the other side of the tent, followed by a roar that froze them all in terror. Henry realized there were two of them out there, maddened by hunger, fighting over the remains of the powdered milk.
Then the bears became quiet. The family could hear their movements as they circled the tent. Henry decided on a course of action. He would unzip the portal of the tent, then run into the creek, drawing the bears as far from his family as he could. He grabbed the flashlight he would use as a club, until the end.
One of the bears loomed right outside the tent, pressing its nose against the fabric, his hot breath passing right through the sheer nylon, and then he roared, the loudest noise anyone had ever heard. His roar was answered on the other side of the tent.
Suddenly Teddy began to sing:
Over hill, over dale
As we hit the dusty trail,
And the caissons go rolling along.
One of the bears roared again, but Teddy kept singing, and then the rest of the family did as well, loudly and defiantly:
Then it’s hi, hi, hee!
In the field artillery,
Shout out your numbers loud and strong!
For where’er you go
You will always know
That the caissons go rolling along.
They kept singing until they heard no more sounds outside.
Lucky arrived around noon. He walked around the camp, reading the tracks and shaking his head in amazement. The food chest had been shredded. The paw prints showed a male and a female grizzly, Lucky said. It was the end of mating season. The male paw prints measured more than two feet from toe to heel, not counting the claws. He just couldn’t get over it.
“What did you do?” he asked.
“Teddy started it,” Helen said proudly. “He sang.”
“He sang?” Lucky asked.
“Yeah, that song you taught us,” said Teddy.
As they rode away from the camp and back to civilization, they were all solemn. They were alive, but everything had changed. It wasn’t clear yet who they were. When they finally got back to Elk City, Lucky refused to be paid. “It wasn’t your fault,” Henry said. “I insist.” He held the money out, trying to press it into Lucky’s three-fingered hand.
“That’s not it,” said Lucky. “What you experienced is something that we think is holy.” Then he added, “We will talk about it many times. We will call you the Bear People.”
32
Something to Remember Me By
“My people have always looked to the heavens for portents,” Majid said when Henry found him on the roof of his cousin’s palace in Taif, where they had taken refuge, peering through a telescope. The stars were dizzyingly brilliant.
“Are you learning anything?”
“For me, the messages are usually about my personal failings. The stars are my mothers-in-law.”
The war had only been waiting for some fresh insult, and the Saudis had provided it with a missile attack on an Iranian oil depot on Kharg Island. It was in retaliation for the suicide bombing at Prince Majid’s palace and the attack on the Saudi National Guard headquarters. Iranian destroyers moved to block the Strait of Hormuz, shutting off the passage of oil from the Persian Gulf. The war had begun.
“You’ve been very kind to me,” Henry said. “Now I have another favor to ask. I must find a way to go home. I’ve tried everything. I know you’ve done what you can, but I cannot wait any longer. I need to go home. At once.”
Majid looked at him, his face full of sadness. “I agree, you must go, it is too dangerous here. This war is going to be very cruel. We have looked to this day for many hundreds of years, and now the fanatics want to finish it, even if it destroys Islam. As for getting you home, I would offer you my personal aircraft, but the ban is still in effect. Also, my pilot, he is dead already of the Kongoli. I would fly you myself, but this foolish war.”
“There must be some way,” Henry said despairingly.
“There is no guarantee, but if you could make it to Bahrain, an American naval base is there. Maybe they can help you. I hesitate to mention this because it is in the war zone. The Russians have heavily reinforced Iran. It is even more dangerous in the Gulf than here.”
Danger meant little to Henry now. “How do I get there?”
“I was going to tell you goodbye at dinner. I must take a battalion to the Eastern Province. From there it is a short distance. If you really wish