Baby

Silently, she raised her fearful eyes to Baby. How did she do it? Baby’s slight head nodded. Netty understood. She looked at Wil and saw color returning to his face, his breathing normal again. Little by little, he began to focus.
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    “Netty, what are you doing here? Snakes—watch out. ” Wil jumped up, looking for Baby. Snatching him up, he searched his tiny body for bites. “I saw you get bit, Baby, we need to get you to the doctor.”
    “No, Wil. Please sit down. You have been badly bitten.”
    “Netty, I’m fine.” Realizing the truth of what he just said, he sat down, bewildered. “Yes, I’m fine.” His voice faltered with astonishment. He looked at Baby. “Baby’s fine, too. How can that be?”
    “Wil, I don’t know how to tell you this.” Netty felt calm; the acceptance of her power inevitable. Wil stared.
    “Did Baby do something or did you, Netty?” He gaped at her exposed tail.
    “Wil, you were dying. Baby stayed by your side, but for some reason I don’t understand, he is unable to heal you. Not just you but people in general.”
    “It was you, Netty? You healed me?” Wil’s continence reflected a broad canvas of conflicting emotions. “What does this mean?” Wil again looked at her tail. As he approach, he squatted down, haltingly touching the tail. It was warm and firm to the touch. If you set aside who the tail belonged to, it did not look remarkable except for the bulbous tip and the amazing golden shine of the fine fur, yes, fur on her tail. Fur. Just like Baby’s. His brain refused to accept the impossible. His mind reeling, he flopped down in the dirt with Netty. Holding her hands, he looked into her eyes. Her changes were impossible to ignore. The glow in her eyes pulsed deeper, with a new intensity.
    Pressure and brain auras flashing, the assailing whisper returned.
    “Brother, you will be Elder. Together, we will be Elders. It is forbidden, but done is done. I shall ask the Womb to forgive. Sister did not know; her control alluded her. We will wait for you to join us. Do not leave. I am pleased, Brother.” Baby shuffled over to Wil, bobbing all the way. He climbed up on Wil’s lap, stroking his face, his tapered leather fingers, feathers of affection. Wil nuzzled Baby, wrapping his arms around him.
    “It’s all right Buddy, I’m not going anywhere.”
    Wil turned, assessing Netty’s calm demeanor.
    “Can you please tell me what all this means before I go officially nuts?”
    “I don’t actually know that much, Wil. I know my appearance turns me into a freak, but I don’t feel that way. I guess Baby means you will change now, just the way I did. I am pretty sure you will also develop a tail and have the same ability to heal. I am confused about why I should not have healed you. Baby tells me very little.” Netty wrapped her arms around Wil.
    “Please, Wil, can we go back to the cabin and sort this out there?” The three of them clung together, unaware of the large timber rattlesnake mother quietly slithering closer, her aggressive stance meant to protect her live born young.
    As they rose awkwardly, Netty inadvertently stepped close to the aggressively coiled timber rattlesnake mother.
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    Startled out of her deeply emotional discourse by the sound of a warning rattle, Netty stumbled and fell, coming face to face with the rattlesnake. The protective mother instantly struck her in the face and again on her arm as her hands tried to fend it off. Wil picked up his nearby rifle and with a wicked thrust, brought the rifle down on the snake’s head. The snake slithered quickly back toward the rocks, her head partially smashed with one eye crushed.
    Immediately, they detected the heavy odor of sulfur as Baby and Netty both raised their tails, directing their life saving power to the snake. Dumbfounded, they watched the snake freeze in place, shudder, then calmly continue to her nest in the rocks, a beautiful vibrant, fully healed mature female.
    Wil looked at Netty, now standing with her hands to her face. Slowly she lowered them, running her hands along her arm where she was bitten. Not a mark on her. Just like Baby.
    Wil scooped up Baby without a word, Baby’s head swiveling all the way around to watch the snakes. Wil took Netty by the hand and led them all to Maggie and the wagon to take them back to the cabin. They rode home in silence; the only sounds the clopping of Maggie’s hooves and the reassuring rumble of the wagon’s wheels on the rutted