Mother Page #2

I wrote this story for the girls. If he has hurt you, you know this feeling.

• Fiction

								

“Devil take you!” He’d scream. “Let him take you and return my Bella!”
No. He didn’t deserve her shame, or her mourning.
Resolute, Perdita took the whiskey Solomon kept encased in a dazzling crystal bottle with a matching stopper, and smashed it against the estate walls. A stray shard had bounced back and sliced her clean above the brow, a testament to her resolve that her father would always hurt her if she allowed it.

	Solomon was a large man, not in his gut, but through his stature. When he entered the room, his presence demanded attention as he ducked below the doorframe. 
“Perdita! My sweet little niece! I’m ecstatic to finally spend time with you after my long and tiring journey.” He offered her a box of chocolates that she remembered tasting like coffee. She remembered how gentle his smile was. How warm his hug made her feel, and how delicately he brushed the hair from her eyes as if she might break. A friendly giant. But a giant, still.
 And nobody tells a giant what he can or can’t do in his home. 


	“Wake up, mama. Ya said we can pick walnuts today!” 
Perdita felt a woven basket being pressed to her head. She groaned and pulled the animal pelt cover over her face
“Mama,” Nadia dragged out the word with an upward inflection while continuing to poke the basket against her mother's form beneath the blanket.
“You promised…”
	It was silent for a moment before Perdita burst from the bed and let out a roar as she scooped up Nadia in her arms and playfully threw her onto the bed. Nadia squealed and kicked as she was planted with kisses and tickled under her arms. 
“You’re right, I did promise. Did you already go pee and poop?” 
“Yeah!”
“And you washed your hands?”
“Obviousy, mama.” 
Nadia spoke with sass, placing a hand on her hip and leaning forward with her lips pursued into a puckered expression. She was five now, so she knew how to use the bathroom by herself like a big girl.
“Okay, Didi. Let Mama get her stuff, and then we can go.”
	Perdita grabbed the dagger she’d made from buck antlers during her first winter here. She’d found the antlers by the river and assumed they’d been shed by a young deer passing through. Either way, the antlers proved to be a sturdy and reliable weapon. 
“You have the basket?” 
“Yup! Let’s go, let’s gogogogogo!”
Nadia spun around in circles with her arms out as she sang her little song happily. Perdita laughed and did a few spins before reorienting herself towards the direction of the walnut tree. This trek didn’t have a path like when going towards the river, so the two had to step carefully through thickets and climb over fallen logs along the way. Usually, the two could make it there and back before lunch.
“There’s the tree tree tree!” Nadia lept for joy before skipping towards the walnut tree. 
“Remember, Didi. Only take the ones that have already fallen off. We still have a month to go before the whole tree is ripe.”
Nadia sang an acknowledgment at her mother as she ran around the tree searching for her prize. Perdita joined her, plucking several early walnut fruits from the ground and tossing them into the basket before making herself comfortable beneath the tree. She leaned against the trunk and watched her daughter hunt, occasionally pointing out a walnut that she’d overlooked. 

“Look, mama!” Nadia extended her palms outward. Her little hands were stained green and yellow. “My fingers are sticky!”
Perdita acknowledged her daughter with a smile.
“A few more and you’ll turn completely green.”
Nadia jumped enthusiastically “Green!”
 Closing her eyes, Perdita inhaled deeply. A gentle breeze tickled her cheek as she fought to ignore the throbbing in her jaw.
“This damn cavity,” she thought to herself. “Is going to be the death of me.”
“Mama.” 
Nadia’s voice had become quiet and trembling. Perdita opened her eyes and saw the cause: a cougar crouched low and unmoving nearly ten yards away. Its golden eyes were fixated on Nadia as it took a swift step forward. 
“Nadia. Don’t move.”
Perdita moved achingly slow. Using the tree for balance, she carefully pushed off the ground and removed the knife from her clothing. She felt her heartbeat pulsating in her head, fingers, and toes as she carefully pulled her daughter between herself and the tree. With every small movement they made, the cougar matched it with its own little wiggle or step. Perdita gripped the knife tightly, holding it out between her and the predator.
Time slowed as she locked eyes with the cat. She knew that this creature could easily kill her with its claws alone. Even if she managed to kill it and survive, all it’d take is one bad infection from a bite to kill her. Nadia would be alone, and she wouldn’t be happy like Perdita had been when her father died. Nadia would know that feeling of mourning that never surfaced within her mother. Something primal stirred within Perdita’s heart. 
“Didi, stay behind me.”
 She didn't recognize her own voice. It was slow and unwavering. Her words oozed like venom from a snake’s fangs, ready to strike. 
The cougar wiggled its hips in response to her challenge. It adjusted its body weight through tiny micromovements of the tail before bracing itself and lunging. Nadia shrieked, followed by an explosion of noise that struck the cougar mid-run, sending it rolling sideways. Perdita had no time to process what had happened before a voice called out.
“Good God! Are you gals alright?!” 
	A man stepped forward, rifle ready, aimed at the predator as it yowled and wriggled in the dirt. Perdita stood unmoving, frozen by the sudden appearance of this stranger and his weapon. Blood poured from the Cougar’s shoulder as it struggled to stand up.

“Watch out, I think it’s comin’ back!” the man warned. But the Cougar instead turned tail and limped away into the brush, admitting defeat to the stranger. The man let out a breathy exhale.

“Oh sweet Jesus, that was a close call. What even are ya’ doin' all the way out here?”
	The man paused, suddenly noticing the women's clothing now that the immediate threat was gone. 
“Hold on, are y'all lost? Do ya need help? I’ve got a camp a couple of miles back. I can take you,” the man said, taking a step forward as he spoke. In response, Perdita shifted to face him. She took on the same stance as before, keeping Nadia behind her and the knife between the man and them. 
“Oh, woah! Hold on, now, I don’t mean any harm.”
	Sweat trickled down Perdita’s back as she steadied her now trembling hands.
“Mama, who is that?” Nadia whispered, poking her head from behind her mother to get a better look.
“Hey, sweetheart. My name’s Buck. You can call me Bucky if you like.”
“Like the boy deer?” Nadia leaned forward a little further. 

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