Bart Belly's Arc

Chapter 14 of 21

Bart woke to the smell of broth. Nurse Cold set a bowl on the table by his bed. Steam rose off it. The pup slept curled against his side. His arms shook when he tried to sit up. She had said she would answer his questions once he could stand and recover. But three days had passed, and he was still stuck flat in bed. Every meal left him weaker instead of stronger. "I need to know about the bear," Bart said. "You said you'd tell me." "I said when you're strong." She lifted the bowl to his lips. "You spill more than you swallow. That's not strong." Her voice was flat, but her paw stayed steady under the bowl. Bart drank. He watched her face. The hardness there was a wall, and he wanted to know why. "You've done this before," he said. "Fed someone who couldn't hold a spoon." Her paw stopped. The bowl trembled. She set it down. For a moment she said nothing. Then she pressed a paw to her round belly, the way she did when she thought hard. "My husband walked the ice," she said. "He chased the same thing you chase. He came back wearing that gold, proud and half dead." She looked at the bag on the floor. "I nursed him like I'm nursing you. He got strong. Then the gold drained dry at the wrong moment. The avalanche took him. I found his tracks under the snow." Bart's throat tightened. "So you won't help me." "I didn't say that." She stood and crossed the room. She lifted the bag and drew out the golden Speedo. Its shine was dull. "You keep asking about a bear who can teach you. There is no bear." She dropped the Speedo on the bed. "It was me. I taught my husband. I learned everything the gold does, and I couldn't save him." Bart stared at her. The teacher he had crossed the wilderness to find had been beside him the whole time. "Then teach me," he said. "So I don't end up under the snow." Nurse Cold looked at him a long while. She looked at the pup, then at her own belly. "The gold doesn't fail all at once," she said. "It gives warning. A shiver in the seams before it dies. My husband never learned to feel it." She sat on the edge of the bed. "You will. First you eat until you can lift that thing over your head. Then I show you the shiver." She picked up the bowl again and held it out. This time Bart wrapped both paws around it himself. They still shook, but they held. He drank it down without spilling. "Better," she said. It was not warmth, but it was close. She had stopped guarding her wall. The bear he needed had finally agreed to teach him.