Amazon Queen

those of us gathered in the yard, coming to rest on the old priestess, her eyes still closed, her lips still moving. He padded forward until he stood next to her, then he lifted his nose and nuzzled her hand.

With a smile, she opened her eyes.

'See, the wolf, you think he comes to the crazy?'

The creature, Mel's family telios, turned eyes old and wise on me. I'd seen the priestess call him before but wasn't sure then or now if he was real or just mist gathered into his shape. His eyes were knowing. They held wisdom I knew I'd never gain, and I wished more than anything I could see through his eyes to know what he knew.

Bubbe laughed. 'Not for you, queen. Your telios is like our goddess. . jealous. Best you learn about him before you cheat with another.'

She raised her hand and the wolf disappeared, answering whether the animal was real or magic. But she had made her point, whatever had happened to her back at the camp wasn't affecting her now.

She tapped her temple again. 'Did you not feel it? The probing? Someone tried to get inside, but I hold that key close. There is too much hidden in here to let go easily.' She laughed. I wanted to laugh with her, but I couldn't; what she had said was too chilling.

'You felt someone in your mind?' I asked.

She nodded. 'Here'-she touched her temple-'but not here.' She placed her fingers over her heart. 'That was her mistake. The brain holds knowledge, but the heart. . that is what makes an Amazon strong.'

My mind whirled. The thoughts I'd had while staring down Thea. . the doubts. . they had come from nowhere.

'No priestess has such skill. We don't poke where we do not belong,' Bubbe added.

Cleo had already shared her story, or what she remembered, with us. Like Kale, that was very little. But she repeated it now.

'I was in the barn. Thea and Areto walked in. They knew something, I could tell. I acted casual, positioning myself to fight, but then'-she frowned-'I didn't want to. I didn't want to do anything. I'd been feeling lethargic all day, since breakfast, but this was worse. It scared me; I forced myself to push through, but it was like swimming through oil. I bent for a broom, to use as a staff, but I was shaky, couldn't concentrate on more than staying upright. Then someone hit me from behind.

'Falling was almost a relief. Losing myself to the darkness was too.' She looked down and shook her head. 'When I woke up, I was under the hay. I don't know if I could have escaped if I'd wanted to, but the fact was, I didn't want to. I was happy just to lie there staring at the darkness.' She walked to the edge of the woods. Her back tense, she didn't move, just stared into the shadows of the forest.

I looked at Kale. 'Did you see Padia there?'

She picked up one of the pieces of wood Mel was carving into knife handles. 'I don't know.' She dropped the wood and looked back at me. 'I don't remember what she looks like. I've tried to remember, but whenever I try to recall her, I get a blank. I can't even tell you what her hair color is or how tall she is.'

'How long were you on the council together? How many times did you meet? If you saw her, you'd know, right?'

She ran her hands down her shorts. She whispered, 'Twenty years, hundreds of times. Would I remember her now? I don't know, but I don't think I would.'

I licked my lips. She had to be wrong.

I looked at Bubbe. 'Could Padia do that? Could she wipe Kale's memory?'

The old priestess pursed her lips. 'No.'

A bit of tension left my shoulders. Whatever had happened to the two warriors, to me. . to Bubbe. . it wasn't what we were thinking. There was some other explanation, some simple one that didn't involve someone probing around inside our heads.

'But then, she couldn't convince Kale to kill those humans, make her forget what she'd done, make my daughter lose her will to fight or try to tip her toe into my head. She couldn't do any of those things. No one could, but someone did.'

I'd been worried about recognizing the enemy; now I learned she might be inside me. . or could get there.

Silence settled over us.

Mel broke it. 'What about Tess? Was she at the camp and we missed her? We missed Mother.'

I answered, 'Thea claimed she hadn't seen Tess or the baby.' Thea's other comments, her suggestion that perhaps Tess had taken on the job I'd refused, nagged at me.

'Thea lies.' Lao stood on the porch holding a tray of sandwiches.

I acknowledged her comment with a nod. I didn't trust Thea either. I couldn't even be certain Tess wasn't hidden in the barn. Despite the mess we had made, there were still plenty of bales left stacked.

'She could have been in the house,' Kale suggested.

'Or hidden somewhere else on the property,' Mel added.

Both possibilities I'd already considered. I stared at the pile of knives Mel and I had repaired. I had two missions now: save Tess and Andres and stop Padia.

Unless what Thea suggested was true. Unless Tess was on the other side. . unless she hadn't been taken, but had taken Andres all by herself.

An owl called from the distance. I searched the trees for him. Funny how I'd lived in these woods for over a decade and I'd never seen as many owls as I had in the last few weeks.

The thought pinged inside my brain like a metal ball in an old-fashioned pinball machine.

I looked at Jack. 'Where's Mateo?'

'I haven't seen him since he flew out of the barn.'

Literally. He'd seen the owl. . shifted and taken off after the creature.

'Jack, do you speak wolverine?'

The group stared at me, their expression a tad too quiet, but the son answered. 'If you mean do I understand what a wolverine wants when he makes a noise that sounds like a growl or a grunt, yes.'

'And you can talk back?'

He tilted his head. 'Communicate. Wolverines are not exactly the linguists of the animal kingdom.'

'What about other animals? Do you understand them?'

'A few, if they are close to a wolverine. . a badger, for example.'

'So, Mateo, would he understand other birds? Say, an owl?'

Jack considered the question, then nodded. 'Likely. Condors and owls are both raptors.'

'So, when it looked like he was following the owl, he may have really been following it, may have understood something it said.'

'Yes. . ' Dawning crossed through Jack's eyes. 'Wait here.' He crossed the six feet to the house in two steps. Before anyone had a chance to question our exchange, he was back.

'Athena. The goddess they are worshipping is Athena.'

I didn't know much about Athena, about any goddess except Artemis. Bubbe and Jack, however, knew a lot, as did Mel, and with the help of the Internet she was able to find out even more.

'You've never heard of her?' she asked. I could tell by her tone that she found my knowledge lacking.

'I worship Artemis,' I replied, crossing my arms over my chest. Priestesses might spend time keeping tabs on the other goddesses; warriors had other things to worry about. Or used to. Now it appeared other goddesses, Athena at least, might be something we had to worry about too. Shamed by the realization, I dropped my arms.

'Here.' Mel pointed at the computer. 'She's the daughter of Zeus.'

'Artemis's sister, then,' I noted, happy to be able to at least show that much knowledge.

'Except Artemis had a mother, Leto. Athena didn't.'

'She didn't have a mother?'

'Not one that gave birth to her. Zeus swallowed her mother, Metis, and later Athena came out of his forehead fully grown.'

I frowned. Childbirth was very important to Artemis, and while not something I wanted for myself, it was a