A boy with red hair came running up with a forked branch. People were reaching for rocks.
I can't let them, Thea thought. Rattlers were actually pretty fragile-their backbones were vulnerable. These kids might kill the snake without even meaning to.
Not to mention that a couple of the kids might get bitten in the process.
But she didn't have anything... no jasper against venom, no St. John root to soothe the mind.
It didn't matter. She had to do something. The redheaded boy was circling with the stick like a fighter looking for an opening. The kids around him were alternately warning him and cheering him on. The snake was swelling its body, tongue-tips flickering up
and down faster than Thea's eye could follow. It was mad.
Dropping her backpack, she slipped in front of the red-haired boy. She could see his shock and she heard several people yell, but she tried to block it all out. She needed to focus.
I hope I can do this....
She knelt a foot away from the rattler.
The snake fell into a striking coil. Front body raised in an S-shaped spiral, head and neck held like a poised javelin. Nothing looked so ready to lunge as a snake in this position.
Easy... easy, Thea thought, staring into the narrow catlike pupils of the yellow eyes. She slowly lifted her hands, palms facing the snake.
Worried noises from the crowd behind her.
The snake was inhaling and exhaling with a violent hiss. Thea breathed carefully, trying to radiate peace.
Now, who could help her? Of course, her own personal protector, the goddess closest to her heart. Eileithyia of ancient Crete, the mother of the animals.
Eileithyia, Mistress of the Beasts, please tell this critter to calm down. Help me see into its little snaky heart so I'll know what to do.
And then it happened, the wonderful transformation that even Thea didn't understand. Part of her became the snake. There was a strange blurring of Thea's boundaries-she was herself, but she was also coiled on the warm ground, angry and excitable and desperate to get back to the safety of a creosote bush. She'd had eleven babies some time ago and had never quite recovered from the experience. Now she was surrounded by large, hot, fast-moving creatures.
Big-living-things... way too close. Not responding to my threat noises. Better bite them.
The snake had only two rules for dealing with animals that weren't food. 1) Shake your tail until they go away without stepping on you. 2) If they don't go away, strike.
Thea the person kept her hands steady and tried to pound a new thought into the small reptile brain. Smell me. Taste me. I don't smell like a human. I'm a daughter of Hellewise.
The snake's tongue brushed her palm. Its tips were so thin and delicate that Thea could hardly feel them flicker against her skin.
But she could feel the snake drop down from maximum alert. It was relaxing, ready to retreat. In another minute it would listen when she told it to slither away.
Behind her, she heard a new disturbance in the crowd.
'There's Eric!"
"Hey, Eric-rattlesnake!"
Block it out, Thea thought.
A new voice, distant but coming closer. "Leave it alone, guys. It's probably just a bull snake."
There was a swell of excited denial. Thea could feel her connection slipping. Stay focused....
But nobody could have stayed focused during what happened next. She heard a quick footstep. A shadow fell from the east. Then she heard a gasp.
"Mojave rattler!"
And then something hit her, sending her flying sideways. It happened so fast that she didn't have time to twist. She landed painfully on her arm. She lost control of the snake.
All she could see as she looked east was a scaly olive-green head driving forward so fast it was a blur. Its jaws were wide open-amazingly wide-and its fangs sank into the blue-jeaned leg of the boy who had knocked Thea out of the way.
Chapter 2
The crowd erupted in panic.
Everything was happening at once; Thea couldn't sort out the different impressions. Half the people in front of her were running. The other half were yelling.
"Call nine-one-one-"
"It got Eric-"
"I told you to kill it!"
The red-headed boy was darting forward with his stick. Other kids were rushing around, looking for rocks. The group had become a mob.
The snake was rattling wildly, a terrifying sizzling sound. It was in a frenzy, ready to strike again at any moment-and there was nothing Thea could do.
"Hey!" The voice startled her. It came from Eric, the boy who'd been bitten. "Calm down, you guys. Josh, give me that." He was talking to the redhead with the forked branch. "It didn't bite me. It just struck."
Thea stared at him. Was this guy crazy?
But people were listening to him. A girl in baggy shorts and a midriff top stopped hefting her rock.
"Just let me get hold of it... then I can take it out into the brush where it won't hurt anybody."
Definitely crazy. He was talking in such a matter-of-fact, reasonable way-and he was going to try to pin the snake down with that stick. Somebody had to act fast.
A flash of ruby-color caught Thea's eye. Blaise was in the crowd, watching with pursed lips. Thea made her decision.
She dove for the snake.
It was watching the stick. Thea grabbed for its mind before grabbing its body-which kept it immobilized for the instant she needed to seize it just below the head. She hung on while its jaws gaped and its body lashed.
"Grab the tail and we'll get it out of here," she said breathlessly to Eric the crazy guy.
Eric was staring at her grip on the snake, dumbfounded. "For God's sake, don't let go. It can twist in a second...."
"I know. Grab it!"
He grabbed it. Most of the crowd scattered as Thea wheeled around with the snake's head held tightly at arm's length. Blaise didn't run, she just looked at the snake as if it smelled bad.