All day at school Simi was hurting. It was a pain she had never experienced in her young life. This emptiness was a new sensation which only caused her to go inward into her powerful thoughts, trying to find a release from the loss she felt. It was obvious that Curtis was not going to see or talk to her while at school, and even in the afternoon she had learned he had gotten a ride from another senior who was driving home as far south as Madrid.

During the late afternoon she realized he was still not going to answer her calls, and this only further kindled the fire that burned in her young heart. With vindictive determination to do something about the situation, and especially to retaliate against the forces working to send her away, Simi left her house and began walking up the main street of the town. She was on a mission. To find that blue car which had followed her and Curtis the day of their romantic walk out to the riverbed. She told herself she would not rest until she either found the car or confronted the individual or individuals who had so boldly attempted to spy on them.

When just about to the edge of town she came to series of three small houses which had a sign out in front reading "Madrid Cottages. Bed and Breakfast." She had seen the old, restored houses many times, but never knew they had been recently converted to a hotel. But what brought the premises to her attention was the very car she was looking for, parked outside in one of the assigned lots.

Simi felt an anger growing inside her which she had learned over time could materialize into something significantly to her advantage or an incident vastly regrettable. She felt the desire to go into the check-in area and inquire about the people who owned the car but realized the owners would never comply with this request from a mere teenage girl. At least now she knew where the men were whom she was looking for, or at least their associates could be found. Simi remembered Curtis had told her that the group influencing his father was large, including other members of the Madrid community.

Walking up to the car and looking inside she could see a simple black and white medallion hanging from the rear-view mirror. It strangely had the emblem of a hooded man on it. Straining to read its inscription with her face to the glass, she could make out the Latin words "Domini Canes" embossed on its base. Not understanding what significance this pendant might have to the men she had seen following her and currently forcing her into isolation, she left the car for home, determined to find out that evening any connection the simple phrase might have.

After reaching her house and trying once again to contact Curtis by phone, Simi lay down on her bed. She curled up into a fetal position, trying to escape the depression she knew would engulf her later throughout the long night. While exhausted and still perplexed, she drifted off into a deep sleep and began to dream again:

. . . There was a tumultuous storm brewing over Madrid. An autumn rain with thunder had suddenly whipped up with a vengeance around the little town. Though this storm threatened to be more severe, more ominous than the seasonal freshets which would cool the warm baked earth at this time of the year. Enormous dark clouds above were beginning to coalesce into a foreboding gyre, immense in proportions on the horizon. It quickly moved overhead and began to revolve in the inky ceiling of sky. The people of the town were suddenly mobilizing, fearing the worst—a rare tornado which looked to be forming and moving steadily off the foothills of the Sangre de Christo range to the high desert flatlands where Madrid lay below. The winds magnified in strength and Simi's loyal dog Winter came in from the kitchen to be by her side. He was ever vigilant while not understanding the frightening atmospheric anomaly or the destruction it could bring.

Suddenly from gusts of the violent winds, Simi's window shattered inward, throwing glass dangerously against the walls, and causing all strewn in the room to fly about radically. Winter barked repeatedly, while Simi held his collar and knelt with him at the edge of her bed on the floor. The sky was blackening quickly, and it was obvious the massive churning of storm clouds above the village were descending, engulfing the whole town in the darkness of a "twister."

Like a flash, something came in like a bolt of tan and white through the window. It was the large mountain lion she had seen as a younger girl, and which once menaced the town. The cat had just pounced through the large broken window into Simi's room and stood staring at her, not but two meters away.

Strangely, Winter did not bark or growl, but only sniffed the air, as if to recognize the large animal. There seemed to be an unexpected familiarity between the two beasts which was eerie to Simi, yet she did not question it. The cat looked into her eyes and waited, only its ears twitching to the sounds of the tremendous winds outside.

Simi understood its purpose there. And knew she was being asked by the creature what she wished. She also knew well what exactly she wanted from it. What was to happen to certain individuals who had made her life now unbearable through separation from Curtis. The cat looked around the room vacantly and gained a composure which allowed it to sit and lick its front paw, seemingly slightly injured when it passed through the wind-smashed window. The feral cat, robust and awe-inspiring, glanced casually back at Simi and the girl just nodded—signaling a transcendent understanding between them. Winter barked once, as if he, too, was savvy to their ineffable compact. Instantly the mountain lion rose, took two silent steps away from girl and dog, then bounded back out the broken window into the din of the storm . . .

When Simi awoke, she found the window still functional and intact. Outside the afternoon sun had long ago drifted below the massive silhouette of the mountains in the distance. The dusky landscape beautifully shimmered from an early fall breeze, with no trace of anything which might upset the routine of the village. Once again she called Curtis' cell phone and once again, she felt the pangs of abandonment and loss.

* * *

After a full and uneventful night, Simi rose in the sun-drenched morning to her alarm clock. She dreaded another dismal day at school where Curtis would again be distant and actively avoiding her. Could he really not be hurting too, she wondered? Didn't he tell her his feelings were also of strong affection? As she slowly dressed and brushed her teeth, she wondered how this tall, handsome boy could just listen silently to his father and the hateful group he associated with. The questions became even more significant when she did not see him at the bus stop where they had traditionally ridden together into Santa Fe. She realized then that Curtis must have arranged to get to school in another manner, so as to avoid even this small chance of being with her.

By that evening, Simi's sultry moods had again been noticed by Gabriella and Luis. They both returned from work earlier just to have a conversation with her over dinner. They felt a need to try and pinpoint this noticeable difference in attitude.

"It's nothing mom. I'll be alright. Really! Just some stuff with kids a school."

Luis responded, trying to sound overly casual. "But we just thought you liked the way school had started this year, Simi . . . And now?"

"Yeah dad. Me too. Well . . . as you always say, things don't always turn out as we want, right? Isn't that what you've been telling me all these years?"

"Yes. But . . . you just seem really down about something. I don't know, Simi. Your mother and I just don't like to see you so . . ."

"So what? Unhappy? Well, I told you. . . I'll be fine."

"Simi? Is this about . . . a boy?"

Gabriella knew she would get a reaction from this but felt it was time to ask.

Her daughter thought for a moment. Thought of what they both would have expected her to say. How she would have avoided it or denied the truth. But as with everything else in her life, no one, including her parents, could truly expect a normal answer from her.

"Of course it's about a boy, mom! What do you think I am? Still eleven years old?"

Both Gabriella and Luis were stunned by her honesty. They remained silent. Waiting for her to add to the revelation.

She did not.

"So . . . what seems to be the problem with this . . . boy, then," her mother asked with trepidation in her voice.

"Nothing, mom. Nothing. I'm just madly in love with someone who is afraid if he goes on seeing me, his father will put him in the hospital . . . and the insane friends his lunatic father hangs out with . . . will kill me! You see . . . it's really nothing for you two to worry about, OK?"

Simi got up from the table, her dinner half eaten, and went into her room where she planned to be quiet and isolated for yet another dismal night.

Luis and Gabriella were both shocked at their daughter's detailed admission, but also wondered how much of it all was just theater due to Simi's new adolescent attitudes and her artist's imagination, known often to go wild. As always with their very special daughter, coming back to the issue later with cooler heads would be their plan.

Later that night on television, a breaking local news story reported a man had been viscously attacked and mauled by a mountain lion in the small town of Madrid. It apparently happened while he was exiting his car in front of the motel where he was staying. According to the Santa Fe News, authorities had not yet released the man's identity. And although he was reportedly in serious condition, the hospital added he was expected to survive his grave injuries.

* * *