The Porcupine Year by Louise Erdrich Page B

at finding her way in the dark, and the girls kept going. When the sun came up, the woman was still furious. She grabbed the sun out of the sky and locked it up too. But the sisters continued on their journey. The crab claws at their ears helped by telling them, this way , that way , and they stayed on the path.
    At last they came to the village, which was by a lake. The crab claws jumped off their ears into the water, and became crabs again. Everything was dark. The leader of the village was trying to calm his people. One of the sisters said to him that her little sister, Makoons, could bring back the sun and moon. The chief was happy and offered her anything. Makoons said that she wanted a sack of salt, a sack of maple sugar, and his two sons to marry her two sisters. The chief said yes to everything she asked.
    Makoons took the salt and the maple sugar back to the bad woman’s lodge. As it happened,the woman was cooking stew. Makoons sneaked in and dumped the sack of salt in the stew. When the woman tasted it she cried out that her stew needed water, and ran out to fetch water. While she was gone, Makoons found the place where she’d locked up the moon, and released it. Then she hid herself.
    Soon the woman came back, fixed the stew, and began cooking wild rice. As her back was turned, Makoons dumped the maple sugar in the wild rice. When the bad medicine woman tasted it, she cried out that the rice was too sweet and she ran out to fetch water. While she was gone, Makoons found the place where the woman had locked up the sun, and she let the sun out. Then she ran back to her sisters in the village.
    Grateful for all that she had done, the chief forced his youngest son, the handsomest of all, to marry Makoons. He didn’t want to, but he obeyed. After they were married, he treated Makoons like an animal, ignored her, never sat with her or held her paw. He made her sleep on the floor while he slept in the bed. Finally, Makoons said to him in a sad voice:
    â€œIt is clear that you don’t love me. I will set you free of my presence. Pretend we are havinga quarrel, and then throw me in the fire. You will get rid of me that way.”
    So the youngest son did exactly that—he pretended to quarrel with Makoons, then picked her up and threw her in the fire. At once her two sisters, who had come to love Makoons, ran up to the youngest son. One began to beat him and tear his hair. The other tried to rescue
    Makoons, but the flames were too hot. All of a sudden, the flames died down and out of the glowing coals a beautiful young woman rose. It was Makoons.
    The youngest son fell on his knees and begged her to come back to him.
    â€œI found out your true nature,” said
    Makoons, “and I will not have you. I am going home to care for our old mother and father. They always loved me, even when I was a bear.”
    She had no power anymore. All her power had been given to her because she was ugly. But her old mother and father were very happy to see her and they lived together from then on in a peaceful way.
    â€œMiigwech, Nookoo. I liked that one,” Omakayas said softly. She thought of her bear spirit—maybe she had wanted Old Tallow to keep her company. Perhaps, nowthat Old Tallow was a spirit, she would also protect her. Omakayas held Old Tallow’s spirit bundle close.
    â€œI liked that story, too,” said Quill. “Except I would rather be married to a bear girl than a regular girl. Would I ever throw her in the fire? Not me! Not Quill! If I had to have a wife (not that I want one), I’d have a bear girl who could hunt for me and bring me food.”
    â€œThat sounds like you,” said Angeline. “Always thinking of your stomach.”
    â€œYes,” sighed Quill, eating a piece of cold meat that Mama had given him, “it is good to have something to put in my stomach. Thanks to Old Tallow.”
    Everyone was quiet for a while, and Omakayas felt her heart squeeze