Fur Magic

Fur Magic (1968) is the second fantasy novel in the Magic series, following Steel Magic. It is based on the legends of the North American Indians. In the tales of the Nez Perce, and other tribes, the Changer is a great power who has the ability to shape things. Often called the Trickster, the Changer delights in confounding others with his changes. Long ago, the Old People, sapient oversized animals, ruled the world, but then the Changer made mankind and changed everything. In this story, Cory Adler is a Floridan boy whose father has been assigned to Viet Nam by the Army and whose mother is taking care of his grandmother in San Francisco. An old Army buddy of his father, Uncle Jasper, has invited Cory to stay on his ranch while his parents are away and Cory looks forward to it with great anticipation. Yet the actual experience is much more frightening than he expects; the horses are big and buck him off, the animals have sharp teeth and claws, and the night is filled with strange noises. The day after Cory's unsuccessful attempt to ride a horse, Uncle Jasper takes him up to an old line cabin in the high country and leaves him there while the adults ride off to inspect the young horses. Cory agrees to wait for Black Elk, an old indian shaman, to arrive at the cabin and then to phone for a jeep to carry the old man to the main house. Cory is willing, as long as he doesn't have to ride a horse, and soon starts to explore the surrounding area. He accidentally falls into a shallow hole and breaks a basket and a turtleshell rattle within the hollow. He takes a leather bag back to the cabin to get a better look at it, but decides it is a medicine pouch and replaces it within the broken basket. While exploring some more, he notices brown shapes moving around on a distance hillside and uses his binoculars to resolve the image into three buffalo, two adults and a calf. Moreover, he sees a man wearing an animal skin, possibly coyote, dancing close to the animals while carrying a decorated stick and a turtleshell rattle. He is held motionless by fear, but manages to drop the binoculars, which frees his muscles. Still terrified, he nonetheless runs toward the site where he has seen the buffalo and the man, but only tracks remain of the animals and man. When he returns to the cabin, he finds an old indian man sitting motionless by the firepit. He asks the old man if he is Black Eagle and is finally answered with a bare acknowledgment. Cory makes a meal in the firepit for the old man, who eats everything given to him and Cory's portion as well. Afterwards, the old man pulls out a leather bag, the same medicine pouch that Cory had returned to the basket, throws some dust on the fire that causes a steady stream of smoke to rise above it, and insists that Cory has done wrong and must purify himself by holding the pouch in the smoke. When Cory complies, he is transported into the mind of an oversized beaver named Yellow Shell. Cory thinks th