with me on night watch. We’ll each take two-hour turns at staying awake and being alert for any signs of danger. Might as well get used to it now, you’ll all be doing it for years to come.”
“ Race? Adrian, I like that!” the tall girl said with a smile. “Thank you. Race it is from now on! Which watch will you take? I’ll set the rest up.”
“Last watch. Get me up two hours before sunrise, if I’m not already up, anyway. I’m a light sleeper, and with this many girls snoring I may not get any sleep at all.” That started the girls giggling again, which spread to all the girls and quickly became hard laughter. Even Adrian was laughing They act like escapees from a lunatic asylum. I guess it’s the release of tension making them act silly.
Race said, “Adrian, would you tell us about the bear cubs? We’re all dying to know the real story, we know you didn’t actually father bear cubs, but what did happen?”
“That story will haunt me to the day I die,” Adrian said with a sigh. “I can’t get away from it anywhere. Okay, here’s what happened. My wife died a little over a year ago. She was pregnant at the time, although I didn’t know it until after she had passed away. I was heartbroken and couldn’t stand to stay where everything reminded me of her, so I left home and went to Colorado, to live in the mountains like a hermit. But as bad luck would have it I wasn’t left alone. I hadn’t been there long before I was attacked by a group of raiders—cannibals. I was more than half-crazy from grief and just wanted to be alone, so when they attacked me I went full crazy on them. One of them shot at me, and the bullet grazed my head.”
Here Adrian pointed to the scar on the side of his head, pulling back the hair so they could see it.
“That gave me a concussion and I was in trouble. They were chasing me and I was getting real woozy, about to pass out. I found a hole up under a bunch of tree roots and crawled into it to hide, and then I did pass out. The men looking for me didn’t find me. I was unconscious for several days. When I came to, I realized I was lying with my head on a hibernating bear’s behind.”
At this the girls giggled.
“It was a mother bear, and she was pregnant. I could tell, ’cause when I woke up, my hand was on her belly and I felt the babies moving, I think that was what finally woke me up. Of course I didn’t figure that out in the cave, only later when I had time to think. Well, I scooted right out of there before she woke up and ate me. I was really, really, lucky, girls—that’s not something you would usually get away with. That spring, when me and another man were hunting, we came across the mama bear with her two cubs. At first she acted like she was going to attack, then she stopped and sniffed at the air—she moved up close and really smelled me over. I guess my smell had become familiar to her while she was asleep and she associated it with something not dangerous to her and her babies, so she shook her head and walked away instead of attacking. I mentioned to my friend that this was the bear I slept with, and wasn’t she a beauty.”
Adrian shifted his position and waited for the girls to demand more. When one of them started to say something Adrian continued. “So he spread the story, just out of fun you understand, that I had slept with a grizzly bear and fathered her cubs. The story spread like wildfire and has been ahead of me everywhere I go. It’s a bit embarrassing, to tell you the truth, but I can’t do anything about it. So, now you know—I don’t have bear-cub babies, just a wolf and a horse.”
When the giggling-laughter settled down again Adrian told Race to get the girls in bed “They’ve had a long night and a long day, they’ll have half a day tomorrow then the training begins. They need their sleep tonight.”
Chapter 8
A drian and the girls remained at the camp site for over two months.
He had intended for them to keep
“ Race? Adrian, I like that!” the tall girl said with a smile. “Thank you. Race it is from now on! Which watch will you take? I’ll set the rest up.”
“Last watch. Get me up two hours before sunrise, if I’m not already up, anyway. I’m a light sleeper, and with this many girls snoring I may not get any sleep at all.” That started the girls giggling again, which spread to all the girls and quickly became hard laughter. Even Adrian was laughing They act like escapees from a lunatic asylum. I guess it’s the release of tension making them act silly.
Race said, “Adrian, would you tell us about the bear cubs? We’re all dying to know the real story, we know you didn’t actually father bear cubs, but what did happen?”
“That story will haunt me to the day I die,” Adrian said with a sigh. “I can’t get away from it anywhere. Okay, here’s what happened. My wife died a little over a year ago. She was pregnant at the time, although I didn’t know it until after she had passed away. I was heartbroken and couldn’t stand to stay where everything reminded me of her, so I left home and went to Colorado, to live in the mountains like a hermit. But as bad luck would have it I wasn’t left alone. I hadn’t been there long before I was attacked by a group of raiders—cannibals. I was more than half-crazy from grief and just wanted to be alone, so when they attacked me I went full crazy on them. One of them shot at me, and the bullet grazed my head.”
Here Adrian pointed to the scar on the side of his head, pulling back the hair so they could see it.
“That gave me a concussion and I was in trouble. They were chasing me and I was getting real woozy, about to pass out. I found a hole up under a bunch of tree roots and crawled into it to hide, and then I did pass out. The men looking for me didn’t find me. I was unconscious for several days. When I came to, I realized I was lying with my head on a hibernating bear’s behind.”
At this the girls giggled.
“It was a mother bear, and she was pregnant. I could tell, ’cause when I woke up, my hand was on her belly and I felt the babies moving, I think that was what finally woke me up. Of course I didn’t figure that out in the cave, only later when I had time to think. Well, I scooted right out of there before she woke up and ate me. I was really, really, lucky, girls—that’s not something you would usually get away with. That spring, when me and another man were hunting, we came across the mama bear with her two cubs. At first she acted like she was going to attack, then she stopped and sniffed at the air—she moved up close and really smelled me over. I guess my smell had become familiar to her while she was asleep and she associated it with something not dangerous to her and her babies, so she shook her head and walked away instead of attacking. I mentioned to my friend that this was the bear I slept with, and wasn’t she a beauty.”
Adrian shifted his position and waited for the girls to demand more. When one of them started to say something Adrian continued. “So he spread the story, just out of fun you understand, that I had slept with a grizzly bear and fathered her cubs. The story spread like wildfire and has been ahead of me everywhere I go. It’s a bit embarrassing, to tell you the truth, but I can’t do anything about it. So, now you know—I don’t have bear-cub babies, just a wolf and a horse.”
When the giggling-laughter settled down again Adrian told Race to get the girls in bed “They’ve had a long night and a long day, they’ll have half a day tomorrow then the training begins. They need their sleep tonight.”
Chapter 8
A drian and the girls remained at the camp site for over two months.
He had intended for them to keep
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