by Melissa Gunn
“But is all this information based on observation? Or does it come from the weres themselves?”
“Why do you ask?” said her mother suspiciously.
“Well, it seems to me that it might look different from the inside. I mean, we’re always told that foxes are solitary, but then we see those were-foxes in packs. And they said something about that themselves. Something’s got to be wrong with what we know. So... I’m just wondering.”
Her mother scowled.
“Please do not start trying to find out from the inside yourself,” she said. “It’s bad enough losing one daughter to those... those vulpine creeps.”
“Maybe Tammy can tell us herself, one day,” suggested Freya. “After all, she’s the one who is going to have were-fox babies.”
“What?” shrieked Danae.
Freya realised too late that she had never got around to telling Danae that part of Tammy’s news.
“Sorry, I thought I told you. She said she was pregnant when she came that night.”
“I cannot believe you neglected to tell me the most important thing she had to say. Freya, I expected better of you.”
“At least I’m in no danger of following in Tammy’s footsteps, Mum. I mean, I like my information accurate, but I’m not that desperate for knowledge. I just thought that maybe if we see Tammy again, we could ask her, that’s all.”
“Enough wondering, then. I’m tired. Can you help me to bed?”
Freya assisted her grumpy, limping mother into bed. She wondered how her mother had managed to get to work that day - and if she’d manage it again the next. If she didn’t, Freya would have to look into getting an after-school job. Somehow.
The next morning her mother was up and ready for work as usual.
“It’s not so bad in the mornings,” she explained, “when I haven’t been standing all day.” She trudged off in the direction of the bus stop when Freya left for school.
KARIM MET FREYA AS she turned out of the school gates that afternoon, a rucksack slung over one shoulder.
“How’s your leg?” he asked.
“Getting better slowly, I guess. It hurts today,” she said. She was limping a little today too. They’d had PE at school, and Freya was determined to become fitter, so that next time she was chased by a pack of rabid weres - if there was a next time - she wouldn’t be puffed after the first block. That meant she’d exercised harder than usual, and her leg was feeling it.
“I’ll come with you and get some potion on it, then.”
Aisha, who had come out with her, rolled her eyes.
“Come to the station cafe tomorrow after school,” she suggested. “Karim can’t hog you every day.”
Freya tilted her head apologetically at her friend.
“It was mostly my mother hogging me last night,” she said. “She’s decided I need to review my folklore. Again. But I’ll come tomorrow before she gets home from work.”
“See you tomorrow, then,” said Aisha, before striding off in the direction of the station.
Karim walked beside Freya, chatting amicably about the work he’d been doing in Egypt, and how he’d found a website that advertised student accommodation at the university he planned to attend.
“When do you go?” she asked quietly. She was feeling conflicted again. She was enjoying Karim’s company, but he was clearly not planning to stick around. Karim looked at her with a frown, perhaps hearing the slightly hurt tone in her voice. He took her hand, rucksack clinking as he adjusted it. She extricated her hand gently. She didn’t want the town’s rumour-mills whirring too fast.
“In another two weeks. But it’s not far by train. You and Aisha can come visit me, if you like.”
Freya shrugged noncommittally. In a world where she had enough money for trains to go wherever she wanted to go, she could indeed visit him.
Despite her limp, Freya and Karim made good time to Freya’s house. Inside, Karim’s green eyes seemed darker.
“Let’s get the roof looked at first, then look at your leg,” he said. “Unless it’s really sore?”
It was, but Freya suggested working on the roof anyway. She wasn’t yet sure what she wanted to happen after that.
Karim had clearly been working hard on his magical glue ideas. His rucksack turned out to be filled with several re-purposed jars, each half full of a different goo.
“I suppose I should be doing chemistry at uni,” he said. “But I’ve never heard of chemical archaeology, so I guess I’ll just have to muddle through.” He directed Freya to hold the tarp just so, as he applied each different mixture to the edge where it met the roof tiles, with a brush he’d brought along for the job. Finally, he covered the whole tarp with another mixture.
“When that one’s dried, the whole thing should set like stone,” he declared. “No builder required.” He seemed pleased with his efforts.
“Thanks,” said Freya. “It’ll be good to have that temporary roof a little more solid, with winter just around the corner.”
Karim turned to her, brushing off his dusty clothes. The tarp had not been terribly clean. The room seemed suddenly smaller, and Karim very close.
“Look, I want to make sure things are clear between us,” he said. “I like you, Freya. I like you a lot. But you know I’m heading off to uni soon. I can’t change that, and to be honest I wouldn’t want to. But I know you’ve only got a year to go. Maybe you could apply to York, too?” he rushed on. “But even if you don’t want to do that, I’d like to spend more time with you. There are holidays, Christmas break, that sort of thing. I mean, I wanted to say...” he trailed off.
“Not just a holiday romance, do you mean?” asked Freya, a little snippily. “Oh, Karim. I don’t know what to do. You’ll be entering a new world. Going to do your thing. I’m a bit jealous of that, you know. I mean, I’ll be doing it soon too, but a year feels like a long time. And who knows what will happen between now and then. Let’s just...” she shrugged. “See what happens, I guess?”
Karim took a step closer to her, and took both her hands.
“Could I be a thing that happens?” he asked.
Freya closed the remaining distance between them.
“Maybe?” She put her arms around him and lifted her face. She liked the feel of him in her arms - he seemed solid, dependable. As his face descended to meet hers, she thought,
This is it. This is when I find out what drew Tammy out to sea, away from us.
However, their kiss was not explosive, but rather clumsy. Freya bumped into Karim’s jars of roof-glue after a second or two of fumbling, off-balance once again. The height difference between them made it rather awkward to remain standing. Karim broke off the kiss somewhat guiltily.
“I haven’t even seen to your leg, yet!” He released her hastily. “I should have applied your potion first.” Evidently, he thought her stumble was due to a sore leg.
Freya arranged herself on the bed so that Karim could apply the ointment again. She was glad to be sitting. She wanted to think about their kiss. It hadn’t been the world-shattering experience she’d thought it might be. Had she expected too much? Karim once again sat beside her on the bed. He reached out to apply the ointment and looked at his dirty hands.
“Can I use the bathroom?” he asked ruefully.
Freya directed him across the hall. While he washed, Freya wondered at herself. Was she throwing herself into this potential relationship because she’d lost her sister? Was she simply curious? She knew Karim was leaving soon - perhaps that made it easier, since there seemed little chance of a long-term relationship.
However, Karim seemed worried when he returned.
“There’s a crowd out the back of your house,” he said. “I saw them through the bathroom window. It’s The Family.”
“What! Show me!” commanded Freya. Her voice quivered. After several run-ins with the were-foxes, she was not keen to encounter them in force again. Running to the bathroom, she peered through the clouded glass.
&n
bsp; “I can’t see a thing through this,” she complained. “How did you manage it?” Karim pointed to the upper window, which was open a crack.
“What on Gaia were you doing up there?” she demanded.
“I heard something, so I looked. I’ll boost you,” he said, offering his hands as a platform.
“Just make sure I don’t fall,” she said. “I’m not exactly graceful.”
“You won’t fall,” he assured her. “And you seem graceful enough to me.” Freya smiled. She could get used to flattery, even if their first kiss hadn’t been a runaway success. Placing a bare foot in his hands, she let him lift her towards the window. She braced herself against the wall with her hands, leaning away from the bath. Falling into that would be painful.
Freya gasped as she peered through the thin crack of the open window. She could see a large gathering over the back fence. There were russet hues, ginger, red and auburn, all shades reminiscent of fox-fur. What were they doing here? As she stood watching on Karim’s hands, were-hands started pointing in her direction.
“I think I’ve seen enough. Or perhaps I mean been seen enough. Down, please.”
Karim lowered his hands so that she could step to the ground. She turned to face him again.
“Any bright ideas, if they attack?” she asked.
“Er, no?” he replied. “I’m a soon-to-be-student archaeologist, not a warrior.”
Unexpectedly, a knock sounded at the back door.
“Better see what they want, I suppose,” she said grimly. Karim followed her downstairs. She found she was acutely aware of him behind her. She wished they hadn’t been interrupted, but she was glad of his presence - however non-warrior-like - as she opened the door. It seemed strange to be opening the back door for someone. Since it opened onto the concrete pad that served as a yard, only residents came through it as a rule. The were-fox matriarch Lisichka stood in front of Freya.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
WERE-FOXES ASK FOR HELP
The rest of the weres hung back, to Freya's relief. Lisichka spoke at once, not waiting for a formal greeting.
“Freya. Good. Is your mother home?”
When Freya answered in the negative, Lisichka looked momentarily distressed - an unexpected expression on her stern face.
“In that case, let me ask you. Have you powers of summoning, or better still, of childbirth? You are descended from your namesake, are you not?”
Freya didn’t know what to say.
“Er. I can do a little summoning. Water summoning, like Tammy. I don’t know anything about childbirth. You’d need a midwife for that, wouldn’t you?”
Lisichka tapped her foot impatiently.
“Of course, I’d prefer a midwife,” she snapped. “But finding one in this small town who is able to deal with those of us who are not mundane is not possible today. The one we usually use has travelled South for training. If you have summoning, then that is better than nothing. Come now. This is for your sister, you understand.”
Freya’s mouth dropped open.
“But... but she only told me she was pregnant a couple of nights ago. She wasn’t even showing. She can’t be having a baby already!”
Lisichka nodded once.
“Indeed. And that is the issue. It is far too soon, and she is not a were-fox as we are. We had thought that as the descendant of a fertility goddess, she would be able to overcome the problems of crossbreeding. We had pinned our hopes on it. But now she is in trouble. Don’t waste more time - come.” She transferred her gaze to Karim, her face turning sour.
“Leave your cat-boy here.”
Karim gazed back at Lisichka with equal dislike.
“That doesn’t seem wise for her,” he said. “Since your young hooligan friends tried to lynch us on Friday night.”
“They will not touch Freya tonight,” Lisichka replied icily.
“No, since I’ll be going anywhere she does,” Karim reacted angrily.
Lisichka transferred her gaze to Freya.
“If you want to help your sister, come now. There is no more time.” Ignoring Karim completely, Lisichka turned away, clearly expecting Freya to follow her.
Freya looked at Karim.
“It’s my sister,” she said. “I have to go if she’s in trouble. Even though I can’t see how I can help. But - maybe I should leave a note for Mum.” There was a notepad in the hall. Freya scrabbled around the kitchen drawer, looking for a pen, and eventually came up with a pencil. Halfway through writing the note, the lead broke.
“Fafnir’s teeth. That will just have to do. I hope she sees it - I’ll put it on her bed.” Freya suited action to words, grabbing her boots as she raced down the hall again, and stuffed her feet into them without doing up the laces. Lisichka was back over the fence now. Freya considered her options, then went back through the house, out the front door and around it to the back once again. Now was not the time for heroic fence-leaping. Getting caught halfway over the fence, which seemed the likeliest outcome, would just slow her down. Karim followed her without comment.
The weres set off as soon as Freya appeared, half-jogging up the cliff path. Not up there again, she thought. However, they veered off before Freya was too much out of breath from the fast pace they set, and took a path away from the cliffs half-way up. They followed a narrow trail that Freya wouldn’t have considered a proper path, had she been walking there in the usual way. It was too narrow, more like an animal trail. It wove around some small shrubs and through tall, rank, end-of-season vegetation before disappearing under a weeping willow tree that sat down in a hollow. Ducking under its low hanging branches, already bare of leaves, Freya saw the last of the were-foxes disappearing through the dangling branches on the far side of the tree. She followed. On the other side, a large cottage stood within with a well-kept garden, bursting with late season blooms. A small ornamental pond took pride of place.
Mum would love this garden.
Lisichka waited for her by the door.
“Did you expect a hole in the ground?” she asked acidly, as she took in Freya’s astonished expression. “We are not simply foxes, you know.”
Freya hastily schooled her expression as she stepped inside. Lisichka led the way to a bedroom at the back of the cottage. She looked at Karim at last as she paused by its open door.
“You stay out here, since you’ve ignored my wishes by coming along,” she ordered. “The rest of the family are in other rooms. You are not required in this room, and your presence here is unwanted. Understand, cat-boy?” Taking his assent for granted, she swept in, beckoning for Freya to follow.
Even given the surmises she had been making as she walked, Freya was astonished when she saw Tammy crouching, white and sweating, on the bed. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach. A strawberry-blond male were-fox stood beside her, stroking her back. He looked up as Lisichka arrived. Tammy didn’t. She emitted a low moan.
Freya stopped in the doorway. She didn’t know what to do in this place, or what she was expected to do for her suffering sister. Lisichka saw her hanging back, and gave a peremptory gesture to come closer. Freya wondered how Tammy could stand having this woman order her around. She’d never been one to take orders well. However, since Freya couldn’t think what else to do, she gingerly approached her sister.
“Tammy? What can I do?” Tammy didn’t reply, but put out a hand, which Freya took. Tammy squeezed her hand hard, then whispered.
“Get Mum. She might help.”
“But Mum’s not home!” Freya said, despairing in the face of this pain-ridden Tammy, a Tammy she didn’t recognise without her light-hearted smile. Lisichka appeared in her peripheral vision.
“I will send the cat-boy for your mother. You try summoning. Nehalennia is the one you want.” Lisichka named a Germanic goddess of the North Sea. Freya recoiled, recognising the goddess who her mother had blamed for the loss of their house to the sea many years ago.
“But I’ve only done rivers. Small rivers,” she prot
ested. Lisichka shrugged.
“I assume you want your sister to live. So try.” She turned away towards the door, presumably to try and order Karim after Freya’s mother. Freya, looking at her back, noticed that her shoulders - no, her whole posture was tense. Perhaps she was not as unfeeling as she appeared. She’d come to find Freya, after all. Another moan from Tammy claimed Freya’s attention.
“Tammy, they’re telling me to summon Nehalennia. She’s a sea goddess, salt won’t banish her. I don’t even know how to call her. What do I do?” Her question was almost a wail.
Tammy looked at her, eyes dull with pain.
“I don’t know, Freya,” she whispered. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Please try, try something.”
Freya thought, frantically. She was descended from a fertility goddess, too, and most fertility goddesses were associated with childbirth - it went with the territory, so to speak. It just wasn’t something Freya had ever been particularly interested in. She’d assumed if any of them ever had a child, it would be in a hospital. What did sea-summonings have to do with childbirth - or miscarriage? What safeguards should she use if she tried to summon a sea-goddess? She couldn’t think of anything that tamed the sea or changed its nature. Unless...
“Can we go outside?” Freya requested. “Into the garden? Also, I need a magnifying glass if you have one.” After the man at Tammy’s side and Lisichka exchanged a look, Lisichka nodded. The man lifted up Tammy bodily, and Freya noticed that Tammy’s skirts were stained with blood. She looked away, feeling sick. Lisichka disappeared for few minutes, and returned with an old-fashioned school-classroom type of magnifying glass, round with a short black handle.
Karim had gone from the doorway when Freya walked through it. She hoped he’d gone to get her mother from work, though part of her resented being abandoned. Freya felt woefully under-qualified for any of this.
The ornamental pond in the garden would have to do as a water source, one that might help her to call the more unfamiliar sea-goddess. If she listened hard, Freya could hear the sound of the not-too-distant sea. The man carrying Tammy set her down by the pond’s edge. Freya snapped a twig from the hanging willow, earning a glare from the were-foxes. She drew a circle around both herself and Tammy. It was hard to make the circle show through the grass with the bendy twig.