{"sf1_id":598521,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Going Far to Settle a Debt","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":6051,"posted_at":"2013-10-04T02:17:00.000Z","tags":["Bear","Cougar","Elk","Horse","Human","M/F","Moose","Transformation","Unicorn","Wolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/598521-going-far-to-settle-a-debt","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/598521","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=598521\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#1 of Mad Amos Malone Stories\n\nThis is my first story with Mad Amos Malone, one of Alan Dean Foster's less well-known characters. I always liked him, even though he showed up in only a few stories. If you haven't read them, then much of this story will mean very little to you on its own. I can't help what is or is not.","content":" The man\nand his mount sat atop the granite ridge, looking down the forested slope to\nthe scene below. It was entertaining, to say the least. He had come this far north at the urging of\nold One-Who-Bites-The-Wind, medicine man of the Yokuts in the Valle de los\nTulares. The old Indian had requested a lock of hair from a spirit bear to add\nto his medicine bag. The mountain man owed him a big debt, and traveling clear\nup to Canada to get this prize was going to cover it and then some. He had\nheard legends of spirit bears, but doubted their existence. Turned out the\nspirit bear was real alright. Its cream colored fur stuck out from the scenery below\nlike a whore in church. But getting a lock of its fur might prove a bit more\nhazardous than he first suspected. Even Worthless, his piebald mount, snorted\nin disgust at the drama unfolding below them.\nThe spirit bear was about the same size and shape as a black bear. That\nput it in the smaller range, as far as bears go. Amos had seen smaller things that\nwould make an ordinary man blanch with fear. This creature might have looked\ncute, but probably only when it was sleeping. The Taquka-aq it was presently facing down was at least twice its\nsize. He scratched his head, removing the cougar skull cap he wore as a head\npiece to do it. A few fleas fled his gnarly finger tips. Taquka-aq\nwas a local Indian word for what white folks called the Kodiak bear. They could\nbe tough customers if you didn't know how to talk to them. All it took was one\nmeeting with the mountain man to teach a bear of at least average intelligence\nto give him a wide berth. Those too stupid to desist got a dose of hoof from\nhis steed. That usually settled the matter. Every creature, no matter how\nstupid, was wise enough to value its hide. The\nKodiak was taking exception to the presence of his smaller cousin. The spirit\nbear was taking exception to his exception. Standing on its hind legs, the\nsmaller bear had suddenly grown to twice its size. This inconsistency was lost\non the Kodiak. So too was the sudden enlarging of its opponents paws and claws.\nThey had grown to the size of manhole covers. Amos was fairly certain they had\nthe same consistency and solidity. His assumption was rewarded in the\naffirmative with the sound of rock hard paws hitting an only slightly less\ndense skull. The Kodiak dropped to the ground, its upper half submerged in the\ncreek.  Now\nAmos felt a bit sorry for the poor bugger, but it wasn't his fight. He did,\nhowever, feel that just because the big brute was stupid didn't mean he should\ndie. As it was the bear's head had dropped below the flow of water streaming\nover a red granite boulder. He was about to his mount into a gallop when he\nwitnessed the most remarkable thing yet. The spirit bear bent over and with one\nmassive heave, tossed the other bear out of the water. Twelve hundred pounds of\nursine landed with a sickening thud on\nthe gravel bank, bruised but apparently alive. Now, a\nbear that can change size on a whim, and can summon the power to toss a Kodiak\naside like a toy Teddy is a creature to be reckoned with. A wise man would have\nducked his head, tucked his tail and slunk away. Amos was wise, but he had earned the nickname \"Mad\" for his inability to\nleave matters mundane or supernatural alone. Besides, he needed a lock of fur.\nOne way or another, he intended to get it. Even if that meant wrestling this\nformidable foe to the ground and holding him in place while he trimmed the\nnecessary bits with his trusty Bowie. He hoped and prayed it didn't come down\nto that. He\nnudged Worthless in the ribs. The horse grunted, but didn't move. He instead\nturned his head to view his rider. Apparently even he had reservations about\nthis upcoming encounter. The mountain man looked down distastefully. \"What the\nhell's wrong with you? It's only a darn bear. It's not like it's a dragon, or a\nflame spirit or nothing!\" Then he reconsidered. Spirit bear. Maybe there was\nmore to the legends than he knew. After all, the locals up here went out of\ntheir way to hide the existence of the animals from fur trappers. Maybe it was\nto protect the white men from their own unrelenting stupidity. This bear would\nturn any potential poacher into mincemeat with two swipes of its paws. Three\nwould get you hamburger. He\ncontinued to urge the horse forward until it moved, albeit reluctantly, down\nthe slim trail of broken red stone. The horse snorted in a \"what can you do\"\ntone and sure footedly worked his way down. Down at the bottom, the spirit bear\nhad returned to fishing in the creek, completely ignoring its former attacker\nand the new intruders. Amos stopped to watch as the Kodiak struggled to its\nlegs. It looked to the creek, then back to the man and his mount. Then, ever so\nslowly, with a limp here and a hobble there, it disappeared into the bushes.\nAmos almost felt the aches in his own joints. Worthless\nambled a few more steps, and then stopped to browse on the undergrowth. He\nwouldn't budge another inch. Amos swung\ndown from the saddle, pulled out one of his Lemat pistols, shoved it in his\nbelt and walked down to the creek. He found a suitable boulder and sat atop it,\nwatching the bear fish for its meal. The thing was not an albino, as first\nglance might make it appear to be. It had cream colored fur, and even more\nremarkably, green eyes. Very few things set him off, but green eyes were one of\nthem. It didn't matter if it was man or beast; green eyes held the promise of\nthe ocean depths, and the hidden wonders of the tropical jungle. The\nbear meanwhile snagged a nice fish. Snagged was the right word, for it got\nimpaled by one of those now-huge claws. The next instant it went sailing\nthrough the air, right towards the mountain man. He ducked and reached out at\nthe same time, doing a little snagging of his own. He was left holding up the writhing\nPiscean in his left hand. The bear turned to see where lunch had gone, and\nfound it in the clutches of the human. Its eyes narrowed. Amos\ntossed the fish back down on the bank, where it flopped about weakly. The bear\nmeanwhile was sizing him up. It sniffed the air and, the mountain man swore,\nmade a disgusted face. He wasn't one for hygiene, but he had never had a bear\nlooked nauseated before! Despite this, it must not have felt threatened, for\ninstead of standing its full height, it shrunk back down to the size it was\nbefore the territorial dispute. It sauntered over to the fish and began happily\nripping it to shreds. Amos\nnever moved; he just sat on his rock and watched. From time to time he glanced\nover to his steed, which had found a mud hole and was wallowing in it, saddle,\nbags and all. It was his way of showing displeasure at their present situation.\nAmos ignored him. His eyes returned to the bear, which was now looking up at\nhis perch with renewed interest. It stood on its hind legs and opened its\nmouth. Amos fingered his Lemat. \"Ai-sha-wa-outay-wah-he-ne-wa?\" Amos felt his jaw drop. He looked down at the\nbase of the boulder, half expecting the hinged appendage to be lying on the\nground amongst the stones and gravel. It was where it was supposed to be, only\na few inches lower than normal. He pushed it back in place. The bear was\nspeaking! It weren't no English, but that would have really stunned him. It was\nspeaking Ts'msyan, one of the regional\nlanguages. That was amazing enough.\u003c?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = \"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office\" /\u003e \"Osay-ey-a-wah-shena?\" he asked\nback. Translated, he asked how a bear could talk. What the bear had asked was\nthis. \"What brings a sorcerer in my presence?\" That left the situation hanging\nin the air. Amos was dumbfounded that it had called him a sorcerer. He had been\ncalled worse in his many years and with less accurate titles for sure. But he\nwas bewildered how it had come to that conclusion without even having a word\nwith him. It startled him out of his\nreverie when it spoke to him in perfect English. \"A bear cannot talk. A bear is\nmindful of its belly and its survival. That is about it. In that sense, I too\nam a bear. But I can be whatever I want, whenever I want to be it. Today it is\na bear. As for how I know you are more than you seem, all I need to do is to\nview your aura. You exude a quiet power that is well hidden to ordinary eyes.\nAs you have seen with your own, my eyes are far from ordinary.\" The voice, while originating in\nthe throat of an ursine, still had a feminine quality to it. Her size might have\nsuggested it, but with her mutability that was a point he wasn't likely to rely\non. The telltale characteristics would be hidden by fur in her private regions,\nand he hadn't been the cad to investigate that area openly. Even with a bear. \"Well ma'am, I can honestly say\nI have never met the likes of you. I've seen a few things in my time, including\nsome wayward spirits, but none that looked so fine, and sounded quite as\nappealing as you.\" She stepped a bit closer. \"You look to be part bear\nyourself, human. I know many of those who inhabit these lands, and none of them\nhave the fur like you do.\" He knew she was referring to the local Native\nAmerican tribes. Most of them couldn't grow hair from a mole. Amos, now he\nrequired a double-sided broad axe to do his shaving. It would need to be\nsharpened three times before he was done. Hence, he didn't bother. He was finding himself getting\npulled into this conversation. \"Well ma'am, I live with what life has given me,\nand on top of that everything I have learned, seen and done. I don't think that\nmakes me a sorcerer, but I will bow to your judgment. As for my personal\nappearance, it don't do no good fancying up when I can go for weeks without\nseeing another person who might care. My hair keeps me warm in the winter, and it\nkeeps the biting flies off in the summer.\" The bear was by now looking at\nhis horse. \"Not a sorcerer? You ride a four leg with a fifth one hidden by\nmagic. Don't tell me you are some simple white man. I find you neither to be\nsimple, nor to be fully white, nor fully a man. You and your mount both share\nbreeding outside the realm of normal humans and normal quadrupeds.\" He mulled\nover the fifth leg comment. She had to mean the patch on his horse's forehead,\nbut that didn't constitute covering a leg. Of course, covering Worthless'\npersistent unicorn horn tended to suppress his constant desire to fornicate,\nand when that organ protruded, he certainly looked like he had a fifth leg. \"Well ma\"am, I suppose you've\ngot me there. Most folk just kind of scratch their heads and make excuses for\nus. I do my best to leave most reasonable people alone. No point in getting\nthem stirred up over nothing.\" The bear was watching him with those green eyes. \"It is well to wear a disguise. The truth can\nbe hard to swallow. One might swallow a porcupine backwards with greater ease\nthan he might with plain, open honesty. So man, can you handle the truth?\" He slid off the boulder and\napproached her. \"Truth is slippery stuff ma'am. One man's truth is another\nman's lie. I prefer facts. That way, a point of view doesn't ruin the\nunderlying context, nor the beauty, or ugliness, of what may lie beneath.\" He\nwas hinting to her that she herself wasn't what she appeared to be. She was\nwell aware of that little point. \"So, man, what would you have me\nbe? A wolf? A puma? A buffalo?\" With each name she shifted, becoming that\nanimal, but always in that creamy white color. A spirit buffalo was rarer than\nthe bear. But when she was done asking, she was back to being a bear again. \"You\nsee man...\" He interjected, \"Call me Amos ma'am.\" She started again. \"Amos; you\nsee, I am as you see me. I have no form of my own, only those which I take. If\nyou wish to gaze upon the real me...\" She shifted into a glowing ball of light,\nand then back again, \"then you must understand that I have no corporeal form.\nMy existence is a matter of what I make of it. Just like you, I suppose.\" He was many things, but his body\nwas as solid as the day he was born. Shifting in and out of reality was beyond\nhis abilities. \"You may have a point there ma'am.\" She sighed. \"Since we are\ngetting friendly, I suppose I should give you my name Amos. Muwin is what I\nprefer, though the natives here have called me by many others.\" Amos found his\nfingers trembling. Muwin was a very old legend. She was correct in that her\nname was different among the tribes, but the stories were often the same. Amos knew most of the Indian\nlore, from the Iroquois to the Cherokee to the Inuit. The female goddess image\nwas ingrained into their mythos with great intensity. Muwin was the mother of\nall, the creator. She was also the destroyer, when angered. A Kodiak had just\nbeen witness to that power. But the legends said she could raze the world, and\nbring it to life anew; with one thought. Perhaps that had been an exaggeration\nfrom the passing of the stories in the standard oral tradition. Either way, he\nwas planning on treading lightly. \"Muwin is it? Then I know of\nyou. But I can honestly say I didn't come up here with the intention of finding\nyou.\" She rumbled a little in her chest. \"No one who looks for me ever does\nfind me Amos. Only those who need me find me. Though perhaps in this case, it's\nthe other way around.\" His eyebrows rose, as did the hairs on the back of his\nneck. \"To be completely honest Muwin,\nI came up this way as a favor to a medicine man back down in California. He\nrequested a lock of hair from a spirit bear.\" He figured she'd get angry with his words. She\nwas quite the opposite, laughing a little. \"A lock of hair? What good would that\ndo him? Good medicine comes from the heart of the being giving it out, not from\nsome bag of stones, leaves, flowers and bones. All that does is provide the\naudience with a sense of awe. However, perhaps we can trade. I'll gladly give\nyou a lock of hair if you give me something in return.\" His own hairs on the nape of his\nneck stood up so straight a drill sergeant couldn't have found anything wrong\nwith their posture. If this was really\nMuwin, she didn't need a thing from him. So her offer was very much unsettling\nto his digestion. \"Uh. Ma'am, what could I possibly have that you'd need? Seems\nto me that you could be, or perhaps provide yourself anything you might desire\non your own.\" The bear came a little closer. \"True. I can do just about\nanything. But I am constrained by simple facts. There is only one of me here at\npresent, and no male. Do you have any idea how lonely that gets? Don't answer that , for I suppose you do, Mad\nAmos Malone.\" Again his eyebrows went up.\n\"Ma'am, you seem to know a lot about me; more than is natural, nor good for the\naverage mind. If you're suggesting that I'm your equal, or somehow a ghostly\napparition, you're dead wrong. I wouldn't mind sharing your company. Seems to\nme a fellar could learn a thing or two from someone like yourself.\" The bear managed a quirky smile.\n\"Equal? Natural? Average? No Amos, I\nhave only a few equals on this world. So do you. Hence, I would like to propose\nthat we find some common ground. I would like to offer an exchange.\" For some\nreason his voice box didn't work. It took his brain five minutes of coaxing it\ninto action before he could form words. \"Well ma'am, I don't think I have\nanything you could want. All I got his what you see.\" He made a sweeping\ngesture. The bear sighed. \"Amos, don't be\nobtuse. I have no use for your horse, unique though he is, nor for any of the\nthings that you carry with you. For example, that firearm would avail you not\nin a fight with me, nor would your thundering rifle. What I want in exchange for a lock of my hair\nis a child.\" He figured it was going to be\nsomething like this. There were legends\nalong this line. \"Ma'am, I ain't no kidnapper. If you want me to fetch one from\nan orphanage...\" The bear stared at him, pondering if he was making fun of her.\nShe decided he was not. \"You stupid man; I don't want someone else's child. I\nwant my own. By you!\" He gulped a few times. \"Ma'am, I think you're lovely and\nall, but I ain't never bedded nothing that weren't my own species. I mean, you're\nabout the right size where I wouldn't break ya, but even if I did what you\nwanted, there ain't going to be no child from our activity together. The bear shifted in place.\nStanding there was the loveliest Indian maiden, dark of skin but with long,\nlovely, platinum hair. The only other oddity was the fact that she was a good\nsix feet tall. \"Oh Amos Malone, you are a dear fool. I told you I can be\nwhatever I want, whenever I want.\" She\npulled on one of her braids. \"If you want some of this, you need to earn it.\nI'm certain you know how you're going to do that. If you don't like my offer,\ngo find another bear.\" He had done worse things to get\na job done. Looking at her, everything else he had ever done was worse. This\nwas going to be the best. \"Ok Ma'am, if that's what you want. But before we\nbegin, is there any other rules I should know about?\" She wrinkled her nose.\n\"Yes. Take a bath first. I don't mind a little smell, but you reek as if you\nhaven't bathed in months!\" He began stripping off his leather. \"Yes ma'am,\nthat's about right.\" She watched him with keen\ninterest as he peeled layer after layer. Even when his heavily yellowed union\nsuit was removed he still appeared to be dressed, so thick was his hair. He\nwalked into the creek and found a shallow pool to immerse in. He grumbled to\nhimself that bath day was still a month away. She had damn well better\nappreciate was he was doing for her. Bathing more than once a year was unheard\nof. He had no soap, so made do with\nphysical effort. At first, the water refused to come in contact with his body.\nThe liquid swirled around him, leaving just the thinnest layer of air, doing\nits best to avoid touching him.  He mumbled a few words and the\nwater desisted. It reluctantly came into contact with his skin, pulling at the\ndirt and sweat that had accumulated since the last year. As the dirt washed downstream, trout jumped\nout onto the bank, gasping for air. Crayfish flipped out to land happily on the\nshore, glad to be free from the polluted water.\nEven the hardy little hellgrammites dashed out to sit on the water's\nedge. It took a good hour before she\nallowed that he was suitably clean. As it was, his skin color changed tones to\nthree shades lighter. It was an embarrassment. But he was hardly concentrating\non that at the moment. Muwin was standing in there with him. The cold mountain water was rapidly growing\nwarmer by the minute.  Old Amos hadn't bedded a woman\nsince, well, never you mind. Oh, if you must know, it was Marie Laveau, on the\nshores of Lake Pontchartrain. But that is another story entirely. Fact was, she\nhad had green eyes too, but the painting Catlin had done had not reflected\nthis. There was a reason. And no, it's none of your business. Let's just say\nthat where voodoo is concerned, all bets are off. Muwin had settled down into the\nwater next to Amos. She smiled. \"You still smell. But I think I can overlook\nit.\" He was looking into her eyes. His soul was immediately lost, enraptured by\nthe eddies and currents running through them. Then again, perhaps he was\nputting those effects there of his own volition. It didn't really matter.\nPretty soon, he would be in deep regardless. He was always a sucker for green\neyes. Having a woman of a size he felt\nhe wouldn't break, even a false one like Muwin, was a switch. He knew she could\nassume any form and never come to harm, but it was still a relief she had\nchosen to assume something bigger than the petite little Indian maidens the\nchieftain's kept trying to marry him off to. He had nothing against any of them\nother than the fact that he didn't love them, and he would have ruined them\npermanently on their honeymoon. Better to let them marry a brave, who would fit\nfar better than he. In that sense, he was a bit like ole Worthless. Muwin was allowing him his\nthoughts. She looked into his eyes, reading them as they passed through his\nmind. \"My, my Amos. You've had a lot of offers I see. No need to fear such from\nme. I have no interest in a formal relationship. Like you, I have entered this\ncontract with the aim of getting something I want. When we are done, we will go\naway happy, or at least satisfied. It seems to me, you've been through a few liaisons\nbefore, so I won't be breaking in a greenhorn. That suits me fine. And you had better make\nthis tryst last. Every damn male animal in this forest seems to want a piece of\nme, but I've seen them perform. Too\nquick, in my opinion. I don't dally often, so when I do, I have high\nexpectations!\" Amos wasn't too worried in that\nrespect. He didn't undress often, and for something like this with someone like\nher, he would remain naked a week if necessary. Worthless had already figured\nthat out and had wandered away to nibble at the blue spruce and the hemlock. It\nwasn't that he was hungry, but rather bored with the situation already. Now if\na mare were to be nearby, he might consider that to be interesting! Muwin was no mare, not yet\nanyways, but a perfect example of an Amazon woman. She was smaller than Amos, though\nin no way inferior. She was also unafraid of making the first advance. She\nclimbed up on his lap, water flowing around their bodies, where it passed on downstream.\nThe water soon cleared of his stink, allowing the fish and the rest of the critters\nto resume their lives no longer afflicted by his unhygienic blight. In fact, some\nof her unnatural hormones washed down too, affecting the animals into a frenzy\nof sexual activity. That region was later known for its strange wildlife;\ncombinations seen nowhere else. No explanation was ever discovered. No one\nwould have believed it had the truth been told. Amos was more than ready to\nattend to this creature's needs, regardless of what their combined bodies might\nproduce. She wasted no time in dropping herself down over his\nmore-than-sufficient cock. He knew it hardly mattered what size he would have\nbeen; she would have slipped over a mastodon's cock if it was what she wanted.\nWell, that wasn't completely true. There weren't many of those beasties left in\nthe world. Even she might have a tough time rounding one up. Then again, he had\nhair enough to make him look like a hoary elephantus. His cock was as nimble as a trunk and as rigid\nas a tusk. He might just play up those\naspects.  She was no slouch herself.\nNon-corporeal she may be, but she felt as real and as solid as any woman he had\never bedded before. And she was hot. Her lips pressed against his in a\npassionate kiss that left his mouth feeling like it did after he had defeated\nthat kitchen witch in a soup making contest. Her hot pepper soup had eaten away\nthe spoon, and his resulting belch of flame had withered the iron pump into\nslag. This Muwin could do all that with a kiss! She might not have real blood,\nnot like ordinary folks, but what she had ran hotter and deeper than any living\nbeing. His cock soon felt like a sausage in the cooker. It wasn't unpleasant\nlike, but it was causing him some grief in keeping his own temperature down. Pretty soon the water was hissing\nand steaming, again threatening the aquatic life with imminent peril. But he\nhad his own worries. The smell of singed hair was overwhelming what remained of\nhis own natural odor. Even discretely splashing water on his person didn't help\nmuch. Muwin opened her eyes a crack and noticed the problem. \"Oops! I guess I\ngot carried away. It's not often I get to enjoy myself on the physical plane.\" She cranked down her internal thermostat until\nit hit a mere volcanic level, instead of nuclear. It was still a little too\ntropical for his tastes, but half a loaf was better than none. Now that he was able to enjoy\nhimself a little better, he relaxed back and allowed her to do most of the\nwork. Not only was this a heap better than before, now he had more water running\nover his body to keep him cool. Little flecks of burnt hair swirled away in the\ncurrent. Muwin seemed none the lessened in her amorousness by the decrease in\nher temperature. She was riding him like the handles of a two-man rail car\ngoing downhill in the Rockies. He was getting into the thrill\nof things when she abruptly changed back into the spirit bear. Now Amos had wrestled with many a bear,\nmostly Grizzly and Kodiak (as well as one Polar, but that story gets\ncomplicated) and they had all been male and he had had his clothes on. Being\ncock deep in a female black bear, albeit a white one, was something new. He\ndidn't mind, knowing full well Muwin could be whatever she wanted to be. But\nthere was no way he would have been caught dead doing this with a real bear. Her creamy white, furry ursine\nbody was as strong and as flexible as had been her human form. And gawd was she\ntight. Between the heat and her\nsqueezing muscles, he was afraid it would be the last time he would ever lay\nwith a lady, or a female, or anything. On the other hand, he was never gonna be\nable to top this. Even that ole voodoo queen hadn't been able to get his blood\nboiling like this miss was doing. It soon became apparent that boiling was\ngoing to need to come loose, which it did with as much force as a wayward\nhurricane. He shot his load with the force of Napoleon. It damn near felt like\na cannon ball as it passed through his cock on its way to its target. Muwin was well aware when it\nhit. A regular gal would have expired under its force, but not her. She simply tightened up and roared with\npleasure. As she rose up from the water, she was still clamped tightly around\ncertain parts of his anatomy, and he was obliged to raise up with her the best\nhe could. As she did, he was pulled upright by her sudden change in anatomy.\nRather, she had a drastic change in speciation; she was now suddenly a spirit\nbison. He clung to her ass the best he\ncould. She in turn moved to the bank, where the higher ground made a perfectly\npositioned, if a bit precarious perch. Her head turned, and in a low\nmooing voice declared, \"I like you Amos. Most men would have given up and died.\nNot you. Let's see just how much of me you can take!\" He had hoped for a\nrespite, but it appeared his duty was far from over. A woman, a bear, and now a\nbison. He was rather debating to himself what her limit might be. But at least\nshe had dropped her temperature a bit, which was good, since he no longer had\nwater to help cool his burning libido. A bull bison mounted his cow and\nwas done quickly. It was the nature of things. You couldn't be preoccupied with\nsex with predators out there ready to drag you down and kill you. He knew Muwin\nwould suffer no such indignity. He was really going to have to earn his prize.\nHe went to work, thankful that in this form she was a little less constrained\nin the nether regions. Since it seemed to be his turn, he went at it with a\nvengeance, pounding away for what seemed like an hour. When he blew again, it\nwasn't nearly as painful, and a heap more satisfying. She must have found it as\nequaling pleasurable, for yet again she shifted. This time he was cock deep in\na white Elk, a creature even he had never heard of, much less seen. She never uttered a\nword, only squeezed her internal muscles as an indication that they were not\ndone. And so it went. After the Elk, she transformed into a Mountain Goat, and\nfrom there to a Moose. When she dropped\ndown to a wolf, he was momentarily worried he would do her some grave damage,\nbut she was completely unconcerned. So\nit didn't faze him when she turned into a cougar and from there back to her\nhuman form. Night had passed, and it was now\nmorning again. Both of them remained in the creek, allowing the cool water to wash\naway the heat and sweat and well, other things downstream. Amos was plain\ntuckered out. He was quietly resting with his eyes closed, glad to be finally\ndone with his present onus. Therefore he heard the approaching noise of\nbreaking underbrush well before he would have ever seen it. He cracked open one\neye. From the side there came a bear. If Muwin hadn't been lying beside him; he\nwould have sworn it was her. Its fur was as creamy white as had been hers. Then\na Moose broke through the tangle of tree branches to stand in the sunlight. It\ntoo was white. And it just continued for the next few minutes. In no time there\nwas a collection of spirit creatures unlike had ever been assembled before in\none place. Amos coughed, though it sounded more like a choke. Muwin opened her eyes. \"Oh, we\nseem to have attracted company.\" She waved her hand in their direction. As one,\nall of the animals transformed into women, each of varying looks, which\ndistinguished them from each other. The only thing they had in common was long,\ncreamy white hair. They approached in step, wading into the water, which\nsuddenly grew painfully hot.  Amos' partner looked from the\nladies to him. \"Amos, I'd like you to meet my sisters. It's not often we find a\nman worthy enough, not to mention tough enough, to withstand our needs and\ndemands. You seem to qualify quite nicely!\" The mountain man's jaw dropped,\nnearly coming unhinged again. One of the ladies pushed it back into place.\n\"Don't worry, we'll make it worth your while!\" she said with a smile. Somewhere\nin the distance he heard Worthless let loose a snicker. It was a week later when a tired\nlooking Amos, atop his very cantankerous steed, worked his way back down below\nthe Canadian border. Worthless was less\nthan happy. His mane was now intertwined with over a dozen white, braided\nlocks; woven into his own dark hairs. The ladies, or spirits, or whatever they\nreally were, had endeavored to include the stallion in some of their play.\nWorthless had wanted none of it, even when one of the gals morphed into the\nsweetest little cream colored mare you could imagine. The equine refused to\ncomply, which meant that Amos himself was a bigger fool than he initially\nrealized. When he found out that a few of the ladies had purposely conceived\ntwins, he was really sweating.  The horse was making its way\nover large rocks and fallen trees, purposely taking the toughest route home.\nAmos swore every time his much abused crotch got rubbed by the saddle. \"Easy\nthere, you good-for-nothing, old fool. I've already had a rough week of riding.\nMuch more of the way you're going and I'll fall to pieces!\" The horse just\nwhinnied and dropped his fore hoof into a gopher hole, nearly throwing his\nrider. By the time they reached California\nhe was pretty much back in order. As it was, he spent the time in between\nslathering on ointment over much of his body, particularly that area that was\nused in sitting. He nearly took to walking the whole way back. When he could, he sat with his saddlebags in\nhis lap, cleaning out the mud that had coated everything. He looked up from his\nwork to eye his steed. \"Worthless, you old bastard, why the hell did you do\nthis? It weren't like I had much of a choice with that there lady. I weren't\nplanning on her having sisters.\" The\nhalf horse, half unicorn eyed him with the pupil that often swirled with the\ncolors of the cosmos. Amos could see in his mind what he was relaying to him.\nAll the mountain man could say was, \"Oh dear!\" He had thought it a mere quirk\nthat she had pumped him for names for his and her future progeny. He had gone though hundreds before she\nsettled on an interesting combination. He had not considered that she might be able\nto transmute time as well as matter. It gave him pause for thought. It might\nalso go far in explaining why she morphed into an enormous wolf before fading\ninto the scenery. He knew his history well enough, and most of the old Greek,\nEtruscan, Babylonian, and Roman tales. The one concerning the founding of Rome\nwas one any history scholar was familiar with.\nThus, there appeared to be just the slightest chance that his future\nsons Romulus and Remus where in fact already long dead, having made quite a\nsplash in the chronicles of time. He could only wonder about the rest of his\nkids. Muwin's sisters had not stayed long enough for him to give any names.\nPerhaps they had adopted some he had already mentioned, which brought even more\ngrief. He liked classical names from the human timeline. Genghis Khan,\nCleopatra, Julius Caesar, Aristotle, Leonardo Da Vinci... It opened up a whole\nother can of worms he didn't want to think about. "}