by Sarah Davis
“Oh, no need for that.” Guilt pressed on Penny. Army did so much for her already.
He is invested in this cub’s survival, too. He hired you to work on the problem of the changing climate and the impact on these bears, reminded Lucy.
“He is going to get bigger, Penny. We all know that. Knew that before agreeing to be involved. Won’t be too long before he won’t fit in your house anymore. Might as well do everything we can before kicking you out over the loss of my furniture.” Army smiled and patted her shoulder before he stood up to refill his coffee cup.
Chaperone
As he grew, Fjord interacted with only a select few people except Army, who, due to teaching responsibilities in Anchorage, spent less time with him than the rest. Fjord’s shyness turned into an aggressive playfulness around the man.
The pot came to a boil one day. Fjord stalked Army, but he pretended not to know the cub was behind him. Then all at once, Fjord pounced on the old man, grabbing his calf with his tiny jaws. Army clasped Fjord around the jaw and shook his head from side to side.
“Well, hello, pup. Need to establish our boundaries, eh?” Fjord quickly submitted to the human.
Fjord approached Army slowly with his head down, indicating he was no longer a threat. He displayed the behavior for several days until unleashing wild abandon and rushing up to Army whenever the man visited.
In early April, Army invited Penny and Fjord to accompany him on the hovercraft to assist in monitoring the seal population on an ice shelf rich with natchik, or seal, lairs. No nightmares or premonitions had occurred in recent days, so she agreed. They set up at a breathing hole to wait for a seal to emerge.
Penny found that despite the cool temperatures, she was surprisingly warm as they sat there and waited. And bored.
Fjord was now seventy-four pounds. Every pound became impatient, like Penny, after ten minutes of sitting quietly. He sat still at Penny’s side for a surprisingly long time before attempting to wrestle with Army, chewing on Penny’s boot and going off to pee. After being reprimanded, he settled down to wait at a different hole than the one Army was focused on, occasionally peering in.
Penny settled her gaze on Fjord, her eyesight traveling in and out of focus as time passed. At one point she saw that he had fallen asleep. A seal rose silently from the hole before Fjord, startling him awake. Penny nudged Army, and they watched as Fjord reared up on his hind legs and then slowly, comically, toppled over backwards. The seal didn’t retreat beneath the ice for several seconds, as if it, too, enjoyed observing the young cub.
A mother bear would hunt with her cubs in tow, making them mind while teaching them the skills they would need to survive. Their hunting technique depended on the ice. On a healthy shelf, a bear could lie in wait around a breathing hole until a seal popped up for air. Or, being able to hold their breath for up to three minutes, they approached unsuspecting seals below the surface of the water and attacked a seal sunning itself on an ice shelf. Their sense of smell was incredible with over ten-thousand nerve endings in their nose and a generous olfactory section in their brain that allowed them to scent prey twenty to ninety miles away, given proper wind. Their eyesight embraced red-green color-blindness leading to high sensitivity to movement, especially in dim light conditions.
Upon a tentative surfacing at the human hole, Army attacked the seal and dragged it out onto the ice, much to Penny’s shock. As he dressed it, Fjord started nosing in and getting in the way. Army cut off a few pieces to feed Fjord away from the carcass.
“Aren’t you supposed to be monitoring population, not scoping out the best hunting areas?” Penny asked innocently after she shook off her astonishment.
“Best of both worlds, Penny. Need to get Fjord some hunting experience. Since Momma Bear,” Army picked up on the nickname Noah gave her, “has never hunted natchik before, Uncle Bear will have to do. Cubs watch their mommas do everything. Fjord is lucky enough with plenty of parental figures around. Hopefully we can teach him to be more of a bear and less of a dog-person.” Army roughed up Fjords neck, Fjord growled in response. The two humans chuckled.
“Of course, another bear would be better. But not sure your mother would approve of that,” Army said, referring to Eelyn. “We can take the fat from this seal and render it down into an oil to mix in with his formula or top dress his food. Or you can just mix in chunks. I guess that would be much easier.”
“Do you think we could fix up a shower specifically for him? Or a bath? Or a small swimming pool to swim in and get clean. I thought taking him to the beach would be good, but he will probably get just as messy before I get him back to the house.”
“Good idea. It might be some time before I can buy that wildlife sanctuary. In the meantime, maybe you should try to get him used to sleeping outside. Maybe with one of the dogs. I think Noah and I could rig up a bath for him. He is going to be a messy bear, Penny, no doubt. But how best to get him acclimated to hunting? My people, thousands of years ago, learned to hunt from the bears. Now, I am charged with teaching a bear how to hunt?” He grunted, rubbed the cub on the back. “So, Penny…how are the visions? Still having them?”
She admitted some time had passed since her last one, uncertain what it meant, if anything.
“And the meditation? Has that helped fine tune them?”
Admittedly, Penny found meditation helpful to relax her mind, but the visions stayed the same. Terrifying, vague, useless.
“No, sorry. It hasn’t really helped.”
Army leaned his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands, his look contemplative.
“I still am of the mind that this scarred bear is your spirit animal. I hesitate to call him a guide, as so far he has been unhelpful.” He smiled ruefully. “Please keep sharing additional visions with Noah or me. If there is the tiniest of information that could help solve this, help find the killer or help prevent another victim…well, I’m sure you understand.”
Penny understood. Understood so much that she considered her inability to find anything useful more of a fault than the visions themselves. And there was guilt, if she were honest. Her attempts at meditation had not been productive.
Fjord finished his snack and started playing with Rosie, Army’s tag-a-long hound for the trip. He all but dwarfed her in size, but she held her own, not taking any of his nonsense. The two furred creatures tumbled around until Rosie let him know he had gone too far and nipped him. Play time over, he returned to Penny’s side and lay down to nap.
The end of April brought more sunlight to the area, although not that much warmer weather. Penny was asked to be a chaperone for the high school’s spring formal dance, which she accepted and then immediately regretted. She would be required to wear appropriate clothing, and she did not own a dress. Her mother and Lucy helped her find one that they all agreed on.
The night before the dance she attempted meditation, if only to get a good night’s rest. Once the calming sensations of the meditative state allowed her to drift inside her own mind, she attempted to draw up a recent vision. The shadowed figure materialized, dark and foreboding. But Penny held herself inside the tranquil bubble and focused on the figure, drawing him closer for inspection. Detail remained out of reach as a halo of light brightened. A hand reached up and toward her, as if to stroke her cheek. Her grasp on the peaceful state slipped as the words, “why did you go and mark yourself up like that, I can do so much better” swirled around her.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she breathed heavily against the fear that had surged within. The voice had been flat and indistinct, and the face still concealed by shadow. Apprehension flared as she replayed the words. They sounded familiar. Had the women been marked with tattoos? She couldn’t recall any such detail.
Blue nosed her blankets from where he stood on the floor at her bedside. She scratched his head and willed him to go back to sleep. Lucy remained undisturbed above.
Rising, she left her bedroom to get a glass of water. She checked on Fjord who wa
s sound asleep in his box, a corner of blanket stuck in his mouth, wet from his sleepy time nursing behaviors.
Before getting back into bed, she considered messaging Noah to tell him of the voice. But she hesitated. It was late, and it was his night off. It could wait until tomorrow.
The rest of the night faded into a deep sleep, and when Penny rose early the next morning for a run, the voice had faded into the background noise of her thoughts, forgotten.
Her mother planned for a relaxing day, assuming bear cub responsibilities so Penny could get her work done and get ready for the dance without interruption. Alas, Penny was not one to sit idly by when her cub was playing. The dress prevented her playtime once donned.
They had decided on an iridescent pink and silver, floor-length dress. She was unaccustomed to wearing heels so opted for a new pair of comfortable, cork sandals. She wore little make-up, albeit more than normal. Her mother fixed her hair. And though Lucy and her mother insisted Penny looked wonderful, she felt extremely self-conscious in the unusual attire. Her hair, normally hanging straight down her back or in a simple braid or ponytail, was stacked upon her head, curls framing her face and tickling her neck. She almost didn’t recognize her reflection in the mirror. She saw a woman, not a mere girl, staring back with dark, sultry eyes.
Before she left, her mother traced a fingertip along the feather tattoos exposed on her back between the two spaghetti straps. “Well, worst case, you could try flying away if it goes badly. Although, that might ruin the dress,” she teased.
Noah had left before her, riding a newly modified motorized snow bike he had worked on all winter. Driving alone for the first time in a long time, she began to sweat during the truck ride and anxious electricity coursed through her veins as she stepped inside the school. She could face nighttime attacks, but not a gym full of sweaty high schoolers.
Because it was still early, the gym lights shone bright upon the few students milling about.
Must be the dance committee, Lucy thought.
The dance themed around the grandeur that was the aurora borealis. Long, colorful strips of crepe paper, varied in length, hung from above, and tiny twinkling light strands zigzagged stretching across the ceiling like so many stars. Hundreds of balloons littered the floor. Fallen stars, perhaps? It smelled a bit like sweaty socks, floor wax, and dusty crepe paper, and the rap music playing did not sound like the movement of the earth through the heavens.
Penny spied Noah off to the side smiling and laughing with a refined, petite blond woman. She walked in the opposite direction toward some students setting up a backdrop by the refreshment table.
“Penny, you look great! How have you been?”
She turned to find one of the teachers she was familiar with from the self-defense classes, Ms. Casey Kroh, the business teacher. A loud pop caused Penny to jump. The first balloon casualty of the evening. Penny fought back the spark of panic. Everything is alright. Everything is fine.
“Hi, Casey,” said Penny. Casey nodded her greeting. “I’m good. You?”
“Every day is better than the last! Will you look at that! Aren’t they cute together? Did you know that they used to date in high school? We all thought they would get married.” Casey giggled at the scene across the gym.
Penny looked around and saw Noah and the girl still talking.
“Oh, cool,” she responded.
Casey smiled and walked away. Penny’s gaze followed her, her mind tumbling over the comments. She turned back to what she was doing.
Oh my, are you jealous? You know, you’ve been tight lipped since…
Shut up, Lu.
“Hey, hey! Who is this? Miss Penny? You sure clean up nice!” said Pete, a senior she knew from wrestling. His southern drawl was smooth and in sync with his handsome looks.
Penny whirled around to face him. “So, what? I normally look terrible?” she said, a little too sharply.
Pete’s grin melted off his face.
Lucy’s thought flowed into Penny’s. Obviously not the response he was going for.
His friends, flanking him, quietly took a step away from Pete. Noah appeared behind him and whispered loudly in his ear.
“Tread wisely, my friend. Only tactful honesty will save you from a woman’s wrath.” Noah looked directly at Penny while Pete and the others searched for elsewhere to observe.
Several moments of awkward silence followed.
“Well, you look hot normally, but this is just…hotter,” said James, another senior, as he gestured to all of her.
“Oh, well, thank you.” Penny was more uncomfortable now. Hoping to cover her embarrassment, she urged, “Have a fun night! Don’t spike the punch.”
As if on cue, the lights dimmed, and music began playing.
Noah moved to stand beside Penny.
“So, no spiked punch? This is a damp, not dry, community, you know. Spiked punch is a must at a school gathering,” he joked.
They both smiled. “So, who was the lady you were talking to?”
“Mrs. Samson. Laura. Political Science teacher. She and I dated briefly in high school before we learned we were related. First cousins. Shhh…” He put a finger to his lips. “No one else besides us, her husband and now you know that tender morsel of information. Gotta love those family secrets. She went on to date my best friend, who she is not related to, and they just welcomed their second kid in February.”
“Wow, she looks amazing for just having a kid,” Penny said.
Exit stage left green-eyed monster? Lucy thought.
Sure, sure. Let it go.
“So, shall we chaperone?” Noah asked, holding up his elbow.
She placed her arm through his. “Yes, we shall.” Penny smiled and they walked off to move among the students.
Throughout the night, several students and teachers asked Penny to dance, which she declined. She talked with the teachers, including Mrs. Samson, who was thoroughly entertaining and was undeniably in love with her husband.
Penny took the opportunity to photo bomb several students’ pictures. She was vaguely aware that she might have been the subject of other photos but was enjoying herself too much to bother with it. Later when she checked her phone, she saw someone sent her a photo of her and Noah. He was smiling and whispering in her ear while she laughed.
The music ended and the announcement came that the dance was over. As the lights brightened, Penny said multiple goodnights as she started to help clean up. The dance council was to meet in the morning to put away tables and chairs, but Penny helped the other chaperones remove table covers and garbage.
She packed table toppers into a box and left the gym floor to stow them in the janitor’s closet. When she returned to the auditorium, the main lights were turned off again, and the dance floor illuminated with a thousand twinkling white lights.
She looked around, startled to discover that she was the only one left in the gym. A voice caught her by surprise from behind.
No, not alone.
“Would you dance with me, Momma Bear?”
“I specifically recall reading that the chaperones are not to dance. And besides, bears don’t dance!” Penny replied.
“Actually, bears dance in circuses.”
Noah gazed expectantly at Penny. She looked down. “I don’t know how to dance.”
“What?! I hardly believe that. You ace anything you do…and fighting is sometimes considered to be a dance.” He looked more closely at her expression. “Wait, seriously, you don’t know how, or you have never danced?”
“This is my first dance. I mean, I danced in my home with my parents,” Penny said, her nerves flaring with the foolish disclosure. And there was that one fathers-daughter dance she and her sister attended with their father. In fifth grade.
Noah ran his hand through his hair and smiled a brilliant smile. His hair, more curly than usual since a recent haircut, sprung back like the springs it resembled. The smile he wore warmed her to her core.
“Penny,” he
walked backwards to the center of the gym floor, beckoning her with his index finger. “Come hither.”
She snorted and offered a shy grin. “Hither? Really?”
Noah reached for her hand and pulled her to the center of the gymnasium.
Her gaze traveled over his perfectly cut, black-vested suit that held his manly scent. Her eyes weren’t sure where to focus until she found the toes peering from her sandals. It was a fascinating picture that she focused on. He took her hand in his, lifting her gaze to see something beautiful. Incomprehensible. Her heart expanded more than she thought possible.
“Um, Noah…there isn’t any music playing.”
He smiled, lifted his phone from his pocket and pressed the screen.
“Do you recall telling me what your favorite song was growing up?”
“My favorite?” She quietly thought about it and told him an old song her mother used to play. “Sinatra, ‘Fly Me to the Moon.’”
The big band sound began blaring through the speakers.
He placed his right hand on her waist and grasped her right hand in his left. She looked up at him expectantly as they stood in place.
“Okay, you may not believe this, but I don’t know how to dance very well myself. So, let’s both fake it,” he said.
A nervous giggle erupted from Penny.
Blind leading the blind, she thought.
Don’t think, just dance, her sister thought back.
Penny closed her eyes as they began moving in time with the music. When she opened her eyes, she found Noah looking down, a lopsided grin on his face. Around the dance floor they went, gracefully, perhaps—off-time with the music, most definitely. When the music ended, their arms stayed wrapped around the other.
Noah’s gaze intensified, flickering about her face.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said. All those nights he stayed late, and she fell asleep (or pretended) while watching a movie began to catch her off guard. “Better option came along?” He smiled, but his eyes searched hers.
“No, no option could come close. I just—” She broke off as he closed the distance between their flushed faces.