up on her bed. She couldn’t decide what to wear as she lived in the city, but her grandmother lived in the sticks. Since she hadn’t been to visit her in a while, she didn’t exactly have many hiking clothes. She supposed she could pack all her western wear, but these days that consisted of some flannel shirts and a pair of cowgirl boots she wore clubbing. The flannels she threw into her suitcase, but left the boots out to wear on the way there. She decided to drive herself since she didn’t want her dad to see the bears and change his mind.
Promises, made under duress, were meant to be broken. Ellie had every intention of seeing her bears; surely, they’d missed her as much as she’d missed them. It was a bit intimidating thinking of them as fully matured adults, but they’d been like a part of her when they were together. There must be some part of that bond left in them. Putting those thoughts aside, Ellie thought about the boys her grandmother had taken in. I wonder if they’re cute.
Ellie had a boyfriend back at school, but she’d been meaning to break up with him. He kept pushing her to have sex with him, and she just didn’t want to. It wasn’t that she was saving herself for marriage, at least, she didn’t think she was. It was merely that she hadn’t found a guy she liked enough to be that intimate with, maybe now was the time to cut Josh loose. She could wait until she went back for the new school year, or she could be cruel and send him a text. Debating back and forth, she couldn’t make up her mind, so she decided to put it off until later. Why do today, what you can procrastinate until tomorrow?
The sun went down while Ellie packed, she finally had everything she thought she’d need. She even packed her swimsuit, just in case they went to the lake. Her grandmother didn’t know she was coming yet; she really needed to let her know. Ellie dug through her purse for her cellphone, three rings before Julia picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hey Maw-Maw, it’s Ellie!”
“Oh honey! How have you been? I haven’t heard from you in days.” Julia switched the phone to her other ear.
Yup, she’d lied to her father about that, too. She hadn’t wanted her father to know she’d kept in touch with her grandmother, even after he told her not to.
“Good, I guess. Maw-Maw, I finally convinced Dad to let me come visit you!” she said, half an octave higher.
Julia looked out the window at the bears in the yard. “That’s wonderful! The boys’ll be so happy to see you.”
“You mean meet me?”
“Oh uh, yes, that’s what I meant! This old lady brain of mine ain’t what it used to be, Honey.” Julia grimaced, hoping she’d covered her lie.
“That’s okay, what did you say their names were again? I’m excited to meet them.”
Julia coughed, her eyes going wide. “Well…I’ll let them introduce themselves, but I’ll sure let them know you’re comin’.”
“Oh no! Don’t do that, I don’t want them to already have an opinion of me before I arrive. Let’s make it a surprise.” Ellie twirled her hair around her finger.
“Oh,” Julia mumbled something to herself that sounded a lot like, fat chance of that, but Ellie couldn’t be sure. “Sure honey, if that’s what you want.”
“I do, well, I better go. Girl’s gotta get her beauty sleep…that reminds me, are the guys hot?” Laughter was all the reply Ellie got. “Maw-Maw? Hey Maw-Maw! I gotta go, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay, Honey, we’ll see you then, drive safe.”
“Will do, love you!” Ellie hung up the phone before her grandmother could reply.
“Love you, too,” Julia said, to the disconnected line with a smile.
That night, Ellie dreamed about seeing her bears again. The dream was so real; it felt like she was really touching their fur. She wondered how big they’d grown, in her dreams, they were still on the smaller side, a bit cuddly with ears too big for their faces. Ellie didn’t know how big bears usually got as the only ones she’d seen reach maturity were in the zoo. Those bears never got close enough for her to really gauge their size; they seemed big, but that didn’t mean much to her.
When she woke up she found her head at the foot of her bed, her mouth was open, and she was drooling all over a microfiber blanket she kept there. That would explain why the fur in her dream had felt so real. She gently wiped the drool from around her mouth and yawned, she needed to wake up so she could get moving. If she took too long, her dad would get ideas about driving her.
It was a surprise when she reached the kitchen to see her dad fully dressed with a cup of coffee in his hand. “I already filled your car with gas, checked the air in your tires, and changed your oil.”
“Um…when the heck did you have time to sleep? Or get dressed? Are you wearing a tie?” Ellie stared.
“Yes, I did sleep, but some of us don’t sleep in all day. I am wearing a tie, since you so rudely dumped me, I made plans to go out with some of the guys from the office. We never get to see each other beyond work anymore.”
“But you spend all day, every day with those people.”
“What do you care? You’re going to your grandmother’s.” Straightening his tie, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and headed to the sink. He dumped the dregs of his coffee and turned to the door. “Be safe, call me when you get there, and for heaven’s sake don’t go near those bears.”
“I won’t, Daddy,” Ellie said, with her fingers crossed behind her back. It was childish, but he always made her feel like a five-year-old, so it seemed appropriate. She went to the sink to wash down the coffee so it wouldn’t stain the sink, rolling her green eyes at his carelessness. The moment she heard his car start, she raced to her bathroom to get ready. Her hands were shaking despite the huge smile on her face; it took her several tries to get dressed. She paired her cowgirl boots with a denim skirt and a fitted green tee to match her eyes. She would have braided her hair, but she was feeling too impatient; instead, she threw it into a ponytail before heading out the door herself.
The drive to Julia’s seemed to take forever for Ellie, partly because she kept fearing her dad was going to try to stop her. She kept waiting for her phone to ring, but the device remained silent. Her palms were sweaty, her heart raced, but the grin never left her lips. She blasted the radio on whatever local pop station she could find, it had been so long since she’d visited her grandmother, she didn’t even know the local radio stations. When she was safely on the highway and away from the winding roads, she began to talk to herself. It was her favorite thing to do in the car besides sing. When driving, she could explore her emotions without judgment since no one could hear her. If anyone saw her, they would assume she was on the phone or singing with the radio.
“I’m so glad that Dad finally let me go. I seriously did not think it was going to happen, of course with my master skills, it was only a matter of time.” Ellie laughed at her own lack of modesty. “I really should have worked on him harder before now, but with him always being gone, it never felt like the right time.”
He kept sending me to Grandma Jeannie’s, who wouldn’t let me even mention the bears. She thought I was making the whole thing up. Who would make up a story like that? Well, okay there are those type of people. But me, seriously? Ugh.
More years passed, and it became harder for Ellie to make it back to Julia’s. “Grandma Jeannie’s health was bad, and it seemed like we were always visiting her just to make sure she was going to pull through. I didn’t want to ask to go somewhere else if I’d never get to see her again, but then she made a full recovery. Then my uncle transferred here for his job.” I was always getting stu
ck with my little cousin when Dad went away. “I mean, she’s not awful, but the last thing I wanted to do during my summer off was tutor her. I wanted to visit my bears.”
Ellie adjusted the rearview mirror and caught a glimpse of her reflection. Smiling, she stole another glance, checking to make sure her face hadn’t melted during the drive. She hadn’t put on much makeup, just lip gloss and eyeliner. She hadn’t wanted to look like she was trying to impress anyone, but she really wanted to impress the guys. Her makeup still looked fresh even after loading the car and driving a couple of hours.
“Maw-Maw said the bears were still hanging around the house. I can’t wait to see them! I hope they do remember me…Dad’s right, it’s been years.” What if they forgot me? No, I won’t think like that. Maw-Maw seemed to think they’d recognize me, and she would know.
“I really should stop calling her Maw-Maw. I’m going to be an official adult in a year.” Oh well, it’s just a nickname, plenty of people do it. Ellie pulled off the highway to the first gas station she saw; there was no way she was arriving at her grandmother’s with a full bladder. She didn’t want to be doing the pee dance when she met the guys, or if she ran into her bears, they wouldn’t understand her need to run into the house.
After taking care of business, Ellie perused the candy aisle in the gas station’s store; she felt bad using their restroom without buying something. Of course, a lot of places had rules about that anyway. Snickers was her favorite candy bar, but for some reason, she grabbed a Bit-O-Honey instead. She didn’t even make it to the register before she turned around and grabbed a Snickers too. She wanted to grab a soda for the road, but that would only make her need another pit stop later on. She’d chew some gum if her mouth felt dry.
The rest of the trip went much faster as she was nearly there by the time she left the gas station. Her grandmother’s house wasn’t over a river, but it was through the woods. The place butted up to Cedar Gap Conservation Area; her grandma’s land was farm land, though most of the farming was done by others. She let the farmers use the land for a tiny portion of the profits since it had been in her family for generations, but no one had wanted to be farmers for years. Not a good enough reason to let good fertile soil go to waste.
