The Bear and the Wolves

My brother had a dream We were young boys in a field And on a grey-speckled stallion we rode We galloped through the summer wind Until we reached that field's end And into a dark wood we did go He told me he was afraid, but he knew in his heart we'd be safe He said whenever we rode together he could always be brave So we should always be brave One time I hiked alone Up the creekbed from our home When I came upon a big hungry bear He chased me down and pinned my face I feared my life would be erased When I heard a crowing pierce through the air My brother cast a limestone at the bear and the bear did give chase Then he led that bear away through the woods so that I could escape And he hollered "Be brave" He grew old and moved away But my brother's words did stay In my soul as I lived out my days But trouble found him all alone and In the badlands of California And to a pack of wolves he was prey Just before they closed in on my brother he pulled out his blade Then he carved his final words in the side a red sandstone cave He wrote "Brother, be brave"