Juliet's Law (18 page)

She looked at the gun, remembering her sister's instructions about the safety, and she saw that it was on. She switched it off. Held the cold, heavy weight of it in her right hand. Her heart was pounding as she went to the door of the cabin and pulled it open the slightest bit.

The mountain lion bawled out a miserable cry, and she wished, desperately for another answer. “I don't want him to die,” she said. “I hate this.” Tears filled her eyes, her throat, her heart.

Juliet thought of her sister, tracking the poor beast all night long, tirelessly, all through the dark, snowy forest, cold, hungry, smarting, putting herself in danger to either save or put the animal out of pain. She pulled the door open and stepped on to the porch. The lion made a loud, agonizing sound, and she saw him on the ground, unmoving, as if he were dying.

The dogs howled, as if warning her or sending out a call to the other wolves, to the pack that no doubt paced restlessly in the runs at the sanctuary. They were so close to the dying mountain lion that she couldn't take a chance on firing from this distance.

It was dark. Her heart filled her throat, and tears ran down her face, making it hard to see well. She halted and steadied herself. It was important to forget herself and her fears right now, to act as Desi would act, to be selfless for the sake of the animals.

For
this
animal, who had no one else but her right now.

This wild, beautiful creature, stained and dirty with its travails the past few days lay on the ground, unable to move, and looked up at her. Its yellow eyes were full of
misery, and Juliet almost felt as if the creature asked for release. She held up the gun, steadied her hand, and fired.

It lay still. Sitting Bull sat back on his haunches and lifted his nose to the sky, letting go of a long, singing howl. In the distance, the other wolves answered. Their cries rolled into the still night, as if to accompany the spirit of the mountain lion home, and Juliet, overcome, sank down beside the beautiful creature and wept.

And she would never tell a soul, but she swore she felt the animal's spirit move through her, in her chest and through her belly, velvety fur and fierce paws permeating her very cells, becoming one with her.

“Thank you,” she breathed.

Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, sensing her sorrow, came over and lapped her face. She stood up. “Come on, guys, let's go inside.”

 

Josh drove up to the land an hour later, to see the lights were on inside, though he could see no sign of humans or dogs. It was the low, flickering light of a fire, and when he went inside, he found Juliet and the dogs lumped in a pile around the fire, all fast asleep.

He would have come sooner, frantic as he'd been with the sounds he'd heard over the phone, but it had taken some time to get hold of his mother, and he couldn't risk dragging Glory to a scene of mayhem.

But there was no mayhem. Relief, deep and wild, bolted through him, making his legs weak, and he sank onto a chair. One of the dogs had some blood on his face, and he could smell the lingering scent of over-wrought wolf in the rooms, but for the rest, the scene
was peaceful. Maybe he should go and let her sleep in peace.

Except—

She lay there so sweetly asleep in her nest of dogs and blankets, looking like the only thing he'd ever want again all his life. The soft tumble of her hair, shining in the reddish light, the curve of her shoulder, her pretty mouth. Voluptuous and wounded and strong and somehow innocent in spite of everything.

He fed the fire and took off his boots, then crept close and touched her arm. “Hey,” he said quietly.

She opened her eyes. “Hi!” She blinked sleepily, peered at him with some confusion. “I told you everything was okay. You didn't have to come all the way up here.”

“I know. I needed to make sure.”

She blinked sleepily. “It was the lion,” she said, drifting away.

“A lion?” He pictured the king of the beasts, roaring on the African veldt.

“Yes. I'll tell you about it in the morning.” She shifted, pushing Tecumseh to one side. “Do you want to go to sleep with me?”

“Yes,” Josh said, and took off his shoes and climbed in beside her. It was sudden and surprising and there were a thousand reasons not to fall in love, but it didn't appear he had a choice. He never wanted to sleep in a bed without her in it ever again.

When he settled beside her, she eased across the slight space between them and tucked her head into his shoulder. “Just right,” she said. “Just right.”

I
n the morning, Juliet took Josh outside the back door to see the mountain lion. He squeezed her hand. “My mother is going to have some things to say about this.”

“Did I do something wrong, do you think?”

“No way.” He shook his head. “Let my mother talk to you. She's the medicine woman.”

Juliet felt a sense of peace, looking that still body. In memory, she could hear the agonized cry, the wish for an end to pain. “Not sure what a person is supposed to do with such a thing.” She looked up at him. “But it doesn't feel like an accident.”

He made no comment, letting her find her own way through her thoughts.

“It was such a profound experience, and I'm not
sure what it all means yet, but I did figure out a lot last night, Josh.”

“Like what?”

“I've been paralyzed by fear the past year, and I'm tired of it.”

“It's normal, Juliet. People—”

She held up a hand. “Wait. I know it's normal to take some time to recover from a trauma. What's been hard for me was not the trauma itself, but the fact that I'm a good girl. I follow the rules. I did everything right and something terrible happened to me.”

He nodded, listening. “Right.”

“And now something terrible has happened to Desi, who doesn't deserve it, and—” She took a breath. “I just want to help her. Help other women like her, but I don't want to do it in a big, lonely city anymore. I'll find a way to serve women and the law here.” She bit her lip. “I hope that's okay with you.”

“It's very okay with me.”

“I know it's soon, Josh, but I've fallen in love with you.” She faced him, put his hand to her face. “It feels like I knew you before, that I've just been waiting for you.”

He bent and hugged her, sighing. “Me, too,” he said, and Juliet felt his voice through his chest, in her ear.

Juliet felt the losses and tensions and terrors of the past year suddenly flow out of her. Josh was home. “I love you,” she said.

“I love you, too.”

“How are we going to handle Glory?”

He chuckled. “I suspect she'll just handle us.”

Juliet laughed. “I suspect you're right.”

“Come on, let's get to town and report this, and go see Desi so she doesn't get too depressed.”

Juliet nodded. She whistled for the dogs, and turned to find them sniffing something on the front step, a black shape. Tecumseh picked it up politely and carried it over to Juliet, depositing it at her feet with a happy grin. “Good dog,” she said, automatically.

When she saw what it was, a blast of insight burned through the cobwebs in her brain. “Desi didn't kill Claude,” she said. “The blood came from the altercation they had the other morning, remember?”

“Of course!”

She pointed to the dead raven at her feet. “And this is the third or fourth raven Desi has had on her porch. She thought it was Claude. Obviously it wasn't.”

“We have to find out who it is.”

Juliet nodded. “Yeah. We do.”

O
n Monday morning, Juliet drove her rental car down the muddy road to town to pick up her sister at the jail. The judge had set a $10,000 bond, secured by the land, and had apologized that he couldn't make it lower, but there was pressure on him from other sources, too. He also dismissed a request for an injunction by the now-deceased Claude Tsosie to force Desi to sell half the ranch.

Desi looked tired and pale when she emerged, but she came right to Juliet and hugged her hard. “I'm so proud of you!”

“For what?”

Desi laughed. “For the mountain lion. You did the right thing.”

“Did I? I was so scared, Desi, but I was trying to think what you would do.”

“Josh took the lion's body to Helene, and she's going to help you make a medicine bag if you like.”

“A medicine bag?”

“She'll use some of the fur and the teeth and claws. The lion came to you, and you took care of her, and you have earned the right to call her your totem.”

“My totem?” Juliet said in a whisper.

“Lion medicine,” Desi said, brushing back her sister's hair. “You look like a lion, you know. You always have.”

Juliet felt a press of emotions in her throat. She thought of the feeling of the lion moving through her, the breath of the creature in her lungs, and she promised herself she'd never speak of it. But it appeared she did not have to. “Thanks.”

Desi punched her. “Pretty powerful totem, kiddo. I'm impressed.”

“I didn't do anything, Desi. I tried to think what you would do.”

“You were very brave, Juliet. You faced a situation that was way out of your league and handled it very well, with great compassion and empathy. The cat chose you. Don't dismiss it.”

“No,” she said, and it seemed she could feel the lion's heart within her. “No, I won't.”

They walked into the bright day and Desi stopped on the sidewalk, and tipped her face up. “I wanted to die in there,” she said quietly. “I can't go back. I
can't.
”

“I know.” She took her hand. “We will not let it
happen. I promise.” She smiled with her secret. “Come on, let's take a little walk up to Josh's house. Glory wants to tell you something.”

“What?”

“You'll see.”

The day was clear and busy, the sky arching like a turquoise balloon over the little town. As they passed the path that led to the shrine, a black-winged butterfly floated dizzily through the air. “Amazing how they live through the winter,” Juliet said.

“The natural world is a great thing.”

In quiet they walked up the street and down to Josh's house, where Glory waited on the porch in a fuzzy red coat, wearing a crown. “Desi!” she cried and flew off the porch into Desi's waiting arms. “I'm so happy you're out of jail!”

“Me, too, kiddo!” Desi kissed the little girl's cheek. “I hear you have something to tell me.”

“I do! Where's my daddy?” Glory wiggled and Desi put her down.

Josh came out on the porch, and Juliet met his eyes, feeling as if the sun expanded to twelve times its size. He took his daughter's hand.

“Guess what?” Glory said.

“What?” Desi asked.

“My daddy is going to marry the princess!”

Desi shrieked. Literally, happily shrieked, then covered her mouth, and hugged Juliet so hard she thought her ribs would break. “Finally,” she said, “a plan that worked out!”

“What plan?”

Desi laughed. “Never mind.” She held out an arm to Josh and Glory. “Come on, let's have our first family hug!”

They embraced, Glory in the middle, Josh and Juliet side by side, Desi and Juliet hugging. Jack barked happily from the porch, then dived down the steps and slammed into Juliet's legs.

Juliet could not remember being happier and thought it was impossible to feel more until Josh leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I love you,” and gently, sweetly, kissed her ear.

She raised her eyes. “Me, too.”