Long as I can remember, my Ma always told me the same thing.
"Watch out for Buddy Boy," she would say in a low voice.  "He's
trouble on two legs."  Then she would laugh, a sharp cackle that made
goosebumps up my back.

    She'd never explain who Buddy Boy was.  "You'll know him when you
see him," she'd say.  "You'll know from the way he looks at you, like
a wolf staring at his prey.  If you're not careful he'll eat you alive
and spit out the bones."

    Ma always talked like that to me.  I'd listen to her 'cause she
was wise in her ways, managing to make a living out in the woods from
town.  Most folks would shun her when she went for food, but she was
always in church every Sunday in Cheneyville.  Said it kept her in
good graces with the Lord for her misspent youth.

    'Suppose that meant me.  She was just 18 when I was born, unwed,
never knew who my pa was.  Ma would never talk with me about it, even
when I needed to know for school.  "They don't need to know who it
was," she said.  "Bring nothing but more trouble."  Even the principal
Mr. Harvey didn't press when Ma told them that.  They didn't want
trouble, no way.

    Ma did her best for me, though.  She'd do jobs for folks in town,
sewing, cleaning, cooking.  Sometimes she'd tend the gardens while the
Cheneys and the Bordelons were vacationing, keeping an eye on the
place.  Folks might not have liked her, but they would admit Ma was
honest and kept her word.

    Summer's heat was pouring down in the afternoon.  Ma was sitting
on the porch, doing some needlepoint.  I wanted to head down to the
creek for a swim, the only way I could cool off.

    "Ma, I'm gonna run to the creek and do a little swimming."

    "Be back by sundown," she said to me.  "Use the path through the
woods, over by old man Wilson's place.  Just watch yourself, Buddy
Boy's been lurking about."  She said it matter-of-fact, like she knew
for certain.

    "I'll watch out, honest."  With a quick step I headed out the
gate and down the path, looking more towards that swim than anything
else.

    Took about an hour's walk, but finally I made it to the creek.
Not much water there to swim in, the heat's been fierce and a lot of
farmers have been watering crops as best they could.  Still, I took
advantage of what I had, wetting myself down and letting the cool
water soak my skin.  Felt good, a slight breeze making it feel even
cooler.  So good that I lay down in the grasses on the bank, taking a
nap.

    The chirping of crickets woke me up.  Looking up at a darkening
sky, I realized that it was late, later than it should have been.  Ma
was going to kill me for being this late.

    Gathering up my stuff, I started back down the path towards home.
The dimming light made the trek more difficult, shadows creating
illusions in the trees.  I'd been out at night before, but my nerves
were jangling wildly like a banjo being plucked.  Something, or
someone was out there in those shadows.

    I kept on going, best I could.  Sometimes I'd stumble, and manage
to catch myself.  Then another trip, this time making me spill into
the dust and dirt.  A groan came from me, as I picked myself up and
brushed as best I could.

    "Welladay.  Whatcha doing out here at this time of evening?" The
voice made me spin around.  Sitting on a trunk near the path was a
stranger.  I didn't recognize him at all, from the short sleeved shirt
to the Levis.  He looked at me, however, smiling an odd smile.

    "Lis'bet's child, ain'tcha?"  He said it more as a statement than
a question to me.  "Rachel, right?"  At my nod, he smiled again.

    "Betcha got a lot of questions, don'tcha?"

    I nodded again, cautiously.  "I might. . . Buddy Boy."

    With that, he gave a loud whoop, slapping his knee.  "Hah!
Lis'bet taught you good, she did.  She's a sharp one, always was a
fast learner."  He gave an odd smile, then winked.  "Betcha you'd be a
fast learner too.  Especially 'cause of what you are."

    My nerves were jangling again, but I ignored it.  "Learn what,
Buddy Boy?  What you taught my Ma years ago?  What made her what she
is, what made me what I am?"  For some reason I wanted to find out
more now.  Maybe to get the answers I wanted to hear.

    He looked at me again oddly, then laughed.  "Yep, you're a fast
learner all right.  Faster than your Ma.  She always had the Blood,
but you, you've got more than that.  You got spunk.  I like that.  You
got nerve.  Like that too.  Tell you what, you come to the edge of the
woods at midnight, and I'll teach you a little.  Not there, I'll leave
you be."  He stood up, walking into the woods.

    "Remember, midnight."  His voice drifted off into silence.  I
stood there, looking at the spot, then shivered.

    I raced the rest of the way home.  Ma was waiting on the porch
when I came out of the forest path, looking worried.  When I reached
the gate, she called out.

    "Was beginning to worry about you.  Trouble?"

    I shook my head.  No reason to tell her, not yet.  "No trouble,
Ma.  Just slept at the creek and forgot."

    "Just be careful.  Don't want to get caught by Buddy Boy."

    The evening passed quickly, Ma going to sleep early.  I lay down
in bed, but my nerves were still jangling.  Nervous, worried, afraid,
wondering.  Finally I couldn't stand it and got up, looking out the
window.

    I kept thinking I'd see a ghost light in the forest or something,
but all I could see was the path, moonlight streaming down.  It seemed
bright, warm, comforting.  I sneaked a look at the clock, and saw it
was five to midnight.  I opened the window quietly, and slipped on
out.

    Just as I reached the edge of the woods, he appeared.  "Figured
you'd be curious," he merely said.  "Come with me."

    We walked into the woods, the only sounds being the crunching of
leaves under our feet.  I didn't know how long we walked, but finally
he stopped when we reached a clearing.  There, he turned around to
look at me.

    "What do you know of nature?" he asked, his eyes glowing
slightly.  "What do you know of the way of life, of animals and
plants, of the cycle of the world?"

    His questions confused me, making me shake my head.  "Dunno what
you mean, just that things are the way they are."

    He smiled softly, then looked intently at me again.  "Listen to
me Rachel.  There are those who are able to do a little more in this
world.  Those who can touch the world and sense it, even make
themselves a part of it.  Your Ma could do that, and so can you.  That
is what I want to teach you."

    His words puzzled me even more.  "What do you mean, become a part
of it?"

    That odd smile came back on his face, and he placed his hand on
the top of my head.  "Let me show you, then."

    There was an odd feeling in me, then it felt like I lost control
of my body.  I fell forward, landing on my hands and feet.  But my
arms stretched out, becoming longer.  I could see my fingers pull
back, becoming more like hooves.  My body shuddered again, then I felt
my neck stretching out, my face and head rearranging.  It wasn't
painful at all, the odd jangling sensation I'd had all evening the
only thing I could feel.  There was a wave of dizziness, then I
blinked as the jangle faded.

    I tried to look around, and was surprised at what I saw.  My
body, what I could see of it, was a deer now.  Every part of me had
changed, from my sight to smell to hearing.  Things were sharper,
moreso than I could ever remember.

    Shaking my head, I gave a soft sound, that being the only thing I
could say now.  Buddy Boy stood close, nodding in appreciation at me.
"Like I said, you're a fast learner.  Your Ma took a lot longer to
adjust to that.  Not that she wasn't as fast as you before she left."

    His words sounded strange in my ears, but they echoed in my mind.
I wondered just what I would do this way, being a deer, then he
chuckled softly again sensing my thoughts.

    "Learn what it's like for a while.  You know how to change back
inside you.  Once you've done it, you'll never unlearn it.  Like
riding a horse, you'll always enjoy it."  He winked, then his form
blurred before my eyes, falling to the ground and reshaping into a
tall buck.  He winked at me once his change finished, then walked off
towards the woods again, his message clear to me to follow.

    We wandered about for the rest of the night as deer, nibbling the
grasses, drinking from the creek and otherwise being what we were.  My
mind drifted off, aware of what I was but not caring.  Once or twice I
caught the sound of hounds off in the distance, and we'd wander off
deeper into the woods.

    Finally as the sky started to hint the day, I found myself
wandering at the edge of the woods.  Buddy Boy was nowhere around, and
I panicked for a moment.  Then something inside of me reached and took
control, my body shaking violently as it rearranged back to human.  I
gasped for a moment, then got up shakily.  Realizing how late it was,
I quickly snuck back into my room and into bed.  I managed to doze off
for a bit, then was shook to wakefulness by Ma.  "Wake up, lazy.  Got
chores to do.  Then you can go back to sleep."

    Mumbling, I got out of bed and dressed, then headed out into the
yard.  But before I reached the door, Ma grabbed me by the shoulder
and looked at me.

    "You've seen Buddy Boy, haven't you?  Don't lie to me, I can
tell."

    I nodded slowly.  "Yes, Ma.  Saw him yesterday on the way home
from the creek."

    "You stay away from him, you hear?  He's the devil, and I don't
need him getting you."  With that, she headed out to the shed to feed
the chickens.  Me, I went to get water for the horses, afraid of what
Ma might think if she knew about last night.

    For a week it went on.  I would sneak out at night, meeting Buddy
Boy in the woods, and he would show me more.  One night we were hawks,
flying high over the woods, learning what it was like to fly.  Another
night we became foxes, romping through the brambles chasing after each
other.  I learned more about what I could do, his voice and thoughts
guiding me.

    "Never forget, you can be whatever you want to be.  A mouse, a
sparrow, a cat, a dog.  You could be a tree in the woods, a breeze
blowing the trees, a mist drifting about.  Whatever it is you desire
to take in form, you can take.  Always, under your control, as you
wish, when you wish."

    Late one night, just before I was going to sneak out, Ma came
into the room.  From her look and her breath, she'd been drinking a
little too much again.  She looked at me with a wild glance, then
slapped me hard.

    "Bitch!" she cried out.  "You've been seeing Buddy Boy, haven't
you?  I told you to stay away from him!"  She slapped me again,
sending me across the bed whimpering.

    "Damn you bringing him into this house.  I ought to beat you
until you can't sit for a week.  Teach you not to disobey me again, do
you hear?"  She was in a rage, screaming at the top of her lungs.  She
raised her hand again to hit me, but another hand grabbed hers and
spun her around.

    "Why don't you take it out on me, instead?"  Buddy Boy glared at
her, his eyes drawn tight in anger.  "Why don't you hit someone who'll
hit you back instead of our daughter?"

    Ma flew into a rage at that, beating on him repeatedly.  "Why?
Why did you come back here?  Why did you have to take my daughter?
Damn it, she's mine!"  Her cries became incoherent, still pounding on
Buddy Boy repeatedly.

    He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close against him.
"Why shouldn't I come back to you, to her?  She's mine just as much as
you, and she needs to know.  She needs to know who and what she is.
Just as you've known but haven't told her."

    Ma started crying, sobbing against his shoulder.  He kept holding
on tight to her, murmuring softly while looking up at me from time to
time.  "Lis'bet, you can't hide what she is forever.  Not from her.
I'd find her again no matter where you'd go, she's my flesh and blood
as well."

    "You're not going to take her," Ma said between sobs.  "You're
not going to take her and toss her the way you did me."

    He lifted her chin and kissed lightly on the lips.  "I didn't
leave you, Lis'bet.  You left me.  And I'm not here to take her, I'm
here to teach her.  Teach her about her heritage."  He paused, then
looked Ma in the eyes.  "I am here to take you, though.  You've lived
alone for too long now.  It's time for us to be together again."

    Ma looked at Buddy Boy with alarm.  "I'm too old," she started to
say.  Instead, he placed his fingers on her lips.

    "Come with me, Lis'bet.  Let me show you again."

    Ma looked over at me, visibly torn.  "I can't leave her," she
said.  He nodded, placing his arm around her shoulders.

    "She'll be safe.  I give you my word on that.  You won't lose
her.  Now come, Lis'bet.  Come."

    She walked slowly with Buddy Boy, still crying softly.  I watched
them leave the room, then went out to the front door.  At the gate,
they paused and looked back.

    "I'll be back, Rachel," Ma called out.  "I will be back."
Then they both walked to the forest's edge, disappearing into the
darkness.

    It'd been two days now since they left.  Since then I had been
taking care of the chores, as it's what Ma would expect from me.  That
afternoon, I went into town to get some food, just to be sure there
was enough when they came back.  On the way back, I took the path
through the woods, just as a shortcut.

    About halfway through, I spotted a pair of foxes scampering
about.  One of them caught sight of me, then gave out a sharp yip.
The other looked up as well, both of them peering curiously at me.  I
smiled softly, giving a wink at them both.  "Dinner will be around
sunset," I said quietly.  "If you want to show up."

    They both scurried off into the bushes, then one poked it's head
out at me, giving another soft yip before disappearing.  Chuckling
softly to myself, I went off homewards.  Dinner was going to be
unusual, definitely.