fiddleheads

May, 1888

Jeremiah Joy walked through the blueberry fields high up on Parkman Ridge. He looked east toward the rocky islands that spread out like stepping stones below him, poking up through a low mist. He thought himself a lucky man. Jeremiah had started his walk down below, in that mist, and little droplets still clung to the coarse hairs on his forearms. There was the smell of woodsmoke in the air, the peaty incense of honey locust. He could hear the bell clanging on the number three buoy that marked the channel into Pine Point Harbor. A few masts stood skeletal and ghost-like along the long pier.
The low guttural sound came from his left. Jeremiah stopped in his tracks and turned his broad back to the harbor. He saw the bear, her two cubs, and cursed himself for not being more careful. It was just yesterday that he and his brother Josiah were talking about how the bears were taking their time this year in emerging from the winter dens. Cold weather, ice and snow had lingered.
The sow took no time in charging. She was hungry, exposed, and most of all, angry that there were no ripe blueberries yet on her favorite hilltop.
The bear was upon him in an instant. He fell and curled himself into a ball, covering his neck with his heavy hands and forearms. The bear stopped above him and circled. Jeremiah could smell her fetid breath and feel the warmth of her lungs. She batted him around like a toy, her claws ripping at his jacket and tearing into the back of his hands. Jeremiah heard the soft padding of the two cubs. The sow circled again and snorted.
After an eternity the three walked away, the low bush blueberry crunching beneath their feet.
It was some time before Jeremiah came out of his fetal position. He wrapped his shredded arms and hands in his torn undershirt and stumbled back down the hill into town. Dr. Thibodeau spent an hour approximating and sewing Jeremiah's flesh back together. Jeremiah Joy drank whiskey while Dr. Thibodeau mumbled in his French accented English.
"Mon Dieu, you are lucky you. How you say when someone does not eat the meat?"
"Vegetarian," said Jeremiah.
"Oui, monsieur, vegetarian. You are lucky you."


Mmmmmm