The Cats of Tanglewood Forest (18 page)

“I can’t tell one from the other,” she said. “Besides, there’s spiders everywhere.”

“Not in LaOursville. We’ve managed to keep them scarce here.”

Lillian shook her head. “Well, I didn’t bring it in. Why are you so upset about spiders, anyways? They eat bugs and such, not people. Or bears.”

“And yet,” Mother Manan said, “when the spider woman was a little girl—about the age you are now—she ate my great-great-great-grandpappy.”

“That’s just a story. And even if it were true, it happened too long ago for Aunt Nancy to have been that little girl. She’d have to be ancient.”

But as she spoke, Lillian remembered the Creek boys’ story. John had been joking when he said that Aunt Nancy was that little girl—hadn’t he? And didn’t they say back home that Aunt Nancy had been living on the rez for centuries?

“You yourself told us the spider woman sent you,” Mother Manan said. “And we want to know why.”

“I told you the why. She said that the spirits told her that you might be able to interpret my dream. It sure wasn’t to bring spiders into your house. Whyever would she do that? Even if what you’re saying is true, it all happened too long ago for anybody to care about it now.”

“We don’t forget,” Mother Manan said with a low growl. “And neither does she.”

Lillian sighed. Of course they didn’t. If there was one thing these hills could breed, it was a feud that went on long after anybody should remember what started it.

“Well, I’m not part of your stupid feud,” Lillian said. She stood up, still holding the jar. “Now pardon me,” she said, “but I need to get my blanket and stuff.”

She didn’t think they’d actually let her just walk off, but she figured it was worth a shot. Like Aunt always said, you don’t get anything without trying for it first.

“You’re leaving?” Mother Manan said. “What about your dream?”

“I don’t need you to figure it out for me—not that I believe you were ever going to keep your side of the bargain. Shame on you. Looks like you need to find yourself a new slave.”

“You watch your manners!” Joen told her.

Lillian simply turned away. The hair prickled at the nape of her neck again, but nobody came after her as she went to gather her blanket, canteen, and food pouch.

“What that girl needs is a good licking,” she heard Joen say in the other room.

“And if she calls the spiders down on us?” Mother Manan retorted. “You have any idea how many are living in the woods around us? Probably thousands.”

“So we lock her up. I have ways to make her tell us why the spider woman sent her here.”

Lillian slipped into the kitchen and put bread, cheese, and apples in her pouch. She thought she’d free the poor spider as soon as she got out the door, so she picked up the jar once more. Just as she was about to leave, she came smack up on Joen, blocking her way. He looked smug, hands on his hips.

“Just where do you think you’re going, little missy?” he said.

“A place you’ve never heard of. It’s called Mind Your Own Business.”

He glared at her, lines furrowing his brow. “I’ll teach you a thing or two about how to talk to—”

“That will be quite enough, Joen,” Mother Manan said from behind him.

His glare held for a moment longer, and then he ducked his head down and stepped out of Mother Manan’s way.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

Lillian had to hide a giggle at how easily the big tough bear man was chastened by the old woman.

Mother Manan moved closer.

“Saying you’re not in the spider woman’s employ,”
she said, “what’s made you turn against us today?”

For a long moment Lillian could only stare at her, too surprised to speak. Then she shrugged. “There’s really no point in talking about it. None of this matters anymore.” She tried to pass the bear woman, but Mother Manan blocked Lillian with her staff.

“Tell me why, at least,” the old woman said, “you were willing to work all this time in the hope that I would interpret your dream, but suddenly you have no more interest in what it means. Unless, of course, someone else interpreted it for you.”

Lillian shook her head. “No, I worked it out for myself.”

“I see. So what did it tell you?”

“Nothing that would mean anything to anyone except me.”

The old woman bristled. “My patience isn’t endless, girl. Tell me now, or we’ll see how a few days locked in a dark cellar will loosen your tongue.”

“All right,” Lillian said.

Except what she did instead was kick the bucket of water across the floor, pop the lid off the jar she was still holding, and toss the big spider at them.
They screeched and jumped to either side as Lillian darted between them. Joen made a grab for her, but he slipped in the water and crashed down hard. She leaped right over his reaching arm and sped out the door and across the packed dirt in front of the houses.

T
he bear man came after Lillian, but she had a head start. Despite his size, he was obviously hurting from the fall and slower than the fleet-footed girl who’d run hundreds of races with the Welches’ dogs, spent months learning how to repair a farm, and worked so hard for Mother Manan that her strength and stamina were at their peak.

His legs were longer, but she was more agile. For every two steps the bear man took, she took three, and slowly but surely she drew farther ahead of him. The forest grew near, but Joen was still close behind her.
She couldn’t keep this speed up forever. Maybe Joen could. And then he’d catch up and drag her back to LaOursville.

“Help, help!” she cried out, hoping T.H. might hear her.

She didn’t know if he was around. It was so much earlier than they’d planned for her escape. And she didn’t think the fox could do much if it came to a fight with the bear man. She glanced back. Joen was still coming. Was he closer?

She sped up. Pain stitched her side as she pushed herself to keep running. She was past the berry bushes now and under the first few outlying trees.
Ahead of her, the path cut through the cliff. Another glance back showed Joen still in pursuit.

“Help!” she called again.

She was surprised when she got an answer from a completely unexpected quarter. A strange thrumming sound made her glance back again to see a cloud of birds descending on the bear man. Mostly small ones—robins and sparrows and wrens—but there were even a few crows and jays in the unruly flock. Joen had to slow down, batting his hands around his head.

Lillian ducked under a branch that she was about to run into. She steered herself back onto the path
and turned to look once more as she heard an unholy screeching.

Along with the birds, cats of every shape and color had come out of the grass and were launching themselves at the bear man. Joen stumbled to a halt. He dropped to his knees, pulling cats off. But for every one he pulled off, two more were scratching and clawing at him while the birds buffeted his face and pecked at his nose.

Lillian stopped to look at the astonishing sight. She leaned against a tree, gasping for air. What had gotten into the birds and cats? They didn’t even all get along in the first place. So why had they suddenly joined forces to attack Joen?

Then she remembered all those weeks of putting out saucers of milk for the cats and throwing extra feed to the wild birds. Perhaps this was their way of saying thank you kindly.

Lillian grinned. Maybe the cows would be coming along next, or an apple tree man was stirring in his woody home, getting ready to give Joen a good bang on the head.

“What are you waiting for?” a familiar voice asked.

She turned to see T.H. stepping out of the underbrush.

“Where were you?” she asked.

“On my way to finding out why you needed help.”

“I’m okay now,” she said. Then she motioned with her chin to where Joen was still trying to fend off her rescuers. “Have you ever seen such a thing?” she added.

“No. And if you ever want to see
anything
again, you’d be smart to keep moving. Cats and birds can’t hold a bear man forever. We’ll want a good head start before he comes tracking us through the forest.”

He was right. Lillian pushed herself away from the tree.

“Thank you, thank you!” she called back to her rescuers.

She set off at a jog up the trail, T.H. trotting at her side. They slipped through the cleft in the rocks and then they were in the forest proper, tall trees rearing up all around the path.

“Why was the big lug chasing you?” he asked after they’d put some distance behind them.

“I had to run away before they locked me up in a cellar. They found a spider in my room and said I was a spy for the spider woman, which is what they call Aunt Nancy up on the rez. And Mother Manan
was mad that I wouldn’t tell her about my dream, or what it meant.”

She glanced back down the path. There was still no sign of Joen.

“Do you really think he’ll follow me?” she asked.

“Depends how mad you made him.”

“Really mad.”

“Then I think he’ll track us for as long as it takes to find us, and he’ll probably have a gang of his friends in tow.”

Lillian knew T.H. was right. Joen had been set on bullying her, and he was too stubborn to give up. He’d do whatever it took to bring her back, holding to his task like a hillside of kudzu, as Aunt would say.

But Lillian was more determined than she’d ever been to make things right again. She needed to get back to Old Mother Possum.

“How can we lose him?” she asked.

“Oh, I know a trick or two about avoiding folks dogging my trail,” T.H. said. “The big question is, will he be tracking us with his nose or his eyes?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Will he be a bear or a man?” T.H. clarified.

Lillian tensed. Bad enough to have that big man
chasing after them, but if he could also be a bear… well, she didn’t know how they’d get away from him.

“How good are you at climbing trees?” the fox asked her.

“The first time we met I was up in a tree, but I don’t suppose you’d remember that.”

“Nope. Now let’s put some miles behind us.”

“Why did you want to know if I can climb?”

“Man or bear, he’s going to be looking for sign or following your scent on the trail,” the fox said. “But if you take to the trees like a squirrel and stay up there, he’s not going to find either. We just need to find the right place.”

Before long, T.H. found what he was looking for. He had Lillian wade into the stream that ran alongside the path until she came to a large, low-hanging bough. With the stones slippery underfoot, it took her a couple of tries to jump up and get enough grip on the branch to pull herself out of the water. The bough dipped under her weight, almost putting her back in the stream, but she was able to hoist herself around and scramble up its length.