Earth Called, page 19
“She’s right,” Mari said. “Plus, Danita’s in training to be a Moon Woman. If she wants her butt healed, she could do it herself.”
Sora grinned at Danita. “Though Mari and I will be happy to oblige tonight.” Then her gaze went from Danita to Antreas and her smile faded. “When did you lose your sense of humor, Lynx Guide?”
Antreas blinked in surprise and then wiped a hand across his sweaty face. “I haven’t.”
Sora snorted. “Yeah, you definitely have.”
“Forgive me. I-I’m not myself.”
“Don’t tell me. Tell Danita,” said Sora.
“I am sor—”
“Stop apologizing,” Danita cut him off. “Just return to being yourself. That’s apology enough for me.” She shifted in the cart so that her back was to Antreas. Automatically, her hand began to reach out to stroke Bast, who was usually close by, especially when Danita was upset, but the Lynx wasn’t in the cart with them. As had been her pattern for the five days they’d been traveling, the Lynx only rode in the cart with Antreas and Danita early in the day. When the midmorning break came and everyone dismounted their horses or exited the many carts that carried Herdmembers who had no equine Companion, the Pack, and supplies that were necessities—Bast disappeared into the tall grasses. She rarely returned before they stopped when the light was too dim for the horses to continue and they were forced to make camp.
Danita knew Bast’s absence was taking a toll on Antreas. The first couple days he’d tried to go with his Lynx but had returned sweaty and frustrated when Bast—for the first time since she’d Chosen him years before—set a pace that even Antreas couldn’t keep up. Add that to the fact that Bast refused to explain why she was acting so strange and, as Antreas had told Danita days before, he was finding it difficult to be himself as he tried to reason through his Companion’s troubling behavior.
“What’s wrong with you?” Sora’s voice cut into Danita’s inner musings.
Sora was staring at Antreas, and when he didn’t respond she continued. “You’ve lost weight. You have dark circles under your eyes, and I’ve never heard you speak gruffly to Danita before now. So, what’s wrong with you?”
“He’s—” Danita began, but Mari’s raised hand hushed her.
“No,” Mari said. “Let Antreas answer for himself. I, too, have noticed that he isn’t himself, and as the Moon Women and leaders of his Pack, we have a right to know what’s wrong.”
Antreas nodded slowly. “You are correct, and I apologize for how I’ve been acting.”
“Like Danita, we don’t need apologies,” Sora said. “We need to understand.”
“And we need you to return to the kind, witty, intelligent man we know you to be,” said Mari.
“There’s something wrong with Bast,” Antreas blurted.
Mari sat up straighter. “Why didn’t you tell me last Third Night? Sora and I would have healed her.”
“Of course we would have. What’s wrong with her?” Sora asked.
Antreas moved his shoulders restlessly. He started to speak—glanced at Danita—and closed his mouth. “I don’t think it’s something you can heal.”
Sora scoffed, “Of course it’s something we can heal.”
Danita sighed loudly, then turned so that she faced Antreas again. “I really wish you would stop acting as if I will shatter into pieces if you talk about it! It will help if you talk about it.”
“What it?” Sora asked.
“Just say it,” Danita prodded.
“Bast is in estrus,” Antreas said.
“Oh. Well, that’s a good thing, right?” Sora said.
“Yeah, Mihos is here and even though his paws aren’t fully healed yet, he should definitely be able to perform his mating duties,” Mari said.
Danita shook her head. “Bast doesn’t want Mihos.”
Antreas’s gaze instantly went to hers. “How do you know that?”
“How do you not?” she shot back. “Bast won’t go near the cart that carries Dax and Mihos. She doesn’t hang around the campfire at night with him. I even heard her hiss at him yesterday when he limped over to greet her before we loaded up the carts. She doesn’t like him.”
Antreas lifted his hands and the let them fall by his sides. “I wondered what was going on between them. She’s definitely in estrus, but I’ve also noticed she seems to want nothing to do with the only male Lynx within months and months journey of us.” He shook his head and scratched the back of his neck where Lynx fur made a soft trail down his spine. “It’s so strange.”
“Can Lynx females control when they go into estrus?” Mari asked.
“Yes and no,” Antreas said. “They need the presence of a male Lynx, but then the female decides if he’s a worthy mate. If he is, she goes into estrus, they mate, and then when she is sure she is pregnant the two go their separate ways.”
“But Danita is saying Bast doesn’t like Mihos,” said Sora. “So, doesn’t that mean she shouldn’t be in estrus?”
“That’s exactly what it means,” said Antreas.
“And you’re sure she’s in estrus?” Mari asked.
“Absolutely,” said Antreas. “And she won’t tell me anything. I ask what’s wrong with Mihos and all I get from her is, Mihos is not my mate. Then she shuts down and won’t say more about it. I think, well, I think…” His words trailed away as he glanced at Danita.
Without looking at him, Danita finished his sentence. “Antreas thinks Bast isn’t allowing him to fully understand what is happening with her because she’s worried that it will affect Antreas—sexually—which means it will affect me.”
“Oh!” said Sora.
“Huh.” Mari nodded. “That does make sense.”
“No it doesn’t!” Danita’s words exploded around them so that the young driver of their cart, Christina, who was Companion to Dozer, the heavily muscled gelding who pulled it, looked over her shoulder in concern at her. Danita shook her head. “Sorry, Christina. I didn’t mean to be so loud.” When Danita spoke again, she’d regained control of her voice. “I am not a delicate, fainting woman who needs to be coddled and protected. Antreas and I have been having sex for months. I’m not worried about the addition of some Lynx lust.” She took Antreas’s hand in hers. “Nor am I afraid of it. Please stop thinking I’m going to fall apart over this.”
Antreas lifted her hand and kissed it. “Bast and I would never want to do anything that would hurt you.”
“I know that, my own true love. Please trust that I know that.”
“Maybe it’s not Antreas who needs to know it,” said Mari. “Danita, have you told Bast what you just told Antreas?”
“Well, no.”
“You should,” said Sora. “That Lynx is smart, and she loves you very much. She’s probably just trying to protect you. Maybe if you talked to her and told her you’re not afraid she would feel free to mate with Mihos.”
“And then we’d have Lynx babies,” Mari said happily. “What do we call Lynx babies?”
“Kittens,” said Antreas, his face softening as he spoke about them. “Bast will have anywhere from two to eight kittens. Normally, the kittens only stay with their mother for one full turn of the seasons. Then they go off to find their own Companions and make their own dens—usually far away from the mother so that their territories aren’t overhunted.”
“But our Bast is different,” said Danita as she smiled at Antreas. “Just like our Antreas is different.”
“Well, I’ve certainly bumbled this whole my-Lynx-needs-a-mate thing,” said Antreas wryly.
“Oh, that’s fixable,” said Sora.
“Definitely,” said Danita.
“Different how?” called Christina from her bench seat at the front of the cart. The group’s attention turned to their driver and she shrugged. “What? I’ve been listening to you talk all day. I want to know the rest of it.”
Antreas laughed softly. “Well, it’s not a secret. Bast and I are different first because it is extremely rare for a Lynx to Choose a Companion who is not of the same sex. The second difference is that most Lynxes—actually, all Lynx-Companion pairs I’ve ever known—are solitary. Meaning the females do not want their kittens to stay close to them; male or female, they prefer to live in isolation. Bast and I do not. It’s one of the reasons we joined the Pack. We like to be around people. We like living with others.”
Danita finished for him. “And Bast will want her kittens to stay close and to Choose Companions who also want to live as a part of a group instead of as solitary den mates.”
“Thank you for explaining that,” said Christina. “It is interesting. It also makes sense now why a Lynx Guide pair has become part of our Herd. Oh, wait. Dozer needs to speak with me.” Christina turned her attention back to her gelding and then she nodded and smiled over her shoulder to her passengers again. “River has decided we are to camp at the Pawhuska Cross Timbers for the night. You will be happy to hear the cross timbers are not far ahead.”
“You mean we’re going to stop before it’s fully dark?” Mari asked.
“That’s exactly what I mean,” said Christina. “Right, Dozer?” Her gelding tossed his head and his soft nicker sounded very much like laughter.
“Oh, thank the Great Earth Mother,” Sora said. “Cross timbers—does that mean there is a chance that there will be at least a stream nearby so that I can actually wash?”
“Absolutely. The Pawhuska Cross Timbers has a sizable creek that flows through it. The water originates in the mountains, so it’s always cold, but it will definitely be deep and clear and clean,” said Christina.
“I know what I’m doing tonight.” Sora lifted one of her long dark braids. “I will wash my hair and my body before we call down the moon.”
“I will definitely join you,” said Mari as she scratched her scalp. “I’m filthy.”
“And I know what I’ll be doing.” Danita moved closer to Antreas and lifted his arm so that she could slide it around her shoulders. “I will find a certain Lynx and have an important discussion with her. Then I will bathe.”
“Perhaps then I will join you,” Antreas said softly.
“Will you help me wash my hair?” Danita asked.
“If you’d like,” said Antreas.
“I’d like—very much.” She smiled intimately up at him.
“They’ll be fine,” Sora said.
“I think so, too,” Mari agreed with a grin.
“Oh, yes,” said Danita. “We will definitely be fine.” And then she kissed Antreas thoroughly to punctuate her point.
* * *
“I get the feeling that Bast is by the creek,” Antreas told Danita after the caravan had stopped in an emerald valley that was framed on one side by Pawhuska Creek.
“Can you be a little more specific?” Danita asked. “It’s a pretty big creek and I’d like to find her before it’s dark. I need to get ready for Third Night.”
Antreas closed his eyes. His brow furrowed as he concentrated. Then he opened his eyes and grinned. “She said she’s exploring some caves that are on the steep western bank of the creek among the oaks. I asked if she was returning to camp soon, and she said maybe.” He sighed. “I hope it’s better after you talk to her. I’m having a hard time dealing with her lack of communication.”
Danita hooked her arm through his. “It’s a little like losing your best friend?”
He nodded sadly. “If that best friend was also your sister and your mother. That is one problem with Lynx pairs being so isolated. Since Bast Chose me, she has been my whole world—except recently when I met you and joined the Pack.”
“That doesn’t erase the years it was just the two of you. I understand. Try not to worry. I honestly believe that once I explain things to Bast you two will go back to how you used to be.”
“Danita, I do not know what I’ll do if we don’t. I love you. I love our Pack, but I’m lost without my connection to Bast. It’s more than mental—it’s a physical link and it actually causes me pain to be isolated from her.” Antreas spoke miserably, his eyes filling with tears.
Danita cupped his cheek in her hand. “Oh, love. I’ll be back soon with your girl. All will be well.”
“Both of my girls must come back to me,” said Antreas.
She smiled and then tiptoed to kiss him softly. “I think you’ll understand very soon that neither of your girls have ever really left you.”
* * *
Danita knew she should hurry, but as she walked along the sandy bank of Pawhuska Creek she found it difficult to rush. After six days of hard travel where there was little rest and even less privacy, she enjoyed the sense of freedom being by herself granted her. Of course she had a slingshot and a bag of smooth, perfectly sized stones in the pack slung across her shoulder. She’d practiced consistently on the journey to the Wind Rider Plains, and Danita had been happy to discover she had a talent for hitting what she aimed at. Even Mari, who was an expert with the weapon, had said she was impressed by Danita’s ability. But at that moment she didn’t want to dwell on danger or the fact that sunset wasn’t far away—or even that they still had at least nine days of hard travel before they reached the Valley of Vapors. At that moment Danita just wanted to let her bare toes sink in the sandy creek as she walked slowly along it.
Danita was so distracted by the delicious privacy that she hadn’t yet called for Bast—not even when the bank to her left lifted to form a rocky ridge that was dotted with what looked like several caves. This would be an excellent place to create Earth Walker burrows, she thought. Then she felt a thrill of another discovery. All along the ridge surrounding the caves were large old oaks. And those would be perfect for the tree houses Nik and his people prefer. I wonder how far this place is from one of the Herd’s settlements? Danita was making a mental note to ask Mari about the possibility of settling the Pack here when she heard a bizarre sound. It was a call that at first made Danita think it was a child in distress, but as she listened she realized it was an animal—and it didn’t seem to be in distress, just calling.
And then the answering call lifted the hairs on Danita’s forearms as she recognized it as Bast’s distinctive, chattering cough. The sounds were coming from up on the ridge and Danita held her hand over her eyes as she squinted against the setting sun. There she was. Bast was padding around the rocks above Danita to greet—Danita gasped in shock—another big feline! Mihos? How could he get out here? His paws are still too raw to walk on very for long, and he definitely shouldn’t be climbing rocks.
Danita watched as Bast and the feline touched noses and then rubbed affectionately against each other. Quietly, Danita stepped out of the creek and put her shoes on, and then she started moving up the ridge. Within just a few feet she realized that the other feline definitely was not Mihos. It didn’t even look like it was the same kind of Lynx as Bast. Are there more kinds of Lynxes than just one? Danita had no idea. It was then that she stepped on a dry branch. The sound of it breaking seemed deafening in the silence of the shady cross timbers. Both felines turned to face Danita. The mystery Lynx hissed and disappeared over the ridge. Bast watched it go and then she turned her attention to Danita and coughed her normal greeting as she picked her way down to her.
“Hey there, beautiful.” Danita crouched beside Bast and petted her friend as she circled Danita, purring and rubbing against her. “You and I need to talk. It’s really important.”
Bast sat beside Danita and cocked her head, as if waiting for the important talk to commence.
“So, you’re in estrus, which means you’re ready to mate, and we need to talk about that, but I really wish you could tell me about that other Lynx. If that’s what he or she is.” Danita sat and leaned against a moss-covered rock as she studied Bast. “I know you understand everything I’m saying to you. This would be a lot easier if I could hear your response in my head like Antreas can.”
Bast’s purr got louder.
“Yeah, I love him, too. He’s miserable, though. He misses you terribly. Have you really looked at him lately? He’s not sleeping or eating much. Bast, you can’t shut him out. It’s like losing you, and you know Antreas couldn’t survive your loss, right?”
Bast meowed pitifully.
“I’m going to take that as you agreeing with me. Okay, so, Antreas needs you and misses you. Everyone—well, by that I mean Antreas, Mari, Sora, and me—believes that you’re avoiding Antreas because you need to mate and you’re worried if you’re as closely connected to him as you usually are you’ll share your desire or lust, or however you want to put it, with him and then he’ll be all filled with an intense passion, which will frighten me. Is that right?”
Bast’s rolling purr stopped. She stared into Danita’s eyes as if willing her to understand. Then she chirruped and meowed—as she typically did when she “talked” to Danita—before the big feline opened wide her mouth and made a sound that was a lot like a screaming child.
“Oh, Great Goddess! I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?”
Bast chirruped softly and rubbed against Danita as if to comfort her before she made the scream call again.
“Okay, okay. You’re not upset. I get that. I just don’t understand what you’re—” Then Danita went completely silent as the other feline, the one she’d watched Bast greet, reappeared on the ridge above them.
Bast purred and rubbed against Danita again before calling to the feline, only this time the sound was less scream-like and more coaxing. The feline didn’t move for several long breaths, and then the beast began to pick its way slowly down the ridge. Bast’s purrs got louder, and as the feline came closer she began chirruping and coughing, which she interspersed with sweet little meows.
When the feline stopped several yards from them, Bast padded over to him. Danita could see that he was a male who was not quite as big as Bast. She nuzzled him in greeting, and then trotted back to Danita, whom she nuzzled as well, and then purposefully leaned against her.
