Read Online Heart of the Wilderness by Janette Oke - Free Book Online

picked over and put to dry as soon as the sun would shine on them again. Nonie would have them ready.

    As they moved into the winter months, Kendra’s grandfather was never there when she awoke in the morning. He left on the trapline long before the sun had touched the horizon. Nonie was always there, sitting before the fire, her braiding or weaving or buckskin work in her gnarled fingers. Occasionally Kendra was already in bed and sound asleep before her grandfather returned in the evening, but always he came to her bed, roused her gently and kissed her on the cheek, then stroked her hair until she had fallen to sleep again.
    Oscar, playful and teasing, was a constant companion. Kendra spent hours playing with him, and Papa Mac, when he was home, showed the little child how to teach the growing dog to obey simple commands.
    Nonie paid little attention to the animal. She seemed to feel that dogs were not her brothers. She treated the puppy with tolerance, not affection, and he accepted her in the same way.
    Kendra coaxed to allow the puppy to sleep in a corner of the cabin, though Papa Mac made it clear that it was totally against his principle to pamper an animal in such a fashion. But, he never did open the door and thrust the animal out into the night, even after Kendra had fallen asleep.
    She still slept with Dollie tucked tightly against her, but now she often left it behind when on an outing with Nonie.
    So the first winter came and went. Papa Mac came and went. Nonie came and went. But Kendra no longer feared that she would be left on her own again, deserted and frightened and without someone to care for her.

    Not swiftly, but slowly and silently spring’s sound gradually swelled to spill over in the rush of the stream that passed by their cabin door, the song of the birds that filled the forest stillness, the rustle of molding leaves as small animals scurried to retrieve berries missed in their fall gathering, and soft breezes that waved the swelling tender buds on the arms of forest trees.
    “Mother Earth stirring,” said Nonie, pleasure in her voice.
    “Who is Mother Earth?” asked Kendra innocently.
    “Long ago, before stars, even before Sun and Moon, Old One made Mother Earth. All was dark and no birds sang. No stream ran through the forest. No animal brothers walked in the shadows. There was nothing.
    “Old One did not like nothing. He woke Mother Earth. ‘Be mother of all people,’ he said.
    “Mother Earth took some of her flesh and made creatures. Some were like us. Some walked on four feet and were creatures of the forests. Some had wings and flew about the heavens and others swam in the rivers and great waters. All living things come from Mother Earth. When we look around we see part of Mother Earth everywhere. Like us, the animals, birds and fish are made of Mother Earth. So we are all earth brothers. That is why we care for one another.
    “Mother Earth is old, old woman who has seen many moons,” Nonie went on with her teaching. “She was before Moon. She lives still, but she has changed much since Old One first made her to be his friend. The soil is her flesh. The rocks are her bones. The wind is her breath. The trees and grasses are her hair.
    “Many people do not care for Mother Earth. They tear at her flesh and bones and pull her hair up by roots. But we must love Mother Earth. We must treat her kindly if we do not wish her to be angry. If we love and respect her, she will thank us by giving us food and shelter. She will always be there to care for her children.”
    Kendra’s eyes were wide, her heart full. She loved Nonie’s stories. She resolved that she would always be kind to Mother Earth so she might be accepted as a worthy child.
    When summer came again, Kendra saw much more of Papa Mac. He even took her with him to the outpost store where he sold his stock of winter furs and purchased the supplies they needed for the months ahead.
    He informed Kendra that she could choose a new