Apocalypsis 02 - Warpaint

fluffing her wings a little as she did.
    “Oh, crap,” said Peter, now frozen in place. “I just peed a little.”
    “Oh for shit’s sake, you people make me crazy,” said a voice from the trees. And out strode Coli, plain as day, marching over and picking Buster up in one hand and then walking over to grab the snake meat too and shove it in the dog’s mouth. The hawk just watched her go, doing nothing. Buster rode happily in her arms over to Bodo.
    “Here. Take your stupid dog,” she said grumpily, dumping him unceremoniously into Bodo’s waiting hands.
    She was walking back to the woods before my voice started working again. “Coli!”
    “What?” she said, stopping and turning around.
    “What the hell?” I couldn’t think of anything more intelligent to say, my brain still misfiring over all the unexpected action and barely avoided tragedy.
    She shrugged.
    “How did you know we were here?”
    She laughed. “Are you kidding me? You’re like a herd of buffalo. Then you’ve got goofball over there blowing on that damn harmonica all the time.”
    “How long haff you known about Nina?” asked Bodo, coming over to stand by me.
    “Since the first day you came,” she said, less sarcastically.
    “Why didn’t you say anything? Sell Bodo out?” I was so confused right now. Coli was impossible to figure out. Just when I thought I knew exactly what she was going to do, she threw me a curveball and did the opposite. She made no sense at all.
    She shrugged. “I don’t know. It didn’t seem to be hurting anyone. Plus Bodo gave me his snakes and stuff for our dinners.”
    “You didn’t belief dat I found dem?”
    “No, of course not. Not when I saw your hawk bring them down.”
    “You’f been watching me?”
    “Yeah. You got a problem with that?”
    “No. Dat’s nice. I hope you like her. Becauss if anyone here tries to hurt her, I will leaf and you will never ever see us again.”
    Coli’s face took on an angry expression. “No one’s going to hurt her. She’s beautiful. And she’s completely safe with us, I can promise you that. We respect the hawk.” She pulled something out of her back pocket and spoke more calmly. “I found this.” She held up a feather, brown with some white parts. It looked familiar.
    “Dat is from my hawk.”
    “I know,” she said softly, staring at it. “I saw it fall one day when you were working with her. I came back and found it.”
    Bodo looked at her carefully before saying, “You can haff it if you want. She won’t mind.”
    Coli smiled genuinely, the joy lighting up her face with a stunning beauty. I was struck speechless when I saw it; it was so unexpected and weird to see on her.
    “Thanks.” She turned and walked noiselessly away, leaving us standing there in the field.
    Once she was gone, Peter turned to me and said, “Have I died and gone to some alternate dimension, or did Coli just smile?”
    “No. Or yes, and we’re both there. Wow. She’s really pretty when she does that,” I said.
    “She’ss very sneaky, dat girl. I never saw her. Not one time.”
    “I wonder if she’s told anyone,” I said.
    “I don’t think so. I’ve never gotten any indication of anything going on with Bodo from anyone I’ve worked with,” said Peter.
    Bodo pulled his harmonica out of his pocket and blew out a short set of notes. The hawk looked at him and then bent down to her rabbit, tearing it apart. I had to look away to keep from feeling sick at the savagery of it. I knew it was all a part of nature, but it was a little too raw and real for me.
    “Let’s go back to the hut. I need to go calm my head before I have a stroke,” said Peter, taking Buster from Bodo. He talked to him softly, walking into the trees, murmuring scoldings and concerns for his future welfare as he went.
    “That was mind blowing,” I said, making my way through the swamp next to Bodo, following Peter on the path.
    “Yeah. You can repeat dat.”
    “You can say that again, you mean.”
    “Yeah. Dat’s what I said.”
    I tried to work on my silent walking, but quickly gave up. Coli was right. We were like buffalo.
    “I like your hawk’s name. Nina. It’s like bold and kind of badass, too.”
    “Like Bryn.”
    I smiled. “You think so?”
    “Yeah. I like dat you like her,” said Bodo, taking my hand.
    “What’s not to like? She kills snakes and didn’t eat Buster. She’s my kind of girl.”
    “Good. Because she is going with us to get dose canners.”
    I