The Nine Lives of Felicia Miller (20 page)

She paused to sharpen her claws on the trunk of a towering oak, tearing off chunks of bark as easily as her human self might pluck fuzzy lint off a sweater. Gazing up at its limbs she felt at one with the tree’s natural grace and the strength it exuded from its massive trunk.

With a mighty leap she was perched on a branch a dozen feet above the forest floor. She paused there for just a moment, then with uncanny speed she leaped and clawed higher and in seconds was forty feet high.

She stretched her spine and draped her lithe torso over a branch, tail dangling lazily, and cast her gaze on the forest below.

Miles of treetops spread in all directions. A canopy teeming with life. A refuge, ancient and unspoiled, where countless untamed creatures conducted their secretive lives.

Felicia couldn’t see their nocturnal movements from her perch. But she sensed their lifeforce. Their energy pulsing like an organic grid.

Above her was the endless sky, filled with twinkling stars.

Below her was the earth, cool and quiet in the night.

And between the earth and the sky there was her.

Felicia. The Queen of the Forest.

169

“It’s no secret how dangerous those woods are,” Mandee scanned the eyes of the townspeople who’d been interested enough to brave the first winter snowstorm to attend the special town meeting, trying to gauge who might prove troublesome to her plans. “We’ve had one poor boy killed and another permanently disabled by the wild blood-thirsty predators that lurk just beyond the edges of our town. Who will be next?”

“Floyd was attacked by a bobcat. It came charging right at him out there by Devils Point.”

Felicia looked over at the speaker and recognized him as one of the men who nearly hunted her down at the Point.

“Devils Point?” a woman exclaimed in horror. A worried murmur filled the room.

Mandee kept her poker face on, but inside she was smiling.
Nothing like a little superstition to rally the idiot brigade. That’s an angle I can work with.

“I’ll bet the old witch has something to do with this,” said Marcella Evans. Marcella’s appearance was a surprise to the others… until they saw her gorging herself on the free cold-cuts and slipping pastries into her handbag.

“My brother was nearly attacked by a mountain lion, just the other day,” drawled Pauline Jeffers.

The murmuring in the room escalated.

“Mountain lion?” a man asked skeptically.

Pauline nodded. “He scared it off with my daddy’s shotgun.”

“You sure he wasn’t dipping into your daddy’s homemade liquor?” teased one of the local hunters, which elicited a round of knowing laughter.

“I don’t see that this is any kind of laughing matter,” snapped Mandee.

“Neither do I,” quipped the hunter. “But poison snakes and bobcats and now mountain lions? All in the space of a few months? Lady, I’ve hunted in those woods since I was knee-high to a possum and I think it’s highly unlikely that two big wild cats are roaming around these parts at the same time. You might convince me that Sparrow Jeffers saw the same bobcat that attacked that other boy… but knowing how honest and reliable he is, he might have seen a housecat for all we know.”

Warm laughter and hot whispers of concern divided the room. Mandee realized she needed to get the debate under control before the skeptics swayed the room to their side.
Only one thing these backwater yokels are guaranteed to respond to…

“I can appreciate your skepticism,” she responded, “But there’s no denying that wild beasts have attacked three of our people, twice with devastating results. That is why we need to develop that land. It says in the Bible that God gave man dominion over the animals. He gave us that commandment in order to save us from the dangerous creatures lurking in the wild places. Just the situation we have now.”

The room was silent now. Even the skeptics were enthralled by her colorful argument, or quietly amused by her melodramatic tone. But most were being won over.

And Mandee knew it.
If I handed out rifles and torches right now they’d storm that forest and burn it to the ground.

“It’s not like there isn’t plenty of open wilderness in other parts of the state,” she pressed on. “Let the wild beasts move on to places where they can’t harm our children. We can’t afford to let the radical tree-huggers and anti-job people stand in the way of our progress. I’m sure they have good intentions but they’re just plain wrong. It’s time for Greenville to spread its wings and fly. Like a butterfly. We need to blossom. We need to bring in jobs. Jobs. Money. Prosperity for all of us. That is the American Dream.”

Not everyone in the room applauded but she clearly had won the majority. At the mention of “jobs” Marcella frowned and stuffed a donut in her mouth.

When the applause finally died one of the skeptical hunters spoke up. “You go tearing down those woods and putting up more houses and you’ll only increase the odds of animal human conflict.”

“Your point is well taken,” Mandee said softly, as if conceding. Then she raised her voice in a rousing sales pitch, “But not if we make sure these deadly beasts are eradicated first. Which is why Concrete Development Corporation has generously agreed to sponsor a blue ribbon hunt, complete with generous cash prizes.”

An uneasy feeling churned in Felicia’s belly. She’d grown used to the desolate forest. It was her private domain. And now it was sure to change.

“Cash prizes? What kind of cash prizes are we talking about?” asked the hunter who’d been resisting Mandee all along.

“One thousand dollars for any dead cougar or bobcat shot before the end of this month.”

Joyful whoops filled the room, along with a hearty round of applause. “Now you’re talking,” the hunter shouted gleefully. “What about bears and other dangerous critters?”

Felicia’s heart fluttered.

“Well,” Mandee considered the odds before speaking, “There haven’t been any reports of bears causing trouble lately… and I’ll have to check on this to confirm… but I’ll bet the CDC would be happy to pay a bounty for a bear as well.”

“Hoo-wee! Just call me Ted Nugent and point me at something furry! I’m a all-American killing machine!”

A happy murmur drowned out the last of the naysayers. Mandee had clearly won the day.

Felicia felt thoroughly sick to her stomach. She thought of Elmo, most likely curled up in a cold filthy burrow that could easily be discovered once the hunters flooded the woods with their dogs. She’d never forgive herself if anything happened to him.

She had to do something. Run some kind of interference. But her options were limited. And none of them offered much hope.

217

Felicia’s first idea was to change into a puma and lead the hunters on a wild goose chase. But the flaws in that plan were obvious. The woods would be filled with heavily armed men, eager to blow the furry head off anything that moved.

And even if she decided to risk her feline neck, there was no way she could spend that much time in cat form without her parents taking note of her absence. A single night’s excursion was one thing, but this hunt would last for weeks, with hunters on the prowl around the clock.

She finally phoned Ruta, who was delighted to hear from her but horrified to learn of Granny’s disappearance. She assured Felicia that the only sensible thing to do was to lay low until the hunt was over. “Don’t worry about Granny, Felicia. She’s a big girl, she can take care of herself.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right. She’s been at this game a lot longer than we have. I’ll bet she’s been at it a lot longer than we suspect.”

“But it’s my fault that she’s missing.”

“No, it’s not your fault. You’re just a kid. And you said no one knows what happened to her. So don’t jump to any conclusions. Granny might have simply packed up and left.”

“God I wish you hadn’t moved away.”

“Tell me about it. I’m living in the land of nerds and turds.”

“Can’t be any worse than this place.”

“Wanna bet? I asked our neighbor if it ever stops raining here and he said ‘how should I know? I just moved here two years ago.’ And I already had my bicycle stolen. Twice.”

“I guess there are creeps everywhere these days.”

“Yeah. Too bad I didn’t catch the culprit… in my fangs. Listen, you just hang in there. Soon we’ll be heading off to college. Let’s apply to the same schools. We could be roomies. How cool would that be?”

“Yeah. If I make it that far.”

“Stop talking like that, grinch. You think Granny’d be happy to hear you pissing and moaning like a little bitch?”

“I guess not.”

“Damn straight. She gave you a powerful gift. And told you to use it wisely.”

“You’re right again. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Just get your head on straight so I don’t have to worry about you.  Take a breather until the stupid hunt is over. Spend time with your hot new BF. Catch up on your school work. You need to keep your grades up so you can get into a decent school.”

“You’re right. As always, Ruta. What would I do without you?”

217

“Yah! You scared me, goddammit,” Wally blurted. Whacked on a cocktail of drugs and booze, he almost dropped a load when he saw his father’s shadowy figure seated in the dark living room. “What the hell are you doing sitting in the dark like that anyway?”

“Sit down, boy. We need to talk.”

“What? Just because I came in a little late and—”

“I said sit down!”

Wally was stunned. His old man sometimes snapped at him, but this was clearly different. There was an edge in his voice that the boy had never heard before. He hesitated just long enough to let the old man know that he wasn’t totally being bullied into submission. Then he plopped onto the sofa across from his father. Even in the dark, he could make out the shape of his father’s favorite drinking glass on the end table next to his armchair.

“You remember that old boy Haley Joe who used to bust up Corrigan’s roadhouse every Friday night?”

“Vaguely,” Wally answered.

“Vaguely? You don’t remember how he suddenly disappeared, a day after he was found with his head all busted open and covered with bruises, lying in the road like a beaten sack of shit?”

“Yeah. I remember that.”

Suddenly Wally took notice of his father’s hands, silhouetted in the darkness. He realized he was holding granddad’s old blackjack. Slapping it softly against the palm of his hand.

“You remember that, do you? Good. Then you know that son of a bitch never set foot in this town again, did he?”

Wally was silent. He didn’t like where this was going. Not at all.

“Somebody beat that bastard so hard he just took up and left town for good. And we ain’t had no trouble with him since. Ain’t seen hide nor hair of him ever again. Ain’t that right?”

“Yeah. He disappeared. I get the picture. So what’s your point?”

“The point is… you’re goddam lucky you’re my son.” The Sheriff paused to take a sip of whiskey, rattling the ice cubes angrily before setting the glass down. “I was out at old lady Dola’s this afternoon.”

Wally swallowed hard, but said nothing.

His father held his silence for a minute, gauging his son’s reaction. Finally he continued, “Some assholes vandalized that poor old woman’s home. Left quite a mess out there.”

“Is that right?” Wally tried to play it cool.

“Stupid shits left clues all over the place.”

Wally felt sick to his stomach.
Get to the point already, old man.

“Fingerprints… DNA,” his father continued. “The kind of clues that could get someone locked up in prison for a good long stretch… or worse… if anything happened to that old lady.”

“Why are you telling me that? That has nothing to do with—”

“Don’t play dumb with me, boy. I been covering your ass for way too long. I know I helped create this problem. But I’ll end it if I have to.”

“I don’t know nothing about what happened to that old crone. Yeah, me and my boys were out there partying. But she was long gone before we ever got there. The place was empty. We just did a little partying, that’s all. We didn’t hurt nobody. And that’s the god’s honest truth.”

“It better be, boy. Cause if she turns up dead or banged up somewhere there’s going to be hell to pay.”

“Okay, I get the picture.”

“Well good. I’m glad you get the picture. I was beginning to think you were too fucking stupid to get anything. You be sure to pass the word on to your buddies about this too.”

“Right.” Wally started to get up.

“Sit down! You haven’t been excused.”