Prologue
OLIVIA’S grandfather, the man who took her in and raised her, died at the age of seventy-eight. Her grandmother, who loved Oliva with all her heart, had passed only four days earlier at seventy-five years of age.
Her grandparents’ friends were surprised the two moved on so close to each other, but they were both quite old for people in this country. This resulted in the reception at the restaurant after the funeral to have an air of resignation rather than sorrow.
All the funeral attendees came up to Olivia to give her words of consolation.
“They both lived long lives. It was just their time.”
“It’s because they were so close. I don’t think they could bear being without each other.”
“I’m sure they’re happy to be together again in God’s garden.”
And, at the end, they all said the exact same thing:
“Olivia, try and keep your chin up. Feel free to reach out to me if you’re ever in trouble. Jenkins and Marguerite cared about you more than anything. Don’t hesitate to come to me for some advice. You’re always welcome.”
Olivia put on a brave face, thanking each and every one of them with a smile.
But, once the last person left, the oppressive emptiness of the restaurant overwhelmed Olivia. She headed into the forest, despite the late hour.
A sparrow she recognized flew ahead of her, flitting from branch to branch so Olivia could keep up. The sparrow’s friends joined them, dancing along behind them in the same manner.
Olivia walked farther and farther into the forest, drawn by the flock of sparrows. They passed by a badger who trembled with fear at the depth of Olivia’s sorrow, but it too abandoned its search for food and joined them.
They eventually came to a fast-flowing river.
She sat on a large, white rock by the river’s edge and stared at the water, not seeing anything. The pain flooded from her heart in an unending deluge.
An otter husband and wife popped their faces out from the other side of the river, standing up several times to look at Olivia, shocked by the heartache flowing from her.
Sometime later, an old acquaintance, a fox, peered out from the edge of the forest. It came up to her, stopping about ten feet away, looked at her, and let out a whine. It was worried. You hurt?
“Hurt? I guess so. My grandparents died,” said Olivia, painting an image in her mind of her grandparents in their eternal slumber. The adult fox seemed to understand. It came closer and rubbed its head against her hand, twice, then a third time. “Thank you. You’re so kind,” she said.
The fox eventually settled itself down to sit next to her. The badger was somewhat on edge because of the fox, so it sat a short distance away. The trees were filled with sparrows, robins, flycatchers, and thrushes. Those wild birds chirped amongst themselves every once in a while as they watched Olivia.
A large beast appeared from the forest on the other side of the river. The fox soundlessly disappeared into the forest in the blink of an eye. The badger was long gone. The birds exploded into chirrups.
Bear!
Bear here!
Danger, human!
Olivia slowly stood and crept backwards, keeping her eyes locked on the bear. Bears had incredible physical capabilities. Her grandfather, a former knight, had drilled that fact into her, but this bear didn’t make any move to cross the river. Olivia couldn’t feel any emotions coming from it. It just stood there on the riverbank, looking at her.
“It looks like you’re not hungry. That’s good for me,” said Olivia as she continued backing away. Once inside the forest on this side, she turned and walked as quickly as she could back home while periodically looking over her shoulder.
The bear watched Olivia leave then turned and vanished back into the forest.
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🍲 🍲 🍲
WHAT Olivia didn’t know was that the bear knew her. Fifteen years earlier, when Olivia was five, it watched over her as she escaped into the forest, waves of sadness washing from her heart as she did.
The bear was still young at the time and had been searching for food in the night forest. As it did, it sensed this mass of sorrow approaching from afar. In a state of confusion, it went to investigate this lump of sadness. The only thing in the forest that could threaten a young, fully-grown bear was another fully-grown bear.
After walking for some time through a moonlit forest, the young bear found it. A human—a human child running through the forest. Humans rarely if ever walked around at night, let alone a human child in the forest all by themselves.
Maybe hunters behind it, thought the bear. It inspected every sound and smell in the vicinity, but decided the child was definitely alone.
The child’s small body released waves of sorrow, hopelessness, and fear. The bear had never encountered something like this, so it followed the girl while keeping its distance at all times. Its brown fur blended into the dark forest, and the child was in the grips of her own terror. She had no idea a bear was following her.
Eventually, the child fell asleep, leaning against a tree.
Child quickly get eaten, thought the bear. The forest was full of foxes and wolves. This tempting-smelling human child would be devoured with not a single bone left behind. For some reason the bear didn’t really understand, it wanted to protect the girl. Perhaps it felt sympathy for the little creature and the hopelessness and fear it felt coming from her. It remembered once watching an elderly bear slip off a cliff and feeling its sorrow, hopelessness, and fear as it breathed its last breath.
The child slept soundly. Eventually, the sun rose.
Humans. Humans come.
The bear heard human voices. It moved away from the child and watched from the trees’ shadows. It planned to leap out and drive the humans away if they tried to harm her.
“Jenkins, look! Isn’t that a child over there?”
“It is, isn’t it? Is she still alive?”
The two humans rushed over to the child, patted her all over and called to her.
“Hey there, little missy, are you out here all on your own?”
“Oh my, her arms and legs are covered in scrapes. What in the world happened? Her dress is soaking wet from all the dew. Did she really spend the whole night out here?”
The child opened her eyes, and the bear felt a tsunami of relief and happiness coming from her.
Probably fine now, thought the bear, and it turned and headed off in the opposite direction.
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🍲 🍲 🍲
“JENKINS, why do you keep looking behind us?” asked Marguerite.
“You didn’t see it, did you? There was a big, young bear near the girl. It left after we showed up.”
“A bear?! Oh dear, we made it just in time. It would’ve eaten her if we’d shown up a little later.”
“Hm. Yeah, that’s likely,” said Jenkins, but he didn’t sound convinced. To him, it looked like the bear had been watching over the girl. But that’s crazy, he thought, laughing the idea off.
He was carrying the little girl, who seemed happy to stay in his arms. The state and care put into her clothes, skin, and hair made him fairly certain she was a noble’s daughter.
Marguerite, walking beside him, asked the girl, “What’s your name, dear?”
“Olivia,” said the girl.
“Where’s your family? The people from your house?”
The girl looked frightened at the mention of her family. “Please help me!” she said. “Don’t send me back home, please! Please help me!”
Other than telling them her name, the girl just kept begging for their help.
Marguerite looked at her, confused, but eventually broke into tears because of how bad she felt for the girl in her desperate state. “Jenkins,” she said, “I think she ran away from home.”
“Seems like it.”
“Olivia, don’t worry. We won’t send you back home. You can come to our house. I bet you’re hungry. And you could probably also use a drink I imagine. Come on, let’s go together. I’ll whip up a lovely soup just for you. It’ll make you feel much better.”
That was how Olivia met her adoptive grandparents, Jenkins and Marguerite. They raised her with love, teaching her every single thing they thought she would need to survive.
Her grandfather taught her how to manage the household, how to fish (and everything she needed to know about fishing), and what she needed to be careful of in the forest. Her grandmother taught her how to cook wonderful food, how to make medicines, and how to diagnose common illnesses. Both of them taught her how two people who love each other care for each other.
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🍲 🍲 🍲
OLIVIA stood looking at the moonlit garden, tense from the emotions brought on by the thought of beginning her life alone.
“Grandma, Grandpa, thank you for everything. It’s because of you that I can continue on alone. I kept it a secret from you, but I can hear peoples’ and animals’ inner voices. Yours too. I know you loved me from the bottom of your heart. Thank you so much. I’m going to stay here and make a living cooking soup, just like the soup you made for me the day you found me in the forest, Grandma. The kind of soup that makes people feel better. Please, continue to watch over me.”