DAY 22

"This it! This work big!" yells Crazy Elk.

"Whistle, cheek flip, click, whistle" came the reply of his Partner in crime.

I look from my lying position at the contraption Crazy Elk and Winter Hawk have put together and shake my head. "What exactly are you going to do with this thing?"

Crazy Elk points to the top of the hill behind our campsite. Winter Hawk laughs madly, eyes wide with excitement. "Click, click, whistle!!" as he makes all kinds of crazy motions too fast to follow with his hands, but I get the gist of it.

"Oh no! You aren't seriously thinking about trying to fly this thing? You just built it last night, and it is nothing but tree branches, some vines, a little rope and animal hide! Have you lost your ever loving minds?!?" I look at them now as they just stare blankly at me. "....Never mind" I say, shaking my head in disbelief.

"Lip pop, whistle, click, click?" Winter Hawk asks.

"No. I am not helping you carry it up the hill. I will have no part in the two of you killing yourselves with this stupid thing"

"Click?..."

"Aw man! Don't look at me like that! This isn't going to work. I'm not falling for that look! No! That is my final answer!"

Then another voice chimes in, "You not believe in Crazy Elk. Crazy Elk Air Force man. Crazy Elk know how plane fly. Crazy Elk see plenty of planes"

"Look, none of that means you know how to build one! Or fly one for that matter!"

"Crazy Elk know!" he says, all hurt sounding now. "Crazy Elk watch! Crazy Elk not dumb!"

Winter Hawk claps and whistles wildly as he takes a run around the fire now, arms out like an airplane. Am I the only one here not insane?

.....We pull the makeshift glider/plane to the top of the hill. A steep overhang overlooks the forest beside our camp, and that is where we are headed. When we finally reach the top, Crazy Elk licks his finger and sticks it in the air, closing an eye with a look of concentration.

"Yeah, that is how all the pilots do it" I say sarcastically.

"Crazy Elk know it is" He replies, turning to find the breeze, completely missing the verbal jab I threw his way.

Winter Hawk starts to work tying ropes off to attach the hide to the glider. The more he ties, the more rope he has laying everywhere. "What are you doing?" I ask. "Click, click...long whistle, lip pop" he replies, looking over at me, still tying. "I'm just saying, that is a lot of rope. You going to use all of that?" I ask. He turns now, eyes narrowing as he stares. "...Click..." and he returns to his tying. "Fine, I won't ask anything else about it."

"Big Bear need hold this" says Crazy Elk as he lifts the bottom of the glider. "Why?" I ask. "Crazy Elk need to tie seat on. You hold while Crazy Elk tie." I walk over and hold the glider up and he begins to tie on the seat. I look around a moment, and glance over the side. "You know, that is a mighty steep drop off that ledge. I don't like you guys doing this at all. Someone is going to get seriously hurt."

Now, one thing that must always be kept in mind, especially at higher elevations, is the fact that wind gusts can occur very quickly and much more powerfully than at lower elevations...Much, much more quickly and powerful.

...The sudden gust of wind catches under the bottom of the glider, picking it up off the ground and pulling it toward the drop off. Winter Hawk and Crazy Elk jump back just in time, the seat still only half tied on. I realize the glider is taking off and I let it go of it, not wanting to go over the side with it. I jump away and to the side...Right into the tangle of ropes left by Winter Hawk.

I see the rope trailing behind the glider as it catches the air, then look down, then back at the glider, my mind piecing what is transpiring together. My mind didn't work fast enough. The rope tightens around my ankle as I look down again, then back up at the two responsible for this, their eyes wild with bewilderment, my eyes wide with fear.

As I am snatched upward I have time to hear a long whistle from Winter Hawk and the follow up words of Crazy Elk. "This not end well!!!"

My retort to such statements? "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!"

I didn't actually get snatched straight up, quite the contrary. The glider was still low enough that I was dragged mercilessly across the hilltop before being pulled off the ledge. As the wind grabbed the glider and it lifted upward, I hang upside down, hands full of grass and dirt from where I had clawed desperately to try and stop the inevitable. I hear screaming now, loud and frightening. Screams so horrifying that they would chill a grown man to his bones, then I realize they are coming from me.

I spin around underneath the glider, watching the hillside grow smaller below me as the Wright Brothers Wanna-Be's run down to the camp and into the woods, trying to follow me from the ground...Well, trying to follow the glider, because where it was going, I was going...I thought.

That was when I heard the ripping sound and looked up at the glider and saw the hide slowly tearing open across the frame. I scream louder now. The hide rips up the right side of the wood structure, and that, along with my weight pulling down on it, starts a steady and very fast circling descent into the woods below.

Everything was spinning now, and with my screaming, I sounded like a human siren, or that is what they told me later. Crazy Elk said because they couldn't see past the trees at times, it was the only way they could track me from the forest.

I should have been on the ground!!! That was the only thought running through my head Well, that and realizing I was going to probably die. Not long now, I will be on the ground again! I passed a flying crow so fast, all I heard was a loud "CAW!!" and I saw black feathers floating around behind me. Not sure where the crow went, I am guessing my reentry into the atmosphere may have burned him alive as I jetted by him to my doom.

I hit the canopy top of the forest and it did not take long to find the nearest set of branches to hit, then another, then some more. By this time, the glider has caught up with me in my fall and I get tangled up in the ropes and framework, falling... Yelling... Crying.

Then suddenly, I come to a stop, the framework and ropes now dangling me above the ground about 25 feet. This seems oddly familiar for some reason. I hear the rustling on the forest floor and look to see Crazy Elk and Winter Hawk tearing through the brush. They stop below me, looking up now.

"THAT... WAS... AWESOME!!!" yells Crazy Elk.

"Get me down!" I yell.

"Click, whistle!" says Winter Hawk as he makes a diving move with his hand and laughs excitedly and uncontrollably.

"GET ME DOWN!" I yell.

"Been better if seat fixed. We fix seat next time!" says Crazy Elk to him excitedly.

"GET ME DOWN!!! I yell louder.

"Cheek flip, click, whistle, lip pop, whistle!" Says Winter Hawk, still laughing.

"GET... ME... DOWN... NOW!!!!" I scream.

They look up at me now and i hear Crazy Elk. "I not know. Big bear look angry. Big Bear might kill Crazy Elk and Winter Hawk..." He squints his eyes now, cocking his head to the side as he looks up. "...Big Bear?...You have wet stain on fur?"

All was silent for a few moments as Winter Hawk raises an eyebrow looking at me now.

I start yelling again, and a few choice words later, Winter Hawk climbs the tree and crawls out onto the branch I am hanging from. He pulls his knife, flipping it around like a Ginsu Chef at Benihana's.

"No, NO! Don't cut the...!!!!" I shout.

Too late. I hit a few more branches on the way down and I land with a dull thud on the ground below. Crazy Elk walks over, looks down at me as I lay there, sucking for air. "Hmm. Big Bear Lucky. Branches broke fall good."

I grab for his leg, intent on biting into his Achilles tendon, but he moves... Just as Winter Hawk exits the tree, slipping on the last branch and falling himself...To land directly on top of me.

I groan now and cry a little more, unable to move from the pain as he stands up, dusting himself off with a quick whistle. Crazy Elk looks back. "That close, Winter Hawk. You could have died!" Winter Hawk nods his head quickly in agreement.

... I lay here in the camp now, realizing a full body cast is probably needed, but having to do with what Winter Hawk and Crazy Elk's sticks and bandages could do to hold me in together. Parts of me keep going numb. I don't think that is a good sign. The bright side of all this? I can't feel where they shot me anymore.

DAY 21

Woke this morning to the sound of drums. I Looked out of the Tee Pee and saw that Winter Hawk and Crazy Elk were doing their own primitive version of Kashmir, but it didn't sound like Led Zeppelin...At all.

Hoping that the day would be a day of calm, of rest, or recuperation, I sat down by the fire, wrapping the furs I was wearing around me, and listened. The drums stopped. "You not wearing war paint, Big Bear. We hunt today. You not ready" said Crazy Elk.

"Oh yeah? Now you are speaking in broken English? What is wrong with the two of you?!? Have I not been through enough with you?!? A Badger, a Bear, Beavers, a roaring river rapids ride...Or well, a creek ride, but it was a big creek! What makes you think I am going to go hunting with the two of you again? Oh no, not a chance. I have had it! I am not a chew toy, I am not a piece of bait, and I refuse to be used in such ways ever again! I am the Chief of this, this...Whatever it is, and I am not doing it again! No Sir! You want to go hunting, you're going without me, period."

They both just stare at me now. "What?"

.........As we work our way through the woods, The two "Would-be" Indian Braves carried bows and arrows they had made. I don't even know where they are getting this stuff from, but, not planning to be a victim of a misfire, I let them lead the way.

"How much practice have the two of you had with those things?" I ask.

"Click" comes the reply.

"None?!? Should you be carrying a weapon you haven't even tested or fired?"

They stop walking and Winter Hawk turns to look at me. "Whistle, click, click, whistle, lip pop"

I roll my eyes. "Oh, so you're a natural shot, huh? Well, if you say so, Geronimo"

With that, he frowns at me, then turns and points at a small tree. "click, click whistle....Click, click" He draws back the bow, and releases. The arrow flies straight into the center of the trunk of the small tree. He turns and smiles proudly. I will have to say, I am quite amazed with the shot, I would never have imagined. So I shrug and grin. Maybe, just maybe, we will have a good hunt after all.

I start walking down the trail again and Crazy Elk stops me. "You get arrow"

"Huh"

"Click, click, whistle, whistle"

"I know I was the one who asked if you could shoot it, but I didn't tell you to shoot the stupid tree. You go get it!"

Now the arguing starts. Crazy Elk in his broken English, Winter Hawk in his clicks and whistles and me just yelling at both of them, and everyone pointing at the tree with the arrow stuck in it... It sounded a lot like what a United Nations meeting would sound like without interpreters.

"FINE!!!" I finally yell and start walking towards the tree. "Stupid argument over the arrow. You shoot it, next time, you two Knot heads can go get it" I yell behind me. "Not right way, Big Bear!" yells Crazy Elk. "Shut up!" I yell back as I push back the bushes and vines around the tree. "It's not enough you tell me I have to get the arrow, but now you are going to tell me HOW to get it. Just shut up!" The growth was thick around the tree but I finally get to the trunk and pull the arrow free and make my way back through the bushes. The limbs and leaves slapping me everywhere as I fussed the entire walk back to the trail. They are snickering now, apparently at me. Still upset, I scream at them, "WHAT?!? WHAT NOW?!?"

"Click, whistle" says Winter Hawk as he starts, not just snickering, but laughing out loud.

"...No...No way! Why didn't you tell me it was poison oak!!!" I said.

"I say not go that way, you say shut up, so I shut up" said Crazy Elk.

"Yeah, but you could have said, 'Don't go that way, it's poison oak!!!"

"Hmm. Me suppose..We not think of that" He says.

I look down drawing a deep breath, resigning myself to what I know is going to be a very bad rest of this day...And days to come. "No, of course you didn't. What was I possibly thinking."

Cray Elk looks at Winter Hawk, pulling on his bow now." String not tight enough. This bow not shoot good." he says. I just shake my head now, walking down the path past the two as they click and whistle, discussing the "Loose Bow" issue. I didn't want to even hear it. As a matter of fact, I didn't want to hear anything from either one of them...That is when I hear the 'Twang' and feel the sharp pain.

"Ahh, Ahhhh, AHHHH!!!"

I almost go down on the trail, then catch myself, half limping and half falling while grabbing at a tree. "WHAT THE CRAP?!?!"

Crazy Elk and Winter Hawk run down the trail to where I am, a bewildered look on both faces. I feel the area the pain is coming from, and feel the arrow shaft...They shot me...They shot me in the butt...IN THE BUTT!!!!!!!

Grimacing with pain, I look at them now. "Why?!!" was all I could ask.

They point at each other, still looking at me, silent for a moment.

"Misfire" says Crazy Elk.

"Long whistle, click" says Winter Hawk as he motions with his hands an arrow being fired and the impact with his hands.

"NO!!! I MEAN WHY?!?! WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?!?!" WHY ME?!?!"

They reach out to help me and I push them away. "NO!!! I will walk back to camp myself! I don't want your help. STOP TOUCHING ME!!!" I snap off. I... Don't.. Want... Your... HELP!!!"

They let me go, standing back now. After a few steps I realize this plan is not going to work. The arrow is deeper than I had first thought.

"Okay...FINE!!! You help me back to camp, then don't touch me!!!"

The trip back to camp was bad, but it not nearly as bad as the two responsible parties trying to dislodge the arrow from my backside. From Winter Hawk putting a foot on my butt and yanking backward to Crazy Elk trying to slowly pull it out...It was not a pretty sight.

"I know what" says, Crazy Elk picking up a piece of wood beside the fire.

"What are you...?"And the last thing I remembered before going unconscious was a whistle from Winter Hawk at the hit Crazy Elk just gave me to the head.

I awoke, laying on my stomach, the arrow now removed and a huge bandage on my backside. I looked out the door at the fire. I scratch. They are playing drums again as the pain in my butt throbs in rhythm to the beat, and I am praying for the Lord to find some mercy, just a little, to give to me...and I scratch some more. Just enough mercy to end my....The itching now growing in intensity...Oh man, I am itching bad now...Oh no, I had forgotten about that...Oh man...OH MAN!!!

DAY 20

Woke up this morning to see Nick shivering by the fire, two layers of furs wrapped around him. I got up and walked over to the fire, warming my hands. "Whats wrong with you? You not feeling good or something?" He looked up at me, teeth chattering, "C-c-cold...F-f-f-freezing out here!" I grinned. "Yeah, it's a little chilly. Those tropical islands are murder when you come back to....Where's Winter Hawk?" I ask, realizing he is not at the camp site. "W-who?!?" asked Nick through chattering teeth. "Jesse" I said. "H-he...L-l-left earlier...S-s-said something like 'click, whistle, click, cheek flip'". "Oh, okay. He is checking his traps" I add. Nick just looks up at me with a You've-got-to-be-kidding-me look. "What?" I ask, looking at him and shrugging.

Before long, Winter Hawk walks back into the camp, a couple of Beavers strung over his shoulder. He stabs his spear down into the ground beside the fire. Where did he get feathers to put around the tip of his spear and in his hair?!? He looks over at Nick as he throws the Beavers beside him at the fire.

"Whistle, click, click" He says, pointing at the Beavers as he looks at Nick.

"W-w-what's he want?" Nick asks.

"He is telling you to clean them." I reply.

He starts laughing now. "Hahaha. Really? Hahahaha."

Winter Hawk narrows his eyes and clicks more slowly, "Whistle....click....click."

Nick stands up now. "I don't think so, Little Indian Brave. What's your name anyway, Running poodle? Carrier of Purses? Pink Flamingo?"

Winter Hawk cocks his head to the side, staring at Nick in silence a moment, then starts to laugh loudly, pointing at Nick. Raising an eyebrow in question, Nick shakes his head and turns towards the fire. Without warning, Winter Hawk yells out a war cry and jumps on Nick's back. I stand at the fire now, watching. I would say I didn't see that coming, but I would be lying. As they hit the ground, rolling around, punching and kicking, I roll my eyes and sigh heavily.

Winter Hawk whips his knife out of his waistband, grabbing what he can of Nick's hair with his free hand. He laughs maniacally now as he pushes the blade towards Nick's head, as Nick holds him off the best he can. "HE'S TRYING TO SCALP ME!!!!"

I walk over and pull the knife out of Winter Hawks hand and he quickly turns and stares at me with a startled look. He stands up now, releasing Nick.

"Click, click, click!' he says loudly.

"No, you can't have the knife back! You don't scalp your brother!"

Jesse looks down at him for a moment, "Whistle, lip pop, click."

"Yes he is your brother!! Now stop acting crazy!!"

Winter Hawk draws a long breath and looks back over at me, still upset. "Click" he says, holding his hand out and looking up at the sky, drumming his fingers on his hip with his other hand. "You can have it back as long as you don't try that again" I state firmly. He rolls his eyes now, still looking upward. "Click!". I hand him the knife, which he puts back in his waistband as he grumbles to himself.

I have Nick start cooking some meat and I start skinning the Beavers. After hanging the pelts up to dry next to the fire and cutting the meat, we eat and stay close around the fire. That was when Winter Hawk looks up, a look of excitement suddenly on his face.

"Click, click, whistle, growl, click, whistle."

"No! We do not need to show Nick where the Badger lives."

"What Badger?"

"Nevermind."

"Whistle, click, foot stomp, growl, whistle, click!"

"He doesn't need to know about the Badger!!"

"What Badger?!"

"Nevermind!!!"

Winter Hawk stands up and pulls his spear from the ground where he has stuck it earlier, motioning for Nick to follow him. I stand up now, and finally put my foot down.

"NO! NO! NO! WE ARE NOT GOING TO SHOW NICK THE BADGER! NO...WE...ARE...NOT!!!"

Winter Hawk stops in his tracks and turns, looking back at me. "Whistle, click, lip pop"

"I AM NOT SCARED!!!...I just think it is better not to worry about something...That isn't important...Yeah...Isn't important!"

He grins now and looks at Nick "Whistle, click, lip pop."

Nick nods, "He does sound scared, doesn't he."

.......Later, as we make our way through the woods to show Nick the badger, I let Winter Hawk lead the trail and I let Nick follow behind me. I figure if the badger jumps us, he is bound to get one of them first, thus, giving me the time I need to escape.

We come to the pit we had dug some days ago, and Winter Hawk goes into the story of what had occurred with a torrent of clicks, whistles and other gestures as he acts out the story in front of us. Soon, Jesse walks over to the hole, to show where I had been standing that day, and that is when it happens...

Nick runs up and pushes him from behind, and he nearly loses his balance and falls into the hole. Winter Hawk turns around fast, eyes flash angrily as he looks at Nick.

"CLICK, CLICK, WHISTLE, CLICK, CLICK!!!" he yells.

"You tried to scalp me this morning! You had it coming, Pink Feather!" Nick retorts.

Winter Hawk stops, his face goes expressionless a moment before he raises an eyebrow and grins, "Oh, click?"...And then he attacks.

For the second time today, they are locked in battle, punching and kicking, pulling, biting, and doing things to each other so heinous, I cannot write about it here for it bears far more brutality than any two persons should ever inflict upon one another.

That was when the growl came out of brush near us.

I spin around quickly, point my spear in the direction of the sound. I look back to tell the other two to stop fighting and they are gone. I mean, vanished, missing...just...Gone.

I hear rustling above me and look up, and both are sitting on a tree branch together, and both are looking down at me now.

"Oh nice!! Would you like some popcorn?!?!"

Well, this was it, and I had had it! The Badger was NOT going to get the best of me this time. I grip my spear, hands shaking, and turn to the brush, moving forward slowly now as the brush moves a little and rattles slightly.

"Come on out, Badger! I'm not running from you this time!!"

Even as I heard the sound of the words leave me lips, I thought it couldn't have been me that said it. Suddenly, from the brush, rose the biggest and meanest looking grizzly bear I have ever seen...This being my first time actually seeing a grizzly bear being besides the point. I also had not realized grizzlies were in this area of the country, either, much like the beavers, but here he was.

As he towered above me, he let out a long, deep growl and I felt the furs I was wearing blow back from his breath. I think at that point the furs may have also become slightly wetter as well, but that was from fear, not the bear.

"OH SNAP!!!' and "CLICK CLICK!!!" is all I heard in unison from above me in the tree.

I really can't recall much after the growl...I must have just passed out from fear, but the story goes, according to Nick and Winter Hawk...

I fell to the ground and lay there. The bear dropped to all fours, walked out of the brush he had been standing in, and sniffed me a few times. After a short time of the bear enjoying batting me around with his paws, it picked me up in its mouth and shook me, tossing me around. I would fly from one side of the clearing to the other, where the bear would run, pick me up and do it again. After a few more tosses, and its last throw of the day, it came running over to pick me up again, and not seeing the hole, fell into the pit we had dug last week.

Nick said Winter Hawk whooped and hollered as he jumped from the tree branch, spear in hand, ready for battle. His timing was impeccable.

All I can say is this..It was very nice waking up under a very warm bear skin blanket, especially since the loss of blood and the amount of broken bones, caused by being a chew toy, left me in extreme pain, weak and cold. I looked beside my head and saw the make-shift sewing kit Winter Hawk had used on me before. Did I really want to know what else had been tore from my body that Winter Hawk had sewed back on, probably in the wrong place or upside down? No, not really.

I just lay there, looking at the fire as Winter Hawk and Nick, who I found out later had been named Crazy Elk by Winter Hawk, danced around the flames with Chancey and Petey dancing around with them. Where had they been?!? Why hadn't Chancey came running like Lassie or Rin Tin Tin and saved me from the Bear?!?...Stupid dogs.

Was Nick...I mean Crazy Elk, wearing feather now?!?

DAY 19

Have not written in a few days.

Winter Hawk said we must go on a "Vision Quest". I can't go into complete detail of what happened over the course of 7 days, except to say that I had to lick a toad, much against my better judgment, and then saw some very fascinating things I have never seen before and hope to never see again. that is all I will say about that, but i can tell you this...I finally came back to my senses while standing in a cold mountain stream singing Hank Williams "Jambalaya", and I now know what the color blue tastes like.

Jesse, it would seem, done much better than me. I can vaguely remember him dancing around the fire with war paint, sitting on a tree branch hooting like an owl and now, for some reason I cannot fathom, he has resorted to some primitive language made up of clicks, whistles and sounds. I equate it to living in the wilderness with Harpo Marx.

We arrived back at camp, surprised to find what we thought was our rescue. Well, I did anyway. A lone figure stood beside the fire dressed in Camouflage. Before I could yell out to whoever it was, Winter Hawk let out a yelp, ran, and leaped on his back, yelling, "*click*,*click*, *whistle*, *lip pop*, *click*!"

They went down on the ground, rolling around as the bigger one finally turned over, Winter Hawk still clutching to his back. "Nick?....NICK!!!!" Winter Hawk stopped choking him. "*click*?"

When he finally wrestled himself free from Winter Hawk, he stood, wiping himself off, looking back at Winter Hawk with a scowl. Winter Hawk shrugged nonchalantly and walked to the fire.

"How'd you get here? Where's the rest of the rescue party? How'd you know where to find us?"

He put up a hand. "I came home, you guys weren't there. I waited awhile and figured I better come find you."

"Great! You can show us the way back out of here!!!"

"*click*, *click*!!!"

"Well, that may be a problem"

"Why?"

"*lip pop*, click*, *whistle*?"

"Jess...I mean, Winter Hawk!! Stop it!!!"

He just stares at me as he walks off, pointing back at me, eyes narrowed."

"*click*, *tongue pop*, *whistle*, *click*, *click*, *cheek flip*, click*"

I shake my head and look back at Nick. "What do you mean may be a problem"

"I don't know how...I got lost looking for you. I just happened up on your camp right before monkey boy jumped on me"

Jesse grabs his spear and points it at Nick, a menacing look in his eyes. "*click*, *click*"

"Yeah, whatever, anyway. How'd you guys get out here?"

I sit down, just tired now. "Your mom left. We have been stuck out here trying to survive ever since. She went to ARIZONA to be with DAKOTA and LIAM. Do you have any idea what it is like to be stuck out here with THAT?!?!' I yell, pointing at Winter Hawk. He replies by looking back at me, raising an eyebrow as he points to himself now. "*click*?....*click*?!?!"

"Yes you!". He just rambles off more clicks and whistles to himself as he looks at the fire, shaking his head now.

Well, did you bring anything with you? Food, a gun, anything?" I ask. "Well, no. I didn't think I would be gone that long"

Winter Hawk starts to laugh loudly, still clicking to himself as he pokes a stick in the fire.

"What's wrong with him?" asks Nick. "You really don't want to know...Really" I answer.

So here we are. Still stuck, still lost, still surviving. And right now, everything would be okay, I could deal with being lost. But Winter Hawk is howling with Chancey and Petey tonight. it's a Full moon.

Maybe I am the one going crazy and just need to be out there howling with them.

DAY 12

Too much. I wake this morning with the realization that I have been through too much. So today, I become acting Chief of this Tribe! I wrap my furs around me and stand next to the fire, waiting for Winter Hawk to wake. When he does, I give my speech.

"I am Chief Big Bear, You are Winter Hawk, Indian Brave. Today, we hunt. We take dogs and go into forest. We get meat for fire and bellies"

Winter Hawk just looked at me quizzically and said, "Okay Chief".

Well, it's about time I started getting some respect.

Gearing up, grabbing our spears and taking the dogs, we move into through the woods. Before long, Chancey has caught the scent of something and takes off for it, Petey following close behind as he usually does. I look at Winter Hawk and motion forward with my spear. He shrugs and takes off running after them. I smile now as I walk down the path they have just taken. Oh yes, it is good to be the Chief.

The dogs seemed to have stopped, and I draw closer to where they are. Winter Hawk pulls them back from a tree.

"They corner something up there." He says, pointing up into the dense foliage overhead. They sky is overcast and the surrounding forest just makes it darker. We cannot see clearly up into the heights of the tree branches above us.

"One thing to do, Winter Hawk. Climb the tree, see what is there, kill it and throw it down to me."

Again, he shrugs and with spear in one hand, he begins to navigate the tree, moving quickly up into it's branches and limbs and out of sight. Kid climbs like a monkey. Never seen anything like it.

A few moments pass and I hear no movement from up in the tree. "Winter Hawk, you see what it is?"

"If I saw, I would already say so!" came the snarky reply.

Well, at least he is the one climbing.

I hear movement, and again...And then it stops.

There is a tussle in the tree now as the very trunk begins to shake and move with the sound. The leaves are falling now and as the sound above continues. I cannot see what is going on, so I move closer to the trunk, trying to look up and see if I could spot Winter Hawk. All I see is a black shape falling, and without time to move, it lands on my head.

I believe it would be a good time to explain that within our very diverse ecosystem, Bobcats are indigenous to this region of the country. Normally not overly aggressive towards humans unless cornered...Or dropped on their heads.

As the Bobcat locks on, I grab the Bobcat, which makes it grab on to my head even tighter. I yell loudly as Chancey and Petey start barking, jumping up trying to get at the Bobcat, which only frightens it more, or angers it more, I'm not sure at this point which, but it makes the furry circular saw go into action.

Fur, teeth, claws, barking, running in circles, and screaming at the top of my lungs as Winter Hawk finally drops from the tree. Seeing the fiasco as it unfolds, he rushes forward with a war cry, I turn in time to see him coming, the spear pointed at my head.

Between the pain of the bobcat doing high speed laps around my cranium and the tip of Winter Hawks spear coming at me, I turn in panic to run...And I do...Right into the tree.

I awaked sometime later to the crackling of fire. I feel my head, bandaged up now and sore to the touch.

I'm hoarse, throat parched and dry as Winter Hawk sees me awake now and brings a cup of water over for me to take a drink.

"Ear hurts really bad." I whisper the best I can.

"Hmm. Make sense. Winter Hawk had difficult time finding"

"Finding what?"

"Ear"

"Wait...What do you mean you had a difficult time finding my ear"

He shrugs as he hands me the cup and sits down beside me. "Ear gone. No worry. Winter Hawk find." Pounding his chest proudly.

I feel my ear now. 'What the crap, man!" I cry out hoarsely.

He leans over and lifts the bandage. "I sew ear back on. Use pine needle and strong leaf fiber. no worry, I boil, it clean. First time no good, I sew upside down. Got right next time. It almost even with other ear. Hey, it Winter Hawk first time. not bad first time!" he says smiling.

I would cry right now, but my eyes are starting to swell shut.

DAY 11

We finally rebuilt the Lean-To today. Well, actually we built a Tee-Pee. Not a good one yet, as we have no animal hide to cover it with.

"Hmm. We need Bear"

I stopped working on tying poles and look at Jesse, Aka, "Winter Hawk" now.

"Do what? I wasn't really paying attention and thought you said Bear"

"Not Big Bear," he said, pointing at me, and motioning with his hands, "A Big BIG Bear"

"Exactly how do you plan to get a big, BIG Bear?"

He smiled. "Winter Hawk know how"

"Oh really...Well, I'm not going this time!" I turn and start tying the poles again. "I have had enough of these shenanigans, and after the last time out...Do you remember the Badger?" I ask turning around now. "Do you remember what HE did?!? No, I will have none of it. Count me out!"

Later in the day...

"Are you sure this will work?" I ask as he ties the rope around me. "Winter Hawk know this work. Winter Hawk plan perfect. When Bear comes, He smell meat on you. When he run at you, Big Bear, I pull rope, you go up tree, big BIG Bear fall in hole we dig."

He starts hanging meat around my neck, left over cow and beaver. The rope was tied under my arms, and thrown over a large tree limb above. We had dug a pit, which I was to stand in front of. I look down into the pit behind me and then up at the tree limb.

"Will that thing hold me?" I ask. Winter Hawk looks up, scratching his chin. "We find out soon." I start to protest, still looking up at the limb, and when I look back down, he is gone. Just vanished. "You an Indian or a Ninja?!?" I yell.

He said he knew a bear were here. He had found droppings...Big droppings. That didn't put my mind at ease. It was then that I got to thinking.

"Wait a minute. I weigh too much for him to pull me up, even with the leverage from the tree..." I reach for the rope around me to untie it when I hear the growl from the forest. I stop just a moment in shock, then fear sets in and my hands work frantically now to get the rope off, but it won't budge.

"What did you do?!?! GET ME OUT OF THIS ROPE!" I hear his voice somewhere in the background.

"I tie strangle knot. Have to cut rope off. Not want you to fall"came the reply from the woods.

I just stand there dumbfounded, frozen in fear, as the bushes start moving as something comes through them. I close my eyes, waiting for the Bear to run up and tear me to shreds. I hear the growl again...Not the same growl...I open one eye to see what had come out of the brush.

"oh no....pull the rope...PULL THE ROPE!...PULL THE ROPE!!!!!"

The Badger lunges at me. I could have sworn he was smiling. Suddenly I am lifted high in the air, the Badger just misses me and falls into the pit below. I dangle there, looking down and screaming like a high pitched siren.

Winter Hawk steps from behind a tree. and looks into the pit.

"That not Bear..." He says.

Once I calm down just a bit, I ask, "Jesse...I mean, Winter Hawk...What's holding the rope?" He is still looking down as he answers. "Oh, I tie off on tree branch"

That was when I heard the cracking sound. Not loud at first, just a slow strain of wood. I look around, then back down at Winter Hawk.

"How big was the branch, Jesse..."

"SNAP!" Was the next sound I heard.

The tree branch gave in to the weight as I shoot straight down into the pit. I land hard on the bottom, dazed and it takes me a few moments to slowly sit up and get my bearings back. Meanwhile, the tree branch, from the inertia brought on by the strain that was put on the rope, clears the limb above, falling into the pit and hitting me in the head. I grab my head with both hands from the pain, yelling a few choice words.

It was then I felt the stare. I open my eyes, which had been winced in pain, to see the Badger on the other side of the pit. He was just standing there looking at me.

My spear suddenly sticks in the ground beside me as I hear Winter Hawk from above.

"You stab Badger, I pull up rope!"

I did not know that it was physically possible for a Badger could crack his knuckles.

Winter Hawk later told me the screams and yells of agony were almost too much even for him to endure. I believe my mind has blocked out the experience soley for the purpose of self preservation.

There was a stabbing in the pit that day...The badger stabbing his claws into my backside while I tried to climb the side of the pit. The Badger stabbing his pointy teeth into me. The Badger using me for a pin cushion for every sharp object he had on his body. I have seen logging accidents that were not as brutal as the beating that was dished out that day.

Once Winter Hawk got me pulled up, the Badger was still hanging on my back, I was told. Over the fire that night, as I lay there in agonizing pain, Winter Hawk recanted the story.

"Badger not like you much. You knocked out when I get you to top. Badger jump up and down on your head, like trampoline, wipe feet on you, walk into forest. Never seen Badger wipe feet before"

I wanted to reply, to say something, anything, but I couldn't. My throat was still sore from the Badger stuffing my own leg in my mouth.

"We get Bear next time" says Winter Hawk as he pats my sore head and I draw back with pain and moan slightly.

Yeah...Next time...

DAY 10

Jesse decided we needed to travel down the nearby creek to see if we could find some sort of civilization. Unbeknownst to me, he has been working on a canoe the last couple of days. Very clever I thought. He could win a merit badge with this kind of work. Frame made out of wood, the outer shell made of cow hide. Nice work indeed.

We pick the canoe up over our heads and start for the creek. Jesse is humming that song again...Is he mumbling in some Native American language?!? Once at the river, He put the canoe in the water, I step into the boat as Jesse launches us from the bank. So far so good!

I look around the inside of the canoe. "Jesse, where's the paddles?" I turn around when I receive no answer and see Jesse looking at me with a blank stare now. "I make canoe."

By this time, we are in the middle of the creek and headed downstream with the flow. "If I had Beaver tail, I could make paddle" he said.

I turn now, "Enough of this! There are no Beavers in this creek, there are no paddles in this canoe, and you are not an Indian! Snap out of it!"

That was when we heard it. Like a dull rolling sound, growing louder as we floated. Oh no.

"Jesse, we are headed for rapids!" I turn around panicked, he shrugs, "I not Indian. What you want me to do?"

By this time, I am yelling, just giving him the what for as we pick up speed...Then we hit something in the water, turning our canoe sideways and bringing us to a stop. The creek brought us to a small inlet as it curved around and headed towards the rapids. What stopped us? I just stare in amazement.

A Beaver dam.

Jesse jumped from the canoe with a war yelp, which by coincidence, dislodged it from the beaver dam. I sat there, still in the canoe, with a "I don't believe you just did that" look at jesse as I now head for the rapids.

Jesse?...Well, he just waved. "I go downstream!" he yells. "Why? so you can claim the body?!?" I yell back.

Needless to say, the canoe was not built for comfort, especially over rocks in rapids. It was very much like being a rag doll in a washing machine...With a load of rocks...And a lot of water..And that was before the canoe started to break apart.

Jesse later said, while laughing hysterically, that he could hear me scream like a woman over the loud roar of the water. I don't remember that, but I do remember hitting every rock in the creek. Did Louis and Clark do it this way?!? I also remember being pulled from the water by Jesse with what was left of the canoe. I may have been sobbing at that point, I can't really remember that either.

Jesse built a fire rubbing two sticks together and getting me dried out. While I was drying, he went back to get his Beavers.

It was a quiet walk back to camp. Jesse had two Beavers tied over his shoulders and we carried the remains of the canoe over our heads. I walked with a limp, for apparent reasons, which made Jesse snicker behind me.

Me: "Okay. you may be an Indian"

Jesse: "I not hear you. Ears still ringing from screaming in river"

Me: "I said, YOU MAY BE AN INDIAN"

Jesse: "Hmm. I not may be Indian. I am be Indian!"

Me: "That isn't proper English, Jesse"

Jesse: " What not proper English?"

Me: "I not may be Indian, I am be Indian"

Jesse: "you just say it"

Me: "Yeah, but I was just saying what you just said"

Jesse: "So you can say, but not I can say. I see what you say now"

Me: "No, that isn't what I said"

Jesse: "You make no sense, Big Bear"

Me: "Big Bear. Who is Big Bear?"

Jesse: "You Big Bear. I Winter Hawk"

Me: "Why do you get the coolest name?"

He stops.

"I build spears. I build traps. I build canoe. I find Beaver. You growl and yell. I Winter Hawk. You Big Bear."

Big Bear it is. I put my furs on when I get back to camp and sit with Jess by the fire, I mean, Winter Hawk, as he tells the story of his people, I mean, our people.

We dine on Beaver and Beef tonight. Big Bear start to like this very good!...Winter Hawk would tell you that is correct, by the way.