Mountain Cat Meets the Ship Destiny's Dreams

In the 1800s off the northwest coast of South America a dark, cat-like shadow padded up the steps from below deck on a sailing schooner.

The head of the animal tilted and the eyes glowed in the dark. It watched a man on the wooden deck of the boat, who was looking upward at the star constellations. 

The animal peered at the two legged creature and sniffed the air. She was young, and she was new to experiencing the world on her own after living with her mother.

Curiosity and intelligence showed in her expressions. She slinked along with eyes flashing, head tilted, ears flicking back and forth.

She took a few more steps toward the two legged creature on the boat.

The handwriting of the journal where the story was recorded was in faint brown ink. The cover of the journal said “Ana, Storyteller of the Blue Lantern, on the Ship Destiny’s Dreams, World Voyages, 1800s.

The story continued.

Earlier that day near a trail in the forest, a deep, breathy, guttural roar like gales of a distant storm filled the forest canopy.

The shadow of a dark, cat-like shape moved like liquid flowing through the dense greenery.

“Whoosh rooooaaaar,” came the sound again, vibrating through the leaves. The slim form and long tail of the howler monkey making the sound ran along a high tree branch against the sky. 

On the ground, the dark shadow of the mountain cat explored the forest around the estuary and bay, padding silently among the sun dappled leaves and the nighttime moon glow.

Now Pachamama, the Mother Earth known since ancient times, was bringing together lives that were interconnected.

A two legged being roamed the forest not far from the mountain cat. A fifteen year old girl called Luna blew into her flute, and a sound like the wind’s voice blowing through the trees echoed in the forest.

"Whooo....hoo...oooo."

There was a twittering and a chirping, then birds came flying in to land on Luna’s shoulders and arms. They sang and flew in circles around her, with some landing even on her head.

"Whistle. Cheep, cheep. Squawk."

When Luna was still a small child, her great grandmother showed her how to call the birds and other wildlife. 

“It is an art. But also a gift that comes with you when you are born.” Luna remembered great grandmother’s words.

“Since ancient times, there have been healers and those who talk with the animals. I have watched the signs emerge in you, dear child.” 

On this day, Luna did not know yet that the Earth Mother was bringing together several lives unexpectedly.

Out in the bay a small, fast sailing schooner tied up at a rough wharf that was falling apart. The white haired, wrinkled man on the schooner was still nimble and agile.

After sailing around the world several times, in the 42 foot long boat with two sails, the man stayed calm, even when faced with towering waves in ocean storms.

A few miles away, the full rigged clipper ship called the Destiny’s Dreams sailed toward the bay. Captain Alfonse Belanger stood on the deck, with Foresta, his laughing parrot, on his shoulder.

The crew was used to hearing Foresta's voice over the ocean winds. "Hahahaha." The parrot loved to laugh and to repeat the captain's words.

Captain Alfonse's rescued monkey, Rio, swung past the crew, lips pulled back in a grin, his long, thin fingers holding onto the halyard lines that connected to the mast.

Alfonse planned to anchor in the bay and take the ship’s reed boat, that came from the floating reed islands on the mountain lake, to shore to pick fruit, herbs, and greens, look for shellfish in the estuary, and get fresh water.

Alfonse’s ship storyteller, Ana, sat on the deck and bent over a journal while she wrote the tales of their voyages.

The threads of all these lives were pulling closer together, until the time when they would join into the design of one woven fabric.

Pachamama, the Mother Earth force of nature, time, and unseen energies, flowed through them all. Everything was connected.

Earlier that day, the Granddaughter of her peoples’ healer, Luna, was walking the trails and watching for healing plants to put into the pouch she carried on her back.

She played the forest’s songs on her flute and the birds of the forest flew in to rest on her shoulders, and circle around her in the air, singing with the flute notes.

"Whooo...tweet...chirp...ooo..." The flute and the birds sang together.

Luna saw the black shadow that was a cat-like shape come out of the dense shade of the trees.

She saw the shadow became a youthful, light brown mountain lion in the brighter light.

The mountain cats were special to Pachamama, Mother Earth. Luna decided to follow the female gata de las montanas de los andes, the Andean Cat, also called a puma or cougar.

Curiosity led the young mountain cat onward to the estuary, lagoon, and bay. She studied the herons and the white shapes of egrets fishing in the shallows. For a while she roamed next to the water.

The sun was low on the western horizon. In only minutes it slipped out of sight, leaving a pink and orange afterglow. Then the blue light before twilight washed the estuary and jungle in its color. Twilight brought the darkening sky with light from the constellations overhead. 

In the dusky night, the mountain animal was a black shadow with four legs and a long tail. It hesitated, the head turned and sniffed the air, and then the animal sauntered down to the wharf and onto the dock.

A long narrow wooden vessel was tied to the weathered, barnacle covered, wood pilings of the rickety wharf.

The black silhouette padded to the side of the boat. Then it leaped through the air over the railing, and landed on the wood deck without a sound.

Still covered in birds, Luna watched the mountain cat. The shape flowed when it walked, and with liquid grace it went down to the dock, leaped onto the boat, and disappeared.

Once, the big cat looked back toward Luna, sniffing, but she smelled the scents of jungle birds.

The boat looked empty. Luna thought the mountain cat would probably leave in a while to continue its slinky way through the jungle. Luna decided to let the mountain cat explore and then go on its way back to the dense, dark, greenery, when it was ready.

On the boat, the white haired man woke briefly. He thought the night birds were singing and chirping more than usual. Then he turned over and went into a deep sleep.

 The curious animal roamed the deck in a relaxed way, sniffing things and looking with bright eyes in the light of the stars and moon. In one room the smells led the animal to food. The dark shape gobbled it up quickly.

Then the young female mountain puma stepped down the stairs like she was going downhill on a rocky trail.

The animal went through a hall and a door into a cozy room like the cave den where the puma was born. The boat’s extra canvas sails were scattered like a comfortable nest or bed.

The tired young puma felt satisfied with the interesting night’s events, the meal from the other room, and the day’s exploration on the jungle trails. She turned in several circles, using her paws to push the sails down and make a hollow in the middle where she could burrow.

Then she sighed, gracefully collapsed her legs, and curled into a round ball in her bed.

The next morning, when she woke, the boat was rocking gently next to the wharf.

The white haired skipper sat in the warm sun at the wheel, enjoying a biscuit and a tin cup of juice from fruits he had gathered on shore during the past few days.

In her cozy bed, like an animal den, on the canvas sails beneath the deck, the mountain cat stretched out her long length, and yawned with a squeak from her wide jaws. Then she looked around and sniffed the air.

Up on the deck, the old man tied his beard and hair back where it would not blow, because the breeze was quickening.

He went down to the galley to get more breakfast and check his supplies.

The cougar made no sound when she padded along the hall and climbed up the stairs.

She found a few crumbs from the man’s biscuit and licked those up. Then she sauntered around the cabin that sat on the deck, and went around the rain barrels sitting there. She found some soft woven boat lines coiled up. Hidden from view, she settled on soft, cozy ropes in the warm sunlight and went to sleep.

The day passed with the two boat passengers narrowly missing each other and another night came. By now the cougar knew someone or something else was on the boat, and she slyly sneaked around so she would not be seen.

A few days later, Luna returned. She wondered if the mountain cat was still using some hidden nook in the boat as a den. She walked over to the wharf and stood next to the boat.

Songbirds swirled around her head and landed on her shoulders and arms. Their voices blended with the sounds of the winds over the estuary bay, and the waves slapping the sides of the boat.

“Hello there.” The white haired skipper smiled and nodded to her. He saw the young girl had several birds perched on her shoulders and arms.

“Hello. That is a beautiful boat.” Luna waved an arm at the vessel and the birds chirped. She did not see any sign of the mountain cat. It must have left.

“Would you like to come aboard and see her? She is called the “Otter.” Been around the world three times. Won races in Asia and the Pacific Islands.”

“Around the world,” repeated Luna. She wondered what was out there when someone sailed around the world.

“I’m Captain Andre.” The man smiled and his wrinkled face showed shining dark eyes under the shaggy white eyebrows.

“Luna. And my friends, the birds.” She smiled back at him.

“How did you learn to do that? With the birds?” Andre raised his bushy eyebrows.

“My great grandmother taught me the ancient ways. She said it is partly an art and partly a gift.” Andre smiled and nodded.

Andre gave Luna a tour of the boat. When he showed Luna the galley Andre paused. He looked in the storage areas and his face grew puzzled.

Then he shrugged. It looked like some food was missing but he must be mistaken. There was no one else on the boat besides himself.

On the deck, Andre and Luna walked past the water barrels, but they did not see the sleeping mountain cat resting on the soft rope coils, hidden behind the barrels.

The young mountain cat was taking her morning snooze on top of the luxury of soft, coiled ropes, hidden in the corner behind the rain barrels. She was satisfied after another raid of the galley where she found biscuits, fish, and other foods.

The young creature was quickly settling in to life on the boat, forming daily habits, finding it relaxing and cozy, and importantly, with food handy nearby in the galley.

Sitting on the deck of the schooner, the Otter, Luna and Andre saw the square white sails of the full rigged clipper ship float like clouds across the sunny ocean and into the bay.

The vessel came closer and anchored nearby. Then they saw a tall winch on the deck. With a system of pulleys and lines it raised an unusual boat made of lake reeds up off the deck of the clipper ship and then lowered it into the water.

The head of the reed boat had a high, curved bow with a cougar shape and the stern was high and curved too, but with a shape like a bear’s head. It had double hulls made of reed bunches lashed together.

“’We can tie up at that old wharf. There is a schooner there already, but there’s room for our boat too.” First Mate Adelberto’s voice carried across the quiet, morning waters of the bay.

“I can’t wait to pick more fruits and gather what we can find in the forest.” Adelberto’s wife, Isabella, spoke with enthusiasm.

“We can leave Raul in charge of the ship while we are on land. Later we can ferry people back and forth in the reed boat so others get their land legs back too.” Captain Alfonse spoke.

On the schooner, Andre squinted when he saw the reed boat with the heads of a cougar and a bear at each end. Foresta, his parrot, stepped up and down on Alfonse's shoulder and bobbed his head.

"Reed boat. Reed boat. Hahahah." The parrot's voice carried across the water.

Adelberto and Alfonse paddled the boat and Isabella worked the tiller that controlled the rudder. The sounds of the paddles lapping against the water drew closer to Andre and Luna.

Then the boat swung alongside the old wharf. Adelberto and Alfonse secured the lines around posts at each end of the boat.

“Morning.” Captain Alfonse looked with admiration at the sleek, fast of the schooner where Luna and Andre sat.

“I like the design of your boat. She looks fast.” Adelberto spoke and he walked up and down the wharf looking at the vessel.

“Hello. Thank you. That is an interesting boat that you have. Would you like to come aboard?” Andre smiled and walked to the railing to welcome the visitors.

Alfonse, Adelberto, and Isabella looked at Luna, and at the birds resting on her shoulders, singing and chirping softly.

Behind the rain barrels, the young female mountain cat awakened from her morning nap. She sensed something, and she huddled against the barrels, peering out at the deck and the new people.

Something in the back of his mind stirred, and Captain Alfonse slowly moved his eyes around the boat. He felt like he was being watched.

Foresta hopped up and down on his shoulder and raised his feathered crest up high. He sensed something too.

“The day is getting warmer. Would everyone like a drink of water?” Andre liked to be a good host and offer hospitality.

“That sounds wonderful. Let me help you.” Luna got up and walked back to the rain barrels. She picked up some tin cups sitting next to them.

Her scalp prickled. The birds on her shoulders flew into a circle around her.

Luna leaned over the barrels to dip some rainwater out with a cup.

A pair of eyes gazed back at her next to the barrels.

“Pachamama.” Luna whispered. "Earth Mother, what is this?"

She gazed into the eyes. They were curious and unafraid.

Luna did not sense any threat.

She silently scooped water out of the barrel into the cups and went back to the group sitting near the stern of the schooner.

“You did not tell me you have another guest.” She spoke to Andre.

He looked confused and raised his shaggy brows.

“Your pet mountain cat. I just met her. Back by the water barrels. It looks like she has a bed behind the barrels. We must have awakened her.”

There was a quick intake of breath from the people on the deck.

"I will show you. Wait here." They all sat and waited to see what Luna was going to do.

She went to the galley. Then Luna brought biscuits and fish to the deck, and set them on the railing near the water barrels.

A tan shape emerged from behind the barrels and stepped over to the railing. The female mountain cat delicately sniffed, nudged, and gently ate the food. Then she leaned over and drank from one of the water barrels.

Andre, Alfonse, and Isabella smiled. Luna began to play her flute and the birds landed on her shoulders again, singing.

“She needs a name.” Andre’s voice was serious.

“She is a cat in the bay. I’m going to call her “Bahia Gata.”

In their voyages, everyone had seen many unusual things and they were unconcerned with the newly found stowaway.

Bahia Gata sensed the relaxed mood of the people. She curled up in the sun on the deck, feeling safe.

“We are sailing north along the coast. Where are you going?” Captain Alfonse asked Andre.

“I am heading north too. Would you mind if I sail along with you? We can start our own fleet.” Andre liked the idea of having the clipper ship for company.

“That sounds great. There are times when we can use a fast schooner.” The people from the Destiny’s Dreams looked enthusiastic.

Later that day, Luna returned to the forest, playing her flute, surrounded by birds singing, and Bahia Gata followed the flute music back into the jungle.

The mountain cat joined in the music by lifting her head, and making a howling yowl, that was like no one had ever heard a mountain cat make before.

The square white sails of the Destiny’s Dreams and the white triangular sails of the schooner known as Otter drifted out of the bay one morning after sunrise and headed north.

The soft paws of the young mountain lion headed deeper into the trees and mountains. She padded along the trails following the flute player.

Their music blended together with the sounds of the birds, the forest, and Pachamama, the Earth Mother.