Jason and the Mountain Lion
1853
This was inspired by the episode "The Legend of Bigfoot", where Jason tells Christopher about a story he once told his brothers.
Jason crept silently through the woods. He was trying to "walk like an Indian", without making a sound nor leaving any evidence of where he had been. Cra-a-ck! snapped a twig when he stepped on it. Jason stood up suddenly, annoyed.
"Ha! Jason Bolt!" Joseph yelled from the path. Joseph was one of Chief Seattle's sons and was fairly close to Jason in age. Since the Bolts had moved from the mountain into town, Jason and Joseph had become good friends.
Jason turned to Joseph and grinned. Then he ran after his friend. Joseph was about thirty feet from Jason, but wasn't expecting Jason to chase him, so Jason caught up to him easily. Joseph stopped just as Jason reached him and then laughed and ran off up the hill.
Jason took a flying leap and threw himself at Joseph's legs. Both boys fell to the ground in a heap.
Joseph rolled onto his back and propped himself onto his elbows. Jason sat staring down at his friend.
"You will never make an Indian warrior, Jason Bolt. You lack the patience."
"Well, Joseph, I may never become an Indian warrior, but it was me that caught you!" Jason pointed out, grinning.
ooo
It was late when Jason came home that evening. Once again, he'd lost track of the time. He took a deep breath and opened the door to the cabin.
"Jason, you were gone a long time. It's dark out." Jenny looked at her son with concern. Jeremy and Joshua were already in their nightclothes and were seated on the bed waiting with their father, who had a book opened to read to them. Jonathon looked up at Jason but didn't say anything.
Jeremy jumped out of bed and went over to Jason. "Yeah, where have you been?" he admonished him.
Jason knelt down so he could look Jeremy in the eye. "Well, there was this great big mountain lion..."
"There aren't any mountain lions up here!" Joshua argued from across the room, getting up from the bed.
Jenny and Jonathon didn't say a word. Jason knew they were waiting to hear the real story. He looked at Jeremy, whose eyes had grown big in anticipation of hearing more about the mountain lion.
"That's true, Josh," said Jason, thinking fast. "There normally aren't any mountain lions up here. But sometimes mountain lions can't find food, and that makes them mean, very mean." Joshua still looked doubtful, but Jeremy stood staring at Jason with admiration.
Jason went on, "This was a particularly big and nasty mountain lion. I was on my way home from fishing and I must have smelt mighty tasty, because all of the sudden I could see this mountain lion looking at me and smacking its lips." Jason stood up and walked slowly backwards.
"At first, I wanted to run. But if I ran that mountain lion would be on me in an instant. Mountain lions stalk their prey, and this one started licking its lips like this." Jason licked his top lip. He turned sideways and stared at Joshua, slowly lifting his right leg and moving it forward. "Lions like to stalk their prey. They try to hypnotize you with their eyes so that you don't realize they are moving." He set his right foot down and started slowly raising his left leg.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see his mother setting her mending basket down with a sigh of resignation. Jason glanced over at his father who looked amused.
"What happened then, Jason? Did he attack you?"
"Don't be silly, Jeremy," chided Joshua. "If Jason had been attacked, would he be here now?"
Jason smiled. Now he knew how to finish the story. "That's exactly what happened. The mountain lion attacked me. I was trying to stare it down like this..." and he made a face. "I almost had that mountain lion hypnotized, but I sneezed!" Jason paused for dramatic effect. His whole family was listening with rapt attention now.
"The mountain lion was on me in an instant, but I'd managed to draw my knife right beforehand. I held the knife like this..." Jason crouched down and held his knife pointing upward, "...and the mountain lion landed right on it!"
Now even Joshua's eyes were large, but Jason could see that Joshua was thinking through Jason's story.
"Did it die right away? And how come you're not all bloody?" asked Joshua.
"Did you bring the mountain lion home?" Jeremy chimed in.
Jason cleared his throat and looked at his parents for help. Both of them were clearly enjoying the situation and were not about to help out.
"Well," Jason started, "it took several stabs to kill that lion. I was very lucky to get him with that first stab because otherwise I wouldn't be here now."
"Where's the lion?" asked Joshua, picking up on Jeremy's question.
"Just after I managed to kill that lion, a man came by looking for food for his family."
"I wonder how you would make a lion? Stew, perhaps?" asked Jenny, whose eyes were now twinkling.
"They must have been very hungry. Mountain lion wouldn't be very tasty—too much muscle," said Jonathon.
"Well, I offered him the mountain lion and he took it gladly," finished Jason.
"And, I suppose that he was so grateful to you that he helped you clean your knife and clothes?" asked Jenny.
"Uh, yes," Jason agreed, surprised that his mother was helping him out with his story. "And that's why I was so late. The wife was so grateful that she insisted on washing my shirt, so you wouldn't be too upset when you saw all that blood."
"I imagine that she must have fed you supper, too? So you aren't hungry now?" asked Jenny.
Jason knew his mother well enough to know that she was giving him a subtle hint that he'd come back too late for any dinner. But his stomach was hungry and he knew how to get what he wanted.
"Of course they did. But they were a big family and hadn't eaten in a while, so I didn't eat very much. I didn't want to take it away from them." Jason walked over to the stove and turned back to his mother, "But fighting mountain lions builds a man's appetite."
Jonathon came to his son's defense. "I can see that it would. I think your mother can rustle up something from dinner. But really, Jason, next time you run into a family like that, you should invite them home for dinner."
Jeremy started yawning and said, "I wish he'd brought home the lion."
Jonathon picked Jeremy up in his arms and carried him back to bed. "I think I can safely say that you boys have had your bedtime story for tonight. Come on, Joshua, I'll tuck you in, too."
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