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Butjust then they heard the voices of other women floating through the air towards them.
“Ohlook—we’re first!” someone said. “I’llget to pick my favorite one.”
Sess’ely’seyes widened.
“Oh, thatOo’loo—hurry, she’s going to wake the holy spiders!”
ShegrabbedCeliaby the hand and tugged her away from the dye vats and back in the direction of the enormous web.
Theyran together until they reached the edge of the web, where several other women—most of themJoCostillians—were gathered.Oneof them was already reaching out towards the vast, white web which quivered in the breeze.
“Watchher,”Sess’elywhispered. “Onlya single touch of the web will wake the holy spiders—but they only allowwomento touch the web.”
“Why, though?”Celiaasked, fascinated despite herself.
“Dunno.”Sess’elyshrugged. “Maybebecause the holy spiders are all female.Theyeat the males of their own species, you know,” she added. “Afterthey mate with them.Ithink maybe they consider anything male to be prey.”
Thegirl besideSess’elyhad clearly heard her talking because she nodded atCelia.
“She’sright—anything male is prey.Why, do you know they say that if a male so much as lays afingeron the web, it will send all the holy spiders climbing through the entireMotherTree, looking for him so they can eat him!That’swhy our worshippers aren’t allowed here,” she added. “Theholy spiders would eat them and cause chaos through the wholetree.”
“Thatsounds like a bad time for everyone,”Celiaremarked. “They—”
Butthe words she had been about to say died in her mouth.Forthe girl reaching for the web touched the sticky surface with a single finger…and everything happened at once.
39
CELIA
Theenormous, house-sized cocoon, which looked like a mass of white cotton candy at the far end of the vast web, suddenly erupted into a frenzy of activity.Celiawatched in horror as a mass of spiders—each one the size of a large dog, came swarming out of the huge white structure and rushed to the girls at the edge of the web.
“MadredeDios!”she gasped and jumped back as one of them came at her.Ithad a huge, swollen abdomen covered in fine, silky white fur and long, chitinous, many jointed legs that were longer than her arms.
Noneof the other girls looked upset though—some even laughed atCelia’sreaction.
“Ohlook—the new girl’s afraid!” one remarked in a taunting voice.
Sess’ely, however, didn’t laugh.
“Don’tbe scared,” she said toCelia. “Theywon’t hurt you.Comeon, see—they’re really sweet!”
Shewas actually petting one of the huge spiders as she talked and it seemed to enjoy the attention.
Asshe scrambled to her feet and took a tentative step closer to the web,Celiasaw something she hadn’t noticed before.Thespider’s head didn’t look like the head of an insect at all.Infact, it looked kind of like a cross between a cat and a fox, with pointed ears and big, jewel-like eyes that whirled with pleasure asSess’elyscratched its swollen, furry abdomen.
“Aww, that’s my good girl!”Celiaheard her saying as she stroked and scratched the spider. “Lookat you—are you all ready to make lots of silk for me today?”
Thespider with the cat/fox head made a purring/hissing noise and a long, thin line of white silk began to unspool from the bottom of its abdomen.
“Thereyou go—good girl!Quick—give me a basket,”Sess’elyexclaimed.
Celialooked around and saw a stack of large wooden baskets behind them.Grabbingone, she handed it toSess’ely, who placed it on the web, directly beneath the spider-cat’s abdomen.Thenshe continued scratching and stroking the purring/hissing creature as the white silk piled up in the basket.
“Thanks—you’d better get one yourself before they’re all taken,” she said toCelia. “Look—there’s a holy spider with no one to scratch her.”Shenodded to a larger than usual spider who had apparently come out of the house-sized cocoon later than the others.
Celiahad never liked bugs, but living in a sub-tropical climate, shehadgotten used to dealing with them.Thoughto be honest, she had never dealt with one this big before.Still, this was her job here and she was trying to stay inLa’ver’na’sgood graces, so she and her guys weren’t fed to theMotherTree.Takinga deep breath, she called to the wandering spider.
“Here!Overhere, girl.Comehere—do you want scritches?”Whichwas what she’d always called to her cat,Mr.Bigglesworthto get him to come out from behind the couch.
