Four
months later, Blackberry was very much on his paws, and roaming about the house
and woodlands surrounding it, causing Jess anxiety. Blackberry would run out of the lie up, and
Jess, who was less mobile than him, would have to track him on camera, watching
her son playing with all kinds of community members, from Shen, right up to
Samson, the lion loving the black bear cub’s attentions. Jess noticed though that Blackberry’s
favourite playmates were Patch and Rowena.
Skirnir and she played with him, but they couldn’t match the cub’s
energy, of which he had a lot. Jess
realised Blackberry loved everyone, and was scared he’d get his paws burnt.
Blackberry
and Rowena sat together in Rowena’s den.
Sitting opposite each other, hind paws touching, they realised Rowena’s
paws were larger than Blackberry’s. Even
after Blackberry had curled and stretched his toes as far as he could, he could
not make his paws any larger.
“I love playing with your paws
Blackberry!” Rowena laughed. Blackberry laughed merrily.
“I love your paws too,” he replied,
leaning forward and lifting Rowena’s right hind foot before kissing her toes,
Rowena laughing merrily.
“I love your touch,” she said. Blackberry looked up as Patch entered the
den.
“HI,” Patch said, padding over to the
two cubs, ruffling his cub’s ears and hugging Blackberry.
“Don’t I get my ears ruffled too?” Blackberry asked. Patch laughed, kissing Blackberry’s paw.
“That’s your mama’s job,” he said. Blackberry looked down at his paws.
“Mama hardly plays with me,” he said
sadly. Patch looked concerned:
“Is this true?” He asked Rowena. Rowena sighed heavily.
“Blackberry’s so full of energy his mama
can’t keep up,” she said.
“So instead of trying, she gives up on
him?” Patch asked. Rowena looked at her sire.
“It seems to me you have more commitment
to Blackberry than his mama does,” Rowena said sadly. Patch looked into his cub’s face.
“You should not be saying things like
that at your age,” he said, “what have you seen?”
“Nothing, that’s just the point,” Rowena
replied, “Blackberry has tried to play with his mama, and sire too, but they
are too into each other to be interested in him. I know we get weaned, but in the community I
see mama bears taking interest in their cubs for years after they’ve been
weaned, but that’s not it. I think Jess
and Skirnir just can’t play with Blackberry; they have no urge to play with
their cub. Patch covered his eyes with
his paw to stop Rowena or Blackberry seeing the sadness in them, but Rowena saw
her sire’s distress.
“I know how you feel Patch,” Rowena
said, “I hate the thought of Blackberry not being able to play with his mama
and sire.” Blackberry hugged Patch, the
big grey bear embracing him tenderly.
“I’ll play with you Blackberry,” Patch
said. Blackberry snuggled up to Patch,
burying his face in the large male bear’s fur.
“When my mama showed me my birth video,
she seemed ashamed of her pain and pedalling paws. She didn’t want me playing with her paws any
more. I want to play with my mum, but
she no longer wants to play with me!”
Patch decided he’d have a chat with his sister, but first Blackberry
needed something more urgent.
“Would you like me to pedal the air with
my paws?” Patch asked. Blackberry, faced with the prospect of
playing with Patch’s paws, and better still, with a bear who wanted to be
played with, accepted gladly. Patch
rolled onto his side, letting Blackberry explore each one of his huge
paws. Blackberry stroked Patch’s fore
and hind paws with gentle care. Patch
sighing with pleasure as the cub’s toes worked over his pads.
“What did your mum say about her
paws?” Patch asked. Blackberry kissed his uncle’s right forepaw.
“She said she didn’t like me seeing her
in pain,” he replied. Patch snorted:
“She said at first that she thought her
paws beautiful, even though her toes were curled tightly,” he said. Blackberry looked pained:
“I’ve always expressed myself through
touch, ever since I can remember,” he said, “I love my mama, but she won’t let
me touch her!” Patch held Blackberry as
he started crying.
“I know, I know,” he said, kissing the
cub’s nose. Rowena looked very unhappy.
“Jess needs to lighten up,” she said,
“it’s not fair on Blackberry.”
“I don’t mind playing with him,” patch
said.
“Neither do I Patch, but his mama should
be playing with him, explaining his birth, letting him touch her paws, but she
won’t!” Patch grunted.
“I’ll talk to her,” he said, “but right
now, Blackberry needs to find out about his birth from someone who doesn’t mind
kicking and pedalling with all four paws.”
“I could help out with that,” Ekaterina
said, padding into the lie up, “I know how it is to have a cub, and could
re-enact Blackberry’s birth quite realistically if he wants me to,”
“But that’s his mama’s job,” Rowena
replied.
“His mama won’t answer his questions, so
someone else will have to,”
“
“Would you teach me all about my
birth?” He asked.
“I have spoken to my daughter about how
she’s treating you,” she said, “Jess is being stupid. She thinks showing her pain to you now you
can see as well as hear it is wrong, that you will think her a weak bear.”
“but I’d think her weak for not showing
hem her pain,” Blackberry replied, “I
want to see it, warts and all, so I can understand it mama Kamchatka!”
“I know that, so I’m here to show you,”
the grizzly bear replied.
“Mama won’t let me touch her
“Let’s answer your questions about your
birth. I’ve seen your birth video, and
can re-enact it pretty well.”
“Jess was always the sober controlled one
in the zoo,” Patch said, “maybe she’s worried that if Blackberry touches her
paw, she’ll let go and show her pain in re-enacting the cubbing.”
“I won’t let anything get in the way of
my recreation of that magickal time,”
“Thanks,” he said.
“Mama Kamchatka is a midwife you know,”
Patch said. Rowena giggled:
“I heard from mama Ekaterina that
“So you were the one who started all the
games?” Rowena asked. Patch nodded and smiled:
“What do you think?” He asked.
“I think you were very playful then as
you are now Patch,” Blackberry said.
Patch got up and stretched.
“Time to talk to Jess,” he yawned, “how
I hate this kind of confrontation!”
“You no need talk to Jess patch,” Kuruk
said, lumbering into the den, “Kuruk make her and Skirnir know how things are
for Blackberry. Kuruk see it too, so he
tear big strip off of jess for being silly over birth video. When Blackberry see mama in labour, he
fascinated and want ask plenty things, but mama, she no tell him, smacking him
with paw when he ask question about birth.
Now that bad shit in Boo of Kuruk!
Kuruk think Blackberry should know all to do with birth, all to do with
how birth happen, see video plenty times and talk to mama plenty too. It is just as much video of Blackberry as of
Jess. Kuruk even want help re-enact
cubbing if he could. Now he know mama
Kamchatka act out cubbings, but Kuruk want curl toes and scream like Patch do
some time back. Kuruk think Jess want do
thing too, just like Bianca and Pakshalika do a few months after birth of cubs,
but jess no give into her inner feelings, and Kuruk think she do herself much
damage if not give into them!” Ekaterina
kissed her older brother’s nose:
“Kuruk,” she said, “I have wanted to grab
my hind feet with my forepaws and roar with the intensity of what I felt during
my labour. I will do this soon, I know
it, and when it happens, I’ll be liberated.”
Kuruk laughed:
“Kuruk want do same thing when he hear
Jess no want do thing,” he said, “Kuruk want do it in frustration though.” Ekaterina, Patch and
“Surely if you can suck from a cub’s
feeding bottle, pretending to have a cub should be no problem Kuruk,” Patch
said. Kuruk snorted:
“Kuruk not having cub when he roll on
back and grab hind feet in forepaws, he pretending he have belly pain instead,
but yes, look like cubbing Kuruk suppose.”
Patch grinned and replied:
“That’s what I imagined when working
myself into a state. All kinds of
stomach pain that would induce rolling about, kicking and squealing.”
“I just want to know so much!” Blackberry said.
Meanwhile,
Skirnir and Jess sat in their lie up.
They knew what their treatment of Blackberry had done to their cub.
“We are pushing our cub away,” Skirnir
said, “we’re all over each other with our paws, but won’t set paw on him with
love.”
“Bears wean their cubs then push them
away,” jess replied.
“Yes, but I fear we’re doing it too
quickly,” Skirnir said, “have read books, I know mothers keep their cubs with
them for at least two years. We haven’t
even kept Blackberry by our side for six months!” Jess nodded, now uncomfortable.
“We have pushed him away,” she said,
“but he’s doing well for himself, getting friendly with other members of the
community.”
“We can’t rely on them!” Skirnir said, “Kuruk told us that, he tore a
strip off us! Jess, he was close to
physically attacking you! He’s angry,
very angry!”
“I’ll watch the video with you, and
explain things,”
“How would it be if I adopt you as my
cub?”
Jess watched the
goings on in the den on her screen, and realised what was happening.
“We’ve lost our cub,” jess said, “and I
feel nothing.” Skirnir looked at his
mate:
“You feel nothing?” He asked, “After screaming and straining to
deliver him, after feeding him, you feel nothing now you see him gravitating to
another bear?” Jess stared at her mate:
“I feel nothing,” she replied, “I don’t
know why I feel nothing.”
“You just want to produce cubs and then
let them go as quickly as possible don’t you,” Skirnir said, 2you want to
emulate Pakshalika! Pakshalika has made
it her duty to produce tiger cubs. She
enjoys the whole rearing of her family, but there is one curial difference
between her and you. Pakshalika lets her
cubs stick around after they are weaned.
In that way she’s more leonine than tiger-eye. Even so, her family bursts with love and
commitment. Ours does not.” Jess walked out, furious and ashamed.
Later that day, with
darkness drawing in,
“Pushing down against a cub is like
trying to clear huge constipation,”
“I would love to experience it, if only
for a minute,” he said, “I want to know everything
“Now, now you see mama crawling
about? Watch how she’s sitting back on
her heels and howling?” Blackberry
nodded:
“Yes, yes I see, what’s that?” He asked eagerly.
“The cub’s moving down now, and mama’s
really feeling it,”
“You can see the pressure building in
her,” Blackberry said, “mama’s getting ready to push, and you can almost feel
her tension!”
“Mama’s really trying, really pushing,
no, straining!” Blackberry exclaimed,
“She’s bearing down with everything she’s got!”
Then jess was up on her feet, squatting, bracing her paws and bearing
down repeatedly, Every effort making her scream and roar. Then Blackberry saw an amazing sight, his own
forepaws emerging beneath jess’s tail, then, another push from Jess, and his
head was out, then another panting squeeze and his body was out, then his legs
followed quickly. Blackberry stared at
the screen, mesmerised by the scenes in front of him.
“Wow
“I’m sorry
“I’m sorry Blackberry,” she said,
kissing his nose and paws. Blackberry
clung to Kamchatka and began to cry,
“I want a family just like mama
Ekaterina’s and yours!” He sobbed.
“You’ve got that now, I promise,”
“Can you re-enact my birth how you would
want it to be?” Blackberry asked, “So,
so I can remember that rather than the birth I actually had?”
“You’re asking me to pretend to have a
cub and imagine giving birth to you?”
“Yes, I know it’s unusual, but could you
do it? Would you do it? Please?” Blackberry begged.
“”I could do that,”
“You’re falling in love with a cub,”
Blackberry whispered.
“I want this, I want this so much!” Blackberry pleaded. Blackberry snuggled hard up to Kamchatka, the
mama grizzly embracing him with an intensity she hadn’t felt since she’d given
spiritual birth to patch and physical birth to Ekaterina more than two years
before.
“Love me mama, please!” Blackberry pleaded, sobbing into
“You need only imagine having a cub mama
bear,” he said to
Jess and Skirnir
watched all, the adoption of Blackberry into another family almost
complete. Jess had returned to Skirnir
after ten minutes, and watched without emotion as
“I hardly remember a thing,” jess
said. Skirnir looked at her with
confusion.
“If you are trying to be another
Pakshalika, you are not anything like her jess!
Pakshalika loves everything about the births of her cubs! Loves the conception, gestation, and labour,
and then commits totally to bringing up the cubs to love their mama, brothers
and sisters. You don’t love Blackberry,
and I am afraid you will abandon any more cubs you might have. I know losing me to the poachers broke my
mama’s heart. She maunder my loss for
months it was said. I know mama bears
have strong bonds with their cubs, well, most do.
“But I always tracked him by camera, kept
an eye on him,” jess protested.
“Thin that is Jess,” Skirnir snapped,
“you did the barest minimum for him. You
wouldn’t touch him when he was feeding, you wouldn’t curl up with him to sleep,
and you wouldn’t play with him.
Blackberry would be an emotional wreck if it hadn’t been for Rowena and
patch. Those two, and latterly
“Oooh, ow, Oooh!”
“I can feel the pressure building, its
building!”
“Push mama Push!” Blackberry encouraged, his toes curled as
tightly as his adopted mama’s.
“Cub’s coming now, owawawwhwhwowwwwww!”
“Push mama Push!” Blackberry encouraged,
“Cub’s nearly here, just the hind feet
now!” Blackberry said.
“Done it, I did it!” She panted.
Blackberry smiled and nodded.
“Well done,” he said. Kamchatka looked at her cub, seeing his body
as a new mother would, charting the progress of her cub’s body through the
pains she’d felt. Blackberry crawled to
his mama,
“That was all I hoped it would be,”
“I love you mama,” he whispered.
“I love this mama!” He said.
“Soppy mama!”
“welcome to the family little
brother,” he said gently, Blackberry
smiling and returning the kiss to the larger bear’s nose. Patch sat down and began playing with the
toes of his right hind paw, Blackberry watching him.
“Would you teach me how to play with my
paws?” Blackberry asked. patch laughed and becconed
to Blackberry with his paw.
“Come,”
he said. Patch showed Blackberry
how to play with his right hind foot by telling the
cub to take it in his right forepaw and then play with his toes with his left
fore. Blackberry was soon enjoying the
sensations patch had known since he was a cub.
Patch hugged Blackberry, then helped the black cub to his feet.
“Let’s go to my den,” Patch said.
kamchatka smiled at her cubs, lifting her paw
in farewell. Blackberry looked back at
his mama.
“Aren’t you coming too?” he asked.
“Go with your brother,” kamchatka
said. Blackberry hung back, his face
showing his conflicting emotions.
“I want you to come with us mama,” Blackberry said, his eyes pleading with the
grizzly bear.
“You two need to learn to play
together,” kamcahtka
said, “you can’t always be with me you know.”
Blackberry’s look of devestation tugged at kamchatka’s heart, then he ran forward, ciezed
her left forepaw in both of his and squeazed it,
begging her.
“Please mama!” he said, almost crying.
“I’ll come now,” she said.
“Come here,” she said, grabbing
Blackberry and hugging him. Blackberry
snuggled up to Rowena, trying to hold on with all four paws.
“You soppy thing!” Rowena said.
Patch kissed Rowena’s nose and padded from the lie up, venturing into
the wood.
Patch,
the winter wind ruffling his fur, and mud cold on his pads, padded through the
wood, using a track. Patch crossed the
road to another part of the wood not covered by CCTV. The Boss had recently purchased that part of
the wood, but had not installed the cameras.
Patch padded into the wood, his paws almost silent on the leaf littered
track. Patch’s nose was telling him
something was up, something was very wrong.
Patch emerged into a clearing to find humans setting fire to the
wood. Two young humans, were setting the wood alight. It was clear to Patch they’d not seen him,
yet. Knowing fire, Patch turned to
run. The humans, a boy and girl, turned
at the sound of patch’s snort of fear.
“It’s a bear, a bear!” The boy screamed. Patch reared up on his hind legs, now
becoming frightened.
“He looks scared,” the girl said, going
up to patch, who turned to run, and
nearly slammed into Kuruk and
“Kuruk very furious!” Kuruk snarled, running forward and grabbing
the boy in his paws and lifting him high in the air!
““Careful!” Patch warned, “They’re fragile!”
“So be the wood, but they no care about
that does them!” Kuruk snarled, lifting
the boy sky high in his paws.
“Put me down!” He screamed.
“Oh no, Kuruk no do thing,” Kuruk
Grunted. The badgers, having monitored
the situation, put the fire out with buckets of water carried from the nearby
brook. Now the humans who’d set the fire
knew they were in deep trouble.
“What be your names?” Honeyfur asked while Kuruk and
“I’m not giving my name to a
badger!” The boy screamed. Kuruk showed the lad a massive paw, then
opened his mouth and showed off a massive set of teeth.
“Ok, ok!”
The boy squealed, “I’m Royston, and this is Janet, we’re school friends,
we came into the wood to make a campfire.”
“That be no place make fire,” Honeyfur
grunted, “we badgers know fire, we see good fire, and bad fire too, and that
fire very bad. You no make hole in
ground, no make fire properly; you just set up sticks and burn away. Now we badgers was gonna sort you, fix you
big time, but patch come along and make things different to what we planned.”
“You badgers couldn’t stop us!” Janet challenged. Royston screamed as something hit his
shoulder!
“Ow, ow!”
Magnus smiled as he reloaded his catapult.
“We are big force,” he said, “and you
no see us till be too late. Then you
sunk!”
“Show us, show us!” Janet challenged. Magnus waved his paw, and thirty rocks and
six javelins hit a nearby tree. Then,
just as they thought the attack was over, a club hammer flew through the air,
launched by a bigger creature than a badger.
Matoskah stood on his hind paws, having thrown his weapon with deadly
force and accuracy.
“Now you fight with us?” Honeyfur asked.” Royston began to shake with fear.
“What else do you have?” He asked, “Guns? Rocket launchers?” Kuruk smiled, and then shoved royston into the mud, frisking the boy with expert paws,
finding matches and a lighter.
“You no want these things now,” he said,
snapping the matches and crushing the lighter.
Royston knew he was helpless, shoved into the mud by Kuruk.
“We no aggressive, but if we attacked,
we fight back,” Kuruk said.
“What did that brute say?” Janet asked.
Kuruk’s reaction was frightening.
He lowered his head to look the girl right in her face, opened his mouth
and gave vent to a menacing growl.
“Ok, okay!” Janet screamed, “I’m sorry!”
“What Kuruk said was that we are a gentle
people, but we fight back if we are attacked,” Furcone replied.
“Now what?” Royston asked.
“We take you back to see the Boss and he
tells your parents what you do when they no have you
at home!” Kuruk snapped, “They are
bloody angry with their cubs Kuruk think!”
Royston looked at the huge male grizzly.
“And who the hell’s that grey
bear?” He asked, pointing at Patch.
“That bear be Patch, brother of Kuruk,”
Kuruk said gruffly.
“I can’t understand him!” Royston complained.
!”Just listen to him and you will
understand his language,” Patch said in perfect English. The two children stared at him.
“You spoke to us!” Janet squealed. Patch smiled:
“I was in one of your cages for nearly
the whole of my life,” he said, “I learned your language while there. I rarely speak English now, but I know it
well.” Janet stared at Patch.
“So talking animals do exist,” she said.
“Talking animals?” Patch asked, “You humans are so silly. If only you’d listen to us, we’re talking to
you all the time. But you don’t
listen. As for us knowing your language,
isn’t it your job to learn ours? We’ve
been on this earth longer than you have after all.” They couldn’t reply to that.
“So what’s going to happen to us?” Royston asked.
“Kuruk want whip your backside with
branch,” Kuruk grunted.
“What did he say?” Janet asked.
Patch told her, translating word for word, which made Janet and Royston
laugh.
“He wants to whip our backsides with
branch?” Royston laughed, “You silly
bear!” Kuruk lifted a paw, Royston
running away from Kuruk,
“I think you stay right here for now,”
she said.
“What does gonna happen to us!” Janet demanded.
“You two have been punished by the
community I believe,” someone said, “”so I will not punish you further, though
what your parents will say, I can’t be sure.”
The two children looked in surprise at a large white lioness that’d
suddenly appeared from nowhere, then at the bears, and then at Samson, who
padded into view around a large oak.
Suddenly badgers and bears were the least of Janet and Royston’s worries
as lions, tigers and leopards surrounded them.
“We never forget faces,”
“Screw you white lioness!” Royston snapped, trying to face off to the
smaller white lioness in front of him.
“Want to say that again?” She asked.
Royston, his face stinging, began to cry.
“You slapped him!” Elsa laughed.
“No, not really,”
“You’ve been shown what can happen if
you violate the home of wild creatures,” Patch said, “now, go home and avoid the
wroth of your parents, if you can.”
“Are you Smokey bear’s understudy?” Royston asked. Patch pushed the humans out onto the road.
“Go home,” Patch said firmly.
Back at
their home, Royston and Janet told their parents of the strange goings on in
the wood.
“We were just walking through the wood
when we were attacked by wild animals!”
Royston complained. His mother
and father looked dubious.
“You were just walking through the wood
and were attacked by wild animals?” He
asked, “Surely wild animals do not just attack for any reason. Were you disturbing them? Taunting them?”
“We were doing no wrong!” Janet protested. Banging on the door announced the arrival of
a police officer, who strode in with a video tape.
“We were searching for a missing person
by helicopter and, on our way back, something more interesting than just the
missing person,” the officer said, “just look at what our camera saw. The video showed the whole scene, the
clearing in the wood with Royston and Janet setting the fire, then patch’s
arrival, and everything that happened after.
“We could hardly believe our eyes,” the
police officer said.
“No wonder the animals attacked,” Royston
and Janet’s mother said, “but who has lions and tigers roaming free?”
“We only know him as the Boss, “but his
community of animals is unique,” the police officer said, “They are well
behaved, as you can see. Now, now we
will prosecute your children for fire setting in the wood.”
“I got slapped by a lioness!” Royston wailed.
“You deserved a lot more than that,” she
said.
“I think they should apologise to the
community,” the police officer said.
“Go back there and apologise?” Royston asked, “With those bears and tigers?”
“Yes,” patch said, padding into the
kitchen. Royston’s mother screamed!
“Oh, oh no! It’s him! It’s that big grey bear! Save
us!” Janet squealed, throwing a plant
pot at patch, who caught it and placed it on a shelf.
“Now you need not have done that,” he
said.
“That’s the grey bear who led us to the
road!” Royston exclaimed. Patch dropped onto all four paws, then padded
to the table, sat down, then helped himself to a honey covered piece of toast.
“I love honey on toast,” he said, eating
it in one bite.
“That’s my toast!” Royston yelled.
“Shall we discuss this?” Patch asked.
“Um, no,” Royston replied. Patch wiped his mouth with his paw. Then padded over to the sink and washed his
paws.
“Are you a circus bear?” Royston asked. Patch smiled and padded back to the table.
“I was under the thumb of humans for
years, so I know their ways, and know their attitudes to animals too. Now please, let’s arrange a time for you two
to come and apologise to our community.”
“And what if we refuse to come?” Janet asked.
“My brother and mama will come and make
sure you do,” Patch replied, “You’ve met them, I believe.”
“We also saw lions, tigers and
leopards!” Janet said.
“Yes, you did,” someone said. Patch turned to see older Rowena standing
beside him, the white lioness smiling broadly.
“There’s nothing there, but I heard
another voice!” The father yelled.
“It’s a lioness, the same lioness who
spoke about us not being punished further!”
Royston screamed, “You lie lioness!”
“Your punishment will not come from us,
but will come from your parents,” Rowena said, “If your parents want you to
apologise to the community, you should.
I knew nothing about the helicopter.
Now I am needed elsewhere.” With
that the lioness vanished.
“Rowena, dear sweet Rowena,” patch said.
“There was noone there!” The father screamed.
“Eohippus showed her to us,” Patch said.
“You’re mad, completely mad!” The father screamed.
“You no call brother Patch mad!” Kuruk roared, walking into the kitchen.
“All we need is mama bear and we’re in
real trouble!” Janet exclaimed.
“Kuruk come to take you both back to
community so you can apologise for burning wood.” Kuruk grunted.
“”We’re not letting our children enter
that spooky house,” the father said, “we’ll come to the wood though.”
“Kuruk no want you in the house,” Kuruk
replied, “You think we want filthy shoes all over our floors? You not bare pawed you see.” Kuruk and patch guided Royston and Janet back
to the wood, their parents following.
The
community gathered in the largest clearing in the wood, the two children
standing with Matoskah and Allie either side of them, the two enormous polar
bears ready to subdue any attempt to escape.
Royston and Janet’s parents were also guarded by tigress Tess and Nuru,
the lion and tigress keeping a wary eye on the adults.
“I believe you have something to say to
the whole community,” Aslan said.
Royston and Janet looked the white lion in the face, knowing that to
show fear could initiate an attack.
“We’re sorry for setting fire in your
wood,” she said. Aslan looked deep into
her face, and then turned his eyes to Royston, who couldn’t meet Aslan’s
disapproving gaze.
“Are you not sorry for what you did to
our home?” The lion asked.
“I am, but don’t see why I should be
accountable to a lion!” Royston snapped
back. Nanuq placed a heavy paw on
Royston’s shoulder.
“Look at him,” the bear growled. Royston’s eyes met Nanuq’s and he reasoned
that Aslan’s eyes were kinder than the polar bear’s.
“You are not accountable to me alone,”
Aslan said, “but to the whole community here, from the eldest to the youngest. We do not burn your houses for fun, so why
come to our wood and burn it? We know
where you live; you have a nice home, as do we here. How would it be if we set fire to your
garden? That is what you did to our
wood.”
“Who would be there to make sure we
didn’t do it again?” Royston asked.
“The badgers are all around,” Blackberry
said, “I saw them, I saw them!”
“They don’t like attention being drawn
to them,” she whispered.
“Oh, sorry mum,” Blackberry replied, “but
I still saw them.” Royston stared at the
black bear cub.
“He’s not yours big mama,” he said.
“Now you stop your talk!” She warned.
Royston punched
“Bastard, bastard!” She snarled.
Royston mocked her:
“Oooh, bastard now is it?” Patch scooped the boy up in his paws and
shouted at him:
“You dare insult my mama!” He yelled.
Royston looked into the grey bear’s eyes, and something in them silenced
him.
“He understands me, he knows my
mind!” The boy thought. As soon as he got his feet on the ground,
Royston ran away, his sister following with all speed she could muster.
“Run away, run away!” Blackberry chanted, clapping his
forepaws.
“You can’t say that, you can’t say
that!” She whispered.
“But they’re running away, they’re unable
to confront their stupidity!” Blackberry
replied.
“I won’t go after them, I promise mama,”
Blackberry said.
“We make dam sure they no come back,”
Honeyfur said.
“Your son cub is very good with a
catapult,” she said. Honeyfur smiled
with pleasure.
“He very good shot,” she said.
“You be big softy mama really
“Don’t tell everyone,” she said. Honeyfur buried her head in the grizzly’s
warm thick fur.
“Badgers go into hibernation at this
time of year,” Honeyfur said, “but Honeyfur no hibernate, she in nice warm
house now, mama
“No, I don’t hibernate now, but I used
to,”
“I came back as soon
as I could,” Blackberry said.
Pakshalika, in pain, smiled weakly.
“You wanted to see the birth of a tiger
cub, now you will,” she panted.
“Did you slow things down just for
me?” Blackberry asked, as he watched
Pakshalika relax.
“I did, but, but it’s no problem,”
Pakshalika replied, “My cubs are fine.”
Breathing deeply, Pakshalika groaned softly as her contractions grew
fiercer.
“Ok, Ok, it’s happening, take my paw,
here,” Pakshalika panted, thrusting her left forepaw into Blackberry’s.
“Oooh, Oooh, ow, avouch!” Pakshalika complained. Blackberry felt the tigress’s toes curl tight
as she bore her contractions.
“Not time to push yet, you’ll hear when
it is,” Pakshalika panted, “ow, Oooh, ooooowwwwww! Owouch!” Blackberry
felt Pakshalika’s pads become damp with sweat as she pressed her paw into his.
“Ahoawhwhaaaaaawwhwhwhwwwww!
Aaaaaaaaaooooooowwwwwwwaaaawwwww!” Pakshalika yelled.
“Do you really want me here when the
cubs are born?” Blackberry asked. Pakshalika, her eyes tightly shut and teeth
clenched, couldn’t answer for a minute or so.
“Ow, Oooh, yes, Blackberry, yes, I want
you here. You asked me about the births
of my cubs, and I wanted to show you how a real birth happens. Now, now you’re, you’re here, I won’t won’t turn you away, Oooh, it’s hurting, pains, more pains!
Ouch, ow, ow, ow! Youch, yououououoch!”
Blackberry saw the sweat on Pakshalika’s fur and felt it dampening her
paws.
“I never knew you’d invited Blackberry
to be present at the birth of your next litter Pakshalika?”
“I can’t discuss it now
“Are you okay?” Blackberry asked the labouring tigress. Pakshalika buried her face in Blackberry’s
fur and wailed with pain.
“I’m trying so hard not to push!” She panted, “but, but, the cub or cubs might
not let me get away with it for much longer!
I’m trying to slow labour down, but these cubs want to come!”
“Let them come Pakshalika, let them
come, just relax, don’t fight anything.”
Pakshalika relaxed, feeling her cubs surging forward.
“Oooh, Oooh!” She grunted.
“Let it come,” Blackberry encouraged,
“let it come Pakshalika.” Pakshalika
grunted and moaned as her cub moved into the world. Moaning turned to screaming as her body was
stretched to full capacity by her first cub.
“Ahawwwwwwwowwwwwioooooowwwww!” Pakshalika screamed as her first cub’s head
emerged, “It’s hurting me! It’s hurting so much! Blackberry, get paws on with the cub! Before, before I have to push again!” Blackberry touched the emerging cub’s head
and forepaws, then, as he supported it, Pakshalika heaved mightily, delivering
the cub into his paws. Screaming and
pawing at the air, the tigress bore down five times, delivering the cub with
agonising slowness, as it was a big cub.
Blackberry could see and hear Pakshalika’s effort and pain only too
well. Even though she was pushing with
all her might, Blackberry could see how slow things were progressing and feel
it too as he was covered in fluid and could see waves of more fluid covering
the cub, as well as Pakshalika’s heaving sides and the cub emerging bit by bit
with every straining effort. It seemed
to Blackberry that once he’d got paws on with the emerging cub, Pakshalika
forgot about him, concentrating solely on pushing the cub into the world.
“Nearly there Pakshalika!” Blackberry
said excitedly after five minutes of cradling more and more of the emerging cub
in his paws, “just the hind paws to go, push down hard now, push Pakshalika,
push!” Pakshalika roared and kicked,
then bore down, growling and snarling with effort.
“That’s it, that’s it!” Blackberry said excitedly, “Do it again
Pakshalika, push again!” Pakshalika
heaved and screamed throughout the delivery of her cub’s hind paws, for she was
now exhausted, and all the birth fluid was gone.
“Pull on the cub Blackberry,”
“That’s it, finished!” Pakshalika panted, “I hope I’ve not got
another cub in there!” Blackberry stared
at the now loudly protesting cub held in his paws; it was slippery and wriggled
madly.
“Give the cub to Pakshalika,”
“Now you know,” Pakshalika said. Blackberry hugged her tightly.
“Thank you, thank you!” He said.
Pakshalika kissed Blackberry’s nose.
“It was a pleasure having you here,”
Pakshalika said, “Blackberry, it was great having you here, I just wish you’d
not had to attend that community function, I felt lonely while you were
away.” Blackberry kissed her nose in
return.
“We should have made sure there was
someone with you at all times,” he said.
“I didn’t want it when you left, but
now, thinking back, I wanted someone with me.”
“You keep your pregnancies quiet until
the last minute,” she said, “so noone would know if you were in labour until
you cried out.”
“I wanted my labour to be just me,
Blackberry and the cubs,” Pakshalika
replied, “when Blackberry had to leave, I was unhappy, so I tried to slow
labour down, then I couldn’t relax enough to start it properly again. When I finally did, the cub surged forward
and made me scream and cry as it emerged.”
Blackberry kissed Pakshalika’s nose, then her paws. The cub, having fed quickly, crawled over to
Blackberry and snuggled up to him.
Blackberry examined the tiger cub, finding it to be a big female
cub. She had orange fur with black stripes,
a black nose and black padded paws.
Blackberry kissed the cub’s nose and paw pads, the cub laughing and
swatting at Blackberry’s nose and paws.
“Hey big girl,” Blackberry said, kissing
the tiger cub’s nose and paws some more.
The female tiger cub tried to embrace Blackberry, finally snuggling
close, burying all four paws in his thick warm fur.
“My paws are freezing!” The cub protested. Blackberry breathed on each of the cub’s
paws, rubbing her pads and playing with her toes, the cub sighing with
contentment.
“Now that feels good!” She mewed.
Pakshalika laughed merrily.
“She is fat and looks like I did when I
was born,” she said, “my mama had a slow labour with me, just like I did with
this cub. I think I’ll call her little
Pakshalika.” Blackberry kissed the cub’s
nose.
“I love your name,” he said, “What does
it mean?”
“It means on the right path,” Pakshalika
said. Blackberry examined little
Pakshalika with eyes and paws, the cub wriggling with pleasure at his touch.
“I can remember every minute of her
birth,” Pakshalika said, “every
straining push, every time I curled my toes or pawed at the air, all that.”
“Despite holding up the labour process
for me, which was a crazy thing to do,” Blackberry said, “how was it for
you?” Pakshalika laughed merrily:
“It was amazing,” she replied sincerely,
“it was a bit of a struggle trying to relax after holding things up. But once I did that, things got better with
every effort. Even when I was pushing
hard at the end, screaming and pawing at the air, I could feel deep down things
were working well. Yes, pushing against
little Pakshalika’s hind paws was difficult, as all the fluid had run away by
then. Your traction on her paws was very
welcome.” Blackberry giggled:
“When I ask, “Pakshalika, want a
hug?” I’ll get two responses, from mama
and cub!” Pakshalika and her youngest
cub both crowded in on Blackberry, making the black bear laugh.
“I’ll hug mama Pakshalika, then the little
one,” he said, hugging Pakshalika with gentle care. Then, hugging her cub with even gentler
paws. Blackberry examined tigress and
cub with eyes and paws.
“I want to groom both of them, but I
can’t ask it of them,” Blackberry thought.
“Why not groom us if you want to?” Pakshalika asked, Blackberry looked shocked!
“How did you know I wanted to groom
you?” He asked.
“Your paws are crying out to us,”
Pakshalika said. Blackberry looked into
the tigress’s face.
“You want me to groom you by
washing?” He asked.
“No, by wild methods, teeth and tongue,”
Pakshalika replied. Blackberry felt his
eyes filling with tears.
“Are you sure?” He asked.
Pakshalika picked up her cub and placed her gently in Blackberry’s lap.
“Groom her first, “she said, “And do it
with the love I felt while you held my paw while I was in labour. I wouldn’t let you get paws on with my
emerging cub if I didn’t trust you implicitly would I?” Blackberry, crying, began to groom little
Pakshalika, the tiger cub mewing, purring and wriggling with pleasure.
“What will her sire think if I get too
close to her?” Blackberry asked. Pakshalika smiled:
“Whitepaw won’t mind, he doesn’t want
contact with the cubs. All three of my
cubs are biologically his, but he’s never met any of them. Don’t worry, love little Pakshalika with
everything you have Blackberry.”
Blackberry knew this would be easy; he would love that cub with as much
love as he could give.
“She’s got a lovely face and gorgeous
paws!” Blackberry said, “Her paws are
enormous, just like her mum’s.
Pakshalika looked down at her own paws, yes hers were huge.
“No wonder I had troubles giving birth to
little Pakshalika,” Pakshalika mewed.
Blackberry nodded:
“I saw all the fluid flowing over her as
you gave birth to her,” he said, “no wonder you screamed mama Pakshalika. All
the fluid came out after the cub. That
must have hurt.” Pakshalika nodded:
“It was a sore birth yes,” she admitted.
“Not good when all the fluid backs up
behind the cub and you have to have the cub with little fluid,”
“I think it was down to me holding
things up,” Pakshalika said, “I shouldn’t have done that. Everything’s ok now,
though I won’t be holding back next time, that’s for sure.” Pakshalika rolled onto her side and showed
Blackberry her paws.
“And what do you want me to do with those
big fat paws of yours?” Blackberry
asked. Pakshalika waved her paws and
wiggled her toes.
“What would you like to do with them?” She asked.
“Play with them!” Blackberry replied instantly. Pakshalika giggled:
“I want that very much, and so do they,”
she said.
“I’ll groom little cub here, then I’ll
groom you,” Blackberry said. Pakshalika
laughed and rolled onto her back, pedalling the air with her paws. Blackberry kissed little Pakshalika’s nose,
belly and paw pads, the cub wriggling and laughing helplessly.
“I love all this!” She laughed.
Blackberry knew he’d never forget the birth of this special cub. He felt he had a connection with her. as Blackberry took his paws off little
Pakshalika, the cub began clambering all over him, the bear rolling onto his
back and letting her explore him with her paws.
Pakshalika cub kissed Blackberry’s nose and paw pads, laughing as he
curled his toes when she kissed his pads.
“I love you, I love you!” The cub laughed, and then she became serious.
“Why were you crying while grooming
me?” She asked. Blackberry rolled onto his side and hugged
her in his forepaws.
“I wanted to groom you and your mama,
but I couldn’t ask you, it’s not something you can ask.”
“But we would like you to, mama said you
could, she wants you to play with her paws even. Now, now please, Blackberry, play with mama’s
paws like you played with mine.”
Blackberry kissed her nose and paw pads.
“I will Pakshalika cub, I will,”
Blackberry promised. Mama Pakshalika sat
down beside Blackberry, and then lay down, resting her head and forepaws on his
chest.
“I like this bear a lot,” Pakshalika
said, kissing Blackberry. Blackberry
felt his toes curling, and knew what it meant.
“Blackberry’s getting emotional,” Rowena
said, padding into the room. Blackberry
laughed merrily.
“I can’t deny that,” He said, “when you
get paws on with a cub emerging into the world; you can’t help loving that cub
and the cub’s mama a little.”
“Love me a little maybe,” Pakshalika
said, “but please, love my cub a lot.”
Blackberry took Pakshalika’s right forepaw, the tigress curling her toes
involuntarily.
“Hug me Blackberry!” Pakshalika begged. Blackberry hugged Pakshalika tenderly, the
tigress snuggling close.
“I’ll never forget the touch of your paw
on mine or of the touch of your gentle paws as you helped my cub into the
world. You were considerate, gentle and
firm, and that’s wonderful.”
“I’ll never forget giving you a helping
paw,” Blackberry replied. Little Pakshalika
worked her way between her mum and Blackberry, sandwiching herself between her
mum and the bear, trying to keep warm.
“Time to hug the cub!” Pakshalika laughed. Blackberry and Pakshalika hugged the large
cub. Little Pakshalika snuggled up to
the bear and tigress, mama Pakshalika curling her body around the large cub
she’d struggled hard to deliver into the world three hours before. Pakshalika examined her cub from nose to
tail, looking at and touching her cub’s ears, nose, belly and paws. The cub wriggling and snuggling up hard to her
mother.
“I’m warm now,” little Pakshalika
mewed. Blackberry cuddled up as best he
could with the tigress and her cub.
Little Pakshalika brought her paws up and touched Blackberry’s face with
her paws, Blackberry kissing her pads and toes, the cub laughing and kissing
the bear’s nose.
“Now let’s play with your paws!” Pakshalika said, kissing her cub’s nose. Pakshalika played with her cub’s paws, little
Pakshalika giggling and snuggling hard up to her mama.
“Your paws are big, fat and gorgeously
soft,” Pakshalika said to her cub.
Little Pakshalika crawled all over her mum’s body, touching her from her
nose to the toes of her hind paws, even tickling the toes of her right hind
paw. Giggling, mama Pakshalika curled
her toes with pleasure. The tigress
mewed and pawed at the air as her cub clambered all over her.
“I love the touch of my cub’s paws,” she
mewed. Raja and little Tinka padded in
their fur wet from walking in the wood.
Seeing their mama with her newborn cub, they ambushed her and the cub,
grabbing little Pakshalika and hugging her to them.
“Who are these two?” The cub asked.
“Your older brother and sister,” Mama
Pakshalika replied. Little Tinka played
with her younger sister, tickling little Pakshalika’s paws.
Blackberry turned his
attention to the mother tigress, stroking mama Pakshalika’s head, body, legs
and paws with gentle care. Pakshalika,
snuggling up, mewed and purred as the bear’s paws worked over her body and paws.
“Pakshalika loves any contact,” Rowena
said, “she even enjoys giving birth to her cubs.” Pakshalika laughed:
“I don’t know what I enjoy about the
whole birth and raising cub’s thing, but I love it so much!” Blackberry kissed Pakshalika’s nose, the
tigress smiling with genuine pleasure.
“How would it be if we played together
in the soft play room?” Blackberry
asked. Pakshalika got to her paws and
turned to her daughter cub.
“Are you hungry my dear?” She asked.
Little Pakshalika, exhausted from having her paws tickled, mewed that
she was fine. Pakshalika picked her cub
up in her mouth and padded from the room, Blackberry following. Elsa watched Pakshalika pad from the room,
her face registering disgust.
“What’s wrong with you?” Blackberry asked. Elsa cast a disapproving eye at Pakshalika.
“How the hell can she look after all
those cubs?” She snapped, “Tigresses
don’t keep their cubs around when they’re fully grown!” Blackberry pulled Elsa aside.
“You can talk,” he snapped, “you and
Pipin were playing at cubbing and had a cub earlier than you should, I know
what happened, and I saw the video!
Leave Pakshalika alone! She’s a
good mama, regardless of anything else!”
“She’s sex mad!” Elsa snapped, “She takes having cubs too
far! She’s a tigress, not a
lioness! Before you know where we are,
there’ll be a pride of tigers, and their mama will be this one promiscuous
tigress!”
“She’s had three cubs in a little over a
year,” Blackberry replied, “that’s not excessive.”
“I’ve seen her giving birth to her cubs, and Pakshalika actively enjoys
the pain, the effort of having her cubs!
She likes pain Blackberry! That’s
horrible!”
“Elsa,” Blackberry said, “What you see
as liking pain is a wish to experience all sensations. Your adopted mama went through Aslan’s birth
without pain relief for the very same reasons as Pakshalika does, to feel
everything. Yes Pakshalika might be
partial to having cubs, but Eohippus knows she looks after those cubs
well!” Elsa stamped her paws, screaming
at Blackberry!
“She’s a whore! A sex mad tigress!”
“Pakshalika loves her cubs with all her
heart,” Blackberry said softly.
Pakshalika, overhearing all this, stood shaking with anger.
“How dare you judge me?” She screamed.
“How dare you judge me?” Elsa mocked, “You’re sex mad Pakshalika,
you’re weird, and you like the pain of cubbing! My cubbing was horrible!
Sarafina was born with screaming pain, and I’ll never forget the pain I went
through. You though, you like the pain,
and you will slow down labour to savour it, you horrid creature!”
“Slowing down my labour was a mistake,
but relaxing during labour is good for mama and cub.”
“You also re-enact the cubbings you’ve
experienced with graphic expression!”
Elsa screamed, “You are horrible Pakshalika!”
“Leave me and my cubs alone!” Pakshalika screamed, smacking Elsa across her
face!” Elsa, her eyes watering, attacked
Pakshalika, the tigress defending her cubs with savage claws and teeth. Elsa came out of that fight badly mauled, her
ears torn, her nose bitten and the toes of one paw crushed.
“You bitch, you horrid bitch!” Elsa screamed, her nose bleeding profusely.
“You dared to attack me, so I fought
back!” Pakshalika panted. Elsa growled with anger.
“I’ll get you and then get your
cubs!” She warned.
“Elsa,” Pakshalika said, “have you
forgotten who nursed your cub from day one?
Who fed her? Who loves her as much as you do?” Elsa stopped dead. She’d forgotten Pakshalika had saved
Sarafina’s life.
“It was because I love having cubs that I
had milk to save your accidental cub!”
Pakshalika screamed. Elsa turned
and fled as fast as her damaged paw would allow her.
“Run away, run away!” Blackberry shouted. Elsa tore back into the room, attacking
Blackberry with all her might!
Blackberry was soon steamrollered by two hundred pounds of lioness!
“Help!
Please!” He screamed. Elsa tried to kill Blackberry, the bear
choking from a death hold!
“I want you dead!” Elsa screamed. Elsa suddenly had a problem of her own, in
the form of Patch who tore her off Blackberry.
“I want him dead, I want him dead!” Elsa screamed. Patch threw her on the floor and pinned her
down under his forepaws.
“You tend to Blackberry
Pakshalika!” Patch panted.
“Oi! Paws off!”
“Thank you Patch, thank you!” Blackberry gasped.
“Let me go, let me go!” Elsa pleaded.
“No, you horrid bitch!” Someone yelled. Sarafina, now nearly a year old, crashed in,
wanting a piece of the action.
“It’s really bad when your own cub wants
you hurt,”
“Pakshalika saved my life and you
ridicule her for her lifestyle? You
horrid creature!” Sarafina yelled. Elsa looked with disgust at her cub as she
padded up to Pakshalika, kissed her nose and paws, then went to Blackberry who
was recovering, and kissed his nose and the pads of his hind paws. Blackberry motioned to Sarafina, who lay down
on her back and extended her paws skywards.
Blackberry kissed her fore and hind paws, the young female lion cub
giggling and wriggling with pleasure.
“I love that!” Sarafina laughed.
“Release Elsa Patch,”
“I want to talk to you,” she snarled,
“Blackberry; you do not taunt those who are vanquished in a fight! It is wrong to jeer at humans when they are
beaten, and wrong to jeer at Elsa when she is beaten too. Elsa came back to kill you, and she would
have done so if Patch hadn’t waded in and saved you.”
Meanwhile, Elsa
boasted to Pipin about how she’d nearly killed Blackberry.
“I wanted him dead!” She laughed.
“You overreacted to a situation,” a voice
said, “now you will be punished!” Elsa
stared at a huge white lioness, to begin with she thought it was
“Blackberry jeered at me, no one does
that and gets away with it!” Elsa
screamed.
“Blackberry didn’t deserve to nearly lose
his life for his words!” Lioness Rowena
screamed, clamping her mouth over Elsa’s, suffocating the lioness nearly
lifeless. Pipin tried to run from the room to get help,
but found he could not leave. His eyes
drawn to his mate writhing on the floor assailed by a force only she could see,
Pipin, feeling sick, stared at his mate, Elsa now lying gasping on the floor after
the attack from a spiritual force.
Meanwhile, Pakshalika
marshalled her three cubs and padded from the room, very distressed about the
attack on Blackberry. Sobbing,
Pakshalika hid in her lie up, hugging her cubs to her, screwing bunched paws
into her eyes trying not to choke on her tears.
“Don’t cry mum,” Tinka said, kissing her
mum’s nose, “it will be all right in the end, I promise you it will be all
right.” Pakshalika sniffed and wiped her
nose on the back of her paw.
“Blackberry was nearly killed!” She sniffed, “Elsa nearly killed him! He didn’t deserve that!” Tinka dried her mum’s eyes, making Pakshalika
tearful all over again.
“I’m ok now,” Pakshalika sniffed, taking
a deep breath and sighing heavily.
“I
hope Blackberry’s okay,” Raja junior a said.
Blackberry padded
through the house, shocked by what had happened that day.
“I must keep my mouth shut; I must keep
my mouth shut!” He thought. Blackberry found his paws taking him to
Pakshalika’s lie up, wandering in, he saw the tigress tearful and wringing her
paws.
“Hey, shh, peace,” Blackberry said
gently, hugging Pakshalika to him. The
tigress clinging to him with both forepaws and burying her head in his chest.
“Blackberry!” Pakshalika sobbed, “I was afraid Elsa would
kill you!” She sobbed.
“I shouldn’t have jeered at Elsa when she
was beaten by you Pakshalika,” Blackberry said, “I know this now. I am sorry for that. But I hate her for what she said. You might enjoy the whole birth process, but
you don’t abandon your cubs once they are born.”
“I wish I was a lioness,” Pakshalika
mewed, “then, and then I’d not be suspected of being strange. Lionesses give birth to cubs at the rate I
do, and they never get questioned. I get
questioned because a tigress should not know how to look after her cubs at
first, but I know how to, I remember how I was looked after! The pain of my first cubbing was horrendously
painful, but I loved my cubs, just as my mum loved me after my birth. I grew to love the process of birth after
viewing the first video of Raja’s birth.
I strained and pushed, pedalled the air with my paws, screamed, sweated
and yelled, but loved every minute. The
feeling of a cub emerging is fantastic. Every push, every urge to push,
everything. I can’t help it, strange it
might be, but I love giving birth to cubs, and I love looking after cubs
too. I won’t let that go. I even loved giving birth to little
Pakshalika, even though it felt like I was giving birth to sandpaper. It hurt! But I persevered, and now I have a
beautiful female cub. You know what
Blackberry? I’d do it all again right
now.” Blackberry kissed her nose.
“I know you would,” he said, “mama
Pakshalika, please be proud of your achievements, for your cubs are well
adjusted, credits to yourself and the community and are well fed and lovely to
be around.”
Meanwhile, Elsa,
furious and frightened, stormed around her lie up, angry at a dead lioness’s
intervention.
“How dare Rowena get involved!” She screamed.
“You boasted of nearly killing and
wanting to kill Blackberry,”” Pipin replied, “Do you expect the spirits to
condone what you said?” Pipin asked,
“You attacked a cub for speaking his mind, for telling you to run away from a
situation you caused! You attacked
Pakshalika; you told her she was a bad mother, that she was a whore! Pakshalika is nothing of the sort Elsa! She’s genuine, she loves towards her cubs,
and she’s lovely!” Elsa stamped her paws
in anger.
“I hate her, I hate her!” She roared.
“If Pakshalika hadn’t been in the
position she was and is, she’d never have been able to save our cub!” Pipin sobbed.
“I wish we’d never mated, I wish I’d kept
my legs crossed, tied my paws together, stopped Sarafina’s birth somehow!” Elsa screamed.
“Well you couldn’t do it, and we should
not speak like this now she’s alive and well, Elsa, please! Stop this!” Pipin sobbed.
Sarafina watched her parents quarrelling, devastated at Elsa’s words.
“She wants me dead!” Sarafina thought miserably, turning, she ran
from the room, crying bitterly. Running
to Pakshalika, Sarafina threw herself on the floor and clung to the tigress,
sobbing into her fur.
“Elsa wants me dead mama!” Sarafina choked. Pakshalika leapt to her paws, angry and
upset. Roaring with rage, she punched a
button on a panel in the wall and viewed the last hour’s footage from Elsa’s
lie up. Sarafina watched Pakshalika
getting angrier with every minute, the tigress dancing with rage at the end.
“She’s dead!” Pakshalika roared, streaking from the
room. Blackberry marshalled Sarafina and
Pakshalika’s cubs and tried to calm them.
Tinka took it upon herself to calm Sarafina, hugging and stroking her
with tender paws.
“It will be okay,” Tinka mewed, kissing
Sarafina’s nose and paws.
Meanwhile, Leo and
“Elsa’s dead meat now, she’s dead!”
“Elsa,” he said softly, as if preying,
“hand Sarafina over to Pakshalika, if you value your life, and hand your cub to
Pakshalika!” Leo ran from the room,
trying to get to his daughter cub before the tigress did!
Leo and Pakshalika ran
neck and neck into Elsa’s lie up, the lioness angrily pacing the floor.
“You bitch, you horrid creature
Elsa!” Pakshalika roared. Elsa saw the tigress’s claws were extended,
she meant business.
“We all saw what you did and said!” Pakshalika growled, “Now you will die for your
actions and words! Your cub does not
deserve to die! But you will die for
your sentiments, for Sarafina is not safe with you! I will go through anything eohippus wants me
to, including labour, so I can give Sarafina a home! When she drank my milk, I promised her what I
promise my cubs, that I will always look after them! I thought you were a better mama than you
are, maybe you are too young to be a mama, whatever it is, and your cub need
not suffer for your stupidity!”
“Elsa will give Sarafina to you
completely!” Leo pleaded, “She will hand
Sarafina to you, all cusody, all claim,
everything! She will do this from this
moment!” Pipin looked shocked and angry.
“Elsa?”
He asked, “Did you arrange this?”
“No,” Elsa snapped, “of course I didn’t,
but if it means saving my life, I’ll give Pakshalika our cub!”
“But she’s my cub too!” Pipin sobbed, “You can’t say this Elsa, and
you can’t just give her away, leave her alone.
It’s not fair! Don’t I get a say
in any of this?”
“Pipin, come with me,” Pakshalika said
gently, leading the now weeping lion out of the room.
“My only concern is for Sarafina,”
Pakshalika said, “dear Pipin; I would never stop you from having contact with
your cub, never in a million years.”
“But, but the sire of your cubs never has contact with them, never,”
Pipin sobbed.
“That is because he doesn’t want contact,
not because I don’t allow it,” Pakshalika replied.
“So, so I could? I could come and play with my cub?” Pipin asked hoarsely.
“Of course,” Pakshalika replied, “I was
going to kill Elsa to save Sarafina. Now
if Elsa gives her cub to me, it is her, not you who have relinquished all claim
on Sarafina’s well being. I will still respect your word, urt not Elsa’s
in matters of Sarafina’s upbringing.”
“But you are a tigress, not a
lioness!” Pipin protested.
“Close you’re
eyes Pipin,” Pakshalika replied, “and let me hug you.” Pipin did as Pakshalika asked, and she hugged
him tenderly:
“Now, now tell me if you have doubts
about my sincerity.”
“, I have no doubts,” Pipin sniffed:
“I wish I was a lioness,” Pakshalika
replied, “my instincts are all leonine and not of my own kind.” Pipin looked into Pakshalika’s eyes, the
tigress’s expression comforting him.
“You really do care don’t you,” Pipin
said. Pakshalika kissed his nose:
“My words regarding eohippus putting me
through horrendous labour to give birth to Sarafina if that is what she wishes
are and were sincere and heart felt,” Pakshalika said. Pipin took her paw.
“May your labour be joyous and as
painless as possible,” he replied.
Pakshalika kissed his nose:
“Labour is never painless, but thank
you,” she said. Pipin padded away,
leaving Pakshalika to return to Elsa’s lie up.
Pakshalika turned, a paw resting on her own stopping her.
“Pakshalika?”
“
“I understand why you’d want to kill
Elsa,” she said, “but please, spare her life, she’s my cub!”
“My dear
“Please, let her live!”
“If Elsa refuses to give custody of her cub
over to me, I will have to kill her for Sarafina’s sake,” Pakshalika replied,
“I will have no choice.”
“I understand,”
“Will you give custody of your cub to
Pakshalika Elsa?”
“I have no choice if I am to keep breath
in my body after this insane creature has threatened my life if I refuse,” she
replied.
“Will you give custody of your cub to Pakshalika?”
“Have her, have every bit of her, I don’t
care!” Elsa screamed. Pakshalika padded away to her lie up,
settling down beside all four of her cubs.
Pakshalika fed little Pakshalika, then, motioning to Sarafina, invited
her to drink her fill. Sarafina, now a
year old and well weaned, crawled to Pakshalika and lay down, nursing from the
tigress’s milk. She only took a little,
concerned about draining Pakshalika’s milk supply, the significance of the
tigress’s gesture making Sarafina tearful.
“Thank you mama,” Sarafina mewed. Pakshalika groomed Sarafina from nose to paws,
licking with gentle tongue, rasping with teeth and caressing with gentle paws,
Sarafina snuggling up with as much commitment as she felt from the tigress.
“I love you mama,” Sarafina yawned,
tucking her forepaws beneath her chin in preparation for sleep.
“Sleep well little one,” Pakshalika
mewed, kissing Sarafina’s nose. The
little lioness closed her eyes and breathed deeply, sleep coming quickly. Blackberry watched all, amazed how the
tigress enfolded a lioness into her family with ease.
“Now I will go back to my mama,”
Blackberry thought, getting to his paws.
Blackberry felt the rugs beneath his pads, the sensation sharp and clear
to him. Dancing on his toes, he left the
lie up. returning to
“You look so cute,” he said.
“I love playing with my toes,” she said.
Blackberry crawled to his mama and played with the toes of her right
hind foot, extending this to stroking her pads, making
“your paws are so great to play with
mama!” Blackberry said. Kamchatka pressed her hind paw firmly into
her son cub’s paws, slightly curling her toes, making her pads bunch up, to
Blackberry’s huge delight, which he expressed by giggling and bouncing about on
his backside, still holding her foot in his forepaws, Kamchatka laughing
helplessly while bouncing about on her backside.
“You great big cub mama!” Blackberry laughed.
“ah, how cute!” kamcahtka laughed,
“my cub’s toes curl when he gets emotional!”
she leant down and lifted Blackberry’s right hind paw, kissing his curled toes.
“I love you mama,” Blackberry said.
“mama, mama!” Blackberry laughed, snuggling up. Patch and Kuruk watched from the doorway,
both grinning from ear to ear.
“soppy mama she be,” Kuruk remarked.
“She’s feeling unsure after the goings on
with Elsa,” Patch replied, “I’d treat
her gently Kuruk.” Kuruk smiled and nodded:
“Kuruk treat mama with gentle paws,” he said.
“You soppy thing mama!” Blackberry laughed.
Patch
and Ekaterina played with little Rowena in their den, each stroking and
massaging their cub’s paws with gentle care.
Ahanu, sleeping beside Haimati, was suddenly woken by her urgently
pawing at his shoulder. Ahanu and
Haimati, now four years old, had grown up together, the white tigress and her
cross bred friend growing closer until friendship turned into love, and two
friends became more than friends. Ahanu
had noticed Haimati getting larger and larger over the last few weeks, and had
thought it was something to do with putting on weight for the coming
winter. Haimati, noticing the changes in
her, hadn’t wanted to alarm Ahanu when she felt movement inside her, indeed,
she denied those sensations for a long time, considering them dreams. Now she was not dreaming, and things were
undeniably happening to her. Pain after
wrenching pain assailed the young tigress as she lay in the den.
“What, what?” Ahanu asked, turning his head to his
mate. Haimati, her face contorted with
pain, swore and gasped:
“Get someone, Ahanu! Get someone!
I’m about to, about to burst! I’m sure of it! Someone stop this! Ow, ow, ow!”
Haimati wriggled and kicked a bit, scaring Ahanu even more than he
already was. Bolting out of his den into
the wood, Ahanu ran down the track, tripping over a root and collapsing onto
the cold ground, winding himself.
Gasping, he lay still to recover, Haimati’s roar of pain galvanising him
into painful action. Groaning, he
staggered on, falling into the house and blindly making his way to the nearest
lie up he could find. Gripping the tiles
with the toes of all four paws in case he fell again, Ahanu crashed into Bianca
who was that moment coming out of Pakshalika’s lie up.
“Mama Bianca!” Ahanu gasped, giving Bianca the respectful
title, as he thought he remembered something about her having cubs, “Please
come, Haimati’s in pain, I know you’re not medical staff, but please, come and
see what you can do! I’m afraid she’s
dying!”
“What’s her pain like?” Bianca asked, suspicious she knew the root of
the white tigress’s pain.
“She didn’t say, she’s wriggling and
roaring, and is sweating too!” Ahanu
gushed.
“I’ll bet she’s in labour!” Bianca laughed, trotting out of the door, her
mood hardly affecting Ahanu, who was still scared beyond anything he’d ever
known.
When Bianca reached
Haimati’s lie up in the wood, she found the tigress straining and screaming.
I must push!” Haimati roared, “I have no choice, I have no
choice!” She obviously didn’t realise
either Bianca or Ahanu were watching.
Gripping the floor with her forepaws and bracing her hind against the
side wall, Haimati strained hard, her toes curled into the mud floor and walls
of the den, her claws ripping chunks out of the wall and floor as she strained
and kicked.
“Come on Haimati, big push, big
push!” Bianca said gently. Haimati, sweating and crying, opened her
mouth and roared as she bore down with all her strength.
“What’s happening to me?” She screamed.
“You’re in labour,” Bianca said gently,
“its okay, just try relaxing a bit.” Haimati panted, feeling the cub surge
forward. Kicking, she bore down into her
tail with renewed urgency, just as Bianca hoped she would.
“It’s coming, it’s coming!” Haimati roared, “ow Bianca, ow, ow, wooowwoowouch!”
Haimati wriggled, and then snarling, bore down for the last time.
“If this doesn’t get it out, nothing
will!” She screamed, closing her eyes
tightly and straining with all her might, “oooooooooooooow!
Ouououououoch!” Haimati growled. Exhausted, Haimati panted and whimpered as
she felt the cub’s body coming into the world.
“I can’t do it any more, please; I can’t
do it any more!”
She begged. Bianca padded round
behind Haimati and tended to the exhausted tigress’s newborn cub.
The cub was enormous, and Haimati had nothing else to give, she was
burnt out.
Meanwhile, in patch’s
den, patch lay exhausted from giving noisy birth to an imaginary cub. Rowena had put him up to it as a joke, and
he’d complied, imagining how it would be to have a cub. After he’d given birth to his cub, Ekaterina
and Rowena had fallen deeply asleep, but patch was still restless. Unable to sleep he’d paced the den, and then
felt another cub on its way. Closing his
eyes, he’d sat down and then lay down as contractions grew in him. Panting and moaning, he’d endured his pain,
curling his toes and screaming when things got too bad. Finally giving up all caution and straining
hard. Straining and pushing, sweating
and kicking brought a cub into the world.
Patch could not see the cub, but he could feel it emerging hind feet
first. With one final screaming efort, he delivered the cub’s head. He knew it was a breach birth, and as in a
dream, cleaned up the cub he could not see.
“Is my cub okay?” Haimati asked, sobbing with fear and pain.
“Your cub is fine,” Bianca said, “a
lovely female cub too.” Haimati looked
round at the cub, and it looked a strange sight, all big paws and long hair,
but as white as Haimati herself.
“What name should we give the new
cub?” Bianca asked.
“I don’t know,” Ahanu replied, shocked
at the sight of the new life in front of him.
“I can’t think, I’m in too much
shock!” Haimati mewed.
“Let’s let your cub drink,” Bianca said,
letting the cub drink from her mother’s milk.
“How would it be if we name your cub
Sita?” Pakshalika asked, padding into
the lie up. Haimati stared at the orange
“Where did you spring from?” She asked.
“I followed Bianca and Ahanu back here,”
Pakshalika replied, “My cubs are well hidden.
They and I celebrate the birth of your cub with all our hearts.” Haimati looked into Pakshalika’s face. She’d hardly known the tigress as a cub, and
knew her only by reputation as a prolific producer of cubs, but what she saw in
Pakshalika’s eyes shamed Haimati. She’d
written Pakshalika off as a sex mad tigress, as one who would have a cub, then
abandon it. Indeed, she’d met little
Tinka, and Little Raja, but had never once thought of them as Pakshalika’s
cubs, for they, in her eyes, had been too well rounded, too well adjusted to be
cubs of a tigress that she thought of as a bit of a cub factory. Now though, looking into the eyes of a
tigress she thought she knew, Haimati felt ashamed.
“You look uncomfortable,” Pakshalika said
gently, “are you still in pain from your cub’s birth Haimati?” Haimati shook her head, her shame deepening. Words wanted to burst from her, just as she’d
felt the cub wanting to burst from her.
Haimati buried her face in her paws, thinking of all the times she’d
joked with others about Pakshalika’s lifestyle.
Indeed, Haimati admitted to herself, earlier that month, she’d even
joked too little Raja about Pakshalika in the rudest terms once, but he’d never
let on who his mother was, even then.
“Why are you crying?” Pakshalika asked Haimati, settling down
beside her. Haimati turned eyes full of
shame on Pakshalika.
“Pakshalika, my cub and I are not worthy
of your presence, nor that of your cubs.
I humble myself before you, as I misjudged you. I joked with little Raja about your
lifestyle, about your cubs, about your love of birth and all that surrounds
it. I mocked you in conversation, even
joking about you to your own cubs, which never let on who their mother
was. I thought you promiscuous, loose,
and just interested in the process of birthing cubs and then chucking them out
as soon as possible so you could have more.
I now see you are not like this at all.
Looking into your eyes, seeing the concern you have for me and my cub, I
want to curl up and weep for a week when I think of how I thought of you. My emotional pain is greater than my physical
labour pain. I apologise unreservedly.” Pakshalika took Haimati’s paw and looked into
her face.
“Your words have shown great courage and
humility,” the tigress said. Haimati
looked into Pakshalika’s face.
“Why was I in so much pain at the
end?” She asked, “It was horrendous! I
was almost unable to deliver the cub!”
“Your cub now has a name Haimati,” Bianca
reminded her.
“I know her name’s Sita,” Haimati
replied. She looked at her cub:
“She’s all long hair and big paws!” Haimati mewed, “she looks dreadful! She’s got stripes on long grey fur! Her paws are enormous, big and fat! She looks like she’d be clumsy on her paws.”
“Please don’t push your cub away,”
Pakshalika mewed, “she can’t help how she looks.” Haimati closed her eyes, remembering her
birth pains.
“Sita came out backwards didn’t she,”
Haimati said. Bianca nodded:
“I’m afraid she did,” she replied,
“that’s why I had to tend to her quickly after her birth.” Haimati’s eyes blazed with anger, and she
raised her paw to strike the cub, but paused, lowering her paw and sighing
heavily.
“I’m turning into my mother!” She thought miserably, “rain rejected me
because I looked different to how she wanted her cub to look, and now I’m doing
the same thing to my cub!” Pakshalika
looked at Haimati, the white tigress’s eyes meeting hers.
“You know don’t you,” she mewed. Pakshalika nodded:
“I know,” she replied, “but you stopped
yourself. You didn’t strike the cub.”
“I nearly did, I was so close!” Haimati sobbed, “I shouldn’t have even
thought of it, let alone raised my paw to strike my cub, oh shit, shit! What’s
happening to me!! I’m being horrible to
a cub that has done nothing. She had no
choice which way she arrived or any choice in the colour of her coat. I know I should love my cub, but how can I
love her with conviction if I have doubts?”
“But are they really doubts mama?” Sita asked.
Haimati wailing in misery.
“My cub’s first words to me, and she’s
begging for her life? What a bloody mess I’m making of being a mother! Eohippus, help me, please!” Haimati screamed.
“I’m cold mama,” Sita mewed. Haimati stared at her cub.
“What do I do?” She asked.
“Hug your cub Haimati,” Pakshalika said. Haimati tried hugging her cub with conviction,
fearing her paws would reject her hold on her cub.
“You don’t like me do you mama,” Sita
mewed. Haimati choked on her tears.
“I don’t know, I don’t know!” She whimpered.
An hour later, just as
Sita was feeding from Haimati’s milk with darkness well in and Bianca on guard
outside the lie up, the tiger’s peace was disturbed by a strange sound coming
closer to them. It was a horrendous
wailing cry, constant, rising and falling, full of pain. Suddenly Bianca was knocked flat by a
lion! Bianca recognised Samson, and
breathlessly asked him to get off her, as he was squashing her.
“Sammy, Sammy!” She pleaded, “Get off me!” Samson, unable to move, just lay on top of
Bianca, the tigress having to work her way out from beneath the inert lion, who
was still wailing in the same manner.
Once she had extricated herself as gently as she could, Bianca asked
Samson what was wrong. Samson, tears
rolling down his nose, covered his face with his paws and whimpered one word,
over and over:
“Fleur, fleur!”
“What’s wrong with fleur?” Bianca asked.
Samson choked on his tears.
“She won’t wake up, she won’t wake
up!” He sobbed. Bianca looked into the den, seeing Sita’s
coat reflecting back the moonlight lancing into the cave, Haimati’s coat duller
than her cub’s.
“I must go,” she mewed, “will you be
okay here?” Sita, sleepy, yawned that
she would be fine as long as her mama stayed with her.
“Whose cub is that?” Samson asked, looking over Bianca’s shoulder
at Sita lying on the floor.
“My name’s Sita,” the cub yawned, “I’m
my mother’s cub, though I don’t know her name yet.” Samson smiled sadly.
Meanwhile, back in
the house, others had seen Samson’s exit from the house, and gone to
investigate Fleur’s body. Alaska,
looking over the cross bred cat’s body, could find nothing amiss, no hair out
of place, no evidence of her having been sick, nothing.
“She was complaining of feeling tired,”
“I can’t see anything amiss,” Nanuq
grunted.
“I’m going to have to do something
horrendous to Fleur’s body to find out what the problem is,”
“Not like older Theo’s Aslan?” He asked.
“We need to know what took her life,”
“You’re too analytical
“I remember when she was born, all that
fight to deliver her. Fleur was so kind
to everyone, but she was hated by some from the start,” Petra sobbed, “I hope
wherever she is now she’s at peace.” Clarence padded up and stood beside Petra,
staring down in disbelief.
“I was talking to her only last night,”
he choked, “she said she felt tired, that everything ached, but, but I didn’t
expect this! I never said goodbye
properly! Now, now mum’s gone from
here!”
“I’m no fleur, I’m no fleur!” She thought, “But fleur told me I was her
successor! I’m not like her; I can’t
comfort cubs just by hugging them! For
that, we need someone who is like fleur, nothing much to look at, but as gentle
and kind as she was.” Theo watched from
the doorway, unsure of what would happen next.
He knew fleur had died, for he’d seen it in a dream while sleeping only
ten minutes before. He’d also seen
something else, a white tigress giving noisy birth to a cub, and then a shaft
of light lighting up a den with a grey bear writhing in agony on the floor,
then the grey bear had a cub. Finally
Theo heard an explosion which had woken him snarling from sleep. Now he stood watching his mother mourning the
death of her friend, and where the hell was Samson?
Samson and Bianca
padded back to the house, the lion inconsolably weeping into Bianca’s coat.
Back in Haimati’s lie
up, Sita was feeling sleepy. Her paws
felt heavy and useless, and all she wanted to do was sleep. Settling down, she fell into a deep sleep. Haimati, dozing beside her cub, felt Sita’s
body become very hot, the cub whimpering, panting and snarling in her
sleep. Haimati stared at her cub in the
moonlight shining into the cave as Sita’s body became bathed in sweat and she
began to tremble with fever. Haimati
touched her cub’s body with her nose, Sita was burning up!
Back in the house
Theo watched incredulously as
“Where did Fleur’s body go?”
“Eohippus probably took it away to stop
you doing disgusting things to it,”
“Eohippus takes my mate from me, and
then takes her body so I can’t bury her?”
Samson asked, “Why? What does this mean?” Angry, he turned on Theo and slapped him.
“You tell me what the hell this
means!” Samson roared, “Theo, come down
off your lofty perch for one second and tell me what this means!” Theo looked at his sire.
“I’m not sure,” he replied, “I’m not
sure Samson, though I think I need to find a newborn cub.” Samson smacked Theo across his face.
“What the hell do you mean?” He asked, “You speak shit Theo!”
“If I knew, I’d be Eohippus herself,”
Theo mewed, “now let me find that cub.” Theo
padded from the room and out into the wood.
Ahanu and Haimati had hidden their den well; even so, Theo found
it. He found Ahanu and Haimati
comforting a very distressed newborn cub.”
“What the hell’s going on?” Ahanu demanded of Theo.
“I can’t comfort her, nothing will
comfort her!” Haimati mewed, “she’s
burning up Theo!” Theo laid his paws on
Sita, the cub becoming still and her breath easing.
“You calmed her,” Haimati mewed. Theo nodded; looking into the cub’s closed
eyes.
“Sleep long and deeply my dear,” he
whispered to Sita. .
“Not more death?” Samson pleaded, looking over Theo’s shoulder
at Sita, who was now calm.
“No,” Theo mewed, looking at his sire.
“What the hell happened back
there?” Samson asked, touching Theo’s
cheek with his paw where he’d slapped him.
“Eohippus thought that to do a post
mortem on fleur would violate her memory.
It would do to fleur what many wanted to do to her. I know what killed fleur, and there was
nothing anyone could do about it. She
had an enlarged heart due to her breeding, and that took her life.”
“But Sita’s just the same, if some cross
bred cats get that kind of ailment, and then Sita’s got no hope!” Samson mewed.
“Some have enlarged hearts, some don’t,”
Theo replied, “it is not certain Sita will suffer the same way fleur did. but
we must not talk like this now. Not with
Sita asleep here.”
“Why was she so distraught?” Haimati asked.
“I think maybe Fleur’s mantel has been
passed on,” was all Theo said.
“That would explain
“Lie down here,” Theo mewed. Samson did, and Theo lay down beside him.
“What now?” Samson asked.
“Just let your mind take you where it
will.” Theo mewed.
“But I’ll weep and roar and rend my mane,”
Samson replied, “that’s what will happen.”
“Weeping and roaring will happen, but
tearing your own mane out probably won’t,” Theo replied, “settle down Samson,
and see where your mind takes you.”
Samson rested his head on his paws and closed his eyes. Samson wept for Fleur, his tears splashing
onto the ground.
“I want to hug my fleur, but I can’t,
Eohippus took her body to stop others damaging it, and now, now I can’t even
say goodbye!” Samson opened his eyes and
felt a paw touching his. Looking to his
left he saw fleur lying on the ground, blinking, he looked again, but she was
still there, in the place where Theo had settled and seemingly fallen asleep.
“Fleur?
My dear Fleur?” Samson
asked. The apparition squeezed his paw
in hers and leant over to kiss his nose.
Samson embraced her tightly, kissing her ears, nose and forepaws.
“I cannot stay long,” fleur mewed, “I
came back to assure you it was my time to make my journey. Eohippus took my body and destroyed it due to
lawbreaking a golden rule, Alaska should have had compassion before
investigation. She will be denied her
wish to investigate what ended the life of my earthly body. Eohippus will not allow her to get her paws
on my body.”
“But what about all that stuff about
“In medical matters yes,” fleur mewed,
“but in other matters, no, not now.”
“Who is your successor in those
matters?” Samson asked.
“You saw her Sammy,” fleur mewed.
“Little Sita?” Samson asked, “Surely not, only a few hours
old and you give her that job?”
“I gave noone any job Samson; it is not
mine to give after all.”
“You mean Eohippus means Sita to be
hated, to be loathed for her looks, to be mocked and ridiculed! To make a tiny
cub into a laughing stock? To saddle her with that horrendous mantel?”
“Samson, it is not Sita who should
change, rather those around her. She
will grow up with the fortitude to cope with her palliate. Theo will make sure she has that. Sita will have what I did not, confidence in
herself. I was taught to love my paws
and fur, though in truth I never did.
Sita will never suffer that pain, for I will not let her. She might be mocked, jeered at and slapped
for having unusual fur, for that is how we react to unusual colouration as a
visual animal. But through her insight
into how to use her paws to give comfort and peace to others, she will grow
strong and capable.”
“You’re telling me she’s blind aren’t
you,” Samson choked, “Sita’s blind isn’t she fleur!”
“I do not see visual light entering her
life,” Fleur replied, “that is all I can say.”
“Eohippus blinded an innocent cub?” Samson roared.
“Eohippus did nothing of the sort,”
fleur replied, “Nature did that.
Haimati’s and Ahanu’s genes did damage to Sita. But their love for each other, and love for
her is strong. They will not cast her
out. for Haimati knows how it is to be
cast aside for a more perfect cub, and she will not let her cub suffer the same
agony.”
“I half wish I’d never spoken to you
now!” Samson mewed, “all you’ve given me
is riddles and dreadful news fleur!”
“Haimati will be finding out all this
now,” fleur mewed, “Theo knows it also.”
“So why did Sita have that fit in her
lie up?” Samson asked.
“Transfers of power can cause
discomfort,” fleur replied, “now Sammy love, I must go. I must leave for the other side. You will have no body to bury, and for that I
am sorry to you and to the community.
Eohippus won’t let
“Goodbye my love,” Samson
sobbed. Fleur said nothing, for there
was nothing to say, “I will never forget you fleur, never!” Samson promised. Fleur kissed his nose:
“Goodbye my Sammy,” fleur said,
releasing Samson’s paw.
“Rest in peace fleur my love,” Samson
replied. Fleur turned away and hugged
someone else, Clarence, her surviving cub.
“Look after little Sita for me,” fleur
whispered.
“I will mum,” Clarence sobbed, burying
his face in his mum’s coat.
“I must go now,” fleur mewed, “Samson
will love another, so as Eohippus and the spirits intend him to move on I will
not come back to him. You though
Clarence, my dear cub, if you need me, or if little Sita needs me, you know
what to do.” With that fleur pushed her
cub away and vanished, leaving only Theo lying on the ground in the rising
dawn. Clarence looked at his sire.
“Do you think what mum said is
true?” He asked, “That you will never
see her again??” Samson nodded:
“I am grief stricken now,” he replied,
“and I feel now I cannot move on, but as a wild lion, I must move on and love
another mate.” Samson got up and left
the clearing, Theo looking at Clarence in the rising dawn.
“Thank you Theo,” Clarence said, hugging
his brother cub.”
“I promised your mum I’d look after
you,” Theo mewed. Clarence hugged Theo
tightly, crying into his white coat.
Meanwhile, Back in
Haimati’s lie up, Sita woke slowly. Feeling
like she’d been run over by an elephant, she groaned deeply.
“I feel dreadful!” She mewed.
Haimati looked at her cub.
“I was worried about you last night,”
she mewed. Sita stretched her paws.
“I was hot and uncomfortable, that’s all
I remember,” Sita mewed. Haimati looked
into her cub’s eyes, seeing they’d opened.
“Can you see my paw little one?” She asked, holding her paw in front of her
cub’s face. Sita didn’t react.
“Your cub is blind I believe,” Samson
said gruffly. Haimati looked at the
lion.
“Yes, it seems that way,” she replied.
“I’m cold mama,” Sita mewed. Haimati lay down and hugged her cub.
“Is there anywhere in the house I can
take her?” Haimati asked, “Sammy, I know
I’ve not claimed a lie up as my own for months now, but we’re desperate
here.” Samson sighed heavily.
“I suppose now Fleur’s no longer here,
you could have my lie up,” he replied.
Haimati looked horrified!
“Fleur’s dead?” She asked.
Samson nodded. Haimati embraced
Samson tightly:
“I’m so sorry,” she mewed. Samson sighed heavily.
“I know she’s at peace now,” he mewed.
Meanwhile, Tigger and
Namrah received the news about Tigger’s daughter cub. Distraught, Tigger wept for hours, wringing
his paws and weeping inconsolably.
“I shouldn’t have to Maun my own daughter
cub!” He screamed, “It’s wrong, so
wrong, and thanks to
“I want to hold my cub; I want to hold
my cub!” Tigger screamed, sprinting into
“Tigger, piss off! I was sleeping!”
“You violent thug!” Tigger yelled as, screaming,
“You two stop it now, stop it!” Namrah screeched, pulling Tigger away from
the snorting polar bear.
“Leave him
“He screamed into my ear while I was
sleeping, so he attacked me first!”
“With good reason you disgusting
animal!” Namrah snarled.
“I wanted to see why fleur had
died!”
“You are meant to be a healer you horrid
creature!” Namrah snarled, “Why curse
fleur who is not here?”
“Who says she is not here,” a voice
said.
“No, oh no!” She begged, “I must be dreaming this!” Fleur’s spirit picked
“Now I believe I have an appointment
with my sire,” the spirit said.”
“Come to me Tigger,” fleur said,
embracing her sire tenderly. Tigger wept as he
felt his cub’s paws holding him.
“Goodbye my dear cub,” he sobbed. Fleur kissed his nose, and then Tigger hugged
her tightly before she vanished for the last time.
Meanwhile Haimati
helped her cub to her feet for the first time.
“Are you sure you can walk Sita
love?” Haimati asked. Sita placed her paws on the floor and
tentatively put weight on them. Feeling
the rough ground under her paws, she bounced on her toes a little, and then
padded along the track with her mum, and from there into the house. Padding steadily and carefully, Sita followed
her mum by scent.
“Whose cub is that?”
“This is Sita, my cub,” Haimati mewed,
leading the cub into
“Oh my god!”
“Ahanu and I love our cub so shut your
mouth!” She snarled.
“You and Ahanu gave birth to a
monster!”
“You horrid beast!” Pepper snarled, the lion cross snow leopard
female barrelling in and helping Haimati to hold
“Now we will hold you up before the whole
community for misconduct!” Pepper
yowled, angry at the bear’s words.
“What is a monster? And what is euthanized?” Sita asked.
Haimati shushed her cub, but Sita was undeterred.
“What do those words mean mama?” She asked.
“It means you are horrible and should be
killed!”
“You mean Ahanu and I should never have
cubs?” Haimati mewed.
“What I mean is that some couplings are
too dangerous to produce successful cubs!”
“Can’t you just enjoy the fact I’ve had a
cub and she’s healthy and happy?”
Haimati asked.
“I suppose,” she snarled, “but sitter or
however you pronounce her name is still strange!”
“You keep your paws off my cub!” Haimati warned.
“If I wanted to crush her, I could quite
easily,” she replied. Haimati shielded
her cub from
“You dare get paws on with my cub I’ll
make sure you die painfully!” Haimati
snarled.
“Can I take a look at your cub?”
“Sita, please, would you roll onto your
side?” Sita did, and
“Oops, sorry,” Sita mewed.
“You have beautiful blue eyes Sita,”
“Your tail has bands like a raccoon’s,”
“Sita, listen to me,”
“I will leave so you can talk with my
mama,” she said.
“Where to?”
“Anywhere! Anywhere but here!” She turned and fled. Sita ran down the corridor, deeper into the
house, eventually skidding into Kamchatka’s lie up and slamming into Blackberry
who was sitting, quietly exploring the pads and toes of his right hind paw with his left fore.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Sita sobbed.
Blackberry rolled onto his side and embraced the weeping cub.
“Hey, shh, calm down, please!” Blackberry said softly, hugging Sita tightly,
the cub crying bitterly into his coat.
“I don’t know who or what you are, I’m
sorry, sorry for crashing into you, I’m sorry for crying, for everything!” Sita mewed, choking on her tears.
“Hey, take a deep breath, and try to calm
down, please!” Blackberry said softly,
kissing Sita’s nose. Blackberry gathered
the weeping cub into his paws and rolled onto his back, hugging Sita and
kissing her nose and paws until the cub calmed down, snuggling up to the
bear. Blackberry held Sita tightly.
“How does that feel?” Blackberry asked. Sita sniffed and snuggled tightly up to
Blackberry:
“It feels great, but this is wrong,
you’re not known to me, let alone a big cat, but this feels great!” Blackberry rubbed Sita’s back, the tiger cub
snuggling up.
“I will protect you, I promise,”
Blackberry said gently. Sita snuggled up
to the bear, whose thick fur and warmth she desperately needed.
“Thank you for looking after my cub
Blackberry,” Haimati said, padding into the lie up. Blackberry looked at the tigress.
“I will not release this cub until I know
she’s going to be safe!” He said
sharply.
“I’m not the agressor
in this,” Haimati said, “Sita’s tears were caused by
“I’ve never seen a more beautiful cub,”
he said sincerely, “she’s lovely Haimati!”
Haimati smiled despite her anger.
“I would have loved to have seen Sita’s
birth,” Blackberry said.
“She came out backwards,” Haimati said, “I screamed and roared, snarled
and screamed, as well as ripped up the den with my claws while pushing and
straining to deliver little Sita.”
Blackberry looked at Haimati, then at Sita.
“I will pledge my protection to you
little star,” he said.
“Her name’s Sita, not Star!” Haimati laughed, “But it was a nice
slip.” Blackberry kissed Sita’s nose and
paws, the cub rolling onto her side to allow Blackberry to kiss her belly and
the soles of her hind paws. Blackberry
tossed Sita high in the air, and then caught her in his paws on the way down,
the cub screaming with laughter.
“Do that again!” Sita begged.
Blackberry tossed her even higher, spinning the cub in the air so she
landed on her back in his paws this time.
Sita squealed with laughter and kicked the air with her large paws.
“I love you Blackberry!” Sita laughed.
Blackberry kissed the pads of Sita’s hind paws, the tiger cub curling
her toes with pleasure.
“I will make sure Alaska never gets her
paws on this cub, I promise you Haimati, you gave long and painful birth to
your cub and love her dearly, so need all the help you can to protect her. I will give you my protection, and will ask
my mama to protect little Sita too.”
Haimati looked into Blackberry’s earnest eyes.
“How old are you Blackberry?” She asked.
“About seven months now,” Blackberry
replied, sitting up and cradling Sita on his lap.
“You speak like an adult bear,” Haimati
said, “but you’re only a cub.”
“Didn’t fleur witness the birth of Mama
Bianca at the age of only seven weeks and help her mother Snowy deliver a
breach cub?” Blackberry asked. Haimati nodded:
“Yes I believe she did,” the tigress
said, “Blackberry, you know Fleur’s dead?”
Blackberry nodded:
“I heard Samson screaming as he ran past
my lie up,” he said, “I went in to his
lie up and found fleur. I stayed with
her Haimati. I stroked her paws and
kissed her nose, she was warm, but so still!”
Blackberry began to sob as the enormity of what he’d experienced hit him
for the first time.
“Fleur was so soft, so warm, but so
still!” He wept. Haimati looked at the weeping bear.
“I wish you could have known her better,”
Haimati said. Blackberry, his tears
wetting Sita’s head, sniffed and rubbed his nose with his paw.
“You’re crying on me Blackberry!” She said softly. Blackberry kissed Sita’s head, planting a
kiss between her ears, the tiger cub becoming still.
“Mama,” Sita asked, “can we live with
this Blackberry? Is that what a
Blackberry is?” Haimati giggled:
“Blackberry’s his name, not what he is,”
she said, “he’s a bear, like
“Will you hold me tightly in your
paws?” She asked. Blackberry embraced her tightly.
“I’m hungry and sleepy,” Sita mewed, “I
know mama is the only one who can feed me, but I want to snuggle up with you
too Blackberry. You’re big and warm and
safe. You are a bear, who can protect me
and mama from
“I want somewhere warm and safe for my
cub!” She pleaded.
“Well stay here,”
“Can I touch little Sita?”
“Sita,” she said, “Blackberry’s mama is
going to touch you now.” Sita felt huge
paws lift her up, then she felt herself placed gently down on the lap of a
larger bear, then hugged in huge warm paws.
“So you are mama
“Will you protect me and mama from
“I helped Allie have
“She will not harm you Sita love,”
“I’ll tear anyone to bits if they harm
Sita!” Samson snarled, padding into the
lie up.
“Nanuq and his son have imprisoned
“I’ll resign,”
All too
soon, it was time for
“We have got a report saying you have
failed in your duty as a medical practitioner,”
“I know I was wrong to say what I
did. I was expressing views that I
should have kept to myself if I was being professional. I admit I was not being professional, and for
that I am sorry.”
“We note the fact you apologised to Sita,
but Sita, while accepting your apology, cannot be certain you really mean what
you say. She’s still terrified. For this we will take a harsher view than if
you’d said these words to Ahanu and Haimati alone. If you’d expressed those views to the adult
big cats, it would have been reprehensible and worthy of dismissal from your
post, but expressing those views in front of a cub is deplorable. We therefore will imprison you for a month in
the concrete cell for twenty three hours a day, the other hours being used for
supervised activity. After this, you
will be demoted to the status of a normal community member. In addition, during your imprisonment, Patch
will come to you, and you will teach him all you know. He is gentle, loved and loves the acting
which goes with helping mothers to be.”
Theo said.
“Make the call,” he said.
“Patch will take over my job?”
“Will you take this job Patch?”
“I will,” he said, “but I do not feel I
am ready to do such a job.”
“You will learn,” Theo mewed, “you are
trusted, loved, and gentle. You feel the
mama’s pain as they’re having their cubs.
I think you’d bee a good medical bear.” Patch lowered his head in deference to Theo.
“I am honoured,” He said softly.
“Ekaterina will help you as assistant, I
have already asked her and she is fine with it,” Theo mewed. Patch covered his face with his paws.
“I have to learn so much,” he said,
“but I will learn. I am looking forward
to helping everyone.”
“Good luck,” she said.
“Do you mean I’ll have to dig out a thorn
in your pad?” Patch asked.
“I think digging your claws into my pads
is the least I deserve after what I said to Sita,” she replied miserably.
“But I don’t want to hurt you,” patch
replied, “I want to make others better.”
“But you will need to dig out thorns and
things,”
“Ouch, ouch!” She whimpered.
“Relax your paw,” patch said gently.
“It will be okay,” patch said softly,
“you can scream, roar, and cry, but don’t move you’re right hind paw.
“Do what you need to,” she said
hoarsely. Patch chose a spot on the
large sole pad of the polar bear’s right hind foot and, putting his hatred of
deliberately inflicting injury on a healthy bear to the back of his mind, he
focused on his task. Rubbing the pad of
“I can’t do it,” he said, “You’re a
healthy bear
“Patch, you saw the footage of my
misconduct, “hate me for a minute, and hurt me as I hurt Sita.” Patch gritted his teeth and dug the claws of
his right forepaw into the sole pad of
“Now, now dig that thorn out!”
“The thorn’s out now,” Patch said, “now
what?”
“Now it’s time for you to make me lick
and rub the injured pads,”
“Why?”
“Of course bears can reach their own hind
feet to administer the antiseptic, but as part of your caring role, you would
encourage me to do this for myself.
Failing that, you could lick my pads, and I would risk slight infection
then as my own saliva is not going to infect me, but yours might. Cross contamination you see? If a bear cannot lick their own wounds, you
would do it for them. So, I’ll lick my
injured paw first, and then you have a go on my uninjured paw.” Patch was happy with that.
“So me licking a wound on another creature
is a last resort?” He asked.
“In medical terms yes,”
“Now about injured cubs?” Patch asked.
“Get them, or their mothers to lick their
wounds,”
“Let’s do it then,” he said.
“You see how I’ve cleaned the blood off my
paw?” She asked, showing him her
pads. Patch examined the injured paw.
“I see,” he said.
“Now you have a go with my uninjured hind
foot,” she said, “the trick here is to tell your patient what you are about to
do and why.” Patch nodded.
“So how far are we through the
demonstration now?” He asked.
“I’ve come in with an injured left hind
foot, you can dig your claws gently into my paw, scratch my pads to simulate,
but don’t draw blood this time.”
“Oooh, that’s one sore foot,” Patch said,
balancing
“It’s okay, nearly done,” Patch said,
when
“I don’t want it; I don’t want you to do
this!” She whimpered. Patch dropped
“It’s okay, it’s going to be okay,” patch
said gently, hugging
“You’re not acting now are you?”” Patch
asked.
“I can’t help myself,” she sobbed, “It,
it’s all too real, it’s all too much!”
Patch kissed her nose and forepaws.
“
You
asked me to puncture your pads,” he reminded her.
“I don’t mean that!”
“I’m glad you approve of my bedside
manner,” he said.
“Right now, you could puncture all my pads
and I’d happily submit to it,”
“That’s what I said when I was having
Rowena,” Ekaterina said, padding into the cell, “Patch, do your job with your
natural love and compassion, and you’ll be fine.”
“Let’s get on with cleaning up my injured
left hind foot,” she sniffed. Patch
rasped the pads once more,
“It’s nearly out, the thorn’s nearly
out,” Patch said, digging his claws gently into the heel of
“It’s out now,” patch said,
“Can you lick the sole pad of your left hind
paw?” Patch asked.
“No, I can’t!” She whimpered. Patch nodded and smiled reassuringly:
“If you are willing, I will clean your paw
for you.”
“Please,” she said. Patch looked at
“Would you lie down on your back?” He asked, “I ask so I can get a better angle
on your hind paw to clean it.”
“It’s soothing the pain, it’s soothing
the sting!” She sniffled. Patch gently kissed
“Was kissing my toes right or
wrong?”
“It was wrong, I’m sorry,” patch replied,
“it was unprofessional. I thought I was
doing right.”
“It was the right thing to do,”
“Now you will learn how to help a mother
having a cub,”
“Now you should know how the next bit
works,”
“I’m sorrier than I can put into words,”
Some time later,
Kamchatka screamed at
I do not want Patch tending to the mothers
to be
“We agreed on Ekaterina, I know that,”
“The mothers to be won’t like the
choice,”
“I can’t agree entirely,”
“He’s also male!”
“Patch understands,” Theo mewed, “I know
he understands only too well. Mama
Kamchatka, there is a dream your son cub has harboured for a long time. And he came to me very distressed one day and
told me of it.
“My cub’s crazy!”
“He’s male, he loves his mate and cub,
but there is a part of him which desperately wants to experience giving birth
to a cub. The night fleur died, patch
got his wish. He told no one, not even
Ekaterina or Rowena know about it.
Eohippus put them to sleep while patch experienced giving birth to a
cub. He rolled, kicked, screamed and
strained just like Haimati had; indeed, his cubbing followed the pattern hers
took. Patch was confronted by a breach
birth, and he innately knew what to do, helping the cub out with gentle paws.”
“To give birth to a cub Patch must be
female!”
“To accomplish his dream, he was,” Theo
mewed. Patch acted out having a cub
once, it was only play, but he came to me a day after, crying and in a lot of
distress. I heard his tale, and then
took his paw and asked him again what he wanted.
“So patch is going to bear his own cub
now?”
“No,” Theo mewed, “he’s done that, and he
now knows how it is to deliver a cub.
“But lioness Rowena, my cub, she refused
that to me,”
“Patch has got a cub,” Theo mewed, “his
cub is an unusual cub for a bear to give birth to. Patch and Haimati had their cubs at the same
time.”
“You mean, mean Sita is Patch’s cub?”
“Sita is patch’s cub too. Haimati would not have been able to deliver
Sita if patch hadn’t helped her out. He
strained as hard as Haimati did to deliver Sita.”
“This is unbelievable!”
“Patch has never been troubled by things
like this,” the lion said.
“He might not be troubled by his wishes to
give birth to a cub, but I am!”
“Mum,” patch said, padding into the
room.
“You abomination!” She roared, “You disgusting animal! How dare you even consider giving birth to a
cub! How disgusting, how unnatural, how
perverted!”
“I can’t help the way I felt mama,”
patch replied, “I wanted it so much! If
Eohippus hadn’t thought it right, she would not have allowed me to go through
with it.”
“So Sita should have really fallen over
patch, not Blackberry,” Haimati said, Padding into the room with Sita.
“It’s okay mum,” Sita mewed, “I know all
this; I knew it the moment fleur put the power in me to look beyond coats and
form. Eohippus split the roles of medic
and morel guardian. Fleur was both, if
you saw as fleur did, saw the spirit in anyone regardless of their coat, of
their gender or species; you were on the right path. Fleur happened to be a medic too. Eohippus gave part of Fleur’s drive in life
to me, and the other part to Patch.
Patch is kind, gentle, and understanding. I heard
“The next thing you’ll be telling me is
you’ve fed Sita!”
“Mama, please, let me take your paw. Let me explain in the only way I can,” patch
begged.
“Patch, oh patch!”
“I love my mate and cub dearly mama,”
patch replied, “I don’t want to change who I am, or what gender I am. I just wished so much to experience giving
birth to a cub. To help Ekaterina better
next time I suppose, but eohippus made it so I helped a real cub, a real mama
give birth to her cub while she granted my wish.”
“So how does Sita see you now?”
“As the driving force which helped my
mama deliver me safely,” Sita mewed, “I know mama could not have done it
alone. Patch pushed with her, bearing
down against my huge body and big paws to deliver me into this world. Mama Kamchatka,” Sita said turning her blind
gaze on the grizzly bear, her expression making
“if you wish for something and it is
right to have it, you will be granted your wish,” Theo mewed, “it was right for
Patch to give birth to a cub, for he loves everyone, and could cope with
delivering a cub that was clearly not of his own species, and a mama tigress
needed the help of a strong presence outside of eohippus. Now
“Before I came here,
“We met Alaska and then patch came back
from tending to his first mock cubbing,”
Sita said, “it was then we learned of how patch had helped me and mum
survive.”
“I know how you feel,”
“I understand mama and I accept your
apology,” patch replied.
“Now please, let Patch love his memory of
having his own cub, of saving my life,” Sita begged, “let him re-enact my
cubbing if he wants, for he is telling the story of how he helped another. Patch should not feel ashamed of wanting to
re-enact the births of all the cubs he helps into the world mama
“I won’t stop him Sita, I promise,” she
said. Patch rubbed his eyes with his
paws.
“Mama,” he said to
“Go with my blessing,”
“I will,” he promised.
Patch
padded to Shuang’s lie up, the she panda carefully washing her fore and hind
paws in a bowl of water. Sitting down,
Patch watched Shuang, the she panda carefully washing pads and toes. Shuang watched patch from the corner of one
eye.
“Go on, wash your paws if you wish,” she
said, padding damply to the bathroom and getting Patch a bowl of water. Patch looked at the water and then dipped a
forepaw in it, wetting the pads of his hind paws. Then, he bent his head to his task, licking
and rasping at the pads and toes of his right hind
foot. Shuang watched patch, then broke
off washing in the community way, that is to say both forepaws washing a hind
paw. Smiling, she started washing her
paws the old fashioned wild way, with teeth and tongue.
“Let’s make sure our paws are wild clean
before your cub emerges,” patch said.
Shuang giggled:
“I’m getting uncomfortable,” she said, “I
don’t know if I’ll be able to wash my paws for much longer. I think I’ll be actively in labour very
shortly.” Patch watched Shuang with
gentle eyes.
“I must push down against my cub!” Shuang moaned, bearing down strongly.
“oaw’aow’ow’ow’ow’aw’w’aw’aw’aw’aw’aaw’aw’awouch!” She wailed, rolling about on the floor. She began pacing and breathing hard, then,
sat down and moaned deeply, the toes of all four paws curled.
“What do you want me to do?” Patch asked.
Shuang panted heavily.
“Stroke my right hind foot!” Shuang wailed. Patch took hold of Shuang’s right hind paw,
the panda pressing her paw hard into his.
“Hold on to my paw!” Shuang gasped. Patch held on tightly, watching as Shuang
grunted and heaved to deliver her cub.
“That’s it, push!” Patch encouraged, rubbing the pads and toes
of Shuang’s right hind foot as the mama panda grunted and strained.
“Nearly here, nearly done, but cub’s
coming backwards!” Shuang yelled,
reaching down to work the cub loose from her body. Pulling gently, Shuang imagined freeing her
cub, panting and grunting.
“That’s it,” Shuang panted, “you did
well, and holding my paw helped reassure me during my labour.” Patch smiled and hugged Shuang.
“How did you get into this job?” Shuang asked.
Patch smiled and shook his head:
“I suppose the powers that be saw me as
a good medic for you lot,” he laughed.
Shuang kissed his nose:
“You have tender paws,” she said. Patch giggled with pleasure.
“I hope that when I have a cub for real,
you’ll be here to see it into the world,” Shuang replied.
“I hope so too,” he replied. Allie padded stiffly into the lie up.
“I see you’re getting used to your new
position in the community,” the elderly mama polar bear said. Patch looked at Allie, the mama bear’s
failing sight evident from the way she looked at him.
“I’m close to the end I believe,” she
said. Patch got up and hugged her
tenderly.
“You have done your best mama Allie,” he
said, “you take a good long rest now from the security detail, and I’ll put
Rowena in charge of that.” Allie bowed
her head and kissed Patch’s nose. Patch
hugged Allie tightly, the she bear snuggling up and sighing with pleasure.
“I don’t think I’ll move from here for a
long time,” Allie said softly, “I’ve spoken to
“She’s gone,” patch said softly, “Rest
in peace Allie.”
Later that day, a
joint ceremony was held for Allie and fleur.
Younger Arki, now known as Arki, had found a photo of fleur and printed
it off. It would be buried beside
Allie. Allie’s body was brought out of
the house on a carriage pulled by Rosie, the Shetland pony doing her duty with
evident pride.
“we are gathered here
to remember two dearly loved community members,” Magnus said, “fleur and Allie, a big cat mama
and a polar bear mama who bore cubs and contributed to the life of the
community in so many ways. Due to the
actions of others, Fleur’s body is not interred here, but she is not forgotten
in our ceremony. We will keep it brief,
for it is a time to be still with individual memories of Allie and fleur. You will all have individual memories of
them, of their contributions to your lives.
And this time is for you to think of them, to love their memory and
cherish the times you had with them.
Fleur unconventional in looks, while being eternally beautiful, Allie
beautiful to the eye. Both mamas of
wonderful cubs who are for the most part credits to them and to the
community. Now we settle Allie’s earthly
remains in the earth’s eternal embrace, settling a picture of fleur beside
her.” Kuruk and Nanuq lifted Allie’s
body off the carriage and laid it in the grave.
The picture of fleur, which was pasted to the side of the carriage
unpinned and tucked beneath Allie’s right forepaw.”
“Let’s leave here now,” Magnus said,
“leave here and remember Allie and fleur in our hearts, hold them close and
love them eternally. The community all
bowed their heads as the badgers started filling in the grave, Clarence and
Samson weeping openly for fleur, Arki hard eyed and struggling to remain in
control.
“I want my mama!” Arki sobbed.
“Allie’s still here, you must believe
that,”
Hours later,
“Now you go back into that pit hole,”
the lead snow leopard snapped. Sam,
Allie’s death and burial happening too fast for him, lay down in his and
Allie’s lie up.
“I miss you Allie,” he whispered, crying
into his paws. Arki padded up to her
sire and hugged him tenderly.
“I’m here,” she whispered. Sam clung to Arki, weeping into her coat.
“I love you Arki,” he sniffed. Arki kissed her sire’s nose and paws, Sam
crying inconsolably.
Meanwhile, Patch met up
with Ekaterina in their lie up, the two bears hugging each other.
“There’s too much death around here
Patch,” Ekaterina sniffed. Patch
embraced her hard.
“Death is all part of the circle
Ekaterina love,” he said. Ekaterina
clung to him:
“Promise me,” she whispered, becoming
tearful, “promise me you won’t die patch, I would go mad if anything happened
to you!” Patch sat down and drew his
mate into a huge bear hug.
“I promise, as far as eohippus will
allow, that I will avoid trouble,” patch said.
Ekaterina snuggled up to him.
“Rowena and I love you so much Patch,”
she said softly. Patch kissed her nose
and paws. Ekaterina sighing with
pleasure.
“Have you ever thought of, even dreamed
of giving birth to a cub Patch?”
Ekaterina asked. Patch became
still:
“Why do you ask?” He enquired, gazing into her eyes.
“I don’t know why I asked,” Ekaterina
replied, “but have you ever asked the question, “how would it feel?” Patch gulped hard.
“Yes Ekaterina,” he choked, “I have, and
I’ve wanted to know for so long!
Eohippus helped me achieve this when Sita was born, I went into labour,
feeling everything, groaning and kicking, curling my toes and straining. It is said I helped Haimati bring Sita into the
world.” Ekaterina kissed his nose as
patch, overwhelmed by his memories, began to sob.
“It was wonderful!” He choked, “and I’d do it all again. I loved it, for I know that even though it
hurt like hell, I was helping another life into the world.” Ekaterina kissed her mate’s nose:
“Would you show me?” She asked, “Show me what happened?” Patch buried his face in her shoulder.
“I will, and gladly,” he replied, “my
tuition is over for the day, so my time is yours.” Ekaterina picked up Patch’s left forepaw and
examined it by touch, loving every inch.
She then picked up his left hind foot, stroking his pads and playing
with his toes, Patch curling his toes with pleasure, making his pads bunch up,
Ekaterina giggling and kissing the curled toes and bunched pads.
“You soppy thing!” Patch laughed.
“So you became female to have little Sita
then?” Ekaterina asked. Patch became still.
“Eohippus sent you to sleep,” he said,
“how do you know all this?”
“She made Rowena and I sleep, but we could
hear everything,” Ekaterina said.
“I suppose I was female for that part of
my life,” patch replied, “I can remember feeling everything that’s for sure.”
“So, if another mama needed extra help,
Eohippus could ask you to help>?”
Ekaterina asked. “Patch nodded:
“She could, and I would,” he
replied. Ekaterina sat in Patch’s lap
and embraced him tightly.
“I love you all the more for your
selfless act,” Ekaterina said gently,
“you might have wanted to deliver a cub in a secret fantasy, but that fantasy
which is one born of an inquisitive mind, is not wrong. Even less is it wrong when that wish can be
satisfied and help others.”
“If I have to push down to help you
Ekaterina I will,” Patch replied softly.
“I want to re-enact the birth of my cub
Rowena now,” Ekaterina said suddenly, “how about if you re-enact Sita’s birth
too?” Patch closed his eyes, thinking
deeply.
“I want to,” he said softly, “Ekaterina,
I want to so much!”
Patch sat back
panting and playing with the toes of his right hind
paw.
“I’m going second then,” Ekaterina
said. Patch clenched his teeth.
“I had no say!” He groaned.
Suddenly Patch curled his toes and closed his eyes tightly, moaning and
rocking back and fourth. Patch rocked so hard he fell onto his back,
losing hold of his right hind foot. Now very uncomfortable, Patch began kicking
and writhing on the floor, growling and puffing.
“Cub’s coming, coming!” He squealed.
Then, roaring, he drew his hind feet to him and grabbed them with his
forepaws, gripping hard and curling the toes of both hind feet. Ekaterina could see and smell his effort as
patch’s fur and paws became soaked with sweat.
“oaw’aw’aw’awoaww’w’w’w’w’w’oaw’w’w’w’waw’aw’ch!” Patch yelled, “I want to push!” Patch heaved and strained, then, crying, he
crawled around the lie up, Ekaterina following closely, watching for any signs
of the emerging cub.
“I love your paws Patch,” Ekaterina
said, kissing the sole of Patch’s right hind foot, feeling his bunched pads and
smelling his sweat.
“I want to push, hard!” Patch groaned, straining deeply. Ekaterina could feel his effort in everything
he did.
“Now relax and let the cub come Patch,”
Ekaterina said gently. Patch gasped and
groaned, lying down on his side to deliver his cub.
“Go on mama, push that cub out, push it
into my paws,” Ekaterina said softly.
Whimpering and crying like a mama bear, Patch bore down hard! Ekaterina saw patch draw his hind feet to him
and writhe convulsively, before crawling to the wall and sitting against it,
reclined slightly. Clasping his forepaws
over his belly, he strained hard. Though
now it was not patch delivering a cub, but a true mama bear that was a spitting
image of patch. Ekaterina saw the mama’s
curled toes, clenched teeth and closed eyes as she fought tooth and claw to
deliver her large cub.
“aoaoouchaw’aw’aw’awoauch!” She screamed, bearing down hard and catching
her breach cub. Crying, the mama bear
rocked a bit, then bent her hind legs to raise herself a little so she could
push a bit with gravity helping. Then
she was back down on the floor, sitting and straining hard.
“It’s nearly here, nearly here!” The poor mama panted, “Must carry on, but the
cubs huge, so can’t take too long, must push gently, very gently. Now push, Oooh, push! Push again! oooaouchaw’w’w’w’a’waw!” Then mama relaxed, the cub in her paws
squealing lustily. Ekaterina’s vision
cleared, and she saw Patch exhausted but happy.
“That was fantastic,” he said, “I did it,
I had the cub!” Ekaterina kissed his
sweat soaked paws one by one.
“I saw,” she said, “that was an amazing
effort.”
“Worth every drop of sweat too,” patch
gasped. Ekaterina kissed his nose.
“I wanted to be that mama Ekaterina, at
the end; I really wanted to be that mama bear having her cub! When I draw my hind feet to me while lying on
my side, I begged to have that cub naturally.”
“You had it,” Ekaterina replied. Patch smiled weakly, his whole body aching.
“I would do it all again right now,” he
said softly.
“Your commitment and sincerity make the
re-creation of a cubbing realistic enough for Eohippus to turn you briefly into
a female bear,” Ekaterina said. Patch
smiled:
“I heard that’s what happens,” he said,
“but it only happens near the end, when my effort becomes really
committed. I feel it you know. I feel the change, a freedom to be able to
push down properly.”
“I saw and heard,” his mate replied, “by
the way, I think you looked so cute giving birth to your cub,” Ekaterina
said. “What kind of cub were you
delivering?” Rowena asked. Patch smiled:
“She was a beautiful bear cub,” he replied. Rowena touched patch’s sweat soaked paw.
“You imagined giving birth to me?” She asked in wonder. Patch nodded:
“I wanted to take away your mum’s pain,”
he said, “if I could have, I would have bore her pain
for her, and that’s the honest truth.”
Rowena kissed his sweat soaked right ear.
“I love you patch,” Rowena said. Patch smiled and kissed her nose.
“I love you too Rowena sweetheart,”
Patch said softly. Ekaterina padded up
to her mate and hugged him.
“Thank you my love,” she said
softly.
The sound of huge
paws padding near made the bears turn and look towards the closed door. A huge mama polar bear pushed the door open
and put her head in, her expression anxious and eyes terrified.
“Can we help?” Rowena asked.
Patch restrained his cub:
“She’s not a community bear,” he
whispered. The mama bear padded into the
den and collapsed in a heap. Then
closing her eyes, she moaned and roared, pawing at the air with all four feet,
straining hard to deliver a cub. Within
a minute it was all over, a trickle of blood, and then a rush of fluid, the
mama bear roaring with effort and pain as the cub exploded into the world. The mama bear sat up and grabbed her cub in
her paws, feeding it frantically, her eyes darting from Patch to Ekaterina, and
then to Rowena.
“You are safe mama,” Patch said
softly. The mama bear spoke rapidly in
Canadian ursine, a dialect of the far northern polar bears. Patch, his birth mother having been a
Canadian polar bear, understanding every word.
“You are safe mama, I promise you and
your cub is safe,” he said gently. The
mama bear, panting from the exertions of labour and from fear, looked
desperately round the lie up.
“Maybe if I close the door, she’ll feel
more secure?” Rowena asked. Ekaterina shook her head:
“She’s wild; she’s not used to being
enclosed within walls, “leave the door.”
The mama bear picked the cub up in her mouth and carried it to the
corner, where she covered it with straw and lay down exhausted beside it. Panting, she lay on her side, clearly
uncomfortable. Then, taking a deep
breath, she began pawing at the air with all four paws, her toes curled
tightly. Yelling with fear and effort,
she closed her eyes and strained hard to deliver a second cub. the mama bear kicked and groaned as she bore
down to deliver the cub, a burst of fluid erupting from her, the mama bear panting
and straining to bring the cub into the world.
Patch padded over to the mama bear and rubbed her belly as she pushed
down against the cub for the last time.
“Shh mama, shh,” he said, kissing her
nose, feeling her panting and hearing her whimpering with discomfort and
fear. Patch cleaned the cub and then
gave it to its mama.
“You have two male cubs,” Patch said to
the female polar bear. The mama bear,
her fur grey with sweat, fed her youngest cub with less urgency than she had
her first cub.
“Thank you, thank you!” She said softly, “I needed a place to have my
cubs, and could find nowhere safe. I’m
sorry for invading your home.” Patch
kissed the mama bear’s nose:
“You are welcome here,” he said gently.
“What’s your name?” Rowena asked.
The mama bear looked at her:
“I don’t have a name,” the mama bear
replied, “other bears jokingly call me Anook on account of my fat appearance,
but Anook is not a proper name is it.”
“Why is Anook any
less of a name than any other?” Patch
asked, “Anook, a Canadian ursine word meaning mother.”
“A mother you really are today though,”
Ekaterina said, “so Anook you will be.
How about naming your cubs?”
Patch asked.
“I haven’t even thought of it yet,” she
said.
“Where is your home?” Patch asked.
Anook looked sadly down at her cubs:
“I lived in a zoo a long way from
here,” she replied miserably, “I got in
cub by a male polar bear, and then got ready for winter, when the zoo was
raided by crazy humans, we were all released into the surrounding area, Here, read this.” Anook took a scrap of paper from behind her
ear and held it out to Patch:
“I suppose you can read?” She asked.
Patch nodded and took the paper and read aloud:
“”Animal rights activist organisation
raids zoo near local town,”” he read, “”polar bears, arctic foxes and other
animals released from cages and left to roam local area.” Hmm Anook, so you were denned up for the winter
and these humans who disagree with zoos came along and broke your home and then
threw you out?” He asked. Anook looked at him.
“They did,” she replied, “a zoo is no
place for polar bears, but a zoo was all I knew. Indeed was all any of us knew, as we were
born and bred there. These people might
want to free us from these places, but I don’t know how to cope in the
wild. I had a mama who knew nothing
about the wild. So I would have died. I roamed for weeks, stealing from trashcans
and raiding the skips outside the back of shops to get what I considered
food. I ate vegetables, bread, and even
broke into old stores to get rejected chicken.”
Patch hugged Anook tenderly, the mother bear smiling with shy pleasure.
“So I guess I’ll have to move on,” Anook
said, “move on with my cubs to another place to live.”
“With two young cubs you’re not going
anywhere!”
“Now she’s a real mama,” Anook
said.
“Welcome home mama,” Kamchatka whispered
to Anook, the mother polar bear breathing in
“I can’t stay with you, I come in, make
a mess of your den, then you ask me to stay?”
“But you need a home, and so do your
cubs,”
“I am very grateful,” she replied, “but
May I ask, what would have happened if I’d given still birth to my cubs?”
“We would have buried their remains with
due ceremony,”
“I was well in cub when I went into the
den,” she replied, “when the humans destroyed the den I ran for it. Living off the local town was hard, but I
managed it. I walked for days, and days
turned into three weeks. I spoke to a
crow who told me of this place. I could
feel my cubs becoming more active, and knew my time was near. Not having a den any more, I was scared
because I didn’t know where I was going to have the cubs, let alone look after
them. I had horrid visions of me lying
down beside a tarmac river giving noisy birth to my cubs with humans driving
their wheeled roaring animals while stareing at me
and crashing their wheeled animals as they took their eyes off the precious
tarmac river.”
“Wheeled animals? Tarmac river?” Rowena asked.
“I think Anook means to describe a road
and cars,” patch said.
“Well,” Anook continued, smiling at
Rowena, “I found this wood, and my cubs started to make their way into the
world. I tried not to push, how I tried
not to push! Though one time, I couldn’t
help it, I just had to push! I braced my
hind feet and bore down, feeling the cub very close to falling onto the
track. I staggered on, then, then…” Anook began to cry,
“What’s this?” Anook asked, “Pass the polar bear?” Patch laughed.
“I wanted to hug you Anook,” he said, kissing her nose.
“I don’t know your name,” Anook said, “but I know that if I was to have
a third cub, I would feel safe having it with you helping me.” Patch smiled and let Anook kiss his nose.
“He’s wonderful with mothers and cubs,”
“I think my cubbing is done for now,” she
said, “but maybe, just maybe eohippus will give me the gift of another cub.”
“My name’s Patch,” patch said. Anook looked the large bear up and down.
“Why Patch?” She asked, “your fur is luxurious and,” she
touched his paw, “very soft too!”
“It wasn’t always so,” Patch replied, his
eyes shining.
“I think he likes you Anook,” Ekaterina
said.
“I think he does,” she replied. Patch looked shocked.
“I like her, I think, but it’s not the
way you think Ekaterina!” He
protested. Anook and Ekaterina laughed
helplessly.
“He bit beautifully,” Ekaterina
said. Patch covered his face with his
paws, greatly embarrassed and put out.
“I want to help her, that’s all!” He whimpered.
Ekaterina and Anook hugged patch in turn. Anook took Patch’s paw in hers, feeling his
soft fur and warm pads.
“I so badly want to give birth to another
cub so he can get paws on with me!” She
thought. Patch smiled and kissed her
nose:
“You will only have a cub if eohippus
wants you to,” he said, “and I can get paws on with you if you would only
ask.” Anook looked at Patch, and then
hugged him.
“Love your two cubs,”
“My cubs are too young to be out in the
open,” she said, “I can’t let them out yet, they’re only a few minutes old.”
“Why can’t we explore?” The youngest male cub asked.
“You’re too young,” Anook replied, “you’ve
only been born six hours.”
“But mum!” Both cubsyelled
. Anook looked into the faces of her two
cubs.
“I can’t let you out,” she said softly,
“please, believe me when I say I will let you go as soon as I can.”
“I think they need to be indoors mama,”
patch said.
“Imagine this is just a big den,”
“Are there any other creatures here?” She asked.
“Male bears?” She asked, “I won’t want to meet them!”
“You need not fear male bears in
community dear mama,” Kuruk said, walking up behind Anook. The female polar bear screamed and whipped
round, rearing up on her hind paws to fight.
Kuruk engulfed her, hugging her and subduing her.
“Kuruk say he no hurt mama or cubs, and
then mama turn on him and give him plenty violence?” Kuruk asked.
Anook, restrained, promised she’d leave Kuruk alone.
“Mama Kamchatka, who the hell’s this,”
Anook asked.
“Other than Patch, who you’ve met
already, there are three male bears I would trust with my own cubs,” Kamchatka said, “one of them is a male bear
named Nanuq, his son cub Nanuq junior, and the grizzly bear male who’s just
hugged you. His name is Kuruk, and he’s
very gentle with cubs.” Anook looked the
huge male grizzly up and down.
“I don’t know…” she said, “I don’t know
mama! You’re asking me to trust a male
bear, something I’ve never done in my life when I have cubs. These are my first cubs
“Kuruk no hurt cubs in his life,” he
choked. Anook was suspicious of Kuruk’s
tears.
“You tell stories big bear!” She snapped.
Kuruk turned and walked away his head hung with grief.
“Anook,”
“You would say that, he’s your son,” she
said.
“He is my son,” she said, “but asks
anyone here, and you will find out Kuruk looks fierce, but he’s really soft and
gentle.” Anook turned from
“Where is my other cub?” She asked, “
“I saw nothing,” she said, her eyes full
of fear. Anook sprinted down the
corridor, following her cub’s scent.
“I didn’t think a six and a half hour old
cub could move so quickly!” She yelled,
pounding down the corridor to the pool complex.
Bursting into unfamiliar territory, she arrived just in time to see her
cub being fished out of the pool by Kuruk!
“Your cub, he come and tries swimming
with Kuruk!” The grizzly bear said.
“Get away from my cub!” Anook screamed. Kuruk swam to the edge of the large pool with
the cub held in his mouth. . Anook saw he held the cub correctly, by the
scruff of its neck. Depositing the
bedraggled and laughing cub on the tiles, Kuruk rested his forepaws on the edge
of the pool.
“That was wonderful mama!” The cub laughed. Anook looked sternly at her cub.
“I’m going to make sure you weren’t
stolen from me!” She snapped. Kuruk waved his paw at a screen.
“You use that to find last half hour of
what cameras see here,” he said, “but Kuruk no show you how use it, though he
know how.” Anook stalked off, muttering
about unhelpful bears. Placing her cub
gently on the floor, she looked at the screen in front of her; a panel of large
bear paw sized keys in front of her. She
hit “main menu,” and was presented with a speaking menu. Hitting the down arrow, she selected the main
pool cam and viewed the last ten minutes.
She saw Kuruk enter the complex, the bear very distressed. She saw him plunge into the pool and begin
swimming to relieve his stress. Then she
saw something else, a tiny cub, her tiny cub crawl rapidly into the complex and
fall into the water. Laughing, the cub
swam expertly across the pool, which to him would have been as big as an
ocean. Kuruk, hearing splashing behind
him, scooped the cub onto his back and began swimming round, giving the
laughing cub a ride. Then, just before
Anook herself crashed in, she saw the cub tumble off Kuruk’s back and Kuruk
pick it out of the water and begin swimming to the edge of the pool.
“Anook viewed the footage with such
concentration, as television was novel to her that she failed to notice her cub
stealing away from her side. Once the
message, “end of recording,” came up, she looked down, and saw her cub had
vanished. Spinning round, snarling and
screaming, Anook ran after Kuruk, for her cub had clambered onto the bear’s
back and was urging the bear to run, run like the wind! Kuruk, seeing this as a game, sprinted from
the complex, Anook running after him, screaming and begging Kuruk to stop.
“You’ll kill my cub! You’ll kill my cub!” She screamed.
Kuruk felt the cub digging his paws into his fur:
“Hold on tight little one,” Kuruk said
gently.
“I am holding on, I’m holding on!” The cub laughed. Kuruk heard Anook’s paws sliding on the tiles
of the passage as non slip tiles turned to ordinary
tiles. Anook, panting with fear as her
paws lost grip, skidded round the corner and into a corridor. She tried to accelerate, but her paws slipped
from under her! Anook, screaming, fell
heavily onto the floor of the passage.
Kuruk slowed down, turning back to find Anook panting and crying.
“My cub, my cub!” She wept.
“Your cub’s safe mama,” Kuruk said softly. Anook looked up at him, her eyes full of fear
and dread.
“I can’t believe my cub’s running away
from me,” she gasped.
“Cub’s will play,” Kuruk said gently, “he
want play with Kuruk that be all. He is
inquisitive cub. Kuruk think of name for
him. Youngest cub of Anook is named
Houdini.” Anook smiled despite her inner
misgivings.
“Houdini?” She gasped, “Why that name?”
“Houdini was a human escapologist,”
“How can you expect me to break with my
inbred fear of male bears?” Anook asked.
“You met two of my cubs in the den where
you had your cubs,”
“But Patch and Ekaterina are mates; they
can’t be your cubs too, can they?” Anook
asked.
“I adopted Patch when he was very young,”
“I like Patch a lot,” she said, “He’s
got lovely paws, a gentle touch, and a lovely bedside manner. When he rubbed my belly while I was having
Houdini, he took the fear and most of the labour pain away.”
“He’s good,” she replied. Anook got to her paws, looking into Kuruk’s
face.
“How do you find it so easy to play with
my cub so naturally?” She asked. Kuruk looked into Anook’s eyes.
“Kuruk lost his cub when she is very
young,” he said. Anook exhaled hard
through her clenched teeth, the hissing sound expressing her emotions.
“So, you project the love you had for
your cub onto mine?” She asked. Kuruk smiled and nodded.
“Kuruk might look fierce and gruff, but
give him a cub, and he become like big cub himself,”
Kuruk said. Anook looked Kuruk up and
down, her eyes drawn to his face, eyes, and paws.
“He’s got gentle eyes, and lovely paws,”
she thought. Anook remembered Kuruk’s
hug when she’d attempted to attack him.
The hug had been firm, but understanding of her situation as a new mama
bear. Anook felt her right forepaw
engulfed in Kuruk’s left, the bear’s touch making her catch her breath.
“You feel for me don’t you,” Anook said
softly.
“Kuruk want hug Anook and cubs of Anook
forever,” Kuruk said softly.
“You can hug me and my cubs,” Anook
replied, “I’d be glad of it Kuruk.”
Kuruk kissed Anook’s nose.
“Kuruk see Anook having cubs,” he said,
“he sees everything, and he want be there for her. He see her in wood before having cubs too, he
see her pushing down hard against cub, he hear her crying with fear and know he
no can go to her, but he want to go to her.”
Anook found herself crying:
“You saw me,” she said, “and, and you
wanted to help me? Oh Kuruk! How sweet!”
She embraced him tightly, Houdini laughing merrily and dancing on
Kuruk’s back:
“Mama’s found a mate, mama’s found a
mate!” He yelled.
“I think I have,” Anook replied. Kuruk bucked hard, flipping Houdini into the
air, and then Kuruk was lying on his back, the cub falling, falling, and
landing in the grizzly bear’s huge paws.
“Kuruk no want harm little Houdini,” he
said.
“What should we name our eldest
cub?” Anook asked, hardly noticing she’d
referred to her cubs as Kuruk’s.
“I like the name Kuruk,” the eldest cub
said, “let me touch Kuruk’s body and paws, and then I’ll see if his body
matches mine, and I will probably like the name even more.” The cub slid down off of
“Kuruk love both Houdini and little
Kuruk,” he said.
“Little Kuruk love big Kuruk too,” little
Kuruk replied, the big grizzly bear enfolding his newborn adopted cubs in his
paws.
“Go with your feelings Anook,” Theo mewed,
padding into the corridor. Anook looked
at the lion.
“I think I will,” she replied, “scary
though it is to do something that is against all I’ve been taught. My mum might not have been able to hunt
seals, but she taught me that male bears were bad news after cubs were
born.” Theo looked at Kuruk:
“He loves acting like a cub, so you’ll
be fine there I think.” Anook looked at
her two cubs now exploring Kuruk with their paws.
“Time to feed you two I think,” she
said. Houdini looked at his mum:
“I want to be fed by papa Kuruk!” He protested.
Anook sighed heavily:
“He can’t feed you, he’s got no milk,”
she said.
“But I want it; I want to be fed by
him!” Houdini wailed. Anook looked at Kuruk for guidance.
?”How if you express milk into bottle,
then I feed him with bottle?” The huge
grizzly asked. Anook was about to ask
what a bottle was, when she remembered something from her own cubhood. At ten days old, she was removed from her
mama and bottle-fed.
“As
long as you’re ok with that,” she replied.
Kuruk gently placed the cubs on the floor and leaping to his paws,
trotted off to get the bottle ready.
Returning with it, he gave it to Anook, who sat down in
“You are so good with him,” Anook
said. Kuruk grinned:
“Kuruk know how bottle feed cubs, for he
sees human’s bottle feed cub once. They
be in camp when Kuruk on mountain. They
have little abandoned cub that need bottle.
The humans warm milk for little cub, then give him milk just like Kuruk
do now for little Houdini.”
“I need to relieve myself,” Kuruk Junior
said. Anook looked to Papa Kuruk:
“Go out of here, then turn left, down
corridor, then left again. There be
shower room and shitting place too, it be hole in floor, shit into hole, then
walk away, don’t worry about big whoosh sound, that be washing hole. Then go to paw bath and stand in it until
water cover paws, then stand for extra few minutes. You can sit down and wash paws more if
needed,” Kuruk said, Anook ignoring his vulgar language for the minute. Anook carried her cub to the relieving place,
Kuruk tracking her on cameras until he saw her disappear into the shower room.
“That’s so cool!” Anook said, coming back with Kuruk Junior ten
minutes later, “it’s so clean and easy!”
Kuruk grinned:
“The human who make this place, he good
man,” he said, “this place not made by community, we just live here, making own
rules and stuff.” Anook smiled:
“This place is amazing,” she said. Houdini woke later and needed the relieving
place, so Kuruk took him there and taught him how to wash his paws afterwards,
attention which the cub loved.
“You are wonderful Kuruk,” Houdini
said. Kuruk laughed:
“Kuruk not wonderful, he just want best
for his cubs,” he said. Houdini
clambered onto Kuruk’s back, the huge grizzly carrying him back to the lie up.
“I noticed Patch’s paws and fur smell of
earth,” Anook said to Kuruk as he sat down, “does Patch not live in the house?”
“Patch live in den,” Kuruk replied, “he
relieve in wood, just like bears always do.
Community relieve in wood too until recently, but council humans tell
Boss human that they no want him dig big shit pit in wood any more.”
“What is a shit pit?” Houdini asked. Anook slapped Kuruk.
“Don’t use those terms!” She snarled.
“Sorry Anook,” Kuruk replied. Kuruk Junior giggled to himself behind his
paw, his mama slapping him.
“And if I catch you using those words
Kuruk junior, I’ll cuff you so hard!”
She snarled.
“But mama, papa Kuruk speaks the
truth!” The cub whined. Anook agreed, but didn’t like his
terminology.
“He could be a little more polite when
discussing it,” she grumbled.
“Kuruk, Polite?” Swarupa said, padding into the lie up, “he
swears as much as the next bear.” Then,
finally realising what she was seeing, Swarupa used words to express her
surprise which even had Kuruk growling.
“Now Kuruk think those words be
horrible!” Kuruk grunted, getting to his
feet and threatening Swarupa, “Get out of lie up right now foul mouthed
tigress!” Spitting with fear, Swarupa
fled!
Anook
examined Kuruk minutely by sight, the grizzly bear smiling at her. Anook looked at Kuruk’s eyes and paws, loving
them.
“I want to get paws on with you,” Anook thought, “Kuruk, I want to get paws on
with you so very much!” Kuruk opened his
mouth, showing off a splended set of teeth, the she
bear nearly crying out.
“I love you papa Kuruk!” Anook laughed.
“Kuruk love you too Anook,” Kuruk said.
Houdini crawled over to Kuruk and grabbed the grizzly bear’s huge right
hind foot in his tiny forepaws. Pulling
himself up paw over paw, the cub managed to stand on his hind feet, holding on
desperately to Kuruk’s pads with his toes, digging his tiny claws Into Kuruk’s
rough pads.
“Don’t hold on too tightly,” Anook warned Houdini, “you might hurt Kuruk’s
paw!” Kuruk picked up the tiny polar
bear cub in his paws and held him in the air, Hudini’s
hind feet pedalling thin air. Anook
laughed as her cub sort footing.
“Are you feeling safe little’en?” she
asked. Houdini smiled and replied that
he was, but pedalling the air with his hind feet felt wonderful!”
“do
you want me to stop pedalling with my paws?”
He asked. Anook smiled and,
padding over, kissed the pads of her cub’s right hind foot.
“awhwhwwh
mum!” Houdini said giggling, you soppy
thing!” Anook blew on the pads of her
cub’s right hind paw, Houdini curling his toes with pleasure.
“That feels amazing!” he said.
Anook looked at Kuruk:
“Tell me,” she asked, “is it wrong here to play with
one’s hind paws?” Kuruk smiled and shook
his head:
“Mama of Kuruk, now she play with hind
paws all time,” he said. Anook looked shocked!
“mama kamchatka
plays with her toes?” Anook asked. Kuruk grinned hugely.
“mama does,” he replied, “and Kuruk think it cute.” Anook sat down and took her left hind foot in
her left forepaw, playing with the toes of that paw with her right fore, Kuruk
laughing merrily.
“Kuruk think mama Anook need teach cubs
how to play with paws,” he said. Anook looked at him:
“how about if we both teach them?” she asked.
“Kuruk like teaching cubs how play with
paws,” he said, “he teach own cub how do
thing, and she like it too.”
“is your cub here?” Houdini asked. Kuruk suddenly felt a rush of emotion he
could not hide.
“I suppose she is yes,” he sniffed.
“Did she leave you?” Anook asked.
Kuruk put houdini down on the rug, covering
his face with his paws.
“She die on mountain,” he sobbed.
Anook touched his paw.
“You never said anything like
that,” she said, “you said you’d lost
your cub, but I never thought you lost her like that.”
“Kuruk miss his cub like mad!” the male grizzly wept.
“did you see me giving birth to my
cubs?” Anook asked. kuruk nodded:
“Kuruk see Anook doing thing,” he sniffed, “and he want throw paws around
labouring mama bear!”
“I could re-enact the birth of both my
cubs,” she said. Kuruk looked at her.
“But that be stressful time,” he said.
Anook kissed his nose:
“I would roar and paw at the air with
everything I had,” ,” she replied.
Kuruk took her paw in his.
“Kuruk wanting to be close to anook while she have cub,”
he said. Anook smiled:
“if Eohippus wishes,” she said, “I might yet have another real cub.” Kuruk hugged her tightly.
“You said that before,” Kuruk replied, “Anook, you prey for third cub don’t you.” Anook nodded:
“I want a third cub,” she choked, “I love my two, but I would love
a third just as much. I want to teach a
female cub how to hunt, how to be a good mama to her cubs.” Kuruk touched Anook’s belly, feeling
something kick back against his paw.
“You have a third cub in there,” he said breathlessly, “Anook mama, there’s a
third cub wanting to be born!” Anook smiled
broadly.
“I can’t wait,” she said.
Kuruk embraced Anook with tender paws.
“I remember Houdini’s birth,” Kuruk junior said, “mama roared and pawed,
her paws brushing the straw I was buried beneath while she brought Houdini into
the world.”
“So birth does not scare you?” Kuruk asked.
Kuruk Junior laughed:
“how can birth frighten us now we’ve
been through it?” Kuruk Junior
asked. Anook laughed, her laughter cut
short by a contraction building in her.
Groaning, Anook lay down.
“Cub’s coming,” she gasped.
Hudini and Kuruk Junior crowded round their
mama as she lay on her side puffing and blowing. Kuruk looked at the cubs and his mate.
“Kuruk think Kuruk junior and Houdini
might want get clear of mama while she have cub.” Papa Kuruk said. Anook panted, trying to induce a lull in
contractions.
“let them feel my paws,” she panted, “even, even let them catch the
cub!” Houdini touched his mama’s right
hind foot, feeling her sweating pads and curling toes.
“I think papa Kuruk aught to catch his
cub,” Houdini said, “we aren’t meant to
be here.” Houdini pulled his brother
away, allowing Papa Kuruk to get paws on.
Anook growled as her contractions became more intense. Kuruk rubbed her belly, Anook whimpering and
snarling as her cub made its presence felt.
Taking a deep breath, she bore down hard into her tail, grunting and
straining.
“the cub’s coming, and coming
fast!” she squealed. Kuruk rubbed Anook’s right hind foot, feeling
her sweating pads and curled toes as she strained to deliver her cub. Anook panted as the cub’s head emerged, Kuruk
watching as Anook curled up into a tight ball in an attempt to push down harder
against the cub. Screaming, Anook heaved
and kicked as the cub emerged. Kuruk
stroked Anook’s flanks, as she growled and whimpered during the cub’s emergence
into the world.
“One more push mama, push down with
everything you have,” Kuruk said
gently. Anook, her eyes tightly shut,
caught her breath and bore down strongly.
“awh’wh’wh’wh’ooowwwwwwww’ooowwwwwwww!” she yelled as she felt the cub’s hind feet
emerging into the world. Kuruk let Anook
clean the cub up, then he took a look at it while it was nursing for the first
time.
“You have female cub mama! Anook, exhausted by her labour And with her
nerves soothed by knowing she was not in danger, felt waves of pain and fatigue
crashing in on her.
“I just want to sleep,” she mumbled,
“Please eohippus let me sleep like I want to.”
Kuruk hugged his mate tenderly:
“You sleep a while mama,” he said softly.
“But what about Houdini and little
Kuruk?” Anook asked. Papa Kuruk kissed her nose:
“They’ll be fine,” he said. Patch padded in a few minutes later, Kuruk
smiling at him and hugging him.
“You’ve found your mate I think,” Patch
said. Kuruk smiled and nodded:
“Kuruk love Anook and her cubs Patch,”
Kuruk replied. Patch smiled and padded
over to Anook, looking down at the sleeping female polar bear.
“She looks exhausted,” he said. Kuruk fitted a headphone jack into a socket
in the panel of the console and handed Patch the headset. The grey bear put the headphones on, and then
Kuruk accessed the videos of Anook having her cubs in patch’s den, and then of
her having her cub in
“No wonder she looks tired,” patch
said. Kuruk nodded:
“Patch,” he said, “what be good name for
little cub?” Patch looked at Kuruk:
“That cub’s a pure bred polar bear isn’t
she?” He asked. Kuruk nodded:
“She not Kuruk’s cub, well not really,”
the grizzly bear said gruffly.
“I know you wish she was yours,” patch
said softly, rubbing Kuruk’s paw with his.
Kuruk swallowed hard.
“Cub of Kuruk who died on mountain was
named Olga,” he choked, “she beautiful cub.
Kuruk know Olga be hated name in community after what horrid Olga
Honeydew do to Chowilawu, but Kuruk want give cub of Anook name that mean
something.”
“As long as Anook is in agreement,” Patch
said, “Olga is a lovely name for a female cub.”
Kuruk hung his head in grief for his lost cub.
“Dear brother Kuruk,” patch said
softly, hugging the now weeping grizzly bear.
“Kuruk so want to move on from death of
cub, but can’t do thing,” Kuruk wept, “now though, maybe little Olga let Kuruk
move on, not forget his cub, but maybe lessen pain of death a little.” Kuruk looked down as a tiny paw touched
his. It was the tiny female cub Anook
had given birth to only an hour previously.
“You look so much like lost cub of
Kuruk,” Kuruk thought, looking down at
the polar bear cub, “Kuruk’s mate be
polar bear too, and she lose life after losing little Olga cub to humans.” The newborn cub hardly understood the reasons
behind Kuruk’s emotions, but reacted to his mood by snuggling close.
“I’m full of milk,” she said, “and I
want to snuggle down with you Papa Kuruk.”
“How you know name of Kuruk?” Kuruk asked.
The cub giggled:
“Houdini and little Kuruk tell me
things,” she said, “I know your name, I know you saw me born, I know I’m your
cub.” Kuruk sat down, the tiny female
cub snuggling up to him. Kuruk, smiling,
cradled the tiny creature in his paws.
“So my name is Olga?” The cub asked. Kuruk took the plunge.
“Yes it is,” he said, hoping Anook would
not mind. Olga snuggled up to her sire.
“I’m sure mama will be delighted,” she
yawned, “I like the name, and I will do well by it, as I have a feeling this
name has not been well thought of recently.”
Kuruk thought of Olga Honeydew and Helga’s mother.
“Kuruk no name you Olga to try and clean
up image of name,” he said, “he name you
Olga because Kuruk feel blessed to have young Olga cub in his life and want
reminding of that every day.” Olga
turned her face to Kuruk’s, the huge male grizzly bending his head and touching
noses with her.
“You have a soft muzzle Papa Kuruk,”
Olga said, touching Kuruk’s nose with her paw.
“You have gorgeous face and paws little
Olga cub,” Kuruk replied, kissing the pads of the newborn cub’s left
forepaw. Looking up, Kuruk found Houdini
and Kuruk Junior gathered round him.
Soon Kuruk had three cubs snuggled close to him, Olga sitting on his
right leg, Houdini on his left and Kuruk Junior sitting in the space between
his hind legs. Then, to add something
else to the mix, Patch sat down and began playing with Kuruk’s right hind foot,
stroking his brother’s pads and playing with his toes. Kuruk smiled with growing pleasure.
“I think Kuruk’s found a family at last,”
Anook yawned, her eyes shining, telling Kuruk and patch she’d seen everything.
“I like the name Olga,” Anook said,
rubbing her eyes with her paws. Kuruk
glanced over at his mate:
“Anook look so cute when you rub eyes
with paws,” he said. Anook laughed
merrily. Anook padded over to Patch and
Kuruk, looking down at Patch’s forepaws playing with Kuruk’s right hind. Smiling, she sat down and watched her cubs
being embraced by their sire.
“How about if we alternate bottle
feeding each cub with natural methods?”
Anook asked, “They can then get to know each of us equally.” Kuruk smiled:
“Let’s do it,” he said. Patch let go of Kuruk’s right hind foot and
got to his paws.
“I must go now,” he said, “feeding cubs
is a private time.” Anook circled round,
blocking Patch’s exit.
“You stay!” She said.
Patch smiled broadly.
“Ok mama,” he said, “I stay.” Anook padded up and hugged Patch.
“Anook!”
He laughed, “Hey, that’s enough!”
Anook kissed patch’s nose and held his forepaws in hers.
“Kuruk think Anook want play with paws
of Patch,” Kuruk said.
“I think she does too,”
“Now you know how to play with paws, go
and play with Kuruk’s Anook,” patch said.
Anook got to her paws, her hind feet tingling nicely. Padding over to Kuruk, she scooped up two
cubs, Olga and Houdini, leaving little Kuruk with his sire.
“I think we should feed our cubs before
that,” she said to Kuruk, the large grizzly smiling.
“I’ll go get bottle,” Kuruk said, but
“I’ll wash the old one,” she said,
padding from the room with the used bottle.
Anook filled the bottle with her milk for Kuruk Junior, and then sat
back, naturally feeding her other two cubs.
Kuruk, smiling, held the bottle for his eldest son cub while Kuruk
Junior drank busily. Kamchatka watched
from the corner where she sat comfortably after returning to the lie up, loving
the family scene taking place before her.
“I’ve never played with a male bear’s
paws before Patch showed me how,” Anook said, “I want to play with Kuruk’s
though.” Kuruk smiled and nodded:
“Anook dear,” he said, “You can play with
paws of papa Kuruk all you want.”
“Will you play with my hind paws
too?” Anook asked. Kuruk smiled and nodded:
“I will,” he said.
Anook
finished feeding her cubs, then, once Kuruk junior had finished his drink and
all three cubs were comfortably settled, Anook sat opposite her mate.
“So how does this work?” She asked.
Kuruk took Hold of Anook’s right hind foot, balancing her heel on his
left hind leg, then began stroking her pads and playing with her toes. Anook cried out, shocked at the intensity of
the sensation.
“Oooh, wow Kuruk! My, my toes, they want to curl tightly, I
don’t know why!”
“Let your toes curl as they will,” Kuruk
said, gently tracing the sole pad of her right hind foot. Anook felt her toes curling tightly, so
tightly she was frightened by the intensity of what she was feeling.
“My toes don’t want to relax!” Anook said, bouncing about a little, “Kuruk
is this right?”
“Follow your paws Anook love,” Kuruk
replied, gently massaging what he could reach of the pads of the curled toes of
Anook’s right hind foot. Anook gasped
and panted:
“I can’t relax my toes, I need
help!” She begged. Kuruk rubbed the pads of Anook’s right hind
foot, Anook’s toes relaxing slowly.
“Wow, that feels good, that feels
good!” Anook panted.
“Kuruk glad he makes Anook happy mama,”
the grizzly bear said. Anook looked into
Kuruk’s face.
“But will I be able to make you as happy
as you made me?” She asked.
“Is there going to be another cub
coming?” Houdini asked, “it sounded like
mama was about to have a cub!” Anook
laughed:
“No Houdini love,” she replied, “not
yet. I was just overwhelmed by the touch
of Kuruk’s forepaws on my hind.”
“Did you enjoy giving birth to us?” Olga asked.
Anook smiled and replied that she had.
“It was painful, but amazingly
wonderful,” she replied.
“Could we play with each other’s paws
mama?” Houdini asked. Anook smiled and nodded:
“You certainly can,” she said, “now how
you play with each other’s paws is this.
One bear sits opposite another, and then they take apposing hind paws in
their forepaws and play with them. Houdini,
you’d play with Olga’s right hind foot, while she plays with your left hind.”
“So I stroke the soles of Houdini’s hind
paws?” Olga asked. Anook smiled and nodded:
“Only if he wants you to,” she said, “and
he will get paws on with your hind paws only if you want him to also.”
“What about me?” Kuruk junior asked, “Whose paws can I play
with?”
“Grandmamma Kamchatka’s paws, yeah!” He said.
“Have you two played before then?” Anook asked.
Kuruk junior smiled and nodded:
“We have, we have mama,” he replied.
“We played when you were running after
Houdini that first time,” she said, “your middle cub has a lovely gentle touch
Anook.” Anook grinned:
“I think playing with each other’s paws
is essential to a good relationship,” Anook said.
“And so say all of us!”
“My toes are out of control!” She laughed.
Kuruk giggled and kissed the pads of Anook’s right hind paw, the she
polar bear smiling broadly. Meanwhile,
over with Olga and Houdini, Olga was playing with her older brother’s left hind
foot, Houdini laughing so hard he was almost crying.
“I love this!” He yelled.
Olga kissed Houdini’s toes, the male cub giggling and hugging his sister
tightly.
Anook examined
Kuruk’s left hind foot, seeing wrinkled black pads and strong toes with shortened
claws.
“You trim your claws?” Anook asked.
Kuruk smiled and nodded:
“Kuruk like keep claws in good
condition,” he said, “so trim them regularly.”
Anook kissed the grizzly bear’s left hind foot, Kuruk laughing.
“Kuruk love Anook,” he said. Anook kissed his nose:
“I’ve never felt so happy or secure,”
she said. Kuruk examined Anook from nose to tail,
touching her ears, nose, shoulders, belly, legs, paw pads and toes, Anook
whimpering and sighing with pleasure.
“Mama loves Kuruk’s touch I think,”
Houdini said to Olga, the young female cub laughing merrily.
“I think she is,” she said, “I’m glad
she’s found him, he’s so lovely Houdini, so lovely.”
“I felt mama’s toes curling as she gave
birth to you,” Houdini said, “you were born seven hours after me. Mama curled her toes so tightly, so very
tightly while she pushed down to deliver you.”
Olga explored her own hind paws with her fore, imagining her mama’s
effort.
“I am grateful to mama for pushing as
hard as she did,” she said.
“So am I,” Houdini said. Houdini touched his sister’s forepaws as she
used them to explore her own hind.
“You playing with your own hind paws are
so cute!” He said, Olga smiling hugely.
I love it,” she replied, “but you playing
with my toes and stroking my pads feels better, there’s more to it, you
know?” Houdini smiled and nodded.
“I’ve played with my hind paws a little,”
he said, “but I like it better when you play with my hind paws.” Olga laughed merrily. Meanwhile, Kamchatka and Kuruk Junior played
together, Anook’s oldest cub playing with Kamchatka’s right hind paw, both
grandmamma grizzly and polar Grandcub enjoying their play. Playing with paws developed quickly into
rough and tumble,
“Would your mama play with me like she
would a fully grown cub?” Kuruk smiled:
“Why Anook not ask her?” He asked.
Anook padded over to
“Mama Kamchatka,” Anook said with huge
deference, “would you please grant me an audience?”
“You want me to grant you an
audience?” She said, kissing Anook’s
nose, “I’m just mama
“She knows how to love,” Anook thought,
“I love this mama grizzly from her nose to her paw pads.” Anook found herself crying,
“Eohippus should make you a mama to lost
cubs mama
“My mama told me that too,”
“I can’t call on her to mentor me; I’m
meant to be a grown adult bear! I have
cubs for eohippus sake! I should not
need a mentor!”
“I love you Anook,”
“It’s okay,” Kamchatka said softly,
kissing Anook’s nose and paws, the female polar bear’s tears wetting
“Mum,” Houdini said, “I think mama
“I think she will,” she sniffed.
“
“He looks bereft,” she thought.
“You look lost,” Anook said. Samson looked at her, his eyes telling Anook
far more than she dared ask.
“I’m lost, completely lost,” Samson’s
eyes said. Anook, feeling sorry for this
big cat, padded over to him and covered his smaller left forepaw with her huge
right fore.
“I’m sorry,” Anook said. Samson looked into the female polar bear’s
eyes, seeing a mother bear with her cubs, and a secure future due to a large
male grizzly who had adopted her and her cubs.
“I am sorry for your loss,” Anook said
softly. Samson, caught off guard,
covered his face with his free paw.
“I’m sorry,” Samson sniffed, “I
shouldn’t cry in front of you.” Anook
hugged the lion, Samson crying into her thick fur.
“I’m so lost, so lost!” Samson sobbed. Anook kissed the weeping lion’s nose.
“You will find a mate,” she said
softly. Samson choked on his tears.
“I’m no good here,” he sobbed, I need to
go.”
“You need to be with others, not on your
own,” Anook said. Samson bowed his head
in misery.
“Fleur died in her sleep,” he sobbed.
“Fleur sounds lovely,” Anook said, not
knowing the cat she was talking about, but feeling she had to say something
comforting all the same. Samson turned
and left.
“He’s feeling lonely,” Anook said.
“What was that mum?” Olga asked.
“That was a lion Olga love,” Anook said,
“He is feeling lonely.”
“Samson loves bears too,” she said, “so
you Anook would appeal to him. He um,
clings to anything he understands.”
“So he can understand bears?” Anook asked.
“Samson wants to be bear,” Kuruk said,
“that biggest wish he have in life is to be bear, but him lion, and so he not
become bear.” Anook looked at her cubs,
then at Kuruk.
“I get the feeling that Samson has been
more intimate with a bear than just talking to one,” she said.
“Oh yes,” Kuruk said, “he massage Allie’s
paws a lot too, and Allie be mama bear like Anook. Samson and Allie, they spend plenty time
massaging and playing with each other’s paws, stroking pads and playing with
toes.”
“Maybe if Samson wants enough to be a
bear, he will become one?” Anook asked.
“Eohippus does not transform on a whim,” Theo mewed, padding into the
lie up.”
“You are a magnificent lion,” Anook said
to him. Theo smiled shyly.
“I’m very much like him, or so others
say,” Theo said, “my mum certainly believes that.”
“You wash all the time like Samson do,” Kuruk said. Theo smiled at the bear.
“Samson is one for washing that’s for
sure,”
“But I get the idea lions don’t much like
water,” Anook said.
“Theo does,”
“But lions eat meat, and only meat,” she
said, “either that, or I’m seriously lacking in education.”
“No mama Anook, you’re education is not
incorrect,” Theo said, “I’m the exception to the leonine rule.” Anook looked at Theo, marvelling at the
lion’s strength and presence. Theo,
while not as big as Samson, certainly had more presence than the larger lion. Anook looked into Theo’s eyes, the lion’s
expression comforting her.
“You are a very powerful lion,” Anook
said, looking into Theo’s eyes, then down at his paws, which were rather dainty
and slim, not looking like a male lion’s paws at all, more like those of a
lioness. Theo smiled at Anook, rolled
onto his back and presented his paws for examination and to be played
with. Anook took each of Theo’s paws in
hers, examining them carefully.
“You have lovely paws,” she said softly,
gently kissing the pads and toes of the white lion’s right forepaw and saying
something under her breath.
“I’m no deity Anook,” Theo mewed, “mind
you, you polar bears are as fascinating to us white lions as we seem to be to
you.”
“I wonder why you lions don’t live in the
arctic with us polar bears,” Anook asked.
Theo considered this, his eyes closed as Anook traced the pads of his
right hind foot with her forepaws.
“I don’t know,” he mewed, enjoying her
ministrations, “maybe, maybe our ancestors were arctic cats, though I don’t
base that on anything other than a white coat.
Theo yawned expansively, stretching his forepaws and settling back onto
the rug.
“I feel like a king,” he mewed. Anook smiled and kissed Theo’s nose.
“It doesn’t take much to please you does
it,” she said, “A bear massaging the pads of your paw, inexpertly at that, and
you’re happy.” Theo curled the toes of
his right hind paw.
“You don’t need to be expert to massage
a paw well,” he yawned. Anook examined
Theo’s hind paw, counting four toes and three sole pads. Smiling, she kissed his pads, the lion
giggling cubbishly.
“He’s just a big cub,”
“You’re a mama’s boy Theo,”
“He loves his mum, that’s for sure,”
Meanwhile, in
Samson’s now vacated lie up, Haimati and Ahanu settled down with Sita. The white tigress, feeling secure, settled
down with her mate and cub, loving her new home.
Anook, playing with
the toes of Theo’s right hind paw and making the lion laugh uproariously,
failed to notice Matoskah pad into the lie up.
The male polar bear, now used to the community, padded in to examine the
new mama polar bear at close quarters.
He’d heard her tale from Patch, but had not actually met her.
“Um, hi,” he said. Anook looked up, then dropping Theo’s right
hind paw, ran to Matoskah and hugged him fiercely.
“Hey little brother!” Anook yelled, kissing Matoskah on his nose
and embracing him tightly. Matoskah
kissed Anook’s nose and returned her hug, crying into her coat.
“Sister Anook,” Matoskah said, using her
given name rather than the one he’d known her by as a cub, “how great it is to
see you again. Hey, did you know
Conrad’s here too?” Anook held Matoskah
away from her and stared into his face.
“Conrad?” She asked, “That bear who loved to toss us in
blankets?” Matoskah laughed and nodded:
“He’s mama
“But why?”
Anook asked, “He was always so kind and gentle.”
“His time on the ice changed him mama,”
Matoskah replied, “He was poisoned by the human’s black gold. He no longer sees well now.”
“I don’t see at all Anook,” Conrad said
padding into the lie up, his expression wary.
“I know you have cubs, so I will not get
too close,” Conrad said. Anook looked at
her cubhood friend.
“You look worn out Conrad,” she said,
padding to him and touching noses.
Conrad breathed in Anook’s scent, memories of the playful cub he’d
mercilessly tossed in the blanket until she’d cried with fear coming back. Conrad gently felt for Anook’s paw and
squeezed it.
“I’m sorry for tossing you in the
blanket,” he said. Anook laughed and
hugged Conrad tenderly.
“You need not apologise for that,” she
said, “it was years ago, and we were cubs.
Now though, I am a mama, you are a papa and grandpapa bear by all
accounts, and we are safe and warm. We
need to get together and tell our tales sometime.”
“We love stories mama,” Houdini
said. Anook smiled and shepherded Houdini
towards Conrad.
“Houdini,” Anook said, “I’d like you to
meet papa Kuruk’s sire, your grandsire.” Houdini felt Conrad take him in his
paws, the adult male polar bear now sitting on the rugs. Exploring Houdini with his paws, Conrad found
the cub’s nose, ears and paws, Houdini laughing as Conrad’s touch tickled his
paw pads.
“You are so gentle Grandpapa Conrad,”
Houdini said. Conrad kissed Houdini’s
nose and paws, the cub wriggling and laughing with pleasure. Patch and Ekaterina padded in with Rowena,
all three bears sitting down to watch Conrad playing with Houdini. Matoskah, still overwhelmed at finding his
sister cub, embraced Anook tightly, Olga and Kuruk Junior begging to know what
was going on.
“Mama’s found her brother cub,”
“She found her brother?” She asked, “I never knew she had a brother.”
“I thought we’d never see each other
again,” Anook said, “Matoskah is my brother cub. He’s older than me by a few minutes, but he
looked after me in the breeding facility, but sided with Conrad in the blanket
tossing games.”
“How about if we toss her in the blanket
for old time’s sake Conrad?” Matoskah
asked. Conrad laughed:
“How heavy does she look?” He asked, “We can’t toss her unless it’s
safe, but the idea sounds wonderful.”
“I’m not getting tossed!” Anook snapped, “No no
no!” Matoskah
flexed his paws, Anook running out of the lie up chased by Kuruk and Matoskah,
the male bears catching Anook by cornering her in the shower room. Grabbing her, they dragged her protesting
mightily from the shower room and shovelled her into a blanket. Anook panted with fear as Conrad joined the
team, and the blanket was stretched between them. Then the tossing began, Anook screaming as
after three attempts, she finally left the blanket with alarming speed! Landing hard, Anook begged not to be tossed:
“Please, please stop!” She begged, “I’m gonna be sick, I’m gonna
throw up!” Kuruk helped Anook out of the
blanket, the she polar bear vomiting lavishly into the floor.
“You sods, you bloody sods!” Anook gasped, spitting and wrenching.
“Oh dear, Kuruk think we went a little
far with that,” Kuruk said, gently
rubbing Anook’s back as the mama polar bear staggered away from the scene of
her humiliation to sit down with her back against a wall for support.
“Ugh, I feel like I’ve been on a roller
coaster!” Anook whimpered, panting and
blowing through her nose.
“Breathe slowly,”
“That was uncalled for
“Do you want it too?”
“Go on!
Go on, I dare you!” Conrad
challenged, now incensed by
“You bitch, you bitch!” He wailed.
“If you act like a spoilt cub, I’ll
punish you like I would a spoilt cub!”
“No, no no no mama! I’m
sorry! I promise I’m sorry!”
“You know how to slap mama,” Kuruk
moaned.
“Wow mama, you know how stop Kuruk,” he
said, “Kuruk want you show him how do thing.”
Blackberry looked at Kuruk, having witnessed everything on the CCTV
system.
“How could you do that to Anook?” He asked, his eyes telling Kuruk he
disapproved.
“Kuruk sorry for chasing Anook
Blackberry,” Kuruk said shame faced, “he know she no want be tossed, but he do
thing anyway, which was wrong thing.”
Blackberry, still chastened from his telling off over jeering at
vanquished foes, was very upset by Kuruk’s actions, which the male grizzly
could see only too well.
“You made Anook sick!” Blackberry snapped, angry and upset.
“I’m ok,” Anook said, looking with
interest at the black cub. Padding up to
him, she gazed into his face, and then examined him from nose to paws.
“I like the look of this fellow,” she
thought, “but whose cub is he?”
“Whose cub are you?” She asked.
Blackberry nodded at mama
“How can he be your cub?” She asked.
“Mama Grizzly’s
can have black cubs you know,”
“You have such beautiful cubs,” Anook said
to
“I love my cubs,”
“She loves them so much she re-enacts
the births of some of her cubs,” Patch said.
Anook looked at him:
“I
have a feeling you love your cub enough to try that too,” she said, “you might be a male cub, but I
think you would try recreating what you saw when your mate was having her
cub.” Patch smiled slightly.
“What makes you think that?” He asked.
“A feeling I had when you massaged my
belly while I was having little Houdini,” Anook replied, “just a feeling,
that’s all.” Patch grinned:
“You’re correct,” he said, “I would give
it a go, and with commitment too.”
“Does Patch look female?” Ekaterina asked laughing. Anook padded over to Patch and looked into
his eyes, then glanced over his body and paws.
“You’ve got a very handsome body,
gorgeous eyes and paws,” she said, “as I said before, I like your paws a
lot.” Patch giggled and rolled onto his
back, showing Anook the soles of all four paws.
Anook kissed Patch’s nose and paw pads, the grey bear laughing
uproariously.
“Now let’s arrange a time to swap
tales,” Conrad said. Anook looked at him
and Matoskah with misgiving.
“You two aren’t at all sorry for tossing
me in the blanket,” she said.
“Look, Anook, Matoskah said, “that was
stupid of us; it was immature, silly, awful behaviour. We are sorry for what we did.”
“You had your right forepaw stuffed into
your mouth to stop yourself from laughing out loud you disgusting shit
Matoskah!” Anook yelled.
“I never thought there was such a thing
as a beautiful shit,” Rowena said. Patch
snorted trying not to laugh, Ekaterina whacking her cub for swearing.
“Don’t encourage her!” She hissed.
Patch, covering his mouth with both forepaws, whimpered ,snorted and
wriggled about as if he was about to explode.
“You are dreadful Matoskah!” Anook screamed. Patch was now biting the toes of his left forepaw
to stop himself laughing. Suddenly he
leapt to his feet and ran from the lie up almost weeping with laughter.
“That was so funny!” He guffawed.
Kuruk padded after his brother and both bears collapsed in the corridor,
laughing cubbishly at the situation.
“Big cubs, they’re just big cubs!”
“I think it’s time to swap tales,” Patch
said softly. Anook glared at him.
“Like you really care!” She snapped, now furious. Patch padded forward and took her paw in his.
“Now do you believe I want to know your
tale?” He asked. Anook looked into his eyes, seeing the honest
bear beneath the grey fur and white padded paws.
“Ok, ok,” she sighed, “I’ll forget the blanket
tossing incident.” Matoskah kissed his
sister’s nose.
“You have patched to thank for this,”
she snapped, “I am doing it for him as I like him a lot and want the fade over
with. He makes me smile a lot and that’s
worth burying the hatchet for.”
“Who you are in love with then?” Kuruk asked, Patch or papa Kuruk?”
“I love you both, in different ways of
course,” Anook said, “I love you Kuruk for your steadfastness, and I love patch
for his playful attitude to life. Now
let’s settle our differences and then we can swap tales.” Patch danced on his toes, Anook laughing
helplessly.
“He’s so silly!” She said.
Kuruk tried dancing, but couldn’t get any go in it.
“Kuruk no dance too well,” he grunted,
“Kuruk not dancing bear, Patch know how dance from time in zoo. Now he makes Kuruk want dance, but Kuruk no
good at dancing.”
“You are a lovely bear Patch,” Anook
said. Kuruk looked shocked as she rolled
patch over and tickled his belly and paws.
“Kuruk think Anook love Patch more than
him!” Kuruk snapped theatrically,
stamping round the lie up in what he hoped looked an angry manner. Rowena and Ekaterina fell about laughing at
Kuruk’s antics.
“You look so false,” Rowena Guffawed,
“Kuruk, oh Kuruk! You look so
silly!” Kuruk padded over to Rowena,
grabbed her and, rearing onto his hind paws, swung her round in a wide arc, the
half grown cub laughing merrily.
“Put me down big bad Kuruk!” She laughed.
Kuruk put Rowena down on her back on the floor, grabbed her right hind
foot and blew on her pads, Rowena screaming with laughter and kicking with her
free hind foot, catching Kuruk on his nose, the bear snorting and withdrawing
Hurriedly.
“I’m sorry Kuruk!” Rowena said, crawling to her uncle and hugging
him. Kuruk smiled weakly, Rowena’s
accidental blow to his nose having the same affect as
“Kuruk fine, just fine,” he sniffed. Rowena kissed her uncle’s nose and the pads
of his right forepaw, the huge grizzly smiling with genuine pleasure.
“Kuruk want to hug Rowena cub,” he said,
embracing her tightly. Rowena snuggled
up tightly to her uncle.
“”I love you Kuruk,” Rowena said softly
into the grizzly bear’s ear.
“Kuruk just want be peaceful,” Kuruk
whispered softly.
“I’m bored with all this mucking about,”
Houdini said, “I’m looking forward to story time!” Anook looked at
“Let’s go to patch’s lie up, and there we
can swap tales,” she said. Conrad
followed Anook, Kamchatka, Patch, Ekaterina, Rowena and Anook’s three cubs, who
were riding on Kuruk’s back, to Patch and Ekaterina’s den, Matoskah heading off
to Jinghua’s lie up.
Sitting down in
Patch’s den, Kuruk Junior started playing with Patch’s right hind foot, the
grey bear curling his toes with pleasure.
“Your pads are bunching up!” The cub laughed, “That’s so cute!” Patch rubbed Houdini’s back with his
forepaws, the cub giggling and kissing the pads of patch’s right hind paw.
“You like my hind paw?” Patch asked.
Houdini giggled, bouncing about excitedly while holding onto patch’s
right hind foot.
“I do, I do!” The cub replied, “Your paws are playful
patch.” Patch laughed:
“My paws are mine, so I make them playful,” he said, wiggling his
toes. Houdini laughed merrily and gently
played with patch’s wiggling toes, the grey bear curling his large toes to
catch and hold the cub’s tiny ones.
Houdini tugged at his forepaws, trying to free them from the gently
grasping toes of patch’s large right hind foot.
“Do you want me to let go?” Patch asked.
Houdini shook his head:
“No, I can free my paws, I think, just got
to pull harder!” The cub gasped, tugging
furiously at his forepaws, wriggling convulsively and worrying at his trapped
paws. Patch gently increased the
pressure on Houdini’s toes, the cub whimpering and tugging harder. Then patch released Houdini’s toes, the cub
flying backwards, ending up lying on his back, his tiny paws sticking skywards.
“That was fun!” Houdini said, kicking with all four
feet. Patch scooped up the tiny cub and
hugged him tenderly.
“I love playing with cubs,” patch
said. Houdini giggled and snuggled up
close to Patch.
“I love playing with your paws because
they are a cub’s paws, yes you are adult, but you have cub’s paws.”
“No Patch doesn’t have the paws of a
cub,” Anook laughed, “he’s adult Houdini, Patch is no cub.”
“I know what he means,” Patch said, “Yes
Houdini, I have cub’s paws. I love
having my paws played with.” Houdini
kissed the pads of Patch’s right hind paw.
“I’ll bet your mum groaned and roared as
she delivered your paws,” Houdini said.
Patch laughed:
“My paws were as small as yours when I
was born,” he said, “they weren’t always this big.”
“I couldn’t deliver Patch’s paws if they
were that size, or patch him for that matter.”
Houdini asked:
“How big is a newborn cub?”
“You are a newborn cub,” Anook replied,
“why not try exploring your hind paws with your fore.” Houdini explored his own hind paws, and then
explored Patch’s. Pressing the pads of
his left hind foot against those of the larger bear’s now relaxed right hind,
Houdini measured paws with the larger grey bear.
“Your hind paw is bigger than mine,” he
said, curling and stretching his toes in an attempt to make his paw grow
larger, much to Patch’s amusement.
“That won’t make your paw grow any quicker,”
he said gently, “you’ll have to wait years before your paw gets as big as
mine. I’m nine years old now; you’re
only three days old.” Houdini kissed
Patch’s toes, the grey bear laughing and embracing the tiny polar bear cub.
“I can’t wait for my eyes to open so I
can see you patch,” Houdini said, “mama
says the pads of your paws are white and your fur is grey, she likes that, so I
wonder if I will too. I think its fun when your toes curl and pads bunch up, I think you
like curling your toes?” Patch nodded:
“I like curling my toes,” he
confirmed. Houdini giggled with cubbish
enthusiasm for the games he and Patch were playing” Patch started playing with
his right hind foot, the toes of his left forepaw
exploring the toes of his right hind paw. Houdini, getting paws on with the older
bear’s fore and hind paws, laughed as he felt Patch playing like a cub.
“Patch’s playing with his hind paw
mama!” Houdini laughed. Anook smiled and padded over to watch Patch
and Houdini, her middle cub kissing patch’s left forepaw as the adult bear
played with his right hind. Houdini
rubbed the pads of Patch’s right hind foot while the grey bear played with his
toes. Patch giggled cubbishly and gently
pressed his paw into the tiny cubs.
“I think Patch is just a cub dressed up
like an adult bear!” Houdini said. Patch hugged Houdini tightly.
“I’m an adult bear,” he said, “I just
like playing likes a cub.” Houdini
kissed Patch’s nose.
“Can I play with Rowena?” Houdini asked. Patch smiled and looked at his cub:
“Would you like to play with Houdini
Rowena?” He asked. Rowena nodded and smiled.
“I would love to,” she said. Kuruk padded over to patch, Sat down and
took his right hind foot in his paws.
“What are you going to do with my
foot?” Patch asked his brother. Kuruk smiled and blew gently on Patch’s toes,
the grey bear bouncing about and laughing helplessly.
“Would you teach Kuruk how to clean paws
wild way?” He asked. Patch grinned:
“But you know how to do that,” he
said. Kuruk covered his face with his
forepaws.
“Kuruk forget quickly,” he said, “and he
need teach mama Anook how do thing.”
“Do you want me to clean your
paws?” Patch asked. Kuruk smiled and nodded:
“If patch would do thing,” he said,
“Kuruk be very grateful.” Patch laughed
and curled his toes, Kuruk laughing and massaging Patch’s curled toes.
“How come paws are so good to play with
Brother Patch?” Kuruk asked.
“I think eohippus gave us paws to, 1, help us grip things, groom ourselves and
clamber about, and two, paws are there for a bear and for other bears to play
with. A cub plays with their own hind
feet from an early age, and any mama who does not let her cubs explore their
own and each other’s paws is depriving them of something precious.”
“Kuruk want know how to play with paws as
well as clean them,” he said, his eyes pleading with Patch. Patch laughed and withdrew his foot from
Kuruk’s grasp.
“You just want me to play with your paws,” he
said, kissing his brother on the nose.
Kuruk laughed:
“You know only too well what Kuruk want,”
he said. Patch gently took Kuruk through
how to play with his right hind foot, describing
stage by stage how to hold onto a hind paw with a forepaw, and then use the apposing forepaw to play with the toes of the held hind
foot, Kuruk loving every minute.
“Bend your left hind
leg Kuruk, then reach for your left hind foot with your left forepaw,” patch said, “take a good hold of your hind
foot, so your left hind paw is held comfortably in your left fore.” Kuruk did as Patch asked, wriggling a bit and
working his left hind foot by wiggling his toes to get the position just right.
“Kuruk got that now,” he said, “now
what?”
“Now reach over with your right forepaw
and play with the toes of your left hind.”
Kuruk did so, loving the sensation this produced.
“It’s great!” He enthused.
“I thought Kuruk knew how to play with
his own hind paws,” Houdini said. Anook
replied:
“He’s pretending he doesn’t know how,
it’s a game he and Patch are playing.”
“Oh right,” Houdini said. Kuruk played with his right hind foot, then grabbed Patch’s left hind paw and began to
stroke his pads and play with his toes, Patch giggling and bouncing about, his
toes curling and relaxing with the intensity of the game.
“Kuruk think brother Patch has paws like
cub,” Kuruk said. Patch laughed:
“I love my paws,” he said unnecessarily,
“they are great playthings.” Kuruk
pressed his hind feet hard against patches, feeling his brother cub returning
his pressure.
“I wonder if our paws will stick
together.” Patch asked. Kuruk laughed:
“Kuruk think they might,” he said. Very soon, neither bear could move their hind
paws, for their pads were firmly glued together.
“Are Kuruk and Patch’s paws really stuck
together?” Olga asked. Ekaterina explained about the strength of
pretend play, and that the paws of two bears could seem to be stuck together,
but in reality they weren’t.
“So they pretend they are?” Kuruk junior asked. Ekaterina said this was the case.
“Sounds an interesting game,” Anook
observed, “Ekaterina, want to play?”
Ekaterina smiled and nodded.
“Okay,” she said. Ekaterina and
Anook sat opposite each other, each finding the other’s hind paws were very
pleasant to the touch. Their paws were
of a similar size, and Ekaterina managed to curl her toes around Anook’s, which
made Anook laugh. Pressing her pads
against Ekaterina’s, she felt the she bear’s pads warm against her own.
“So when will our paws bond?” Anook asked.
Ekaterina smiled and rubbed the furry top of Anook’s right hind foot.
“I think they are already,” she
said. Anook gently tested her right hind
paw, Ekaterina having let go of her toes.
Tugging at her paw, Anook found she had very little play.
Let’s press our hind paws hard
together!” Anook said. Ekaterina and Anook pressed the pads of their
hind paws together, each bearing down hard against the other’s hind paw pads.
“Push Anook Push!” Ekaterina gasped, Anook snarling and bracing
her paws against Ekaterina’s with all her might.
“That’s done it!” Anook gasped, rubbing the toes of Ekaterina’s
right hind foot with her forepaws while Ekaterina rubbed the toes of Anook’s
right hind paw with hers.
“We’re stuck now,” she said. Ekaterina laughed merrily.
“I’m glad,” she replied, testing the
bond between her right hind foot and Anook’s left hind, yes, they were stuck
together.
Meanwhile, in
Jinghua’s lie up, she and Matoskah lay together. The female panda and male polar bear had
spoken often, their relationship growing stronger with the passing of
weeks. Now Jinghua, aged three years and
Matoskah, two years older than her, lay together after mating.
“If Eohippus gives us a cub, we will
love it,” they’d promised each other before mating. Now, an hour later, they lay together, their
paws damp with the exertions of frantic play and joyful mating. Jinghua knew she wanted cubs, and also that
her time was right to have cubs.
“I wonder what our cub will look like,”
Matoskah said. Jinghua smiled:
“I think it will be beautiful,” Jinghua
said. Matoskah took her paw.
“But was it right that we mated?” He asked, “For if you can’t give physical
birth to the cub because of the size of its body, then you’ll die because of
our love making.” Jinghua shook her
head.
“Eohippus will help me through it,” she
said. Matoskah played with Jinghua’s
right forepaw, the sow panda giggling with pleasure.
“I don’t care if you’re two years older
than me,” she said, “we get on famously, and that’s all that matters.” Matoskah kissed her nose:
“I love you Jinghua,” he said. Jinghua snuggled up to Matoskah, the polar
bear’s warm fur comforting her.
“If our cub is born healthy and strong,
we will give it a name which is handsome or beautiful,” Jinghua said.
“I don’t want any part in naming our
cub,” Matoskah said, “I will love any name you give the cub, for you pandas are
great at naming their cubs. Jinghua
smiled and nodded:
“If that’s how you wish it,” she said.
Balk in Patch’s den,
Kuruk and Patch set about prizing their hind paws apart with much snarling and
growling. Bouncing about on their
backsides, the two bears worked the toes of their forepaws between the pads of
their hind feet which were pressed together.
“Pull Kuruk, Pull!” Patch panted, dragging at his right hind foot, Kuruk dragging at his own left hind to try and
tear their hind paws apart.
“It’s coming, my paw’s coming free!” Patch gasped, “ow Kuruk, ow!” Kuruk clenched his teeth and then roared as
he tore his left hind foot free from Patch’s right hind.
“Kuruk got one foot free!” He gasped.
Patch, sniffing, massaged the pads of his right hind
paw.
“Ow, that hurt!” He whimpered.
Kuruk gently exploring the pads of his left hind foot imagined them sore
and his toes aching. Flexing the toes of
that paw, he groaned in discomfort.
“Now to free right hind foot!” Kuruk snarled. Patch took a deep breath, trying to imagine
the pain of separating pads.
“Ok Kuruk,” patch said, working the toes of both forepaws
as far as he could between the pads of his left hind foot and Kuruk’s right
hind, taking a deep breath, he tore his paw free of Kuruk’s, bit by bit, his
pads tore free of the grizzly bear’s, Kuruk tugging
furiously! Snarling and growling, the
two bears fought for their freedom, slowly working the toes of their forepaws
between pads which refused to break their bond.
“Nearly there, nearly there!” Patch gasped when the ball and toes of his
left hind foot was the only thing holding them together. Kuruk whimpered and tore at his right hind foot.
“Oooh brother patch, ow, ow, ow! Kuruk paw hurt like mad!” Kuruk complained.
“Just pull a bit more Kuruk, come
on!” Patch encouraged, “one, two, three,
pull!” Patch and Kuruk dragged at their
hind paws, each snarling and roaring as their paws came free...
“And you’re telling me their paws are
not stuck together?” Olga asked. Anook laughed:
“They were pretending,” she said.
“Wow, what a game!” Houdini said.
Patch and Kuruk rubbed each other’s hind paws, Kuruk rubbing the pads of
patch’s right hind, and Patch rubbing Kuruk’s left hind foot.
“Is that better?” Patch asked.
Kuruk smiled and nodded that it was.
“Kuruk’s pads feel good now,” he
said. Patch wiggled and curled the toes
of his right hind foot in Kuruk’s paws.
“My toes and pads feel good too,” he
said.
“How do they play those games?” Houdini asked. Anook called her cubs to her:
“Come all three of you, and Ekaterina and
I will show you how we play.” The cubs
crawled to their mother and she and Ekaterina let them touch their hind paws.
“They’re pressed together,” Olga
said. Kuruk Junior explored Ekaterina’s
right hind foot, and then his mum’s left hind, trying to gently work the toes
of one forepaw between the pads of the adult bear’s paws.
“Your pads are well stuck together,” he
said, the two female bears having to put little pressure onto their hind paws to
keep the cub from prizing their pads apart.
“They are,” Ekaterina said, exploring the
toes of Anook’s left hind foot and her own right hind foot with the toes of her
right forepaw, while Anook explored her own right hind and Ekaterina’s left
hind foot with her right forepaw.
“Your hind feet are well stuck,” Houdini
observed.
“Now do you realise why papa Kuruk and
Patch made so much fuss?” Ekaterina
asked. Olga kissed her mum’s right hind
paw.
“May you both have the strength to free
yourselves,” she said. Anook smiled and
said she was sure she had the strength.
“But you made your hind paws stick like
this, so why can’t you free them without growling and snarling?” Houdini asked.
“We’re playing, pretending,” Anook said,
“this isn’t real. We’re playing with
each other’s paws. Think of it like
that.”
“Oh, like how we played earlier Houdini,
I held your right hind foot in my forepaws, and you pretended you couldn’t free
it.” Houdini smiled:
“Adult bears play that game too?” He asked.
Anook and Ekaterina smiled:
“Yes they do,” they said.
“Playing with Houdini’s paws felt
great!” Olga said. Houdini giggled:
“It did,” he replied.
“So how do we free our mama and her
friend?” Olga asked.
“How about if we work our toes between
their pads and gently ease them apart?”
Kuruk Junior asked.
“Sounds a good idea,” Houdini said. So all three cubs set about trying to free
Ekaterina and Anook, the mama bears whimpering and snarling as the cubs gently
prized their hind paws apart. Within an
hour though, both bears were only held captive by their toes which still
touched, the cubs having worked their sole pads apart with gentility.
“Now mama, Ekaterina, take hold of your hind
paws and pulls! Pull with all you have!”
Houdini encouraged. The cubs felt
their way over Ekaterina’s and Anook’s forepaws, making sure both mama bears
had a good hold of one of their hind feet each.
Ekaterina holding onto her own left hind, Anook holding onto her own
right hind.
“Now stand back everyone, now Ekaterina,
pull, pull Ekaterina!” Anook
yelled. Ekaterina and Anook tore at
their hind paws, the bears’ hind paws flying apart, the force freeing the hind
feet of both bears completely, Anook and Ekaterina shooting backwards ending up
on their backs, paws in the air.
“Mama looks so funny!” Rowena said, rolling onto her back to show
the smaller cubs how Ekaterina and Anook ended up when they finished the game. Rowena laughed as Olga, Houdini and Kuruk
Junior clambered over her body, touching her nose, belly, legs and the soles
and toes of all four paws.
“You three are so lovely,” she said,
hugging each cub in turn.
Meanwhile, Matoskah
and Jinghua lay together, their happiness complete. They knew they were going to have a cub, for
Theo had predicted it after they’d spoken to him after their mating. Now all they had to do was waiting.
Months passed, and
Jinghua began to think about the impending birth of her cub. Patch, now well into the role of medical
bear, along with Ekaterina assisting him, had pulled thorns from the paws of
bears, lions and tigers. Now all patch
wanted to do was get paws on with the birth of a cub. Ekaterina, seeing Jinghua’s pregnancy
seemingly before anyone else did, sit Patch down one day and insisted she show
him what a cubbing was like. Patch
protested that he’d seen mock cubbings, and real ones too, but Ekaterina was
insistent.
“Jinghua’s cub is likely to be a big
one,” she said, “You might need to pull the cub if she can’t.” Patch had to agree that point.
“I know how it feels to have a big cub,
so that’s something,” patch said.
Ekaterina nodded and hugged him.
“How did it feel?” She asked, Rowena having been a normal sized
cub.
“It was hard work, but not impossible,”
Patch said. Ekaterina smiled and took
hold of Patch’s right hind foot, stroking his pads and playing with his toes.
“What do you feel like doing
now?” Ekaterina asked. Patch, his eyes closed, breathed deeply, the
messages from his mate’s paws telling him what she wanted him to do.
“I re-enact a cubbing, you help me, and
then we reverse roles?” He asked. Ekaterina kissed his nose:
“If you agree,” she replied. Patch panted hard.
“It’s been my dream for years,” he said,
“to be able to be as free as
“Oooh!”
He groaned, “it’s working, I want to, want to have this cub, right now
Ekaterina, right now!” Ekaterina gave
Patch her right forepaw, the grey bear taking hold of it and squeezing it hard
as his body responded to an intense need to live out his dream.
“Ow, ow, ouououoch!” Patch complained, bouncing about, “Ekaterina,
if, if I go the whole way, please forgive me,” Ekaterina kissed his nose:
“I will not forgive you if you don’t go
the whole way,” she said, “you want to
help mothers to be, and if experiencing what they feel during labour will help
you to help them, I’m sure eohippus will make everything okay.” Patch gasped and panted.
“I want to, I want to so much!” He whimpered.
“Imagine yourself having this cub, amerce
yourself in the act of having your cub,” Ekaterina replied. Patch, his eyes closed, felt his body getting
ready to give birth to a cub.
Whimpering, he drew his hind feet up and grabbed his toes with both
forepaws.
“Oooahooow!” Patch complained, sweat breaking out all over
his body, “ouch, ow! Ekaterina, my
body’s getting ready for something big!”
“Let things take their course,”
Ekaterina said softly, touching patch’s soaking left forepaw and kissing his
nose as Patch leant forward to grab his toes.
“I want to scream!” Patch begged.
Ekaterina hugged Patch, the bear screaming and roaring into her fur.
“This is no act, I’m not
pretending!” Patch sobbed, “I am having
a cub!” Wriggling, patch beat the floor
with his fore and hind paws, panting and gasping.
“Don’t fight it, don’t fight it,”
Ekaterina advised. Patch lay on his
side, drew his hind feet up and covered his mouth with his forepaws, screaming
and yelling.
“That’s it, that’s it!” Ekaterina encouraged. Patch, his toes curled tightly, panted and
wailed.
“He looks as if having a cub was meant to
be,” Ekaterina thought, “he looks almost as if nature intended him to have a
cub, though somewhere along the line he became male.” Ekaterina touched Patch’s right hind foot,
feeling the bear’s bunched pads and curled toes, smelling and seeing his sweat
and effort.
“What the hell’s going on here? Anook asked.
Ekaterina shushed her with a wave of her paw.
“Patch is having a cub,” she said
softly, “now watch.”
“I know how Patch can have a cub,” Anook
said suddenly, “I felt it when he rubbed my belly while I was having
Houdini. He so wanted to take my pain
away, he understood my pain.”
“Now he is role playing having a cub,”
Ekaterina replied, “and once, with my help, his cub is safely born, I’ll role
play having one and he’ll help me.”
Anook sat down, watching enthralled as patch began crawling around the
lie up. Groaning and whimpering, the
huge grey bear crawled around the lie up, the toes of his forepaws curled into
the rugs as he made his gasping, sniffing way round the lie up. Patch, delirious with pain and discomfort,
saw Anook and headed for her.
“Don’t run away,” Ekaterina advised, let Patch come to you, let
him involve you Anook,” Anook, scared,
reached out with her paw and touched patch’s soaking left shoulder, the bear’s
breath coming in short pants, as he got ready for another contraction. Though Anook wasn’t certain if patch was
male, he looked as if his body was made for having a cub.
“How can I help?” Anook asked.
Patch, groaning, sat down heavily.
“Take my right hind foot in your paws,
and, and, ow! Ow! Ouwouch!” Patch screamed, “Just, just hold my foot in
your paws!” Anook did as Patch asked,
and felt the bear bracing his foot hard against her forepaws as the urge to
push down against the cub became too great to resist. Anook saw patch bouncing about on his
backside, then he tore his paw from her grip and rolled over, sitting back on
his heels, his toes curling and relaxing.
Patch groaned and rolled onto his back, kicking with all four feet,
squealing and growling with pain. Then,
giving vent to a wall shaking yell, Patch crawled to the wall, lying down and
drawing his hind feet up, screaming and roaring:
“The cub’s close now, really
close!” He squealed. Patch sat up, Anook watching him, her eyes on
stalks.
“Kuruk’s looking after the cubs,” she
said, “wow, this is fascinating!” Patch
sat back against the wall, his hind paws spread wide, his forepaws clamped
across his chest, bearing down against his cub for all he was worth! Though Ekaterina and Anook saw a grey bear
apparently giving birth to a cub, this bear was female, at least it looked
female.
“Push Patch, Push!” Anook encouraged, patch obeying her by
straining hard.
“The cubs backwards, it’s backwards!” Patch squealed, helping an imaginary cub into
the world with his forepaws, grunting and groaning as contractions pushed the
cub into the world.
“Let me,” Ekaterina said softly, but
patch wouldn’t.
“No, no!”
He gasped, “I can do it, just got to push down hard now! Owh’wh’wh’WH!
there, done it, now, now to get the
cub’s head free. Ouch, ow! Ow! Ow! Must push hard now!” Patch curled his toes and bore down with
everything he had.
“There, done it!” He said panting. After ten minutes, Patch was calm enough for
Anook to approach him.
“Maybe you were female in a former
life,” Anook said, “that was amazing Patch.”
Patch smiled:
“I enjoyed every minute,” he replied.
“I heard Jinghua is pregnant with her
first cub?” Anook asked, “Surely she’s
too young?”
“I think she might be,” Ekaterina
replied, “but then I was really too young to have Rowena. I felt it was right to have her young, so I
did. Jinghua feels the same way I
suppose.”
“How old are you Ekaterina?” Anook asked.
Ekaterina told her, shocking the mama polar bear.
“You’re far too young!” She acclaimed.
“I know, I know!” Ekaterina said, “But we are more mature when
born than wild bears, so that kind of evens things out.” Anook stared at Ekaterina.
“Well I suppose Rowena turned out okay.” Ekaterina slapped her!
“Rowena’s fine!” Ekaterina snapped. Anook, rubbing her nose where Ekaterina’s paw
had connected, whimpered an apology.
“If female bears and cats want to have
cubs let them,” Theo mewed, “Age is only a number. If we have loving, caring mothers, it doesn’t
matter what age they are. We are not
humans, we know better than they do.”
Anook looked at the lion.
“So you condone under age mating and
teenage mothers?” She asked. Theo smiled:
“If I told you
“
“I weaned my cub and then ran off,” she
said, “I’m not proud of what I did, but Kuruk’s fine now.” Anook looked at Ekaterina.
“And what do you think of your cub
having her own cub at age two and a half
“She was ready, and loves her cub. Her age, which is a number after all, doesn’t
really matter. Believe me; if I thought
Ekaterina was too young to have a cub, I’d have said something.” Anook took Ekaterina’s paw in hers, and
realised she had underestimated the mama polar bear’s knowledge of cubs.
“I’ll go now,” Anook said, leaping to
her paws.
“If Anook ever has a community cub,
she’ll realise how quickly they grow up,”
“They grow fast,” he replied.
“Mama, you are so soppy,” he said.
“You did so well having that cub,” she
said.
“I wanted so much to have it mama,” he
replied. Ekaterina kissed her mate’s nose:
“You have me to care for while I have my
cub,” she said. Patch giggled and
returned her kiss.
“I just hope I can have my cub with as
much commitment as you did,” Ekaterina said.
Patch smiled and hugged her.
“I enjoyed it,” he replied, “even though
I was recreating a painful time, the act of birth is a beautiful time too. I tried to imagine the birth of a cub,
remembering my dream.” Ekaterina smiled
and sat down opposite her mate, giving him her left hind foot. Patch embraced Ekaterina’s paw, the she bear
taking deep breaths to ready herself for her labour.
“Time to fight for that cub!” She snarled, CURLING HER TOES WITH INTENSE
EMOTIONS. Ekaterina began to pant and
play with the toes of her right hind foot.
Ekaterina then got up and began pacing about, moaning and panting.
“I want to push!” She yelled, squatting and straining
hard. Hampered as she got into a
crawling posture, patch rubbing the pads of her right hind foot, realising they
were soaked with sweat. Even though she
wasn’t actually having a cub, patch realised Ekaterina was giving her all, just
as he had. Ekaterina panted, and then
screamed, bearing down with all her might, patch stroking the curled toes and
bunched pads of his mate’s right hind foot.
Ekaterina panted and squealed:
“I can feel the cub getting close, so
close!” Patch touched Ekaterina’s tail,
the she bear whimpering with discomfort:
“The cub’s head’s coming, it’s
coming!” She yelled. Patch caught the imaginary cub, Ekaterina
imagining her delivering it into his paws.
“One more push Ekaterina!”
Patch encouraged. Ekaterina bore
down hard, squealing lustily.
“Done it!” She whimpered.
“Now we’ve re-enacted cubbings,
Jinghua’s cubbing will be nothing like that,” Patch laughed.
“Just love her when she’s in labour as
much as you do me,” Ekaterina said.
“I will,” Patch replied.
“You’d be no good when your mate is in
labour,”
“I know,” he said, “it was all too real
that, you know?”
“Now Patch has re-enacted a cubbing, can
you have a go at it Theo?”
“I’d be no good,” he said, “I couldn’t
get into the spirit of it, let alone imagine having a cub.”
“Haven’t you ever wanted to wave your
paws in the air, curl your toes and scream?”
Patch asked. Theo smiled
slightly:
“I have, he replied, “but I couldn’t
imagine having a cub to enable me to do that.”
Patch rubbed the pads and toes of Theo’s right hind foot, the lion
mewing and gasping, then snarling and finally closing his eyes, he curled his
toes, rolled onto his side, curled up and screamed lustily just as his mother
had when delivering him. Panting, he
grabbed his left hind paw with his left fore and crushed it, growling and
snarling.
“Push down once, go on!” Patch encouraged, Theo taking a deep breath
and straining desperately.
“owh’wh’wh’whroarhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrrhhrh”
Theo wept, tears rolling down his nose, “I must push again! I want to!”
He then strained lustily before collapsing exhausted.
“That felt wonderful!” He panted, sniffing hard.
“All Theo needs is an excuse, and he’s as
expressive as any of us,”
“So re-creating cubbings is a way of letting
go of stress?” He asked.
“Yes,”
“Kuruk goes there sometimes too,” patch
replied.
Indeed, at that
moment, Kuruk was squaring up to the punch bag, keeping himself fit by fighting
an imaginary male bear, the punch bag, for Anook’s affections. The Boss had a crate full of large padded
punch bags for the bears and other community members to play with, and Kuruk
was a devotee of the, “swinging sausage,”
as he called it. Now Kuruk was on
his hind paws, punching with his forepaws and kicking with his hind, leaping
back from an attack from the bag and then running at it, slashing at it with
his forepaws and lashing out with a hind foot, the sole of his right hind foot catching the imaginary bear full in the face, the
bag recoiling, but coming back with even more force, Kuruk screaming with rage
and attempting to kill the bag with all his might. By the time Kuruk was done, the bag was worse
for wear, the stuffing hanging out of huge holes.
“Kuruk happy now,” Kuruk said, hot and
panting slightly. Anook, having searched
for Kuruk after leaving patches lie up, and found him sparring up to the bag
with her cubs getting running commentary from Rowena as they watched him,
laughed merrily.
“You always beat that bear,” she
said. Kuruk looked at her.
“Who you rather mate with?” He asked smiling, “Papa Kuruk or the swinging
sausage?” Anook laughed so hard she
nearly choked.
“You really believe that punch bag has
feelings for me?” She asked. Kuruk grinned and shook his head. Anook padded up to Kuruk and hugged him.
“You lovely great big oaf,” she said,
rubbing his right forepaw with her left.
Meanwhile, patch and
Ekaterina played with each other’s paws, exploring each other’s pads and toes,
playing with toes and tracing thick pads and soft fur.
In Matoskah and
Jinghua’s lie up, Jinghua was busy pacing about. She’d felt the first stirrings of labour three
hours ago, and now things were serious.
Panting, she paced about, then, sat down and began playing with her
right hind foot with frantic forepaws,, a sure signal of labour in the panda,
or so Yi Jie said. Matoskah, now
terrified, ran for patch, finding him playing with Ekaterina’s paws.
“My mate’s in labour!” He yelled, “Jinghua’s in labour!” Patch got to his feet, as did Ekaterina.
“Let’s go,” he said.
Patch and Ekaterina arrived
in Jinghua’s lie up to find the mama panda lying on her back kicking and
roaring with pain. Then she gave vent to
a cry which expressed all her pain and fear as she bore down hard for the first
time, the toes of all four paws curled so tightly her claws nearly punctured
her pads. Ekaterina rubbed Jinghua’s
belly, the she panda drawing her hind feet up to her and grabbing them in her
forepaws, roaring and screaming. Then
patch got paws on with Jinghua, the sow panda opening her eyes briefly to look
at him.
“This cub’s enormous!” She panted, “I can feel it Patch!” Patch kissed her nose and the tops of her
paws.
“We’ll get through this together,” he
said. Jinghua got to her paws and began
to bear down strongly.
“Ouououoch! Awh’wh’wh’ouch!
Aouch!” She
screamed with every effort, stamping her paws after every contraction. Then came a huge contraction, long and
strong, Jinghua having to sit down and rock back and fourth,
screaming and straining hard. Patch held
onto the labouring mama panda, feeling her sweat and struggle. Jinghua roared and complained mightily, her
voice filling the lie up as she fought to deliver her cub.
“I can’t go on much longer!” Jinghua complained during her tenth hour of
labour. Patch got a drug that would
induce contractions and injected Jinghua with some of it. The she panda soon felt the affects, feeling her contractions becoming stronger. Groaning, she bore down hard again and
again. Patch watched as the cub’s head
emerged, Jinghua screaming and rolling about.
“Pant Jinghua, pant!” Patch encouraged. Jinghua panted, kicking with her hind paws
and clamping her forepaws over her belly.
“Ooowww, aowhwhwhwhwhwwhwh!” She yelled.
Patch watched as the cub’s body emerged slowly, Jinghua having to sit up
to bear down more effectively. Jinghua
got paws on with her emerging cub, pulling at the cub while she pushed.
“Can I help?” Patch asked.
Jinghua, her eyes closed, whimpered that she’d be able to birth the cub
alone. Taking a deep breath, she bore
down, pulling on the cub with her forepaws while she pushed down hard.
“Nearly, nearly!” Jinghua panted, the cub slipping further into
the world. Ekaterina and patch rubbed
Jinghua’s hind paws while the mama panda concentrated on birthing her cub.
“Cub’s body’s out, it’s out!” Jinghua panted, “now for its hind feet!” Jinghua bore down twice, once to free the
cub’s right hind foot, the other to free its left, while she gently pulled on
the cub, easing it into the world.
“I
couldn’t do that,” Ekaterina said, “I’d be screaming too much to concentrate on
birthing my own cub. Jinghua, now holding
her cub in her paws, cleaned the cub up; looking down on the largest and
heaviest newborn cub she’d ever seen.
Licking the now wriggling and loudly protesting cub from nose to paw
pads, Jinghua uncovered a strange looking cub.
It had thick fur, looking like a panda for the most part, with a longer
nose than a panda’s, as well as bigger paws.
The paws also had rougher pads than a pandas should have, as well as
slight webbing between the toes of the forepaws. The most striking thing about the cub was its
white socks; giving the appearance the cub was wearing white socks on its paws. Rowena padded in, saw the cub and waved her paw
at it:
“She’s got white socks, just like
me!” She laughed. Jinghua looked at Rowena.
“”I like the look of your newborn cub,”
Rowena said. Jinghua, sore from her ten
hour labour, reflected on her experience.
“It was hard work, but I’d do it all
again,” she thought, feeding her large cub.
“What shall we name the cub?” Matoskah asked. Jinghua smiled:
“Chinese tradition says we should not name
our cub for one hundred days, but this hardly seems fair to, um, little one
here. So I think we should name her Lihua,
which means pear blossom.” Matoskah
smiled and rubbed his mate’s back with his paw.
“That’s a nice name,” he said.
Lihua rolled onto her back and waved her paws at her mum, Jinghua
laughing and kissing her cubs paw pads.
“I don’t regret anything about my labour,” Jinghua said. Patch kissed Jinghua’s nose, the mama panda
smiling and returning his kiss.
“I watched you recreating a cubbing,” she said, “it was you Patch who
allowed me to express my pain with everything I had. You expressed your pain, and your courage
gave me courage to endure my labour.”
Patch smiled.
“I’m glad I could help,” he said.
Jinghua gave her cub to Matoskah, who hugged it tenderly.
“I love you Lihua,” he said. The
cub reached for Matoskah’s face with her paws, gently touching his nose and
mouth, Matoskah blowing on her pads, making Lihua laugh helplessly.
“Would you like to hug our cub Patch?”
Matoskah asked. Patch sat down
opposite the male polar bear and took Lihua into his paws.
“I feel somehow close to you,” Lihua said to Patch. Patch smiled and kissed her nose.
“I only watched your mum give birth to you,” he said. Lihua reached up with her paw and touched
Patch’s nose:
“I think you did more,” she said, “I know I am bigger than the usual cub
mama should have. I felt her straining,
felt her pushing, heard her groaning and panting, heard her crying, and felt
her paws pulling me into the world.”
Patch kissed Lihua’s nose and paws, the cub giggling and batting at his
nose.
“I would love to hug you forever,” patch said, “but you are not my
cub.” Lihua snuggled up to Patch:
“I’m mama’s cub, but I can also be your cub too, for mama said you
helped her give birth to me, giving her courage, whatever that is.” Patch laughed and passed Lihua back to
Jinghua.
“I must go,” Patch said. Jinghua
smiled at him:
“If you get the urge to re-enact my cub’s birth, please scream and roar
as much as I did.” Patch promised he
would.
“I think that’s so cute,” Matoskah said, “patch wanting to remind
himself of my cub’s birth.” Patch smiled
broadly.
“I think it’s time to go now,” he said.
Lihua waved all four paws at Patch and Ekaterina as they left. Going back to their lie up, patch was on
cloud nine.
“That was fantastic!” He
said. Ekaterina laughed:
“Mama Panda was almost as noisy as you were while having your cub,” she
said.
“We are very expressive,” Patch replied.
Kuruk padded up to his brother and hugged him:
“Kuruk still want know how clean paws,” he said, “Maybe Patch show him
soon?” Patch smiled and kissed Kuruk’s
nose.
“Come,” he said, “I’ll show you after we eat. I’m famished brother Kuruk.” Kuruk rubbed Patch’s paw with his:
“Kuruk find Salmon in cans,” he said, “He knows how use can opening
thing too, so he and patch eat like king bear today.” Patch smiled and playfully nibbled Kuruk’s
right ear, to the grizzly’s embarrassment.
“You stop your nibbling thing!”
Kuruk laughed, clearly in two minds whether to be angered by or enjoy
his brother’s affections.
“I think it’s rather cute,” Rowena said.
Kuruk snorted:
“Yes well,” he grumbled, “that kind of thing done in den, not in
corridor where everyone see thing.”
Ekaterina laughed and playfully nibbled Kuruk’s left ear, the Grizzly
bear screaming and running away. Patch
and Ekaterina gave chase, pouncing on Kuruk as he entered their den, both
bear’s pinning the huge grizzly down, Kuruk flailing with all four paws.
“Ok you win, you win!” Kuruk
panted, unable to get to his paws. Patch
and Ekaterina kissed Kuruk’s nose and the pads of all four paws, Kuruk
wriggling and laughing with delight.
“I told you he liked your affections,” Theo mewed, having seen
everything. Kuruk laughed helplessly as
patch used his teeth and tongue to clean his paws like a mama bear would. Then, becoming thoughtful, he lay back,
closing his eyes.
“Kuruk like having paws cleaned in wild way,” he said. Patch unashamedly licked the pads of Kuruk’s
right hind foot with his tongue, then rasped them with his teeth, spitting onto
the straw.
“I love doing this,” Patch said, “it’s, well, how things are meant to
be.” Kuruk smiled and curled the toes of
his right hind foot, Patch blowing on his pads, Kuruk
suddenly tearful.
“Kuruk like Patch cleaning his paws,” he said. Patch kissed his nose.
“I like the fact your paws are
in good condition despite your life on the mountains,” patch said.
“Kuruk careful not to damage paws,” he said, “but sometimes he gets
thorn in pad, and that hurt like crazy.”
Patch embraced Kuruk tightly, the huge grizzly sobbing into his coat.
“Shh, it’s gonna be okay,” Patch said gently.
“Kuruk’s a big softy really,” Rowena observed. Patch smiled broadly.
“I know that only too well,” he said. Kuruk wiped his nose on the back of his paw,
rubbing his eyes with his forepaws.
“Kuruk silly old bear really,” he sniffed, “Kuruk love when Ekaterina
and patch nibble ears in corridor, but he no like show he like thing in public,
you know? But then, we have cameras
here, and that be well public, so Kuruk’s reasoning up the spout really.” Kuruk looked at patch, examining him from
nose to tail, then kissed his nose and paw pads right in front of Ekaterina and
Rowena. Then, very gently, he began to
clean Patch’s paws in the wild manner.
Patch lay back, allowing his brother to do what he wanted with his
paws. Kuruk, examining each paw in turn,
groomed it with gentle care, licking pads and then rasping then with his teeth,
Patch sighing and in with pleasure.
“This is so good it is probably illegal, or they would tax it highly,”
patch said. Kuruk laughed, kissing his
brother’s nose:
“Now Kuruk massage and play with paws,” he said, gently playing with the
toes of patch’s right hind foot, patch loving every minute. Patch pressed his paw into Kuruk’s, loving
his brother’s strong touch on the pads of his paw.
“How Patch learns to love having paws stroked?” Kuruk asked, “Kuruk want know how to love his
paws more.” Patch smiled:
“You just have to learn that if something feels right, it most likely
is,” Patch replied, “anything you do, be it massaging the paws of a mate, or of
a cub. If it feels right to both of you,
then it’s fine. Playing with your own
paws is not anything to be ashamed of, and cleaning them in a wild manner
with teeth and tongue is acceptable too.
Kuruk, love your paws, for they’ll serve you in return.” Kuruk hugged Patch hard.
“Kuruk promise he will,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pakshalika and Samson were talking
earnestly together. The tigress and lion
had been observing each other from a distance for some time since Fleur’s
death, and now had made firm paw contact.
Sarafina, seeing another lion about the den, became wildly excited and
asked Pakshalika when she was going to make friends with him. Pakshalika, laughing, had told her to shut up
and wait for her and Samson to make their own choices. Samson though, hearing the little lioness’s
enthusiasm had been cordial to Pakshalika and her cubs, playing with them and
loving them. Little Pakshalika had taken
to the long manned lion like a duck to water, crawling all over him and loving
playing with his mane, which had become longer, so long in fact Samson
sometimes stood on strands of it with his forepaws. Mama Pakshalika loved the look of this lion,
he was big and gentle, and when he touched her paws, things got even
better. Samson found himself falling in
love with mama Pakshalika, her big paws and general caring air was very much
like Fleur’s had been., and best of all she had a boundless love for her cubs
which was very leonine and just what Samson liked in a big cat mama. Now, five months on from Fleur’s death,
Samson was ready to find another mate.
He vowed never to forget fleur, but his wild side had kicked in, and now
he was ready to give his love and protection to another big cat female. Samson waited for Sarafina to ask her usual
question, something she did every time he and Pakshalika met. Kissing the tigress’s nose in farewell,
Samson turned away and padded for the door, Sarafina stopping him with a paw
and looking into his face. Her eyes
begged Samson, the grip on his paw was urgent.
“Please?” Sarafina asked, Samson
realising Sarafina wanted a pride, not just a family.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Samson said. Sarafina was almost sobbing:
“You know what I’ve been asking you and mama for ages now,” she said, “I
wondered if you’d come to any decision?”
Sarafina asked. Samson looked at
Pakshalika, the mama tigress playfully covering her eyes with her paws while
sticking her tongue out at him.
“I think I’ll stay,” Samson said.
Sarafina and little Pakshalika laughed so hard they nearly choked.
“You are so funny mama!” They
laughed. Samson padded over to Pakshalika
and removed her paws from her eyes with gentle touch, then kissed her nose, the
mama tigress giggling and returning his kiss.
“Oh yeah! Fantastic!” Sarafina
laughed, dancing about so energetically she fell over her own paws and landed
in a heap, much to the amusement of her little Pakshalika who laughed
helplessly, rolling onto her back and pedalling the air with her paws. Samson lay down beside mama Pakshalika and
took her paw in his, his long mane flopping over the tigress’s head and neck.
“You should get that cut or pulled,” Pakshalika mewed, “Sammy, you’d
look wonderful then! Um, not saying you
doesn’t look great now, of course!”
Samson nibbled her ear, Pakshalika smiling contentedly.
“I’m surprised you haven’t gone in for getting your mane and claws
trimmed Sammy,” Blackberry said, “You’re into all that male grooming more than
most. I mean we all keep clean, but you
Samson, take it to another level altogether.”
“I’d like to watch him bathing,” Pakshalika said candidly, “Samson that
would be lovely to watch.” Samson looked
embarrassed. Even though his liking for
every hair to be washed, and every pad cleaned was well known, having it discussed
so openly was still discomforting.
“it’s not usual for a lion to like being washed and groomed,” Pakshalika said, “that’s why everyone’s so
fascinated by your near obsession Sammy.”
Samson looked at the little group.
“Come on then,” he said, “I’ll show you all. And I suppose
“You will become a top groomer,” Rosie said after four weeks of solid
training.
“I’ve been studying different styles for the lions too,”
“I know Samson’s a lover of all things to do with male grooming,” the
mare said when she’d recovered, “but are you sure he really would let you loose
on him?”
“I think he might,” she said.
Rosie pricked her ears and looked towards the house, where Samson emerged
from the back door and trotted along the track towards them, followed by
Pakshalika and her cubs, including Blackberry.
“Why are they coming out here?”
“So I can keep an eye on you,” Rosie whickered.
“So I’m not out of the woods yet,” she mumbled.
Samson arrived at the stable, where
Rosie directed proceedings, instructing Samson to lie down. Once he was comfortable, he mare watched as
“That’s it,” rosie said after ten minutes, “
“Bet you’re not laughing now,”
“I somehow didn’t think Samson would take too kindly to having his mane
trimmed, but horses can be wrong too,” she said. Samson, now with his mane trimmed, and the
claws of all four paws clipped, looked half way decent.
“Now for you to go get a proper wash,” Rosie said to the lion, who
grinned at her.
“I’m looking forward to washing the entire loose mane out of my
fur!” Samson snarled, “It’s itching like
mad!”
Reaching the bathroom, Samson ran for
the shower and began showering himself down, before rubbing shampoo into his
mane and fur. His tawny coat white with
suds, Samson looked at mama Pakshalika.
“You tigers are said to love water, so why not help me wash?” He asked.
Pakshalika, aching to do just that, but too terrified to ask in case she
offended her new mate, jumped straight in and got paws on with Samson, rubbing
him down from nose to tail, Samson returning her favour. Then, grinning, both lion and tigress washed
Sarafina, little Pakshalika and Blackberry, Little Raja and Tinka having left
after seeing Samson have his mane trimmed.
Blackberry loved being handled by the big cats.
Once all cubs were washed, Pakshalika
and Samson herded them to the drying room where Sarafina and little Pakshalika
laughed uproariously as their paws were tickled by the warm air drying
them. Blackberry, used to the drying
room, loved the feel of the warm air on his paws. Once everyone was dry, the little group
headed for Pakshalika’s lie up, where they settled down, Pakshalika calling
Sarafina to her side.
“You are a real pain in the tail!”
Pakshalika remonstrated with the little lioness:
“What have I done now?” Sarafina
asked, adopting an air of persecution which wasn’t at all deserved.
“You’re constant asking Samson if he’ll come and live with us, you can’t
do that!” The tigress snapped.
“But mum, I so want him to, and so do you,” Sarafina replied. Pakshalika nodded:
“I do want him to live with us, but we should not pressure him. He was exasperated at your constant begging
him to stay!”
“No Samson wasn’t,” Samson said lying down beside Pakshalika, “I was
playing with her as much as you were playing with me Pakshalika, “while I
understand your need to gently tell your cub that constant asking can sometimes
be wearing, I also see why she needed to ask.
She’s a lioness, and lionesses need a pride. You want a pride too I see, and you were
looking for a pride male, as was Sarafina.”
“But, but how do you know I want to be in a pride?” Pakshalika asked. Samson laughed:
“Mama,” he said, “you’ve wanted that ever since you kept your cubs
beside you into adulthood. Tigers are
usually in the practise of pushing their cubs out of the family when they’re
grown up, but not you, you are a lioness, not a tigress when it comes to your
cubs. Now you have a pride male, and
Sarafina can rest easy in her bed, as can you and all your cubs.” Pakshalika looked at Samson:
“Would you give me cubs?” She
asked. Samson smiled and kissed her
nose:
“Of course,” he said, “when you’re ready, I’ll give you cubs.” Pakshalika smiled and hugged Samson tenderly.
Swarupa padded through the wood after
her encounter with Whitepaw. The young
tigress had encountered the male tiger in the wood after an arrangement with
him. They mated, and Swarupa was now
padding away from the tiger’s bush hide out very happy. Swarupa felt wonderful, on top of the world.
Meanwhile, in the soft play room,
Blackberry was clambering up the ladders and loving the ride down the zip
wire. Kuruk, watching him enviously,
called him over.
“Blackberry,” he said, “Kuruk
think you no brown bear really, and you are black bear. Can Kuruk look at paws of Blackberry a
minute?” Blackberry padded over to his
brother and showed him his paws.
“Kuruk’s claws be longer and flatter,” Kuruk grunted, “he be digging
bear, Blackberry though, he have hooks on his paws, so he be climbing
bear. Kuruk climb trees when need to,
but Blackberry do thing almost every day.
Blackberry smiled and curled his toes with pleasure as Kuruk stroked and
blew on his pads.
“Kuruk love playing with paws of Blackberry,” Kuruk said. Blackberry smiled and closed his eyes, his
white teeth showing stark against his black facial fur. Kuruk loved Blackberry from nose to tail, and
the grizzly bear hoped the black bear knew it.
Kuruk carried Blackberry from the soft play room to the shower, where he
settled the black bear cub on the tiles beneath a shower and began showering
him from nose to tail.
Blackberry, wriggling and laughing, splashed Kuruk with his paws, his toes
going into overdrive, curling and stretching in his enthusiasm for the
game. Kuruk washed Blackberry, the black
bear cub squirming like a newborn cub in its mother’s paws. Laughing the two brothers wrestled on the
tiles, both soon soaked by water and covered in suds. Hearing the laughter, Anook padded in and
laughed helplessly at the sight of her mate and the uncle of her cubs as white
as polar bears from the suds. Anook suddenly
saw Kuruk examining Blackberry’s left hind paw with interest.
“Your claws have gone!” Kuruk
said. Blackberry smiled and extended his
claws, then retracted them.
“Wow!” Kuruk said, “You have
claws which disappear like cats!”
Blackberry nodded:
“I can lock them like a bears though,” he said. Kuruk kissed Blackberry’s pads, the black
bear laughing helplessly. Kuruk washed
Blackberry carefully, the black bear enjoying his grizzly bear brother’s
attention.
Blackberry got to his feet and pushed
Kuruk under the water, washing him as he’d been washed. Kuruk went willingly, shuffling his paws as
best he could on the non slip tiles. Washing the huge grizzly from nose to tail,
Blackberry examined him with care. From
his black nose to his black paw pads, Blackberry took stock of Kuruk. Anook spent her time looking down at
Blackberry’s hind feet, seeing the bear’s claws had indeed vanished into his
toes.
“The cat bear, the cat bear! Not
a panda, but a black cat bears!” Anook
thought, “The legendary catlike
bear!” She exclaimed suddenly, “The maoxiong!”
“Maoxiong is the name the Chinese gave
the panda, not the black bear,” Shuang said.
Anook stared at Blackberry, pointing at his hind feet with her paw.
“He’s maoxiong!” She yelled.
“Maoxiong was the panda you stupid
Ursus!” Shuang yelled, slapping Anook,
“Blackberry is no panda! He’s no cat
either, why you call him so?”
“He, he can retract his claws, his
claws!” Anook jabbered.
“Show me!” Shuang demanded of Blackberry, pushing the
black bear onto his backside, then onto his back.
“No Shuang, I’m not performing my trick
just for you!” Blackberry
protested. Shuang held onto Blackberry’s
right hind foot, pushing against his claws with her pads, Blackberry imperceptibly
increasing the pressure on her pads as she pressed down against his claws,
until they punctured her pads.
Squealing, she withdrew her paw.
“You little sod!” She yelled, licking her right forepaw.
“You really think I’d retract my claws
as some kind of horrendous party trick?”
Blackberry snapped. Shuang
screamed at Blackberry.
“Sod you, sod you!” Before running off. Blackberry looked at Anook.
“Please Maoxiong,” she said, almost
begging, “please, could you show me your claws and how you can retract
them?” Blackberry looked at the she
polar bear.
“Yes, but I don’t see what’s so wonderful
about it,” he sighed, “it’s just what I can do.
Like you mama, you’re able to have cubs, I can’t, but I don’t think
you’re especially wonderful because of it.”
Anook looked at Blackberry even more closely.
“Bears can’t retract their claws!” She said, “They can’t, they can’t! But you
can!”” Blackberry leapt to his feet and
ran!
“I’m going; I’m not being made an exhibit
of!” Blackberry yelled, crying
bitterly. The bears listened to the
sound of Blackberry’s paws leaving, and could not hear his claws clicking on
the tiles.
“Maoxiong,
I’m sure he’s the fabled Maoxiong!”
Anook whispered, “The catlike bear!”
Kuruk looked at her:
“Blackberry’s no cat mama,” he said,
“but Kuruk know him no brown bear either.
Both Skirnir and Jess, they be brown bears, but Blackberry, he black
bear, from nose to paws he black bear!
So who is his real mama then? We
see Jess give screaming birth to Blackberry, but he no look anything like her
or Skirnir.” Anook sighed:
“Yes he’s a strange one,” she said, “but
I’d never have him any other way.” Kuruk
smiled and nodded.
Blackberry ran
into his family den to find
“Mama, mama! Look at this!” Blackberry sobbed, thrusting his right
forepaw in front of his mum’s face and retracting and extending his claws.
“Bears can’t retract their claws,” she
said in wonder.
“I know, I know!” Blackberry wept, “But I can, and Anook thinks
I’m the maoxiong, whatever that is! I’m
just Blackberry mama, I’m just Blackberry! I’m not a mincing!”
“Shh, it’s okay,”
“I can’t cope, I can’t cope!” Blackberry sobbed.
“While being able to retract and extend
your claws is a neat trick, and it’s not something bears can usually do, it’s
nothing to get upset about,”
“I love you however you are,”
“I know you love me mama,” he choked,
“but I’m not of my biological mama, nor of you, for I am a black bear, born of
brown bear parents who can retract my claws!”
“I don’t mind who you are of,”
“I love you mama,” he choked.
“Have you learned how to play with your
paws yet little one?” She asked. Blackberry shook his head:
“Would you teach me?” He asked.
“I will,” she replied, now, sit down
opposite me and count the toes on your hind paws.” Blackberry did.
“I’ve got, um, one, two, three, four, ah,
five, toes on my right hind foot, and, one, two, three, four , five toes on my
left hind foot. How about you
mama?”
“One, two, three, four, five toes on my
right hind, and, one, two, three, four, five toes on
my left hind,” she confirmed. Blackberry giggled and gave
“Have I counted correctly?” He asked.
“You have,” she replied, “Now will you
count my toes?” Blackberry giggled and
replied he would.
“But my toes are stiff,” he said, “How do
I make them more comfortable?”
“Try wiggling them, go on!”
“They are less stiff now,” Blackberry
said.
“No matter where you come from, or what
abilities you have, I will always love you Blackberry,”
“Now what games can we play with our
hind paws?”
“You soppy thing!” She laughed.
Blackberry felt the toes of his hind paws curling hard, and feeling this
was a good thing, let them curl tighter and tighter until they ached. His emotions welling strongly.
Patch and
Ekaterina lay together in their lie up, patch recovering from the shock of
being woken by Ekaterina who was complaining of labor pain. Patch and Ekaterina had mated soon after
Anook arrived in the community, and, months later, Ekaterina was in cub, but
hadn’t told Patch. Now she was in labor,
her eyes tight shut, and toes tightly curling with every contraction.
“Ow
Patch, ow, ow!” Ekaterina whimpered,
panting hard. Patch held Ekaterina
tightly while the mama polar bear clung to him with desperate paws.
Ow, ow!
Ouch! wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’ouch! Ekaterina complained.
“It’s
okay, it’s gonna be okay,” patch said to the sobbing mama bear. Ekaterina wriggled in patch’s embrace,
kicking his hind paws with hers, then screaming into his chest hair.
“It’s
getting worse!” Ekaterina squealed.
“How
long have you been in labor?” Patch
asked. Ekaterina clenched her teeth,
snarling and crying.
“For
about eight hours!” She wailed, “now,
now it’s getting worse!” Patch held his
mate while she squealed and writhed.
“Look,
look at my hind quarters patch, please!”
Ekaterina begged, “I think something’s happening! Pressure’s building so much, such big
pressure!”
“Your
water’s about to break I think,” Patch replied, gently stroking Ekaterina’s
right hind paw. Ekaterina groaned and
curled up, curling her toes as the waters broke, the release of pressure and
increasing contractions causing her to whimper and cry out.
“The
cub’s coming quickly, so quickly!”
Ekaterina yelled, straining hard, Patch seeing two big paws, then a
head, then, with Ekaterina going mad, kicking and screaming, the cub’s body
emerged swiftly, drenching him in fluid.
“Ooowww! It’s so quick, so quick!”
Ekaterina screamed. Patch touched
her right hind foot:
“Pant
Ekaterina Pant!” He encouraged,
Ekaterina fighting to obey him.
Ekaterina screamed lustily as her and Patch’s cub slid into the world
two minutes after its forepaws had emerged.
Ekaterina sat up and helped the cub’s hind feet emerge, bearing down
gently into her tail. Patch, having seen
everything from close range, was tearful with the emotion of it all.
“That
was amazing, amazing Ekaterina!” He
sniffed.
“There
might be another cub coming,” Ekaterina panted, “though can’t be certain.” Patch rubbed her right hind foot with gentle
care, Ekaterina smiling and pressing her toes into his pads.
“I
will never forget this,” he said.
Ekaterina smiled:
“I
won’t either,” she replied. Ekaterina
fed her cub with gentle paws then got up and paced about a bit stamping her
paws.
“Just
trying to ease things along,” she said, “if there will be a second cub this
should help it along.” Patch nodded and
smiled.
“Why
don’t you get to know our new cub?”
Ekaterina suggested. Patch sat
down and began to fuss over the new cub, the tiny cub, a female, snuggling up
and laughing as he played with her.
“She’s
beautiful,” he said. Ekaterina smiled
her eyes distant as she felt further pains.
“Another cub’s coming!” She
squealed, squatting and straining, “no time, no time! Oh, oh, oh shit.
Shit!” She yelled, “This is so
painful!” Patch made to put the first
cub down, but Ekaterina waved him off:
“Stay
with her!” She growled.
“But
you’re in trouble!” Patch
protested. Ekaterina screaming at him in
reply!
“Just
stay with our cub, our single cub!” She
sobbed. Patch knew what this meant. Ekaterina sat down, grunting, straining and
crying as she delivered the second cub, which was very small, too small.” Cradling it in her paws, she licked it clean,
staring down at the lifeless form.
“I knew
it,” she sobbed. Patch made to put the
older cub down, who’d gone silent.
“No,
stay with her!” Ekaterina commanded.
“But
Ekaterina!” Patch pleaded. Ekaterina got up with her lifeless cub in her
mouth and padded from the lie up, leaving Patch in a position he could not get
out of. Patch, crying, played with the
first cub.
“My
twin died, that is why mama doesn’t want you to see,” the cub said, “I knew
he’d died. That was why I asked to come
out sooner than I should have, a week sooner I think.” Patch kissed the cub’s nose.
“Mama
knew before the cub was born didn’t she,” he sobbed.
“She
did,” the cub confirmed.
Ekaterina buried her still born cub in the wood,
digging a shallow grave for it. She
didn’t’ want to look, didn’t want to become attached in any way, but she had to
look. The cub was male, and beautiful,
but just too small to live.
“I
must apologize to Patch,” Ekaterina thought, “I was hard on him.”
“It
not good you hide burial place of cub from sire patch sister Ekaterina,” Kuruk
said, padding up behind his younger sister.
Ekaterina spun round, the cub lying uncovered in the grave:
“I
didn’t want to get attached to this cub,” she said, “so I thought if I dealt
with it, then, then, we could go on as usual.”
“Sire
patch know he lost one cub,” Kuruk said, “and sister of cub know it too. First cub, she tell patch of dead second
cub. Ekaterina, please, show Patch where
was cub buried.” Ekaterina looked at the
dead newborn cub.
“Mama
would eat her dead cub in the wild,” she thought fleetingly, “but I can’t. I might like our den in the wood, but I can’t
eat my dead cub.”
“Your
cub needs you mama,” Patch said padding up some time later. Ekaterina looked up from her contemplation of
the body of her dead cub. Evening was
falling, and it had been midday when she’d dug the grave.
“Oh
Patch!” Ekaterina exclaimed.
“Why
did you lock me out?” Patch asked. Ekaterina looked at her mate:
“I am
sorry Patch,” she said, “I just can’t explain, I didn’t want to become attached
to this cub, and thought we might be able to bury it and carry on with our
remaining healthy cub.”
“I
understand your thinking,” Patch replied, “but you did not think of me in
this. Dead though our cub might be, I
still want a part in what little time left it has with us!” Ekaterina realized she’d put her paw in it.
“I’m
sorry,” she replied shame faced, “look, I’ll take our live cub and feed her
back at the den, you, you can spend time with our youngest cub and maybe fill
in the grave.”
“I
want you, Rowena and little one here for that,” patch replied. Ekaterina fed her newborn cub where she
stood, beside the grave of the cub’s younger brother. The cub wriggled out of Ekaterina’s embrace
and crawled towards the grave. Falling
into it, she crawled to her brother’s head and kissed his nose, holding the
lifeless cub’s tiny forepaws in hers.
“What
is she doing?” Ekaterina asked. Patch, overcome with grief at the cub’s
actions, hung his head, crying unashamedly.
“Goodbye my brother,” the female cub said gently, stroking her brother’s
face with her paw before leaving the grave.
Ekaterina watched the cub’s struggle to clamber out of the foot deep
hole.
“Let me
help,” she sniffed, but the cub waved her off:
“Let me,
I must,” she panted, scrabbling for a foothold with her tiny toes, digging her
claws into the freshly dug earth.
“You’ll fall backwards,” Patch said, just as the cub’s right hind paw
slipped and she nearly fitted the action to his words.
“You
don’t want to fall on top of your brother now do you?” Patch asked, putting a gentle paw under the
cub’s backside so she almost sat in the palm of his paw.
“No
patch, I don’t,” she replied, “but I
must make my own way up the slope to the land., you hold me like you are, and
let me use my paws, that way we can work it out.” Patch was happy to agree.
“She
wants to struggle out of the whole the way she struggled to get into it,”
Ekaterina said in wonder.
“It
would seem that way,” Patch said as the cub, looking exhausted but still
struggling on, crested the climb and began crawling towards her mother. Hauling herself up onto Ekaterina’s lap, she
finally threw in the towel, sitting back exhausted against her mother’s belly.
“Well
done little one,” Ekaterina said, tenderly hugging her cub. Patch looked at the lifeless cub in the
grave.
“He
shouldn’t be buried without a name,” the grey bear said. Ekaterina looked at Patch.
“How if
we give him your name,” she said, “it’s the least I can suggest after I
excluded you.” Patch looked up as
“We
can’t name him without the community acknowledging his name,” Patch said of the
cub in the grave.
“I’ll
give the community say-so,” Theo mewed padding near; the cub needs to be named
and buried quickly.” Theo looked down at
the cub in the grave.
“Your
mama and sire name you patch little one,” Theo said gently, “so now we can
commit little patch to eternal rest, even though his life hardly started.” Ekaterina and Patch forced themselves to look
at the grave as Theo swiftly filled it in.
“We
need to name our living cub,” Ekaterina said, “and introduce her to her older
sister.” Patch looked at Rowena,
beckoning her close. Rowena got to her
paws and padded noiselessly to her sire and mama.
“I
never knew you were pregnant mama?” She
said. Ekaterina smiled sadly:
“I hid
the fact,” she replied, “but maybe, if I hadn’t, I’d have two cubs now, rather
than the one.”
“Don’t
think like that Mama,” Theo mewed, “love your remaining cub, for she loved her
younger brother.” Ekaterina looked at
Theo.
“I
promise to do that,” she said.
“Now
what to name this little cub,” Rowena said briskly.
“How
about if we name her Allie?” Patch
asked. Rowena smiled:
“I
like it,” she said, turning to her mama, who nodded.
“Allie
she is then,” Ekaterina replied. Ekaterina
fed Allie, then carried her back to their lie up, patch, Rowena and the others
following, Theo leaving the graveside in the opposite direction.
“This
has been a joyful and a distressing day,” Ekaterina said to patch, Patch
rubbing her paw with his.
“I’m
sorry for excluding you Patch,” Ekaterina said.
Patch kissed her nose:
“Apology accepted,” he replied, “let’s draw a line under that and carry
on from here, as we now have a lovely newborn cub to care for.” Ekaterina nodded, speaking round the scruff
of Allie’s neck which she held in her mouth, the cub limp and dangling as was
her instinct when being carried by her mother.
Reaching the lie up, Ekaterina turned on the heating and settled down to
explore Allie from nose to tail,
“She’s
a beautiful cub,”
“I
saw Ekaterina in labor on the camera,” Blackberry said, “the first labor seemed
normal, her second cub’s birth though, that wasn’t. We now know why that was of course.” Ekaterina looked sadly down at her paws.
“It
felt different, it hurt more, it was harder, I knew, I knew!” Ekaterina sobbed. Allie hugged her mum as best she could.
“My
brother’s at peace now,” the cub said.
Ekaterina swallowed hard.
“I
must try and forget,” she said, “forget the pain, such awful pain, not like
labor, worse!” Ekaterina wiped her eyes
with her paws, trying not to lose it completely.
“It’s
okay to cry mama,” Allie said, gently squeezing the toes of her mum’s right
hind paw, which was the only one of her mum’s four paws she could reach
easily. This seemed to upset Ekaterina
even further, the she bear wailing with grief.
“Mama,”
“I
needed to cry,” Ekaterina sniffled.
“Don’t
let us hold you back mama,”
“You
are so gorgeous,” Ekaterina said softly.
“My
eyes will open in their own good time,” Allie said. Ekaterina picked Allie up, the cub kicking
with her hind paws as they left the warmth of her mother’s fur. Patch watched his cub.
“She
really is beautiful from nose to tail,” he thought.
“Can I
hold Allie Ekaterina?” Patch asked. Ekaterina smiled and nodded:
“Here,” she said, “Allie, patch is gonna hold you for a while.” Allie turned towards Patch, the grey bear
taking her in his paws and sitting back.
Then he put Allie down, lay down on his back, rolled onto his side and
gathered the cub close to him. Giggling,
Allie snuggled up, enjoying her sire’s warmth and the security of his embrace.
“Did
anyone tell you you are beautiful from your nose to
your tail?” Patch asked. Allie smiled:
“You
forgot my paws!” She said, “Are they
beautiful too?” Patch looked at and
touched Allie’s paws. They were very
beautiful. Patch kissed her pads, the
cub laughing helplessly.
“Hey Patch,” she said, “they’re my paws,
get your own!” Patch guided her paws to
his right hind foot, Allie exploring it with
interest, not realizing what it was.
“What is
this?” She asked, “It’s furry on one
side, rough on the other, and has, um, large wiggling things on the top with
long pointing things on the end of them.
“The
rough side is the pads of my paw, the soft side is the top of my paw, the
wiggling things are my toes, and the pointed things on the ends of my toes are
claws,” Patch laughed, “you have them too!”
“Do
I?” Allie asked. Patch sat her down and arranged her forepaws
so they held one of her hind.
“Feel
that,” he said. Allie did, realising she was touching herself!
“I can
feel my forepaws touching my, um, hind foot?”
She asked. Patch nodded and
asked:
“Do you
know which hind paw that is?”
“Um,
no,” Allie replied. Patch smiled:
“That’s
your left hind,” he said, “which makes the other one?”
“My
right.” Allie replied.
Patch rubbed her back:
“You’re
right,” he replied, “Now can you feel those five things on the top of your
paw? They’re your toes, and the hard
pointed things on the end of those toes are your claws.” Allie bounced about with excitement.
“This
is so cool!” She enthused, “but Patch,
what are the rough feeling things on the, um, bit of my paw that is extra
ticklish?”
“They
are your pads on the sole of your foot my dear,” Patch said, “Here, I’ll show
you on my bigger paw.” He guided her
tiny forepaws over his right hind:
“Now
Allie, starting at my toes, you feel that even they have pads, then down, down
to the sole pad of my right hind foot, that’s big and rough, wrinkled like
yours is, but tougher as I’m older than you.
Now, now touch your own toes. The
toes of your left hind foot, and feel down with your paws, that’s it, to the
sole pad of that foot.”
“This tickles, it’s tickling me!” Allie laughed, exploring her paw further,
which tickled her more. Soon the cub, self tickling her own paw, was screaming with laughter!
“My
forepaws won’t stop tickling my hind foot!”
She yelled.
“Just
let go of it,” Patch advised, which Allie did, breathing a sigh of relief. “So your hind feet get tickled by your
forepaws Patch?” Allie asked. Patch replied that they did.
“If you
want to explore your hind feet with your forepaws, don’t feel ashamed of doing
so,” he replied.
“I’ll
try it now,” Allie said grabbing her right hind foot in her forepaws and
exploring it, “my toes are wiggling, and now they’re curling up!” Allie exclaimed, “My pads are becoming more
wrinkled too! This is so wonderful!” Patch laughed and watched as Allie played
with her curled toes, or tried to.
“My
toes are all bunched up,” she whimpered, “I can’t, can’t move them!” Patch smiled and watched Allie trying to
straighten her toes.
“This
feels great,” she said, “trying to straighten my toes. If I rub them with the toes of my forepaws,
they, they, oh! They unbend, um, uncurl,
and then, then I can play with them!”
Allie whooped, bouncing about and playing with her toes for the first
time. Patch giggled:
“Allie,” he said, “why not explore my right hind foot with your
paws.” Allie did, exploring it with both
forepaws.
“Your
forepaws are playing with your hind,”
she said, “you’ve got your, um, er, right hind foot held in your right
forepaw, the toes of that paw covering the sole pad of your right hind foot,
and your, um, left forepaw playing with the toes of your right hind! That’s so cute!” Patch laughed:
“We
could ask our paws to play games together,” he said.
“What?” Allie asked, “My paws
will play with yours if we ask them?”
Patch smiled:
“They
will,” he said, “now I keep forgetting how many toes I have on my hind
feet. Can you count my toes? Then I’ll count yours.” Allie did, folding down each of Patch’s toes
as she counted them off, the grey bear sitting opposite his cub now.
“One,
two, three, four five toes, on your um, right hind foot, and one, two, three
four, and five on your left hind foot Patch,” she said.
“Now
can I count your toes?” Patch asked. Allie laughed:
“Yes, oh
yes!” She invited. Patch did as he said, counting her toes.
“You
have one, two, three; four, five, toes on your right hind foot, and, now let me
see. One, two three four, five, yes five
toes on your left hind foot too!” Allie
kissed Patch’s nose as it came within range.
“I
love this paw play, I love it so much!”
She said. Patch laughed merrily
at the cub’s enthusiasm for her new game.
Ekaterina watched Patch and Allie playing.
“They
look lovely together,” she thought.
Allie played with Patch’s toes, the bear giggling with delight.
“I love
this, I love this so much!” He
exclaimed, Allie hugging his right hind paw tightly
in her forepaws, Patch curling his toes with pleasure.
“Your
paws are a lot bigger than mine,” Allie said, “but you are an adult bear, so I
would hope they were bigger. Though they
are huge, they are the paws of a playful cub.
You love your paws played with, and to play with them too, I think
that’s lovely.” Patch kissed Allie’s
nose and paws, the cub laughing at him.
“You
big softy!” She said. Patch smiled broadly:
“I try
to be,” he replied. Allie kissed her
sire’s right hind paw, the grey bear enthusiastically wiggling his toes.
“Do you
play with mama’s toes too patch?” Allie
asked. Patch nodded:
“Your
mama and I play most often,” he replied, “it’s a well played
game. Ekaterina and I love our
paws.” Allie smiled:
“Bet
you played with her toes while she was in labor with me?” She asked.
Patch looked sorrowful:
“No
Allie, we didn’t,” he said, “Mama didn’t tell me she was in labor until it was
too late to soothe her with paw play.”
Ekaterina realized then how much her lack of communication hurt patch.
“I’m
sorry,” Ekaterina said ashamedly, “I should have let you massage my paws sooner
than second stage labor. Truthfully, I
would have loved you to massage my hind paws.”
Patch nodded sadly.
“If
only you’d told me!” He exclaimed, his
voice conveying all the emotion he felt.
“I can
only apologize now for not telling you,” Ekaterina said. Patch looked at Allie.
“I saw
you arrive little Allie,” he said, “from
your nose,” he said touching her nose
with his right forepaw, “to your paw pads,”
patch added, touching the sole of her right hind foot, the whole thing
making Allie laugh cubbishly.
“I love
that!” She enthused. Patch smiled and hugged her.
“Patch?” Allie asked after five
minutes in his loving embrace, “Can paws be stuck together by curling toes
together?” Patch shook his head:
“No
Allie, that’s not really possible, but anything is possible when two bears love
each other and want their paws to be stuck together.”
“So
could we pretend our paws were stuck together, my hind paws stuck to
yours?” Allie asked. Patch laughed and nodded:
“We
could try,” he said. Allie and patch
measured hind paws, the cub laughing as she found hers were a lot smaller than
her sire’s.
“Now
this is gonna be fun!” She said, “My
paws are so small when put against patches!”
“Small
and strong,” Ekaterina said, her eyes shining.
“Now
push against my paws Allie,” Patch encouraged, “push with your hind paws
against mine, one, two, three push Allie Push!”
Allie pushed back against her sire’s larger paws with her smaller ones,
feeling the bear’s strength.
“You’re not pushing hard Patch, you must push hard too!” Allie gasped.
Patch pushed gently against his daughter cub’s smaller paws, Allie feeling
his pressure and responding with greater effort.
“I
must push harder!” She whimpered. Patch smiled and braced his hind feet against
his cubs.
“Push
Allie Push!” He invited. Allie pushed against Patch’s hind feet with
all her strength!
“Our paws
must be stuck by now!” Allie
gasped. Patch tested the bond, and she
was right. “We’re trapped now,” patch
said, “we will have to free our hind feet by using our forepaws to work our
toes, then our pads loose. Allie
explored the new situation her hind feet were in, and seemed to like the
proximity of her pads to Patch’s.
“I
don’t know if I have the strength to pry my paws from yours patch,” she
admitted. Patch felt his way over the
sole of his right hind foot with both forepaws,
feeling his daughter cub’s paw pressed tightly against his.
“I
don’t know if I do either,” he said, “and I think my toes want to curl round
yours Allie!”
“Let
them Patch,” she replied, “let them.”
Patch let his toes do their own thing, and Allie laughed with delight,
pressing Patch’s curled toes hard against her own so they held them.
“Can
you squeeze my toes with yours a bit?”
Allie asked. Patch did, and Allie
bounced about on her backside with delight!
“I love
this!” She yelled, “My paws are truly
trapped, and I don’t want to free them!
This feels so good!” Patch
laughed:
“It’s a
lovely game,” he said.
“yes
and I don’t’ want it to end, not yet anyway!”
Allie replied, “I want to feel patch’s paws holding mine for as long as
they can!” Patch laughed
uproariously:
“I could
hold onto your hind feet forever,” Patch said, “but unfortunately, this game
has to end sometime.” Allie looked so
heartbroken patch smiled and rubbed her ears with his forepaws.
“Look,
let’s have one last big push, you press your paws into my pads, and I’ll curl
my toes as hard as I can to hold your toes tightly Allie.” Allie giggled:
“Let’s,
oh lets!” She replied. So they did just that, Patch holding onto the
toes of Allie’s hind paws with the toes of his while she pushed her hind feet
into his pads with everything she had.
“Push
Allie Push!” Patch encouraged, bouncing
about as she had, urging the cub on.
Allie soon exhausted herself, her pressure on her sire’s pads relenting.
“I
can’t do it any more, I’m tired!” Allie
gasped after ten minutes of snarling, growling and bearing down against Patch’s
huge hind feet with her tiny hind feet.
“Can I
let go now?” Patch asked. Allie waved her forepaws, telling him he
could.
“That
was amazing!” She gasped, “But I’m
finished for now.”
“Now
you have to free your hind paws from mine,” Patch said, “Allie can you do
it?” Allie tried, but finding her pads
and toes were well and truly stuck.
“My hind
feet are stuck to yours!” She said, “It
worked patch, it worked!”
“Now
try and work your toes free from my pads,” Patch said. Allie tried, grabbing the toes of her right
hind foot in her forepaws and tugging at them.
Within five minutes she had five toes free, and then she worked on the
five toes of her left hind foot, and had them free in two minutes.
“Now
for my pads on my right hind foot!”
Allie gasped, “this is gonna be harder, much harder!” Patch tried to pull his paws away from the
cubs, but they were stuck fast.
“Hold
still patch!” Allie snarled, tugging at
her right hind foot with her forepaws, “My foot’s coming free, just a bit
more!” She yelled, tearing her right
hind foot free of patch’s left hind.
“Well
done, well done!” Patch said, “Now,
Allie, can you free your left hind foot?”
Allie felt around her freed toes and stuck pads, feeling for any give,
there wasn’t any. Grabbing hold of her
left hind foot with both forepaws, she pulled harder than ever, roaring with
the effort!
“My
foot’s coming free!” Allie gasped, Patch
helping by pulling at his right hind foot.
“It
is, it is!” Patch encouraged, “come on,
pull Allie, pull!” Allie pulled harder
than ever, her forepaws gripping her left hind foot with desperate
urgency. When her foot finally came
free, Allie tumbled onto her back, laughing helplessly.
“That
was so cool!” She said kicking the air
with her hind feet. Patch kissed the
pads and toes of all four of Allie’s paws, the cub laughing and dabbing at his
nose with her toes when it came within range.
“you look
so contented,” Ekaterina said. Allie
crawled to her mother’s side, clambered into her lap and began to drink busily.
“We
are,” she said in a pause while drinking, “Patch and I love our games. Mama, would you play those games with me
too?” Ekaterina thought for a minute:
“I
don’t know how,” she said, “I’ve re-enactd cubbings,
but never played the trapped paw game with a cub.”
“Patch
will show you mama,” Blackberry said, “he loves playing the cub after
all.” Patch laughed, agreeing with his
brother.
“Who
is that mama?” Allie asked.
“That’s
uncle Blackberry,” Ekaterina replied, “drink up, then sleep if you want, and
after that you can meet him.” Allie
drank more quickly than she should, giving herself hiccups. Ekaterina, patting her cub’s back to wind
her, admonished Allie for being so hasty.
“I
told you not to drink quickly,” Ekaterina said softly, “rule one of drinking
milk, don’t drink it too fast!” Allie,
feeling bloated, nodded miserably.
“Now
I’m feeling awful!” She whimpered. Ekaterina rubbed Allie’s belly, the cub
belching loudly, to her evident huge embarrassment.
“I’m sorry mama,” she said, “that was a
bit loud wasn’t it?”
“A cub
with manners at such a young age, that’s encouraging,”
“Allie
has more than manners,” Ekaterina said, thinking back to Allie’s behavior in
the wood, “She knows about grieving too.”
Allie stopped playing with the toes of her right hind foot, suddenly
lost in thought.
“My
brother should have been playing with Patch too,” she said suddenly, “but he
can’t do it now.”
“When
you and Patch play together, and you enjoy your games, your brother also enjoys
those games with you,” Ekaterina said.
“But I
remember how his paws felt on mine, his forepaws anyway,” Allie said, growing
tearful, “I want him with me mama, he should be with me! Why did he die?” Allie buried her face in her mama’s belly,
sobbing.
“She
still has a connection with him,” Blackberry remarked, “Poor Allie, poor
thing.” Ekaterina looked over at
Blackberry.
“I
need to go to the relieving place,” Ekaterina said suddenly.” Putting Allie down on the floor, she
fled. Blackberry, the nearest bear to
Allie apart from patch, gathered Allie in his paws, the polar bear cub still
crying.
“I
want my brother; I want to play with my brother!” Allie sobbed.
Blackberry hugged her, Allie becoming still and silent.
“You
feel, feel like my brother cub,” Allie sniffed.
“You
can play with me as you would your brother if that would make you feel better,”
Blackberry replied. Allie smiled and
kissed Blackberry’s nose.
“Thank
you,” she said. Blackberry returned her
kiss, then gently picked up her right hind foot and began playing with her
toes, Allie giggling and bouncing about with pleasure.
“My
paws are yours Blackberry!” She
giggled. Blackberry smiled and measured
hind paws with Allie, their heels and toes touching perfectly.
“Your
hind feet are the same size as mine!”
Allie gasped, “Blackberry, your feet are the same size as mine, as if,
as if mama gave birth to you after she did me!”
Blackberry smiled and kissed her nose:
“Maybe she did,” he replied. “For
to my birth mama, I am dead. So there is
no reason why Ekaterina could not have given birth to me the same time she did
you. Or if not given actual birth, maybe
my spirit is directed towards a cub that’s lost her brother.” Allie pressed her toes hard against
Blackberry’s, harder, and harder she pressed them, then she pressed with the
entirety of both hind feet, Blackberry pushing back with all his might, the two
cubs strangely matched for strength.
“It
doesn’t matter to me if you’re not my actual brother, I need you
Blackberry!” Allie blurted. Blackberry hugged her tenderly:
“I
need you too,” he said, kissing her nose.
Blackberry found Allie’s touch brought on emotions he’d never felt
before, a desperate need to play, to play wildly, without a care in the world.
“Rub
the toes of my right hind paw Blackberry, please!” Allie begged. Blackberry did as she asked, the female cub
rubbing the toes of his right hind paw pressed hard
against her left hind foot. Blackberry
felt tears welling in his eyes.
“I
don’t want this game to end, I really don’t’ want this game to end!” He thought.
“I
want this game to go on forever!” Allie
said. Blackberry smiled:
“So do
I,” he replied.
“Are
you two able to read each other’s minds?”
Ekaterina asked. Allie explored
Blackberry’s right hind paw with her forepaws.
“I
don’t know,” she said, “all I know is I love the touch of Blackberry’s
paws. Mama, are you sure you didn’t have
three cubs?”
“I
wish I had Blackberry,” Ekaterina choked.
“Can’t
you imagine you did?” Patch asked.
“It
wouldn’t be right.” Ekaterina replied,
“I would love to imagine that, feel the pain of labor, love every bit of
Blackberry’s birth, but he’s mama
“It
would be better for him if you could become his mama,”
“I see
your reasoning,” she said, “and I think
I can see the intensity of Allie and Blackberry’s feelings for each other,
“but, but what would the spirits say if I said I wanted to Experience labor to
re-enact Blackberry’s birth?”
“It
is only right Blackberry has a mama who loves him, be it
“I’m
okay with that,”
“I
will re-enact labor in her,” he said.
Ekaterina smiled dreamily:
“I
will give rapturous birth to Blackberry,” she said. Allie felt Blackberry stand up and leave,
Allie crying as Blackberry kissed her nose:
“Come
back soon!” She wept. Blackberry knew he could only watch on video
until right at the end of Ekaterina’s experience.
“Good
luck with the birth of your cub,”
“I
hope Allie’s brother’s spirit understands what I’m doing,” she said. Her answer came very quickly with deep
abdominal pain, a serious contraction of muscles, leaving Ekaterina breathless
and sweating.
“he understands all right,” she panted, ouwh’wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’ouch!”
Ekaterina roared, stamping her feet, “ow, owoouch! Wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’ouch!” She yelled, rolling about and kicking the air
with her hind paws, screaming lustily into her cupped forepaws which she’d
clamped over her gaping mouth.
“Push mama!” Patch encouraged. Ekaterina whimpered pitifully:
“It’s not time, not time to push yet! but,
but, I can feel the cub coming! He’s
big, and hurting me, hurting me!”
Ekaterina screamed. Allie went to
her mama’s right hind foot and stroked it, feeling her mum’s toes bunching and
stretching with contractions.
“Go on mama, have that cub!” Allie whispered. Ekaterina drew her hind feet to her and
grabbed them in her forepaws, groaning and panting.
“The pressure’s building!” Ekaterina snarled, “I must, must push!” Ekaterina’s waters broke, her contractions
increasing, sending her into a fit of screaming and kicking!
“Ouwwhwhwhw’wh’wh’wh’wh’ouch,
ouwwhwhwhw’wh’wh’wh’wh’ouch!” She screamed.
Patch padded forward and kissed her sweating forepaws.
“Push in your own time mama,” he
said. Ekaterina bearing down strongly.
“I’m pushing, pushing so hard!” She moaned, bearing down into her tail,
rocking and wailing with effort and pain.
“The cub’s head is coming now,” patch
said gently, pant Ekaterina, pant!”
Ekaterina did, squealing and grunting as she felt the cub’s head
emerging.
“Must push again, got to push again
patch!” She begged, squeezing hard down
into her tail, closing her eyes, clenching her teeth and curling the toes of
all four paws as tightly as she could.
“Aowh’wh’wh’wh’wh’wwh’wh’WH!
Ouwh’wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’ouch!” Ekaterina screamed.
“The cub’s body’s out, now sit up
Ekaterina, and catch your cub!” Patch
said, “Allie, get out of the way!” He
added, picking up Allie and handing her to
“Push the cub’s hind feet into the
world now,” patch said, Blackberry placing his left hind foot in Ekaterina’s
questing forepaws, the she bears paws guiding it into the world automatically,
seemingly not noticing Blackberry’s hind feet were already in the outside
world. He then helped her to birth his
right hind foot, pointing his toes so his hind foot
slipped easily through her forepaws.
“How did he get so wet?” Allie whispered to
“He’s just been born,” she said, “he would
be soaked.” Ekaterina hugged her cub,
seemingly oblivious to the impossibility of giving birth to a cub of
Blackberry’s stature.
“I love you my cub,” Ekaterina wept,
frantically licking Blackberry from nose to tail.
Meanwhile, patch
had been approached by Skirnir, who’d seen everything from his and jess’s lie
up.
“Blackberry’s yours now,” he said, “It’s
not fair on Ekaterina or Allie that I get involved with him from here on.” Patch hugged the brown bear.
“Thank you,” patch said, “it was a brave
choice you made. Skirnir smiled:
“Jess never loved Blackberry, and you
will be a better sire to him.” He said,
“Jess and I are too young really.”
“Ekaterina and I will look after
Blackberry with everything we have,” patch said.
Meanwhile,
Ekaterina and Allie explored Ekaterina’s newborn cub from nose to toes.
“So now I have a black, and two white
cubs,” Ekaterina said softly, “I love my cubs with everything I have.” Blackberry suckled from Ekaterina’s milk,
Ekaterina feeling this most natural thing in the world.
“You have a newborn cub there,” Theo
mewed, “treat him with care and love.”
Ekaterina promised she would.
“I want to play now,” blackberry said,
shaking vigorously. Allie grabbed
blackberry’s right hind foot, the first one of his paws she could get hold of,
and kissed his pads and toes, the black cub laughing helplessly.
“My sister kissing my pads,” he laughed,
“how sweet!” Allie giggled with delight.
“Welcome home,” Ekaterina said
softly. Rowena pushed
Blackberry onto his back and tickled his paws, Allie clambering all over the
black bear as her older sister tickled him.
“Oi!”
Blackberry complained, “Attacked on two fronts! That’s not fair! Help!”
Rowena kissed blackberry’s nose and paw pads, the black bear laughing
merrily and returning her kiss. Rowena
examined Blackberry from nose to toes, liking what she saw.
“You are one handsome cub,” she
said. Blackberry, his paws now freed
from Rowena’s tickling, dabbed her on the nose with his right forepaw, making
Rowena sneeze.
“You sneezed all over my paw you
disgusting thing!” Blackberry
complained. Rowena wiped her nose on the
back of her paw.
“Sorry,” she sniffed, “but your touch
made me sneeze!” Blackberry giggled and
began to groom Rowena, Rowena submitting happily to his attentions.
Blackberry hugged
Rowena and Allie, the two bears returning his affections.
“We are one big family now,” Rowena
said. Blackberry giggled with pleasure.
“I’ll forget about the lions,” he
thought, “for now I have a family of my own.”
Blackberry looked at Ekaterina, the mama bear still obviously
uncomfortable from his birth.
“My labor was intense,” Ekaterina said,
guessing her cub’s questions, “I felt everything, every bump in the road, and
every agonizing stretch of my body to deliver you Blackberry. But why am I naming you Blackberry in the
first place?”
“I like the name anyway,” Blackberry
said. Ekaterina watched Blackberry
playing with Allie. The two cubs played
easily together, each playing with the other’s toes.
“This feels wonderful!” Allie said smiling. Ekaterina knew then, knew for sure she’d done
the right thing. Allie and Blackberry
looked and played like brother and sister.
“Even though Skirnir has renounced all
contact with Blackberry,”
“Yes I know, I know,” he said gently,
rubbing his mother’s paw.
Meanwhile, in
another part of the house, the Boss was training with his latest weapon. The Boss, even though his community was self regulating and gentle to a
fault, could never take the bears and other creatures gentility for granted, so
had to be ready. As he was completely
blind, he had to use wide spraying long range weaponry, such as pepper spray to
subdue any attack. To this end, he was
training with a high pressure can of water to perfect his aim, but soon he
would have to graduate to the real hard stuff.
His aim good, thanks to training from another human versed in these
things, the Boss knew he would have to spray a real bear to see what the stuff
could do. This was something he dreaded,
for it would surely break the bond between him and one of his bears, which he
loathed to do.
Kuruk watched the
Boss’s training on the cameras; he knew what pepper spray was, and why it was
used. The big male grizzly was upset by
the idea of the Boss of all people having to take precautions against his own
community, but as a wild bear once, he knew why the Boss took such steps. When it came to the Boss actually having to
fire at a bear to witness the affects of his new
weapon, Kuruk wondered who would subject themselves to such treatment. He talked it over with Anook and she wasn’t
impressed.
“So the Boss wants to shoot one of us so
he can see what Pepper spray does to a bear?”
She asked. Kuruk nodded:
“The Boss needs to know how affective
spray is,” he grunted, “that only way he knows he can trust in weapon. He need shoot bear, to learn power of weapon,
but he not happy to do thing.”
“But we’re not going to attack the one
who provides all we have here are we?”
Anook said, waving her paw around her lie up.
“No mama,” Kuruk replied, “but if
another bear come, a non community bear and attack
one of us or him, Boss need to know he got weapon that works. Kuruk think he put himself up for getting
sprayed. He brave bear!”
“You would be a very silly bear to do
such a thing,” Anook replied. Kuruk
snorted:
“But some bear have do thing,” he said,
“and Kuruk not afraid!” Anook laid a
steadying paw on his.
“Kuruk, you are stupid, and an ass, and
crazy to do that. But if you want to do
it, I will support your choice as a free thinking bear to go ahead and get
yourself into the most screaming agony a male bear will ever know.”
“How you know it is screaming
agony?” Kuruk replied, “You tried the
spray mama?” Anook admitted she hadn’t.
“Then we both go,” Kuruk snapped, “Kuruk
not taking advice from mama who no knows the spray! Kuruk been in spray, and know it, so he know
what go on. Anook though, she give
advice when no been in way of spray, so we both go. We both have spray in face!” Anook looked to her cubs for support, but
they all clapped their paws at her own goal.
“You’re gonna get peppered mama!” They laughed.
Anook looked scared.
“It’s gonna hurt,” she whimpered.
“Come,” Kuruk replied, tugging at her
paw.
Anook and Kuruk
presented themselves at the firing range, explaining what they wanted to
do. The Boss hugged both bears and shook
their paws, but told them they could back out.
Anook and Kuruk said they wouldn’t, Anook telling her cubs who’d come
along to watch the humiliation of their parents, to watch via cameras.
“You’ll get full benefit of their
reactions,” the Boss said to the cubs.
Anook and Kuruk stood awaiting their peppering.
“Right,” the instructor said to the Boss,
can you tell the mama polar and her grizzly mate to act aggressive, charging
etc?” the Boss gave the instructions to
Kuruk and Anook, who would have fallen about laughing at having to act aggressive,
had their minds not been too consumed by what was about to happen. Kuruk ran at the Boss, the human pulling the
pepper spray and aiming it at the snarling barking bear!
“Remember, you have to stop the threat
dead, don’t just spray him lightly,” the instructor said. Firing, the Boss moved the wide spray back
and fourth, up and down directly at the sound of
Kuruk’s snarling and barking. Kuruk,
feeling the spray hit his face, suddenly experienced a sensation like a billion
bees stinging his nostrils. Screaming
loudly, Kuruk turned to run, the Boss spraying Kuruk until he was on the floor,
screaming and roaring, his paws covering his face.
“Now go up and touch him,” the
instructor said. The Boss strode up to
Kuruk, the pepper spray still aimed at the whimpering, coughing, wrenching
sounds in front of him.
“Get him Kuruk!” Anook screamed, angry at what the Boss had
done. Kuruk, incapacitated, wailed that
he couldn’t, he was finished, and he was beaten. Rubbing his eyes with his paws caused more
discomfort, and the male bear screamed and cried like a cub. Anook, now furious, ran at the Boss,
intending on killing him!
“This is real!” The instructor warned, “Shit!” The Boss heard Anook coming at him, grunting
and roaring. He waited until she was
nearly on top of him, and then fired at point blank range. Anook, caught full in the face by the spray,
found her world turn quickly into a world of pain like she’d never known! This was worse than labor! Screaming, she turned and ran, the Boss
perusing her and firing, firing at her from closer and closer. Getting more confident, the human moved
around to Anook’s right side, then in front of her, spraying and spraying,
stopping the very real threat! Anook,
given the same treatment as Kuruk, was soon incapable of anything.
“You bitch, you bitch!” Kuruk gasped, “Anook! Kuruk volunteer, he want do pepper
thing! You know this, and you want kill
Boss for what he do to Kuruk? The Boss
now take you jail!” The Boss tranquilized
Anook and hauled her off to the concrete cell. Kuruk got
to his feet after half an hour of feeling dreadful. The Boss still kept the spray trained on him
until he lifted his forepaws in surrender.
“Kuruk
promise he no hurt Boss,” he said, standing on his hind legs, forepaws raised,
“but he dam well hurt Anook for attacking Boss!
She know Kuruk volunteer be sprayed, and she go off and try kill
Boss! She gets bloody good smack from
Kuruk and from mama
Houdini, Olga and Kuruk Junior watched stunned as
their mother was carted off to jail.
“Anook
went for the Boss, she went for the boss!”
The mama grizzly kept repeating, her shock evident.
“You
mean you would never go for the boss Grandmamma?” Olga asked.
“Anook volunteered to be sprayed,” she
said, “she then can’t go after the Boss for spraying Kuruk, when he volunteered
too. The worst of it is, Anook meant to
kill the boss if she could. When she
said, on camera, that she would never set paw on him too! Now she knows, she knows the power of the
pepper! I know that power, I’ve had it
used against me, and so I have respect!
I know that if I were to set paw out of line with the boss and threaten
him, he’d use it, and rightly so. I want
to smack Anook so hard her backside sizzles for a week!” Houdini smothered a fit of giggles,
“So you think that funny?” She asked, picking the cub up in her mouth by
the scruff of his neck.
“No mama!”
Houdini [protested, “it, it’s, just, well, the way you said it, your
stamping about n’all, that was quite funny!”
The
mama bear found Anook sleeping peacefully.
“I suppose I’d better arm myself,” she
thought, grabbing pepper spray from a strategically placed cupboard near the
door of the concrete cell.
“The boss had these around, but he never
learned to use them until now,”
“I feel dreadful!” She moaned.
“Mama,” ~Anook mumbled, “Mama, I feel
dreadful!” She whimpered.
“You nearly killed the Boss!”
“I wanted to,” Anook sniffed, “I wanted
to kill him for spraying my mate, for felling a bear!”
“If you had managed to kill him, then
what?”
“The bears would take the leadership;
hold the house in their paws!” Anook
said strongly.
“We cannot shop for food, we cannot
clean the house, and we cannot pay the bills, so how on earth will we do
without the boss?”
“We can work without him; we can make
the house a home run by non human creatures!” Anook said.
“We cannot work the house like he does,”
she replied.
“But what happens when he dies?” Anook asked, “Then we will have to work this
house alone, for he will not be here.”
Anook was sure
The
boss had though, and was putting in place plans for the community members to
take over full running of the house. He
wanted to see how they would fair, so was going away for a week . To that end, he made links with local
suppliers of food and other things, making it clear they would be dealing with
his four pawed community.
Anook
knew none of this, for
Now
though,
“I will not harm you,”
“You wouldn’t would you mama?” Anook asked.
“No mama!”
She begged.
“If you attack me, or the boss ever
again, you’ll get so much of this shit in your face you’ll not know sky from
land!”
“Why are we fighting?” She asked.
“You need to wind your neck in, paws off
others Anook,”
Anook
and Kamchatka left the concrete cell, Anook for a meeting with Theo,
Evening
fell, and
“Right,” the sergeant said, “this is your
final test, and your task is to get into the house, capture a lion that is
known for doing crazy things with his mane, and bring him out here. Your weapons are full of paintballs, but this
is a real situation. I know there are
only a few of you, but there are more around the place which you don’t know
about. Shoot anyone who hinders you.”
“So we are no longer covert?” Patch asked.
“Your training was covert, your actions
tonight will be covert until they need to go overt, then you will get in,
snatch the crazy lion and get out,” was the sergeant’s response.
“We are going in against our own,”
“The world knows nothing of peace these
days mama,” the sergeant said, “though I respect your views on this. All I will say is the community has fought
for its survival before, and will fight again, but if it is to be affective
against those of my species as well as of other species, you need to fight like
the worst species on the planet. Shoot
any humans you encounter with your guns, but pepper the non
humans with the spray. You bear,
and others who can do such things have been trained to high standards. Your families will know your work after this,
but you will not speak to them about it.
You cannot. Now let’s go. Let’s get this lion who has been committing
crimes against his mane. Remember, you
are to grab him, control him, and bring him out here.”
“Okay,” she said.
“It
is you who will have to snatch him,” the sergeant said.
“You are patrol commander mama.” patch
held up a paw.
“Yes?”
The sergeant asked.
“Why do you call her mama?” Patch asked, “When you know her name is
“Because I can’t pronounce her name,
that’s why.” The human replied. Patch nearly roared with laughter, but
stopped himself, biting down hard on his tongue.
“Right let’s go,”
Approaching
the house at midnight, the group consisting of five bears and one badger crept
stealthily towards the threshold of the wood.
Unknown
to the special patrol, all the knives and scissors had been confiscated from
the house for the duration of this test.
The aim of which was to test the
patrol and defense forces, not the fighting capability of the community at
large, other than to test its security.
“Hop along,” Patch whispered, “no others
though, we might have a surprise on our paws.”
“Ok, let’s go quietly,”
“Get down and stay down!” He yelled, jess protesting loudly, and Patch
firing at the floor with his pistol to give her the message. Screaming, she curled up into a ball on the
floor, but Helga leapt up, and Patch was forced to pepper spray her. Screaming, she collapsed onto the floor! Similar things were happening all over the
house, innocent community members woken from sleep by badgers and bears not in
the original assault group, some bears not known to the community members
themselves.
“Get out of my way, get down!” Got a face full of pepper spray for her
trouble. Kamchatka, not stopping to hate
herself for what she’d just done, left the screaming tigress on the floor,
stepping over her and exploding into the lie up, where Samson, groggy and
startled, was coming too.
“Get that bloody cub out of my way!”
“Shit, shit!” She said, “Eohippus, what have we become?”
Meanwhile,
in the house, the clear up started.
Ekaterina, seeing Skirnir storming into her lie up, had tried to defend
her family, only to get pepper spray full in her face after ignoring the bear’s
warning to get down and that she and her cubs were safe, rendering her
helpless. Blackberry had suffered a
similar fait, little Allie unable to do anything but
curl up in a corner and hope this nightmare would end. Rowena, caught in Conrad and
“Now what do we do with this
criminal!” The sergeant said, looking
down at Samson, who was terrified.
“I have done nothing, nothing!” Samson begged, choking and retching.
“Test over,” the Boss said.
“One,” the sergeant said, “your security
is crap! Two, the community at large are
unprepared for such an attack, though the kind of attack you bears put up was a
covert assault, so that’s not surprising, though at least one tiger saw you,
and did nothing! By the way, the badgers
captured that individual and are now holding him for being a humpty!”
“There was no perimeter security at
all! Lions? What lions? Tigers? I saw none, we only took four of them out of
a population of Eohippus knows how many!
If they couldn’t stop the assault, they could have at least had a dam
good go! You trained soldiers did well,
but your so called secure community is anything but. Bloody useless mama! Bloody useless!”
“We love peace,” she mewed, her resolve
cracking, “we don’t fight!”
“You fought off a pride once, but now
your community is a load of pansies!”
The sergeant said, “You need to become ruthless again, love your cubs,
but become a pride, a family, with a leader and a plan of action to repel any
attack! The boss and I have started this
transformation, but now, now it’s down to you lot. You need to come up with a defense strategy
to defend the community. And I will rely
on the bears, lions and badgers I have trained to implement this!”
“So that’s why you didn’t use lions,”
Samson choked.
“Yes,” the Boss said, “They know how to fight, the rest don’t, well not as a
team. A committee structure with
families might be a good idea domestically, but for defense, its shit. You Samson know how to fight, so we deliberately
excluded the lions from our training.
“You went for their second in command
though,” Samson groaned, “where the hell was Nuru in all this?”
“He was on our side, keeping the pride
out of it,” the Boss replied, “and Sammy, sorry about Pakshalika. She got in the way.”
“You mean all the pride left the house
before this?” Samson asked.
“They did,” Nuru said, padding up to his
friend and kissing his nose. Samson
swore viciously.
“So we need a pride structure for the
defense of the community, but not for domestic affairs,” Samson mumbled.
“You’ve got it,” The boss replied. “
Did
we shoot anyone?” Patch asked, shocked
at the power of his paintball gun.
“Matoskah shot one of my men, but you
lost two of your own,” the sergeant replied, “Magnus got disabled with Pepper
spray, and Skirnir also got shot with a pistol.
Skirnir and Magnus injured.”
Patch sighed:
“That gun though, wow!” He said.
Skirnir snorted:
“Those balls hurt when they hit
you!” He moaned.
“Next time it will be for real,” the Boss
replied, “no paintballs then. This was
to test the security of the community, as well as test you. Next time though, you will be fighting with
bullets for the community’s life.”
“So that’s why you said shoot the humans
and spray the non humans?” She asked.
The Sergeant nodded:
“If the humans come after this place,
they deserve to be shot,” he remarked, the non humans
though, pepper them, then take them in and care for them.”
“This all seems a bit hardcore for a
month away?” Patch asked.
“He’s not going away for a month Patch,”
she said, “the Boss is leaving forever.”
The boss nodded:
“You are self reliant
now,” he said, “my work is done here.”
Kamchatka, who’d always felt close to the Boss for some reason she
couldn’t explain, sat down and wept into her paws.
“I’m going tomorrow,” the boss said,
“going to
“You’ve upset one tonight,” the sergeant
said.
“I know, I know,” the Boss replied, “but
“But what if they did? What if someone burnt the house down, where
would they go?” The sergeant asked.
“If the house burnt down, well, then, I
don’t know what they’d do,” the Boss replied.
Patch padded after his mother, returning with her some time later.
“He’s going mama, and that’s all there is
to it,” Patch said.
“Humans!”
She snarled.
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” the Boss said
again.
“You armed us in case we are attacked by
humans didn’t you,”
“I did,” he replied, “Eohippus forbids
you ever get attacked.”
“Our safety net is no longer,” she choked,
“we’re fighting the humans now. Bears
don’t need guns to fight among their own and other non human
creatures. But to fight the humans, we
need guns, bombs, and everything else close to paw. I thought I’d left that world behind! I thought I was safe here with a caring human
to fight the world for me! I thought my
family was safe!”
“She wanted you to keep her safe,” patch
said, “and you’ve let her down. The boss
listened to
“She looks up to you,” the sergeant
said.
“I was her security blanket, her
protection I suppose,” The boss mused, “not that I knew this until today. Mama Kamchatka’s mum was shot, so
“I can’t cope alone!” She screamed, “I can’t cope alone!”
“You’re not alone mama,” patch said, going to his mum and trying to
hug her, But Kamchatka wasn’t to be soothed.
“You’ll never understand, never!” She choked, “my, our security is gone, we’re
here, open to attack from a horrible race!
The race who stole my mama’s life!
Now, now our protector is gone; we’re as good as dead! My family as good as dead! I couldn’t protect my mama from that bullet,
and now the only one who can protect me and my cubs is leaving us here, here in
a bloody great house, with popguns for protection! I don’t want paintballs, I want real bullets,
real big, chunky, kill everything bullets in my guns patch, for we’re gonna
need them! Every single bloody
one!” Patch felt his mum’s anxiety and
fear. The fear of the wild bear, her
whole world bound up with her first encounter with humans where she lost so
much.
“Not all humans are going to kill us,”
Patch said.
“Humans kill each other every day patch,
so what’s gonna stop them killing us?”
“these humans, they’ll take over our
wood, that blasted mister Fullbeans will be back annexing the wood and making
it into playing fields or something like that!
We’ll lose the grounds, then the house, and we’ll be on the street! Bears raiding dustbins, and with little Allie
so young too! Not to forget the rest of
this community of course, the lions, tigers, and pandas among others. You selfish bastard, you bloody selfish bastard!”
“Now he’s gone for good,” the Sergeant
said, “gone for good. Dead, killed by a
bear who said she loved him.”
“It’s okay mama, its
okay!” Patch said gently.
“I, I killed the Boss!”
“What be the meaning of all this
screaming?” Kuruk asked.
“Mama had a nightmare,” patch said
simply,
“It’s so vivid, so vivid, every bloody
minute!” She squealed.
“We could hear you screaming from the
Boss’s flat,” Patch said, “Anook’s fait was being
decided by the Boss and the bear trainer with Kuruk and me in attendance. We didn’t need to use the CCTV sound mama; we
could hear you screaming from half a mile down corridors!”
“Oh god, oh god!”
“Cough it all up mama,” Kuruk said,
“I can’t cope with this!” She yelled, collapsing completely into a
sobbing, screaming heap.
“What has caused this?” Patch asked.
Kuruk shook his head:
“Kuruk know nothing,” he replied, “mama
goes bloody mad, that all Kuruk know.”
“Something,” patch said, “something
triggered this, and maybe the boss going on holiday for a week did it? Mama’s been close to the Boss all the time
she’s been here, or so it’s said. So
maybe it’s that, and the fact she likes having cups of tea with him. Maybe she’s been poisoned by his tea
Kuruk.” The two brothers laughed a
little, but the situation was anything but funny.
“The boss said he going to go holiday to
“We can,” he replied, “but it’s not that,
well not totally. There’s got’a be
something else.”
“Mama?”
Patch asked the shivering, sobbing mama grizzly, “what’s troubling you
mama?”
“I killed the boss!” Was her reply.
“Mama not in good way,” Kuruk grunted.
“It’s just too much!”
“Let’s get you a cup of tea and then
maybe we can talk it over mama?” Patch
suggested.
“It was, was a nightmare,”
“So you rely on Boss to stop humans
coming here and destroying family?”
Kuruk asked.
“I do, I do,” she admitted, “I feel that
if I’m on the side of those who shot my mama, they might protect me with their
bullets and guns. I’m not the confident
mama you think I am Kuruk, I’ve told you that before now, and now, now you’ve
seen me at my worst, my most insecure.
If, if we lose this place, where would we go? The Boss is going to leave us one day, and
then where would we be?”
“The boss does very little in the
community day to day running of things now anyway,” patch replied, “we source
foods, clean the place, deliver cubs, bury our dead, that kind of thing. The boss does nothing to help us with that
because he doesn’t have to. He’s
introduced self reliance into this community. The house is secure, the council leaves us
alone, and all is good for the time being.”
“The worst of it is, that when it finally
hit me the boss was leaving, I turned on him and killed him patch, and I went
mad! I killed the one who protects
us!”
“No mama,” Kuruk protested, “Anook tried
to kill Boss, you didn’t.”
“In
my dream, I did,”
“It was a bad dream mama,” patch replied
softly, “you are only armed with pepper spray, not guns. Though what the sergeant said in your dream
about the non human creatures getting sprayed and the
humans getting shot was great. You don’t
know who part of this team the Boss set up is.
I can say I am one, and there are four others. We carry pepper spray and pepper bombs. The bombs go off with a flash, a bang and
then pepper gas. We then follow up with
pepper spray.”
“But the Boss in my dream spoke of the
community being defended by bullets and bombs,”
“I don’t know mama,” he said.
“I need to rest,” she said, “but if I
rest, I might sleep, if I sleep, I dream, and if I dream, I might go back into
that horrid dream!” Patch hugged his
mama tenderly.
“You will be okay,” he said.
“Mama Need lots of tea to calm her,” he
said.
“You two have been wonderful to me,” she
said.
“When we hear mama screaming, we come into lie
up and find her rolling about on floor kicking and yelling. Hold mama down, and
a little after, mama wake screaming still.
Now we know why mama screaming like she think she kill someone.” Patch refilled the huge teapot and settled
down with Kuruk in front of a roaring fire.
Meanwhile,
Anook and Theo Discussed Anook’s attack on the Boss.
“I hate being under the paw of
humans!” Anook raged.
“But humans, as you said, are who provide
you with a warm, safe home,” Theo mewed, “you can’t bite the hand which feeds
you Anook.” Anook snarled:
“We bears could run the whole show
alone!”
“The community could run itself,” Theo
mewed, “and indeed, that is the Boss’s intention. One day, he will be gone, and we will have to
run this place, but until then, he is in ultimate command. Killing him would have been a stupid and
inconsiderate thing to do.” Anook
growled at Theo’s words, but knew she could not fight him. He had forces at his disposal which she
didn’t even want to think about. Forces
that could make Ekaterina scream and curl her toes as if in labor. Anook was scared of Theo, terrified in fact.
“You really messed things up attacking
the Boss,” Theo mewed to Anook. Anook
bowing her head.
“I know that now,” she replied faintly,
“and I am sorry for what I did.”
“You are not sorry,” Theo mewed. Anook looked into the lion’s eyes, and felt
as small as her cubs she’d born over six months previously.
“I deserved pepper spraying,” Anook
whimpered, “I hate the Boss, he is a symbol of those who oppress my kind.”
“You hold one man responsible for your
ills?” Theo asked, “Anook, this Boss is
a great man who gave us the chance to live in peace. You have peace in your life. Do not hate those who give you security just
because they are of a form you despise.
The boss is human, and it is not a fault he is human.” Anook snorted:
“I’d like him better if he were a
bear!” She snapped.
“He is a human; he’s also a lion, a
tiger, and a leopard. He’s friends and
protection for all of us.”
“But he is also a bear,” a voice
said. Theo looked up, smiling and
trotting over to a huge black bear. This
bear padded into the lie up, Anook instantly feeling uneasy.
“He’s got presence,” she thought. The bear hugged Theo tenderly.
“I am glad you’re back,” Theo mewed.
“I’m fine,” the bear said.
“What, what is your name?” Anook asked.
The bear padded up to her, touching noses:
“My name is Koda, and I am your ally,
not your enemy, so relax. Anook looked
at the black bear. He was magnificent,
handsome from his nose right down to his paw pads.
“He’s lovely,” she thought. Koda padded from the room and up to the flat
where
“I’ve got to have a cup of tea!” He said.
Kuruk, confused by the bear’s confident entrance, got to his feet and
challenged him:
“Who are you?” He asked, “Paws off our tea!”
“My name’s Koda,” the bear replied, “I
have lived here for years, though you wouldn’t remember me.”
“I’ll get the tea,” she said, pouring a
massive mug full and handing it to the black bear. Kuruk, surprised by his mother’s actions, sat
down opposite the large black bear, scrutinizing him over the rim of his own
mug of tea.
“Where you come from then Koda?” Kuruk asked.
The Black bear, his eyes closed, looked exhausted.
“I need to sleep,” Koda said, yawning and
stretching his paws. Drinking the tea
quickly, he hugged
“Help yourself to anything you need,”
the black bear said.
“No Koda,” Patch protested, “you can
stay with us now, and you are one with us now.”
“He need find favor with mama before
you say thing about him being with us patch,” Kuruk grunted, “Koda not of us
yet. The bear turned, his eyes tired and
paws shaking beneath him.
“I’m so tired,” he said, almost falling
at Kuruk’s feet.
“Come,”
“Anyone would think you knew him
personally mama,” patch said.
“Haven’t you guessed who we have
here?” She asked.
“You telling me he Boss?” Kuruk asked incredulously.
“He Boss,” she said, “but he’s now in the
form he wants to be in. He’s a bear from
his nose to his toes.”
“Thought he be Boss,” Kuruk replied, “he
only one who have confidence to steal tea from bears.”
“It’s his tea really,”
“Thanks Patch,” Koda yawned, snuggling
down deeper into the sofa. Patch smiled
and kissed Koda’s nose.
“You’re welcome,” he said. Koda almost fell off the sofa, curling up by
the fire, resting his nose on his paws and falling deeply asleep.
“He looks exhausted,”
“So is he Boss or not?” Kuruk asked.
“he’s one of us now,” she said, “
Koda snuggled up to Patch, as the huge grey bear lay down beside him,
patch letting the black bear snuggle close, even going so far as to embrace
him.
“We love you Koda,” Patch whispered
softly, the black bear cuddling close.
“So who is boss of community now?” Kuruk asked.
“Koda was,” she said, “but he’s one with
us now, for his community is self sufficient. We regulate ourselves now.”
“So the human Boss made himself into
bear to satisfy Anook?” Kuruk grunted,
“Kuruk no change for angry mama Anook!
He goes too far!”
“The Boss wanted to be a bear,”
“His fur and paws are so soft!” Patch said, kissing Koda’s nose and the toes
of his forepaws.
“You adopted Koda bear brother
Patch?” Kuruk asked.
“He needs a family now,” Patch replied,
“so why not Kuruk?” Kuruk had no
objections.
Koda
slept for hours, then, getting up, he visited the relieving place, and then
padded back to the sitting room,
“Here,” she said, “more tea Koda. The black bear smiled his white teeth bright
in his black face.
“Thanks,” he said, hugging Kamchatka,
“Mama
“No Kuruk,” she said, “Conrad’s my mate,
and Koda isn’t.”
“
“Mama has a mate, and I’m not going to
replace him in her affections,” he said.
“Meanwhile, Conrad and
“Mama,”
Patch said softly to
“You are not telling stories to upset
me,” she said, “so Patch, please, please show me,” she said, her eyes welling
with tears. Patch showed her the footage
of Conrad and
“Why?”
She asked.
“He just wanted a younger female bear to
bear his next cubs,” patch said softly, “I’m sorry mama.”
“I’m gonna kill him!” She wept.
“Mama,” Kuruk said gently, “go one
better and does what Ekaterina did. Go
with your heart as it is now. Remember
your dream and your feelings for one who is now a bear. Please don’t waste your tears on Conrad.”
“You’re a male bear, so you can move on
swiftly from female to female,”
“Do it mama, for Conrad deserves nothing
less,” Patch said.
“Can you overlook I’m a fat old mama
bear?”
“I like my mates large,” Koda said
playfully.
“I don’t care, I don’t care what Conrad
thinks!”
“
“I suppose a male bear will be a male bear
and move on,”
“Let’s have tea and talk, then, maybe
something else,” Koda said,
“Tea first, then talk,”
“Here,” he said.
Meanwhile,
in another lie up,
“I’m, I’m in labor!” She roared.
Conrad gently felt below
Finishing
their tea, the bears in Koda’s lie up watched
“Bet mama Kamchatka want go down and
frighten
“No Kuruk,” Kamchatka said, watching as
the first of
“I
commend you for your restraint,” he said,
“It’s slow and painful!”
“Cub’s nearly here, nearly, nearly
here!” She moaned. “ooooooowh’wh’wh’wh’ouch! Aowouch!” She yelled.
Conrad felt his mate sit up, then got paws on with her forepaws just in
time to feel her guiding the cub’s enormous hind feet into the world. One by one she guided the huge paws out into
the world, groaning, wriggling and straining as she manipulated the cub’s hind
paws with her forepaws. Then the cub was
born, and a louder, more insistent cub Conrad had never heard before. It protested indignantly at being out in the
cold air.
“Shhh little one,”
“Nice cub you’ve got there
“Conrad said you and he had parted, he
was insistent!” She said, the shock of
“He had a cub with me while mated with
another bear!”
“Conrad told me, told me he was
unattached!”
“I’m not angry with you
“I have called you mama,”
“You are not the offender in this,” she
said, “If Conrad had been honest with you, and you would not have his cub on
your paws now. Conrad traded me in for a
younger bear, and I hope he is happy with his choice. I know male bears do this all the time, but
wish he’d done it openly. He lied to
you, and stabbed me in the back, so now I have moved on from him. I have a new mate and a new security too.”
“Anook told me the Boss turned into a
bear!”
“Why do you laugh at such things,” Koda
asked, padding into the room.
“Oh, Oooh, um, ah, I wasn’t, I mean,
it’s not usual, oh God!”
“Feed your cub mama
“I find Conrad is still out cold,” Koda
said, lifting Conrad’s lolling head.
“I hit him pretty dam hard,” she said.
“He’s well under,” Koda replied, “you
know that if he dies you’ll be punished,” Koda said to his mate.
“If he dies, then I’ll face time in the
cell for my attack on him,” she said.
Conrad groaned and sat up.
“My head hurts!” He whimpered.
“You pissed off a mama bear,” Koda
said. Conrad twitched an ear.
“Not you again,” he snapped, “You told me, told me my mate was
in labor, and she had a horrendous time of it, I blame you for that you horrid
black bastard!”
“I did nothing to prolong
“I’m leaving,”
Kamchatka
and Koda retired to his lie up,
“You are so soft and warm!” She said softly. Koda, grinning, hugged her tightly.
“You have the softest paws going
“I don’t wish
“He certainly didn’t honor his mate,” he
said.
“But I saw
“You are so expressive,” he said, “and
that’s what I love about you
“Have you explored my paws yet?” She asked.
Koda kissed her nose:
“A little,” he replied, “but I could make
a more in depth exploration if you’d permit it, explore pads and toes, maybe
even play with them a bit?”
“I’d love that,” she said, “and maybe,
maybe if I re-enact a cubbing, you could help me with that?” Koda smiled and nodded:
“I will,” he said gently.
“I love it when you do that,” he said,
“Now, let me,”
“This posture is amazingly comfortable
and comforting,”
“You feel comfortable and comforted,”
Koda replied.
“So that’s a good posture for bearing
down against an emerging cub?” Koda
asked.
“Yes, oh yes!” Koda massaging the curled toes of her right
hind foot.
“If, if I re-enact a cubbing, would you
soothe me?”
“I will,” he replied.
“awh’wh’wh’wh’ouch!
ouch! Awh’wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’ouch!” She complained, wriggling and groaning. Koda massaged his mate’s forepaws as she
grabbed her hind feet afresh, bracing herself for increasing pain and effort.
“I want to crawl, must crawl!”
“Push down mama,” Koda said gently,
rubbing
“yowowowawh’wh’wh’wh’ouch,
aouwh’wh’wh’ouchawh’wh’wouch!” She yelled as she bore down harder and harder
into her tail, roaring and screaming.
Koda felt Kamchatka collapse onto her side, the male bear hugging his
mate while
“Breathe deeply
“This cub’s enormous! I can’t, can’t give
birth to it alone!”
“Push down into your tail mama!” Koda encouraged,
“The cub’s coming, coming so
quickly!”
The
paws are coming, two forepaws!” Koda
said,
“Ow, ow, ow! Ouch!”
“The cub’s body’s coming, it’s coming!”
“Sit up and catch your cub,” Koda said.
“No, you catch it,”
“Wow that was amazing!”
“Now what?” Koda asked.
“I know something for sure,”
“Now shall we wash?” He asked.
“I want to wash, I want to wash!” She whimpered. Koda led her to the bathroom in his extensive
lie up, running the bath and helping his mate into the tub.
“Are you having another cub mama?” Koda asked.
“I don’t know, I might be,” she gasped,
bouncing about a bit. Koda rubbed the
pads and toes of
“Ooooaaaoaf!”
“I didn’t want a water birth, but I
can’t move, I can’t move!”
“Must push and push hard!”
“wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’ouch,
wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’whouah!”
“Push mama Push!” Koda encouraged,
“Wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’ouch!
u’u’u’u’u’u’ah!”
She yelled, “u’u’u’u’u’u’u’awh’wh’wh’ah!” Koda, now anxious, felt his mate straining
desperately.
“Nearly, nearly!”
“All done, all done!”
“If a real water birth feels like that,”
she panted, “I’ll go in for it again.”
Koda kissed her nose, then lifted her right hind foot half out of the
water, and, placing his lips against the pads, blew hard, the displaced air
tickling her pads making
“I love that!” She said, drumming Koda’s nose with the toes
of her right hind foot, the male bear laughing merrily.
“Your paws are so lovely,” Koda said,
the female grizzly giggling with pleasure.
“I
can’t wait to get paws on with your paws,” she said, “I’m glad you love my
paws.”
“They are as beautiful as the rest of
you,” Koda said.
“Push against my feet with yours
Koda!”
“Push mama!” Koda encouraged,
“You’re not pushing hard enough
Koda!”
“No
“Okay, that’s it, that’s it!”
“I could have our cubs in the water,” she
said, “that would be nice.” Koda kissed
“We got a little animated there I think,”
Koda laughed.
“I loved it,” she admitted. Koda smiled and hugged her tight.
“So did me,” he replied.
“Now we’re washed and have played together
for a bit,”
“I’ll be able to curl up with you and
keep you warm Koda,”
“I’m looking forward to that,” he
replied.
“Let’s drink our tea, let our food
settle, then visit the relieving place, then maybe we can go to bed?”
“I think that’s a wonderful
suggestion,” he said. So they put
actions to words, and very shortly were contemplating a huge duvet covered in
pictures of wildlife.
“This is too small to wrap around both
of us,” she mused. Koda touched the rug
with his nose and paws.
“My blanket when I was a cub I think,” he
said, “so I don’t think that would serve us.
Anyway, we have fur; we don’t need quilts and things to keep us warm
“I thought it might make a little den,
without making a den,”
“We have more surplice duvet than we
thought we would,”
“I didn’t get round to exploring your
hind paws Koda,” she yawned.
“You can do it now if you like,” Koda
invited.
“No, not now,” she yawned, “let me take
your forepaws in mine that is as good.
What with the warmth we have here, it’s lovely.” Koda agreed.
“Let’s stay here for as long as we can,”
he said.
“I loved re-enacting that cubbing for
Koda,” she thought, then reconsidering, “it was for me too, I wanted it as much
as he did. The touch of his paws on
mine, his tolerance of my screaming and roaring, I’m grateful for all
that.”
“I loved holding my hind feet in my
forepaws and rolling about, that felt so dam good!” She thought.
Kamchatka dozed some more, slipping deeper into sleep, imagining she’d
had her cub, imagining her exhaustion, and the cub snuggling down between her
and Koda’s bodies. The cub was fat,
hence why
“It’s okay little one,”
“No it’s not, it’s not, not when your
mama and sire are beating on each other with their paws, ripping fur out and
swearing,” the cub sobbed.
“but Koda and I haven’t had a cross
word,” she thought, “what does this cub
mean beating on each other with our paws and swearing?”
“Koda and I haven’t sworn at each other,
or got cross,”
“Not you, my mama and sire!” It wept, “Conrad and
“I can’t free myself, I’m trapped!” The cub squealed. This woke Koda, who caught the cub in his
paws and held it, the terrified cub screaming and screaming.
“Let me go, let me go!” It wailed.
Meanwhile,
“You told me false tales you horrid
little shit!”
“
“But she loved you and you knew it, it’s
not fair on her that you went off on a jolly and got me pregnant!”
Meanwhile, in
Kamchatka and Koda’s lie up, Kamchatka had come fully to her senses and was
trying to comfort
“You are safe here, I promise,”
Kamchatka said, her eyes full of tears as she watched the goings on in
“Switch it off,” Koda said, flicking a
switch. The cub calmed down then.
“How did she find us?” Koda asked, “There are many other bears lie
ups before ours. This is right at the
top of the house for Eohippus sake.
“It must have been the loneliest journey
any cub has ever made,”
“I can imagine,” he said.
“I suppose she ran off when Conrad and
“Why did you come to me little
one?”
“I thought you’d protect me from the
screaming and flying paws!” The cub
replied, “You said, said that you respected me and my mama, so, so, when they
began to fight, I ran to the one who said she respected me, in the hope, the
chance, that you’d protect me from their anger.
If respect means not hitting me and not shouting at me I’ll head for
it,” the cub said. Kamchatka watched,
as, in real time, Conrad and
“Time to put an end to this,”
“Oh for Eohippus sake!”
“End it patch!”
“What happened?” Koda asked.
“No cub should ever see that,” she
sobbed.
“What?”
Koda asked.
“Conrad, he, he disemboweled
“No cub should see that,”
Meanwhile, patch
and Ekaterina were removing
“You washed her body too,” patch said.
“It has been an hour and a half since
she died,” Ekaterina said softly, touching her mate’s paw, “you mercifully
ended her suffering and then stepped out until I’d done what I needed to. Patch looked down at the wire holding
“She taught me
all I know,” Patch said of
“Let him cry mama,” a voice said gently,
“medically trained patch might be, an emotional desert he is not. You love him for his emotion, so don’t try
and stifle it now.” Ekaterina looked
round and saw older Alliestanding among the trees
just off the track. Patch leant down and kissed
“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you
“I have come to take my daughter to the
other side,” Allie said, padding to Patch’s side.
“I pray the memory of her suffering at
the end fades over time,” Patch sobbed, his tone pleading.
“She will not blame you for your
actions,” Allie said softly, what you did was merciful and reasonable. You could not save her Patch. Not even the Boss could save her.”
“I hope she’s at peace,” patch sniffed,
“and she’s got a cub now, do you know that Allie?
“Please, would you mama? I know you have milk for my namesake, your
little cub. Could you spare some for my
daughter’s unnamed cub too?
Please?” Ekaterina looked into
Allie’s face.
“Allie,” she said, “Your daughter’s cub
will be scarred for life if she knew what happened to her mother. I cannot let her suffer this, and neither can
my mother.
In Koda’s lie up,
“Ekaterina’s asking Eohippus to grant
you the power to feed the little cub mama,” Koda said softly.
“Feed her on formula milk, and then hide
her from me for an hour or so,”
Once inside, she
lay on the stripped bed, her head on the pillows, her chin resting on her
forepaws.
“A mama bear having a cub on a bed made
for a human,”
Back in the main
room of the house, the little cub began to talk to Koda. In a faint voice she told of how her parents
had begun to fight, snarling, growling and ripping fur.
“I was scared!” The cub said, “I ran as soon as I could,
running away to safety. Now, now my
mother is dead, and your mate wants to be a mama to me. I want it Koda, I want to feel her warmth
again, but stronger this time, stronger, as if she knew me from before I drew
breath!”
“How do you know all this?” Koda asked, choking on a sudden rush of
tears.
“I know, for even though you switched off
the sound, I heard my birth mama’s screaming.
I know she’s dead. I also know
how much
“I must feed you little one,” Koda sniffed.
“No,” the cub protested, “I can wait, for
mama will have milk for me. I know
it.” Koda explored the cub with his
paws, the cub becoming angry and biting him savagely. Suddenly she became a bundle of slashing
claws and gnashing teeth! Koda’s right
forepaw was ripped across the back, the blood flowing freely.
“Wooh! Hey!” Koda complained, the cub wriggling out of his
grip and crawling away. Koda was about
to run after the cub when
“The cub’s coming!” She screamed into a third pillow, “ouwh’wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’ouchaouch!” Koda felt his mate’s struggle, and this time
it was no act.
“I want to push!” She roared, grabbing Koda and dragging him
onto what remained of the mattress to cling to him and scream into his coat.
“Push mama Push!” Koda encouraged,
“This cub has to come soon! Wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’owh’wh’wh’wooowh’wh’wh’WH!
Awouch!” Koda felt the bed shift beneath him as
“You must get out of this mess!” Koda pleaded, “you can’t have the cub here; we’ve
got splintered wood and sharp metal everywhere!
You’re in danger now
“The cub’s coming, it’s, Oooh, ow! It’s coming, coming, stretching me! ou’ou’ou’uowh’wh’wh’ou’u’u’u’ou’uoouch!”
“It’s coming, coming so strongly, so
much!”
“Push down mama, push!” He encouraged,
“Owh’wh’wh’wh’w
Koda! Oaouch!” She screamed, “It’s not coming free!”
“Relax and pant, pant,” Koda Encouraged, then, as he felt Kamchatka’s
hind paws, checking her toes for signs of them relaxing from their tightly
curled state, he felt her relax, and heard the cub slide into the world,
Kamchatka whimpering as the cub’s hind feet slid into the outside air.
“That was very ouch,”
“Now where is that other cub?” Koda asked some time later when
“What other cub?”
“Koda,” a voice said, “Forget about that
other cub.” Koda turned an ear in the
direction of the new voice.
“
“Forget there was another cub. The voice said, “For there was no other
cub. There was only the one. You will name her
“how will I explain the gash in my right
forepaw?” Koda asked.
“I bit you during my labour, remember?”
Meanwhile, in
Ekaterina’s lie up, Patch sat sobbing into his paws.
“I’ll never forget the sight of
“
“What of her unborn cub though? It died with her! Conrad should pay for that too! He should be punished not only for
“I’ve just seen the most amazing
thing!” Blackberry said padding into the
lie up, “I know
“Who had what?” Ekaterina asked.
“
“You’re about to ask, “How can
“It’s impossible!” Patch said.
“Is it?”
“You gave birth to this cub mama?” Patch asked, tentatively touching the cub’s
head with his paw.
“I did,”
“That’s a big cub, almost too big to give
birth to naturally,” Ekaterina thought.
Patch examined the cub with interest.
“It’s the tale of Snowy half tail and
Bianca all over again,” he whispered,
“Eohippus giving life to a cub who’s mother had died
at the paws of another by allowing a surrogate mama to give birth to, and love
the unborn cub. I know that tale; I know
also that my mama, mama
“Mama is wonderful Patch,”
“That she is,” he sniffed.
“What be this?” Kuruk asked,
padding in with a collar with bells in his mouth,” Kuruk find thing in long
grass at edge of track. What be meaning
of this?” Patch looked at the thing,
then lunged at Kuruk and snatched it from his mouth.
“I don’t want others to see that!” He snapped.
“What’s going on Brother Patch?” Kuruk asked, shocked. Patch stuffed the collar behind a box in the
corner which contained food.
“It’s a relic from my human
domination!” He snarled.
“Life with humans you mean,” Kuruk
grunted, “did humans put bell collar around neck to trace you patch?” Patch mumbled that this was indeed true.
“How if we put that bell collar on
Conrad?” Kuruk asked, “Any poor female
will be able to hear him coming and run for the hills then.” Patch slapped Kuruk.
“You horrid thing!” He exclaimed, “That’s just, well awful!” Kuruk looked at Patch. Then revolted, turned away.
“Patch wear collar to make him audible to
them who cannot see him,” he said, “Kuruk hear blind humans do thing when free
running their guide dogs too. Patch
walloped his brother with as much force as he could muster.
“I want that collar burnt!” He squealed.
“So how you not have collar on when mama
find you in wood long time ago?” Kuruk
asked. Patch grumbled that he’d ripped
the collar off as soon as he’d been dumped out of the lorry from the zoo.
“Just bury it!” He whimpered.
Kuruk picked up the collar and shook it, Patch covering his years with
his paws.
“You bloody sod!” Patch whimpered.
“Kuruk going to put collar on Conrad,”
he grunted.
“Conrad’s had enough punishment,”
Ekaterina said, “he doesn’t need any more.”
Kuruk stamped his paws in anger:
“Conrad kills mama
“Conrad has had enough punishment Kuruk,”
Patch said, “It’s not fair to keep on at him.”
Anook padded in, picked up the collar from where Kuruk had dropped it,
and looked with interest at it.
“Who’s is this?” She asked.
Patch turned his head away, ignoring Anook. Anook looked at Patch, who was intently
examining his forepaws.
“That’s yours isn’t it,” she said. Patch replied that he had owned the collar
with the bells on it.
“I used to wear it yes,” he sighed. Anook tried to put the collar back around
Patch’s neck, the grey bear fighting her off and punching her on the nose.
“Ow, bastard!” She whimpered.
“You get that collar out of my
face!” Patch roared.
“
“You leave me alone now!” Patch roared, stamping out of the lie up,
running along to the soft playroom, and squaring up to a punch bag.
“Swarupa?” Anook asked, the tigress groaning pitifully.
“I got on the wrong end of Patch,” she
moaned.
“Calling him bell boy was probably not
the best idea,”
Patch,
screaming and yelling, beat the stuffing out of the punch bag. His anger at seeing his old bell collar boiling
over into a frenzied attack, Patch began clawing, punching and biting at the
bag, attacking it as if it were the most hated thing on the planet. Roaring and crying, Patch tore into the bag,
ripping it to shreds. Exhausted, he
collapsed where he stood. Some time later, Ekaterina and Allie found him still
comatose.
“What’s wrong?” Ekaterina asked her mate, kissing his nose:
“That bell collar,” patch whimpered, “I
never want to see it again!” Ekaterina,
having taken a shine to the collar, was wearing it around her neck. Flinching away, she padded off to get rid of
her new prize.
“Mum, get that bloody collar off!” Rowena hissed, removing Ekaterina’s new blue
collar.
“If Patch finds you with it, he’ll go
mad!” Rowena said. Ekaterina saw Patch emerging blearily from
the soft play room, his eyes fixing on the blue collar.
“Get that collar out of my face!” He roared.
Snatching the collar from her daughter, Ekaterina fled back to her lie
up.
“You are so inconsiderate!” Patch roared at Rowena, cuffing her across
her nose. Squealing, Rowena retreated.
“Mama wanted the collar, I don’t!” She wailed, “Mama doesn’t understand what
that collar means!”
“None of you know human domination,” Patch whimpered, “to be held in their houses,
or in their cages, fed their food, having to eat their food when they take over
your home, all that, I’m sick of it! I’m
here in this community, I love it here, I’m in a house, but at least here I can
choose my own time, my own food, my own mate, my own life! I might like houses, but that’s all I’ve
known, it doesn’t make it right.” Rowena
kissed her sire’s nose.
“I love you patch,” Rowena said
softly. Patch hugged his first born cub.
“I’m sorry for cuffing you across your
nose,” Patch said, “I hope mama gets rid of that collar,” he choked. Back in her lie up, Ekaterina, looking at the
collar, thought of her mate’s anger.
“I don’t know his full tale,” she
thought, “it must have been bad for him to hate the collar so much.” Ekaterina looked at the collar, stirring the
bells with her paw, enjoying their clear sound.
Ekaterina shook the collar, loving the jingle the bells made. Ekaterina was still at this some time later when Patch’s large grey paw gently removed
the collar from hers.
“Their ring is the sound of death,” he
said firmly. Ekaterina looked into his
face, seeing a devastated bear.
“I will make sure that collar never
surfaces in this community ever again,” he said. Ekaterina kissed his nose.
“I’m sorry for wearing it,” she said
gently, “but I didn’t know, I haven’t been told your full tale.” Patch padded away with the collar, went into
the wood, and ripped up the collar, crushing the bells and tearing up the
leather. Crying, he went back to the
house, round the back to the skip, and threw the bits into the skip.
“I am no longer that bear, no longer
under the hand of humans, no longer in need of bells,” he thought. Patch turned away, coming face to face with
Swarupa.
“Ah,
it’s bell boy,” Swarupa said, a malicious glint in her eye. Patch walked away; fighting an instant urge
to throw the tigress into the same place he’d thrown the bell collar.
“
“Don’t push me any harder,” Patch warned
her, “Swarupa, you are this close to being wiped from this planet!”
“Bet you couldn’t,” Swarupa challenged,
glancing at her belly, “you couldn’t do it to a tigress in cub now could
you?” Patch stormed back into the house.
“The bitch, the horrid bitch!” He fumed, stamping around the corridors of
the house. Nanuq Junior stopped the
pacing bear with a gentle paw.
“Patch,” he said, “let it go. Swarupa’s not worth it.”
“I would happily rip her paws off and
throw her in the skip,” Patch snarled,
“but her use of her unborn cubs as pawns in her game, that’s, that’s horrible!”
Sushanti
watched her sister’s encounter with patch, her anger boiling over. Running to Swarupa, she flipped the tigress
high into the air, Swarupa landing in the skip with a crash of bottle tops, and
the odd jingle of bells too. Swarupa,
screaming, could not get out of the skip unaided.
“Now I’m going into the house,” Sushanti
snarled.
“You can’t leave me here!” Swarupa yelled, bottle tops pricking her pads
and sliding beneath her paws.
“Help me!” Swarupa yelled as she scrabbled at the smooth
sides of the skip. Sushanti padded away
noiselessly.
“Are you still there?” Swarupa asked, “Sushanti, come back, come
back you bitch!” Then Swarupa had
something else more pressing to think about, as a chute opened above her head,
and a load of bottle tops from the kitchen rained down on her. Recycling was big in the community, and there
were skips for metal, plastics, glass and paper, as well as waste food. Two chutes hung over the metal skip, one for
bottle tops, and the other for cans.
Swarupa was in the compartment reserved for bottle tops, and a fresh
consignment was being emptied that very minute.
Each lie up had a bin for each recyclable, and they periodically emptied
automatically into the skip. Swarupa
found the bottle tops from the lie ups raining down on her head and back,
tinkling and rushing, scraping and pricking her all over.
“Help, help!” The tigress roared. Struggling out of the deepening pile around
her feet, Swarupa found she could not get enough purchase to leap more than a
foot, and the top of the skip was five feet above her head.
“I’m going to be buried alive!” Swarupa thought miserably, her misery turning
to terror.
“Get me out of here!” She roared, banging on the side of the skip
with her paws.
“You all right in there?” Blackberry asked, having clambered up the
outside of the skip and was now looking down at the screaming tigress.
“You!”
Swarupa snapped, “you, get me out of here, now!” Blackberry smiled, dropped nimbly down into
the bottle tops, chucked them about a bit, then easily leapt up five feet,
grabbed the edge with his right forepaw, and, holding on with one paw, turned
and attacked Swarupa with a bottle top he held in his left forepaw. Then, with the tigress screaming, Blackberry
began to spit bottle tops with which he’d filled his mouth, hitting Swarupa’s
nose, ears and eyes.
“Ow, blackberry! Stop!” Swarupa yelled. Ekaterina, hearing the tigress’s screaming,
ran round the corner of the house, saw her son spitting bottle tops at
something inside the skip which was complaining loudly, and leapt into
action. Grabbing Blackberry’s right hind
foot in her teeth and grabbing him around the hocks with her paws, she dragged
him off the parapet, Blackberry nearly choking on two bottle tops still in his
mouth as he fell. Spitting them out just
in time, he collapsed on top of his mother, Ekaterina grunting as her son cub fell
smack on top of her.
“Get off me mama!” Blackberry yelled, kicking out at his
mum. Ekaterina got a hind paw in her
face, releasing her hold and letting Blackberry go.
“Run away, Run away coward!” Swarupa screamed. Ekaterina then realized what patch had been
crying about, leapt up onto the edge of the skip and glared at Swarupa.
“Now do you want to challenge me?” She asked.
Swarupa shrank back at the sight of the angry mama polar bear.
Leave me alone!” Swarupa yelled.
“I now know what you are,” Ekaterina snarled. Swarupa looked into the mama bear’s face, and
realized she was in serious trouble.
“I’m sorry!” Swarupa mewed. Ekaterina stared into the tigress’s face.
“You are a horrid animal!” Ekaterina snarled, “I’m sorry for Snowy half
tail that she gave birth to you! Now
I’ll let you out of here, but you leave my mate alone!” Ekaterina leapt into the skip, threw Swarupa
out and then leapt out herself.
“You leave here, and keep your snide
remarks to yourself!” Ekaterina
warned. Swarupa sat down and began
licking her forepaws and picking bottle tops from between the toes of her hind
paws. Mewing sulkily, she watched the
female bear return to the house.
“
“You’ll never change will you?” Blackberry asked. Swarupa hissed at blackberry and turned away,
dancing as her pads were pricked by the bottle tops.
“Ow, ow, ow!” She roared, “My poor soft paw pads!” Blackberry watched her go, flicking the last
of his bottle tops at the tigress. Then,
regretfully, he swept up the bottle tops and returned them to the skip.
Padding
back to the house, blackberry found his way to
“I love this,” Blackberry said. Koda smiled and led Blackberry into the
bedroom where
“I like this!” The younger black bear enthused. Koda hugged him.
“As you are mama
“That’s lovely!” He said.
Koda massaged Blackberry’s paws, the black bear curling his toes with
pleasure as Koda’s toes worked over his pads and toes.
“This is so lovely!” Blackberry said, wriggling with
pleasure.
“You two look so lovely,” she said. Blackberry sat up, embracing Koda’s right
forepaw in both of his.
“I’m at peace now,” Blackberry
said. Koda smiled and kissed his nose:
“You’re safe, loved, and protected,” the
older black bear replied. Blackberry
smiled broadly:
“I know this,” he said. Little
“Hello little
“It’s warm, safe and comfortable here,”
“I know, I know,” he said softly.
Meanwhile,
Swarupa, lying in her lie up, felt the stirrings of her unborn cubs. They were restless, kicking and rolling
about, or so it felt to the tigress, who was soon rolling about herself,
kicking and groaning.
“Stay still, stay still dam you!” Swarupa snarled. Sushanti watched without enthusiasm.
“Those cubs of yours active?” She asked.
Swarupa swore at her sister, telling her to keep her nose out of her
business.
“You are so vindictive and
horrible!” Sushanti mewed, very upset
and offended.
“If I have these cubs, I’ll never let you
near them!” Swarupa roared.
“I hope Eohippus gives you a hard
time!” Sushanti screamed, regretting her
words as soon as they were out.
“I’m sorry Swarupa,” Sushanti mewed, “I
didn’t mean it. I hope your labor is
easy and cubs are safe.” Swarupa mewed
and panted with discomfort.
“I think, think I’m in labor!” She yelled.
Sushanti ran to get Patch, but found Ekaterina.
“Swarupa thinks she’s in labor!” Sushanti screamed at the polar bear.
“Let me look,” Ekaterina said, trying not
to sound disinterested or unconcerned.
Padding into Swarupa’s lie up, she found the tigress trying to tie her
paws in knots as she rolled about on the floor.
“Calm down!” Ekaterina snapped. Swarupa roared and screamed at Ekaterina, the
she bear pinning the tigress down with one huge forepaw while using the other
to touch her belly.
“You’re not in labor,” Ekaterina said,
“your cubs are a little active that’s all.
Just calm down and they’ll calm down too.” Sushanti confessed what she’d said to her
sister.
“Your words are not very nice,” Ekaterina
agreed, “but you retracted them as soon as you’d said them, so no harm done
really.” Swarupa lay pedaling the air
with her paws in response to her cub’s kicking paws.
“How do I stop them beating me up from
the inside!” Swarupa roared.
“Just take deep breaths and calm down,”
Ekaterina replied, “then they will also calm down.” Swarupa tried this approach, and soon her
cubs were quiet again.
“I suppose when I go into labor they’ll
become active again!” Swarupa whined.
“They do kick a bit,” Ekaterina replied,
“but then you’re not really noticing a great deal, you’re in too much
pain.” Swarupa looked at Ekaterina, her
eyes far away, and then she gasped, closed her eyes tightly and, opening her
mouth wide, screamed and screamed.
“Oooooahow! Oooooahoooaoooaooooahwh’wh’wh’wh’wh’ow!” She yelled, “I’m in labor now, got to be in
labor now, I must be!” Swarupa
roared. Ekaterina felt Swarupa’s belly,
feeling minor contractions, the tigress wailing with each.
“Ow, ow, ow!” Swarupa roared.
“Just you wait until real labor starts;”
Ekaterina thought uncharitably, “then you’ll have something to scream about.” Swarupa began wriggling and kicking with
every minor contraction, roaring into her paws whenever she had the
chance. Ekaterina managed to touch
Swarupa’s belly, feeling her cubs kicking while contractions built and spent
themselves. Swarupa, lying on her side,
groaned and wailed as her cubs shifted positions. Ekaterina checked Swarupa’s belly again, and
felt a paw pressing against hers, clearly feeling its pads and toes, and claws
digging into the uterine wall. As
Ekaterina stroked the pads of the cub’s paw, she felt the cub whose paw it was
curl its toes with pleasure. Swarupa
began roaring as the tiny claws dug in.
“Ow! Ow!” owh’wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’owh’wh’w!” She roared, “What’s going on? What’s going
on?” Ekaterina was surprised her little bit
of internal massage of a cub’s paw could have any affect, but it had. Now the cub was clawing, clawing to get
free. Swarupa could feel her cub’s need
to emerge, and let everyone know about it by screaming and roaring loudly.
“My cub’s trying to tear my insides
apart!” She yelled, throwing herself
around the lie up, rolling onto her back, and kicking the air, the walls, even
Ekaterina and Sushanti, as well as trying to tie her paws in knots. Grunting, blowing, snarling, crying and
roaring, Swarupa writhed and kicked, eventually stuffing the toes of her right
forepaw into her mouth and biting down hard.
“owh’wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’ouch!
auouwh’wh’wh’wh’ouauch, auouwh’wh’wh’wh’ouauch, auouwh’wh’wh’wh’ouauch!” Swarupa screamed the sound only slightly
muffled by her forepaws, which were now covering her mouth while she lay on her
back, screaming. Then Swarupa convulsed,
the toes of all four paws curled tightly!
Giving vent to a yell the like of noone had heard before, she began to
really push down hard into her tail, big screaming, begging, sweat soaked
efforts.
“wowh’wh’wh’wh’wh’w’wh’wh’wh’wh’ouchwh’wh’wh’wh’ouchauouwh’wh’wh’wh’ouauch!
auouwh’wh’wh’wh’ouauch!” Swarupa screamed, her eyes tightly shut, toes
curled, and teeth clenched, “this is awful!”
“The cub is moving down now,” Ekaterina
said softly to the screaming tigress, “Push Swarupa push! Swarupa, in a world of agony and effort,
pushed into her tail with growling, screaming efforts. The cub who’s claws had started all this was
now being forced into the world, while holding on with the toes of all four
paws to the world he once knew. Swarupa
could feel the cub’s emergence, every effort hurt like hell! Screaming, crying, roaring, begging everyone
for help, and finally tearing up the rug she lay on, Swarupa bullied the cub
into the world, the cub’s claws scraping her raw. Swarupa then felt something else; the cub’s
hind feet jam against something. Howling,
she writhed, kicking and panting, trying to free the cub’s hind feet.
“This is too much, too much!” Swarupa complained, “This isn’t ouch any
more, this is hellish, awful labor! Make
it stop!” Blackberry, watching
fascinated from the entrance saw patch pad into the room, take a look at the
situation beneath Swarupa’s tail, then look down at his paws, and those of his
mate.
“We’ve got paws that are too big for this
job,” Patch said to Ekaterina. Ekaterina
and he measured paws, and she nodded, while Swarupa panted and groaned as
another contraction tore her apart.
Groaning became screaming, then yelling and pleading as she was forced
to push with everything she had, her body wanting rid of the cub, the cub unable
to emerge. Swarupa swore viciously,
again and again, kicking the air with her paws, sweat and tears flying from her
overworked and tired body.
“auouwh’wh’wh’wh’ouauch! Someone help me, please!” She begged, “This cub’s stuck! I’m gonna die if I carry on pressing down
against him!” Swarupa curled up, trying
to see the problem for herself.
Straining hard, she saw a tail, and that was it. This sent her into a screaming kicking fit,
trying to reposition the cub. Swarupa
felt herself held in a gentle but vice like set of paws, then, as she found she
couldn’t fight them, focused on what was going on at her tail end. She felt a gentle paw exploring, the
sensation horrible to her, making her want to scream and cry, which she did.
“That’s it, just relax,” Patch said
softly, Swarupa sobbing as she tried not to think of what was happening.
“Let her push,” someone said, as Swarupa
gave herself up to a manic need to strain hard, wailing, screaming and roaring
gave way to sobbing and pleading, then panting and groaning.
“Now get that right hind foot, then the
left, and hold them when she strains next,” Swarupa heard dimly. She could feel something happening, a
lessening of the horrendous needle pricks and pressure as she pushed down. Then, then more agony. Squealing with the intensity of it, Swarupa
curled up tight, bearing down with everything she had, moaning with effort and
pain, she heaved hard down into her tail, the cub easing out into the
world. When Swarupa’s strength ran out
and she had to pant, she felt everything stretching to its maximum. Screeching, she bore down again, wanting to
stretch everything a bit more, needing to get a little more room, where there
was none to be had. Swarupa felt every
hair, every pad, and every limb of her first cub as he emerged. Swarupa, at full stretch and then some,
couldn’t help but push, she had to push, and push longer and harder than she’d
ever thought she could push. The cub
hurt her, punished her, made her beg for her mama’s intervention, though deep
down Swarupa knew Snowy half tail wouldn’t help her, for Swarupa knew she’d
been horrible to others for no reason at all, and deserved no help. Somehow, Swarupa managed to push the cub out
far enough, that, during another toe and body curling effort, she was able to
grab the cub in her paws. Getting a firm
hold, Swarupa pulled with her paws as she pushed, desperately tugging and
worrying at the cub as she pushed down into her tail.
“Come on, come on!” Swarupa begged aloud, “Come free!” Ow, must push! Got to push! auouwh’wh’wh’wh’ouauch!”
Then, as she wriggled and writhed while holding the cub, using her
entire body from her nose to tail, Swarupa felt the cub come free, and there it
was in her paws, at last. Swarupa found
herself cleaning her newborn cub in a haze of pain and fear.
“There’s another cub in there,” she
thought miserably, “and it’s gonna hurt, it’s gonna hurt so bloody much!” Blackberry watched as Swarupa began to bear
down against her cubs for the second time, the tigress screaming and crying.
“This hurts me too much, too bloody
much!” She roared as her cub made its
way down a bruised and clawed passage into the outside world, Swarupa crying
and screaming, roaring and yelling the whole way. Even though the cub came easily, and head
first this time, Swarupa found the pain almost unbearable. Then, as the cub’s head emerged, Swarupa
passed out, unable to cope any longer.
“Let her breathe,” patch said to
Ekaterina, “we’re not in the business of torture.”
“Someone is in the business of
punishment though,” Ekaterina remarked.
Blackberry, paws on with Swarupa’s emerging cub, pulled gently as her
body expelled it with forceful contractions.
Then all of a sudden, the cub rushed into the world, Blackberry’s paws
full of a mewing, roaring, snarling, and wriggling cub. Swarupa, coming round, began to cry as she
felt her body complaining bitterly about the treatment it had endured.
“Ouououoch! auouwh’wh’wh’wh’ouauch!” Swarupa screamed, “Everything’s sore,
everything hurts so bloody much! I can’t
move! Wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’wh’ouch! Aouch!
auouwh’wh’wh’wh’ouauch, auouwh’wh’wh’wh’ouauch,
auouwh’wh’wh’wh’ouauchauouwh’wh’wh’wh’ouauch!” Sushanti saw that even the slightest movement
hurt her sister. Moving a paw, shifting
slightly to allow the two cubs to feed, everything hurt. Closing her eyes, Swarupa bore the agony of
every little movement she had to make.
She knew she’d been punished for her disrespect for her cubs, and for
others than her cubs. Whimpering, she
watched her cubs feeding through a mist of pain and remorse.
“Please Eohippus, I can’t deliver
another cub, it’s too painful, too bruised, too sore, I can’t, I can’t do
it! Please, please don’t make me;”
Swarupa begged aloud, her prayer from the heart, “I’m sorry for using my cubs
in my selfish game, for hurting patch also.
My greatest wish now, is to be left alone with my cubs, to heal quietly
on my own, please, please!”
“Rest now,” blackberry said gently to
the weeping tigress. Swarupa dimly
recognized the voice of the one who’d thrown bottle tops at her, and felt her
paw taken in his. But those were not the
paws of a tormentor; they were the paws which had guided her first born into
the world through the daggers inside her.
Gentle paws they really were, the paws of a gentle creature who she’d
pushed beyond limits, and who’d not really hurt her when taking his revenge
with the bottle tops. Now though, the
touch of his paws had a bitter sweet quality, for though it soothed her, it
also tore her apart. Sobbing, Swarupa
let the touch of the bear’s paws on hers take its revenge. Crying, Swarupa lay, knowing who she’d really
hurt, for whom the bottle tops were thrown.
Not for his own purposes had the black bear in the skip thrown those
bottle tops, he’d been merciful, for Swarupa knew she deserved a far worse
punishment for her words, malicious, intentional words, which had meant to hurt
more deeply than her own labor had.
“I might have been scored to my soul by
the claws of an emerging cub,” Swarupa thought, “but every effort was worth
it. Patch’s hurt is far deeper, and he
has no joy to come from that. I deserve
dead cubs, dead cubs to represent the dead years of patch’s incarceration at
the hands of humans, but I’ve got live cubs, I have hope to temper my pain,
where he had none. Also, also, I used my
cubs in a horrid manner, and that’s unforgivable.” Swarupa opened her eyes to find Patch holding
her paw in his. She watched him gazing
at her cubs, loving them with his eyes.
Then his eyes met hers, and there was no triumph, no glee, just a weary
question.
“Patch,” Swarupa said, her voice strong,
“I’m sorry, sorry for saying what I did about you and the bell collar.” Patch said nothing, but nodded at the cubs
now sleeping peacefully beside Swarupa.
“you looked after an abused cub,” Swarupa choked, “so what I did to mine, using
them, abusing their being in my body for my own goals hurt you deeply patch. More deeply than the collar ever did. I abused my position as regards my cubs to
keep your paws off my skin. It would be
like using them as a live shield if they were born and I’d got into a fight,
and pushed them in front of me so you’d have to kill them before you got to
me. I was gambling that you’d not strike
me because of my cubs being in your way.
I abused my cubs like the humans abused you and jess in the zoo. Making her do tricks for the public, while
you were left in the background, keeping her together until you two could
escape. I’m as bad as those humans
patch, I know that now, and for that, I am sorrier than I can put into
words. The pain of my labor does not
even come close to the pain you suffered while watching jess go through hell at
the hands of humans who were meant to protect her. Humans who put a bell around your neck, so
you could not protect your sister without letting them know your every
move. My body will heal quickly, but
your scars never will. I made the
mistake of forgetting this. You are
gentle patch, for your gentility won out over all the shit, all the crap, all
the hurt caused to you and others you care for.
I have a loving home, have had a loving home from the day I was born,
and I forgot that. You patch, have had
to prove yourself to be accepted into this place. I haven’t.
If you’d torn up the lie up in anger, the community would have
imprisoned you, hurt you for hurting them.
You didn’t do this though; you came in, and were a loving son cub to
“Now we go on from here,” Patch said,
“we both know where we stand I think.”
Swarupa looked at her cubs, the large older male cub, and his younger
sister busily drinking from her ample milk supply. Patch looked at the cubs also, then, leant
down and kissed the tops of their heads.
“I am glad you two were born safe to
your mama,” patch whispered, the cubs turning their ears to him.
“They respond to you already,” Swarupa
said. Patch gently stroked the back of
Swarupa’s oldest cub.
“What should I name these two?” Swarupa asked.
“I think you should name them Tigger and
Namrah,” he whispered softly. Swarupa
looked into Patch’s face, and he nodded:
“The circle of life,” he said gently,
“always turns mama Swarupa; it turns for you, and turns for Tigger and Namrah
too.” Swarupa’s vision blurred with
tears as she wept for her sire.
“I’m sorry,” Patch said softly,
kissing Swarupa’s nose and leaving her to cry.
Sushanti watched her sister crying, and didn’t know what to do.
“Go to her Sushanti,” Patch said, “she
needs you, and you need her. You might
not believe your sister can change, but touch her paws, and learn the truth. Learn what her sire meant to her, even though
she swore at him constantly.
“I think you need to learn from each
other,” Patch said.
“No Patch,” Swarupa said, “we need to
learn from you. A bear who is able to
keep gentle, even when provoked to an unreasonable level by a tigress who
wanted and knew how to push your buttons to make you flip and do her
damage. You resisted that impulse. Patch, why did you not get paws on with
little Tigger?” Swarupa asked. Patch held up a massive forepaw:
“I would have hurt you if I’d pulled
your cub,” he said. Swarupa’s eyes told
him she felt she deserved to be hurt.
“I wish you had,” she sobbed, “I wish
you’d made me scream and cry like I made you.”
Patch held her paw in his:
“I couldn’t do that to you,” he
replied, “so Blackberry, who has smaller paws even than Ekaterina, helped you
instead.” Swarupa kissed patch’s nose.
“Did anyone tell you you are a handsome bear?”
She asked. Patch grinned:
“Ekaterina, and Rowena too,” he said,
“but it’s nice to hear it from a non ursine.”
“Can I hold your cubs Swarupa?” Patch asked.
Swarupa smiled and nodded, patch sitting down, and Tigger scrambling
into his lap without prompting. Patch
hugged the tiger cub with gentle paws, Tigger mewing and chuffing with
pleasure, snuggling close to the big warm furry heat source he’d found.
Meanwhile, in the
wood, the badgers dug a grave for Namrah and Tigger senior, Magnus overseeing
the whole operation. Once the grave was
dug, a double grave to accommodate the two deceased tigers, the badgers called
the community to the place. Rosie
performed her duty with the carriage, and it fell to Nanuq and his son Nanuq
junior to lower the tiger’s bodies into the grave. Once they were settled, the badgers stood
back, letting Swarupa, and Sushanti say goodbye to their sire and raja senior,
to say goodbye to his mama and sire.
Once they’d made their farewells, the badgers filled in the grave, with
the tigers looking on miserably.
“As Patch said,” Sushanti remarked to
Raja, “the circle of life is ever lasting, we are born into the world, we grow
old, we die, and others are born to carry on our legacy. Tigger Junior listened intently, his sister,
only an hour old, shivering in the lea of their mother’s body.
“I can’t keep my cubs out here for long,”
Swarupa said, “it’s snowing!” Indeed it
was, and the weather was cold to boot.
Swarupa picked up Tigger, while Sushanti picked up Namrah, both
tigresses running for the warmth of the house.
“We can’t really have a ceremony out here
without them,” Patch said, “and now the priority is the living cubs. Let’s go indoors.” With that everyone left the graveside. Swarupa, back in her lie up with her cubs,
was still tearful, partly from the realization of her own faults, and the news
of Tigger’s passing. She didn’t know how
to make things right with Patch regarding the bell collar, though she
desperately wanted to. Now she had two
beautiful cubs. Tigger, curled up by his
mama, chuffed and mewed with pleasure as he became warmer and warmer. Namrah, already asleep, snored loudly.
Meanwhile, patch,
Blackberry and Ekaterina sat in their lie up reviewing Swarupa’s labor.
“You were wonderful blackberry,”
Ekaterina said. Patch smiled and hugged
his son:
“You were fantastic,” he agreed. Blackberry, embarrassed, hid his head.
“I only did what I was told,” he replied, “I pulled the cub, then, then
well, after the hind paws were free, Swarupa pulled it most of the way. She can n’alf scream can’t she. Wow!
What lungs on that tigress!”
Patch smiled, for he knew a little of what Swarupa had gone
through. Patch played with the toes of
Blackberry’s right hind foot, the black bear smiling and curling his toes. Bouncing about with pleasure, both bears
played with each other’s hind paws, patch with Blackberry’s right hind,
blackberry with Patch’s left hind paw.
Smiling and laughing with pleasure, the two bears ended up playing a
rough and tumble game, rolling each other over and tickling each other’s pads
and toes. Breaking off the game, the two
bears lay down together, curled up and secure.
Ekaterina and Rowena watched them, telling Allie what Blackberry and
Patch were doing. Allie wanted to go one
better though, and was soon exploring Patch and Blackberry with her paws,
scrambling over their bodies and exploring with all four paws, Patch and
blackberry laughing merrily.
“I love her touch,” Patch said, blackberry smiling and kissing
Allie’s right hind paw as her toes touched his nose while she clambered from
his back to Patch’s. Patch shifted at a
crucial moment, Allie losing her footing and falling with a squeal into Patch’s
warm embrace.
“The warm fur fell away from my
paws!” Allie whimpered. Patch kissed her nose.
“It’s okay Allie,” he replied. Allie, agreeing, cuddled close to Patch.
“Why do they call you patch?” She asked.
Patch kissed her nose:
“I don’t know,” he replied, “I suppose
my mama liked it.”
“Your mama is mama
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