Chapter Sixteen
The Healer came. "I will put my bedroll by your fire," he said, "Brother Bear will be along tomorrow. Hopefully, there will be no emergencies to call me away."
2 I appreciate your permitting me such a close relationship with your animals. The letters I have written on them have stirred much interest throughout the land.
3 Several Healers have expressed approval on that idea of yours of there being Healers especially for animals. It is a growing need.
4 The medicine for people is becoming so complex that Healers can no longer handle both responsibilities. We may soon be starting a Healer's School especially for animals.
5 The First Speaker has already expressed his approval, and is trying to find some church property that could be used for the purpose."
6 "I am pleased," replied Nameless Fox, "that you took my suggestion seriously. I feel it will be a great benefit to our people."
7 The next day Brother Bear completed his circle and settled down to his room at The Brother's House. He, too, wanted to be on hand when the puppies came. They had barely gotten to sleep that night when the boy he had hired to watch Lady woke Nameless Fox.
8 "You'd better come look at Lady," he said, "she seems to be in pain!"
9 Nameless Fox took one look and sent for the Healer, then returned to the kitchen to wait. Several times Brother Bear came in for more water and towels, but would say nothing, only shook his head and disappeared again.
10 Some of the women came by and asked the Healer if there was any way they could help, and he answered "Yes, pray!"
11 It was almost morning when Brother Bear came into the kitchen. "There were six," he announced, "but the last three hung up. The Healer was afraid if they stayed any longer and she kept trying to push so hard she'd rupture, so he reached in and pulled them out.
12 We were able to revive two of them by breathing into their noses, but this one simply would not breathe. Lady seems to be all right, though she's terribly weak.
13 I swear," sighed the gentle Brother, "she wept when we took it. But the Healer said the best thing to do was take it quickly, before she even saw it.
14 There's still going to be problems," he continued, "she can't nurse all these puppies. We're going to have to help her take care of them! You'd better take this one and cremate it right away!"
15 Nameless Fox took the bundle from him, lifted the wrap and looked at the little pink ball of flesh inside. "I'll get some of the men to help me," he agreed, and started off for the cemetery.
16 To his surprise he found many of his neighbors awake, and he quickly had a great number of helpers as he made his way to the cemetery.
17 Big Fellow followed, behind the men. After the furnace was kindled and the tiny body put in, the men began to sing The Prayers of The Dead they would use for any child. And Big Fellow joined in with his own, strange, sad, song.
18 The surviving pups became the project of the village. Each feeding Lady would handle as many as she could, then the women would feed the rest with goat's milk until all were satisified.
19 Lady handled the grooming herself, though there was always someone around with a rag and a bucket of water to scrub a dirty sface when necessary.
20 The puppies were the joy of the village. At first the parents were fearful of letting their children near them. But after it became apparent that Lady trusted human babies with her babies their reluctance slowly vanished.
21 The village children spent many happy hours by the shelter, playing with the puppies when they got bigger. Though there was always an adult around to supervise that activity, it was more to protect the puppies from the children, than the children from the puppies!
22 There was only one family in the village that objected to the puppies, saying that the constant activity around them made too much noise, and that they did not beong in the village anyway.
23 They were rather newcomers to the village, who had inherited the property of a deceased Loved One, and they had not been to the liking of the village since their arrival.
24 Many times the possibility had been discussed of buying them out, as the village charter allowed, and sending them on their way, but Nameless Fox had objected to this.
25 "We are new to them," he argued, "and they are new to us. They are city people, and not used to the closeness and companionship of village life.
26 Let us give them a chance...another year. If they have not settled in by that time, then we can take our option, buy them out, and sell the land to some family we know and approve of. Let us not be hasty. Let us be fair."
27 Now the village often listened to Nameless Fox's counsel, and accepted his proposal.
28 If Nameless Fox knew the trouble these people were going to cause, perhaps he would not have been so kind. For because of them, all that he was working for would be threatened, and his people's sense of justice and fairness would be pushed to its limit.
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