Bear Alaska

Chapter Two

Leah groaned with the effort while she tried to wedge the metal bar under the edge of the rock and tried to lift it out of the ground. She had dug around it to get it free from the ground, but the giant thing wouldn’t budge and she could not move her greenhouse. For the best sunlight and the least threat of being crushed by a falling tree in the little time she had available to set it up against the warm wall of the house where the fireplace would help heat it up in winter, this was where it had to be, but the stupid boulder stopped her from getting the best out of it.

Not to mention that she had no time or inclination to cut down any more trees around her house. The yard was open enough to be what she wanted without taking away all the natural beauty. Plus she didn’t want to attempt cutting down a tree near the yard and have it falling down wrong and ruining one of the out buildings she had plans for; that kind of damage would ruin not only her schedule but her chances at surviving the winter if she had to redo something that was already there.

She had been here about a week and her chores now included feeding and watering the chickens and retrieving any eggs. Luckily the bear didn’t seem interested in the chickens, though it still made its nightly visits around her yard. She was still baffled about why it would keep exploring her yard when the only food she could think of that would intrigue it were the chickens, which it didn’t seem to care about – unless it thought her a better meal.

With a curse, Leah dropped the steel bar and stood glaring at the boulder while panting her exertion. This stupid boulder was putting her behind schedule and she wished her pick-up had had a winch she could use to see if she could get it out that way. She did not currently own a tractor and she obviously did not have the muscle to move this stupid stone on her own so she had to start being smart about it.

She put her fists on her hips and she glared down at the rock, trying to think of a way she could get it out of the way that did not include breaking off pieces and moving it tiny bits at a time, because that would take more time than she had to waste. Suddenly the hairs on the back of her neck rose in a warning and she stood frozen for a moment, sensing a presence near her that she was sure she did not want.

She tried to see anything out of her peripheral, but obviously whatever creature was there was directly behind her, down wind. Her senses went into overdrive while she tried to find out exactly what it was and how much time she had to react. With her blood pumping urgently through her veins she stayed frozen while she stared at the shotgun that was leaning against a large tree nearby where she had put it when it had been in her way while she had battled with the boulder.

A lot of good it did her there!

Leah cursed under her breath when she sensed the creature coming closer and everything in her told her to run. But she knew that running would make her prey for whatever was behind her, though she guessed she was already prey considering its quiet approach, but running did not mean she had any hope of escape. She tried to keep her breathing from speeding up as her heart beat in her throat and she considered her options.

If she could make it to the tree, she could either grab the gun or get in the tree. Now considering that she wasn’t sure exactly what was stalking her and how much time she had, she thought the tree might be a better option. Slowly she started to move her hands from her hips to get ready to run, when she felt the bear repellent at her hip. She had completely forgotten about it. It might not be a bear, but the stuff was strong enough to get rid of any predator or at the very least buy her some time to escape to the tree.

The seconds felt like hours and then she heard the familiar snuffling. It was the bear, and he was not far behind her.  Praying that she would have a chance at escape, she spun round while she drew the repellent from her belt and sprayed it. The nozzle had not been aimed as well as she would have liked, but it caught the large – no huge – bear on the left half of its face and it snarled in pain and jerked away when the strong spray hit its face.

Leah used that moment to sprint to the nearby tree and nimbly clambered up to a branch she hoped it wouldn’t be able to reach while she dropped the repellent next to the gun, praying all the while that the animal would not recover and follow before she was out of reach. She was panting with exertion and distress when she finally sat on the branch above the creature and found it pacing underneath the tree snuffling, sneezing and shaking its head in its discomfort, adding the occasional guttural groan as if bemoaning her actions.

Gasping for breath to calm her nerves she realized what a truly beautiful specimen it was. It was larger than she had thought they could grow, on all fours its face had been higher than her own, her only saving grace with the spray had been that its head had been lowered, and a gorgeous rich caramel color. Stupidly she longed to brush her fingers through the thick fur; she was sure it would be soft. Leah shook her head at her thoughts of attempting something so irresponsible.

The animal sneezed and shook its head again before looking around and then up at her where she leaned her back against the large tree to steady herself and she almost imagined she saw a measure of betrayal in its eyes. The thought made her feel guilty about spraying it in the face.

Well, that was just stupid! Sure, it was a beautiful creature, but she couldn’t put human emotions to animals, otherwise she would go insane in her work and attempt at homesteading. Not to mention that the animal would not hesitate to eat her if she was within its reach. 

But she couldn’t shake the feeling that the animal felt betrayed by her reaction. “Well, I’m sorry I sprayed you with repellent, but it serves you right for stalking me.” She snapped and crossed her arms over her chest; annoyance replacing the fear she had felt moments ago.

She was sure the animal stopped for a moment before it shook its head again and paced at the base of the tree she was sitting in. “Perfect, Leah. You’ve lost the last of your marbles talking to a bear like that.” She muttered to herself. “It’s not like it understands you. Maybe this life is not meant for you when you’ve already started talking to wild animals like human beings.” She never took her eyes off the animal while she muttered to herself, in case it decided to attempt to get to her and she needed to move higher up, but she did push the wayward hair that had come loose from her braid out of her face.

The bear stopped its pacing, sat down facing her and the tree and raised its upper body as if it was a human sitting at a picnic, making it almost look endearing. It rubbed its face with the huge left paw, sneezing again before it lowered its paw and stared up at her where she sat in the tree as if it was intent on a conversation.

It was almost comical and she found herself smiling at the image. “You can’t fool me, Mister Bear. You are an apex predator; not a teddy bear.” But she cringed slightly when she saw how red his eye was; she could only imagine how much it burned and she hated hurting an animal when she had studied to help treat them. “I can imagine your eye hurts a lot with that spray though…but if you hadn’t sneaked up on my like that, I would not have sprayed you with it, so you only have yourself to blame for that.”

The animal huffed resignedly and she could swear it looked even less dangerous than it had when it had sat down to face her; he even raised his head to sniff the air, obviously smelling her in the slight breeze that blew past her towards him.

How did she know it was a “he”? Because he was so big? She had no idea, but she was sure it wasn’t a female bear. But why did he keep coming around if he was not after food, because she was sure he hadn’t found any food around her yard and he had not even bothered to inspect her pack, unless he considered her the food.

“So you’re my mystery visitor, huh…why do you keep coming around? I know for a fact you haven’t found food in my yard, because you’re clearly not interested in my chickens. So why do you keep coming back?” Leah found herself talking to the bear who seemed entirely comfortable to sit there waiting for her to get out of the tree – or not – and appeared to actually be interested in her monologue.

She was probably losing her mind already. 

After a week.

She was not sure what he was doing, but he seemed in no hurry to leave where he sat staring up at her with that one eye watery and red from the repellent. She felt sorry for how painful that eye had to be, but there was no way she was getting down to attempt to treat it. She might not be the best homesteader, but she wasn’t entirely stupid either. And it did serve him well for stalking her when she was busy trying to etch out a living here.

“You know, between you and that stupid boulder over there, I am getting farther and farther behind schedule to get my greenhouse up for my groceries.” She stated while she nodded once in the direction of the boulder close to where the huge beast still sat like a teddy bear.

Dutifully the animal turned his head and looked down at the earth where she had dug around the large boulder as if he understood what she was saying to him. “Not that you really care, because if I starve this winter, you’d probably have a nice snack in case you wake from your hibernation...” She muttered almost to herself, but she noticed the bear turn its large face back to her and tip its head to the side as if it understood her and was considering her words seriously.

Leah leaned her head back against the tree trunk at her back and glanced up at the clear blue sky, while she pulled her one leg towards her chest and rested her arm on the knee. By her guess it was near lunch time. As if her body wanted to confirm that her stomach growled loudly and she sighed. She didn’t pack lunch for her and even if she did, her bag with her water was on the ground, next to the gun.

She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and watched while Mister Bear ambled away casually past the tree she was sitting and she dropped her legs around the limb so she could watch where he was going without falling off the branch that held her out of danger. He disappeared into the woods and she wondered if he had lost interest or decided there had to be something easier to eat today.

She sat staring into the woods for long moments, wondering if she should risk climbing down to get her bag and gun or wait a little longer to see if he had really just left her. She was not entirely knowledgeable on grizzly bear characteristics, but that was strange to her. It was as if the bear was entirely happy to just spend time with her.

Maybe she should seek out the neighbors and find out if they have had problems with a grizzly lately. Maybe the animal had rabies? It was not exactly normal reactions for a wild animal to seek out a human and sit down staring at them like that…like he did not consider her food. That was weird, more than weird. 

It was as if the bear wanted to check on her.

OK, it was official; she was losing her mind.

When the bear did not return after several minutes, she glanced around her again to be sure the animal was nowhere near her and slowly climbed gingerly down out of the tree. How did she get up the tree so fast anyway? Once her feet hit the ground she grabbed the bag and rifle and started walking briskly back to her cabin, drinking water on the way while she kept glancing around her to be sure she was not being stalked again. 

She had no intention of stopping to eat something. At the rate she was falling behind schedule, she wanted to stretch her food stocks for as long as she could. She had no idea when she would be able to get her greenhouse up and running so the food she currently had was worth more than gold at this moment. 

Honestly, she’d rather eat only breakfast and dinner than go without food later. She could handle eating only two meals a day for now. And she still had to explore the rest of her land and collect more firewood. But she was not entirely sure that was a good idea when Mister Bear was hanging around nearby. She would go out tomorrow morning with the four-wheeler and wagon to explore and collect wood.

For now she would rather work in the barn nearby, and make sure the quad was working and get everything ready for tomorrow so she could save whatever time she could in the morning. It was a good thing she knew bike engines, thanks to her dad who had allowed her to work with him sometimes.

She missed him desperately; he would have loved this place.