Bear Heart (Book 2)

Chapter 24

Catching a movement from the corner of my eye, I turn towards the cabin, seeing Sonia looking out of the window through a crack in their red curtains. She gives me a half smile and a meek wave. I simply turn my head back around, not giving any greeting. I felt a little bad, since she hadn’t done anything, but I’m sure she’s aware of the situation between me and Clair. She must be on her side, no doubt of it. Until I got this whole thing straightened out, I wanted as little to do with them as possible.

Amorak and I continued to walk, the lantern held out and lighting the way. Since this was an animal reservation, we didn’t have to worry about stepping on the border wire. It was strangely quiet. I wanted to make conversation, but I didn’t know what about. I remembered my curiosity from earlier, and decide to give it a go. “Amorak?” I asked. “Yes?” His voice was low, quiet. He seemed to not want to disturb the quiet of the forest. “How did you get your name?” Amorak chuckled at the question.

“Well, you see, I was born into the spirit of the wolf. My parents knew this due to my birth date. Because of this, they wanted to give me a name that would honor my spirit animal. There is an Inuit legend about a gigantic wolf named Amarok who would track down those who were foolish enough to hunt alone at night and devour them. My father, being very drunk at my birth due to the celebration of his first and only son, gave me the name Amorak instead of Amarok. It wasn’t written yet, so there was still time to correct himself. However, he was prideful, and said that he meant the name that he gave me at my birth. And so, I was given the misspelling of the gigantic Inuit wolf. As you can see, this is a very long explanation, so whenever someone asks me of my name, I just say that it means wolf. Much simpler, don’t you think?”

I nodded, thinking of his explanation. Although it wasn’t what I meant, it was still interesting to know. I should have been more specific, though. “What about your last name? I don’t mean to be rude, but it’s seems strange for your heritage.”

“Ah, that is an explanation that dates back quite a bit. My family use to live far north in Alaska. However, when this land was taken by the United States, all natives were required to have a surname. Many got to pick their name, which wasn’t terrible. However, my grandfather was a bitter man. He disliked the White Man, and even though he didn’t live through those times, he held a sort of resentment for the United States requiring us to take surnames. And so, he moved away from his village, taking his wife with him, in hopes of starting a new life of his own, as an independent man. He eventually arrived here, and he discovered a lone, young redwood tree. My grandfather took it as a sign of his achieved independence, and so he cut the tree down and built his home from its wood. It wasn’t a giant tree, but it was big enough to build our current home. He thought this tree so symbolic, that he changed his surname to Redwoods. He never did tell us his original surname. Strange man, my grandfather was.”

I laughed a bit. It definitely made sense now, but his grandfather did seem like a strange man, a little childish, even. I liked the fact that we were able to talk. It made me feel a little more at ease about the whole situation, though it didn’t take away all of the nerves. As the forest got darker, my heart started to beat the slightest bit faster. It seemed childish to be nervous or afraid, but being alone in a forest at night with a man who you hardly knew and could supposedly perform shaman magic, it didn’t put me at ease.

“Amorak, where exactly are we going?” He didn’t answer me, but pointed his head to the left. We had reached Knick River, but not a part that I’ve been to before. We made our turn, and it wasn’t until then that I realized he was taking me in the direction of the sapling. I grew even more nervous. He would see what I had done. He would see that the sapling is broken. Would he be angry? Would he curse me? I shoved my hands in my pockets, looking down as I walked, not wanting to look at Amorak.