As we made our way back to Malibu, we encountered a lot of washed-out roads, Jillian made the corrections on the map. We stopped at two dentist offices and Jillian collected the items on her list.

  We made it to our street and it was covered in fresh mud. The Suburban got stuck and we had to walk the quarter mile up the hill. Everything should be dry by tomorrow or the next day and we can retrieve the Suburban then.

  Our gardens were flooded, we built them to retain moisture, and that they did. The over flow damaged some crops, others were fine. Our holding tanks were full as well as our four hot water tanks. Some of the upstairs carpets were damp because we have been accustomed to leave everything open. Jillian grabbed a bottle of wine and a small box of candles.

  “I’m going to find a book and take a long hot bath!” Jillian said.

  “I’m going to walk around to make sure everything is okay and working properly, then I’m going to take a hot shower.” I said to Jillian as she went upstairs.

  Ginger, Pete and I walked around and I made a list of things to repair. Two broken gutters on the house across the street, and most all of the drains needed to be cleaned. Song birds singing in the trees, and bushes seem to have grown a little. Bugs and insects also seem to have increased.

  We wandered about half way to the stuck Suburban and all three of us heard a rustling sound from behind one of the houses. Ginger and Pete both on immediate high alert, noses in the air and ears twitching. I was not carrying a firearm, just my old iPhone I use for pictures, audio recording and notes. (And the constant reminder of ‘no signal’) and a Leatherman.

  We heard it again, louder, and accompanied by what sounded like a whimper. The wind shifted for a split second and the dogs both caught something that made them transform. Low growling, hair standing on end and moving slowly. I could faintly perceive, panic. But not mine. A weird and curious sensation. We approached a small clump of twitching bushes. I pushed back the bushes and two brown eyes stared back at me. It was a small bear cub stuck in a drain pipe. He was not only scared of us but scared that he was stuck and could not escape.

  “Ginger. Pete. Easy.” I said in a calm tone. The small bear cub frantically struggled as his eyes did not know who to look at.

  “Ginger. Pete. Sit.” I said as the dogs reluctantly sat down. I let the small bear cub smell my hand as I placed it near him. Not close enough for him to bite, but just enough to let him smell.

  “I can get you out, but you have to trust me.” I said looking directly at him. He sniffed the air and slowly relaxed, a little. I edged my hand near enough for him to actually make contact. I felt his cold little nose probe the back of my hand as I laid on my stomach, trying not to be intimidating by towering over him. I spoke softly and I reduced my breathing causing him to do the same. He eventually gave my hand a little lick and I produced my left hand. He smelled both and gave me a whimper.

  For some reason his eyes told me he trusted me. I started petting his head and it was as though he forgot he was stuck or afraid.

  “I’m going to help you now. Do not be afraid.” I said as I slowly positioned myself to get a better view of exactly how he was stuck, because I did not want to hurt him any further.

  I felt down his side and was able to feel his back leg, paw and sharp claws. It seemed to be free because he could move it a little. I felt down his other back leg and it was wedged in a rupture in the pipe. I could feel the warm sticky blood on his pad as he struggled a little against the sharp edges of the pipe. I felt all around trying to see with my hand the best way possible to release him. I was not really paying much attention, but my face was just two inches from his and I looked directly into his eyeball.

  “You will be okay.” I thought and he licked my face with his little tongue.

  I grabbed his paw in my fist and started to pull, I felt the jagged edges of the steel tear in my wrist, hand and arm as I twisted and manipulated his protected paw. He did not struggle or panic as I freed and released him. It appeared from my initial assessment he sustained minimal injury, but surely would have died had I not found him.

  Me, I required immediate medical aid. I could not see the extent of the wounds because of the amount of blood flowing as I stood up. Ginger and Pete were sitting still, like statues looking to my left. As I turned, I saw the biggest fucking bear I have ever seen outside of a zoo. I immediately gasped, as she was well within striking distance as the small cub nestled in close to her. Her expression was blank. I backed up slowly making sure not to turn my back on her, cradling my shredded arm.

  “Ginger, Pete, come.” I said as we briskly walked back to the house.

  “JILLIAN, I NEED HELP!” I yelled as I entered the house, trying not to drip blood on the floor or carpet. The dogs barked and ran upstairs. I could hear splashing between the dog barks as Jillian stood at the top of the stairs.

  “WHAT’S WRONG?” She asked concerned.

  “I’m losing a lot of blood.” I said as I wrapped a kitchen towel around my arm and hand over the sink.

  “Fuck me.” I heard Jillian say as I sat in the kitchen chair and felt dizzy. I felt the needle go into my arm and in my hand.

  “Can you tell me how this happened?” Jillian asked as she appeared and disappeared from my sight as I lay on my back. “Bear cub. Stuck in a drain pipe. I got him out! I saved him!” I said proudly.

  “So far seventeen stitches, ten on the biggest one, nothing too deep, missed critical areas. Now you know why I keep blood.” Jillian said in a quiet neutral tone, concentrating. Jillian bent over to get something out of a large First-Aid kit on the floor and I noticed all she was wearing was an over-sized white t-shirt with my blood stains.

  “How is it that whatever you do, you make it sexy…” I said quietly. Jillian stood up holding a roll of gauze and scissors with her blue gloves.

  “Seriously?” She said looking at me through her thick magnifying eye glasses. “…and you smell like flowers.” I added, smiling. Jillian helped me outside to one of the large deck chairs in the shade. The dogs circled me happy that I was ok and licking my fingers and sniffing my bandaged arm.

  “I’ll get you some juice.” Jillian said walking into the kitchen and stretching her back.

  I could hear Jillian trying to call Helen and Scotty using the radio. Jillian returned with a pitcher of juice and two glasses.

  “I don’t know why they don’t answer?” Jillian said referring to the radio.

  “Maybe it’s muted, Scotty did not want to break radio silence with Todd.” I said laying back and closing my eyes.

  “Who the hell is Todd? Mute, mute, mute, mute. Here it is.” Jillian said sitting down, and hit the mute button.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Pack o’ Wolves come in. Pack o’ Wolves.” Jillian said into the transmitter.

  “HI SWEETIE!” Wow! This thing works great!” Helen said cheerfully.

  “You forgot to hit the mute button, didn’t you?” Scotty’s voice rang through.

  “Yeah, yeah, we're morons, anyway we had an accident…” Jillian said as Scotty interrupted.

  “What happened?” Scotty demanded as Jillian handed me the transmitter.

  “I was walking the neighborhood assessing damage…” I started to say as Scotty interrupted again,

  “WHAT HAPPENED!” Scotty said sounding mad.

  “I found a small bear cub stuck in a drain pipe, culvert, thing…” I started to say.

  “OH SHIT! You wrestling with a Momma Bear!?!” Scotty asked, I heard Helen gasp and say, “We’ll be right over!”

  “No! I didn’t even know she was there until I pulled the cub out. I just sliced and diced my arm and hand.” I said.

  “She didn’t do… anything?!” Scotty asked surprised.

  “No. She just sat there, and the dogs just sat quietly and were probably dying to smell the cub, but didn’t! What was my final score?” I asked Jillian.

  “Seventeen stitches.” Jillian said not amused at all. The dogs started barking playfully with tails wagging.

  “HOLY SHIT! FUCK ME!” Jillian said.

  “Ah, we have to go. We have visitors.” I said.

  “Who?!” Scotty asked.

  “A Momma bear and a baby bear just walked into our backyard.” I said. Ginger and Pete welcomed our guests and Momma bear appeared to be enjoying their barking and playful disposition, but she was still protective of her cub who was limping at her side. Jillian was petrified.

  “Just relax and breathe. Walk slowly into the kitchen and get a box of dog cookies, a bucket of water and your camera.” I said to Jillian.

  Momma bear continually sniffed the air as she made her way to the pool. Ginger and Pete went in the pool and swam around as the cub looked very interested, but Mom just walked by the pool and headed in my direction.

  “Well, hello.” I said to Momma bear as she approached me smelling me and my bandaged arm. She was absolutely huge. For some reason, I was not afraid at all, more curious and concerned for her cub than anything.

  “How is your baby? Is it okay if we take a look at his paw?” I did not speak these words, I just thought them, as Momma bear turned toward her cub and grunted. Momma bear and cub turned as Jillian was standing with a box of dog cookies. This brought the immediate attention of Ginger and Pete who came up running and sat in front of Jillian, waiting for commands.

  “Jillian. Just talk softly. If she was hungry or pissed off, I’m sure I would have been dead by now.” I said as Momma bear headed towards Jillian and the dogs. Jillian swiftly handed me the box and started taking pictures. I gave Ginger and Pete one treat each and one in my bandaged hand for Momma bear who accepted it gently. I broke one in quarters and held the pieces out for Sam, that’s what I decided to call him, just then. Mom sniffed the pieces and Sam crunched away.

  We did about four rounds and I really wanted to get a look at Sam’s paw. I held the box for Jillian to take and adjusted my position in the chair. Sam wanted more treats and I scratched his head and tried to look at his paw. Mom casually turned around and entered the pool.

  “We have a Bear in our pool.” I said. I heard Scotty say “I’ll be damned.” As well as a gasp from Helen.

  Sam tried to jump up on the cushion and was having a hard time. Mom was swimming with Ginger and Pete not really too concerned, but kept a watchful eye on us. I helped Sam up on the cushion as he laid down for me to examine him as I scratched his head and he was looking for more dog cookies. Jillian came over and sat on the ground to assist. She let him smell her hands as he nudged her for more petting.

  Sam seemed to like all the attention and cookies as he watched the dogs and Mom swim from the cushion. Sam had a small slice on his pad and a pretty good gash on his leg. Sam allowed Jillian to inspect the wound.

  “I see some dirt and would like to run my magnet along the…” Jillian said as she looked at me.

  “…Oh shit. She is right behind me. Isn’t she?” I looked at Mom then at Jillian then back at Mom and thought: It will be okay. We only want to help your baby. Mom gave Jillian a total body sweep with her nose. This gave Ginger and Pete a chance to smell Sam as they both focused on his wounded leg. Ginger and Pete sniffed Sam up and down and licked his face, Sam took a playful swipe at them as he wanted to play.

  Ginger and Pete jumped in and out of the pool as I tossed two tennis balls for them. Jillian brought out a large bucket of fresh water and placed it in the grass. When Sam was done, Mom went over and smelled the water and started to drink. Ginger and Pete came over to share the water and Mom let out a roar and laid on her back.

  “What was that?” Helen said quietly through the radio.

  “Oh, that was Ginger and Pete playing with a big’ol bear.” Jillian said. The dogs were careful and avoided Sam who wanted to play but was limping. The look on their faces when they heard Mom roar was just hysterical.

  “I’m thinking it would not be a good idea to bring the wolf pack.” Scotty said quietly.

  “It’s hard to say what the reaction Mom will have.” I said.

  “Besides, she’s probably just passing through. Right? I have no idea about bear behavior.” I added.

  “First wolves, now bears. What’s next? A friggin Bobcat?” Jillian said chuckling.

  “We’ll just need to grow more food I suppose.” I said.

  “I’ll go see what I can find in the gardens.” Jillian said, heading inside the house and closing the doors behind her to get changed.

  It was amazing to watch the interaction between the dogs and the bears. Perhaps Mom and Sam were just lonely, and happy to have fresh water and companionship. I got up and took off my clothes and entered the pool and sat in the shallow end near the ramp with my bandaged arm outside the water. Sam slowly approached the ramp and limped down and into the water. Sam tried to swim out to Mom and the dogs but his back leg prevented him from swimming properly. Sam whimpered pathetically as he wanted to join in. Mom just grunted as she swam around. I grabbed Sam with my good arm and held onto him as we carefully joined the swim party. Sam naturally started kicking and Mom let out a roar and went under the water.

  “You gotta be shitting me!” Jillian said through gritted teeth standing with two baskets of produce. Mom surfaced and turned towards Jillian sniffing the air and swiftly approached her, Jillian shrieked a little and set the two baskets down and stepped away. I brought Sam over to Mom who was sifting through the baskets.

  “You need your head examined!” Jillian said to me in a quiet harsh tone.

  “The bandage is still dry! See!” I said showing her the condition of the bandage.

  “You don’t know what that bear is capable of, it’s a wild animal and you treat it as if it was a stray cat!” Jillian said, being careful not to yell.

  “You wanted to hand feed Rosie the first day we met her! Remember?” I said. Jillian said nothing. “I know for a fact that Mom had multiple opportunities to attack me, and didn’t. She has never seen a human or a dog, just small… creatures… I guess.” I said trailing off.

  “How do you know that sweetie?” Helen’s voice softly over the radio.

  “I just, know.” I said confidently.

  “Just like you know how many pups Rosie is going to have?” Scotty asked.

  “Yes, something like that.” I responded having a sudden realization of what everyone was eluding to.

  “Just like when we are exploring, the dogs do a perimeter sweep, dogs just don’t know how to do that.” Scotty said.

  “And the way Pete just sits like a statue?” Jillian added.

  “Pete’s been doing that since he was a pup, it’s just his thing to do, I suppose.” I said trying to think back to when he first did it.

  “What am I thinking about right now?” Helen asked quietly.

  “That I’m some kind of freak?” I said sarcastically.

  “What am I thinking?” Jillian asked me quietly as I watched Mom and Sam snack on the produce and Ginger and Pete smelling the both of them.

  “You want to take a drive in your BMW?” I said, lying because she was really thinking about fresh pineapple. At that exact moment I felt a surge in my head, colors appeared different; but the same. I could ‘hear’ the emotional state of concern Jillian had for my well-being. I could sense each of the animal’s disposition more clearly. The bears were distant, probably because I was not tuned in for a lack of exposure to their particular personality.

  “So what! I have female intuition; the male version, where everything is based on comparisons to my penis. Maybe I’m just a lucky guesser.” I said trying not to be alarmed.

  “You’re an animal whisperer!” Scotty said with a hint of humor.

  “You know it’s funny you say that because lately I have had the urge to quietly poop in the neighbor’s yard the last couple of days!” I said.

  “No! An animal whisperer is someone that can communicate with animals.” Scotty said laughing.

  “He really seems to like the sprouts.” Jillian said quietly. I dried myself off and got dressed as Mom and Sam nosed around the yard.

  “Maybe we should give Sam some antibiotics, a real small amount, just in case of infection.” Jillian said watching Sam and thinking.

  “Do we have any honey? Bears like honey, right?” I said not really knowing the answer. Jillian and I prepared two small bowls of honey with a dash of antibiotic and walked to the backyard. Ginger and Pete were relaxing in the sun and Mom and Sam were nowhere to be found.

  “If everything is okay over there, we are going to start some dinner, okay?” Scotty’s voice said as Jillian walked over to the radio on the patio table.

  “Were good, thanks. Everything is back to normal now.” She responded.

  “NORMAL? You two are anything but normal!” Helen said laughing.

  “Love you. Bye!” Jillian said.