Page 81 of Moon Chosen

“What did you do with the fern?”

“It’s right here.” Sora picked it up from where she’d set it amongst the fragrant flowers.

“Put it in the center of the clearing.” While Sora did as she was told, Mari positioned herself in front of the Goddess, opened the tinderbox, and lit both clumps of sage. “This one is for you.” She held it out to Sora, who hurried to her and took it eagerly.

“Now what?”

“Back away from me several paces so that we both have room to move.”

“How’s this?”

“Good. Okay, this is how Mama described it to me when I was just a girl. Moon needs to know who her Women are, and like Earth, Moon appreciates beauty. So, we’re going to introduce ourselves to Moon by dancing the pattern of our names over Earth in the moonlight.”

Sora’s look of nervousness changed to a pleased smile. “Really? I introduce myself as a Moon Woman by dancing?”

“Really,” Mari said. “So, your feet are going to dance out the spelling of your name, and while you’re dancing hold out the smoking sage stick. It should swirl around you, mimicking your pattern. Do you know why I brought sage instead of another dried herb?”

Sora swirled the lit stick around her and coughed softly. “Because it makes a lot of smoke?”

“No, I think that’s just a nice coincidence. When you eat it, sage has vast healing properties, especially for women. Oils from its leaves can cure many ills. And when it is dried and burned, its smoke cleanses. It’s good for new beginnings. Like tonight. Mama had me dance with a smoking bunch of it a lot like this the first time I introduced myself to Moon.”

“I think I understand. Is there anything in particular I should do while I dance—I mean, besides following the pattern of my name?”

“Mama, what do I do while I dance my name?”

“Just be filled with joy, sweet girl. Show Moon how happy her future Woman is to be dancing an introduction. Dance all around the clearing—cover it with smoke and laughter and your unique beauty.”

Leda’s words drifted with the smoke around her. Mari smiled through the tears that trailed down her cheeks. “The only thing you need to do is to be happy. Show Moon how happy you are to be Her Woman. And use the entire clearing to dance. Fill it with smoke and dancing and happiness.”

“I can do that. When do I start?”

“Start with me.” Mari lifted her clump of sage, and then visualizing herself tracing the pattern of an M, she began to dance.

It was difficult for Mari to let go. More than ten winters had passed since she’d first introduced herself to Moon. Then she had been a giggling girl, her small bare feet twirling the pattern of her name in the lush earth, dancing with her mama to fill the clearing with happiness, fragrant smoke, and love. At first her movements were stiff, awkward even. But as the clearing filled with eddies of drifting sage smoke, and as Sora’s breathless laughter accompanied her movements, Mari began to find comfort in the familiar path of her name. This she knew. She also knew the clearing. It was a safe place—a part of her home. It was her place with Mama, where she’d been born and grown up, and finally where she’d buried Leda. Her feet traced the pattern of her name through the fragrant blue flowers, and Mari felt the stirring of something that wasn’t joy—not yet—but it was at least a letting loose of enough sadness, even if temporarily, that she spread wide both of her arms. Remembering the happiness she and Leda had filled the clearing with, Mari danced.

Suddenly a shriek was heard in the distance—feral and hate-filled—shattering the peacefulness of the grove.

“Oh, Goddess, no! Don’t let them get me.” Sora ran to Mari’s side and clutched her hand.

Mari’s gaze went to Rigel. The canine was still lying by the Earth Goddess idol. Except for his pricked ears and his sharp, distance-seeking eyes, he appeared to be relaxed and unaffected by the shrieks.

Mari felt the tension in her shoulders relax. “They’re not threatening us. They don’t know we’re here, and even if they did it would be almost impossible for them to make it through the brambles,” Mari said, adding, “Who are they?”

“Our Clansmen. They’re why I’ve been hiding in that tree.”

Another shriek echoed over the first one, coming from a different direction.

“Do you know where they are?” Mari asked.

“That first one, no. The second one, I have a good guess. Sounds to me as if he’s coming from the direction of my burrow. Or, what used to be my burrow until a bunch of them destroyed it,” Sora said grimly. “It’s not just during the night that they’re mad. They frighten me. I had to run from themduring the day.”

Yet another shriek sounded, closer than the other two.

“Is that coming from the direction of the tree I was hiding in?” Even in the moonlight Mari could see Sora’s face had paled. She met Mari’s gaze. “Do you understand how bad it is?”

“I have no doubt that it’s bad. I heard the shrieks last night, too, but it sounded like only one man,” Mari said.

“Well, it’s not. It’s all of them. All of them that are still alive anyway. Mari, I know you don’t care about the Clan, and I’m not going to pretend to be as honorable and loving as your mother was, but if someone doesn’t start Washing the Night Fever from them soon, there will be no Clan left.”