Mother part 2
#2 of Mother
The days passed by for the young wolf couple- everyday at the cabin, which in actuality served the two as a very romantic bed-and-breakfast. Somedays, George would go swimming at the nearby lake, trying to prove that he could do more than just dog-paddle while his wife would watch, regretting the fact that he would, being a wolf, smell really rotten afterwards. Every night, though this well-built wolf and his bride would have sex and it was very much a restorative and regenerative process. For both of the wolves, they felt like an injured part of them was healing on this mountain.
"There's no need to worry- those who swim in this lake's water come back feeling really well afterwards. It's why we live to 90, even though we have none of your doctors," the elderly proprietor of the house said. She was old, about 84 but she could walk easily without a crane and her husband in spite of the occasional short-term memory loss was also in good health for an octogenarian.
"Trout Lake is really wonderful. And you two have helped the garden grow immeasurably with your hard work- the tomatoes and fruits and vegetables which helped this meal taste delicious are all because of you." In reality, thirty minutes of gathering fruit and vegetables was not really increasing the amount of food available to the cabin but the proprietor whose name was Juana and her husband Robert would like their visitors to believe so.
"Our sons and daughters simply could not take this solitude and wanted to leave for Valentine, except for Harold and his wife who live in a cabin on the foot of the peaks. They obviously enjoy the hustle and bustle of the big city but we feel a kind of mysticism in the air here. Harold runs the expedition company that brought you here." Robert said over a glass of chardonnay. The chardonnay had come from his son's company which still did business through a barter system; every month, the company would sell the steaks and wine from the nearby metropolis of Valentine. (They even built a wine cellar/larder for the wine and meat to remain in perfect condition for the weeks without proper refrigeration at no cost.) Being canids, a little bit of spoilage would not completely ruin their lives- they could eat somewhat-spoiled food with minimal effects. For those who wanted fresher foods, grilled trout from the lake and the fruits from the garden would also provide sustenance.
"So tell me about this place." George would respond, allowing a piece of stale meat down his muzzle and downing it with wine, which was surprisingly cold due to the presence of a chiller which existed in the cellar.
The old fox, Robert would stroke his beard and recite the Indian myths surrounding Mt. Itoi. Robert told all of the visitors this story and it had become second nature for him.
"Long ago, the Indians who lived here believed this mountain was as you may have already heard, the future stage of a battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. They believed that the healing pwoers of this lake represented the effects of a truce gained because of a victory by the good forces. But the evil in this world hid in a cave on the summit of this mountain, the only place where they far from civilization could still be. This mountain and this lake were places of life and joy and music- the Indians held their npowwows here but they lived in mortal fear of that cave. They believed that monsters lived in there."
"Now, you may see above the lake, that same cave but I cannot exhort to you enough, this warning that you must not enter. Some researchers from a party entered that cave a few years ago- they were geologists looking to find the composition of the rocks in there and to see if their might be precious metals and they were never seen or heard from again."
His wife began speaking. "This place was what the Indians believed was the center of the universe and as a result, it had to have both the forces of light and shadow inherent in it. The Indians used a sacred symbol, XX. Anthropologists don't why they would consider it sacred..."
"XX is the chromosomal makeup of a female," Maria blurted out.
"Yes, indeed. But those ancient people would have no way of knowing that- they didn't have microscopes or cell cultures back then. And there's still so much we don't know right now. That XX symbol, especially on pink-colored monoliths have been found in caves all over this region. But we do know that the ancient people worshipped female gods and held them in high regard."
Robert was obviously tired and he called an end to the conversation. "Now it is getting late, the sun has fallen and the time for you to be together as a married couple has come. We don't mind you getting intimate because this water has such healing properties that we can have that same fun ourselves in our 80's."They didn't look a day past 50 and yet here they were enjoying life, and having sex like twentysomethings. The world, if they knew of these old foxes' existence would be jealous. For a while, George couldn't shake the thought that if someone convinced this old couple to sell the water, they could make a fortune.
"Monsters? Old Indian tales? Seems to me like a load of balderdash to me!" Maria would say to herself and her husband.
"Whatever happened to better safe than sorry? We have each other- what else do we need? Gold? Precious meatls? I have you , you have me, nothing could be more precious." George would say after an intense session of lovemaking, which left the two of them in an ecstatic state.
"Well now who's the one acting masculine now? You're cowering in the corner because of these really nasty stories but I say we go climbing these rocks, go into the cave and come back. They actually could be sitting on a gold mine and have just concocted that story to scare people from claiming their gold," Maria said, her golden eyes so filled with life shone brilliantly in the darkened room where the two wolves had just had sex.
And then George remembered all the things he had done in life- traveling through forests, scoping out the northern islands, and virtually discovering all the land had to offer. No plain, or desert, or sea, or any peace of wilderness had authority over him for he was a wild, strong, and ferocious wolf. That cave would be mapped, found out, and eventually with enough men excavated. They would find the ridiculous source of this evil and bring it into the light of day, exposing these outdated superstitions and maybe coming back to the world with gold.
Against their better judgment, they were about to enter into the Cave of the Starmen.