Two Good Legs - Tale of Two Grizzly Cubs

Elber and Yonty were born 7 winters back to a young grizzly she-bear in Northwestern Montana. Like all such cubs, they had the odds against them from the first.

Elber was a little darker along the shoulders than Yonty. And both had the misfit mentality of grizzly cubs the first couple of years. It was a real wonder that either of them survived, not knowing two things about fishing, berry hunting or even how to avoid bee stings while robbing honey. Against all the odds stacked against them, they nevertheless grew stronger and taller.

The pain was a blazing fire that would not go away.

After a while they were able to leave the momma bear behind. They were figuring out how and where to fish. They learned how to try and stand taller and yell louder than the other males whenever they were confronted. They learned when and where to sleep when winter overtook them. They figured out where the berries were and how to snatch them before the humans got to them. They each learned how to scare up a rabbit and other wild game.

This is not to say they were any smarter, faster, or better at hunting than other bears their age. They were grizzlies, after all, and grizzlies are not known for being wise. Grizzlies are known for being big and strong, for having a bad disposition, and for scaring the crap out of people who stumble onto them.

Last spring Elber ran into a clearing and surprised a poacher who was out for moose. Elber was as surprised as the illegal hunter, and so he just did as he always did when confronted like that, he stood up tall and yelled really loud. The hunter peed on himself, shot Elber in the left foot, then threw down the gun and ran for all he was worth. I think he ran past New York City by now and is still running.

When the noise and gunpowder had cleared the air, Elber was still trying to understand what had happened. It took a while for him to understand that his foot was really hurting. At such close range, the rifle bullet had gone clear through the foot, breaking a couple of small bones in passing. The pain was a blazing fire that would not go away. Elber limped down to the stream, in a mood that was dark even for a grizzly. In the cold mountain water, the bear found a little numbing relief, but not much.

Yonty did not live or roam anywhere near his brother, Elber. Grizzly families tend not to hang together a lot. So he didn't know anything about Elber's run-in with the poacher. But a few days later while he was crossing a high mountain road, minding his own business, a Jeep came out of nowhere and ran right into him. It was good for both the bear and the driver that the road was rough and twisting, I guess. The Jeep was going a lot slower than it would’ve been on a nice straight road.

Still, the front of the Jeep was messed up pretty bad, the airbag broke the driver's nose, and Yonty's right leg was fractured. A lot of pain even for a grizzly bear. More pain than the bear had ever known, in fact. And the pain was renewed with every step Yonty tried to take. Still, he managed to mostly drag himself down to the river where the rainbow trout and steelhead lived.

At the river, Yonty moaned aloud with his pain. He could not tell if the cold water made anything better or not. But he kept trying it, since it was all he had. Wading out to a wide, shallow place, he sat down in the water.

All he could think about was the pain. It really hurt. When he moved, it hurt. When he sat still, it hurt. If he stood up, it hurt. So he just sat there and the fish swam way around him, staying clear of those sharp front claws.

A day or so later, Yonty was laying on the river bank, swiping at fish now and again. He was hungry. His leg still hurt, but he was getting used to it, as long as he didn’t try to stand or walk. He could not walk, and running was out of the question, so hunting or moving to a better fishing spot were not options.

A noise behind him made him look, and there was another grizzly, as big and angry-looking as he was, except that he had darker markings along the shoulders. Both bears instinctively rose up and growled really loud, and then both yelled in pain and bent over quickly.

Elber grabbed his left foot which was shooting fireballs of pain up his whole left side. The wound was pretty dirty and had swelled up quite a bit. Yonty rubbed his right leg, which did nothing to make it feel any better. Both bears tried to stand and yell again, and both bowed down again right away in pain. They did this several times like some kind of crazy war dance.

Then they finally recognized each other.

"Hello, Brother." Elber said, sitting on the ground and holding his sore foot in his forepaws.

"Hi, Elber." Yonty said. "What brings you over to the this part of the river?"

"On my way to the honey tree in the south valley. I need to get some honey in this hole in my foot." Elber said. "What's with you? Your leg hurt?"

"One of those stupid human shiny-things hit me the other day. It still hurts a lot. Slowing me down." Yonty said.

Elber looked at his brother grizzly and could see that the pain was very bad. He said, "I know where some bushes are with leaves that will help that pain. That will get you by until your leg gets better. In fact, the bushes are not far from the honey tree."

"How do you do that?" Yonty asked. "You always seem to know just where to find the right stuff for any occasion."

Elber gruffed a smile, still rubbing his left foot. It was true. Elber did know a lot about some things. He always seemed to run into good things here and there. And he learned by watching other animals eat this or that, or do this or that, when they had different needs. It was his way.

After a bit he said, "Well, why don't you come with me, Brother?"

"I'd like to, Elber. But I can't stand to walk at all." Yonty said. He hated to admit to his brother that he was that bad off. But why try to hide it? Yonty was not able to walk.

"Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you can," Elber said. "Between us, we still have two good feet, and two good legs. In the Creator's goodness, He did not let us both get hurt on the same sides."

And moving over to his brother's right side, Elber reached out and placed his arm under Yonty's arm, lifting a little. The two brothers held each other up as best they could and managed to hobble off across the clearing and over the hill. As they went along, they got better and better at walking together.

"Hey, Elber, I know a great fishing hole over there, just south of your honey tree valley." Yonty said.

"Oh yeah?" Elber realized suddenly just how hungry he was. "That sounds good. How do you always manage to know where the best food is?”

"Oh, I know some things." Yonty said, smiling as much as any grizzly can.

And humming an old bear's tune, the two grizzlies hobbled off into the afternoon.

			short story