Stranded With The Snow Leopard

by Jade White

  Kim frowned. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to not scare him in the future.”

  Rusty dismissed the apology, “Don’t worry about it. The lil mite is shy as a marmot. His mom coddles him to no end. He’ll get over it.”

  Kim laughed. “Kids usually do, don’t they?” She headed towards one of the shelves with a dusting cloth in hand. “I’ll get to work; you go home and have a good day, Rusty. I’ll call if anything happens.”

  “You better,” he said, pointing a wizened finger at her. “If that crazy ex of yours shows up, you call Tony, you hear? Junior can clobber him until Tony shows.” With that he left the store, the forlorn sound of the cowbell ringing in the empty place.

  Kim busied herself with restocking and dusting the shelves for the majority of the day. Junior made himself useful by bringing out boxes for her to unpack and place the product on the shelves. He smiled shyly at her whenever he came into the front of the store with a fresh box for her to open. He didn’t speak. He wasn’t able to. He communicated through an improvised sign language which Kim picked up rapidly, and he wasn’t as dull as Rusty made him out to be.

  Junior was born deaf and mute, but in a rural culture, many people equated it with being mentally challenged as well. Back in the 1970s when Junior was born, there were no proper social services for rural First Nations bands, so the parents of disabled children were left to fend for themselves in the best way that they could. Rusty and Betty loved their son, but, due to his deafness, he couldn’t find a mate nor could he hunt. He explained all this to Kim through his special sign language. The pain of being constantly excluded was etched all over his face.

  “When I first shifted,” Junior motioned, “My parents were upset. My coloring wasn’t what it should be. It wouldn’t blend in to the forest. I couldn’t hunt. Mix that with my deafness, and the band wrote me off.”

  Kim felt bad for the man. The fact he chose to teach her how to communicate with him, made her realize how much trust he had in her. After years of being shunned and abused by the local community, Junior had shut himself away from everyone both emotionally and physically. He lived in the basement of his parent’s house, and when he wasn’t working, he was reading all the books he could get his hands on.

  Junior stood over six feet seven inches tall, dwarfing the petite five foot three Kim. They worked together and chatted as they did their jobs for the day, and began to form a budding friendship. Junior was adept at lip reading, unbeknownst to the community, so he was well aware of the stinging contempt they threw at him.

  The low ring of the cow bell announced the first customer of the day. It was almost three in the afternoon, an unusual time for the first customer to arrive. There was usually a slow trickle throughout the day beginning at opening. Kim got up from the floor and strode towards the cash register. Junior silently moved to the back, where he was most comfortable when customers were around.

  Kim stopped short. On the other side of the counter, with the biggest fake smile on his face, was her ex. Smiley. The stench of his unwashed body filled the store. His lank black hair hung in greasy straggles behind his dingy baseball cap.

  “A pack of Number Sevens, please,” he requested with a smirk.

  Kim trembled behind the counter, eyes wide, absolutely afraid to turn her back to the man who wanted to kill her. If she turned away would he shoot her in the head? What was she to do? The phone was a few feet away, her cell phone was tossed in the break room because it wouldn’t stop buzzing and it was distracting her at work.

  “Umm... could you repeat that, please?” she shakily asked, her voice quavering in terror.

  “I said, you dumb bitch, a pack of Number Sevens. I can’t believe you don’t remember the brand I smoke. I was going to be merciful and shoot you in the back of the head so you wouldn’t see it coming but...”

  Smiley was cut off as a huge black and white mountain lion pounced on him. Kim ran for the phone and punched in the number to the police station. “Tony, Tony! Smiley’s here in the store, Junior has him tackled...well, I think it’s Junior...”

  Smiley hammered at the giant feline with the handle of the 9mm he had in his hand. Junior, not used to the pain, backed off, while shaking his head. Smiley scrambled to his feet and bolted out the door. Junior regained his senses and bolted after him before the door to the store slammed shut. Junior used his superior scent of smell to pursue Kim’s ex but was greeted by the smell of exhaust fumes and the vibration of an engine rumble through his paws.

  Damn, Junior thought to himself, bastard must have had a four wheeler or something. He padded back towards the store, shifting back to his human form as he reached the door. He opened the door and noticed Tony was there taking down Kim’s statement. Junior looked at Tony, nodded in greeting and went back to the storeroom to read his book.

  Kim was hyperventilating at the counter. Tony put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll get him. It looks like he’s getting bolder. With boldness, he’ll start to get reckless. Just keep coming to work. He knows Junior is here and you aren’t alone, so he won’t risk that again.”

  “Yeah. Junior saved my life,” she replied. “Just that, now I really don’t want to walk home alone tonight.” She looked at Tony, pleading with her blue eyes. “Mind if you walk me home again?”

  Tony perked up. “Sure. If it makes you feel safer, I don’t see a problem. I’ll be here at closing time. I need to go file this paperwork.” With a grin and wave, he jauntily stepped out of the store and practically skipped to the police station.

  He opened the station door and sat down at his desk. Tony pulled open the cabinet that held Kim’s file and added the latest complaint to it. He closed the folder and put it back in the desk, leaned back and thought for a minute.

  He wasn’t going to take advantage of her this time. Hell, he didn’t even plan on it the last time, it just happened. At least Rusty explained to him why she was so easily influenced by the pheromones. Since he and Keith have gone unmated for so long, they have become more and more potent as they aged. She needed to choose between them, so, if she took the lead this evening, why not.

  He sat down at his desk and wondered if Kim was going to want him to spend the night. In a way he wanted to, in a way he didn’t. He really needed to settle down, but he did secretly hope that she chose Keith. He loved having the freedom of a wandering tom.

  He surfed the net while waiting for the general store to close. He sat and played some Facebook games and was jarred by the ringing of his desk phone. He picked it up and greeted the person on the other end.

  “Constable Tony Underhill, how may I help you?”

  There was dead silence on the other end of the line. Tony guessed it was Smiley trying to scare him. He smiled to himself and leaned back in the chair as he kept the receiver to his ear.

  “You know, Smiley, one day you’re gonna fuck up and I’m gonna be there when it happens.” He growled to the man on the other end of the phone. “You keep poking around these parts and you’re gonna get bit.”

  A ghostly chuckle rang out from the other end of the line before a click closed the connection. Tony slammed down the receiver as he stood up. He looked at the clock on the wall and noticed it was getting near closing time for the general store. He grabbed his keys, walked out of the door and locked it behind him.

  He walked towards the general store and watched the lights in the window blink off one by one as Kim shut down for the night. Rusty strolled up to the store to do the final cash count for the night, and he looked up in the clear night sky.

  He looked down, saw Tony and waved as he approached. “The stars are looking good tonight. We need to start preparing for the mating ceremony soon. The younglings who are about to go through their first shift need to go through their purification rituals in the next two weeks.”

  “I thought the mating ritual wasn’t for another few months?” Tony asked.

  “Ah yes, well you know, each youngling needs his or her own night
with the elders. We need seven days to recover from the ritual, so it will be skirting the time of the mating ritual. We have plenty of time. I need to focus on the younglings. Betty is preparing the girls. Luckily, we have two this year. Maybe we’ll keep them.”

  Tony frowned. “Let’s hope. I don’t want Trevor Wildhorse and James Pine to be stuck in limbo like Keith and I have been.”

  Rusty nodded. “Let’s hope. Betty is doing a good job with the girls. I need to get in here and get the cash sorted. I guess there was some sort of ruckus here earlier, eh?” Rusty’s white braid almost glowed from the quarter moon shining down.

  “Yeah, Junior chased him off. I need to keep a better eye on Kim,” Tony replied grumpily. “That Smiley jackass is becoming too bold.”

  “Yep, he is. He’ll get bolder, too. It’ll all end up alright. Don’t worry.” Rusty reached up and patted Tony on his shoulder. “We’ll talk soon.” With that, Rusty entered the store to count the cash for the day’s sales.

  Tony decided to wait outside for Kim in the clear night air. He listened to the love songs the crickets belted out to attract a mate of their own. Tony began thinking to himself as he waited for Kim. Maybe settling down wouldn’t be such a bad idea, he mused. He did enjoy the bachelor’s life a little too much. Sometimes he’d head on down to the nearest big town, rent a hotel room and grab a woman for the night after hitting the bar and getting completely wrecked. It wasn’t behavior becoming the head of the band police, but sometimes, he needed to let loose. Being one of the few rocks the band clings to in times of trouble starts to wear on a person, and he needed a safe place to let it loose.

  His reverie was broken as Kim exited the general store. “Hey! Thanks for coming.” She greeted him, her face beaming from ear to ear.

  Tony’s grim face lit up. “Hey! Yeah, not a problem, that’s what I get paid for.” Even if he didn’t get paid for it, he’d still walk her home.

  They strolled through the cool night air. Being located so far up in the Canadian Rockies, the air was thinner and didn’t retain the day’s heat as well as in the low lands. Kim timidly reached for Tony’s hand, still somewhat shaken from the events that transpired earlier that day. She needed reassurance and comfort. She hoped Tony would give it to her. Keith was out of town for the weekend for a tech seminar to learn to improve the band’s online connectivity. The simple duplex satellite modems were beginning to frustrate the town. So she had none other than Tony to turn to during Keith’s absence.

  They reached Kim’s house, and she unlocked the front door. She looked up at Tony and smiled. “You know, with Smiley out there somewhere, I might need someone to stay over, because you know, he knows where I live and all. “

  Tony grinned. “I have no problem with that at all. Let me head over to my house for a min to grab a few things.”

  Kim smiled and opened her door. “Sure, I’ll be here waiting.”

  Tony waved and sprinted towards his house. He hoped at least some of the items he wanted to pick up were still good. It had been a while since he had used them.

  *

  Kim jumped up and answered the polite knock at the front door. She was greeted by Tony’s smiling face as she opened up the door.

  “Hey!” Tony greeted her as he stepped into the modest house, “Told you I’d be quick.”

  “I wasn’t worried that you’d ditch me,” she said with a grin. “I grilled up some deer kebabs for dinner. All I had was some ground deer and I was tired of burgers.”

  Tony’s mouth was watering at the thought. “That sounds awesome. Never thought of making something like that. I can’t wait to try it.” He put the non-descript bag he was holding down beside the couch, out of Kim’s view. If he did manage to get lucky tonight, he had a few surprises up his sleeve, and he hoped she would enjoy them.

  Kim busied herself in the kitchen with the final touches for dinner. It was 9 pm and she was starving. “Sorry for it being so late, I usually eat at this time when I work. Rusty doesn’t have a microwave for our use so I don’t bother eating much when I’m there.”

  “You know, you can use the burrito microwave. I don’t think he’d care,” Tony said from the living room as he grabbed the remote and began to channel surf.

  “True, never thought about it that way,” Kim mused as she placed a spoonful of basmati rice on Tony’s plate and garnished it with two spicy venison kebabs, and put a few slices of cucumber on the side of the plate. She harvested the cucumber the day before, so it was pretty darned fresh. Most of her garden was ready to go, actually; she’ll need to talk to Betty soon about getting help with canning it all.

  Of course his mouth was watering for another delicacy. He promised himself he wouldn’t make a move unless Kim made one first. Their initial encounter was probably pretty lack luster for her. It was so quick, and fierce. He couldn’t help himself at the time, though. Her mere presence drove him up the wall. It was quite some time between trips to the city, so he had months of build-up waiting to be let out. None of the other local women would let him near them after a few fell pregnant and Rusty pointed a wizened old finger at him as the sire.

  Kim walked in with a plate loaded with aromatic food. Tony’s stomach grumbled as he realized he hadn’t eaten yet, either. He voraciously devoured the food that was set before him, washing it down with gulps of cool water between bites.

  “Mmff... sorry,” he apologized between mouthfuls. “I forgot I didn’t eat either and I’m starving.”

  Kim smiled at him. “It’s not a big deal. Glad you like it.”

  They sat and ate in silence after that, considering there wasn’t much to be said between them at that point. Kim got up and cleared the dishes from the coffee table as the ten o’clock news came on. There was a report of a fire in a near-by township.

  Tony had known about it, since it came across the radio scanner at work. No one in the house survived. He was requested to go over to the scene to help the RCMP do an investigation because it was another isolated Cree band, that didn’t have a police officer of their own yet. It was probably the worst carnage he had ever seen. The deceased family comprised of three little girls, their parents and a dog and a cat, all perished in the conflagration.

  As Tony walked around the scene, listening to the RCMP officer and fire marshal go over the details of the fire, he caught a whiff of gasoline and an unwashed body. He put his hand up to silence the two as he made a b-line directly towards the empty gas can that was hidden in the bushes just off the back yard of the smouldering house. The fire marshal dubbed it arson right then and there, and a criminal investigation was launched. Tony provided Smiley’s name as part of the list of suspects to investigate, since he hadn't been apprehended yet, and provided evidence of his ongoing harassment of Kim.

  The RCMP investigator thought it was a long shot but he would follow up on it.

  Kim sat back down next to Tony, interrupting his ruminations of the day’s events. “Hey, let’s watch something else. This news is pretty depressing.” She grabbed the remote from Tony’s strong hand.

  Tony grunted in agreement. He didn’t need to relive the day’s events a second time. He stretched his long arms across the back of the futon as Kim leaned back. She flicked through the channels and found a late night talk show for them to watch.

  Kim placed the remote down on the coffee table and settled in to watch the monologue of the comedian that hosted the show. She and Tony chuckled at the jokes and pointed satire that he read off of the teleprompter. Kim placed her dark-haired head on Tony’s lean, muscular chest as the spectacled comedian concluded his monologue, causing his heart to start drumming in his chest, and his manhood to surge to attention.

  Kim still had the ‘good girls don’t’ mentality in her head so she coyly began to send signals to Tony to show she was interested. She placed her hand on his thigh, she really didn’t know of any other way to initiate yet, so she went with the tried and true method.

  She was still a little emotionally shaken up b
y Smiley’s impromptu visit at the store earlier that day, but she might as well take advantage of Tony being there. She felt his tension as she snuggled next to him. She wondered what was going on in his head to cause him to feel so tense. Yes, their last encounter was a bit rushed and rough, but she didn’t get upset over that part. She was more upset at herself than Tony after they slept together the first time. She felt awful that she didn’t have a chance to explain it to him during the intervention type visit Rusty held.

  Tony shifted his weight away from her and turned around and looked her straight in the eyes. His piercing dark gaze held hers as he tried to formulate what he was trying to say to cause the least amount of offense and his angular face was creased in concern. “I don’t know what kind of signals you’re trying to give out. I felt bad last time because I thought I misread and I might have...”

  “You didn’t. I was madder at myself for allowing myself into that kind of situation. I wanted it,” she reassured him.

  Emotion flooded Tony’s normally stoic face as he took Kim’s face gently in his hands and leaned in for a kiss. His tongue danced across Kim’s velvet lips as it sought admittance to her sweet mouth. He gently caressed her arm as he drew her closer to him.

  Kim opened her mouth and returned Tony’s kiss with one of her own. Their tongues danced together, one smooth, one rough as they embraced on the futon. Tony reached up and folded his hand in Kim’s long, dark tresses as they kissed passionately.

  Tony’s other hand moved under Kim’s red t-shirt and fondled one of her breasts through her black lace bra. She moaned into his mouth as she felt his hand graze her pert nipple through the lacy fabric of her bra.

  Kim decided to take the lead and unbuckled Tony’s blue uniform pants. Tony stiffened up and moved her hands away. “It’s okay, you don’t have to,” he whispered. He narrowly avoided her touching his rigid dick. He wasn’t sure how long he would be able to keep himself contained if he felt that soft hand stroke his manhood; that and he didn’t want her knowing how much mountain lion showed through the human facade when one mated. There was plenty of time for that once she got used to the idea.