by Zina Abbott
Loi twitched her nose. “Bear meat very great delicacy, but bear smell bad.”
Luke threw back his head and laughed. “It does smell bad. I don’t know about bear meat being a delicacy, but the bearskin will make a nice pelt. They’re warm and comfortable to sleep on. I’ll walk you safely inside the cabin. My horse isn’t going to like it, but after we bring you the chicken that attracted the attention of this bear in the first place, I’m going to let her help me drag the grizzly to where I can skin it and save some of the meat for us. As for the bear fat, among…” Luke clamped his lips shut. He started to say among his mother’s people—his people—bear fat was considered valuable for protecting against cold and keeping noisome insects away. It protected the skin in harsh weather conditions and was used to groom hair. However, the less people in California knew about his background, the better. Instead of continuing this thought, he kept one arm around the back of Loi’s waist and guided her towards the cabin.
Loi tapped the palm of her one hand with the fingers of the other. “Loi cook bear paws for Shorty. Best part—great delicacy. Other bear meat…” Loi hesitated and wrinkled her nose.
Luke smiled at her and shrugged. He pulled her hand through the crook of his arm so it rested on her forearm for support. He slowly walked her away from the grizzly. “Bear meat has a strong taste. Some people don’t like it. But when you’re hungry, bear meat is meat. We won’t cook with the fat unless we need to.”
“Stew bear paws in water, like rice.”
They were almost back to the cabin when Loi remembered the blindfold. She raised her arm on which she had slid it earlier. “Cloth gone. Ling Loi see...”
Luke reached over and wrapped his hand around hers. He turned her toward him as he studied her eyes for several seconds before he focused his gaze on loose strands of her hair. He brushed them aside with his fingers. “There’s no need to put the blindfold on when it’s just you and me, Loi. You’ve already seen me. You already can identify me if I’m arrested. I’ll find the blindfold for you, but only wear it when Tex or Boss returns. It’s just…you might not be safe if you let on to them you’ve seen me or the land around the cabin.”
.
.
.
.
Chapter 22
~o0o~
T o Luke, the rest of the day after the bear attack felt anticlimactic but busy. Once Luke led Loi safely to the cabin, he fetched the chicken so she could begin preparing her main meal. “Miss Ling, cook the chicken and rice only for you. I will cook bear meat and potatoes for me later.”
A stricken expression on her face, Loi turned to Luke. “Shorty not like how Ling Loi cook?”
“I’m sure you cook really well, Miss Ling. I don’t want the rice to run out before Boss and Tex take you back to Lundy. I think you will like chicken and rice better than bear meat and potatoes.”
Loi scrunched her face and shook her head. “Bear meat great delicacy. But Ling Loi not sure like bear meat. Smell bad.”
Luke chuckled under his breath as he left to convince his reluctant horse to help him drag the grizzly carcass away from the cabin and down closer to the water. He would save the skin and take some of the more tender parts of the meat to eat fresh. Some of it he cut into strips to dry for future use after he received his money and could leave. Without a tribe to help and benefit from his kill, he would be leaving a large portion of the bear remains to scavengers.
Luke worked for hours but he eventually finished butchering the grizzly. He wrapped the meat and fat he chose to save inside the skinned hide of the bear. It took effort, but he tied it to the back of his skittish horse and led the animal back up the hill to the clearing outside of the cabin where he unloaded the bundle.
Luke’s shoulders and arms began to ache from all the exertion. However, he soon finished hanging strips of bear meat on racks made from green wood stripped of bark. He set them to dry over a bed of coals. While keeping an eye on his meat, he cut longer poles and made a frame on which he stretched the bearskin. He smiled at the rope he knew had come from Charley. It was the same one he tossed at Tex to use as a leash for Ling Loi. He hoped Charley did not plan to have it back, because Luke found a better use for it.
As he reached each paw, Luke cut off the claws that ranged from three inches to longer—longer than any he had ever seen on a black bear. The Ojibwa considered owning claws from a bear kill a sign of achievement. He would make a necklace from them and wear it with pride. However, the paw pads, along with the attached meat, he removed and took them into the cabin where he offered them to Loi.
By chopping the large hind leg bones of the bear at an angle, Luke made fleshing tools. He preferred to use those to clean his pelt rather than dull his knife with the task. Between tending the coals under the drying meat and scraping the remains of flesh and fat from the underside of the bear’s hide, time passed quickly.
While working on the lower half of the skin, Luke heard quiet footsteps approach. “Shorty, Ling Loi make chicken, rice. You eat?”
Smiling, Luke glanced her way, and then he resumed his task. “Thank you, Ling Loi, but I’ll wait. You go ahead and eat.”
Loi remained, watching Luke. “What Shorty do to bear? Bear very strong medicine in China.”
“I’m scraping its hide clean so I can save the bearskin. This is called fleshing. I don’t know about using bears for medicine, but in America, many people value bearskins.” Luke said nothing about how the native tribes considered bears strong medicine in a spiritual sense.
“Pay much money for bearskin?”
“Yes, but I plan to keep this one.”
Luke looked up at Loi and laughed as she wrinkled her nose.
“Bear skin smell bad, like bear.”
“It’ll smell better once I finish with it. Do you want to help me flesh it? I have another flesher.” Luke nodded in the direction of the second bone tool. “Among my people fleshing is considered women’s work.”
In an attitude of resignation, Loi slowly lowered herself to her knees next to Luke. She picked up the bone tool to examine it more closely. After she watched how Luke used his, she reached up and found a section where Luke had already separated a large chunk of flesh and began the downward scraping motion to separate more. After several minutes, she sat back on her heels with a sigh. “Hard.”
Luke put his tool down and reached over to remove the bone flesher from her hand. “You don’t need to help me, Loi. You’re not used to this, and I don’t want your clothes to get dirty and stink of bear. Let me help you up so you can go wash your hands.”
The sun was beyond the mountains to the west and the night was almost upon him when Luke finished the fleshing. He figured whatever spots he might have missed, he would find them in the morning. Once again, he checked the coals under the drying meat. He decided to leave them for a while longer but would find a place for the racks inside the cabin for the night. Loi might not like the smell, but he had no desire for varmints to come into the clearing and steal his meat.
Upon entering the cabin, Luke came to a dead stop as his eyes took in the sight before him. Loi had arranged the three log stools in front of the fireplace. On the center one she had placed a silk cloth or scarf. Crowded together, she had artfully arranged his enamel plate, cup, fork and spoon. Next to the fireplace rested her china bowl. She had heaped cooked rice inside and topped it with an arrangement of bite-size pieces of chicken and vegetables. Luke’s mouth watered in response to the aroma.
As soon as Loi saw Luke, she moved to the fireplace where she poured out a cup of tea. She motioned to the stool on the far side. “Sit, please.” After he sat down, Loi walked around the table setting and fell to her knees. She bowed her head as with both hands she raised the cup towards him. “Thank you for saving Ling Loi from bear.”
Luke smiled down at Loi as he took his cup. She looked lovely, but he did not like her attitude of servitude. “Thank you, Miss Ling. I appreciate this meal very much, but you don’t need
to kneel before me. Please get up and sit on the log.”
Luke raised the cup to his lips and, with closed eyes, inhaled the aroma of the tea. Without taking much of a break during the afternoon and early evening, he didn’t realize until then just how hungry and thirsty he felt. He savored the flavor as he rolled the liquid over his tongue before swallowing. It tasted so much better than the tea he made. He quickly realized why. Loi had taken the time to steep the tea until it was just the right strength, then she had somehow fished most of the tea leaves out so it did not get stronger and more bitter. It would be to his benefit to allow her make their tea from now on.
“Loi cook chicken, cook rice. Shorty eat. Loi good cook.”
Luke smiled and tipped his head in acknowledgement as Loi handed him a plate with rice and chicken. He also saw strips of carrots and onion, some of the vegetables he had bought. He took a few bites and handed the plate to Ling Loi. “Miss Ling…”
“Loi say Shorty, you say…” Loi tapped her chest with her fingertips. “Loi.”
Luke hesitated. He realized this woman—his captive he had saved from the grizzly—offered him a great compliment by asking him to call her by her given name. “Thank you, Loi. However, I want you to eat what’s left. It was very good, but I meant what I said. I want to save the rice for you. Luke arose to his feet. “I’ll be right back.”
Luke rummaged in the food supplies until he found a hunk of cured bacon. He cut off a couple of fatty pieces and tossed them into the pan to start rendering while he grabbed a potato and stepped outside long enough to scrub the loose dirt off of it. A layer of grease coated the bottom of the skillet by the time he began to slice the potato. He realized Loi closely watched his every move. Before the potatoes finished cooking, he threw in small chunks of bear meat and flavored it all with a sprinkle of salt. He grinned again at Loi’s expression of concern as the odor of frying bear reached her nose.
“Potatoes bad with bear meat. Eat bear meat alone, rice later.”
“What little rice there is, I want to save for you.” Luke eyes lit with amusement as he offered her a lop-sided grin. “Besides, I like potatoes with my bear meat.”
Feeling chastened, Loi slumped and dropped her gaze to her lap. “Tomorrow, Ling Loi cook bear meat, potatoes. Shorty eat.”
“Tomorrow, you can stew your bear paws to go with your rice.”
Luke’s heart softened towards Loi even more than it already had. His sense of guilt escalated. He kept her prisoner, yet she willingly helped him. She even offered to prepare a meal using a meat she personally thought smelled offensive. “You don’t need to feel like you must cook my food, Loi.”
Between checking on his meal, Luke brought the racks of drying meat in and tied them to the rafters in the far corner. He would have preferred to finish the drying process over the fire in the fireplace, but there was not enough room. After he found the washed quart jar used for the rice mixture from the Caldwell Ranch, he had Loi put the rest of her rice and vegetables in it to save for the next day. He found an air leak near the back wall—near where Tex’s head rested when he stayed in the cabin, Luke noted with a grin—and placed Loi’s jar of food and the rest of the raw bear meat he had wrapped in an oiled cloth where it would stay cool.
Every time he turned around, Loi anticipated what he needed. Although she could not move far very fast, she tried to help as much as she could. He enjoyed being stuck in this cabin with her so much better now that she no longer wore the blindfold and they could look at each other freely.
As the fire died down, Luke settled Loi in her two blankets on her pallet in front of the fire. He watched her as she fell asleep. He next drifted off, aware that the sense of unease he had struggled with earlier that day no longer plagued him.
The next day, after mashing the bear’s brains and stirring the mess in warm water, Luke spread a thin layer of the mix over the fleshed bearskin. Using a circular motion, he rubbed it into the hide. He sometimes added water, and lastly coated the surface using blubber he had cut off the grizzly. The huge pelt stretched bigger than any other bearskin Luke had seen or worked on. He kept the frame propped against the largest boulder, the same one he had leaned against the day before.
Loi repeatedly returned to the doorway to watch him for minutes at a time. Finally, she walked over to him. “What do to bear?”
“This is all part of curing the skin so I can use it. There is something in an animal’s brains that helps to make its skin soft and preserve it. But I have to work it in really good.”
Luke brought one of the log stools out next to where he worked so Loi could sit and watch him. To pass the time, he started to teach her more English. She pointed out objects she didn’t know. He told her the English word, and she taught him the Cantonese word.
Luke noticed that, as they talked, Loi began to hesitantly use pronouns and speak in more complete sentences. Their conversations refreshed her memory of the forgotten English she had learned at the Christian mission.
Over the next two days, Luke found a sense of peace as he worked on curing the bearskin and drying the meat. He also kept busy chopping firewood and fixing the weak spots in the cabin’s roof. With only him and Loi present, he forgot at times that she was being held hostage and he was one of her jailers.
One night, Luke listened quietly as Loi told him most of her story. She lamented her fate of being sold to a Chinatown tong instead of being married like her brother promised her. She assured Luke she had resigned herself to accepting her fate.
Luke commiserated with her, but found her belief that women are to always be subservient to the men their lives foreign. He knew to a certain degree white Americans, especially the men, believed that. However, it was not the way of the Ojibwa.
Out of curiosity, Luke asked one last question. “Loi, if you could choose your fate, what would you want from life?”
Loi answered without hesitation. “Cong leong. Return to way of decency. Be wife to one man only, give him many sons.”
.
.
.
.
Chapter 23
~o0o~
T hree days after the bear incident, Luke decided to take the chance that neither Tex nor Charley would return that day. He took Loi for a horseback ride. He took care to keep her where she could not easily see the skyline over the surrounding mountains or any physical characteristics that would help her lead someone to the hideout.
Luke soon realized she had almost no experience riding a horse. The height intimidated her. Still, he coaxed her to sit in front of him and convinced her she was safe with his arms on either side of her to support her. He promised her he would not let her fall.
Luke refused to dwell on how much he enjoyed having her next to him, especially after she relaxed enough that her back pressed against his chest and she occasionally rested a hand on his arm rather than continue her death-grip on his saddle horn. It was all he could do to keep from reaching up to brush back the tendrils of loose hair that blew into her face as occasional rogue breezes skittered through the tree trunks and snatched at them. Knowing the role he played in keeping her captive, he felt he did not deserve to enjoy her company. He cared about her, but he knew it could come to nothing. Soon Charley and Tex would return. They would all receive their money. Loi would return to the Chinese sector of Lundy until they made new arrangements for her to travel to Chinatown in San Francisco. He struggled to focus on that rather than how good wrapping his arms around her felt, or how much he enjoyed her company while he showed her the forest.
Near the edge of a stream, the two dismounted. Luke helped Loi walk around to enjoy the scenery. Before he led her back to the horse, he found a downed log for Loi to sit upon. He felt the need to prepare her for when Charley and Tex returned.
“Loi, I need to talk to you about something.” Luke sat down next to her and waited until Loi gave him her full attention. “Boss and Tex will return soon. I don’t want them to know we have become…friendly. At leas
t, I think you and I are friends.”
Loi inhaled deeply, and kept her voice soft. “Hai. Shorty friend to Loi.”
“Hai. That means yes, right?”A frown of concern momentarily wrinkled Luke’s forehead as he watched her nod, then turn her head away from him. He sensed his words upset her, but he had no idea why. “I’ve tried to be a friend.”
I long for much more than friendship with you.
“I never wanted to be part of you being here like this. But, please trust what I am telling you. It’s safer for you if Boss and Tex don’t think we’re friends. It’s better if you act like you don’t like me. I’ll do the same.”
Loi straightened in her seat and turned to face him. “You no like Ling Loi.” She spoke it as a statement, not a question.
“That’s not true, Loi. I do like you.” Luke preferred to not examine just how much he liked this small Chinese woman with her winsome ways, her friendly smile, and the way she sometimes spoke her mind as if she was not his prisoner. His feelings for her exceeded those of a friend, but he struggled to keep that knowledge from her as well as deny it in his own mind. “I like you enough I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. Who knows what Tex, and, more importantly, Boss might do if they think we get along. I just want to see you safely back to Lundy.”
Loi scrunched her mouth in disgust. “Tex, Boss bad men. What you say—hoodlums.”
“I know, Loi. That is why I don’t want to do anything that will cause them to decide against returning you to your own people. No matter what I say, please remember I do like you. If I say something bad against you, I don’t mean it. I say it to protect you. They might not let me come along when they return you to Lundy. If not, I want you to know I’ll follow close by in case you need help. Do you understand?”