Olivia (58 page)

“No hard feelings,” Tobi said, looking flustered.  “I like you and all.  It’s just…Vorgullum…and…well, look, we don’t need a fucking narc or anything.”

“I’m not a narc,” Olivia protested.

Glances passed from woman to woman, and when they had all run their course, Amy finally nodded.

“Bad idea,” said Tobi, sheathing her knife.  “She’ll rat us out.”

“Oh, she will not,” Tina said crossly.  “Sit down.”

“Is something wrong?” Olivia asked, finding a place to sit among the women, some of whom were still obviously mistrustful of her presence.

“Very,” said Amy.  She held up her wrist and tapped the surface of her sports watch with a grim expression.  “Outside, it’s the middle of December.  Dead winter.  No campers, not a whole lot of game, Christmas season in the city, so it’s not safe to be stealing into town anymore.  We’re running out of food.” 

“I’ve noticed short rations,” Olivia said tentatively, still wondering why she hadn’t been invited to Tobi’s big secret meeting.  “But I’m sure there’ve been hard winters before.  We just have to trust that they know how to get through them.”

“Oh they do,” Amy agreed, nodding politely.  “They do it by laying aside barrels of their godawful bread mix all year long, except that this year, they ate it all because their hunters were too busy taming humans to hunt.  The storerooms are almost empty, and they may have to last us until April.  At this point, they aren’t going to last us until February.”

“And believe it or not, we humans are eating best of all,” Anita put in.  “Especially the pregnant ones.”

“No, especially fucking Mojo Woman!” Tobi hissed.  “Stuffing her fat face!”

Mojo Woman.  At the mention of the name, all heads turned as one to Olivia.

Olivia sighed, running her hands over her belly.  “I get it.  I complain about Mojo Woman and Vorgullum will probably have her put…somewhere.”

“She’s not pregnant and she’s got Grunn scared silly,” Tina said.  “He’ll probably chuck her off a cliff.  Vorgullum is entirely out of patience with all her stupid nonsense already, and if he had any idea just how bad this is, he’d put a spear through her first.”

“Like that’s such a bad idea,” Tobi grumbled.  “But okay, fine.  No one wants to kill anyone,” she said in an overly placating tone which she addressed to a scowling Tina.  “We just want her to start sharing.”

“Sharing?”

“Hunters don’t have to share the kills they make on their own,” Tina explained.  “And since we went to short rations, Grunn hasn’t.  Everything he gets goes to Mojo Woman.  Mojo Woman in turn parcels out what she feels like sharing to that little cult she’s got going.”

“Cult?”

“Oh you better believe it,” Tina said, nodding.  “Welcome to the Church of Mojo, membership growing daily.”

“Are you serious?”  Olivia looked from one solemn face to another, stunned.  “How many gullan are we talking about?”

“Three hunters, about ten other males, and maybe six females.  But that’s three hunters too damn many,” Amy added darkly.  “That leaves twenty-eight gullan and three humans to hunt for the whole tribe.”

“She took over two other lairs already and she’s got them filled!  And guarded!”  Tobi pointed furiously down the hall as if Mojo Woman would materialize at her command.  “I say she’s building an army!”

“For what?” Olivia asked, baffled.  “Even if she managed to overthrow Vorgullum, who does she think is going to be the new leader?  Grunn?”

Amy snorted.  “Oh, I’m sure she’s got someone building her a little crown or something.  I can see it now: Mojo Woman, Queen of the Bat-People.”

“The point is,” Tina cut in severely, “that if Mojo Woman actually makes a move in that direction, all hell is going to break out in this mountain.  There’s no way—”

“No fucking way!” Tobi amplified.

“—that Vorgullum is going to go down easy.  The man is a mountain.  But even if Mojo got her loyal hunters to tackle him in a dark corridor and kill him, the rest of the warriors of this tribe would rip their stupid heads off before the body got cold!”

“Doru will kick her ass!” Tobi added, nodding.

“Doru will kill her ass,” Tina corrected.  “Doru will also kill anyone else who was involved, and unfortunately, one of those three hunters Mojo’s got serving her is Burgelbun.  And Burgelbun has a human mate, and Sarah B. is pregnant.  Now I’m not a hundred percent sure he’d kill her—”

“But I’m not entirely convinced he won’t, either,” Sarah B. countered.  There was no obvious concern on her face or in her voice when she said it.

“And that’s just what would happen if Vorgullum actually was killed,” Amy finished.  “God help them all if they try and fail.  This is not a fun, forgiving culture we got sucked into.  That man of yours will not hesitate to slaughter every male, female, or human even remotely associated with a revolt.”

Olivia was uncomfortably aware that this was probably true.  “What are you thinking you’re going to do?” she asked at last.

“Kick her ass!” Tobi cried.

“We have no idea,” Tina translated.  “But the longer we let it go, the worse it’s going to get when the shit finally hits the fan.  The thing is, if we confront Mojo, she’s not going to go down quietly.  We’re afraid to provoke her as much as anything.  I mean, three gullan saw Mojo spit through her stupid fist at Judith and tell her she was going to die, and guess what?”

“Oh Jesus,” Olivia said, startled.  “Do people actually think she killed her?  With magic?”

“You bet they do,” Amy said.  “‘Okie-dokie artichokie, now you die.’  And then she did.  That’s tough to argue with.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Miss Good Mother, but they are real big on magic around here.” 

“And we can’t…tell the truth,” Liz said in a small voice, and Tina patted her on the knee distractedly.

“And for God’s sake, we can’t let Vorgullum know about this,” Amy insisted.  “We don’t dare tell any of our fellas, but least of all him.  Look, I’ll be honest here, I really don’t give a rat’s ass if he gives Mojo a flying leap off a high ledge—I’m sorry, Tina, but I don’t—but I also don’t think he’d stop at just Mojo.  He doesn’t believe Mojo’s got magic, so telling him that her loyal followers were scared of losing their souls if they didn’t obey her is going to cut zero ice with him, you know?”

Olivia took a deep breath, released it with a sigh, and nodded.  “I know.  I won’t tell him.”

“Good.”  Amy frowned.  “Because the salt of the matter is, her loyal followers are that scared.  Seeing Mojo Woman on the end of a spear wouldn’t cross my eyes any, but I think of Burgelbun getting blamed and I get sick.”

Olivia looked at Sarah B, but the other woman merely picked at a loose thread on her robe and gave nothing away.  Olivia turned back to Amy and Tina.  “So what are we doing about it?”

Now it was their turn to take deep breaths and drop their eyes. 

“I don’t know,” Tina said at last, in a soft, utterly defeated voice.  “I’d like to try talking to her—”

“Good luck on that,” Sarah B. remarked.  And when Olivia looked at her, she sighed and said, “No one talks to Mojo anymore except her most loyal subjects.  And they sure don’t talk about what she says.  It’s bad with her.  You really have no idea.”

No, she didn’t.  She didn’t have any idea at all.  Looking around at all of them was suddenly like looking at a group of strangers.  Why had they kept all this secret for so long?

And why hadn’t Olivia made it her business to check on Maria all this time?  She knew that Mojo Woman stuff was dangerous.  Guilt sank down into her stomach; Sudjummar had called her a true leader, but she’d pretty much picked the few people she’d felt like leading and let all the others go, hadn’t she?

Amy looked around into the ring of pale faces and put her hands on her hips.  “Okay, then, break it up.  We’re done for today.  If anyone gets any ideas, any ideas at all…” She shook her head in frustration and flapped her hands at them dismissively.

Olivia lingered until she was alone with Amy, Tina and Tobi and asked, “Do you really think Mojo Woman could drum up a revolt?  Honestly?”

Amy scowled.  “I do, actually, and what’s worse, I think her little fan club knows it.  They’re scared, but they’ll do it, make no mistake.  The price of one of her pieces of meat is a name in a jar full of honey.  They don’t want to serve her.  Hell, I don’t even think they want to feed her, but she’s got them convinced she’s got their souls, and when Mojo ain’t happy, it’s okie-dokie artichokie time.” 

“I thought it was funny back when she told us about blowing out Grunn’s candle,” Tina said in a low voice.  “This is so far from funny right now I could be sick.  And have you seen her lately?  Has anyone actually seen her?  Because I haven’t, not for at least two months now.  Sarah B. has a pretty good line on things from Burgelbun, who’s actually losing his fur he’s so scared of her.  And if Burgelbun can be believed, Mojo Woman looks like a bag of mud, and her hair is always cold and wet.  Burgelbun says Mojo vomits water when she talks.  What the
hell
does that mean?  What is she
doing
up there?”

“He really thinks she’s got his soul?”

“Have you ever heard of bone-pointers?” Amy answered, shoving back her bangs with a quick, angry movement.  “Aborigine shamans who punish criminals by pointing a bone at them and commanding them to die.  They always do, not because there’s anything wrong, but because they believe in the shaman’s power so fiercely that they believe themselves to death.”

“This tribe believes things very strongly,” Tina agreed.  “They have spirits, they have magic, and they believe Mojo can do the things she says she can.  And who’s to say different?  There’s no other shaman here to rival her power.”

“Well, Kodjunn,” Amy said dismissively.  “But he’s not pushing it and he’s wise not to.  If he can’t control Cheyenne, who would believe he could take on Mojo Woman?  I tell you what, if Mojo ever decides to start a war around here, all she really has to do is take out Kodjunn.  Once she becomes the sole supplier of spirits around here…”  She bared her teeth, gulla-style, and shook her head.  “And Tina’s right.  This is as far from funny as you can get.”

6

Amy’s words about bone-pointers had been floating around in the back of Olivia’s head all night when the hunters returned and inadvertently brought things to a head.  They brought with them no food, no stolen goods, no camping gear.  Doru had a backpack half-filled with nuts and pinecones, which he threw with a snarl at the nearest female’s feet.  And then Burgelbun appeared, carrying the carcass of a deer that looked like it had been hit by a car. 

For a long time, he stood in the doorway of the common cave, staring across the room at his mate.  Sarah B. sat as if carved by stone, watching him with a look that showed she did not expect and would not ask him to feed her.  Burgelbun turned slowly and took a shuddering step towards the private tunnels, towards Mojo Woman.

The vague idea of Aborigines and shamans suddenly crystallized into a plan, and Olivia called his name.

Burgelbun halted and turned back with a look of heart-rending hope.

Vorgullum put his hand on her shoulder. 

Olivia ignored him.  “Your mate can tend to that,” she said firmly.

His eyes rolled towards the tunnels.  “I promised this to Mojo Woman.”

“She has more than she needs right now.  Your mate and your child need meat.”

“Olivia, my mate,” Vorgullum said.  “This is not for you to say.”

“He is a hunter for this tribe,” she said loudly.

“He is a hunter who has promised his kills to another,” Vorgullum corrected, although he could not quite keep the disgust from his voice.  He took a moment to conquer it, then added, “As Lorchumn once promised his to you.”

She ignored the censure of his tone and kept her eyes on Burgelbun.  “You are a hunter for this tribe,” she told him.  “We depend on you.  Your mate depends on you.”

Burgelbun looked past her again to Sarah B., who waited without expression for his decision.  He shivered, dropped his voice to a mere hiss of breath.  “She has my soul!”

Vorgullum looked up.

“Well then.”  Olivia stood up, shrugging off Vorgullum’s restraining hand.  “I’ll just have to go and get it back for you.”

Burgelbun threw down the carcass and sank to the floor beside it, rubbing over and over at the base of his horns with shaking hands.

Slowly, Vorgullum rose and took two steps towards his hunter, then swung around and frowned at Olivia.  “What goes on here?” he demanded.

“Nothing that you need concern yourself with.  It’s simply time to have some chat with Mojo Woman.”  She set off down the tunnel without looking to see if she were followed.

It had occurred to her while Burgelbun had been agonizing in the doorway that Tina was right when she said all Mojo needed was another shaman in the tribe to take her down a notch.  After all, it wasn’t as if Maria really had anyone’s soul in a jar of honey, and it wasn’t as if Olivia was going to drop dead just because she spit through her fist and said
Die
.  Olivia didn’t have to do anything, really, except rob Maria of the appearance of power, and Olivia already knew that most of the tribe believed Kodjunn when he’d claimed the Great Spirit had entered her.

She didn’t like to think about that, because it always brought up the timid question of just how Kodjunn had known her surname, but Olivia didn’t have to think about that part today.  Today, she was just the woman with the Great Spirit’s blessing.  And Mojo Woman was in for a fight. 

Outside the chute leading upward to Mojo Woman’s chambers, Olivia squared her shoulders and called out a challenge.  “Grunn!  Come down, Grunn!  Come out of the embrace of that tainted being!”

A murmur rippled out from behind her, and she knew with some satisfaction that she had attracted a considerable crowd.  From somewhere among them, she heard Amy murmur, “Smart,” and Tina grunt agreement.

“Grunn!” she called.  “The Great Spirit has given me his protection and I extend it to you!  Come down to me!”

From within, a deep voice began to speak only to have the shrill scream of a human cut through it in pure rage.  “Get away from my room,
cochina
!  Grunn, you stay right where you are!”