Hef’s fingers started to go numb as the frigid spring water ran over his hands and into his watering pails. After they had filled up, Hef stood up from the stream bank, put both pails on either side of the carrying pole that rested on his shoulders, and started the short trip back to his village. He liked days like this, days where the weather started to cool down and the air got drier. It reminded him of better times in his life, or was it lives? He didn’t know for sure if the shamans were right about Returning. 

 

Hef saw something as he entered the village that made him drop his buckets, the spring water soaking into the ground. In the middle of the communal gathering area was a body. He knew this body very well, for he had grown up with this person. His brother’s eyes were cut out, his mouth gaping open and face looking up towards the sky as his naked body was positioned in a kneeling posture, almost as if he were communicating with the ancestors. His arms hung to his sides, but each arm concluded cleanly at the wrist, like they were severed by a macuahuitl. People gathered all around his brother’s body, screaming and crying, typical of the hysteria that comes with cases such as these. Had there been an attack? What message was the enemy trying to send with this mutilation? Who was even responsible? None of their enemies had ever been this cruel.

 

Hef pushed and shoved his way through the quickly multiplying crowd, “Out of my way! That’s my brother Tezol!”. As people started to recognize him, they cleared a path for him, allowing him to step up close and examine his brother’s body. When he got to the front however, he noticed something that he missed from afar. Written in blood on ground in front of his body read:

 

“I have harmed a woman”

 

The jagged, uneven characters looked like he used his bleeding arm as the instrument before he died. But how did no one in the village notice it happening? Hef looked around in the crowd for anyone else he might know, but there was no sign of anyone. 

 

“Who did this?” Hef asked the elder woman who had discovered the body first.

 

“Nobody knows Hef. No one saw who dropped his body off here, and no one saw anyone leave.” The elderly woman said.

 

Then, a figure made its way through the crowd to the forefront. It was Senni, Tezol’s wife. Her face was fixed in shock, her eyes wide, the color draining from her brown skin. Hef stood up and quickly went to her and tried to stand in front of her so as to block her sight from the horrific view, “Hey, look at me Senni. Are you hurt? Were you two attacked last night?”

 

Senni’s eyes did not change levels to meet Hef’s, rather, they seemed to stare through him, still looking at her husband’s body, “Yes. Yes, I am hurt, but it was not from whoever did this”.

 

Hef was just about to speak when he turned his head around and put the pieces together. He felt a sudden anger, a rage as well as disappointment and sadness, welling up within him, “It was Tezol, wasn’t it?”. Senni only nodded, as tears started to well up in her eyes, and her look of shock started to melt into a look of grief.

 

Her eyes finally rose to meet Hef’s – though she was still gazed downwards – being taller than both Hef and Tezol.

 

“I swear to the Creator it wasn’t me, Hef. I was out foraging all morning. He harmed me, yes. And I admit I sometimes thought of harming him back, but not…not like this” she said.

 

Hef reached up and put his hands on her shoulders, “I believe you Senni. We will find whoever did this and seek retribution. Go now, you shouldn’t see this”. 

 

He had to break her from her trance by turning her around and helping her through the crowd. As they pushed past the crowd, Hef saw a pair of deer legs among the sea of human ones, but no deer body to match the legs. Instead, Hef only saw a woman’s body leading up from the deer legs, ending in perhaps the most beautiful face he had ever seen. And that face was looking directly at him. 

 

***

​

Hef could not sleep that night, which was probably a good thing because that meant he was already up with his knife ready when the knock came to his door. The time had come. They went for his brother first, and now they had come to finish the bloodline. He only wished they had not yet killed Senni and her kids before visiting him so that he could make enough noise to warn others in the village before succumbing to his brother’s fate. Another knock came to the door. Hef now stood right behind it, trying to ready himself to fight for his life. He took one step back, then pulled the door open with his free hand as fast as he could and coiled to strike with his other when he saw who stood on the other side of the threshold. 

 

That beautiful face, with long black hair that went down to her navel, and the same deer legs that were just below, looked at him in awe like he was a legend or a war hero. Hef realized who this was, though he prayed to his ancestors that he would never have to be paid a visit by her. The Deer Woman was said to be the Returned spirit of a woman who had a similar, but far worse experience with her husband than Senni did with Tezol, and was said to lure those terrible men to their gruesome deaths. Hef knew the stories were more than just fanciful tales. The Deer Woman had paid a visit to his father when Hef was just a child, but he thought that was just a coverup story. There was no fighting back against her. But Hef still did not understand. Why him? He had never laid a hand on any of his past partners, and all of those relationships ended amicably from both parties. What did the Deer Woman want with him?

 

“By the stars, it really is you”, The Deer Woman said in a single exhale, as if in disbelief. 

 

Hef uncoiled his strike, but still held his knife at the ready, “Please. Please, spare me. I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ve never harmed a woman in my life. You must know this. I swear, I had no idea about my brother’s behavior.” Hef then lowered his gaze, hoping a show of deference may spare his life. Or was it simply because her breathtaking features made him nervous? Hef was always a little awkward around attractive women. No, definitely deference.

 

“I know you didn’t, and I know you aren’t like him. Don’t worry…Hef, was it? I’m not here to hurt you, quite the opposite, actually”, she replied.

 

“Then what do you want with me?” Hef was confused; he wanted to ask how she knew his name, but spirits like her were so well Connected that she probably knew everyone and everything’s name.

 

“Rasur, erm, Hef. It’s me, Tahcawin. You don’t remember, do you?” The Deer Woman stepped closer to Hef, but he did not back away. However he did lower his knife, though he knew not what compelled him to do so. It must have been some magic charm so that he would be an easier kill.

 

“N-No. I don’t. Perhaps we’ve met before? Was it when you came for my father? I was just a child then, forgive me”.

 

Tahcawin chuckled, “Yes we have met before, you silly nut. In every lifetime, in every form. We told each other we’d always find one another. Well, I’m here now. Again.”

 

Hef struggled to process it all. She looked beautiful to him, yes, but she also looked familiar, now that he took a proper look at her face. Her eyes reminded him of a different, distant home. He could have sworn he felt a Connection to her when he passed her the day before, but he simply considered it a delusion. Were the shamans right about Returning after all?

 

Tahcawin saw his look of consternation and decided to take the lead and speak again, for she knew him all too well. It would take some time to bring his memories, his confidence, back. But to her, he was worth the wait every single time.

 

“Won’t you join me for a walk? It’s nice and chilly out, and the air is crisp. Just how you’ve always liked it”, Tahcawin proffered her hand across the threshold of his home. Hef took her hand in his as he stepped out into the night, and began their walk.