INTRODUCTION

The idea for Bear Walks With Me is derived from my non-biological grandparents who raised me, Joe Hawk, my Chiricahau Apache father who deeply inspired my life in countless ways, and my guardian black bear that has walked with me through life, always there in some form when I needed help or guidance.

The idea grew, blossomed, and bloomed from all of the good, wisdom, and love that were passed on to me. My dream is to share my experiences, both good and bad to perhaps inspire others that the world is full of good, wisdom, forgiveness, and love. All one has to do is believe in yourself to find it.

Bear Walks With Me is all about love, hate, forgiveness, survival, and wisdom. It is about finding the missing piece in the picture of life that makes one whole. It is about being at the bottom, seeing the sun above, and having the courage to begin your climb back to the top.

Does such a story end in any way other than lonely darkness? It does, I am here, and I am whole. From that squalor and hopelessness which I believe to be, I found goodness, forgiveness, and love, the healer of the scares of life. I believe that bad times as well as good can influence another person’s life, passing along strength, hope, trust, and love, like strong links in a chain, as it did for me.

This is my story in my own words. The characters are real people, but fictitious names were used for some of the characters out of respect for their privacy. The locations mentioned still exist in many instances, and I have visited them as recently as 1999. I am sure you will enjoy reading the story of my life as much as I enjoyed writing about it.

The telling of this story truly is a labor of love by every person who helped me with it.

Chapter 1

Abandoned At Birth

“The black bear’s spirit walks with us, watches over us, and is like what the white people say about guardian angels.”

Joe Hawk–Chiricahua Apache

The young black bear, now a two-year-old, emerged from his winter den into the spring sunshine. Five months of hibernation had taken its toll on his body. His stored fat was nearly gone, and his stomach was totally empty. He needed food. All day he spent working his way down the mountain following a small stream, overturning leaves, rocks, and fallen limbs, hoping for a beetle, a worm, or a grub, anything edible. Here and there, a few tender shoots of grass and fiddle neck fern poked out of the ground, and he snapped them off with sharp teeth. Not a lot of vegetation was yet growing.

Night finally closed in, and the bear’s hunger only grew. Then, he picked up a tantalizing scent in the wind. He stood on his hind legs as he sniffed the air, looking much like a lost human searching for direction. Satisfied that food was just ahead, he dropped to all fours and proceeded on in the darkness since bears have excellent night vision. He crossed the stream and climbed over a fallen tree, constantly testing the air. Yes, the tantalizing smell was very close now.

As the bear neared the little cabin, the smell of meat mingled with wood smoke, was overwhelming. Climbing up a steep embankment, the bear stopped short when he heard human voices. Peering through the heavy undergrowth, he saw a woman and two children frantically carrying things to a car. They were talking loudly, arguing and crying. Black bears are timid and shy creatures and the noise the humans made frightened him. So, in spite of his hunger, he stayed hidden.

Soon the lights went out in the cabin, and they all got in the car and drove off. The bear remained in hiding for a while, listening. All was quiet except for the babbling sound of the creek tumbling over rocks and the serenade of frogs. The smell of the food was still in the air, strong now. Hunger took over. Emerging from the brush into the small clearing, the bear cautiously approached the cabin from the back. Finding the door and windows tightly closed, he circled the small log structure coming around to the front.

Curiosity overcame hunger when he heard something up on the porch that sounded like the faint grunting of a newborn bear. For some strange reason, this noise did not frighten him, and he had to investigate. So he lumbered up the steps to the baby buggy and looked down onto a squirming, noisy, little creature.

The baby, although now tired, sensed the presence of something standing over her. She quieted from the struggle of fear, hunger, and cold, and drifted off to sleep. The bear seemed mystified as he watched the sleeping baby’s tightly clenched tiny fists probe the air, as if hoping for some contact with whatever life was near.

Again, the tantalizing smell of food seeped through the cracks of the old cabin logs, reminding the bear of his mission—food! But a strange, unknown reason overpowered his thought process of being ‘just a hungry bear’. He felt compelled to stay and keep watch over this little one. And that he did.

Bear Watching Over Baby, Copyright © 2011 D. Vail, All Rights reserved.

It was now early morning. The rising sun could be seen in the tops of the tall pine trees, but had not yet penetrated the lower part of the deep woods. The faint sound of a motor in the distance broke the tranquil scene of birds singing their praises to the new day, along with scampering squirrels, chipmunks, and various other little creatures beginning their search for breakfast. All vanished as a car emerged into the clearing, stopping near the cabin steps.

An elderly man with wavy, silver hair stepped out of the driver’s side. The frightened bear instantly rose on his hind legs next to the buggy. The man took one look at the bear and quickly opened the back door of the car. He grabbed a hunting rifle from the seat, and hurried to take aim at the bear. Sensing the danger, the bear dropped to all four feet on the porch. The baby wailed.

Stunned upon hearing the loud shriek of a baby, the man lowered his rifle and watched the bear bound off the porch. He then ran to the end of the cabin, hoping for a clean shot, but the bear was running through the brush past the stream disappearing into the woods. The sound of the infant’s cry drew the man’s attention back to the porch. Climbing up onto the porch, he walked to the buggy and peered in. Shaking his head as though in disbelief, he turned to the car, leaned his rifle against a porch pillar, and waved a frantic ‘come here’ to his wife of forty-seven years.

The car door opened on the passenger side and a slightly heavy-set, elderly lady stepped out onto a soft carpet of pine needles. Her hair was steel gray and cut quite short. She wore an old faded housedress that had seen a lot of hard work and many washings. Standing beside the car, she asked in puzzlement, “What is it, Bob?”

“You’re not going to believe this, Ida. There’s a baby here!”

“Oh, dear Lord!” she exclaimed, as she hurried across the yard and up the steps to the buggy. “Poor little mite,” she murmured, enfolding the crying baby close to her bosom.

Looking at Ida in dismay, Bob broke the silence. “I’ll look around. See if Caroline and the grand kids are here.”

Rocking her body to and fro while gently caressing the back of the baby’s head, Ida said, “You know, I didn’t see the car out back as we made the turn in. I’m afraid they’re gone.”

“Well, I’m going to look anyways,” he said, as he hustled down the steps and disappeared around the cabin. Ida could hear him calling their two grandchildren, Jack, who was five years old and Connie, who was four.

The baby quieted down to only a whimper when Bob came out the front door. He had a devastated look on his face. The old couple stood there in silence for a while, eyes and thoughts fixed on the infant in Ida’s arms. Then Bob quietly said, “Looks like Caroline’s packed up all their clothes and a few other things and left. Do you have any idea about this baby? Like whose is it? It’s really dark. Just look at that head of black hair!”

Not taking her eyes off the baby as she gently caressed the tiny cheek with the back of her index finger, Ida said, “You know, I wondered why she was always wearing that big, heavy coat every time we came. This spring hasn’t been all that cold, and just the way she looked and acted, like she could hardly wait for us to leave, made me wonder.”

“Well,” Bob said, “You know that she and Wes have been separated for some time now. Can’t say that I blame her. She called it quits that last time he came home so drunk. Then he hit the kids and her, breaking her arm. Have you heard any talk around about a boyfriend?”

With a grimacing look and a ‘no’ shaking of her head, Ida said, “Not a word about anything like that! But she lives way out here in the mountains in this old ranch cabin, so who knows what went on.”

Taking hold of the rifle he added, “What are we going to do about it? I mean the baby?”

Ida looked up into his stern face and piercing blue eyes and said, “We’re going to go home by way of town and stop at the drug store to pick up some baby bottles. I have plenty of old flour sacks to make diapers. That’s what we’re going to do!”

Shaking his head without saying a word, Bob went down the steps and laid his hunting rifle on the back seat of the car. He then walked around to open the door for Ida. “Here,” he said, “I’ll hold the baby while you get in.” She passed the little bundle gently to him and settled herself in the seat.

The baby jerked slightly from the transfer and came awake. Looking up into the kind gentle face staring down, the baby cooed, sighed, and appeared to smile. The tough old rancher’s heart melted, and as he gave the baby back to Ida, he asked, “Is it a boy or girl?”

Ida looked at him with a soft smile and said, “I won’t know until we get it back to the ranch. I don’t want to disturb it now that it’s quiet, but my guess is that it’s a girl. It’s so tiny and the features are so delicate.”

As the car started up, Ida said, “Aren’t we going to leave the vegetables, eggs, meat, butter and fruit here? That’s why we come every week to help our daughter-in-law out with food. You know Wes is not supporting her or the kids!”

Turning around in the circle drive and heading back down the dirt road Bob said, “No. She’s not coming back, Ida. I can tell by what she took. There’s no ice, and the food would all just spoil. The smell would be a temptation for bears to break in. There was hamburger left out on the counter. I threw it out back in the brush. I’m sure that’s what drew that black bear here. He was hungry from his winter nap. It’s a miracle that he didn’t have that baby for breakfast. We must have come just in time.”

“Yes, we must have, Bob. The Lord sure works in strange ways. We need to get on into town for bottles, then back to the ranch. This little one is mighty hungry. My, it’s a beautiful baby! I wonder if Caroline named it. There’s not much doubt that it’s hers.”

That completes the first chapter of Bear Walks With Me.

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