Mother Lode

by E. Rose Sabin

  As she studied him, his eyelids fluttered. Lina came up to them as the eyes opened. The coyote fastened his gaze on Lina.

  “That boy has more courage than sense,” she said. Although she was frowning, Bryte didn’t miss the note of pride in her words.

  “Like someone else I know,” Bryte commented, thinking of the many times Lina had rashly defied death. She expected no response and got none.

  “If you can shift, you probably should,” Lina addressed the coyote. “It won’t make you feel any better, but it’ll be easier for us to treat your injuries.”

  The coyote closed his eyes. Bryte guessed he was trying to gather sufficient power to change. He must have used a great deal getting in here—maintaining his coyote form while expending so much physical energy on the arduous climb up the fallen rocks.

  Torby came up to them. “What’s happening?” he asked, fixing a perplexed gaze on the coyote. “How did a coyote get in here?”

  “He climbed,” Lina said shortly. “Shouldn’t you be back there with Melusine?”

  “I just left her for a moment,” Torby responded, backing away from Lina’s angry glare. “Her condition hasn’t changed any. We need to get help for her. And now you’re tending to a coyote?”

  At that moment Bryte heard Dr. Metheny calling her. She hurried closer to the rock fall. “The women have returned and Officer Puckley came back with them. He’s going to help us get through to you. He has a plan, but he’s going to need you to stay well back away from falling rocks.”

  “We will. Can you shout a warning before you start?”

  “Yes. Be listening.”

  “I will.” Bryte lost no time in sharing the doctor’s message with the others.

  “Get back to Melusine,” Lina ordered Torby in a tone that brooked no argument.

  As soon as the young officer had retreated, Lina said, “Teddy, if you can shift, now would be the best time to do it.”

  “He’s trying,” Bryte said. “I think he’s used up most of his power.”

  Lina didn’t answer. She merely bent and placed her hand gently on the coyote’s muzzle.

  She must have given him some of her power, because as she drew her hand away and stood back, the coyote took on his human form, and although the change was slower than usual, Teddy soon lay where the coyote had lain a moment before.

  Another moment and the boy’s eyes opened. He smiled weakly. “I haven’t lost any more parts of me, have I?” he asked.

  “Not a one,” Lina assured him cheerfully. “You probably have some pretty spectacular bruises, though. And I’ll bet you have a really bad headache.”

  Teddy’s grimace told Bryte that Lina was right. “Do you think you can stand? And walk a short distance? They’re going to try to break through the rock fall and get us out of here.”

  Both Lina and Bryte offered their support, and with their help Teddy struggled to his feet and took a couple of tentative steps. He limped badly, but he managed to walk with them to where Torby sat beside Melusine shaking his flashlight, trying to keep its dim beam from fading away altogether.

  Lina’s dandlightlight was also dimming. If both flashlights died, the total darkness of the mine would defy even Lina’s catlike night vision. Again Bryte wished she could call forth her power glow at will.

  Torby looked up in surprise. “Is that Teddy? Where’d he come from? How’d he get in? Have they broken through the rocks already?”

  “No. They haven’t yet started to try,” Bryte said.

  Lina said, “You know I’m a shape-shifter. You’ve seen me in my panther form. Teddy is a shifter, too. He was the coyote you thought we shouldn’t be tending.”

  “Another shifter? Wonders be!” Torby scratched his head. “I never knew such things existed, and now I’ve seen two of ’em.”

  “Wonders? Is that what we are?” Lina laughed. “I suspect you’ve got a lot to learn.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

  Teddy could keep a secret as well as anyone, but his knowledge of little Cara’s rain-bringing ability begged to be shared with someone. With someone, but definitely not with everyone. With Nia, perhaps? Or did Nia already know or at least suspect that her sister had this remarkable talent? If not, then, as Cara’s sister, she had a right to know. But it would probably be better if Cara herself told her.

  With Lina, then? Or with Bryte? Or both?

  With Lina, he decided. Only with Lina. After all, it had been Lina who had explained to him the concept of giftedness and opened to him the knowledge about people with special talents. She would be the one best suited to guide Cara in the use of her ability. The little girl adored her, so she’d welcome Lina’s instruction.

  Cara had been coming out of her shell since her rescue. She was slowly becoming less babyish, acting more appropriately for her age. Apparently her baby talk and behavior more characteristic of a three-year-old than the six-year-old Nia declared her to be had been due largely to the shock of losing her parents, followed by the cruel treatment from the miners. “Regression,” Doctor Metheny had called it. “Not unusual for a child who’s gone through all that Cara has. I’m amazed and pleased that she is recovering so well.”

  Teddy had had private talks with the doctor while being treated for the injuries he’d suffered in his coyote form. The doctor had been curious from a medical standpoint about how shape-shifting worked and had asked him many questions. Teddy could describe the sensation of shifting and something of how he’d learned to bring the change about at will. He could tell the doctor a bit about how it felt to be a coyote. But he could not explain the physical process of transformation. “It just happens,” was the most he could say in answer to the doctor’s questions.

  “Well, you’ve been more helpful than Lina,” the doctor had confided. “I can’t get any information from her. She just says, ‘The process is understood only by the Power Giver. You’d have to ask him.’ And then when I ask how I’d do that, she merely shrugs and walks away.”

  Yes, that sounded like Lina. But she would be interested in knowing about Cara. Teddy resolved to seek her out and share his secret with her when he could get the opportunity to talk to her alone. When that might be, he couldn’t guess.

  By the time the men broke through the rock pile and made an opening into the cave, it was late afternoon. Doctor Metheny checked both Teddy and Melusine carefully before arranging for them to be carried back to the house on blankets serving like slings or hammocks, in which they lay. The ends of the blankets were gathered together and tied, putting to good use the rope that had bound Melusine’s arms and legs, to form a handle for a bearer.

  The doctor commended Torby for his care of Melusine, and the young officer blushed at the praise. “You’ve done an excellent job of keeping her warm and hydrated. That’s what saved her life,” the doctor said. Torby brushed it off as being due to his training as a Peace Officer. “They teach us what to do in all sorts of emergencies,” he explained.

  It was clear to Teddy and probably to the others as well that despite his show of humility, Torby took pride in what he’d done for the girl and had gained confidence from the favorable results and from the doctor’s tribute.

  Of course Teddy’d had no chance to talk privately to Lina throughout their rescue from the mine. He’d been borne from the mine to the house on a stretcher despite his declaration that he could walk. “Not until I can give you a more thorough examination and check for broken bones and internal bleeding,” Doctor Metheny had insisted.

  So he’d been carried between Officer Puckley and Master Wilcom, while Torby and the doctor carried Melusine, and Mistress Metheny walked between Bryte and Lina, “in case,” she said, “they need a bit of support.” They had suffered no injuries, but had had nothing to eat all day and had expended a great deal of power, so her concern was not unwarranted.

  Back at the house, the shoppers had returned, and preparations for the evening meal were in full swing, but were interrupted
to allow everyone to give an enthusiastic welcome to rescuers and rescued. Then the doctor devoted himself to ascertaining the extent of Teddy’s injuries and of Melusine’s condition.

  By the time the doctor cleared Teddy to rise and join the others in the front of the house, the table had been set, and Lina and Bryte were helping the older children bring in the food. Under Nia’s supervision, the younger children, took seats around the table.

  Mistress Metheny and Mistress Wilcom with help from the older children had put together a real feast. The smell of roasted meat and the other savory aromas put all other thoughts from Teddy’s mind.

  The exclamations of pleasure from the children who’d suffered deprivation for so long was as delightful to Teddy’s ears as the ample serving of meat and vegetables was to his stomach. And real apple pie for dessert put the perfect ending on the meal and the day. When he pushed his chair away from the table, Teddy could think only of bed and sleep. Sharing his secret with Lina would wait until tomorrow.

  Lina regretted having insisted on taking a turn at guard duty during the night. Everyone had had a tiring day, and everyone needed sleep. She’d agreed to take the hours from the middle of the night to about an hour before dawn. That allowed her to sleep both before and after her watch. She’d prowled around the house in panther form, knowing she’d miss little using her panther senses. But the watch had been uneventful. Wherever the miners were and whatever they were doing, they hadn’t been near the house during the night.

  She’d slept later than she normally would, and when she finally arose and headed for the kitchen, breakfast was well under way. Most of the children were seated around the dining room table gobbling down eggs, fruit, and buttered toast. Cara looked up, spotted Lina, and gave a squeal of delight.

  “Come and eat,” the little girl called to her. “We can eat all we want!”

  Lina noted that the child’s speech was becoming more suited to her actual age. She smiled as others echoed Cara’s invitation. “Thanks, but I need coffee first,” she said, continuing on toward the kitchen and ignoring the looks of disappointment on several faces.

  She did need coffee, but what she especially needed was meat. Fresh meat, cooked rare. She wasn’t likely to get that, though, unless she could cadge a slice of the roast she’d seen in the groceries and sear it herself. She didn’t like cooking, but she could do it if she had to. However, her best hope for the kind of meal she craved would be to drink her coffee, then go out, change to her panther form, and hunt her meat.

  In the kitchen she found Mistress Wilcom slicing a loaf of freshly baked bread and Nia refilling a platter of scrambled eggs.

  “Lina!” Nia turned to her with a smile. “I told everyone not to wake you. I hope no one did.”

  “No, I woke up on my own. Who’s guarding the house?”

  “Herrol and Torby,” Mistress Wilcom told her. “Beck was out earlier, but he came in, got a bite to eat, and went off to get some sleep.”

  Puzzled at first, Lina recalled that Herrol was Master Wilcom’s name. But why was Torby on guard duty? “Torby should be sleeping. He was exhausted by the time we got back from the mine. He stayed here all night because he was too tired to go back to town.”

  “He probably should have slept in, but he woke up and insisted on relieving Beck. He’s so eager to do his part, I couldn’t talk him out of it. All I could do was give him some food and coffee before he went out. He’s been out there since predawn.”

  “I should take his place. I didn’t mean to sleep as late as I did.”

  “No, you’re fine,” Mistress Wilcom insisted. “Herrol and Torby have both agreed to stay out until midmorning.”

  “Well, I should do something to make myself useful now that I’ve rested. How’s Melusine?”

  “Doing better,” Nia said. “I’m going to take her some breakfast as soon as I put this platter on the table. The kids can’t get enough this morning. It’s been so long since they’ve been able to eat their fill.”

  “We’ll soon have to make another grocery run,” Mistress Wilcom said, as she placed the sliced bread on a platter. “I don’t know how we’re going to afford all the food we’ll be needing, especially if they keep eating like this.” She sighed. “Poor things! They’ve all been starved for so long. And worked so hard. The doctor says they’re all suffering from malnourishment.” She shook a finger at Nia. “You too, Missy, and you still aren’t eating enough.” She turned back to Lina. “I keep telling her to go join the others and eat a big breakfast like they are, but she insists on helping me instead. I can’t do anything with her. Can you?”

  Giving up her hope of hunting wild meat, Lina addressed Nia firmly. “You take that platter in and sit down at the table, and serve yourself from it. I’ll take a plate in to Melusine. Where is she?”

  “She’s in the room Doctor Metheny is using for an infirmary, but she’s not ready for a regular breakfast,” Nia said, frowning. “We’re giving her a broth of chicken and vegetables, a little at a time until her stomach is stronger. The doctor showed me how to fix it and how much and how often to give it to her, so I need to take care of it. I’ve already eaten enough. Really!” She added the last to cover Mistress Wilcom’s attempt to object, leaving the woman to shake her head in resignation.

  “Here, Lina,” Nia continued, bringing the platter of eggs to her. “You take this in and sit with the children. You haven’t eaten yet, and they all adore you.” She placed the platter in Lina’s unwilling hands. “It isn’t just Cara who worships you. They all do. You’re their hero.” Brooking no refusal, Nia went to the stove and ladled broth from a pot into a bowl.

  Feeling trapped, Lina carried the platter into the dining room and set it on the table. She hadn’t even poured herself any coffee, and was about to return to the kitchen to remedy that lapse when Gretta grabbed her hand. “Here, Miss Lina, sit by me.” She pulled Lina down into the empty chair beside her.

  Mistress Wilcom came in moments later with the platter of bread and, thank the Power-Giver, with a cup of coffee. She set the platter on the table and placed the coffee by Lina’s plate. “Doctor Metheny is right. Nia is a natural nurse. I just wish I could get her to eat more. She says she’s always been thin, even before coming to the Coopers.”

  “I bet you could get her to eat if you made her a chocolate pie,” Cara piped up. “She loves chocolate.”

  That brought general laughter. And from Fedrek a fervent, “So do we!”

  “Maybe you could make us all some for tonight’s dessert,” Fyodor suggested, his eyes pleading.

  “I’ll see if we have the ingredients. No promise, but I’ll see,” Mistress Wilcom said before returning to the kitchen, leaving Lina alone with the orphans.

  They all seemed eager to talk to her, to ask questions like “Where do you come from?” “How old are you?” “How come you can change to a big cat?” “How are you and Bryte related?” and “You aren’t her mother, are you?” This last was from Alida, the youngest girl next to Cara in age.

  Lina hated questions. She piled her plate with eggs and filled her mouth so she didn’t have to answer. Alida’s question, though, merited a frown and a firm shaking of her head.

  The little girl lowered her eyes and sucked on her bottom lip, making her distress at having displeased her benefactress clear to Lina.

  She didn’t want to receive all this adulation. She wanted to be outside, hunting in panther form, not here, surrounded by adoring orphans. They must have sensed her unwillingness to talk, to satisfy their curiosity about her. They turned their disappointment into anger, blaming Alida for Lina’s reaction.

  “’Course she’s not Bryte’s mother, dummy,” Erle declared. “She’s not old enough.”

  “They don’t look alike, neither,” Keely put in. “Lina’s all pretty and ladylike, and Bryte’s got short hair and freckles and, and …”

  “And she’s a tomboy!” Conlin finished triumphantly.

  “They’re just good friends,” Sabah,
only a bit older than Alida, informed the younger girl with an air of importance emphasized by her raised eyebrows over large, serious eyes. Those beautiful eyes, Lina noted were the girl’s best feature, making an otherwise unremarkable face stand out in any group.

  Lina had to repress a smile at their descriptions of Bryte. They weren’t far off the mark. After all, her parents had drilled her from childhood on how to behave like a lady, while Bryte had grown up pretty much on her own, fending for herself in a way that demanded toughness and grit. Strange that, perhaps reflecting her panther form, she was the more ruthless, while Bryte for all her toughness could also be softhearted.

  Taking a bite of toast, still resisting speaking, she let her gaze wander across the faces of the children seated at the table. She’d never really looked closely at them before. To her they’d been merely an aggregate of dirty, thin ragamuffins, sadly mistreated by the cruel Coopers and their henchmen. She hadn’t seen them as individuals.

  Now, seated at table with them, she took notice of their faces, their diverse ages, their separate personalities. Petrus, the oldest boy, wore an angry frown and met her gaze with a defiant look that caused her to turn her eyes elsewhere, too aware that she had disappointed him by her non-responsiveness and her hurtful reaction to Alida.

  Alida. The little girl sniffled and wiped away tears. She had a turned-up nose that was dripping at the moment. Seated next to Alida, Gretta patted the younger child’s hand. “It’s all right, honey,” Gretta soothed. “Miss Lina didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

  Thin like the rest, Gretta nevertheless had a heavier look. Large-boned, wide-faced, budding breasts visible through her thin shirt, she bore hints of becoming a large woman someday.

  “I didn’t mean to upset you, Alida,” Lina said, reacting to an unfamiliar surge of sympathy for the child. “No, Bryte and I aren’t related at all. We’ve just been traveling companions.”

  “Traveling? Where from? Or where to?” demanded Keely, who Lina had been told was ten years old but who looked much older, with frown lines already carved into her forehead, and a mouth that seemed to have forgotten how to smile and instead curved downward in a perpetual pout.