Bear Child (Book 1)

Chapter 24

              24. The Hunters

          When I woke up in the morning, the first thing that popped into my mind were the events from the night before. My eyes shot open and I looked out the window, hoping to see a shape of some sort outside. When I found none, I began to wonder if it had all been a dream. “No, duh it was a dream.” I muttered to myself. Talking bears? That wasn’t possible. And shaman magic, even less. I walked over to my dresser to take out some clothes for the day. But as I bent over to grab the bottom drawer, the amulet dangled, making a slight noise. I looked down at it. If it was all a dream, then how could I be wearing it? I only put on the amulet once I had found Kenai, after a bit of debating, of course. But it was only because I was with Kenai that I decided to put it on. If I hadn’t have been with him, then the amulet would have still been in my jean pocket or on the table or something, but not on me. I turned to look outside the window again, only to see nothing. Maybe it hadn’t been a dream? There would but only one way to find out. After school, if I went back and found Kenai, then that would mean that it was all real.

Forgetting it all, I changed and I went downstairs. Ben greeted me and kissed the top of my head, seeming in a rush, and returned to the stove. “What’s for breakfast today?” I asked. “Oatmeal.” He said quickly in reply, not sounding all to happy either. “Well that’s not very delicious . . .” I muttered. “Well it’s all I’ve got time to make today. Just add some honey to it or something.” Ben sounded not at all in the cheery mood today. “Everything okay, Dad?” I asked. He nodded, not even paying attention. “You sure? ‘Cause look wound up.” I pointed out. “I’m fine, it’s just that I have to open up the store earlier today because it’s almost the end of September and that means there’s just about a month left of hunting season and everyone is rushing into the store buying everything and I need to stock up faster or I'll lose business and everything is just so mixed up . . .” Ben kept talking in a frustrated jumble that I couldn’t even understand half of what he was saying. “Dad, calm down.” I soothed. “If you want, you can go right now and I’ll make breakfast. That way you don’t have to worry about all of that stuff.”

“Are you sure, Clair? I mean . . .” He began. “It’s cool.” I cut off. “I’m use to this. Besides, how hard can it be?” I asked. With a smile and a sigh, he let me take over while he got ready for work. “You sure you’ll be okay?” He asked. “Uh, sure.” I said, struggling with the oatmeal. I didn’t have any idea how to cook or what to do! I just wanted to take some trouble off of Ben’s hands and instead just added to my own. “Is everything okay in there?” He called from the living room. “I think so . . . Ah!” The oatmeal had somehow managed to overflow the pot and was now making a mess all over the stove. “Oh, God.” I whined, taking off the pot of oatmeal and turning off the stove. “Clair?” Ben asked. “No, no, everything’s fine! Don’t come in the kitchen!” I called back. “Uh, if you say so . . .” He said, obviously wondering what was going on. Grabbing a cloth, I started cleaning up all of the oatmeal. “Clair?” I spun around, seeing that Ben was standing in the door frame, eyes on the stove. “What happened?” He asked. “Uh . . . funny thing . . . I actually have no idea how to cook.” I admitted. A smile was playing at his lips as he took the cloth from me. “Don’t girls usually have that built in?” He asked playfully.

“I wish! Everything I cook I burn!”

“I guess you didn’t get that skill from me, did you?”

“Apparently not!”

“Don’t worry, it’s all about learning.” He kept cleaning while I dumped the pot of oatmeal in the sink. “It’s okay, I can take it from here. Go to work, I’ll clean up the rest.” I insisted. He handed me the towel with a smile. “Don’t burn anything, alright?” He told me playfully, walking towards the door. “I’ll try my best.” I said sarcastically. “See you later on tonight.” He called. “Okay, bye!” I called back. Finishing up the kitchen, I went upstairs, grabbed my backpack, and went to the bus stop.