The old bear was following the scent of deer and its blood. But that scent was faint and mixed with the strong scent of humans that he had encountered more than once in his life. Still, it was time for him to hibernate, winter was in the air and he hadn't put on enough fat to carry him through it. The night before, he had circled their fire many times, because the smell of burning venison filled the forest and made him all the more hungry.

But the smell of the fire scared him more than his hunger and kept him away. He had experienced humans throwing fire at him and even burning his fur. He remembered the searing pain, licking the sore, foul-smelling wounds that remained after. And he remembered another time when sharp sticks penetrated his skin and he had to run off from his tormentors or he would have died from many of those sticks. Humans were dangerous. He was being cautious, but hopeful of getting to eat the venison he smelled. It wouldn't be easy.

Tor knew that they couldn't outrun the bear. Bears were faster and had more endurance when stalking. He knew there had to be a confrontation that would drive the bear off or give up some of their meat that they needed to move on without having to stop and hunt for more. Plans ran through his head like water, none of them made any good sense.

Tor found himself turning around and looking intently behind to see if he could see the bear, while keeping up with the girls and trying not to stumble under his weighty load. He couldn't see the bear behind, but he thought he heard it. The leaves were deep and dried out overnight. It was noisy walking. It was hard to hear above their own walking unless they stopped.

They came to a clearing. On the other side on the left were some large trees close together. Close together enough that he and the girls could slip through, but a bear might have to go around. Tor got Gael's attention and pointed toward the trees. The girls left the trail and headed over where he pointed. He caught up with them at the trees.

"This is where we will make our stand. If it doesn't work. Climb a tree. Adult bears can't climb trees very well. Each of you stick your poles in front of the tree like this…" Tor threw off his load and tossed most of it through the narrow opening between the two trees. The newly removed deerskin he laid on the ground with the raw meaty side up that they hadn't had time to fully clean. The scent was strong and would draw the bear.

On either side of the skin, close together he had the girls stick their spears into the ground at an angle and aimed for the bear's midsection. Tor instructed them further… "Stand behind your spear, low. If I do not kill the bear with my arrows, wave and yell to make it come toward you. Wait until the bear is upon the spear, and then slip through the opening between the trees behind you. Let the spear kill the bear. If it doesn't, climb!"

Tor threw the meat over a branch behind the girls and then came out from behind the trees and waited. Everything went quiet as they waited and listened. It wasn't long before they heard it…

Leaves crunching letting them know that the bear was coming. Before they knew it, a bear's head poked out of the trees on the other side of the clearing. Low and almost crawling, the bear came out of the trees and, with its nose in the air, cautiously ventured their way.

Tor could hear the girls whimpering and shushed them. He didn't want to show the bear any weakness. But he knew that they had never done anything like this before in their short lives. When the bear raised up to sniff the air, as if uncertain of seeing them across the clearing, Tor let loose his first arrow.

That arrow struck the bear in his upper chest and could've been a fatal wound, but it missed its mark and the old bear let out a howl that scared the girls and swiped the arrow away with his huge paw, snapping it off. Far from hurting him, it seemed to enrage him. He dropped down on all fours again and approached closer. Tor hit him with another arrow, this time in the shoulder at the base of his neck. Again, the bear batted the arrow away and broke it, this time circling to the right rather than coming directly at them like he had… Uncertain. Testing his senses.

Tor took the opportunity to send an arrow into the side of the bear's chest, just behind his front leg. That arrow could be fatal, but it would take time. The bear turned, howled in rage again, and charged.

Tor fired off one more arrow that missed in his haste. Rena, frightened out of her wits and crying, abandoned her spear and dove between the opening in the trees. Gael stood her ground and Tor dove to grab Rena's spear and hold it in place.

There wasn't time to think, just hold the spear at the bear's chest until he ran up on it, pulled up short with his front claws thrashing only inches from their faces, impaling himself quite well and stopped cold. First, Gael, and then, Tor, let go of their spears and slipped behind the trees.

But the bear did not die. He struggled against the spears, briefly, and then backed off them, bleeding profusely from both wounds as well as where the arrows had struck him. He looked to be dazed, but also looked to be looking for a way to get at his tormentors on the other side of the trees.

They all climbed into a huge tree and waited, the girls shaking and whimpering. The bear staggered around underneath, bleeding. He found the deer meat and began feeding on one leg. It was rapidly getting dark, but there was nothing they could do. They got together on a big limb close to the trunk and huddled together for warmth. But they dared not climb out of that tree at night with the whining and shuffling below. It seemed to go on all night. They fell asleep off and on, making sure that they were secure and wouldn't fall out.

Morning finally came and the bear lay dead under the tree. His teeth still on some of the venison from the leg, now nearly stripped of meat. They were grateful to be alive. Bear did not die, a slow, starving death.

The girls got a fire going, made tea and started cooking the remaining deer meat. Tor gutted and skinned the bear. In the bear's stomach were a lot of berries that he carefully scraped out onto some deerskin for them to eat. This bear was a better berry picker than they were. He welcomed the treat.

It wasn't Tor's first bear; he had been in on the kill of five bears in his short life. Those were all taken with him and several other men, mostly in winter near their camp on the Rine. He was proud of what Gael had done. But he did not chastise Rena, he knew why she was so afraid… he was, too. Who wouldn't be?

Normally, they would not leave anything behind and would use every part of the bear, from the tongue to the claws, but they were traveling light and didn't want to be weighed down with carrying 400 pounds of bear with them on their journey. Tor cut the bear in quarters and hung the quarters and bearskin from trees out of the reach of wolves and most other predators next to the trail. The meat would soon freeze from the cold weather and be available for anyone on the trail to use.

They sat around the fire and ate heartily from the venison and delicacies from the bear. Relieved, the girls even laughed a bit as they all gorged on what they had, knowing that they might go without meat for several days up ahead. Between the deer and the bear, they were eating more meat than they had the whole journey from the village before.

While they ate by the fire, Tor told them the story of the great bear his father killed when he was Tor's age. Their clan had found it in a cave and they approached it with many spears, fine ones, unlike the ones they used on this bear… Very long and sturdy, with sharp flint spear tips lashed on.

The bear was so strong that with many spears in it, it still was able to charge its tormentors. Tsen, so young, came late to the flight and thrust his spear into the open mouth of the raging bear, reaching its brain through the roof of its mouth, bringing its huge body crashing down in front of him and the others, some of them bloody and battered from the fight.

"For killing the bear, my father was given the skull as a reward. I know the story is true because the skull has always been over our winter hut's doorway as a reminder of my father's great hunting skill." Tor suddenly became sad, thinking of his father and mother, and began fighting showing tears in front of the girls.

"How big was the skull," Gael asked.

"More than twice the size of this one we just killed. And he is a big one. I hope one day to kill a bear like that. The elders tell me there used to be many. But that is the only one that I know of in my lifetime… The one my father killed and keeps evil spirits away from our hut. I know, because we do not get the sicknesses that kill the others in winter. Good medicine."

Sitting around the fire and refueling for the long trek ahead, the three of them were beginning to bond in a different way than they had the whole journey before. Gael had eyes for Tor.

Copyright 2019 © Ronald W. Hull

6/5/19