Stranded With The Snow Leopard

by Jade White

  “You’re experiencing one of those consequences right now,” He said looking at her abdomen. “Don’t worry, it isn’t unwelcome or unwanted at least for us. Just unexpected.” Rusty took a toothpick out of the pocket of his plaid shirt and stuck it in his mouth, and his silver braids shone in the late morning sun. “Y’see, the daddy of that little cub in you, will be your mate.”

  Kim swallowed hard. “Yeah, I know. Betty told me, but the baby is due after the equinox, and by then it’ll be too late. They’ll be in their cougar forms forever by then.” She lamented.

  “Now...I know that, and Betty knows that, the boys know that, too. I can fix that problem, you know. You just have to ask.”

  “Wait. You can tell which one the father is?” Kim asked incredulously.

  “MmmHmm.” Rusty replied. “I most certainly can, without needles or fancy DNA tests or anything like that. Just need to do a bit of a ritual and as sure as anything, I can tell you who the daddy is before the fall equinox takes place. Then boom, we can do the mating ceremony and everything will be smooth sailing.”

  Kim’s jaw dropped. “If you can really do that, I would be extremely grateful. What do you need me to do?” Her heart was going a mile a minute. In a way, she wanted to find out, in a way, she didn’t, because it meant that one of the men she held so dear would be hurt deeply. At least it wouldn’t be her outright rejecting one of them.

  “Well,” Rusty drawled, “You need to take a bath in a special herb bath I’m gonna make for you. Don’t worry, none of these will hurt the baby. Then an hour before the ritual you’ll need to drink a tea I’m going to give you. It won’t hurt the baby either. Then you’ll lie down on a table and I’ll figure out who the daddy is. Most of the work will be done by me so you’ll just have to lay back 'n' relax.”

  Kim nodded. “Sounds good,” she said. “When do you want to do this?”

  Rusty leaned back and looked towards the woods where the raven flew. “Well, I’m thinking in two days time would be a great time to do it. The moon will be at the right phase, and the baby will be more secure inside. Sometimes the energies dislodge the pregnancy, this one seems rather secure.”

  Kim nodded. “Sounds good. So in two days. Night before I bathe then I take the tea before going to your house.”

  “Yep. Tony and Keith have to be there as well. Make sure to tell them, it’s not my job. I’ll send Junior over with the herbs after dinner.” Kim noticed Rusty was a man of few words. She knew he was ancient, but didn’t quite know how ancient he was.

  “We’ll figure this out, don’t worry,” he said, patting her knee as he rose stiffly from the bench. “Anyway, I think I’m going to call a contractor to pick up that mess. Insurance is gonna cover it since it was an arson that I didn’t cause. I’ll see you in two days.” With that, Rusty shuffled off towards his modest home.

  Kim sat on the bench a while longer and looked around the village that she called home. The local businesses surrounded the square of trees and bushes that bore the fruit for the small village. She remembered there being a seamstress next to the general store and she hoped she was still open.

  She saw the small shop with an open sign in the front display window that housed mannequins dressed in various outfits. She rose from the bench and made her way across the street to the small tailor shop.

  The doorbell rang as she pushed the shop door open. She looked around through the fabric dust motes that floated around the sunbeams shining through the large plate glass window. The dark wooden floors creaked as she stepped inside.

  “Hello?” Kim called out. “Is there anyone here?”

  A large lady strode in from the back room. She wore a pink kerchief over her long black hair, which was tied back in a ponytail. The tan skin of her face had smile lines around her dark brown eyes and thin lipped mouth. She wore a pink gingham jumper dress covered by a white apron. Her ample bosom heaved as she tried to catch her breath.

  “Hey, you must be Kim.” The seamstress greeted her. “We haven’t met before, but I’m Mary’s mom, Rachel. She told me that you went to the meeting last night.”

  “Yeah, I pretty much had to go I guess, all things considered...” Kim trailed off.

  “Yeah, it’s really no secret. That whole triangle, I wouldn’t want to be in it, that’s for sure. Tony’s one hell of a charismatic guy,” Rachel said with a sly grin. “Pretty good in bed, too,” she finished with a wink.

  “Rachel!” Kim gasped. “That’s like...I can’t even...”

  “Don’t worry, it’s not any secret. That mangy tom has slept with almost every woman in the village, except for Betty. He had no interest in her at all.”

  Kim laughed. “Yeah, I think Betty is a little too long in the tooth for Tony.” She looked around the shop and saw racks of neatly organized clothing. “Hey, you don’t happen to have any maternity stuff kicking around, do you?” Kim figured she would go for broke and lay all her cards on the table. Rachel probably already knew about the pregnancy anyway. Hell, the entire village probably knew by now, news travels fast in small towns, after all.

  A broad grin cracked the face of the larger woman as she registered the question. “Not a problem, dearie. I figured you’d be coming in here eventually. I’ll make you some real cute stuff, and will keep making them as you grow. Not many women kept their maternity stuff. I’m way past breeding age, and my son is the youngest in the village, don’t worry I won’t even charge you. I love making maternity and baby outfits.”

  Kim stood, amazed. She was the first pregnancy in ten years? No wonder the village was so accepting of her condition. “Wow, thanks, that is totally generous of you,” Kim said as she looked at Rachel.

  “It’s nothing. Now let’s get those measurements. I’ll need you to come back at least once a month so I can measure you fresh as you grow, but trust me, this is a big deal to the village.”

  Kim blushed at the thought of her being the savior of the village. Surely, another woman would have caught Tony or Keith’s eye eventually.

  Rachel pulled out a measuring tape and measured Kim’s body in all the appropriate places. “You know, I could probably make you a few bras as well. Not difficult. I can make pretty much everything that can be worn.”

  Kim thought back to her destroyed black lace bra lying on her living room floor. “Really? That would be awesome.”

  Rachel smiled. “I’ll make you a few pretty ones and a few utilitarian ones, you’re gonna need nursing bras when that little one shows. Won’t be a problem. I don’t really do much in the way of work lately. Won’t take me much to whip up a few cute dresses and bras for you. Give me about a week,” she said after she wrote down the measurements she obtained from Kim. “There we go. You can go on home now. Just leave me your number and I’ll call when everything is ready.”

  Kim jotted down her number. “Don’t you want me to pick out fabric?”

  “It’s okay, I know what looks good on you. Don’t worry I won’t give you pink gingham like I’m wearing.” Rachel giggled. “I’ll definitely pick something more your style, just trust me.”

  Kim was dubious but decided to trust the warm lady. “Alright. Hope to hear from you soon. My jeans aren’t fitting anymore,” she said with a chuckle and a wave as she headed out the door.

  Kim closed the door behind her and began her walk back to her house. It was near lunch time and she was ravenous. She might make a light soup when she got home. Something easy to eat and nutritious to boot. One day she’ll hit Betty up to teach her how to bake bread. That was one thing she had always wanted to learn, and she would teach her kid as well, regardless of gender.

  Out of the blue, she was grabbed from behind by her ponytail and dragged into a small alley between the fenced yards of two houses.

  “Hello, Kim...” Smiley hissed in her ear. His fetid breath caused Kim to gag once more, but she had nothing left to bring up. “Long time no see, how’s it going, whore?”

  Kim gulped as she felt her body pushed up agai
nst the wooden fence. “What do you want?”

  “What do you think I want?” Smiley growled as he fumbled at her jeans. “I want to take back what’s mine.”

  She felt her jeans being tugged down around her widening hips as he kept her pressed against the fence. “This ass is about to get tore up pretty bad. Is it me or are you getting fat hanging around these lazy injuns all day? Figures...you are all the same. Fat, lazy and useless,” he said as he gave one final tug to Kim’s jeans, pulling them down to her knees, exposing her round, tanned buttocks to the air.

  Kim heard the sound of a belt buckle being undone and her pulse began to quicken. She felt Smiley’s gross manhood press between her butt cheeks as he was about to rape her once again. “This is gonna hurt,” he hissed, “but if you scream, I’ll slit your whore throat right here, so I can feel your life drain out of you while I rip that fine ass of yours up.”

  Suddenly a low growl came from her right and she struggled to look over her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a lithe, tawny form leap towards her. She felt the wind brush by her as the large cougar tackled Smiley to the ground. Instinctively, she knew it was Tony.

  He looked at her with his ears laid back and growled as he kept Smiley pinned to the ground. He didn’t need to tell her twice. She knew he wanted her to run, so she pulled up her jeans and took off as fast as she could towards her house.

  *

  Tony took the flailing arm of the panicked Smiley in his mouth and dragged him through the alleyway and into the woods abutting the two residences on either side of the small alleyway. Smiley was too terrified to scream so he just lay there bug eyed while this giant cat dragged him away from town. Tony was absolutely livid that he had managed to miss Smiley all this time, but proud that he managed to catch him. Now, did he want to turn him in for justice, or...?

  Tony made up his mind and kept dragging the terrified man deeper into the woods. He thought of alerting Keith, but thought better of it. The fewer people involved the better.

  He made sure he dragged Smiley’s rancid body over the sharpest rocks he could find on his way to the ravine. The coppery tang of fresh blood filled his nostrils as one particularly sharp rock sliced open Smiley’s back from the shoulder to the lumbar region. The man cried out in pain as he felt the sharp slate rock flay his back open as the large cat slowly dragged him over it.

  The slow march towards the hidden ravine continued as Tony dragged the wounded Smiley through the dark mountain woods. He smelled an elk nearby but decided to forgo the hunt in favor of other, more satisfying game.

  Tony stopped short of the ravine and his mind switched plans. He was originally going to throw Smiley down the ravine and set him on fire, but that would be almost too good for him. He let the man’s arm drop from his jaws, and sent out a silent call.

  Tony leapt up onto a large boulder and shifted back to his human form. “Well, Smiley, I finally caught you,” he said as he straightened up his uniform.

  Smiley scurried back in terror only to be stopped by the broad trunk of a Douglas fir. “What the fuck, what the fuck are you?” Pine needles were tangled in his lank, mud brown hair. His face was unshaven and scraggly black whiskers poked out from under his nose. His sallow skin looked mottled in the dappled noon sun that peeked between the branches of the towering trees.

  “Right now, it doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is you. We are sick and tired of your shit around here. First, you terrorize the fuck out of an innocent woman...”

  Smiley spit. “Innocent my ass, that cunt deserved everything she had coming to her, and more! She wanted to leave me. I couldn’t let that happen. Nobody...ever...leaves me,” he said through gritted teeth.

  Tony quickly shifted back to his feline form and pounced on the prone man. He shifted to his in between form and growled. “What did you say, asshole?”

  The captive man’s eyes went wide as he took in the half man, half beast in front of him. “N-n-nothing, nothing at all, I’ll just shut up now.”

  “Good answer,” Tony said as he stayed on the terrified Smiley. He caught a whiff of ammonia as the man pissed himself in fear. It just added to the over-all stench the man carried with him at all times. It took all he could muster to not gag. He decided to stay in his halfway form for now, to add more adrenaline to the small man. It would come in handy later. His muzzle poked towards Smiley and his human like mouth grimaced, showing a set of sharp, pointed predatory teeth. Tony’s golden eyes narrowed dangerously as his plan took shape in his mind.

  Smiley groaned as he felt the bark of the pine tree dig into the wound on his back, which was already filled with assorted forest detritus. Tony made sure he dragged him through the scat of various animals, as well as rotting vegetation and rocks. If I survive this, Smiley thought, I will definitely die of the rot.

  He couldn’t get over the way this man shifted from mountain lion, to human and to some crazy monster in between. Tony’s tawny fur almost glowed in the dappled sunlight of the clearing. His pointed ears on the side of his head, where a human’s would be, twitched in irritation as Smiley stared at him gawking.

  “So, do you want to play a little game?” Tony growled, eyeing up the moderately injured psychopath.

  Smiley couldn’t say a word, he couldn’t even nod. He was transfixed by the horror that was before him. Tony decided to make up Smiley’s simple mind for him.

  “Well, I think you do. Now, here’s a little game. It’s called hide and seek, you know how to play that, right?”

  Smiley nodded dumbly. “There’s one catch,” Tony said. “You’re the one who’s gonna hide, but there’s gonna be more than one of us seeking.”

  A growl rumbled from the bushes behind Tony as a massive black and white mountain lion slunk out. “See? That’s Junior. He’s not too happy that you burned down his parent’s house.”

  A few more growls came from around the small clearing. “Oh and those? Those are just the girls. The girls are really hungry, and they do not take kindly to woman beaters and rapists.” Five or six more mountain lions materialized from the bushes, surrounding the petrified human.

  Smiley’s brown eyes darted around taking in the clearing full of cougars as they circled around. He hoped he would be able to make a break for it through the woods and up to the nearest logging road. He might have a chance to get to the nearest logging road if it was just Tony or Junior, but that bastard getting all the shifters that had been stuck in their animal forms in on the chase, Smiley’s hopes faded immensely, but he would try.

  The man was a base coward, but the drive to survive is even stronger in such types. They try to survive no matter what. People like Smiley were human cockroaches. It would take more than one nuclear disaster to wipe them out.

  Tony took Smiley’s silence as assent and backed off. “Now, you have until sunrise tomorrow to get out of here alive. If any one of us finds you, we will rip you from limb from limb.”

  The rancid man finally nodded, the only response the cowardly man could elicit in the circumstances.

  “Now, we will be kind and give you a thirty minute head start,” Tony told him. “Do you see where that raven is circling?” Tony pointed towards the blue sky in another clearing a bit further away. “That is where the nearest logging road is. It looks closer than it is, by the way. That raven is a good thirty miles away. In these woods, you would be lucky to make it there.”

  Suddenly the sound of a rattlesnake went off nearby. One of the female mountain lions gingerly danced backwards to avoid getting a strike. “Oh yeah, Western Diamond backs live out here too. Keep an ear out.” While Tony was explaining the rules to Smiley, the rest of the cougars dissipated into the dense forest. Before Tony shifted back into his full feline form, he said, “Remember, sunrise tomorrow. Get to the road and you’ll be free to go.”

  Smiley leapt up from his seat at the base of the large fir tree and bolted through the woods. A low shrub snagged his ankle and he fell flat on his face, breaking two of his fro
nt teeth on a rock buried in the scrub. He picked himself up, oblivious to the blood and pain and trudged through the forest at a slower pace. He had a thirty-minute head start so he hoped the large cats couldn’t catch him.

  Tony sat and watched with bemusement as the humbled psychopath stumbled his way through the bush, leaving a trail so wide that a stone could find it.

  Smiley kept jogging through the woods. The sounds of blue jays and chickadees filled the air as he fled towards where the raven circled. He looked up and noticed the large black bird was gone from the spot. Smiley began to blubber in desperation as the marker to his freedom had disappeared. He had no idea how long he was running for. He just knew he wanted to reach that patch of clear sky.

  His eyes were so firmly focused on the sky, that he did not notice the small rabbit burrow in the ground in front of him. He stepped square in it and snapped his leg at the knee, breaking it.

  Smiley screamed in pain as he felt his lower leg snap in two. He looked down and noticed he had white bone sticking wetly out of his tattered jeans. Crap, he thought. First the back, now this, he thought, but it didn’t stop him from struggling to get out of the dense mountain forest.

  He noticed a large branch near-by and snatched it up to use as a make shift crutch so he could hobble away from the ferocious were-lions. He knew he was in deep shit when the big black and white son-of-a-bitch jumped him yesterday, but he didn’t listen to his better judgment; he wanted revenge so damn badly against Kim that he let all reason go out the window. Hell, maybe if he turned himself in they’d let him off on an insanity plea.

  Smiley used the fallen branch to drag himself through the woods; the pain shooting through his broken body was a constant companion. He couldn’t imagine so much pain. Not even when his daddy whooped his ass did he feel so much agony, but he couldn’t stop. Those animals were out there somewhere, waiting for him to stop moving and die. He wasn’t going to let those fuckers win.