by Darrell Bain
"Elaine, she can communicate with animals. You know she can."
The woman set her face firmly in its "no nonsense" expression. "She cannot talk to animals, Ronald. The most she is capable of is perhaps showing no fear so they don't attack her. But she has to get out of that or one day one of those dangerous creatures will wind up hurting her."
"Mom, I don't play with animals that are dangerous. Besides, I could tell if they were. And they like me. They think it's wonderful that at least one person can talk to them when no one else can."
Her mother threw up her hands in defeat and flounced from the room. But Samantha and her father knew they hadn't heard the last of it.
***
Samantha endured the school days by anticipating the three o'clock bell when she could go home and talk with the chipmunk and little half grown rabbit while pretending to help in the garden. Both animals lived at the edge of the fence and had created tunnels to get into the rows of lettuce, carrots, and other vegetable they liked. However, talking to them was rather like conversing with a not too bright baby just learning to say da-da and ma-ma. Most of their thoughts were of food, avoiding the weasel that periodically came into the area seeking prey, and curiosity about the human cub who could miraculously speak their language, such as it was.
Samantha never interfered with the food chain of the animals because she knew they accepted it as simply part of life. She also knew that all animals thought of humans as the top predator in the endless cycle of life. It was disheartening many times but she realized animals had to eat, just as humans did, and she had learned to accept it.
After talking to the chipmunk named Buk and the rabbit named Per, she found herself longing for a brighter animal to converse with. There was no chance though, because Elaine watched her very closely to make sure she didn't sneak off into the woods.
***
Curiously, it was an animal coming to Wikluk that capped the disparagement, scorn and ridicule Samantha was being subjected to. Ordinarily Alaska has little problem with rabies, but any time a creature came down with the disease it was naturally a cause for great alarm. Anyone who was bitten would have to wait while the anti-serum was flown in, then take the excruciatingly painful shots for a period of ten days.
The wolverine was in the last stages of rabies when it wandered into the school grounds. Wolverines are bad tempered at best, and really evil when stirred up like this one was, from its unquenchable thirst and constant buzzing pain in its head. Samantha heard the screams from the bench she was sitting on, having lunch with two other girls, the only ones at school who were still speaking kindly to her. She looked up and saw the animal approaching a group of first and second graders. The small children were frozen by fear of the grunting, slavering, dirty and snarling wolverine, who wanted nothing so much as to have its sickness end. Animals have no concept of suicide however, or this one would certainly have done itself in somehow.
Samantha immediately saw what was happening and ran toward the children. She put herself between them and the wolverine.
Please don't bite any of themshe pleaded. Be nice and I'll help you end your pain and suffering.
It snarled at her while ropes of saliva drooled from its open mouth, revealing very sharp white teeth. Samantha knew the saliva was loaded with the lethal infective stuff of rabies, but she stood fast.
I promise, she assured it again, while the madness roiled in its brain. Just lie down and wait right here for a little while. Will you?
It thought about its predicament for a moment then decided to let the human cub see what it could do. But only if it could stand the crazy, vile thoughts whirling in its mind for a just a little longer without going into a raging storm of violence. It lay down on the grass in front of her. Samantha approached and stroked its head, talking to it soothingly. She could tell by its garbled speech that its mind was mostly gone. She hoped it could concentrate on staying put long enough for someone to return with a gun.
Time seemed to stretch out endlessly as she knelt by the crazed wolverine. The younger children waited, unable to get past her and the sick animal and into the confines of the school house. Each time one moved, the wolverine snarled and slavered. Samantha stroked it, telling it to please wait.
At last a nearby shop owner appeared with a rifle. "Stand back, girl!" he yelled at her. The noise caused the rabid creature to move under Samantha's soothing hand.
Just a little longer. It will be over. I'm going to stand up and move. Shut your eyes and your suffering will end.
The wolverine's madness abated a moment at the thought that the pain that made it crazy and sick would go away. It closed its eyes, waiting.
Samantha stood up and backed away, not wanting to get splattered with infective particles when it was shot. The sound of the rifle boomed through the schoolyard. The Wolverine shuddered, twitched, then rolled over and died.
"What were you thinking of, you crazy girl?" The man who shot the rabid animal shouted. "You know it could have bitten you and given you rabies, too!"
"It wouldn't bite me and I couldn't let it get near the little kids. I told it to stay still and someone would put it out of its misery. It did."
She walked away, then went to the bathroom and washed her hands thoroughly. When she came out, teachers were waiting on her. They stared at her as if she were a goblin---or a witch with a forest full of familiars. The other students gazed morbidly at her as they would have a crazy person. Brave, but crazy just the same. All of them had heard of rabid animals and knew what they could do.
A few minutes later her mother arrived. She was concerned but it was covered by the grimness of her expression. After a brief explanation, she turned to her daughter. "Come on, we're going home."
That night Samantha was sent to bed early so that she couldn't hear the discussion taking place between her parents. Nothing was said the next day, nor the next. Or at least she heard nothing but snatches of conversation that were meaningless without knowing the whole context. When she went to school, she was avoided. There had been talk before, but after the wolverine incident it grew ugly. Parents told their children to avoid her for fear she might infect them with her strange ideas. They were afraid their children would take a notion to play with wolves or bears and get hurt or killed. The third day afterward one teacher flatly refused to have her in her class. She was sent to the principal's office. The principal called Mrs. Douglas to come get her child.
Although she was told to sit outside the office while her mother talked to the principal there was no one there to make her obey. It was nearing noon and the secretary had gone for lunch. Samantha stood near the closed door of the principal's office. She overheard every word of what the school head said to her mother.
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to withdraw her from school. These people are just normal folks and they don't understand a child who can... can... well, who associates with dangerous animals. They think she's too strange to be around other children. At the very least they think her idea of being able to talk to animals could spread and endanger their children. They fear they might try to talk to a bear or a wolf like she does and get hurt, or even killed. And frankly, Mrs. Douglas, people are beginning to say that if she is that abnormal, then you must be, too."
There was more but Samantha buried her face in her hands, then when that didn't work she put her hands over her ears. Now she did sit down, just as far from the closed door as she could get. She didn't want to listen to anything else. Just because she understood animals and talked to them, she and her mother were both thought to be demons of some sort. It was so terrible and so unfair.
The tear marks on her cheeks were still there as her mother came back outside. Elaine Douglas' face was white and strained but for the first time since the incident with the wolverine she spoke gently to her daughter.
"Come on, Sammie. Let's go home. We'll take care of this problem soon, I promise."
***
That night after Samantha was in bed, R
onald and Elaine sat together discussing what they should do about their daughter's predicament.
"The only real solution I see is to move away from here," Elaine said. "I know you like your job, and living here has been a good experience for all of us, but... these episodes with Sammie and her animals have pretty well spoiled our lives here. And we've both agreed we need to move so that Sammie can get a better education. She's a brilliant child despite her fixation about animals."
"It's not Sammie's fault. It's the ones here who can't stand for anyone to be different."
"I know, I know, but... her fault or not, I still think we ought to move just as soon as possible. Have you had any answers to your resumes that you think you'd like?"
Ronald sighed. "Maybe. I want to check some more, though. And you're right. We should move. I just hate the thought of being run out of town, so to speak."
"It's not really like that, Ron. You know we need to move anyway, to somewhere Sammie can have access to the internet and all the other advantages of life in the lower states. The school here has nothing for her anymore."
"Is she that far ahead?"
"You haven't been following her homework like I have. Most of the so-called curriculum is dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. She already knows most of what her classmates are studying just from how much she reads. She's way ahead of them in math, too. Did you see that book she ordered? It's a self-study course that takes her through second year High School algebra and she's been doing it on her own. And you know she read those old encyclopedias from cover to cover and she's almost through them again, but really studying and practically memorizing the interesting articles."
"My gosh, I guess I haven't been paying enough attention to her school work. You seemed to have it handled so well I saw no need of doing anything and she never asked me for help."
"It's darn little she asks me, either. Ron, I think she's much smarter than either one of us ever thought she was."
"Okay, you've convinced me. I've turned down a few offers but I'll take just about anything now. I'll start looking again tomorrow, and in the meantime I guess we could home school her until we move."
"Good. Try to find something as soon as you can."
"Actually, I saw an opening for a teaching position down in Texas that's in my field. It was in one of my journals that came in the last mail run. I'll check into it and if it's no longer open I'll find something else. How does that sound?"
"It sounds great to me. Let's go to bed now and we'll tell Sammie tomorrow.
***
"We're moving as soon as the school year is over and maybe even before then. Until we do, you'll have to study and do your lessons at home," Ronald announced the next morning at the breakfast table. "I'm going to try for a job at Angelina College in Texas where I can teach environmental issues, but even if I don't get that job I'll find another. And Sammie... when we go, no matter what you can do with animals, you're not to let anyone know. You've seen what happens when people think you're different. We love you and we understand, but you'll just have to try to keep it a secret. Okay?"
"Okay, Dad. I will, I promise. But... what if an animal wants to talk to me? I can't help it if I hear it and it wouldn't be nice not to answer."
"Oh, Lord," Elaine declared. "I can't stand any more of this. Sammie... "
"Tell you what, Sammie," her father interjected, "When we get settled, we'll get you your own puppy to be a companion to you. Maybe even a kitten, too. How would that be?"
Samantha broke into a big smile for the first time in weeks. "Oh, that would be wonderful! But, Mom... "
"Your mother has agreed you can have a dog when we find a house."
"Oh thank you, Mom. Thank you!" She got up from the table and hugged her mother in a tight embrace. She wondered why she had changed her mind about a pet in the house after all these years, but she wasn't going to argue. Besides, she understood her mother's fears and she loved both her mother and father. They were good to her, she thought, much better than some of the other kids' parents if even half the stories they told were true.
"I promise I'll just try to talk to him alone!" she said and kissed Elaine's cheek.
Neither of her parents told her that allowing her to have a pet was a compromise they had reached, thinking perhaps it would keep her from seeking out animals. And moving to a small city instead of living near a forest would surely put a stop to her conversing with wild animals. Neither of them noticed she said she would only try not to talk to animals other than the dog, not that she would. All in all, it seemed to them to be a happy solution for everyone.
Part Two
Texas
Chapter Three
Lufkin is a city of about 50,000 in the heart of the piney woods of East Texas. Angelina State College is located on the southern rim of the city. It is a small school but highly rated academically. Ronald Douglas found himself fitting in well there, teaching environmental science. Southwest of the city and near the campus he and Mrs. Douglas found a home they liked in a new subdivision outside city limits but not too close to any of the pine, oak and sweetgum forests of the area. They thought that would keep Samantha away from wild animals. That and her new companion.
Shufus, a German Shepherd puppy was the first of Samantha's promised pets. A kitten might come next but for now it would only be the puppy. She went with her parents to the home of the man who advertised the puppies for sale. Samantha was almost tempted to ask for the mother dog, but she knew it was a hopeless request. She squatted down near the animal.
"You're a good mother," she said to the big female dog as she nursed her pups.
The dog looked up at her with as curious an expression as possible for a dog. You talk. My people can't. To everyone but Samantha it simply sounded like a series of woofs, whines and low friendly growls.
"I wish everyone could," Samantha told her. "May I take one of your puppies? I promise to give him a good home and love him just like you do."
Yes. You will. You talk.
"Thank You," she said. The dog wasn't speaking in English sentences, of course, but Samantha understood her perfectly.
As she carried on the one-sided conversation with the mother dog in English just as if it could understand her, the dog's owner looked at her curiously then at Mr. and Mrs. Douglas.
Elaine leaned close to him and whispered "She thinks she can talk to animals."
He nodded sadly. A handicapped girl. And so pretty, too.
"If you'll all go up front I'll take the pup you want. Bella would probably get angry if one of you touched them. Just as he said that, he opened his mouth in horror.
Samantha had picked up one of the male pups and was cuddling it to her breast where she was just beginning to develop bosoms. She reached out and scratched Bella's ears and accepted a lick on her hand, then stood up. "I'll take this one. His name is Shufus."
"I don't believe it," Bella's owner declared as Samantha gave the big German Shepherd a last pat on the head and looked at her parents.
"We can go now. I told Bella that I'd take good care of Shufus for her."
"Sammie, I've told you to be more careful around animals and you just don't seem to want to listen," Elaine said despairingly after they were away from the house and couldn't be overheard.
"Mom, I've told you and told you I can talk to animals. I would never go near one that would hurt me. I'd know. Not that I think any animal ever would."
Her mother rolled her eyes, hoping desperately that her daughter would confine her delusion to this one dog and the kitten, assuming the puppy worked out well in their home.
***
"Why did you name the puppy Shufus?" Ronald asked once they were home.
"Oh, that was already his name. Bella told me. He knows it already." Samantha was sitting on the floor with the puppy in her lap.
"He does?"
"Sure. Call his name and watch."
"Shufus? Shufus!" he called.
The puppy turned around in
her lap and looked in the direction from where the voice had come from.
"Hmm. Well, maybe he does but it could have just been the sound of my voice."
"You'll see," she said.
***
Elaine was amazed at how quickly Shufus was housebroken, but not Samantha.
The first time he piddled in the floor, she petted him and said "Shufus, you can't do this indoors. First we'll clean this up and then we'll go outside and I'll show you where to go in the future."
Errf? Shufus whimpered in his little puppy voice. He liked his new mistress. Unlike his mother's person, this one could talk to him, in language he could understand. He was so happy he wanted to do anything in the world to please her. He followed Samantha outside and to the far corner of the fenced yard.
"This is where you go, Shufus. All you have to do is scratch or bark at the door and one of us will let you out. When you're finished, bark or scratch the door again and we'll let you in."
Arf. Errf?
"Okay, Shufus, I'll go with you the first time. You'll remember the door won't you?"
Arf! Shufus was just a small puppy but he was a smart one. He got the general idea, or thought he did. When he needed to go the next time he trotted over to the back door. He stopped and looked back. Samantha and her Mother were watching.
"Remember what I told you, Shufus," Samantha said.
Arf! Shufus wasn't quite sure if that was right so he scratched at the door just to be sure.
"Good Doggie!" Samantha praised him. She went and opened the door for him. He ran toward the far corner of the back yard, only tripping once on his short little puppy legs.
Ronald had been watching, too. "Well, Elaine?" He raised his brow and smiled.
"Let's see if he can tell us when he wants back in."
Sure enough, a few minutes later a scratching came from the other side of the back door.
"Why don't you let him in, Mom? So he'll be sure to understand that any of us will let him in or out if he needs to go."
