Willow shifted, leaning on one side, her head propped up with one hand, while her book lay inside the curve of her body. Lying on the lounge chair on her back deck with the sun soaking into her skin and a cold bottle of pop beside her, Willow felt nothing but contentment. For the moment, she had no worries, no responsibilities, and nothing to mar her relaxation.
Until she heard something crashing through the forest in front of her.
Grumbling, she snapped her book closed on her bookmark and sat up properly, glaring at the area of the trees the sound was coming from. Shaking leaves and the snap of branches preceded the creature that emerged from the forest.
Taller than her by nearly a foot, its shaggy fur a reddish brown that covered the lanky limbs that ended in massive hands and feet, the sasquatch looked like something out of a horror movie. Or a family photo if you were a member of the Byron clan. She studied it for a moment, taking in the leather pouch around its neck and the brown eyes that were on her.
Willow snorted, recognizing this cousin. His features might be flatter, wider, and a bit distorted with the change, but she knew Ed in either form. She motioned for him to join her on the deck. “You don’t normally squatch out, even on weekends. Did something happen?”
His voice a low rumble in this form, Ed replied “Aunt Celeste said her and the rangers had an idea of where the poachers were, so Uncle Allistair sent me, Dean, Greg, Cedric, and Felicia to fake filming something about sasquatches. We were supposed to make a lot of noise and scare the poachers towards where the rangers were waiting.”
“Okay,” she said, stretching the word out as she quirked an eyebrow up. “That doesn’t explain you looking like this. None of us are stupid enough to actually film each other when squatching out.”
Ed sighed. “You know how those four get when they’re all together. They got into the filming, especially once Cedric put the costume on and started stomping around. And that camera’s pretty old, so the batteries started running low. They only had one extra and they sent me to get the others and the portable charger off of Aunt Katya. I got halfway back, on the trail that loops around the rock rise you’re always at, when I ran into a bear.”
Willow choked. “A bear? Like an actual bear, or was it one of the cousins?”
“An actual bear. I don’t know if it was looking for a den, had cubs, or whatever, but it immediately stared at me and started growling. So I yanked off my necklace and my ring while backing up. I didn’t want to risk the time it’d have taken to take my clothes off, so I just dropped the silver into my pouch and let them get ripped.”
She shook her head. “Please, please tell me you didn’t kill it. The last thing we need is for one of us to kill a bear and make the curse stronger, or whatever someone from our family killing another bear would do.”
“I didn’t kill her. Me changing into this form surprised her I think, so when I roared at her, she backed off enough that I could leave without worrying about her charging me. But I was definitely sweating until I was out of sight and scent of her.”
“You’ll have to talk to some of the Elders about that. You were alright, but if it’d been one of the younger ones…Well, I think it’d depend if the bear recognized them as human, bear, or both as to what it’d do. And really, we can’t take that kind of risk. I’ll ask Uncle Allistair about seeing if we can’t run the bear off into the other part of the forest. With the scent markings we’ve laid around the property, I’m surprised a bear got even that close to us.”
Ed nodded. “I’ll do that.”
“But first you need to get some clothes and get some silver on you. The last thing we need is someone making an unexpected visit and seeing you looking like this. C’mon in the house. I’m sure you can borrow some of Dad’s clothes. He won’t care. When you’re done, I’m going to lock up and head over to see Felicia and the boys. They need to know what happened and not to worry about you not coming back to see them,” Willow said, standing.
“Thanks,” Ed said. Then he grinned. “It’s really times like these that I get why Uncle Allistair’s focusing on you as his replacement.”
Willow snorted as she opened the sliding glass door that led to her kitchen. “I just did the best at the tactic testing, that’s why I’m the top candidate. I still think that Nathan would do better as the new Defense Leader. He actually wants to stay here and I have every intention of getting out of here as soon as I get the chance.”
Ed ducked his head to avoid banging it off the top of the door as he followed her inside. “You had the higher score. And you have a more…creative approach to things. If you’d just pay more attention to the younger ones and keeping everyone from talking about us, I’d think you were perfect for the job.”
She rolled her eyes. “Like it even matters. I know it’s tradition to have a Defense Leader, but I mean, come on! When was the last time anyone found out about us? The position kind of made sense way back, when we had to worry about mobs of villagers with pitchforks, torches, and all that, but nowadays? The worst thing we’ve got to worry about is getting caught on camera. Or getting mistaken by a bear and getting shot at by a hunter. And even those things only happen when someone goes on vacation and squatches out.”
Ed frowned, again forced to fold himself to avoid hitting his head as he climbed the stairs behind her. “You know we can’t take that risk. If enough people found out about us, they might decide we’re monsters. Or worse, we could be caught, and then tested and experimented on. To outsiders, we’re just a story.”
Willow made a face. “I wish we really were just a story. High school’s bad enough without worrying about turning into a giant bear-creature because I lost my jewellery.”
YOU ARE READING
Silver Bound Girl
FantasyWillow's a Byron and they aren't just your average family. Not just because there are so many of them, but because they have secrets and traditions far outside the norm. Like spending as much time outside as in, and doing everything to keep rumours...
