Jesse has inherited his Grandfather's ranch. Now he must fight his father to keep and go on a quest to find Coyote and his spirit animal.

Thank you Hope for your help in editing and trying to keep this southern gal from embarrassing herself with improper English. All other errors belong to me.

Thank you to those who have inquired as to when I would post the next chapter. I hope this one doesn't disappoint. I had a little personnal issues, but I am dealing right now. The next two chapters will come out soon.

Now Chapter 13

Chapter 13 Down the Mountain

Jesse made sure that the batteries on the satellite phone were fully charged. She knew that the call to George could be a long one. They had much to discuss beside her being turned into a female, So when the Ranch Foreman answered with, “Hello, Jesse? Mathew told me to expect your call and that you would have a long tale to tell,” it made her pause a bit.

Jesse answered, “Yes George it's me, Jesse. The tale is long and I will be glad to share the whole tale later. I can hit the highlights now if I need to.”

“Are you sure you are Jesse?” asked George.

“Yes, I'm sure. Let me tell a portion of the tale then if you need more proof, you can ask me some questions. I met the wolf that we heard howling. He and his mate made sure I reached the lake safely. After I arrived, Matthew Two Bears came to the smoke lodge I had built, where he helped me with the cleansing rituals. While I prayed I met Coyote. He changed me into my spirit animal so that I could go before the Great Spirit. You may not remember your Native American lore, but Coyote is a trickster. He changed me into a she wolf as a test to see if my spirit was strong. The Great Spirit decided that I should stay female. That is why I sound so different.”

George thought a few moments. “I have two questions for you. What is the name of the horse you are riding and what was the last task you gave me before you left?

“The horse's name is Big Spot. The last task I gave you...” Jesse stopped to think about this. “ I don't remember the very last task, but I did ask you to get with the County to develop a mobile home park for the ranch hands. If you needed to, I asked that you contact the engineering firm in town to help.”

“I will hold the rest of my questions until we meet. You know you need to be back east in five days.”

“Mr. Two Bears told me. I need you to arrange a charter plane to get us there. I'll need a new ID. I don't match my drivers license any more. Do you think your son can help with the logistics with my identity.”

“Yeah, he can help. I will have him drive up here after he charters the plane. What else can I do for you?”

“I will need clothes. If you can get Gail to get some of my Aunt's clothes out of storage, that'll help. Next, I need you to bring me clothes for a small girl of about thirty-three inches in height. I'll explain later. Can you meet me on the trail with a couple of horses and some supplies?”

“Okay, I'll get a couple of hands and start out in a couple hours.”

As they ended their call, Jesse remembered that she needed to provide some food for Merry. She noticed that the drying rack still had dried beef on it. She found her back pack and cooking supplies in the lodge. Jesse soon had a fire going and softened some of the dried beef by boiling it into a broth. She let it cool before offering some of the beef and broth to the little girl. Merry hungrily drank the broth and ate the beef.

Jesse asked, “How was it? You seemed to like the food.”

“I like it better raw, but it was good.”

Jesse laughed and then became serious. “Merry, you'll have to be more careful about what you eat and how you eat it. As a wolf you didn't eat many vegetables and fruits, but as a human you will need to eat more of these. Also, You have to be careful eating raw meats and drinking water from streams and puddles.”

With a confused look on her face Merry asked, “Why?”

“As a wolf, your body was accustom to what we call micro-organisms. These are animals so small that you can't see them with out help. Humans can get sick when they eat these animals. Wolves can eat them and not get sick.

“I still don't understand.”

“You will understand more when you're older.”

“I have another question. What are vege, vege...”

“Vegetables and fruits.” offered Jesse.

“Yes, those.”

“It would be better to show you later. We need to get packed and started down the mountain.”

Jesse brought her pack out of the smoke lodge and and began putting things into it. Then she put the saddle on Big Spot and started filling the saddle bags. The horse stood quietly as she placed all her equipment on him.

Jesse asked “How does that feel my friend?”

{{Its uncomfortable, but not unbearable. I know it has to be tight to keep from falling off.}}

Jesse hung her rifle and bow on the saddle and then strapped on the pistols. Walking over to Two Bears, she but her arms around his thick neck. “Bye my friend. When will I see you again?”

{{I will be at the ranch when you get back. Remember what you have learned and you will be okay.}}

“I will”

Two Bears walked over to the horse to help the girls get on Big Spot. Jesse managed to get her foot in the stirrup and tried to swing her leg over. Realizing that the stirrups were too long and having managed to get in the saddle, she decided that it would be best to stay on the horse. “Big Spot the stirrups are too long for my legs. I can just barely reach them.”

{{That is okay. It is my job to keep you on my back and safe.}}

“I will adjust them when we stop for a rest later.”

Merry walked over to Big Spot. Two Bears let her climb on his back until Jesse could reach down and help her up onto the back of the horse. Once she was settled behind the older girl, Jesse looked over to Two Bears. “Don't be too long up here. I feel another storm coming. It may contain some snow at this altitude.”

{{There's enough beef to last a week or more and your lodge is sturdy. I will be alright. A big old grizzly like me won't feel much cold out of the wind.}}

“Still, I expect to see you back at the ranch when I get back from my trip.”

“Come on Big Spot, lets get off the mountain before we have to winter with a smelly old bear.”

{{I heard that. You should have more respect for your elders,}} laughed Two Bears.

The horse walked over to the edge of the clearing and disappeared down the trail with the girls.

“We won't get as far as I would like down the trail this evening, but where we'll stop is a nice camp site.” Jesse told Merry. “There's a good spring so we won't have to boil our water and plenty of wood for a fire. I brought some of the beef that we had dried earlier.”

“What's like being a human?” asked the little girl.

“That's like asking what it is like being a wolf of someone who has always been a wolf. I like being a human. I was a human male before I met Coyote. I will have to learn how to live my life as a female human like you. Mrs. Shilling will make a good teacher for both of us. You'll find that humans grow slower than most animals, but they live longer.”

“My grand-sire is very old, and his mate was old like him. Will I grow as old as they?”

“Your pack of wolves is very different from the other wolves. Most wolves don't live as long as they do in your pack. It may be because our families are so intertwined like vines of honeysuckle, and it could be that Coyote may have His hand on their lives. I would say you have a very good chance to live much longer than your grand-sire.”

Jesse asked, “What was your favorite thing to do as a wolf?”

“When I could, I liked to run, but lately it has been hard. It is like I can't breath fast enough.”

“That is because you have a hole in your heart. Your blood doesn't make it to your muscles well enough for them to work properly. We'll be seeing a doctor when I get back from meeting with my father to get the hole fixed. Then you will be able to run again. I like the running part too.”

“What is a doctor?”

“A doctor is like a shaman. He is someone that knows how to make people feel better.”

“Are you a doctor?”

“No. I am learning how to be a shaman. A shaman uses the spirits to make people feel better. A doctor uses skills he has learned through years of practice.”

“Can I be a shaman?”

“Maybe. We'll just have to see what you will be as you get older. Maybe, you might want to learn how to be a doctor. You can be a doctor for people, or you can be a doctor for animals like the wolves.”

“What do you like best about being a human?” asked Merry.

“Humans are like wolves in some respects. We like being with other humans. Maybe not so much as a pack of wolves who have to depend on each other to bring down the larger animals, but when we are alone we sometimes crave the company of other humans and then when we are surrounded by other humans we want to be alone.”

“Humans are strange,” said the little girl.

“Wait until you get to know us, then you will think we are more than just strange,” laughed the older girl. “You asked what I liked best about being human. That'd be having hands and walking on two feet. There's so much one can do with hands. I like being able to sooth and comfort another with my hands. I like being able to build things and to plant a garden and watch it grow.

“Before I could talk to Big Spot. I could tell he liked for me to take a brush we call a curry comb and brush him. There was always one place that I could brush and he would wriggle his skin. I don't know if it felt good or if it tickled, but now I can ask him. I will get much more enjoyment rubbing him down with my hands after a ride.”

The horse spoke up, {{It tickles, but I like the feel of you rubbing me down after a day of riding.}}

“Why do you have to rub down a horse after you ride it?” asked the young one.

“I have always heard it is to keep them from getting sick after a ride. Once you have finished a hard ride, you have to walk the horse around to let them cool off. Then you wipe the sweat off them, but when they are out in the field no one is around to make them cool down after a run or to wipe the sweat off them. Big Spot why do we rub you down after a ride?” asked Jesse.

{{That's an easy question. When a horse is in a field, it is in the open air and sunshine. We know enough not to just to stand around after we run around. The sun warms us as the air dries the sweat off our bodies. If I'm put in the barn after a ride, I don't have the sun to dry me. I can get sick if I cool too quickly. Besides, I like it.}}

The trio rode on talking and sharing thoughts. After a couple of hours, they found a good place to stop and rest. There was a fallen tree that the girls could use to remount. Jesse adjusted the stirrups while they were stopped and took some of the dried beef out of the saddle bag to chew on for the next part of the ride down the mountain.

“How much further do we have to go before we stop for the night?” asked Merry.

“The campsite I have in mind is about two hours away, but it may get dark on us before we get there. I think we have a little over an hour of daylight left. I should be able to get a fire going in the dark. The moon will be bright enough for us to see well. We will put the saddle blanket on the ground and my sleeping bag on top of us so we should be comfortable.

The riders mounted Big Spot. They had talked themselves out earlier so they rode in silence. Merry began to yawn and was soon asleep with her arms wrapped around the older girl. Jesse was watching the darkness begin to creep into the forest as the moon was rising just as the sun was setting. The trail became a ribbon of light in the woods as they neared the campsite. The peacefulness she felt when she had left the lake was beginning to wane. Something in the back of her mind made her feel uneasy.

The wolf girl woke with a start and started growling. “What's wrong Merry?” asked the older girl.

“I felt something evil watching us. I don't feel it now. Maybe it was a dream.” she said as she clung tighter to Jesse. Jesse didn't say what was on her mind as she didn't want to scare the little one. She did nudge the horse to hurry on to the campsite, and noticed that his ears and nose were working overtime.

Big Spot did pick up the pace, but he was worried. He thought that he had a whiff of cougar, but he wasn't sure. With the little girl growling and the tenseness of his rider, he knew that he had to proceed with caution. That cougar could be any where.

As they approached the small clearing of the campsite. The trees seemed to crowd the trail giving the trio a claustrophobic feeling. Merry clung tightly to Jesse as she continued to growl. “I don't like this place,” she said. “There is something evil in the trees.”

The trail rounded a corner and they could see the clearing ahead of them, but with the change in direction of the trail the wind was to their backs. Jesse was still worried, but the small clearing gave her some hope that feeling of evil they were experiencing would vanish as they prepared camp and built the fire.

The horse pick up his pace some more wanting to get out of the trees as badly as the girls. As fast as he was going he was having a harder time finding his footing. In the darkness, he stepped on a root and stumbled a little, but the call of safety from the clearing beckoned him onward. A short distance from the clearing where the moonlight and the shadows mixed, Big Spot stepped on another root causing him to stumble again. It was at this point where the shadows mixed that the cougar decide to make its ambush. This point where rider and horse would begin to feel secure and safe again would be the place to demoralize his prey the most. This point where hope was at its highest he would attack and dash all hope to ground. As Big Spot stumbled, the cougar leaped, knocking the two girls out of the saddle and onto the ground.