The Sisters of the Winter Wood

by Rena Rossner

  I look up and he winks at me. There is hunger in his eyes, but not for food. I shiver. No, Ruven, I am not meant for you. I have made my choice …

  “Put this on,” he says. “It’ll make it easier for you to stay human.”

  My face is red and flushed. I turn and slip the tunic over my head. I pick the bearskin up and inspect it.

  Ruven is beside me. “It’s beautiful,” he says. He looks at me. “You’re beautiful.”

  I shake my head. “You don’t get to say that to me.”

  “It’s true,” he says.

  “In general, I find that when you want to get to know a girl, it’s best not to kidnap her first.” I look back in the direction that we came from. “I can’t believe that was Dovid.”

  “He is a hunter, yingele, or did you not know that? All men are beasts inside. Some just show it differently than others.”

  I feel nauseous. I am officially a bear, my sister is gone, and the boy I love just tried to kill me. He looked at me as a predator looks at prey, with fear and hatred in his eyes.

  “Don’t get all farklempt—it’s time you know who and what you are. Your Tati probably warned you to stay away from the boys in the village,” he says. “There was a reason for that.”

  Ruven tosses me a package; I catch it on instinct and open it. Inside is smoked meat. I look up at him, and he tosses me a flask as well. “Sit down and eat. The change takes a lot out of us. We always need fuel after we shift—that is, unless we hunt.” His eyes sparkle wickedly and I swallow hard. “There are lots of different kinds of hunters in this world,” he says. “It’s what you hunt, and why, that makes the difference.”

  I sit down on the grass and start to chew on the meat.

  “You realize you will need to choose a husband from the tribe. Your blood must live on for future generations. And you’d be wise to choose someone who can carry on in your father’s place.”

  A chill runs through me; all the hairs on my body stand on end. I stop chewing. “And let me guess, this person is supposed to be you.”

  He comes to sit beside me. “I’m sorry that it had to come to this. Up until a few weeks ago, we didn’t know that you existed. We knew that Berman Leib had a daughter … but not that you’d carried on the trait.”

  I shrug. “The way my mother tells it, you all cast him off for marrying her. Even though she converted.”

  “The Rebbe regretted it every day of his life.”

  “How do you know? What are you to the Rebbe?” I open the flask he tossed me and sniff it.

  When I look up, Ruven is chuckling. “It’s just river water,” he says.

  I take a few long swigs. “How do I know that you don’t want to kill my father? Or kill me?”

  He shakes his head. “Being the Rebbe is not a burden to be taken lightly. There is nobody like your father. I barely remember him—I was just a boy when he was taken prisoner, and then when he came back with your mother and was cast out … but I’ve heard the stories. It is … an honor to meet you, daughter of Reb Berman Leib. You must be a very special girl.”

  I shake my head sadly.

  “Liba … I’ll always regret that we drew the shift out of you in the way that we did. It … well … it usually happens quite differently. Will you forgive me?”

  “I will never forgive you for what you did to me,” I spit at him. I take another sip of water. “How does it usually happen?”

  Ruven’s neck turns red. “Well, sometimes it’s with your first kiss. Other times it doesn’t happen until … your first, erm … shtup?”

  My skin goes cold. This means that Dovid was at risk every time I kissed him … No! I didn’t know … How could I have known? Why didn’t Mami tell me?

  “So the choice was to kiss me or threaten me? Good choice.” I cock an eyebrow at him. “I always knew that I wasn’t as good-looking as my sister, but this seems extreme.”

  “No! Liba … please don’t think that. If your father hadn’t left the village, had I known about you, it might have happened in a different way. But these are dangerous times. A sword is dangling over the heads of all the Jews in Bessarabia right now. And the goblins aren’t the only ones spreading rumors. Sometimes all it takes is a fight over a herring barrel … When we saw that Berman was gone, we had to know if you were his daughter, if you could shift … We had to be sure. And I knew that you had already given your heart to another. We saw …”

  “So you were spying on me? I thought so, but I wasn’t sure. Why on earth would I want anything to do with you if this is how you treat people? The people of Dubossary may not be Chassidim, but they treat each other with dignity. And right now that’s more than I can say about you.”

  “Fair enough,” he says. “You can think what you want. But I’ve been dreaming about a black-haired girl for as long as I can remember. I just didn’t know that it was you.”

  I shake my head and walk away from him. I hate how cocky he is, how sure of himself. I am nothing like him and I never will be. Even if I am a bear.

  Soon, Alter comes limping back.

  He grunts out a roar of greeting. Ruven tosses him the rucksack and he goes off into the woods to shift.

  A minute later, he comes back and sits down.

  “Are you injured?” I ask, wondering why I care … except, he put himself in harm’s way to protect me; he was willing to take a bullet for me, and that is worth something. It’s worth a lot, actually.

  “No.” He shakes his head and rummages in the satchel for a parcel of meat and a flask. “It’s an old injury—it acts up when I run too fast.”

  He looks from Ruven to me and back again. “What happened between the two of you?”

  Ruven shrugs. “We talked. Are they gone?”

  “I lost them,” Alter answers. “Sent them in a different direction. They’ll be giving up the hunt soon, and if they find their way back here, all they’ll find is two men having a bite to eat with a lovely young maydele, eh?” He raises a toast to me with his flask. I can smell that his is not filled with river water.

  I look away.

  “Well, cut to the chase, Ruvy—what have you told her?”

  “Not much. I was waiting to see if you’d come back at all,” Ruven says.

  “Funny, very funny. It’ll take a lot more than three hunters to catch this alter kocker.” He grins and takes another swig. “Well, what are you waiting for? More hunters?”

  Ruven shrugs and looks off into the distance.

  Alter grunts, “Fine, I’ll just get on with it. You see, this man here—” He slaps Ruven on the shoulder. “He’s a distant cousin of yours. And I brought him here with me to find your father, and you. The time has come for us to claim you, Liba. Because unless your father reappears, we need a Rebbe, and if Ruvy marries you, he’ll be next in line.”

  I stare at Alter open-mouthed. “What? That makes no sense. What about my father’s brother, Yankl?”

  Ruven shakes his head. “He can’t … he doesn’t shift. We don’t know why.”

  “How dare you!” I growl at Alter. “Am I just a pawn to you to use as you see fit for political gain? Who says I want to marry Ruven? Or anyone else for that matter?”

  The grin drops from Alter’s face. “What did I say?”

  I turn and look at Ruven. He twiddles with a blade of grass by his leg.

  “This is a joke, right?” I start to laugh. “Why aren’t you more upset?” I glare at Ruven. “He tricked you too. He brought you here to find my father when really he wanted you to meet me—‘if I even existed’—which I clearly do, and I think Alter knew that. I don’t know what you’re playing at. You really thought that you could stalk me and threaten me and kidnap me and tie me up, and that that was the way to my heart?” I look back and forth between the two of them. They don’t look at me, or say anything.

  “That’s not how you treat a woman.” I raise my voice. “That’s not how you treat anyone. You don’t get to decide my future. You don’t get to decide when I shift.
I don’t care whose daughter I am. My father doesn’t get to decide my future either. Only I can make that decision. You thought you’d come here and find me, introduce me to Ruven, we’d fall instantly in love, and you’d go back to Kupel with everything sorted? Or maybe you thought, Oh hey, Ruven, we’ll just knock her over the head and take her back with us—it’ll all work out. Well, I have something to tell you—there’s no way in hell that I’m going to marry you, Ruven. I’m already promised to another.”

  Ruven and Alter look at each other.

  “Surely you’re joking,” Ruven laughs. “Dovid tried to kill you. You saw! How could you possibly still want to be with him?”

  “Because I love him. And he had no idea the bear was me.”

  The men look at me and shake their heads.

  “Liba,” Ruven says. “I don’t think you understand what you are …”

  “I understand very well. And I’ve already made my choice.” I know my heart and I’m not afraid to say it—the way I feel about Dovid is the truest thing I’ve ever known.

  “Love and hunger don’t dwell together,” Alter says.

  Ruven clears his throat. “Listen, I had no desire to come on this expedition. I knew nothing about you. I didn’t know we were looking for you when we set out. I only thought that we were looking for Berman.

  “I love someone in our village. Her name is Tirza, and even though my parents were against the match, I had every intention of marrying her. But now that I’ve met you …” He sighs and rubs his face. “You belong with the members of your pack. All we’re asking …” He pauses and looks into my eyes. “All I’m asking is that if we help you get your sister back, will you consider coming back home with us to our village, just to see what life is like there? To see where you come from, and who you really are?”

  “I won’t do anything until I speak to my father,” I say. “And I owe it to Dovid to tell him the truth. After that … well, I’ll have to see if there is an after. However, I would like your help in getting my sister back. Clearly you know that she’s not my father’s daughter, but she was raised in his house and he considers her his flesh and blood. Any protection that you are willing to offer me, I would like you to extend to her.”

  “A broch tzu dir …” Alter mumbles.

  Ruven puts out a hand to silence Alter and tilts his head at me. “What do we get out of it?”

  “What? You won’t even help another Jew? A girl who your new Rebbe considers his flesh and blood?”

  “But she isn’t, is she?” Alter smirks.

  “I’m done with this. I’m done with you.” I cross my arms over my chest and look away.

  “Liba,” Ruven starts, “if you want our help, you’re going to have to do better than that …”

  My mind races. I want nothing to do with these men, but I’ll do anything to get Laya back. “Fine. I’ll offer you a compromise,” I say, thinking quickly.

  “Okay.” Ruven nods. “Let’s hear it.”

  Alter rolls his eyes and mutters a curse.

  “You need my help to get into the Hovlin lodge. The woods there are enchanted. I think that’s why the search parties never found anything. I could see the lodge and the orchards, but Dovid couldn’t. The kahal of the village has formed a self-defense organization. And I have an idea …”

  “Go on,” Ruven says.

  Alter mutters to himself, but I’m not deterred.

  “My mother once told me that my great-grandfather became a bear because of great need, and her great-grandmother became a swan that way too. We can all become what we need to be in a time of danger—maybe that’s what all the men in this shtetl need, a little confidence, some fur on their backs.

  “The kahal is meeting tonight. If we can convince Laybel the Furrier to give all the men in the self-defense brigade some furs to wear when they go out tonight—furs with big bear heads still attached like the ones the villagers wear when they dance to welcome in the new year, we’ll give anyone seeking to do us harm the fright of their lives. They’ll be expecting Jews, not animals. And maybe—if we surround the town, armed and in costume—maybe, just maybe, tonight, in this great time of need, the Aybishter will see fit to make a miracle happen here.”

  Alter shakes his head. “It won’t happen.”

  “Why not? Who says it won’t?” I say.

  “Because your great-grandfather was a very special man. Not just anyone can transform … Even Yankl couldn’t,” Alter argues. “I don’t think you realize how precious you are.”

  “He’s right,” Ruven concurs.

  “We’ll never know until we try,” I say. “Give them a chance. Maybe they will surprise you. The Jews of Dubossary are fierce. Let’s give them hope. Let’s help them believe that being a Jew means always changing—staying true to what you are, but adapting to your surroundings. That’s what our people have always done. Let’s give them something worth fighting for.

  “And while the men organize themselves and everyone’s busy here, the three of us can sneak away and go rescue Laya. I’ll go back to the clearing and talk to the Hovlin boys. I’ll ask them to sell me some fruit. If I get my sister out of there, I will need some fruit to keep her sustained until we figure out how to cure her. You can wait for me in the woods nearby. I’ll play their games and get them to take me into their lodge. We’ll come up with a call, some kind of sign that I will send you. We know you can’t get through the enchantment in human form—maybe you’ll be able to get through in bear form—and you can provide a distraction while I get my sister out of there. Right now, I think that’s our best shot.”

  “What do we get out of it?” Ruven asks.

  “In return for your assistance, I agree to go back with you willingly to your village to meet others of my kind and learn more about your way of life. That doesn’t mean that I agree to be your wife. Not now, not ever. But I will go back with you—with an open mind.”

  Ruven gives me a boyish grin and a wink. “Done.” He sticks his hand out for mine.

  I take it.

  “I think it’s a good plan,” he says. “Eh, Altisch?”

  Alter grunts and shakes his head in disapproval.

  Ruven shakes my hand, but he doesn’t let go. His eyes meet mine and I shiver.

  What did I just agree to do?

  82

  Laya

  I hear the door open.

  Someone is touching me.

  My feet.

  My wrists.

  Pressure at my neck.

  And pain.

  Sharp and wild.

  Something is ripping

  at my wrists,

  at my feet,

  at my neck.

  Air! Air! Air!

  I can breathe.

  There is softness

  wrapped around

  my wrists

  and ankles

  and neck—

  they feel

  a little better.

  I try to move and feel

  that I am not bound

  to the bed anymore.

  My face is wet

  but not from my tears.

  Something wet falls

  on my face.

  I try to open my eyes.

  It is hard to see.

  The roots stop sucking

  at my veins;

  there is blood everywhere.

  The vines flail

  in all directions,

  seeking another source

  of nourishment.

  My eyes flutter open

  and I see him.

  Fedir. Cat-like eyes

  stare down into mine

  and I watch

  as he plunges the thorns

  into his own flesh

  without care.

  There is something

  twisted

  in his eyes.

  It is love

  and anger

  and pain.

  He bends down to kiss me.

  I love you enough, he says,
<
br />   to let you go.

  The vines suck hungrily

  at his flesh.

  But they shrivel up,

  as though his blood

  is salt and ash,

  not flesh and blood.

  The rot spreads,

  starting at the roots

  of the plants

  that bound me

  and spreading

  up up up into his arms.

  He gasps in agony

  and I see him transform.

  Not into a cat

  or a rat

  or a parrot

  or a weasel,

  not a dove

  or a wombat

  or a snail,

  but a goblin,

  hideous and strange.

  Hook-nosed and ugly.

  He rips the roots

  out of his flesh

  and gathers me

  in his brown

  and shriveled arms.

  He picks me up,

  swaying on his feet,

  he stops and starts.

  He kicks open the door

  and creeps along the corridors

  until we are free free free.

  But when we get outside

  Miron is waiting for us.

  He is grotesque.

  A goblin too.

  How did I not know?

  How did I not see?

  I close my eyes.

  It’s surely over now.

  I made my choice—

  the wrong one.

  83

  Liba

  The kahal is meeting at the home of Donniel Heimovitz. When I knock, two men come to the door with pistols ready. They see me, wrapped in my bear cloak so that no one will recognize me, and their eyes grow wide. I let the hood drop for a second and they usher me in.

  When we go inside, I let my hood down fully.

  Dovid gasps. “Liba! What are you doing here?”

  “I’m here to present the members of this worthy kahal with a plan.”

  The men erupt in laughter.

  Dovid comes to my side. “What are you doing?” he whispers. Every eye in the room is on us.

  “Trust me,” I say, and I look into his eyes. His eyes hold mine and he nods.

  “Permission to speak?” I say to everyone in the room.