Sierra and Forest

A long time ago, under the shadow of a great mountain, lived a young girl named Sierra. Though she was young, she was one of the cleverest, kindest and most helpful people in all of Est, the kingdom in which she lived. She lived with her mama and papa on their sunflower farm. Sierra would work all day in the field, sowing sunflower seeds. She and her papa would look after them as they grew, removing the weeds that tried to take over the field, and making sure that the sunflowers got plenty of water. Then when the sunflowers were fully grown, they would harvest them, load them all onto their cart, and travel into the nearest town to sell them. 

Sometimes Sierra’s papa would buy her something special to thank her for all of the hard work she had done. It might be a trinket, or an apple pie fresh out of the oven. One year, after a particularly hard growing season, her father approached with his hands held behind his back as Sierra was packing up their flower stall.

“Sierra, close your eyes and put out your hands,” he said to her. Sierra smiled, closed her eyes and put out her hands. This was their tradition. Her papa would tell her to close her eyes and put out her hands, and then he would place his present into her open hands. Sierra would then try to guess what the present was. This year, she stood waiting until her papa put something warm and furry into her hands. Sierra frowned. 

“It’s furry,” she said quietly. “Is it a new hat, or mittens?”

“No, try again,” her papa said with a smile.

“Is it…..a scarf?”

“Wrong again.” 

Sierra moved her hand slightly to get a better grip on her present and as she did, it made a noise! There was a soft “purr” coming from her hands!

“Oh papa, it’s a kitten!” Sierra burst out, opening her eyes to see the sweetest little kitten sitting in her hands, looking up at her with soft brown eyes. She cradled the kitten in her arms and thanked her papa for her present.

“I thought you could use a playmate, now that we are finished with the sunflowers for a little while. You can show him around our farm and play together. Perhaps he can catch the rats and mice who come to eat our seeds.”

As soon as they returned home, and Sierra had shown her kitten to her mama, the little girl and the little kitten ran off across the fields. Sierra showed her kitten around the farm, and soon they came to the forest at the edge of their land. The kitten sniffed the air and pawed the ground. 

“What is it kitty? Can you smell something?”. The kitten bounded off into the forest. Sierra tried to watch where he went, but his brown and grey dappled fur made it difficult to follow him. He was practically invisible under the trees. He also moved very fast, faster than Sierra had thought possible for a kitten. She sat down on a nearby tree stump to wait for him. She waited until the sun was kissing the top of the mountain and, with a slump in her shoulders and a heavy heart, she began walking back to the farmhouse.

When she arrived home, her mama and papa were on the porch, sorting through the supplies that she and her papa had bought in town that day. Her papa asked if she and her kitten had enjoyed exploring.

“Si papa, we did. But I think the kitten may have enjoyed it too much. He ran off into the forest at the bottom of the mountain and hasn't returned.”

“Ah, I wondered how soon it would be before this happened,” her papa smiled. Sierra looked at him, confused. “You see Sierra, that kitten is a magical cat. He can run, swift as the wind, and he can camouflage himself so that he cannot be seen. He is a hunting cat, and will search far and wide for anything you need.” 

“But why hasn't he come back to me?”

“There is a poem that you must recite three times. Once you get to the final line, the kitten will be home again.” Her papa leant down and whispered the poem in her ear. Sierra stood facing the forest, glanced at her papa who gave her an encouraging nod, and then closed her eyes and began to recite the poem. 

“Come magic cat with eyes so bright,

Come forest cat, come back to me.

Bring me your gift, in the days last light,

Swift as the wind, come back to me.”

As she finished the third recitation, Sierra felt a strong breeze blowing in her face. Her lazy brown curls were whipped into a frenzied dance behind her head and it felt like someone was pulling on the blue skirt of her dress. She opened her eyes, the kitten was back. He came and gently dropped a pair of rabbits at her feet. 

“Looks like your kitten has brought us something for dinner,” her mama said. She picked up the rabbits, tickled the kitten behind his ears, and went inside to prepare a delicious stew.

“I think your kitten needs a name Sierra, we can't just keep calling him Kitten,” her papa said. Sierra nodded. She had the perfect name.

“Forest, Forest!” Sierra called up the stairs. Forest was upstairs, asleep on the end of her bed. Just like the first day when he had caught the rabbits for them, Forest had kept going out hunting and bringing things back for them. He was bigger now, but Sierra still loved her little kitten. They would run and play, and then while Sierra worked on the farm, Forest would go hunting. Once, he had dragged home a huge boar, and her mama and papa had spent the entire afternoon and well into the evening working out how to cook and preserve it. That had been before Sierra’s mama had gotten sick, however. One morning, her mama had been too sick to go out into the fields, a week later she was too sick to even get out of bed. Sierra and her papa had struggled to harvest the sunflowers themselves and now they were about to leave, to travel into the village to sell their harvest. While they were there, her papa was going to speak with the doctor and see if he would come and visit her mama. Sierra gave her mama a kiss on the cheek, tucked the blanket right up to her chin, and then she and her papa left for the village.

The hustle and bustle of the village was not as exciting for Sierra this year. She didn’t look at the trinket stand or the apple pies from the baker. When they had almost sold their harvest, Sierra’s papa went off in search of the doctor. Sierra began to pack down their stall, leaving the last of the sunflowers out in case there were still people who wanted to buy them. As she sat waiting for her papa to return, an old woman came wandering through the market. Sierra didn’t pay much attention to her until the woman came up and looked at the last two sunflowers.

“I wonder if you might be willing to trade these flowers for something?” the old woman asked. Sierra shook her head.

“I’m sorry, but my mama is sick, so we need to sell the flowers to afford medicine for her,” she said. The old woman looked at Sierra.

“What if I traded you information?” she asked. Sierra looked at the woman, confused.

“What kind of information?”

“Information about something that could heal your mama,” the old woman said with a smile. Sierra didn’t even stop to think about it. She pressed the two sunflowers into the old woman’s hands and said, “Please.” The old woman smiled.

“When I was a young girl I lived on the mountain with my mama. I got terribly ill one winter, and no one thought that I would recover. My mama however knew of a cure. It is a cure that will heal anyone, no matter the illness. There is a creature that lives high up in the mountain. It is called the Dahu. The Dahu looks like a goat, however, its legs are different lengths. The legs on one side of its body will be longer than the other side, which means that the Dahu can easily walk along the side of the mountain. The Dahu carries inside its stomach a magical stone. This stone is the cure for any illness or ailment. If you can catch the Dahu, then it will give you a stone. But I warn you, child, it is very difficult to catch a Dahu. My mother only managed it because she was very clever and outsmarted it. Many people have tried, and most have failed. Good luck to you,” and with that the old woman waved her sunflowers at Sierra and walked away.

Sierra didn’t mention anything to her papa on the ride home. He was sad. The doctor had said he would come and have a look at her mama, but that from what her papa had said there might not be anything he could do to help her. Once they were home, and her papa was sitting with her mama, Sierra slipped out of the back door and went to the barn with Forest. The cat lay with his head in the girl’s lap as she scratched behind his ears. Sierra told Forest about her trip to the village, about what the old woman has told her about the Dahu and the magic stone inside its stomach. Silent tears slipped down Sierra’s cheeks as she told Forest that she was sure that this magic stone was the only thing that would cure her mother’s illness now.

“But I would never be able to find the Dahu. It lives somewhere on the mountain. It’s just hopeless,” Sierra sighed. Forest turned to look into the face of the girl he loved. He looked at her and tilted his face to lick the tears from her cheeks. Sierra smiled, and then suddenly Forest jumped from her lap. He stood in the door of the barn for a moment, looking at her with his eyes shining brightly, and then raced out into the dark night. Sierra called his name, but he didn’t return. She fell asleep on the floor of the barn, feeling sad and alone.

Two more days went by, and Sierra didn’t see hide nor hair of her cat. Even her papa noticed that Forest was missing, but being so busy taking care of her mama he didn’t have the chance to ask Sierra about him. As dusk fell on the third day, Sierra stood at the door of the barn, looking up into the mountain. She closed her eyes and began to recite the poem that would call Forest back to her.

“Come magic cat with eyes so bright,

Come forest cat, come back to me.

Bring me your gift, in the days last light,

Swift as the wind, come back to me.”

When she finished it a third time, Sierra slowly opened her eyes, hoping to see Forrest sending in front of her. But there was nothing there. She signed and turned to walk back to the house. Just before she got to the porch, she caught movement out of the corner of her eyes. Sierra turned to look toward the mountain, and there she saw Forest, walking slowly through the fields towards her. She wondered why he was walking so slowly until she saw something walking oddly behind him. It looked like a goat, with two legs that were longer than the others, making it bump along in a very strange fashion. Sierra realised that it must be a Dahu, Forest had found it! She waiting on the porch as the pair slowly made their way to her. When they reached the porch, Forest came and sat next to Sierra, as the Dahu stood in front of her. It bowed it’s head at her silently, and then looked at her hand. Sierra lifted her hand out to the creature, and it brought its bearded face down to her palm. After what felt like a whiskery kiss, the Dahu lifted its head again. There on her palm was a small stone. Sierra looked at it and smiled.

“Thank you,” she said in a quiet voice. The Dahu nodded, and then turned and slowly ambled off toward the mountain. Sierra quickly ran up the stairs and into the house.

“Papa, Papa! Quickly, I have something for Mama!”