Scent

by K. R. Smith

  “We’re not Indian, we’re Lokoti.” Grandfather frowned.

  “The feathers are from the Boreal Owl, which are rare.” Great Grandma advised. “There aren’t many of those birds left so now they’re a protected animal.”

  “Hmm.” Nana frowned as she looked on. “B has a point, can we do the outfit without the feathers?”

  Great Grandma rolled her eyes as she left the living area to walk back into the kitchen.

  “Ling.” Grandpa frowned on his wife. “They’re part of our tribe’s tradition. How would you like it I asked you being Chinese to stop wearing silk or jade or even not to burn incense?”

  “But I don’t burn incense!” Nana retorted. “Fern, when in our married life have I ever burned incense?”

  “But you are fond of wearing silk.” He pointed out. “Your favourite evening dress is the long black silk one with the white embroidered water lilies.”

  “Hey, I like that dress!” Gran retorted.

  “Same here.” Mum agreed.

  “My point being, would you appreciate it if I told you to lose it, as it looked too Chinese?” Grandpa argued.

  “Grant being an Elm will be wearing feathers.” Grandfather spoke up.

  “He surely will.” Grandpa agreed. “The Elm family used to be the best hunters for catching Boreal Owl. Their family used to trade in it.”

  “Are you for real?!” I laughed even louder. “Grant is going to marry me, wearing feathers too?”

  “With his height he’ll look like ‘Big Bird’ off ‘Sesame Street’.” Nana snickered to which Mum and Gran joined in.

  “I’ll laugh all through out the Joining Ceremony!” I guffawed along.

  Dad saw the annoyed look on his father’s face so he stepped in. “You will NOT laugh during your own Joining Ceremony, Bianca Grace Wisetail.” He growled. “Tomorrow is not just an important day for you, but for the tribe as well.”

  “Your union is an important cultural event.” Grandpa lectured. “You are the first female Lokoti Werewolf and you are marrying a male Lokoti Werewolf. Tomorrow you will be making history as your joining will be leaving a mark in time, as never before has there been a union of this kind.”

  “The whole tribe is looking forward to this celebration.” Grandfather nodded. “I drove past the Holy Grounds today and I saw the last of the decorations being put into place.”

  “Now if you could please stand still so I can finish making these alterations? I have to prepare my own tribal clothes since I’m one of the Elders marrying you!” Grandpa grumbled, pulling out his sewing kit. “Ling, can you thread the needle for me while I cut the suede?”

  Nana came forward to help Grandpa out, as the two began to work in unison.

  “Can we cut the feathers off?” I thought I would try, while he was holding the scissors.

  Grandpa passed me a glare before he returned to work.

  “Bianca.” Dad sung warningly. “You’re turning 18 years old in less than two weeks. Grow up!”

  “Hey, I’m a child bride so I’m going to act like one!” I said sulkily.

  “They’re not so bad.” Gran walked up to put her arm about Grandfather’s waist as she looked on. “The feathers are only on the tops of the sleeves and on the bottom of the shirt. It’s not so bad, really.” She promised.

  “Her hair will be braided and some more feathers will hang from the ends of her hair.” Great Grandma walked out of the kitchen, carrying her sewing basket. She sat at the table and began to take the hair adornments. I scowled when I saw the old leather hair bands with the feathers tied to them. Great Grandma held up the decorated hair bands. “Your Great Grandfather wore this when he married me.”

  “Did he look like ‘Big Bird’ too?” I giggled.

  “Bianca please, be serious now.” Dad moaned, putting down his cup of coffee before falling backwards into one of couches next to Mum.

  “No.” I said stubbornly. “Sure, you can tell me who to marry. Fine, you can even arrange the whole thing. But just because I’m being pushed into this wedlock before my 18th Birthday? It doesn’t mean that I’m going to behave.”

  “If you do misbehave, I swear I’m going to throw you over my shoulder and carry you down to the river and drop you in, feathers and all!” He wagged his finger.

  “And I’ll hold your head under the water.” Grandpa agreed, as he looked on dangerously.

  “You’ll be representing the Riverclaw’s and the Wisetail’s at the union, when you enter the Elm family. Your behavior will reflect on all of us.” Great Grandma spoke crisply.

  “So if I screamed out, ‘noooooo!’ and turned and fled in the middle of the ceremony and stole somebody’s car to leave town…?” I ribbed.

  “You would be hunted to the ends of the earth.” Grandpa growled.

  “Then I would circulate to Mars or to somewhere else, sometime else, where you can never find me.” I said coolly.

  “Then I would find you with your Gran’s help.” Grandfather folded his arms as he glared, “and I would throw you over my shoulder and carry you back to the river and drop you into the icy waters.”

  “Great.” I muttered, looking downwards. “This isn’t an ARRANGED marriage – this is a frickin’ SHOTGUN wedding!”

  “Language.” Great Grandma sung as she organized the beads on top of the table.

  “Frickin’ is not a swear word. Fucking is a swear word, but frickin’ isn’t.” I pointed out.

  “That’s something that Declan would say.” Grandfather gave a funny look.

  I quickly looked away to glance downwards at Nana and Grandpa both cutting and sewing the clothes I was wearing.

  “These clothes smell like dead cow.” I changed the subject.

  “They’re made from the pelts of caribou, actually.” Grandpa stated.

  “Are they going to be washed before tomorrow?” I whinged.

  “You DON’T wash suede.” Grandpa said staunchly.

  “B, could you please stop whinging?” Gran rolled her eyes.

  “You could do worse.” Mum shrugged. “Grant’s a nice guy and he’s good looking and he seems to like you for some strange reason. If I’m not mistaking that last kiss I saw you give him, I’d say that you’re starting to like him too.”

  I quickly ducked my head to hide my blush.

  “B’s heart rate has just jumped from 91 up to 120 and her pheromone level has increased.” Grandpa smiled as he worked.

  “Grandpa!” I nearly whacked him, but he might accidentally stick me with the large sewing needle.

  “Fern, behave.” Nana glared at her husband, who began to chuckle.

  “Tell me.” He mused as he worked. “Why do women hide their attraction when men don’t?”

  “Rebecca certainly didn’t hide it around you.” Mum said quietly to Dad, which made him chuckle as he put his arm about her to pull her close.

  “Not all women.” Great Grandma corrected. “I didn’t hide my attraction to David.”

  “The night I met Ling, I could tell she was attracted to me, which was helped along by my pheromones. But she stood ready for the first half hour of meeting me, gripping onto that tyre iron so hard, ready to bring it crashing through my skull if I made any sudden moves.” Grandpa chuckled.

  “Fern, what do you expect?!” Nana rolled her eyes. “My car broke down in the middle of the night, when you came out of the woods in only a pair of jeans!”

  “With Jess, it was only if there was nobody else around that she spoke to me. If I bumped into her by the river or in the woods, she was almost friendly. But when we were around other people it was when she used to run away from me.” My father laughed as he kissed my mother’s cheek.

  “If you keep making an example out of me, I’ll turn very unfriendly in a sec!” Mum poked him in the ribs, making him laugh harder.

  I paused for a moment as I looked on the interaction between the three married couples in the room…

  Gran and Grandfather stood there with their arms wrapped
about each other. Mum and Dad sat there with their arms wrapped about the other. Nana and Grandpa worked in perfect unison, exchanging many a glance or a small smile to the other.

  My grandmother looked like she was still in her twenties and my grandfather looked like he was in his early forties when in actuality they were both 56 years old. Mum and Dad looked like they were still in their twenties, even though Dad was 39 and Mum was 37. Grandpa was 69 years old even though he looked to be in his late forties, as Nana was 60 years old and she did look like she was in her sixties.

  Nana and Great Grandma were the ‘mere mortals’ of this eclectic group of Werewolves and Circulators. However as I observed Grandpa and Nana’s glances, their deep love for the other was still evident, even if time hadn’t been kind to Nana’s appearance. But seeing the love in Grandpa’s eyes towards his mate, you could see that time hasn’t changed the way he looks on Nana. In his eyes she was still the woman that he loved, the mother of his child and the grandmother of his grandchild. I saw the same regard in Dad with Mum and in Grandfather with Gran, although they looked much younger.

  Will that one day be Grant and I? Will we one day, dress our daughter or our granddaughter in traditional dress for a Joining Ceremony? Will Grant one day look on me the same way these three male Lokoti Werewolves looked on their mates? A love that not even time could diminish…

  Great Grandma lovingly smoothed out the feathers on the leather hair bands, whilst sitting there smiling to herself, as she recalled her late husband. Time may be aging my 74 year old Great Grandma, but it certainly didn’t diminish her love for Grandfather’s father. She’s been a widow for 46 years, but seeing her treat those feathers on the hair band with reverence, I could see her love was still burning strong.

  Would that be me one day, in love with the man that I marry? Would I too be in a loving marriage? I hoped so.

  “Who was the arranged marriage that the last Joining Ceremony was for?” I suddenly asked.

  “Finn and Georgia Ivy.” Grandpa informed.

  “Uncle Finn?” I echoed in surprise.

  Uncle Finn and Aunt Georgia were an arranged marriage? Uncle Finn was also a Werewolf who appeared to be in his late forties although he was 70 years old. Aunt Georgia looked elderly since she was a 70 year old human. I’ve always looked on their marriage with respect, especially at how Uncle Finn showed so much love towards his aged mate. I’ve observed them as they shopped in the store and he insisted on carrying everything. I had admired at how fast Finn moved to open doors for Aunt Georgia or by helping her in and out of the car with her bad knees.

  “They were an arranged marriage?” I asked in disbelief. “Why?”

  “What do you mean, why?” Nana laughed.

  “I mean, why were they an arranged marriage?” I asked.

  “Their union was to cement the peaceful relationship between the Lokoti and the Lynx Tribe.” Great Grandma informed.

  “Huh?” I looked on, puzzled.

  “In the past whenever something happened to the Lynx’s livestock, such as cattle went missing or chickens were killed? The Lokoti Werewolves were blamed.” Grandpa shook his head.

  “Chickens?” Dad raised his eyebrows. “They actually thought that we would hunt penned-in chickens?”

  “They knew that the Lokoti Werewolves existed but they didn’t understand the Lokoti Werewolf.” Grandpa shook his head. “Whenever their animals turned up dead or missing, we would get the blame.”

  “But Lynx land is over 300 km’s from here and Lokoti Werewolves only hunt on Lokoti land.” I frowned.

  “You know that, I know that and the Lokoti tribe know that but explaining it to the Lynx people? Many a war over the eons resulted from ignorance. Right up until the beginning of the 21st Century, there were still skirmishes.” Grandpa sighed.

  “To end the bad blood, a new blood tie was made between our two tribes.” Great Grandma went on.

  “Finn was chosen by the Tribal Elders to be the groom and Georgia was one of the Lynx Chief’s daughters.” Grandpa explained.

  “Did Finn mind being picked like that?” I raised my eyebrows.

  “The pack agreed with the Tribal Elders that it would be a good idea if the groom was a Werewolf, so the Lynx People could be educated in our ways. Since Finn was the only unmarried Werewolf who was the right age at the time…” Grandpa shrugged, “…Finn accepted our decision. He met your Aunt Georgia for the first time at their Joining Ceremony.”

  “That was the first time they laid eyes on each other, at their frickin’ wedding ceremony?!” I gaped in horror.

  “Language.” Great Grandma sung again.

  “But Finn fell in love with Georgia during the first month of their marriage.” Grandfather chuckled as he gave Gran a squeeze. “I remember the change that came over him. Before the Joining Ceremony he liked to stay out late, either playing cards or hanging out in Harry’s Bar playing pool? He spent all of his days fixing up cars but once he was mated, he completely changed. Except when he hunted during a full moon or worked at the Garage, he stayed home with Georgia.”

  “He still fixed up that old truck from the 1940’s just for fun.” She looked back.

  “Yeah but it was the last vehicle that he restored. After the antique truck, he completely settled into married life with Georgia, particularly when they began to have kids.” He pointed out.

  “Six kids.” Grandpa raised his eyebrows. “That impressed the Lynx Chief by how productive their union turned out.”

  “Six kids…?” I uttered in surprise.

  “That’s the Lokoti Werewolf virility.” Great Grandma sighed.

  That was true, as the Riverclaw’s and the Wisetail’s seemed to be the only aversions to this rule. Our two families were the only case where two children or less were produced from a union with a Lokoti Werewolf.

  All the other married members in the pack had at least three children and the eldest was always a male, except for Grandfather who had twins; Mum and Uncle Julian. But my uncle was reportedly born first, minutes before my mother so technically he was ‘older’. With my birth, I was the first in Lokoti history to be a first born let alone an only child who was a girl. It’s no wonder then that I’m also the first female Lokoti Werewolf; I seemed to have the odds stacked against me!

  “If one Lokoti Werewolf can be so productive in the bedroom, can you imagine what it’s going to be like having two Lokoti Werewolves reproducing?” Nana joked. “In nine months we could all be together again celebrating the birth of triplets or something.”

  “Nana!” I turned bright red.

  “At least B doesn’t have an apartment to throw Grant out of, so he should be safe.” Gran joked.

  “What was that?” Nana looked on.

  “When my Grandfather tracked down my Grandmother again, after their one night stand? He told her that she was his mate and that she was pregnant. When Grandmother heard that, she tried to throw him out of her apartment.” Grandfather told the room to much laughter.

  “I’d believe that, the first Jessica Riverclaw certainly was a fiery one.” Grandpa chuckled as he shook his head over the woman who was my mother’s namesake.

  Then he and Nana stood back with Grandpa putting away his sewing kit.

  “All done.” She announced. “Turn around for us please B.”

  I obeyed as I did a little spin on the spot.

  “That looks much better.” Great Grandma gave a nod of approval.

  “Let’s go upstairs and show you.” Mum stood up from the couch to take hold of my hand and led me up our poky staircase.

  “I’ll come too!” Gran followed after.

  The three of us traipsed upstairs and we went into Mum and Dad’s bedroom where her full-length mirror was. There I stared at my reflection in partial surprise…I didn’t look ridiculous after all. The grey and white feathers actually complimented the chocolate brown colour of the skins, as well as with the beaded work around the collar. I was pleasantly taken aback by my appearance.r />
  “You look beautiful!” Gran beamed as she hugged me from behind.

  “Like a real Pocahontas.” Mum agreed as she kissed my cheek.

  My face flushed as I gave myself one last look before I turned away. “I suppose the feathers look alright.”

  When Gran was hugging me, she suddenly screwed up her face and pulled away. “Eugh! You’re right about the smell of the suede, B.”

  “Take the clothes off and I’ll put them in a box with some pot pouri. Hopefully they’ll smell nice by tomorrow.” My mother organized.

  I changed out of the skins and put on my jeans and sweater again. Then as I sat down on the side of the bed to pull on my socks and shoes, Mum put the skins into the box Grandpa brought them over in. As she did, she put in a couple of pouches of pot pouri with them.

  “That’s a good idea, Jess.” Gran smiled.

  Just then we heard the arrival of more guests downstairs, as Uncle Julian arrived with Aunt Danika and my cousins. I heard Phoenix’s and Phoebe’s shouting immediately, as Uncle Julian yelled over the top to quieten them down.

  “The whole tribe can probably hear those two fight!” Gran snickered about her two youngest grandchildren.

  We three returned downstairs, to see a tired Aunt Danika hand over a white cardboard box to Great Grandma, who took it from her to put in the fridge.

  “What’s that?” I asked as I walked over to give her a kiss on the cheek.

  “Your wedding cake, B.” She smiled.

  “Oh.” I echoed in surprise. “I didn’t know I would have a wedding cake.”

  “Yes well, it is customary when somebody has a wedding, B.” Uncle Jules laughed as he came over to give me a hug.

  “But I thought this wedding was a Lokoti affair, as in the traditional way. I thought the idea of the wedding cake was too…‘white’?” I pondered.

  “Well, there are going to be ‘white’ guests at this shindig too.” Grandfather laughed at my perspective.

  “There are?”

  “Some of your English and Australian relatives are coming tomorrow.” Mum announced.