‘But the moment the stone starts to react, we must back off. We should send a messenger then to the others that we may have found it.’ said Sonny.
‘Agreed,’ said Sam, ‘Grandfather, will you take one stone with you directly north? Maybe you’ll remember something from your search for great uncle. You and I’ll go northwest, with two others to relay messages.’ Sam told Sonny.
‘If you see anything unusual, back off and send word.’
Sam and Sonny took turns to hold the stone in front of them as they walked in a line towards the northwest. They’d been walking for a time in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, with their own concerns, when Sonny turned and said, ‘Sam, may I ask you, what’s Kerri’s relationship to Casey?’
Sam was immediately on his guard.
Why was he now asking about a young lady he’d been spending a lot of time with? he thought.
‘Why are you asking such a question?’
Sonny suddenly felt uncomfortable, and sorry that he’d raised the subject. He knew his feelings for Kerri had changed when he realised that she was not laughing at him to embarrass him, it was her way of dealing with a difficult situation. He also hoped that he would be leaving for his own land soon, and unlikely ever to return.
‘Forgive me,’ Sonny said. ‘It’s just that I feel Kerri and Casey are so different in their outlook to life. I think there is something very different in her. Casey is strong, but not a leader. Kerri is very independent, and will be a great leader on day. They also seem to have a relationship which is more casual than father and daughter. I meant no insult by asking.’
Sam thought a long time about how he should respond to Sonny’s question.
Finally, he stopped and turned to Sonny.
‘Kerri’s parents were lost some time ago. They went into the forest one day and never returned. We sent out searches for weeks afterwards, but never found any trace of them.’
Sam moved off again, watching the stone he held in front of him. He was remembering the days vividly. After some time, he continued.
‘The first night that Kerry was alone, we found her sleeping outside Casey’s doorway. With him being the biggest and strongest of us all, we thought she’d gone to him for protection, but she was afraid to go into his house, because it would mean she had to accept that her parents had gone.
‘Every night Casey would carry her in, lay her in a bed, and listen to her cry in her sleep. But every morning she’d be gone, back to her own house.
‘Then one night, she knocked on his door, and asked if she could stay with him until her parents returned. She threw her arms around his neck, and my wife and I watched as they both cried together.
‘It was a terrible thing to watch a giant of a man cry. The next day, she moved her clothes and bedding into Casey’s house. She returns every day to her home to clean and prepare it for her parents’ return, but now she spends the rest of her time with Casey.
‘He’s only a young man, he doesn’t think he’s ready to marry, though enough of the young ladies of the clan had hoped to be courted by him. But after Kerri arrived, they both grew up very quickly.
‘It was like she wanted protection of the strongest man in the clan, but didn’t want anyone to act as her mother. So she went to a single man for help.
‘Casey feels a father’s responsibility, but she tries to stop him thinking that way. She talks to him as a young one would.
‘She knows she’s holding him back so she tries to arrange meetings with single ladies for him. But everyone knows they can’t compete with Kerri for his attention.
‘It’ll be a very brave man who comes calling for Kerri’s hand. Casey would move the earth for her if he could. I wouldn’t want to be in the shoes of anyone who hurt her.’
Sonny walked on with his head down. He couldn’t understand the honesty of Sam, or of his people, to tell him such things, or to even accept him here, without punishing him as someone who had wanted to kidnap one of their clan.
Ben, who’d been walking to the right, had also been listening to Sam recount the clan’s history. While he walked, he was feeling a strange sense of experiencing this all before, but couldn’t quite pin it down.
The others heard the confusion in his voice. ‘Sam,’ he called, ‘I think there’s something strange happening here.’
‘What is it, Ben?’
‘I’ve been walking and watching that hill over there. It seems like I’m not getting any closer to the top. And those clouds behind, well, they haven’t moved for the last hour.’
Sam came over to where Ben was pointing. He offered the stone to Sonny. ‘Go on, you check, you know what you’re looking for.’
Ben raised his eyes in a questioning expression at Sam, Is that really a good idea? he was thinking.
Sam understood his look, ‘It’s okay, Ben, I trust him.’
Sonny took the stone and held it out in front of him.
His fingers were tingling as the stone started to vibrate in his hand. He looked at Sam and the others, excitement in his face.
‘I think this may be it, the stone’s moving,’ he said
Sonny walked forward, swinging the stone in arcs around him. Feeling where the stone vibrated more, he followed that direction.
They walked further, but the landscape never seemed to change. The grasses were the same, the hills, the sky and clouds all seemed to remain locked in place while they walked further towards them.
Gradually, they became aware of a low humming sound emanating from the stone. ‘It’s starting to get warmer,’ Sonny said, still holding it in front of him.
‘This must be the place,’ Sonny called to the others.
The stone was humming noticeably louder.
‘I don’t think I can hold it much longer, it’s getting very hot,’ said Sonny, ‘if I put it down the gateway may open and I’ll never be able to pick it up again. It’ll be too hot to hold.’
‘Back off now, while you can,’ said Sam.
They turned back. Sam planted his staff in the ground to mark the furthest point they’d reached.
‘This must be the border,’ he said.
Sonny walked faster to get away from the border to get the stone to cool down.
‘What do you plan to do now?’ asked Sonny.
‘Firstly, we send a messenger to the others, calling them here. Until they arrive, we do nothing.’
‘Ben, find the others, tell them we think we’ve found the border.’
Sonny re-wrapped the stone and put it back into his sack, careful not to let it touch the ground. He sat down to wait.
‘If you plan to take your clan through the gateway, it’ll start a war,’ Sonny said. ‘My people will think they’re being invaded from the north and south and will fight, with their full fury. I can’t let that happen.’
Sam settled himself on the ground to await the others, lazily closing his eyes. ‘That’s not my plan.’
‘Your stick is way over there at the border. I could change now. I could become a Mountain Lion, take the stone and go for the gateway, and you couldn’t stop me.’
‘Only a really stupid person would make the same mistake three times,’ said Sam, without opening his eyes.
‘I didn’t say I would, but it is an option. Without your stick you’re defenceless.’
‘In the very short time you’ve been here, I’ve watched you grow up very quickly. Don’t make me think I had you all wrong.’
Sonny sat watching Sam, trying to figure out the man he was. He was a puzzle, but one he liked and respected.
‘I need to know if I can trust you,’ Sam said.
‘My loyalty lies first to my father, who’s at this moment in the High Passes, defending our people from invaders ... ‘
‘As it should,’ interrupted Sam.
‘And to my people and my land.’
‘Also as it should be.’
‘Any plan you have which will threaten any of those loyalties will mean you cannot trust me
.’
Sam lay quietly, opening one eye to scan the border. Without looking at him, Sam said, ‘I plan to go alone and I plan to bring our children home. I need your help to take me to them.’
‘If I help you to take back the children, it will be against the orders of my father. It will leave our passes undefended.’
‘Our children were kidnapped to protect you, not to protect us. You’ve been lied to, in order to justify the decisions that you made. There are other ways.’ The calmness in Sam’s voice did not hide the power of his words.
‘You know nothing of my people, or of these animals that threaten us.’
‘I know right from wrong, and taking someone’s child is wrong.’
Sonny glanced over at him, calm and reposed, looking like he was enjoying an afternoon nap rather than preparing to step into an unknown land with unknown dangers. I wish I felt so relaxed, thought Sonny.
He felt desperate, trying to make the right decision.
Then a voice came to him from a half-remembered conversation, ‘When the time comes, do not try to stop Sam.’
Is this what Kerri meant? Did she know this moment would come? Could it be Sam’s people have gifts that we are unaware of? Father said they’d ‘seen’ Sam’s daughter, that she is needed. Could these people also have the same gift of seeing? he thought.
‘Can you see the future, Sam?’
‘No, but I have a belief in the future. I have a belief in what can be done.’
‘You can trust me to guide you safely to my father, Sam.’
Sam nodded. ‘You should rest until the others arrive.’
Sonny watched Sam immediately fall to sleep. It seemed he slept without a care. Sonny sat watching him in wonder, unable to find peace, too uncertain for the future.
Sam sat up, instantly awake. ‘They’re here.’
Sonny looked around but could see no sign of anyone near. ‘I don’t see anyone.’
‘Don’t you feel the footsteps on the earth? They’re running, they’re excited and making a lot of noise,’ Sam replied.
As the clan came over the hill, Sam was on his feet waiting for them.
‘It’s there, near my staff,’ he pointed.
‘I hope you won’t need this,’ said Doc Mossman, and gave Sam a pouch with mosses in it. ‘But just in case.’ He shook Sam’s hand.
Casey took his hand in his, grasped him on the shoulder. ‘No delays and no heroes. We’ll expect you back within a week. We’ll put the second stone in exactly the same place in four days, and hope it opens a tunnel at the same place on the other side,’’
Sam nodded. ‘Look in on Salli for me.’
Grandfather stepped forward and shook Sam’s hand.
‘Trust in the wind to bring you safely home,’ he said.
Sam nodded again. The others called their goodbyes to Sam.
‘We should go now,’ Sam told Sonny.
The clan stood and watched them walk towards Sam’s staff in the distance. No one spoke as Sonny took out the stone. It was getting very hot very quickly. Sam could hear it starting to hum louder. Holding the stone in two hands, Sonny threw it in front of him, towards where he hoped the border was.
Immediately, there was loud CRACK, like lightning ripping the air apart. Where the stone hit the ground, the air around started shimmering, making a larger and larger circle of vibrant light around the stone, until it stood wider than Sam’s outstretched arms, higher than his head, stabilizing into an opaque circular veil, giving them a tunnel to another land.
‘It worked, Sam, it’s the border, the gateway has opened!’ shouted Sonny excitedly.
Sam turned and looked again at the others, standing watching, then together, they stepped through.
A CRACK like a whip, and a flash of white light blinded Sam for a moment when Sonny disappeared through the shimmering air. Sam looked back one last time, then turned and stepped through the gateway into Sonny’s land.
Once again, Sam was awestruck by the beauty of the valley before him. The mountains soaring on each side, snow capped, with clouds streaming off the upper slopes. He stood transfixed at the sight. It was drawing his view forward, as through a funnel, to the far distance and the majestic peaks seeming to hold up the sky. And to the High Passes, where he believed his daughter was even now standing guard over the northern border.
Chapter 6
‘Sam, Sam!’ The fog started to clear from his mind and he became aware of someone calling his name.
‘We must move, now, it’s the most dangerous time. Gateways have a hypnotising effect on you when you first step through. You must pull your mind back,’ shouted Sonny, shaking Sam’s shoulders.
‘I recognise this place. We must move further west, towards the hills. We’ll be safer there, rather than out here in the open,’ said Sonny
‘What do you mean safer?’
‘There’s less chance of an ambush.’
‘Do you mean your whole land has been overrun?’
‘The bears have been seen this far south, we think they’re scouting for the southern border. We must run.’
Sonny set off towards the northwest, running stooped to keep a low profile.
‘We always travel in two’s or three’s, never alone. Come, we must make the hills before sundown.’ said Sonny.
The grass was well over head high in places, the tall stalks gold and brown, dried in the summer drought, with the lightest feathery white heads, soft to the touch.
Coming to the edge of the valley, the ground started to rise and the grass became shorter. Sam stopped for a moment, grabbing Sonny’s arm and pulled him back. They knelt quickly in the last of the high grass.
‘What?’ whispered Sonny.
‘There’s something different, something has changed. I can smell it but I can’t understand it.’
Sonny scanned the rising slopes and the tall grasses for any movement, but all seemed calm and still. There was no breeze to sway the high grass, but still Sam felt something was wrong.
‘We can’t wait, we must move.’
‘No, something’s near us and moving this way.’
Sonny quickly turned to check behind them. They knelt for a moment longer, and Sam saw from the corner of his eye that the grass was moving to his right. He touched Sonny’s arm, pointing in the direction of movement. As he did so, he sensed Sonny changing. Sam could now smell cat, and glancing back, he saw Sonny standing on all fours beside him. His long hair transformed into a long flowing mane, his teeth extended over his lower jaw, with claws sharp and gripping the earth, ready to pounce and ready for battle.
Sam saw it again, the tall grass was definitely moving to his right. Sonny jumped, front paws extended, a sudden and determined pounce on whatever was behind them. He landed with a thud, on empty ground, quickly rolling back on his feet, searching for the intruder.
A voice on Sam’s left said, ‘I’m glad to see you on guard.’
Sam turned to see Kerri step out of the tall grass on his left.
‘What’re you doing here?’
‘You forgot your staff. I couldn’t let you leave without it,’ she said, handing it to Sam with a smile.
‘Are you always so impulsive, jumping in feet first without looking?’ she said lightly to Sonny.
‘You can’t stay here, Kerri, it’s far too dangerous, and you’ve no right to follow us,’ said Sonny.
‘Right?’ she said indignantly. ‘I didn’t know I needed permission to enter your land.’
‘It’ll soon be sunset. It’s too late for us to take you back and too dangerous for you to go alone. We need to find a safe place to camp the night,’ said Sonny
‘You’ll waste too much time going back,’ she said. ‘I think we should go on.’
‘We!’ Sonny shouted. ‘We can’t carry baggage.’
Kerri turned to Sam, a look of sadness on her face. ‘Do you think he talks to all women that way?’ she said to Sam. ‘Just when I thought he was growing up!’
‘Th
at’s no way to talk. If Kerri’s here, it’s for a reason, and I feel it’s a lot more important reason than returning my staff. We should go on, together,’ said Sam.
Sonny was glad he’d changed; the others couldn’t see the shame he felt.
‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have spoken that way, I was ‘anxious,’ thinking we were being ambushed.’
‘Well at least you’ve learnt to apologise,’ she said.
‘Anyway, how did you step out from the left when the grasses over on the right were moving?’ asked Sonny.
‘Oh, that’s a child’s trick. I used Sam’s staff to shake the grasses over there.’
Sam smiled at her. ‘How did you get away from Casey?’
‘He doesn’t know I’m gone yet. I came through after he left for the river. He’s trying to find another black stone. But I left him a note so that he doesn’t worry.’
‘Kerri! He’ll die of worry. He’ll probably come after you,’ said Sam
‘We should look for somewhere to rest for the night. It’s not safe to travel after dark,’ said Sonny.
‘I thought cats could see in the dark,’ Kerri said.
‘I’m not a cat!’
‘Okay, would a feline suit you?’ she said
‘Why can’t you see I’m a Mountain Lion?’
‘You don’t really look like a Mountain Lion to me, you look too young. Anyway, I don’t want you getting above yourself.’
Sam laughed, ‘We should leave now and walk all night. Sonny, you lead, and Kerri, you stay in the middle. We travel silently.’
‘I’m good at silently,’ Kerri said, and smiled at Sonny.
They travelled quickly and quietly, Sonny stopping many times to check the hills around them. With the sun dipping below the peaks of the valley, they watched the shadows spread across the valley floor and race up the sides of the opposite peaks, throwing their world into a deep blackness where the mountains blocked the view of the stars around them. It was a darkness Sam and Kerri hadn’t experienced before.
‘Even the nights are different here, and much colder,’ Sam said.
They struggled upwards, the air getting thinner and colder the higher they climbed. Eventually the shorter grasses gave way to stone and scree. Sonny jumped from rock to rock ahead of them, while Sam and Kerri struggled in a terrain neither had experienced before. The night wore on into early morning.
Shifters Alliance Page 8
