“There are books,” Etienne pointed out.
Reg had seen several thick volumes on her tour of the great room. And there were probably more in the bedroom. Maybe even books borrowed from the library or other Sasquatches.
“Are there many of you in the park?” Reg asked. “In the Everglades, I mean. I couldn’t tell from what it said in the menu whether there is just one so-called skunk man in the swamp, or whether there are a bunch of you running around.” She looked around what she could see of the house, considering. There must have been a family there once upon a time. And for there to be generations before, there had to have been more than one solitary skunk man in the Everglades for many years.
But much of the habitat had been destroyed. That would have had an impact on the residents. Especially larger ones who needed more food to survive.
“Now? Not anymore. There used to be quite a few. But most have moved away now. There are better opportunities in other places. I did not want to leave.”
“What opportunities are in other places? Do you… mix with humans? I would think that a lot of the wild habitats are being destroyed.”
“Some choose to mix with homo sapiens. Laser hair removal.” He shrugged. “In some countries, it is easier to mix in. But for me…” He ran his hand down a hairy arm. “I would not give up my coat for others. I am… old fashioned. A dying breed… literally.”
Reg was sad. She hated to think of the world running out of mythical creatures. Goblins, she didn’t mind so much. But Etienne was a pleasant, civilized man who didn’t eat humans for breakfast, and the world would be a poorer place without him.
“You don’t have… a girlfriend? No one who would like to live out here? There must be others… like you who don’t want to move to areas with more modern conveniences. There must be others who would prefer to live simply.”
His eyes darted up from his plate to look at her for an instant. She thought she detected a smile under all of the whiskers.
“I am writing to a woman in Russia,” he admitted. “Long distant relationships are difficult to judge, but… I think we have a good connection.”
“You think she would come here?”
“If her family will allow it and we could make the proper arrangements… I think she would. But a proper courtship in our cultures takes years. Not just a few brief letters over the months.”
Reg nodded. It was hard for her to imagine in the modern, fast-paced world full of cell phones, texting, instant messages, and emails. Everything was designed to be quick and efficient. She would hate to have to wait weeks or months between letters. Not to mention the hours it would take her to read her pen-pal’s handwritten letter and then compose one herself.
Without the pressure of time, maybe her reading and writing difficulties would not be such an issue. It wouldn’t make any difference to anyone whether it took her two minutes or two days to read a letter. No one would know the difference.
“What is her name?”
“Ilka.” He hesitated whether to tell her more. Reg didn’t press, and eventually, he decided on his own. “Her coat turns white in the winter,” he said in a shy, reverent tone.
“Oh! Like a rabbit. But if she came here… it wouldn’t turn white, would it? Does it depend on the weather, or does it just happen every year whether she is somewhere cold or not?”
Etienne contemplated the question. Apparently, it was not something he had asked her. “I think it has to do with the length of the days. When she is not in the sun for as many hours.”
“Like a tan fading? Or like forcing a poinsettia? I don’t suppose you’d be able to lock her up in a closet for eighteen hours to see if it would change.”
She was worried when she heard how the words came out of her mouth that she had offended him or Ilka’s honor. But he took it in good humor, laughing a soft, puffing sort of laugh that cheered Reg’s dark mood.
“I do not think that would be a good idea,” he agreed. “The women of our species can be quite… formidable.”
Etienne’s French accent on the word “formidable” made Reg laugh as well. She could just picture Etienne trying to lock his dark-furred bride away to see if her coat would change, and her vehement objections and reaction.
They went back to eating. Etienne had finished most of his hot food and helped himself to some of the berries and greens on the table. Reg picked up some red berries.
“These are safe, right? They are not poisonous to humans?”
His hairy shoulders raised and fell. “I do not have guests often. Your kind and mine avoid one another.”
“You speak English, though. You could put on your cloak and maybe some more clothes and pass as human. Do you ever do that?”
“Rare. I know a few… mmmm… friends. I mostly deal with them, but not unknowns.”
Reg nodded eagerly. She popped the berries in her mouth and ate them without further thought. “Do you think that one of these friends could help me to get back to my friends?”
Etienne thought about it. “I suppose. I usually take my mail to Bruce the last Tuesday of each month. I could take you to him then…”
Reg was aghast. “Wait here until the end of the month?”
He nodded. He glanced around his cabin. “It isn’t as bad as all that. It’s comfortable. Your ancestors would have lived in a place like this.”
“I can’t wait that long. I was hoping I could get in contact with someone today. Get back to civilization.”
“Today.” It was Etienne’s turn to be taken aback. “Today. That would be very rushed.”
“Please. I know it probably wrecks your plans for the day. But maybe there’s something I could do for you… I would offer to pay, but I don’t suppose you have much need for human money. If you do… or if you want jewels… I could get you those too.”
“I was going to begin work on a new letter to Ilka later this week. But they take much time and attention… I wouldn’t be ready to send it to her until… maybe the twentieth?”
“No. No, I need to get back to my friends right away. We need to find the missing wizard and get him back to the Spring Games before that. They start on the equinox, and he will have to make arrangements before then.”
“Missing wizard?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Oh…” Reg hadn’t meant to mention aloud that Wilson was a wizard. It had just come out in her panic to explain to Etienne that he needed to get her to civilization right away. But it didn’t matter if he knew she was looking for a wizard, did it? He wouldn’t have anything to do with the search or the prize and certainly wouldn’t be talking to anyone in the human world about it. He wouldn’t spread their secret.
“Well, yes. We are here in the Everglades to look for a man who is lost. To try to get him to the magical Spring Games. But we need to find him soon. And my friends will want to know where I am and what happened to me.”
“I can’t have my letter finished more quickly than that.”
“But you don’t need to finish your letter to take me to Bruce. You can finish your letter later and take it to him on the day you normally would.”
This seemed to be a new idea for Etienne. “I don’t know…”
“I know you probably have other things to do today. I don’t like to make you drop everything… but is there any way you could help me to get to this Bruce’s place today? And like I say… I can pay you if there is anything that would be of value to you.”
Etienne stroked his chin, thinking about it. He pursed his lips and looked as though he were going to speak a few times. Reg tried to exude warm, helpful feelings in his direction. He would feel good if he helped her. She would want to do something for him in return. Everyone would be happier if he would help her to get back to civilization.
“This is unusual,” Etienne pointed out.
“I know.”
“Bruce knows when to expect me so that we can avoid… the paparazzi.”
“Paparazzi?” Reg echoed blankly.
He nodded. “People trying to get a picture of the Skunk Man.” He said the name with distaste, wrinkling his nose. “Creature hunters. Cryptozoologists.”
“Oh. Yeah, I guess there are probably a few of those around here.” Reg suddenly felt guilty at having eaten at the Skunk Man Saloon. Hadn’t she seen how they were exploiting him? Someone who just wanted to live a quiet, simple life? Someone who wanted to avoid all of the cameras and prying eyes.
“I’m sure we could find a way to do this without you being seen. You could take me close and then point me in the right direction so that you don’t have to go right up to Bruce’s house or wherever you usually meet him. I won’t tell anyone that I met you here. I won’t give away your secret.”
“We have to keep moving,” he pointed out. “Every few years, the curiosity-seekers find our home, and we are forced to leave there and start over.” He looked fondly around the interior of his old, gray cabin. “I was just getting settled here. I don’t want to have to move.”
“You were… just getting settled? Whose house was it before you moved into it?”
“No one’s. My father built this house.”
“How long have you lived here?”
He considered the question. “Maybe… ninety years. It seems like just yesterday.”
“Oh.” Reg nodded. “I see. Well… don’t you think we can do this in a way that you are not exposed? I don’t want to cause you any trouble.”
He sighed. “It would be better to wait until the end of the month.”
“For you. But I really do need to get back before that. And I can’t just walk away from here and hope to find my way out and not run into anyone or anything that could harm me. I’ll get lost and eaten.” She tried to make herself sound as helpless and pitiful as possible. She had a sense that he had a soft spot for the vulnerable. That was why the panther had thought to bring her to him. At some time, Etienne must have fed or helped the big cat in some way. “There are so many dangers in the Everglades. And I don’t know them like you do.”
She might be able to get out on her own, using her psychic senses to try to pinpoint her companions or the closest civilization. But where had that gotten her in finding the missing wizard? She had taken them a long distance from where Damon said the wizard should be, and then she had not been able to find him. Her senses had somehow been blurred or interfered with. Maybe he had some kind of confusion spell to keep people from finding him. Something that he had cast himself? Or had he been kidnapped and someone else was trying to hide him?
Reg wished she’d had more time to search for him in the settlement around the Skunk Man Saloon.
Corvin and Damon should not have been in such a hurry to get her away from there and follow their own plans.
“I suppose.” Etienne had been speaking, and Reg had failed to hear what he had to say. She gathered herself together at his last words.
“You will? You’ll take me to Bruce? Will you do it today?”
“I suppose I don’t want you to fall into the river or hurt yourself in some other way. If we were to wait even just a few days, something might happen to you.”
“Yes. It could. Neither of us would want that.”
Etienne picked at a few more of the fresh foods on the table. Reg helped herself to some berries but couldn’t bring herself to eat the raw greens or flowers that Etienne ate. She just wasn’t a salad person.
“You must prepare yourself, then,” Etienne announced. “We will leave… in an hour of the clock.”
Reg let her breath out. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“I will require payment.”
“Uh—sure. Of course. I said I would pay you. What is your fee?”
“Hershey’s.”
“Hershey’s?” Reg couldn’t think of what he meant.
Etienne reached over and took her plate. She saw when he picked it up and stood that it was actually a small hubcap. He took the two plates over to the sink and set them down. He opened a small side cupboard and displayed it to her.
“Hershey’s.”
Reg saw a small stack of chocolate bars with silver foil and dark brown paper wrappings. Hershey’s chocolate bars. She laughed.
“Hershey’s. Of course. How many Hershey’s do you want as payment?”
“I would think that this is worth at least… two bars.”
“Certainly,” Reg agreed. “I don’t have them on me. What is the best way for me to get them to you when I can?”
He went to a writing desk in the great room and pulled out a block of notepapers and an old-fashioned fountain pen. He wrote carefully and, when he was done, blew gently on the ink, and when he was satisfied that it was completely dry, took it over to Reg. “My address. You can mail it. Bruce brings me my mail once a month.”
“The last Tuesday of every month?”
Etienne nodded.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Etienne had told Reg that she would need to get ready to go to Bruce’s in an hour. Once they had come to terms, he explained that she would need to wash before they left.
“You smell like goblin,” he said delicately. “And you are cut up from the saw grass. That… and cat… the stagnant water…”
Reg’s face burned. She raised her arm to her nose and sniffed. Even she could smell the putrefying scent of goblin. If Etienne’s nose was as sensitive enough to also smell the cat and the marsh water on her, she could only imagine how offensive it must have been for her to sit at the same table and partake of food with him.
“I’m so sorry! I’m normally very clean.”
He nodded. “I’m sure you are. I don’t have any clothes that would fit you, but if you at least wash your body…”
He warmed some water in a pot on the stove and set it in one of the bedrooms with a washcloth and towel for her to clean herself up the best she could. There was an antique mirror over the dresser in the bedroom, and Reg leaned close to it to look at herself. Her face was covered with mud and scabby cuts and scratches.
She looked as if she had crawled through the swamp and fought with saw grass and a goblin.
Reg hoped that she smelled better when she presented herself to Etienne some time later. The water in the pot was dark and murky, and she couldn’t smell any more goblin stench when she held her hands up to her face. The cuts on her face were not as shocking with the scabs and dirt washed away. Only a couple of them had reopened and bled when she cleaned them.
Etienne dumped the goblin-fouled water a distance away from his cabin and left the cloth and towel outside to dry and air. Reg wondered how his people had earned the moniker of skunk man when Etienne was so fastidious. Maybe it was something they had learned after being exposed to humans over the years. Or perhaps some human had mistaken a bear or some other animal for one of the Bigfoots. Or maybe one of them had once been sprayed by a skunk.
Or maybe humans were just mean and prejudiced against beings different from themselves.
Etienne looked her over and nodded. “Now, we will go.”
He started walking. Reg followed. Etienne clearly had to go much more slowly than he normally would have, forcing himself to stop and wait for her and take his long strides at a very slow pace. But he didn’t complain or rush her along.
They walked through the swampland in relative silence. Etienne was much quieter than Reg, which seemed impossible given his size, but she felt like a bumbling water buffalo beside him. She kept her eyes open for snakes or large reptiles. Or swamp goblins. What other hazards had Corvin warned her against? It seemed like nothing was safe. They should have just stayed at home.
And left the old wizard to wander in the Everglades by himself? Or maybe under the control of some powerful magical creature? Reg had learned long ago to put her own safety first, because no one else would. But she found it hard to know when to help others and when to stay out of it and protect herself. The magical world was a whole new complication that she had never had to consider before.
&nb
sp; “You haven’t run into this wizard I am looking for, have you?” Reg inquired, puffing a little as she tried to keep up with Etienne.
“A wizard? It has been a while since I have seen a wizard. I try to avoid homo sapiens. They are more trouble than they are worth.”
Reg’s face burned at his words. She couldn’t deny that she was causing him a lot of extra trouble. He would have to gather more food. He had to traipse across the swamp to deliver her to Bruce, the postman. He had to worry about whether she would expose him, and he would have to move out of the house he had come to love.
“Now, there was one,” Etienne said slowly, “not so long ago…”
Reg’s heart lifted. Maybe he could point her in the right direction, help her to find the lost wizard.
“Maybe just… thirty years…?” Etienne suggested. Then he nodded to himself, confirming. “Yes, I think that was it. Forty at the outside.”
“Oh. No, I don’t think that’s my wizard, then.”
Etienne nodded.
“What if… you didn’t know he was a wizard. Have you come across any lost non-magical humans lately?”
“No.”
They fell silent again. Reg wondered how long it would take them to get to Bruce’s house or place of work. Etienne was used to walking there; he didn’t have a car. But he didn’t have Reg’s short legs and was in much better shape than she was. It might take him half a day to walk out there and half a day to walk back when he could go at his usual speed. It was frustrating not to be able to see what was ahead. The vegetation kept her from being able to see any distance. She also thought that Etienne might be intentionally walking her in circles or a roundabout route so that she wouldn’t be able to find her way back to his cabin if she wanted to. He didn’t want her bringing more homo sapiens back there.
Reg stopped, bending over with her hands on her knees to take a few deep breaths. “How much farther is it?”
Etienne stopped. He looked her over. “We are probably halfway there.” He handed her a canteen. Reg opened it and took a long drink of water. That helped. At least she’d had breakfast. She would have had a difficult time on the hike without some calories in her.
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