Daughters of Artemis

by Della Buckland

  "I don't know. It's just bugging me. Like the wolf's eyes. I didn't notice it at the time, because I was scared shitless, but when I looked at the footage a few more times, I could see that they weren't like normal wolf eyes at all. They looked more human than that."

  "You're getting carried away with this werewolf thing," Susan snapped. She got out of the bed, suddenly restless. "Is that why you're really here?"

  "Really... where?"

  Susan gestured vaguely to the cabin. She felt like fire ants were crawling underneath her skin. "Here, in my cabin. In my bed. Were you just trying to get close to me thinking I'd let something slip? Bark in my sleep, maybe?" Damn Blackwater for putting the idea in her head. Damn Black Crow for standing beside him. And damn Jesse for ruining what had been the most perfect night of her life.

  "Of course not!" Jesse jumped up out of the bed as well. "I'm here because I want to be with you! Because I care about you! How can you even think that I'd use you like that?"

  "Everyone else does, why not you? Used, abused, or ignored; that's my life, Jesse! Sometimes all three at once!" Susan shot back.

  "And I told you that I want to change that. Look, why is this bothering you so much?"

  "What, being accused of being some kind of movie monster shouldn't bother me?"

  "I wasn't accusing you of anything!" Jesse said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. She took a deep breath, and when she spoke again, her voice was lower and calmer. "I'm sorry, Susan. I didn't realize it would upset you. Like I said, it was just weird. I won't bring it up again."

  Susan was so geared up for the argument that hearing Jesse apologize was as strange as if she'd changed colors and started to fly. Her brain disconnected from her mouth for a few seconds. She looked away, ashamed both for getting angry and for the necessity of lying to Jesse. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have been such a bitch. It's just... so many times, people come among us claiming to want to learn about us, learn our ways, and then they take the little bit of knowledge they gain and take it back to their world to exploit for profit. It's made us all a little jaded."

  "Hey, it's okay." Jesse walked over and ran her hands along Susan's arms. "Totally understandable. I'd probably have freaked out, too. Let's just forget about it, okay?"

  Susan nodded. "Okay." Then, since it was too late to go back to bed, she turned toward the bathroom. "Shower?"

  "Hell, no. I need my hot water, thank you."

  Susan laughed. "White devil."

  "Bloody savage," Jesse teased back.

  Though Jesse continued to spend at least part of every evening at Susan's cabin, they rarely spent the night together. Susan's small bed was simply not large enough for the two of them to be comfortable. They would talk for hours, watch movies on Jesse's laptop, make love as often as not, and then Jesse would go back to the guest cabin to sleep.

  They rarely talked about the documentary. Susan suspected that it was nearer to being done than Jesse wanted to admit, because as soon as it was, Jesse would have no more reason to stay. It was an unspoken deadline for their relationship, and something that neither of them was ready to face. Instead, they talked about Jesse's family in Arizona, or Susan's childhood with Black Crow (the fun parts, not the unpleasant ones). Jesse taught Susan about film editing, and Susan taught Jesse how to dry animal skins for clothing.

  It was peaceful, almost idyllic. For a week. Susan was in her cabin repairing a hole in one of her shirts when Jacob Blackwater knocked on her door. He didn't say anything, just handed her a feather and ran back as fast as his legs would carry him. A single black feather: the sign for a summons before the Council of Elders. Which, given that she was a member of the Council of Elders and had no knowledge of this meeting, was distressing on a number of levels.

  She saw no smoke from any chimney as she approached, which meant the elders had gathered in the meeting hall. Susan's confusion was quickly turning to anger. The meeting hall was only used if the elders were convened formally, and her exclusion from that was galling. Even more galling was that she could hear raised voices as she neared the hall, but only silence greeted her the moment she pushed open the doors.

  Susan walked purposefully to the table at the head of the room, locking eyes with each of the other elders in turn. She slammed the feather down onto the table hard enough to drive the quill into the wood. "So. Now that you've summoned me before you like some kind of brainless squaw instead of as a full member of this council, what can I do for you?"

  Black Crow sighed. "No offense was intended. Given your involvement in this matter, it was hoped that we could settle the question without you."

  "What. Question."

  "The question of whether to send your white friends away now or wait until they've completely destroyed our way of life," Joseph Blackwater said sharply. "And if it is discovered that you put her on this path, Susan—"

  "Stop being such a drama queen," Two Feathers interrupted. Susan had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at an eighty-six year old woman calling a sixty-two year old man a 'drama queen'. "Let the girl say what she wants. Who would believe her? If we force them out now, it will only strengthen their belief that we have secrets."

  Susan held up her hands. "Hold on a minute. Back up. Jesse and the boys know about our nature?"

  "Not yet, but they suspect more and more each day," Black Crow explained. "They have asked many uncomfortable questions."

  "What kind of questions?" Susan had thought the issue dead and buried after her argument with Jesse. Obviously, she had simply taken her inquiries elsewhere.

  "Questions like why our hunting spears show so little wear. Or why the wounds on our kills look more like bite marks."

  "Why the young children yip and bark when they play," Walks-In-Fog added.

  Blackwater nodded. "I warned you about this. The woman is an expert on wolf behavior. It was only a matter of time before she began to notice things."

  William Two-Spears barked out a laugh. "So what? What will she tell people? Indian werewolves live among us? They'll put her in the tabloids between Bigfoot's shoe salesman and Dracula's dentist!"

  Black Crow rapped on the table before anyone else could offer their opinion. "The council is evenly divided on the question," he told Susan. "Your vote is required to break the deadlock."

  "We all know which way she will vote," Joseph huffed. "Why bother to ask?"

  "Please, Susan," Black Crow continued, not acknowledging Blackwater's outburst. "Answer with your head, not with your heart. Should we ask them to leave before they learn too much?"

  Susan opened her mouth to say no, but forced herself to stop. Black Crow was right about one thing: it wasn't simply a matter of what she wanted. The tribe was primary, and all members were expected to sacrifice whatever necessary to preserve it. She tried to set aside her personal feelings and focus on the general welfare of all. But still, only one possible answer presented itself.

  "You are right about my vote, Joseph, but not for the reasons you believe. I have spent more time with Jesse than anyone, and I know better than you how she thinks. When a thing is hidden from her, she only becomes more determined to know it. I can think of no situation in which sending her away now can benefit us. Two Feathers is right; it will only make her more suspicious. Her mind will refuse to let it go, and we may truly be exposed."

  Two-Spears started to say something, but Susan held up a hand. "She is too smart to approach the media with such a story," she continued, "but there will be others who will listen, and we may find ourselves soon enough with more visitors. The tale will never be believed by many, but by enough. Let her stay, confirm nothing, and when she returns to her world, she will regard us as only a curiosity. A series of coincidences that played at her imagination. A week, a month from now, she will laugh at herself over how silly she was to think that werewolves existed. My vote is no."

  Blackwater rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Dress it up however you want; you'll find any way you can to justify k
eeping your dyke lover!"

  "That 'dyke' is my mashké!" Susan retorted. "And I defy you—any of you—to send her away from me!"

  Black Crow stood up and slammed the head of his cane onto the table. "Iyena!" he shouted. The entire room was shocked into silence. Susan didn't think she had heard Black Crow raise his voice more than three times in her entire life. "Susan is a member of this council and will be treated with respect! Her vote is cast, and the matter is decided."

  "Damn right it is!" Susan growled. She turned her back on the council and defiantly strode out of the meeting hall, her head held high.

  Susan turned the last corner and eased the old Ford up the last hill leading back home. She checked the rear-view to make sure the huge bags of rice and flats of vegetables lining the bed were in no danger of toppling. She'd volunteered to do the run into town to get supplies, mainly because she wanted to buy a gift for Jesse. It took some hunting, but she managed to find a DVD copy of Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?, which Jesse had mentioned she loved but didn't yet own.

  The SUV came into view at the top of the hill, and Susan smiled. She wondered how much it was going to hurt when the day came that she would no longer have that reminder that Jesse was waiting for her. As she got closer, though, she noticed that the side window had been broken in, and the windshield was similarly cracked. She threw the truck into park and jumped out, afraid of what might have happened.

  The sound of jeering and shouting immediately assaulted her when she opened the door. She quickly located the source: five of the tribe's young men, led predictably enough by Jacob Blackwater, had surrounded and were harassing Jesse and Tyler. Jorge was already curled on the ground, his hands pressed against his bloodied nose.

  Susan looked around, but none of the elders were anywhere to be seen. She wouldn't be surprised if Joseph had called a council meeting in his cabin on the other side of the clearing and well out of earshot. And with no intervention by the elders, no one else was willing to step forward and challenge the incensed bullies. No one but Susan, of course.

  She stalked right into the middle of the mob, pushing two of the boys aside to get past. It was then that she saw Little Bear crumpled into a heap and holding his head. Bits of black plastic on the ground and the cracked camera case explained that, and Susan nodded her approval. "You're all done here!" she yelled above the insults and taunts.

  "We'll be done when they leave!" Jacob shot back.

  "How can they leave when you've got them surrounded and you smashed their truck?" Susan asked, turning to face Jacob. She knew that trying to appeal to a mob's sense of logic was pointless, but Jacob's moment of stunned silence was worth the asking.

  "Shut up! Just shut up! No one here is afraid of you. What are you going to do? You can't stop all of us. We'll kill you if you try."

  Susan stepped forward, putting herself between Jacob and Jesse and Tyler. "When I make a hole, just run," she muttered under her breath as she passed. Then, to Jacob, she said, "Do you really think you're that strong? Are you certain that your wakan is sufficient to put me down? Because if you aren't, then you need to consider your next words very carefully."

  She kept her eyes fixed on Jacob, but from the corners, she could see Billy Two-Spears and Singing Tree go wide-eyed and step away from their leader. Jacob, though, refused to be cowed.

  "We don't want them here anymore! If you get in our way, we'll rip you apart."

  Susan shrugged. "Suit yourself." She darted forward and grabbed a handful of Jacob's shirt, lifted him off the ground, and hurled him sideways. "Go!" she shouted over her shoulder to Jesse and Tyler, who thankfully complied, dragging Jorge clear of the fray between them.

  A rock struck Susan's head from behind, causing her to stumble. It was all the weakness the other boys needed, and they all rushed on her at once. Susan threw herself forward into a roll to get clear of the mass, and then spun around to face them. Another rock came flying at her, but she saw this one coming and snatched it out of the air. The sharp point cut into her hand, but it didn't stop her from hurling it back the way it came. James Walkswithwind went down with a shout of pain.

  Billy Two-Spears and Singing Tree came rushing at her from either side, and she dealt with them by the expedient method of stepping back and slamming the two boys into each other when they closed in. As soon as they hit the ground, though, Jacob Blackwater was up again, leaping over his fallen companions. Susan couldn't move in time to avoid the collision, and Jacob's full weight slammed her into the ground. She barely managed not to crack her skull on the ground, but the impact still knocked the wind out of her.

  Jacob's knees drove into her chest, and he started punching her across the face with all his strength. Susan felt her lip split and lost most of the vision in her left eye before she was able to move again. One of the other boys—she couldn't see who—tried to pin down her legs, but she managed to kick him in the face hard enough to hear the crunch of bone. Jacob pulled back for another punch, but Susan grabbed his wrist and used it to throw him over her head.

  By the time she got to her feet again, Jacob had as well. He was also brandishing a hunting knife that she hadn't noticed him carrying. "You're all done here," he taunted, swiping at her with the blade.

  Susan jumped back in time to avoid being gutted, though the knife still managed to put a slice in her shirt. She dodged the second and third attempts, but misjudged his speed on the fourth when she made a grab for the knife and wound up with a cut across her upper arm. Her wolf howled inside her mind and clawed to be released, but Susan refused. She knew Jesse and Tyler were nearby, and shifting anywhere they could see would be the absolute worst thing that could happen.

  She spun out of the way of Jacob's next thrust and backhanded Little Bear, who had been trying to sneak up behind her. The other boys were either occupied with their injuries or standing clear for the moment, afraid to get in the way of Jacob's knife.

  "You know none of them are leaving here," Jacob said. "They know too much. Soon as I'm done with you, they're next."

  Susan growled. That knife gave Jacob too much of an advantage, especially combined with his reach and his speed. She could only think of one thing that would even the odds, but even among the elders it was generally believed to be impossible. Still, Susan had little choice but to try. "Then stop talking and get it over with. Or would you rather piss yourself and run away again?"

  The reminder of their earlier confrontation made Jacob even angrier, just as Susan had hoped. He rushed at her, screaming and slashing. Susan waited until his arm was fully extended and his body was exposed before she struck. She swung her arm around in a slap, but what connected with Jacob's cheek wasn't fingers but claws, gouging three sharp lines across Jacob's face. But Susan didn't stop, instead continuing the swipe down the length of Jacob's knife arm, tearing through fabric and flesh all the way from shoulder to wrist.

  The knife went flying from Jacob's hand; the sudden pain and damage simply stole his ability to grip it. He stared agog, along with her other attackers, at Susan's partially-shifted arm as the fur and blooded claws receded back into a human form.

  Susan spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground. "You're all done here," she repeated in a soft but dangerous voice.

  This time, the boys agreed, falling over each other to be the first one to run away.

  Susan limped back to her cabin and saw Jesse there waiting. She ran over to Susan and put an arm around her. "We should get you to a doctor; you could have a concussion."

  Susan shook her head. "Just help me inside. I'll be fine."

  "The hell you will. Your arm is bleeding, and you should see your face."

  "You should see the other guy," Susan joked, though the smile made her split lip hurt worse.

  "I did. What did you do to him? His whole arm was bleeding. And he was the one with the knife!"

  Susan cursed herself. "You were supposed to have run, not grabbed some popcorn and watched."

  "Damn it, Susan, don't chang
e the subject. You don't have fingernails long enough to do what I saw."

  "And what did you see?"

  "I don't know," Jesse admitted.

  "Yes, you do. What did you see?"

  "You hit him, and he started bleeding. Oh, God, what if he bleeds to death?"

  "He'll live," Susan insisted. "But what did you see?"

  "Your hand turned into a claw, all right? I saw your hand change, and then change back."

  Susan nodded. "Do you trust me?"

  Jesse had to think on that, and Susan didn't blame her in the least. Finally, she just said, "I love you."

  "Then help me inside."

  Once the door was closed, Susan tore off the ruined shirt, went to the bathroom, and turned on the shower. The cold water stung like fire on her bruises, but by the time all the blood was washed away, the worst of the cuts were nearly closed.

  Jesse shook her head. "No, you were cut worse than that. I saw it. A knife that size, there's no way."

  "One advantage to our condition is that we heal extremely fast. That's how I know Jacob won't lose too much blood."

  "What do you mean, 'condition'? What kind of... oh. Oh, God. Oh, Jesus, don't you dare." Jesse started backing toward the bathroom door.

  "You'll never know how hard it was for me to lie to you, Jesse. To pretend to be offended in order to throw you off the trail."

  "No... No, God, don't say it." Jesse's back hit the door frame, and she slid down, trembling.

  Susan turned off the shower, but didn't step out. "You know some of the Lakota language. Do you know the word mashké?"

  The question was such an abrupt change of topic that it seemed to cut through Jesse's fears. She sniffled back her tears and nodded. "It's a female friend of a female."

  "It's more than that," Susan explained. "It's a bond between two women that goes beyond friendship, beyond love. Among my people, it is considered lucky to have even a single mashké in one's entire life. A mashké will protect her friend no matter what, will never betray her or endanger her in any way. I need you to understand this so that you'll know what I mean when I say I consider you my mashké and hope that you think the same of me."