Tigresse trotted through increasingly rough terrain. The sun was nearing the horizon and the fitful breeze was getting chilly. Rounding an outcropping of rock, she came upon a lean, coppery-skinned man riding an Appaloosa.
The horse shied as it saw her, rearing and screaming. She leaped back to avoid being struck by its flailing hooves. The rider, startled by his horse’s panic, was thrown from his saddle. He hit the ground rolling and came to his feet, staring at her.
She backed out of the reach of the panicked horse and shapechanged.
”Please, m’sieur. I need your help,” she said.
The rider stared for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision. “Jimmy Rainbird. I’m a deputy with the Shoshoni Sheriff’s Department. How may I help you, Great One?” he asked.
”My name is Antoinette Duval. I need for you to call the Defenders. They are in the city of Chattanooga in Tennessee, but I do not know the comm unit number for them. I think you will have to get it from FORCE, but they are not calling the Defenders for me. I asked, but they did not. So somehow you will have to get the number from them and call the Defenders yourself. Tell them that Tracker is in trouble. I am following him and we need their help. Tell them where this place is and that I am going that way. Please?” Her fingers pleaded with him. She swayed on her feet, weak with hunger and exhaustion.
”I will tell them. How far must you go, Tiger-Woman?”
”I do not know. I must go now,” she said, starting to turn away.
”Wait! I have food, if you are hungry.” He opened his pouch and unwrapped a lump of pemmican.
”Ah, oui! Thank you!” She took the food with shaking hands. She ate as though starved, forcing herself to take small bites.
He thought rapidly. “Tiger-Woman, I could take you over two hundred miles in your direction, while you rest, if you will let me.”
”That is a lot to ask.”
”I would count it an honor to serve you, Great One.”
”Then, oui, and thank you, m’sieur.”
He took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders. “I know a man, just over this ridge. I will borrow his truck. Come, Tiger-Woman.” He picked up his hat, brushed it off and settled it on his lank, black hair, then checked his holstered pistol. “This way.” He whistled for his horse, which came readily, though still acted skittish. He started to lead the way, looking back to see if she followed. She turned and stumbled. Releasing the horse, he managed to catch her before she fell, lifting her easily in his arms. “Think you can ride a horse?”
”I don’t know, but oui, I shall try,” she answered.
Rainbird lifted her into the saddle, where she gripped the horse’s mane and hung on tightly as he led the horse up the rise.
About twenty minutes later, he reached a small house beside a dirt road. He lifted her from the saddle and set her on her feet on the porch. Knocking on the weatherbeaten door, he called out, “Billy? You here?” An older, heavyset man opened the door. “Billy, I am following the spirits and I need your truck.”
The other man nodded silently, glancing at Antoinette. “I felt the fire of her coming,” he said, holding out a key.
The Indian deputy took it. “Take care of my horse until I return?” The other man nodded. “She needs food and I need to call the station and tell them that I am taking emergency personal leave.” The other man nodded again, and disappeared into the house. The deputy turned to her. The jacket gaped open in her shivering grasp. “Would you like clothing, Tiger-Woman?”
She shook her head with a small smile. “It would be of no use to me, once I left your truck.”
“Let’s step inside so you can warm up and I can make my call. While he was on the phone, the older man came back with a sack containing sandwiches of bread and meat and a jug of milk, along with a brightly-patterned blanket. Setting the sack down, he unfolded the blanket and held it out for her. Gratefully, she wrapped it around her shoulders over the jacket and smiled. Finishing his call, the deputy picked up the bag with a nod of thanks and turned to her. “This way, Tiger-Woman.”
He led her to a battered, dust-covered pickup truck parked at the side of the house. Opening the door, he helped her into the passenger seat. The truck started readily and he backed it out onto the track. The older man, watching from the porch, raised his hand in farewell.
After ten minutes on the rock-strewn track, they reached a paved highway. He pulled off onto the shoulder and opened the package of food. “Eat as much as you want, Great One.” She took the food gratefully, letting the jacket fall open as she raised the jug of milk to her lips. He reached out and turned on the heater, adjusting it to fill the cab with warmth, then pulled onto the highway and accelerated. Antoinette ate hungrily until the bread and meat were nearly gone.
”Thank you, m’sieur,” she said, folding the paper around the last of the food. She put it, and the empty wrappers, back in the bag, then put the bag on the seat between them. She settled back on the seat, resting. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as he drove. Within minutes, she was asleep.
She woke slowly, reluctantly, to a gentle shake of her shoulder. “Oui? What is it?” she asked muzzily.
”The road now goes either north or south, Great One. I can take you no further on your path.”
”Thank you, my friend. You have been a very great help to me.” She sat up, stretching and yawning. Glancing out the window, she saw towering mountains surrounding them. They sat at an intersection. The moon rose from behind a mountain over her shoulder. “The warm air, it feels so good.”
”I have more food for you, Tiger-Woman, if you want it.”
”Oui, thank you. The next meal may be a long way off.” She took the bag. On it were the words, ‘Qik-Stop Food and Gas’. She opened it and began eating, sharing it with the deputy.
”What do you search for, Great One? If I may know,” the deputy asked, breaking the silence.
”Tracker, my good friend was taken from me and I go to find him and get him back.”
”Who took him?”
”I do not know. All I know is that he is somewhere that way and that his life is in danger.”
At last, Antoinette said, “I must go now.”
The deputy went around and opened the door, taking her hand. She swung her bare legs out, sliding down to stand beside him. “You will tell the Defenders?”
”Yes, Great One, I will, as soon as I get back.”
”Thank you again. I am in your debt, my friend.”
He shook his head. “You owe me nothing, Great One. Serving you was its own reward.”
She smiled up at him. “You are a good man, Jimmy Rainbird. Thank you.” She put her arms around his neck and kissed him, a deep, lingering kiss full of gratitude, then backed away. Her body blurred and the great tiger stood in her place. She rumbled deep in her throat and butted her head gently against his thigh, then turned and bounded off into the darkness. He got back into the pickup and started off.
