Father Garshom pulled down a book so old that its covers made creaking sounds when he opened it. He flipped through it quickly until he found the section he was looking for.

"A spirit beast is a supernatural existence where a sapient soul occupies the body of some wild creature. Spirit beasts usually are under a geas, act as someone's guardian, or have a specific mission to perform for the gods. Spirit beasts can understand human language, either spoken or written down. In some circumstances, a spirit beast may have the ability to write. Physically, spirit beasts tend to be larger than their wild counterparts and will have a lifespan of 80 to 100 years. Without exception, a spirit beast will have celestial blue eyes."

Father Garshom nodded to himself, closed the book, and put it away. He left his study, which was at the back of the sanctuary, made a reverence to the statue of the Mother Goddess on his way out, put on his straw sun hat, and left the temple for the western edge of the village.

He stood under a large elm tree past the last house scanning the horizon for the shape of a cougar. He didn't see anything that could come close to the lovely feline who visited the village last night. He waited several minutes and was disappointed. The spirit beast did not come.

Suddenly, his sun hat went flying. He ran after it and caught it. Then he heard a strange noise. It sounded like a giant cat purring. He turned to see the thick tail of the cougar dangling down from a tree branch, at just the right height to knock his hat off his head.

So, he thought, this spirit beast was playful and his hat was her cat toy.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were coming, but I see you were here the whole time," he said to the cougar, placing his hat back on his head. The cougar yawned in reply. She slowly stretched out on the limb and then jumped to the ground.

Father Garshom took a long appraising look at the cougar. She was a big beast and probably outweighed him by a fair bit. If she stood up on her hind legs, she would be as tall as he was.

"So, my lady," he addressed her as she soundlessly walked by his side, "have you visited our village before?" He was surprised when she nodded yes. "So, do you know where the temple is?" She nodded again. "And have you read the notices on the public news board on the front lawn?" She shook her head no.

"Well," he concluded, "that would explain why you don't know about the bounty on wolves. There are several wolf packs in the area, and they have been taking a toll on our sheep flocks. Our wool is greatly prized throughout the kingdom so losing any of our sheep to wolves affects our local economy. Lord Herman will pay ten silver schillings for every wolf killed. Since you eliminated three wolves yesterday, you are entitled to thirty silver schillings."

Father Garshom enjoyed this stroll through the village with a docile and friendly cougar at his side. Despite all the tales circulating around the village this morning about the cougar’s rescue of the shepherd, the shocked looks on his congregation's faces were just too amusing. He had not had this much fun in quite a long time.

By the time they reached the temple, there was a small gathering of older children and loafers following at a safe distance. The priest turned around when he reached the temple’s front lawn and made shooing motions at the small crowd. He waited with his arms crossed and his face stern until the last of them had departed. Then he opened the gate on the walkway into the temple grounds.

He stopped in front of a large signboard covered with official notices. It had its own roof to keep its contents dry. "This is the public notice board where Lord Herman posted the bounty for wolves," the priest explained to the spirit beast and pointed to one of the notices. "Can you read it?" She nodded.

"I am curious, my lady," he sat down on the steps into the temple. "Are you even interested in the bounty on the wolves? Certainly, the village would welcome the addition of a good hunter like you to help with managing our wolf problem. But payment in silver seems a bit problematic for someone like yourself."

The cougar looked at him with a tilted head. Father Garshom had no idea what that meant.

"I spread some sand out over there," he pointed to a flattened pile of sand by the corner of the temple building. "Do you think you share your thoughts on this matter by writing in the sand?"

The cougar padded over the sand. She extended one claw carefully and started to write. When she finished, he walked over and looked down. The letters were crude, but the message was clear.

"Given who you are and what sorts of needs you have, that's a reasonable request," the priest told the cougar. "I will need to consult with the local merchants to determine a reasonable conversion rate between schillings and venison. Can you give me two days to do that footwork, my lady?" The cougar nodded.

---

The village priest struck me as a good fellow, who wanted to see me receive the reward for hunting wolves. If I could find an easier way to write, I could suggest that they pay me with venison in the winter, when hunting is much more difficult. That could help me get through the hardest time of year. After I met with the priest, I visited my boy in his lonely and walled-off garden.

"How I wish you could understand me, Fuzzy," my boy told me as he scratched that unreachable spot under my chin. He decided he would call me Fuzzy a while back. It wasn't the greatest name. I would prefer a more sophisticated name, like Aurelia or Veronica or even Berergaria. Without speech, I couldn't tell him that Fuzzy just wasn't the right name for a stately cougar like me.

Then he surprised me with some news, "my family is coming to visit soon to hunt the wolves attacking the local flocks of sheep. I want you to hide far away when they are here. If they see you, they will hunt you down like a wild beast."

An irreverent voice in the back of my head protested that I was already a wild beast.

"I'm hoping that all the travel carriages when they arrive make enough noise to scare you away. I would be inconsolable to lose your company at this loveless place." My boy sounded sincerely worried.

For his sake, I would lay low and stay out of sight. I wished I could tell him that so he would worry less. Besides, I now had allies in the village. The local hunters would tell the visitors that the local cougar was a spirit beast, which gave me some protection under canon law.

It was tragic that the person in danger from the visitors wasn’t me, it was my boy.