The Bone and the Bear
by Joseph Carrabis
Joseph Carrabis is boring and dull. He hopes his stories and novels aren’t. So far, so good. At least his readers say so.
You can follow him at https://josephcarrabis.com and find his work at http://nlb.pub/amazon.
My heart sank when Dad called us into the kitchen. It had to be bad news. Bob knew it, too. He’s older than me, so maybe he’d been through it more than I had. But there we sat: Dad, Mom, Bob, and me. Dad smiled at us and, just like two years ago when we left Earth, said, “How’s the world treating my two men?”
Oh, no, I thought. What now?
“Bob, Danny, I’ve got something to tell you.”
Yep, just like before.
“You remember when the university closed its Xeno Studies program and money got pretty tight for us around here?”
Bob and I nodded. That was the first “kitchen table talk”.
“Remember how Mom and I were really snappy towards each other and especially to you?” Boy, did we remember that. They were impossible. “Well, things got better, didn’t they?”
In a way, I thought. But Dad had to take a job overseeing excavations at Luna One.
“I got the new job overseeing digs on the Moon. And its a real good job, boys. Everybody’s impressed by the work we’re doing. Quite impressed. Really impressed.”
Whenever Dad has news and he’s not sure how we’re going to take it, he talks it up before his spills the beans. He said impressed, quite impressed, and really impressed.
This wasn’t going to be good.
At that point I spoke up. “Are we still only going to see you one week every other month, Dad?”
Dad looked at me, grinned, and put his hand on my shoulder. “Danny, how would you like to live on Mars?”
“That would be great, Dad.” I hoped it would be.
But moving to Mars also meant saying goodbye to Eddie and Mike and the rest of my friends. I didn’t particularly want to see them just one week every other month. “What about Mom and Bob?”
Dad laughed. “Them, too, Dan. As a matter of fact, I just got an offer to manage the Mars 7 dig. There’s a whole town there and everything. It’s called Porterton.”
Mom smiled at me. “That’s where the Martians cryogenically stored all their animals, Danny, before they evacuated. Dad’s going to be in charge of the dig and advising on which animals to wake up.”
“Really?” Okay, now I didn’t have to hope because it would be great. Dad knew more about animals in the woods than anybody in the world. Before he took the Luna One job we’d go every Saturday and spy on animals in their nests and dens and stuff.
Dad nodded. “The ones who can survive in the dome, anyway.” He leaned in and looked from Bob to me and back. “This is a permanent position, men. Mom and I talked about this a lot. We’re building a house and will live there permanently.”
Bob frowned and shook his head. “We’re going to be Martians?”
Sometimes he is so dumb.
I knew Mom and Dad thought they were doing the best for us. I’d miss my friends, sure, but I’d see new animals and make new friends, right? Besides, Dad had already arranged for us to spend spring vacation there before we moved to see if we liked it, so I nodded and smiled and decided to give it time.
Dad took us to see the Mars 7 dig – yippee, a big hole in the ground outside the Porterton dome – and we spent the rest of the week in Porterton itself. It was a for-real town, almost a city. There were shopping malls and theaters and arcades and grocery stores for Mom and Dad, and lots of trees, kids, schools, and crap for Bob and me. Most of the kids were pretty friendly. I made friends with one kid, Dave, real quick. Dave told me everything I needed to know about Porterton. That included Kevin and the Leatherheads. Kevin was older than Dave and me but not as old as Bob. Dave explained that Kevin and the Leatherheads were the school toughs.
And on my fourth day in Porterton, my second day with Dave, Kevin found me.
There was a park across the street from where my parents were building the house. Dave and I had gone there to play. The park had some mockups of the Martians’ lifeslips, just big enough to straddle, and we pretended the lifeslips were banths – those are Martian horses – and we were riding to the canal. Kevin and the Leatherheads came up behind us and I knew immediately who they were. Their leather jackets were their colors, but kids like the Leatherheads are all the same. You just know they’re mean by the way they look at you.
“Who are you?” Kevin asked.
“Daniel Treleaven.”
“You’re new here, aint’cha?” The Leatherheads crowded around me. I couldn’t even see Dave.
“Just visiting for the week.”
Kevin looked over at Dave. “Oh, yeah?”
Dave nodded.
Kevin looked back to me. “You know who I am?”
“I believe so, yes.” I kept looking him straight in the eye. I guess maybe I shouldn’t have.
“You scared of me?”
I’m like Bob in a lot of ways. Sometimes I can be so dumb. “No, should I be?”
The Leatherheads oo-ed and ah-ed. Some touched me and pulled their hands away like I was hot. Kevin taps my chest as he talks, emphasizing every word. “Danny, my boy, it’s a good thing you’re just visitin’.” Then he looked back at Dave. “Isn’t that right?”
Dave nodded.
Kevin smiled at me. “This is our park, Danny-boy. Take off.”
Dave and I dismounted and started to walk to the construction. Dave nodded over his shoulder. “That was close.”
The Leatherheads were behind us, laughing. As we got closer to the construction I noticed all the work had stopped. Everybody was standing around the hole where the foundation was to be poured. When we got there I saw Dad and some other men in the hole tapping a stone with their shovels. Somebody called Dad because he was an expert in finding things and Dad called Dr. Loray, the head of all Martian excavations, to come look at the stone in the ground.
Work stopped, a tent went up, lots of college students came to work with Dr. Loray and Dad, and the next day they dug up The Bone.
Dr. Loray said the stone was really a fossil, which is a dried up bone of a dead animal. The Bone was from a Hrycuna. Dad explained hrycuna were Martian dinosaurs that eventually became birds back when Mars had an atmosphere, except the hrycuna didn’t have feathers and were over twenty-five feet from wing tip to wing tip. Everybody was excited, especially Mom and Dad.
Dad’s company got us a place to stay until the house was finished, which was going to be a while because there were lots of bones where we were building the house.
But that meant I had to leave Earth sooner. Bob had already found himself a girlfriend in Porterton so he was all set to go. Dumb.
I made friends fast because of The Bone. Lots of kids wanted to come by. The teachers at the new school asked me to talk about The Bone, Dr. Loray, the graduate assistants, and my Dad’s work. Dave and I spent more and more time together.
School got out early one day. Dave and I walked across the playground. He nodded ahead of us. “Trouble coming.”
I looked up and sighed. Kevin and the Leatherheads were standing right in our path. Kevin stood in the center with his arms across his chest. “Hey, Bone-man.”
Dave and I kept on walking. I paid no attention. My parents always told me not to pay attention to wise guys. That’s supposed to make them go away. I guess wise guys were different when my parents were kids.
“I said, ‘Hey, Bone-man!'”
Dave kept his eyes down while we walked. “I think he means you.”
I kept my eyes on Kevin and the Leatherheads. “So do I.”
We got up to them and I started to walk around. Some of the Leatherheads cut me off. “Excuse me,” I said.
They didn’t excuse me.
Kevin stood right in front of me. “You hard of hearing, Bone-man?”
I didn’t answer.
Kevin pushed me and yelled, “Hey, Bone-Man!”
“My name is Daniel.”
“I knew you could talk, Bone-man. But I thought you was just visitin’.”
Why is it Kevin’s type are never shorter than you? And never alone? “My Dad got a job here and we’re going to stay.” Kevin started chanting, “Bone-man, Bone-man, Bone-man,” and the rest of the Leatherheads took it up. While they kept chanting Kevin said, “Hey, Bone-man, you going to be trouble in my town?”
Sometimes I talk without thinking. “Hit the road, clone.”
Dave’s mother patched us up and drove me home. Dave wasn’t talking to me and I didn’t really blame him.
That night, after dinner, Dad called us into the kitchen. “How’s Mars treating my two men?”
Oh, no. What now?
He asked me what happened and I said that Dave and I were playing near the construction, fell in, and Dr. Loray had to get us out.
Dad cocked his head to the side and looked at me. “Really?”
“No, but that’s the best I can do.”
He laughed and said I had lots of sass. I rubbed my chin and agreed.
“Do you remember Mr. Abernathy? He was over once before. He’s the tall, red haired, bearded man who works with me? In charge of finding foster homes for the Martian animals we wake up?”
We did.
“Well, he has a Mursid looking for a home.”
Bob said that would be nice. I said, “A Martian bear? Really, Dad? We’re going to get a Martian Bear? That would be great! When can we get him? Can I take him for walks? Can he sleep with me?”
Mom said, “Yes to all except maybe the last.”
“What kind of Mursid is he? Is it a he?” I was out of the chair. I couldn’t wait.
“Yes, it’s a he,” said Dad. “The kind that looks like Newfoundland dogs. And I have to let you know, he’s a big one.”
Bob said, “A big Mursid?”
“How big?” I asked. “Is he up to here?” I had my hand at my waist.
Dad and Mom shook their heads. Dad pointed up.
I moved my hand to my chest. “Here?”
He pointed higher.
I put my hand over my head. Dad stretched my arm way over my head. “About there is right.”
Bob said, “Oh, jeez!”
I said, “They make Mursids up to here?”
Dad nodded. “And he’s still growing, evidently. But you have to understand, men, Mursids are colony creatures. He’s going to bond to you. And they live a long time.”
“Where is he, can we go see him? Does he have a name?”
“When you see him you’ll know his name, and he’s out in the back of my rover.”
“What?” I ran around the table and Dad caught my arm.
“Let’s go out together, Dan.”
Why wait? We gathered outside as Dad opened the back of the rover.
“Sit.”
This huge thing looked out at us and whined. It was The Bear.
Bob stepped back. “That really is a bear!”
The Mursid jumped out and moved towards Bob. Dad said, “Sit,” and The Bear did.
Sitting, the Mursid’s head was well over mine and about twice as wide. He could’ve swallowed me if he wanted to. His fur was heavy, shiny, and black except for a white patch on his chest.
Mom scratched the patch and both sets of rear legs began thumping the ground. “God put this spot here so you’d know where to scratch him.”
“He really looks like a bear, Dad.”
The Mursid bayed.
“That’s his name, Danny.”
The Bear and I got along great. We went everywhere together, except school. Even Dave forgave me once he saw The Bear. We spent lots of time walking with him and playing tag. The Bear didn’t even have to jump to catch a frisbee.
Dr. Loray and Dad couldn’t find any more bones so construction started up again. By the time summer vacation started the house was complete and we moved. The first thing The Bear wanted to do was check out the park. Dave and I got him across the street and then I unhooked his leash to let him go. He explored everything. Dave and I rode the lifeslips.
“Hey, Bone-Man!”
Not again.
Dave said, “We forgot this is his park.” He started to get off his lifeslip.
“I told you before this is our park, Bone-man.” The Leatherheads were around us again. “Guess we’re going to have to teach you for being in our park, right men?” The Leatherheads agreed.
I stayed on the lifeslip like it belonged to me. “You know, Kevin, I’ll bet you don’t know a thing about the animals in this park.”
Kevin laughed and so did his friends. They got closer to me.
“I’ll bet you didn’t know there are bears here.”
“Don’t be a jerk, Bone-man. We’re on Mars. There’s no bears ’round here.”
“Oh no?”
“Yep.” We were staring each other in the eye.
“How ’bout that one behind you?”
“That’s the oldest trick in the book, Bone-man.” The Leatherheads laughed. So did Dave. Kevin looked at him. “What’s so funny, clown?”
I answered, “He know’s there’re bears, too.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yep.” I yelled, “Hey, Bear!”
H O W L!
“Bear, Kevin. Kevin, Bear.”
H O W L!
Kevin wasn’t talking. He stood still. The Bear stood looking down at him. I slapped the lifeslip. “Here, Bear.”
Bear practically knocked Kevin over to get to me. He put his forepaws where I slapped the lifeslip and stood over us like the center pole of an excavation tent. He looked down at Kevin and drooled.
“Say hello to Bear, Kevin.”
“Hello, Bear.”
The Bear’s nostrils flared and he curled his upper lip.
“Say goodbye to Bear, Kevin.”
“Goodbye, Bear.”
The Bear licked Kevin’s face. Lifted him clean off his feet and laid him out flat on the ground. The Leatherheads were backing up.
“Goodbye, Kevin.”
Kevin and the Leatherheads don’t come to the park much anymore. At least I never see them. Dave says they haven’t been around our block in a while, either. Dave and I still go out with The Bear. He likes to dig a lot. All the time. Know what he found last week?
A bone.
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