Zingara - Being Finn

With the school year coming to a close Finn, had been offered an extended summer. Finn had grabbed at the chance, it wasn't that she hated school exactly it was just so hard to always be the new kid. It was especially hard when she wasn't a girlie girl who wore the right clothes or listened to the right music or any of the things that would allow her to mix with the popular crowd. She was quiet and smart enough to get by but not smart enough to join the academic crowd. She was athletic but couldn't shine there either because had the strictest father in the world who curtailed all her freedoms which included attending meets out of town.

This new town turned out to be different though. Dulcie's sister, Edith, had two children close to Finn's age and for the first time in forever Finn had a friend aside of Tabor. Jairo was a year older than her and Keziah was a year younger. That summer as Jonas once again left her with her adoptive family Finn turned sixteen and with Keziah's help began to make sense of the things that she found she could do. Although a year younger, Keziah was quite adept at extending her senses of sight and sound. She encouraged the reticent Finn to begin to open up to Dulcie and Edith and in return received a great deal of understanding and tutelage in the ways of, what they called, Zingara.

They took some time to painstakingly tell her the history of their clan emphasising that to live as they did among people without the gifts that the secrecy was key. Within that history they spoke of gypsies, witches and sorcery as words that frightened people and were used to persecute their ancestors. They explain that evil and darkness existed and could twist the mind of mere mortals using those words. She learned about the light and the dark and the other equally gifted creatures that existed in the world secretly as they did. There was another plain of existence though, just outside their own, place called Tsinganos, found in the shadows and the time between heart beats.

"It comes from ancient geek," Keziah laughed at their explanation, "It means, untouchable." She made spooky noises and danced her fingers in front of Finns face. Finn burst out laughing at her reference to geeks going over the heads of the older ladies.

"So my parents, they are part of the clan so they have power, right?" She finally asked feeling like Jonas should have told her before now.

"Your mother had great power. She wasn't from our clan originally though. She was from a very old family that could come and go in both worlds," Edith said softly reaching out to pat Finn's hand and yelping as Dulcie kicked her under the table.

"Your father should tell you about that," Dulcie said ending the conversation and wouldn't be drawn further on the subject of her mother.

"I don't remember her at all," Finn shrugged trying to act as if it didn't matter even though it did. "My Dad though, he has powers like this?"

"The men have different sort of abilities," Dulcie said, "Maybe your father..." she stopped and saw the disappointment come over the girls face again. "The men are what we call shifters," she started to explain. "They tend to have abilities related to the predominant animal of the clan and can shift into that form."

"Like dragons and unicorns?" Finn was startled but then everything she had found out about herself and her family over the last weeks had been mind-blowing, laughable even, except that she had these abilities herself now. Or at least she was beginning to have them and she couldn't argue against proof like that.

"There was a dragon clan once, but it was hunted to the point of extinction," Edith said sadly. "They must have been something to see though, now they only exist in Tsinganos along with the other feared and brutal beasts."

"Oh my God! Seriously!" Keziah burst out. "How the hell did I get stuck with wolves when there are so many other awesome animals out there?"

"A wolf saved me once," Finn said defensively then became introspective. "From some huge black dogs that were chasing me..." Her words trailed off. "I expect he knew I was in danger, that makes wolves pretty awesome to me."

"But the black hounds only come from... Ouch, that hurt! A simple shut up would do," Keziah pouted and rubbed her shin.

"Come, Finn. I will explain it to you as we walk," Dulcie stood, "It's time to be heading home to make dinner for the boys."

"I guess that explains why we always live near a forest," Finn gave a small smile and Dulcie wrapped an arm about her waist pulling her close. "Thank you for trying to explain a little more to me. Your right though, I should talk to Dad about it all."

"Keziah is a lovely girl but doesn't have much in the brain's department and probably said too much," Dulcie said. "You can't put the genie back in the bottle though so I need you to do something for me when we get home, it will help you understand a little bit better."

They hurried home and Dulcie packed a small pack and gave it to her. "Go into the forest and find Tabor, take this, he will need it," She said without explaining any further and shooing her out the door.

She had barely walked under the forests canopy when a young wolf rushed past her grabbing the pack from her hand and darted just out of arms reach. The physical training she had gone through over the last three years made her reaction quick and she sprinted it after it when suddenly the memory hit her. She slowed and watched as the young wolf danced just out of her reach.

"It's you, isn't it?" she asked the playful wolf. "You came to save me that night." She slid down the smooth bark of the tree to sit on the soft ground below it. The wolf approached her and nuzzled her cheek licking it lightly. "Thank you," she said wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in the shaggy fur.

After a few moments, the wolf pulled away and padded just out of reach again to where he had dropped the pack. Finn watched mesmerised as the fur shimmered and seemed to fall away amid a low growl and human-like moan of pain. Within seconds, Tabor stood up holding the pack against his groin.

"Do you mind looking away for a minute?" He grinned at her. She immediately turned her head trying to make sense of what she had just seen her mind sorting through the tutelage that she had received from Edith and Dulcie. She heard the zip of his fly and she looked back toward him.

"It was you that night, with the dogs?" She asked knowing the answer but needing to hear him say it to make it real.

"Yeah," he came and sat on the ground beside her but facing her. "The others had raced to face the dogs and left me to babysit you," he rolled his eyes at her. "It's been my life's work ever since. I am destined to forever babysit you."

"I never asked you to," she said indignantly.

"No, but Dad and Jonas did. Ma would probably skin me alive if I ever let anything happen to you," he pulled a face at her.

"Urg, why do you always have to wreck everything," Finn yelled at him. "Here I thought you did something great because you cared. You save my life and you act like it was a chore your parents made you do. You're such an asshole!" She went to slap him, but he grabbed her hand with lightning reflexes and pushed them back towards her body looking into her eyes.

"What do you want from me Finn?" he raised his voice to her level. She could see his heavily muscled chest bunch with the power he needed to restrain her from hitting him. "You're sixteen, you're just a kid. Of course, I care. Would I be here if I didn't, you baby." Their faces were inches apart and Finn thought for a mad moment that he was going to kiss her, but he suddenly shook his head and stood up pulling on his shirt. "Better get you home before your bedtime, baby," he called over his shoulder as he walked off.

Finn watched him go, seeing him with new eyes. Why did it have to be him, why couldn't it have been anyone else, she lamented.

*****

Finn's abilities became stronger over the following year, but her relationship with her father grew more estranged with each new challenge she over-came. It was as if he resented her for her power and his absences from her life grew longer and longer.

The Halloween after her seventeenth birthday, a strange woman appeared at the edge of the woods near where Finn lived. Finn saw her from the kitchen window as she approached the house and knocked on the door. Curiously, Finn went to answer it unsure of where Dulcie had gone. It was unlike her to just disappear, particularly on this day when everyone seemed to be on edge, but perhaps she was in the bathroom.

"May I help you?" Finn asked opening the door only slightly.

""Finndelyse! What beautiful young woman you have become, despite that monstrosity of a father you have," The woman reached through the small opening taking Finn's hand and drawing her out into the sunlight.

"Do I know you?" Finn asked shaken by the use of her full name something she had not heard in over six years.

"Of course my darling, I am Griffin, your mother's closest friend in any world and a cousin of sorts." She smiled benignly. "Where do you think you got your name from?" Finn searched her memory and drew a blank as she always did when she thought of her mother.

"No matter, come walk with me and I will tell you why I have come," Griffin's words were laced with a spell to induce the young girl to follow her into the forest. To her surprise Finn looked back into the house rather than just accepting the invitation. "Perhaps I have misjudged the timing of my visit but with so many wards surrounding you it was difficult to locate you precisely before now. Tell me how old you are?"

"Seventeen," Finn said confusion in her voice.

"Oh gosh, I am a bit behind schedule then. Well, good news for you, you get two presents this year!" Griffin gave a wide smile. "If you're not going to come for a walk with me you better invite me in then, before one of the puppies sees me here."

"I don't know where Dulcie is, and I am sorry I have no idea who you are," Finn said nervously.

"Good grief," Griffin sighed. "Dulcinea wake up and come out here," she called through the door. Finn looked back into the hallway and saw that Dulcie had emerged from the sitting room looking as if she had indeed just woken from a nap.

"Ah good, tell the girl to let me in before that big love sick puppy of yours or one of his friends sees me here," Griffin said irritably. This first meeting had not gone at all the way she planned.

"Come in quickly," Dulcie said in a panicked whisper. "What are you doing here Griffin?"

"What do you think? How many wards are on this poor child for goodness sakes, if I hadn't had the talisman I would never have found her," Griffin muttered.

"You know what he is like, the hounds still track him. He stays away longer and longer so she can finish school here but if you have found her," Dulcie shook her head sadly. "He will move her again and I am not sure if he will trust me to keep her safe anymore."

"I am not some novice who would make such mistakes," Griffin said sharply. "No one will know of my visit. You will not be able to talk about it except that an old gypsy woman came to call from the Ursidae clan seeking directions. Those bears are renowned for impromptu wanderings. There is a clan not far north of here if I recall correctly. "

"I'm not so sure," Dulcie said tentatively. "That clan tends to stay with their own kind, they are Ursidae Arctos."

"Sleep," Griffin waved her hand and Dulcie sagged in the chair. "They're still caniforms, even the pinipeds are related in dogs somewhere along the line. It gets very murky back in the dawns of time. Your father would approve of a visit from them."

Finn looked stunned and frightened. The woman in front of her had obvious power and could have been speaking another language as far as Finn could understand what she was saying.

"I don't have the time to mollycoddle you anymore, Finndelyse. I can barely buffer against the wards around you as it is," she grimaced. "This," she held up a photo of a beautiful woman, "Is your mother. I know you don't remember her, but you will in time. This," she held a small music box across the palm of one hand, "Was hers." She took the box and turned it upside down showing Finn how to open the false bottom and placed the photo inside. Then she turned it the right way up and opened it. There was no music and Finn's disappointment showed.

"You will hear the music when you are ready, not before. The key to the secrets within this box lie within you, Finndelyse," Griffin said softly. "Your mother loves you more than..."

"Life itself," they both said together.

"The only memory I have is her holding my face and telling me she loved me more than life. But I can't tell you anything else about her. Not what she looked like or how she acted. I forget her name as soon as someone mentions it," she was close to tears, "But I know she loved me."

"That is why I am here, my darling girl, because she loved you," Griffin smiled and passed her the broken music box. "I will find you again when the time is right, but the wards are pushing me out I must go now. Keep the box close, do not lose it, it will be very important in the years to come," she smiled and slowly evaporated before Finn's eyes.

*****

Jonas's continued to stay away from the town and the small house that Finn lived. In his absence, the doting Pauli and Dulcie who treated her as if she was their own daughter allowed her more freedoms. She had good friends, real friends for the first time in years as they remained in the small town of Dulcie's childhood for another year.

Believing she had finally found a place where she could live an almost normal life Finn began to let down her guard as started her final year of school. Keziah was vivacious and beautiful and by proximity Finn had been accepted within the popular group at school for the first time in her life. The fact that she was a year older than most of her classmates having turned eighteen over the summer seemed to be a non-issue. If anyone knew about it, they never asked her about it.

As a senior, Finn was finally away from the scrutiny of Tabor. He had dogged her steps around school last year, seeming to be in the vicinity whenever she and her friends talked about boys and making her self-conscious. Enjoying this modicum of freedom she finally allowed herself to accept an after school date albeit in a group setting.

His name was Harry McCloud and he had rivalled Tabor as the guy all the boys wanted to be and the girls wanted to date over the last two years. Now that Tabor had graduated Harry felt he had no competition, when he smiled girls swooned and he liked it that way. He turned eighteen a few weeks after the start of school and joking around that he was an old man on campus had found out that Finn was older than him.

He knew Finn of course. His arch rival Tabor had stalked her for years, even though they lived in the same house. Through some digging and a boredom inducing coffee house date with Keziah and her friends, he had found out that far from being related, Finn's father was a friend to Tabor's family. They had taken her in and looked after Finn since the death of her mother and the subsequent inconsolable grief of her father. Thinking that he had found a way to best his former nemesis, Harry had pursued Finn aggressively.

Finn was happy. She was doing well at school, she had a spot on the small gymnastics team despite the fact that she couldn't travel with the team. She had friends including a boy who really seemed to like her. Her life would have been perfect if it weren't for Tabor who scowled at her constantly and criticised everything she did.

While other girls had dilemmas over whether to sleep with their boyfriends or not, Finn was secure in the knowledge that like her, Harry wanted to wait. They had kissed but done very little beyond that and while she was curious, she was glad to be taking it all at a slow pace.

The year was flying by and as the final term started the weather began to grow warmer. It was a tradition in the small town on the weekend before the final block of exams that they held a bonfire. School endorsed it was held on the edge of the school oval, ostensibly chaperoned by teachers who notoriously turned a blind eye to most of the shenanigans that occurred as long as no school property was damaged.

Finn had promised the world to Pauli and Dulcie to be allowed to go. She had even, albeit reluctantly agreed that Tabor and Jairo could unofficially chaperone the event. Keziah had been livid when she was told of the arrangement and the boys had complained about having to give up their Saturday night to babysit the girls.

Pauli and Dulcie had been unmovable. The visit from Griffin has shaken the Dulcie. Finding herself unable to tell anyone exactly who it was that had visited them that day the indulgence she had once shown Finn was reined back in and Finn found herself being chaperoned to every event in her life. Tabor was a constant thorn in her side as he sat moodily in the café where they all met after school or stalking her from the edge of the woods when she attended parties. They bickered and fought like true siblings and at times when she thought she could truly hate him, she would remember the brave young wolf that had saved a small frightened girl. She invariably gave up whatever they were arguing about long before he did.

Finn and Keziah had been on the oval watching the pit for the fire be dug out of the soft ground. The huge stack of wood and kindling sat beside the deep pit having been brought in throughout the day by the seniors who had volunteered for that job. The two girls had been in charge of organising the huge marquis style tents that would house girls and boys separately even though on a night like this it was doubtful anyone would get any sleep. They sat on the hill watching as the final preparations were put in place discussing all the plans they had made..

They stayed until the bonfire was set before running home to gather their stuff for the night. Harry and Keziah's boyfriend had spent the day with the large group of boys collecting wood and had planned to meet them there.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Keziah bubbled with excitement. "Tabor and Jairo have been planning something, I just don't know what exactly," she pursed her lips in thought. "They wouldn't do anything mean tonight, they wouldn't dare," she declared.

"I hope not," Finn laughed and they split up and walked to their homes excited by what the night would hold.

"Daddy!" Finn squealed in fright seeing Jonas as soon as she entered the kitchen. "What are you doing here?" All her excitement fell away as she realised she wouldn't be able to go tonight after all.

"That's not much of a welcome home," he looked at her and frowned.

"I'm sorry I just... Welcome home Daddy," she went to hug him and was wrapped up in his arms.

"Go get ready honey," Dulcie said with a smile, "I told your father that you and Tabor have plans tonight."

Jonas grunted in disapproval but let her go and she walked away slowly not saying anything at all. She flew up the stairs and ran into Tabors room which sat above the kitchen without knocking. He wasn't there and she concentrated hard on the room below.

"It's a week Jonas, let her graduate. Bring the rest of the clan in if you must but don't take her now," Dulcie's voice was desperate. "She'll spend her life on the run if what you say is true, let her have this one thing or she will hate you for it."

"It's too dangerous," Jonas said angrily. "No one from Ursidae has been anywhere near here and you can't explain it any differently. Whoever it was has stronger abilities than you which lead me to believe they have found her."