Part 3

Beth was completely lost. She had been following the two bears for days now, with no idea where they were going. It might have helped if she had an idea where she started from. The larger bear, the one Beth thought of as 'Mother', was leading them somewhere. Beth and Sis, the smaller bear, were following behind Mother, making sure that she didn't get too far ahead. The three of them had followed the shoreline until they came across a large river. The fresh water flowed from a small hill that could be seen in the distance, mixing with the incoming tide of the bay, forming waves at least a meter high.

Beth was thankful when Mother turned her nose west and followed the river's edge inland. She had heard stories of polar bears swimming great distances and thought they might try crossing. Beth wasn't worried about swimming in cold water, she had already been in it several times and knew it had no more effect on her than cold air did, which was none at all. The river was only a few hundred meters across and Beth felt that with an effort, she would be able to swim across it if she needed to, but was happy that they were changing direction.

They followed the river upstream as it began to narrow until it was only about a hundred meters across. Mother stopped at a small, cascading waterfall before wading into the middle of the river. She waited with her head down, as if searching for something. She hadn't been waiting long when a large fish jumped out of the water, trying to make its way upstream. In a swift, smooth motion, Mother caught the fish in her mouth in mid-air before walking out of the water to eat her prize. Sis looked at Beth before wading into the water, attempting to repeat her mother's fishing technique. Her attempt at catching the fish jumping over the waterfall in their journey upstream was less successful. After three or four attempts, though, she was finally able to get one. Sis walked over to where Mother was sitting and began eating her fish. Beth could have sworn that she was smiling while making her way to the shore.

Beth didn't think it was wise to take any food from her two companions. She suspected that this was Mother's idea of teaching them how to get their own fish, as well as the best places to do it. She waded out into the water, watched the fish swimming below her. It took her a minute to realize that there was a pattern to their attempts to jump the small waterfall. They would line themselves up in the river before swimming as fast as possible, then jump. Beth recognized this pattern soon enough and soon saw another fish lining itself up. She moved closer to the edge of the waterfall. The fish literally fell into her hands as it cleared its watery hurdle. She was immediately surprised by the fish's weight and strength. Holding on as tightly as possible so that it didn't get away, Beth walked back to the shore. Digging her new claws into the fish finally stopped its attempts to get free again, allowing her time to take a closer look at it. She thought the fish had been a salmon, but it was a little smaller than that. The silver colouring of its sides as well as the dark green back were something completely different from a salmon. While raw fish isn't all that unusual for some people to eat, Beth had never been one to enjoy sushi. Seeing both Sister and Mother enjoying their meal, Beth gave hers a try. She was surprised, again, by the wonderful taste of it. Since waking up from MORFS, Beth had only been eating raw meat. She wondered if she would be able to eat regular food, or if it would taste different. Once finished, Beth washed her blood stained hands and face in the cold river water. Mother and Sister were also washing their paws and face, though they didn't seem to have as much on them as Beth did. She suspected that it was from her having a smaller mouth than either of them.

Once their meal had been finished, Mother started walking further upstream. Sister seemed to be more energetic after eating, and wanted to play. They were walking a few meters behind Mother when Sister started to bump into Beth, trying to get her to play. Beth was also feeling playful after eating. It was her first meal since the seal meat when she'd first met up with them, and she was amazed that she hadn't been more hungry after going without eating for so long.

Beth noticed Sister running at her from her left just in time to avoid being tackled. She dodged, then pushed Sister on her side as she ran past, making her lose her balance. Sister rolled onto her back in a small, windblown snowdrift. Beth took that as an opportunity to jump on her, in an attempt to tickle her large friend. This didn't go so well due to her thick fur covered skin. Sister showed Beth she had also decided it was time to wrestle by rolling her over and laying on her chest. With Sister's additional weight and size, Beth was pinned to the ground, unable to move. She was even having trouble breathing until Mother roared at them. She had continued walking and was quite a distance ahead, so Sister and Beth had to run to catch up again. Beth quickly outran her, as Sister needed to slow down several times to avoid getting overheated with her exertion.

Sunset slowly painted the sky in beautiful colours again while Beth and her new friends continued to walk upstream in search of the river's source. In the fading light, Beth could make out a long series of shallow rapids making their way down a rocky slope ahead of them. They slowly made their way to the top of the rapids to see a narrow, long lake covered with a sheet of ice while water poured from under it, forming the rapids that they had just finished climbing. After their long walk inland, Mother found a small hollow out of the blowing wind to rest in. that was. Sister soon cuddled up beside her, closed her eyes and was almost instantly asleep. Taking her cue from Mother and Sister, Beth lay down in the hollow, out of the wind and tried to get some rest as well.

The sky was lit up in hundreds of shades of blue and orange as the sun slowly made its way over the horizon. Beth sat in awe of its beauty, wondering why she had never noticed it before. From Beth's vantage point, the path of their journey upstream could easily be seen, all the way from the river's mouth to the long series of rapids before her. She just enjoyed the peaceful scene, not wanting it to end.

Unfortunately, Mother and Sister had a different agenda. Both of them seemed to be in a foul mood this morning, with an occasional roar or bite at each other. Mother quickly grew tired of Sister's behaviour and walked off, heading for the lake. When Sister attempted to follow, she was bitten on her neck. The bite didn't draw blood, but was obviously quite painful. As quickly as it happened, it was over. Mother walked off, only looking back a few times to ensure that she wasn't being followed.

As Mother walked away Beth was reminded of the day her mother had left, of her wildly mixed feelings toward her mother, and how she had started hating her father for driving her away. Beth was in tears when she finally made her way to Sister's side. She hugged her friend hoping that Sister understood that Beth knew how it felt. Reading how polar bears were born and raised was one thing. Seeing it with her own eyes was much harder. Polar bears are solitary animals that don't hunt together or form packs like wolfs. There are very few reasons for them to stay together, and food is a major reason for them to stay apart.

After Mother had disappeared over a small, distant hill, Beth became curious. She had brought them here for a reason, but now Mother wanted them to continue on their own. Beth wanted to find out why.

"Come on, Sis" she said to her furry friend. "Let's find out what she's up to."

Beth and Sister followed Mother's path along the lake's shoreline, making sure that they kept their distance from her. She could occasionally be seen as she made her way over one hill or another, but was getting further away as the day continued. The sun was about as high as it was going to get when they found Mother's reason for pushing them away. "Well," Beth said to Sister while looking onto the lake's frozen shoreline. "I think Mother was looking for a new boyfriend."

The difference in size between male and female bears was easily seen from their hilltop lookout. Male bears were pacing across the frozen lake while females displayed themselves on shore. All together, there was likely fifty bears, most of them males. If two males came to close to each other, they would start to makes loud noises and bare their teeth. If this didn't cause one of them to back down a fight would usually start. A pecking order was being setup for all to see. Once they had determined who was 'king of the hill', a female bear would break away from the group and allow him to follow her away. Fights between male bears became more and more aggressive as the female group continued to get smaller and smaller. Fortunately, Beth and Sister were downwind, and well hidden from this lakeside ritual. Getting between a bunch of horny bears was definitely not a safe place to be.

After sunset the fighting continued, but with much less frequency. With few males and even fewer females, the noise level was low enough to get some sleep. When Beth turned to look for Sis, she was already curled into a ball asleep in a nearby snowdrift. Laying down next to Sis, Beth closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep as well.

A loud, sharp sound suddenly woke Beth from her deep sleep. She wondered for a moment if she was dreaming, until she heard it again. As she rolled over and got to her feet, she could see that Sis was already up, sniffing the air while looking over the edge of their snowdrift. A small group of men could be seen a few hundred meters away. They looked to be approaching from downwind, trying to stay hidden behind small hills and snowdrifts. Since the remaining bears were on lower ground, they couldn't see the hunters getting closer, but the shots had alerted them. They were all running in different directions, trying to get away. Unfortunately, one bear was heading directly for the hunting party. As it got closer, a man took aim and fired a fatal shot at the huge animal. Beth saw it continue toward its attacker, but fell to the ground after only a few steps. The remainder of the bears quickly ran in other directions, out of range of the hunters.

As Beth looked at the huge animal lying on the blood stained snow, she suddenly became very angry. It had simply been here looking for a mate when they showed up and started shooting. Without thinking, she climbed over the small snowdrift and stormed toward the hunters. Her heart was racing and her blood felt like it was boiling as she got closer to the group of men. Just as she was about to start yelling at them for killing the bear, one of them noticed her approach. He said something in Inuktitut before falling to his knees and started to pray. When the others heard him, they turned to look at Beth. They all seemed afraid of her and, one by one, fell to their knees. Two of them pulled necklaces from under the layers of clothing and held them in their hands as she got closer. Their actions startled Beth so much she stopped in her tracks before getting to them.

As she looked at the group of men, Beth couldn't help saying, "What the hell are you doing?"

One of the men stood, looking at her with a confused expression. "You are not Nanuk? The anirniq of the white bear?"

"I don't know what that means. What's an AN-ER-NIK?" asked Beth.

All three men started to get to their feet and look at her closely. The oldest man came closer before saying, "An anirniq is a spirit or soul."

"We feared that you were a spirit, coming to avenge the death of the bear," said the youngest of the group. He looked like he was no more that a year or two older than Beth.

"Well, I was pissed about you killing one of the bears," she explained. Remembering why she was confronting the group, Beth started to get angry again. "I mean, it was only here to mate."

"We know," the first man replied. "We've been here for almost a week waiting for them to finish pairing up."

"You've been killing bears for a week?" she yelled. Beth couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"No!" answer the young man just as loudly. In a slightly calmer voice he asked, "Who are you? It's clear that you don't understand our ways."

Beth was concerned as she walked over to the bear, but doubted that it was Mother. It was too large to be her. She opened its eyes to look at their colour anyway, just to assure her that it wasn't. She sighed in relieve after seeing its dark eyes and sat down beside the fallen animal.

She absently stroked its fur as she asked, "How many have you killed then?"

"This is the first, and only bear that we'll take during this trip," explained the old man. He walked over to them and knelt in front of the bear and started to talk to it in Inuktitut. Beth had no idea what he was saying, but the tone of his voice was odd. It sounded as if he was talking to an old friend. He took a water container out of a pocket on the inside of his thick caribou skin coat and poured a small amount into the bear's mouth.

"Why did you do that?" asked Beth. The old man had lowered himself to the hard packed snow and looked at Beth.

"It is a tradition that we follow," he said after finally getting comfortable on the snow. "The legends say that the white bear wanders the snow, constantly looking for water to drink, but only finds salt water or sea ice. In order to please them, in the afterlife, we give them a taste of water. To quench their lifelong thirst."

The old man looked at her again and asked, "Now who are you, and what are you doing out here?"

It took a moment for Beth to decide what to say and how much of her story to tell these people. She finally decided to share a little bit of information at a time. She wanted answers as well, so would trade information with them. "My name's Beth. I'm lost and looking for my way home." It was almost the truth, but they wouldn't know that.

Now she wanted more information. "So, it's just the three of you?"

A smile on the old man's face made the deep wrinkles deeper, but showed a perfect set of bright white teeth. "My name is Anilnik." He pointed to the two remaining men before continuing, "That's my son, Aariak and grandson Rob. We all call him Ukalik, though."

Although Beth had other questions that she would rather ask, her curiosity got the better of her. "Why do you call him that, what does it mean?"

Rob pulled the hood of his coat off of his head, revealing a head of snow white hair and two long ears that reached a centimetre or two above his head. They were also white, with black tips. "It means hare, or rabbit, in our language."

The giggles came out of nowhere and Beth was powerless to control them. "I see why now," she said between chuckles.

"I wouldn't be laughing so hard if I were you, Nanuk," he said with a grin.

"Nanuk?", Beth asked through a few more giggles.

Aariak spoke with a stern voice, "Be nice, Robert." It wasn't a name that his father used for him too often, and usually only when he had done something wrong. "Get another water bottle from the kamotiq, for our guest," he added, before also sitting on the snow.

Instead of replying, Rob just ran off in the direction they had approached from. In the distance she could see him stop at what she thought was a small snowdrift. Pulling back a cover showed that it was a sledge instead. After pulling out what must have been the water bottle, he covered it again and returned to their group. If she didn't know exactly where to look, Beth wouldn't have been able to see any trace of the sledge under its camouflage.

While Rob was returning with the water from the kamotiq, Aariak explained, "Nanuk means polar bear."

"Nanuk? Well, I guess it's as accurate a description as any other," Beth said more to herself, than anyone else. "They are beautiful animals, aren't they?"

Anilnik smiled again, "He honours us as hunters, by allowing us to kill him." It was an odd concept for Beth, so she didn't say anything.

As Rob handed Beth the water bottle, he asked, "So, where's your home? Maybe we can help."

"Iqaluit," answered Beth before taking a long drink of water. After finishing the bottle she realized it was the first drink since fishing in the river, two days ago. Even though she hadn't eaten since then, she still wasn't very hungry. She definitely didn't want to eat after seeing the dead bear.

"We're from Iqaluit too," added Aariak. "But I don't remember hearing about a bear hybrid in town. How long have you lived there?"

A sudden look of recognition came over Rob's face. "You're Beth Baker, aren't you?"

Beth nodded, but didn't answer. She had hoped that they wouldn't recognize her. There were still too many questions about what her dad had done for which she didn't have answers. Rob turned to his dad to explain, "Beth is the one that they were searching for last month."

"Last month? How long have I been gone?" asked Beth. She had completely lost track of the days while they followed Mother to her mating ground.

"It's May 6th," Rob answered. "You've been missing for almost three weeks. They called off the search after ten days when there was no sign of you."

"If you like," Aariak offered, "you can come with us. We have to meet the others, before heading home. But we should be able to get you there in two or three days."

"I could call someone," Rob added, pulling out his eCom. "If you'd rather get home sooner." Anilnik shook his head at the sight of the eCom. He didn't say anything to his grandson about it, but it seemed that he didn't approve of him having it here.

The thought of going home brought mixed emotions to Beth, but she knew she needed to confront her dad. She already knew why he'd abandoned her in the cold, but she needed to hear it from him. She decided that she would take a little time before going home. There was someone she needed to say goodbye to first.

"That's okay," answered Beth. "I'll go back with you, if you don't mind me tagging along."

"Do you want to call anyone, tell them that you're okay?" Rob offered again.

"No!" Beth said, a little to quickly. "I ... well ... actually, yeah." There was someone that she wanted to talk to, but calling might cause a bit of trouble at home. She took the eCom from Rob and stared at the numbers for a moment, deciding what to say.

"We have work to do," announced Anilnik as he started to get to his feet.

"Yes we do," agreed Aariak, "and we'd better get moving if we want to get any distance behind us today. You want to get started, Dad, while we get the gear?"

"Yes," Anilnik answered. "I will get started."

As Aariak and Rob left to get their gear, Anilnik tried to roll the huge animal over. Seeing that he was having a little difficulty, Beth dropped the eCom in the pocket of her shorts and walked closer.

"Can I help?" she asked Anilnik.

He smiled again, before answering. "Thank you, yes. There was a time when I could roll even the largest of bears over myself." A far away look came over his face before he continued, "I fear those days are long gone for me."

Most of the people that she had met in town were also students, their parents or teachers. So it was hard for Beth to judge his age. Older people seemed to look the same to her for such a wide range of ages. Then suddenly, all their years would take their toll.

"Go onto the other side and take hold of his front leg. Pull it until he rolls onto his back." Since Beth was expecting the bear to be heavy and hard to roll, she pulled as hard as she could. Before Anilnik could do anything, Beth had rolled the bear completely onto its back, exposing the blood stained fur and wound underneath.

"I expected that to be a lot harder," Beth commented under her breath.

"You must be much stronger than you look," replied Anilnik. "Even the strongest, most experienced hunters wouldn't be able to do that so easily."

Now that the bear was on its back, the wound and blood stained fur was easily seen. Anilnik picked up a handful of snow in each hand, rubbing it in the blood soaked fur to clean it. Then he took a long, sharp knife from around his waist and start to cut into the thick fur at its neck.

"I think I'll go make my call now," said Beth, quickly turning her back on the gruesome scene. She walked a short distance away pulling the eCom from her pocket. She held it in her hand for a moment before dialling the number.

"Hello?" came the tinny voice from after a few rings.

Beth paused for a second before saying, "Hi Annie, it's Beth." Anilnik turned his head in Beth's direction, hearing the ear piercing squeal from more than five meters away. Annie attempted to ask four questions all at the same time, none of them making any sense at all. "Calm down, take a breath. I'm fine," she tried to reassure her friend, until Annie's words come out right.

"Where are you? I thought you were dead!" she was finally able to get out.

"I'm... " Beth paused to look around for anything that she could use as a landmark. " I'm not sure where I am! I'm near a lake that a group of polar bears use as a breeding ground. A small hunting party found me."