The Hunter and the Old Woman by Pamela Korgemagi

Author:Pamela Korgemagi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: House of Anansi Press Inc
Published: 2021-07-21T00:44:00+00:00

The black river rushed an endless course through the quiet night. The Cougar waded into the icy water and set off for the other side. Her Stalker could not follow her beyond this restless border. That stealthy cougar might follow her trail to the river’s edge and know that she had crossed, but she would not be able to pick up her scent on the other side unless she went hunting up and down the bank for the place where she had emerged.

As she paddled across the river, her tail and head above the surface of the water, the Cougar glanced up at the sky. The slow pulsing of countless stars appeared to her then like a river of stars stood out in the sky, to mirror the river below, and the Cougar wondered why this should be. She heard the silence of the land before her. Her feet touched ground and she climbed out of the water. Once within the trees, she set off running.

She ran in a determined line, not the meandering course she usually took. She did not stop to investigate, as she often did, or sit and contemplate, as she sometimes would. Instead she tore through the night, her feet hitting the ground in a silent rush, the distance lost in the darkness. When finally she slowed her course, the Cougar found herself in an old part of the forest. Thick moss bearded the trees, their trunks wider than the length of the Cougar. That they would grow to such a size told her this part of the forest had not suffered the scourge of wildfire for countless seasons. The quiet was astounding. The Cougar looked up as she walked, in awe of the presence of the old trees.

The branches overhead blocked the sky from view. An owl hooted from within the branches and the Cougar looked and saw a muddy path cutting through the trees. A distinct silence occupied the forest and the Cougar stood listening, wary of such a deep silence. There was nothing. No rustle, no indication that even the smallest creatures were moving about. They either avoided this path, or lay quiet even in the dark of night.

The Cougar studied the muddy tract cut into the earth, eyes flicking from one spot to another, trying to determine what could have created such a deep disturbance, but the ground before her described something she did not understand.

There were many paths in the forest, created by the feet of the animals who trod them. But this path would have taken the feet of an enormous herd, as long as a river. The silence surrounding her caused her to wonder where these animals might be, and why now there was no sign of them at all, the forest around her abandoned.

Remaining in the trees, the Cougar followed the muddy path. She would have to turn back soon, her cubs would certainly awaken before she returned, but she felt herself lured onward. Her old injury sang to life then fell silent.

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