by C. M. Lance
She poured the first pot of espresso into three cups the boys brought from the cabin and spooned up grounds for a second pot. "Sorry, this isn′t fresh. I ground it yesterday. I don′t have a field grinder."
Jacob sipped from his cup. "Ahhh, the perfect start to a hunt."
Giselle nodded. "I′ve always thought so. Of course I don′t need to smell to hunt."
"Not a problem after we change."
Jacob related that he and the boys spent a few days scouting the area. He pointed at Sig and Giselle. "We′ll put you at the confluence of five game trails. When we get the deer moving, there′ll be a lot of targets for your bows."
Rick and the boys left to roam widely, flush deer, and chase them toward the trail junction.
Jacob remained with the bow hunters in case deer got past them. He would take down the deer if their arrows missed.
Sig and Giselle compared bows on the walk to their stations. Sig had a fiberglass compound bow with pulleys, cams, and crisscrossing strings. Giselle carried a recurved bow, a composite construct of wood, bone, and other natural materials. There were no pulleys or cams and a single string ran from tip to tip. Hers looked like a work of art compared to Sig′s engine of destruction.
They exchanged bows. Giselle looked over Sig′s intently and drew it several times. Sig walked alongside, holding her bow balanced in both hands.
"Aren′t you going to try drawing mine?"
He looked up from the bow in his hands. "It feels like magic."
"How do you know until you draw it?"
"I mean I can feel magic in it. It′s warm, and gently pulsing with energy."
She looked at him speculatively, handed his back, and took hers. She stood holding it as he had. She shook her head. "It feels like it always does."
He reached out and grasped it, then released it. "It has magic. Where did you get it?"
"The Weapons Master makes our bows. She custom made this one for me. It takes many years of apprenticeship before someone attains the title of Master."
"How did they select her to be an apprentice?" Sig asked.
"I don′t know. It happened long before I was born."
"Does she have any apprentices?"
"Many assist her and endure the exercises, but she hasn′t accepted anyone as apprentice."
"You said that Amazon magic is group magic. I wonder if there isn′t also individual magic."
Giselle missed a step and slowed. She looked at Sig′s back contemplatively as she strode to catch up.
In the lead, Jacob stopped and waited for them in a small clearing. He gestured toward several pathways. "The game trails come together here. You′ll have a good field of fire."
Sig walked around the clearing and dropped to one knee at the side of a trail. "Deer have used this one most recently; probably last night. They headed that way." He nodded.
Jacob knelt, looked at trail, and nodded. "Very good. Yes, they should be returning this way today. The boys will urge them along." He looked up at them. "Find yourselves a spot while I look around." He rose and vanished into the dense undergrowth.
They sampled the wind direction in relation to the trails before selecting spots of concealment. Sig stood several arrows, points stuck in the ground, within easy reach. Now, the wait.
Wolf howls sounded in the distance. A reddish brown wolf, at least as big as Rick, loped into the clearing. He stopped, looked at the tree Sig hid behind, and then where Giselle sheltered. His head bobbed in a nod, and trotted back into the forest. The howling continued and drew nearer.
Sig heard the crackle of underbrush. A deer bounded into the clearing near him and stopped. Sig dropped his aim at the buck. It didn′t have antlers, but he could tell by the shape of the head. It had a flat ledge for antlers. They agreed to only kill does. Does have rounder foreheads
The rustle of underbrush shoved aside heralded another arrival. A doe plunged into the clearing, hesitated, and dashed in front of him. He shot and missed. As she passed in front of Giselle′s position, an arrow appeared in the doe′s side, just behind the leg, buried almost to the fletching. It took another bound, her front legs buckled, and she slid across the ground.
Another deer, a buck, passed through. A doe followed it. Sig released his arrow. It struck the deer high in shoulder, causing it to stagger before it continued following the buck. He couldn′t leave a fatally injured deer to die painfully in the forest. He would track and finish it later.
Except for the decreasing sound of deer running away from the clearing, he didn′t hear anything.
Without preamble, a large deer bounded into the clearing. Sig dropped his aim, expecting a buck. When he realized it was a doe, running directly at him, he aimed for the chest and released, just as she dodged to the left, towards Giselle. Sig′s arrow hit her in the haunch. She leapt and when she landed, an arrow appeared in her side behind the foreleg. She collapsed. Giselle to the rescue again.
Three wolves entered the clearing. The dark brown massed almost twice the size of the other two. All three glided over to sniff at the does lying in the clearing.
Jacob entered the clearing. "I got the deer you hit high in the shoulder." He walked over to the two does and turned to Giselle. "Nice shooting. Both of you, nice shooting. Running deer make for a difficult shot."
He looked at the wolves patiently lying next to the deer and said to Sig and Giselle, "Would you clean these two? I promised the boys the heart and liver. Rick, come with me. I′ll clean the other."
Rick jumped up and loped after him into the woods.
Sig and Giselle watched with amusement while the wolves devoured the choice parts set aside for them. "Great shooting. I′ll sign up for lessons," Sig said to her.
"Lessons are good, but practice makes perfect."
"Did you make that up?"
"Wise ass."
Jacob brought two bundles of canvas wrapped, metal poles into the clearing. They unfolded into travois. He and Sig loaded the deer on the travois. Jacob strapped the contraptions to the two young wolves to drag to the cabin. Sig and Giselle went along to help. Jacob arrived a while later with Rick dragging the travois with the third deer.
Giselle carried her backpack out of the cabin. "OK, somebody start a fire. I′ve got the fixin′s here to make deer chili. Now that it′s this close I can barely keep myself from drooling." She pulled spices, pork sausage, and cans of tomatoes and beans out of the pack. "We′ll let it cook until early afternoon. It should be perfect by then."
While the chili cooked, and after Tommy and Lenny packed the rest of the deer meat away, everyone took advantage of the pond beside the cabin. Weres and Amazons shared a casual disregard for nudity that Sig lacked. After he slithered into the pond, he discovered that his concern about his body involuntarily signaling his appreciation of Giselle′s naked form was overwrought. The pond temperature almost made his heart stop.
He stayed in the pond until she went inside the cabin, to ensure that recalcitrant body parts didn′t start functioning. Before he got out, he feared that he might have stayed in the cold water long enough to render it permanently inoperative.
Giselle declared the chili ready at six in the afternoon. Jacob produced ingredients, including fresh corn, to make jalapeno cornbread. It was an unforgettable meal. The companionship as everyone took part in the delectable food′s preparation and consumption made it worth remembering.
The entire pot of chili disappeared, to Giselle′s amazement. "One pot feeds the members of my tribe at college for two meals, at least, and there are over a dozen of us. We only have six here."
The chili reminded Sig of his Mom′s cooking. After he helped clean up, he walked behind Giselle and hugged her around the waist. "Wonderful meal, thank you."
As he released her, she spun in his arms and placed her hands around his neck. Her lips parted as she looked into his eyes. She inhaled deeply, trembled, and then said, "You probably shouldn′t touch me. It will lead us where I don′t want to go right now in my
life." She pushed her hands against his shoulders.
He just wanted to thank her for the dinner, but when she spun in his arms, she felt so good, soft but firm. Her lips looked so inviting. Her hands on his shoulders generated heat down into his core. Then her words said no, but her eyes… This must be why people said they didn′t understand women.
He stepped back and dropped his hands. His parents schooled him in his role as a gentleman. His eyes still locked on hers. "You′re right. I′m sorry." She put her fingertips to his face. "I′m sorry on many levels."
He looked away. "I think I′ll take a walk." As he pivoted and walked away, he had proof that the cold pond hadn′t done any permanent damage.
†††
Sig returned in the dark from his walk. Rick, Jacob and the cousins sat around the fire roasting S′mores. Sig sat. "Which part is carnivore food—chocolate, marshmallow, or graham cracker?"
Rick waved an exquisitely prepared S′more. "The melted chocolate, definitely it′s the melted chocolate."
"No, the melted chocolate converts the marshmallow into protein" Jacob said.
The boys laughed.
Sig looked toward the cabin. "Shouldn′t we save some for Giselle?"
"She wanted to go to bed early, the day took a lot out of her."
"Her and my lizard."
"Your lizard?"
Sig looked sad. "It came from a joke with my Dad. I asked him what the television commercials about 'a reptile dysfunction′ meant. He said it meant you had a sick lizard."
Everyone laughed. Sig smiled, "After that we referred to it as a lizard." The smile evaporated and he stared into the fire with a solemn expression.
The silence stretched until Sig looked up and asked Jacob. "I understand your wife is a witch. What are the benefits and drawbacks of a mixed marriage?"
Jacob raised his eyebrows. "What a question." He looked toward his boys. "There are two of the benefits." He smiled at them.
"You have two girls and two boys?"
"Yes, and one on the way. The girls are in Chicago shopping with their mother."
"Are all of your kids Weres, and did any of them inherit other magic?"
"You′re an inquisitive one, aren′t you?"
"I′m sorry. Let me know if I′m out of line."
"No, that′s fine. Out here in the boonies, I don′t get questions like that. Either people know the answers or they don′t even know what questions to ask. Three of the kids can change. Our youngest, Laura, just started changing this year. She′s eight. The eldest, Jessica, has never changed. She′s the spitting image of her Mom and seems to have inherited her magical genes. Lenny has shown some magical talent, but nothing major."
Lenny nodded. "I can start campfires with magic."
Sig decided not to hit him and smiled. "That′s a nice trick to have. I wish I could." He looked back to Jacob. "OK, those are the upsides, are there any downsides?"
Jacob stared into the fire, which crackled in response. Sig assumed the conversation had finished until Jacob turned back.
"It depends upon a person′s situation. I′m a Were, born and raised in a pack. My Alpha didn′t condone what I did. Breaking away from the pack was rough. Staying away has been tougher. Protecting this land is the hardest of all. There have been bad feelings."
He smiled at his boys. "Now we have our own pack." The boys′ faces brightened in the firelight.
"Jacob should be our pack Alpha, but he′s been away for so long, he likes it better here," Rick said.
Jacob growled. "Rick, don′t go there."
"Our Alpha is Jacob′s brother and they′ve reached an accommodation. History says that Jacob could take him."
"OK, if we′re telling stories out of school, Rick will probably be the next Alpha. He′s the only wolf as big as me and he hasn′t finished filling out."
"I′m not going to be Alpha. It′s too much responsibility and work, and I′m having too much fun. I want to be the wolf-of-the-party."
"So now you know the dirty little Were secret, no one in their right mind wants to be Alpha."
Lenny and Tommy looked uncomfortable.
"We′ve been telling you our secrets, now it′s your turn. Rick evaded the question about your magic. Said I had to ask you."
"I don′t have much. I change form, like you."
"You′re a Were? What kind?"
"No, it′s a little different."
"Show us."
Sig reached into his shirt, pulled out his medallion, and looked at Rick. He nodded.
"Aðalbrandr." The flickering campfire light made the scene surreal as he changed.
The boys scrambled away from the fire. Jacob looked up in amazement "Crikey. A Battle Wizard, a big one."
Sig waved his sword back and forth a few times, and set its point down on the ground. "This is my change. Not nearly as sleek as a wolf."
The boys crept back and sat down. Jacob sprang to his feet to compare scale. "Whew, that′s impressive. I want you on my side in a fight. Are you as strong as you look?"
"I saw him pull a tractor out of a ditch. It was stuck in mud and I couldn′t budge it. Show him a jump Sig," Rick said.
After sheathing his sword, he took five strides and leapt to catch a large branch nineteen feet from the ground. Using his momentum, he swung up into the tree and whipped a leg over the branch before pulling himself up to sit on it. It creaked noisily, so he jumped down, and said "Koma Aftur," when he landed.
He strolled over and sat down at the fire. "That′s my magic. I′m supposed to have more, but it seems to be misplaced. Nothing else works."
"Changing into that form is amazing by itself, and that is an impressive sword."
Rick pointed at the two-foot diameter tree that Sig had been in. "He could cut that tree down with three whacks."
Sig looked at the tree and shrugged. "Maybe two."
"Leave me your number. I′ll call you when we need trees felled."
The flames flickered over a glowing bed of coals. Everyone agreed it was a great day and they′d have to do it again. Jacob, Tommy, and Lenny headed to bed.
Sig and Rick stayed up to put out the fire. "You said Jacob should be your pack Alpha, but his brother is. Is it a hereditary position?"
"No, it's anything but hereditary. You have to defeat the current Alpha. Jacob did it twice.
The old Alpha made it a point of principle to force Jacob to obey. He insisted that Jacob give the pack this land. It′s been in Aunt Amanda′s family for hundreds of years and Jacob refused."
"That sounds reasonable."
"The Alpha became desperate after Jacob defeated him the first time. He feared losing control. The second time there is a challenge; it is usually a fight to the death. Besides being the biggest and strongest, Jacob also spent time as a Special Forces commando. Weres rarely serve in the armed forces. Yet, another of Jacob′s Lone Wolf characteristics. He has tricks in either form that other Weres don′t know."
"To the death?"
"The old Alpha isn′t around. Jacob′s brother bested all challengers, but it might have been because they didn′t want to deal with Jacob." Rick looked into Sig′s eyes. "Jacob is a bad mofo in either form. It′s best if he likes you, or at least doesn′t hate you."
Sig nodded. "Good to know."
"Just because you go to bed at sunset, isn′t a reason to get up before sunrise." Sig grumbled and pulled the pillow over his head.
Rick shook him again. "C′mon, you′re the last one up. Jacob wouldn′t let me pour a bucket of water on you. Something about ruining the mattress."
He shook Sig again and jumped back. "If you don′t get up, he might reconsider."
"Man, you woke me from such a beautiful dream." Sig stood, pulled off his jeans, grabbed a towel, and shambled out of the door in just his underwear. He broke into a run and hollered as he dove into the pond. When he hit, the freezing water sucked the air out of his lungs. By the time he recovered, he wanted to holler again, but couldn′t with h
is head underwater.
After scrubbing himself, he climbed out of the pond and wrapped the towel around his waist. Shivering, he walked past Rick into the cabin. "Three problems solved."
"Three?"
"Clean, awake, and dream obliterated."
Giselle walked out of her room. "Let′s go. Man up. I′d like to get this expedition on the road."
"Did you get a new car? I thought you had a Jeep. You have an Expedition now?"
She gave Rick an exasperated look. "See if you can get your buddy moving. Since the chili′s gone, I need to stop somewhere for breakfast. I′m starving."
She walked out of the cabin to find Jacob bent over the fire pit, stirring the contents of a large frying pan. He looked up at her. "I′ll have this deer scramble ready in a few minutes. Do you have any more espresso to go with it?"
She saw peppers, onions, mushrooms, and deer meat in the scrambled eggs and smiled. "I′m going hunting with you from now on. This is the way to do it. Show up, get a deer, great grub, and then home."
"Thank me with espresso."
"Coming right up."
Sig walked out of the cabin lugging two packs and went back in to get Giselle′s pack. He set it down with the others, stepped off the porch, and muttered "Aðalbrandr."
Jacob dropped the pan into the fire. "Crikey, give me some warning when you′re going to do that. I almost changed forms and spilled the breakfast into the fire." He tugged the pan back out with his mitt and flicked embers from the eggs.
Sig rumbled down at him, "Sorry. I′m going to carry the packs to the Jeep and come back to help with the meat. I carry more this way." He lifted all three packs in one hand and jogged into the woods. "Save some for me," he hollered back.
Breakfast made a great end to an excellent hunt. After exchanging thanks all around, Sig and Rick carried a folding thermal carrier full of meat. After they finished loading Giselle swung the Jeep towards Chicago.
Back on paved roads, she pulled into a combination country store, gas station, and bait shop. She filled up while Sig purchased bags of ice for the meat.
Rick leapt down, put his front paws out, and stretched his back. A large German Sheppard mix trotted around the side of the building. Rick spotted him first and stood still on all fours, waiting for a reaction. The dog halted and growled. Rick sat on his haunches and stared at the dog, until it slunk back around the building, still growling.
