Argentum (P.A.W.S. Book 2)

by Debbie Manber Kupfer

  She nodded at Gerard.

  “Can’t sleep either, eh?”

  “Headache,” answered Gerard. “You don’t know where there’s some aspirin, do you?”

  “Think there’s some in the cabinet back there. Help yourself.”

  Gerard rummaged through the cabinet until he found the aspirin bottle, took two, and poured himself a glass of water from the faucet.

  “Where is everybody tonight?”

  “Went out with Alistair. It’s full moon, right?”

  Gerard looked at her, confused.

  “You really don’t know? How dense can you be? I took you for a smart one, I did, what with all that book learning you do. Would have thought you would have worked it out by now.”

  Nora had finished her oatmeal and took out a pack of cigarettes.

  “Wanna smoke?”

  “No, I don’t smoke, thank you.”

  Nora took a long drag on her cigarette and blew several smoke rings in Gerard’s direction. Gerard coughed and the smoke added to his already pounding headache.

  “You know, I think I may go for a walk. The cool air may clear my head,” he said.

  Nora stared at him, “Hmmm . . . not sure I would do that but, well, it’s up to you.”

  The kitchen door led to a back alley. Gerard walked out that way and took a few deep breaths of the cool night air. Much better, he thought. He’d never seen the attraction of cigarettes, nasty smelly things. Well, he supposed it was up to Nora, but he did wish she wouldn’t smoke inside the house. Such a bad influence on the boys.

  He wandered down the alley, taking in the night air and feeling his throbbing head slowly start to feel better. At the bottom of the alley was a clearing—an empty lot that was slated for some new housing project. Gerard looked across the empty space and saw, in the far corner, a group of what appeared to be stray dogs. He probably should have turned the other way, but something compelled him to walk forward to get a better look.

  The dogs were standing in a circle. Most were small or medium sized, but one was huge; a massive, shaggy, gray beast who appeared to be the leader of the pack. In the middle of the circle was a shape that Gerard couldn’t make out, but whatever it was, it was screaming in pain.

  Gerard’s heart throbbed when he heard those not quite human screams. He inched closer. He desperately wanted to rescue the creature from its pain. As he got nearer, he saw in the center of the circle the small boy who had been brought to the packhouse the month before.

  The boy’s screams cut through the air and Gerard pushed himself through the dogs to his side.

  “Please let me help you,” said Gerard to the boy. The boy stared at Gerard with uncomprehending eyes, and as Gerard watched, the boy’s body began to change. It twisted and lengthened and his screams became howls until the boy was no longer a boy, but a wolf.

  Gerard looked around the circle and realized his mistake. Wolves, they were all wolves.

  The huge gray wolf stepped forward, and Alistair’s voice rung through Gerard’s ears.

  “So pleased that you could join us, Gerard. I was wondering when you’d work it out. I do not usually take fellows of your age into my pack. The lycopanthy isn’t kind to the elderly and I’m not sure if I turned you that you would survive for long, but then again, there is an alternative to turning . . .”

  “What do you mean?” said Gerard. He tried to run, but seemed rooted to the spot, held by an invisible force emanating from Alistair.

  “Well, boys,” said Alistair, turning to his pack, “it seems our feast has found us tonight. Isn’t that nice? None of that tedious hunting we usually have to do on a full moon. Oh, and Gerard, thank you for setting up my library. I’m sure Quentin will be able to take over your duties.”

  With one swipe, he pushed Gerard to the ground, tore the shirt from his chest, and sank his teeth into his flesh. Then he stepped back and beckoned to his pack to join the feast.

  Jessamyn swooped to the ground, squawking like a deranged harpy. She sank her claws into the back of the nearest wolf who howled with pain. The other wolves scattered. Only Alistair watched, saying nothing. Carefully Jessamyn scooped Gerard up in her talons and clumsily rose into the sky.

  “Nicely played, Jessamyn,” came Alistair’s voice in her head. “Until we meet again . . .”

  Chapter 39

  Gerard spent many weeks in the infirmary at P.A.W.S. under the care of Beatrice Bumsqueak. Many times it looked as if he wouldn’t survive. The catalyst came on the night of the next full moon. Gerard woke that morning with a fever that was rising. It became clear that day that Gerard, if he was to survive, would have to turn wolf that night.

  There were no other wolves in P.A.W.S. to help him with his transition, but Jessamyn walked with him outside as the moon was rising. She was taking a risk, she knew. He could easily attack her once he turned, but Jessamyn had become friends with Gerard over the last month and trusted him.

  At first as the moon rose, he was in pain, but as the metamorphosis took hold, he seemed to be fluid and calmer. Jessamyn watched him as he transformed, and then all of a sudden he darted off into the park. Jessamyn quickly turned hawk and flew above, tracking Gerard’s progress, ready to intervene if he tried to attack a human. But no, that night, and every full moon that followed throughout his life, Gerard only feasted on squirrels and rabbits.

  In the years that followed, Gerard became an important member of P.A.W.S. With his help, many boys including Josh were rescued from Alistair’s clutches. Gerard acted as a mentor for the young wolves, teaching them to choose a gentler path from that which Alistair would have them take.

  Some of the wolves, mostly those who had a little magic of their own, chose to stay in P.A.W.S., but others formed a new pack in a charmed area by the zoo and were joined by regular wolves who had their own special magic.

  Gerard only brought one possession with him to P.A.W.S.—the old blue book with the word “Argentum” on its cover. At night he would sometimes scribble his thoughts into its pages, but always when next he opened the book, they would be gone.

  Before he died, he gave the book to Josh, his grandson. Josh never knew that Gerard was his grandfather, but Gerard had recognized Sarah’s features in the boy from the day they first met. He kept his promise to Alistair and never visited Sarah, hoping that somehow Alistair would keep his promise and leave Sarah alone.

  Chapter 40

  Miri lay on her bunk at P.A.W.S., staring at the Hebrew words in the book. She didn’t notice Lilith coming in.

  “What’ve you got there?” asked Lilith, peering at the words on the page.

  “לדור מדור שעבר פלץ משפחת קסם של ההיסטוריה זו—this is the history of the silver of the Peltz family that has been passed from generation to generation,” read Lilith.

  “Wait a second, Lilith? You speak Hebrew?”

  “כן . . . I mean, yes.”

  Miri stared at her in astonishment.

  “I was born in Israel. Don’t tell anyone, please.” A look of panic appeared on Lilith’s face.

  “I won’t, but why? Why don’t you want people to know?” She held up the book to Lilith. “Do you know what this is? The rest of the pages are blank.”

  “Yes,” answered Lilith quietly. “I know what it is. It’s a shapeshifter journal. My father has one too. It tells the story of the charm. The most ancient charms were forged by Merlin, but others were created by Rav Zebulon of Sfat. Each charm that he created was linked with a book that would tell the stories of each generation who wore the charm. It is a kind of history.”

  “But the pages are blank.”

  “Not if you know how to read them.”

  “Do you?”

  “No, I’m not a shapeshifter. I’m an animagus. I have no charm. My father knows, but I can’t help you, I’m afraid. I’m never going back there. As far as they know, I am dead, and that is the way it will stay.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Miri.

 
; “If I tell you, you must promise to tell no one, not even Danny.”

  “I promise, but why?”

  Lilith walked over to the door and closed it gently. She took out her wand and muttered a few words.

  “There,” she said, “now we can’t be interrupted.”

  She went over to her closet and opened it. A jumble of things fell to the ground, and Lilith searched through them and finally withdrew a silver scrying bowl.

  “I don’t like to use this thing much,” she said. “I’m always nervous that they might be watching, but it is easier to show you my story than to explain it.” She took the bowl into the bathroom and returned with it overflowing with water. She placed it on the rug in the center of the room and beckoned Miri to come closer. She waved her wand over the water and intoned some words in Hebrew.

  Miri looked down into the water. She could see cobbled streets filled with black-coated Chasidim and smiling tourists taking photographs.

  “This is Sfat,” said Lilith. “I grew up in this town. It’s a little like growing up in a museum. Look, there I am.” She pointed to a small girl, maybe ten years old, with dark brown braids and wearing a long black skirt, crisp white long-sleeved shirt, stockings, and shiny black shoes.

  Miri stared at Lilith in disbelief; it looked nothing like her. Lilith smiled.

  “Hair dye of course, with little magical root touch-ups. I’m meant to be a blonde, anyhow, don’t you think?

  “In any case, this is where I lived until I was twelve. At twelve, I had a bat mitzvah and was given my first wand; I was then shipped off to America to finish my education. I was sent to live with a magical Chassidic family in Brooklyn, New York. What I saw of the city I loved, but my adopted family kept me busy with studies and chores and I rarely had a chance to explore.

  “In the summers, I went back to Sfat, and in the summer after I turned fifteen, my parents had a surprise for me. They had found me a husband. Yitzhak was much older than me, already in his late twenties after completing many years of yeshiva studies, both religious and magical. A perfect match, or so they thought.

  “They introduced me to him that summer. He gazed at me like a piece of meat he might be picking out at the market.”

  “’Yes, she will do,’” he said, and turned back to his prayer book.

  “They planned to send me back to New York for just one more year to complete as many studies as they thought a girl needed. Then, the following summer when I turned sixteen, Yitzhak and I would be married. I nodded and smiled; it was never a good idea to argue with my father. On the plane back to New York, I made my decision. I was never going back there again.

  “I thought I was so clever. Dye my hair, change my clothes, and then I could just slip away.”

  She waved her wand over the scrying bowl and the scene changed.

  “It didn’t work out that way. As soon as they discovered I was gone, they came after me. Still, I was sneaky. I had perfected my animagus cat form well by that stage, and I spent days at a time in the form of my cat. My white fur became matted and stained as I hid in ditches and holes. But slowly, slowly, I made my way westward. Even though I was tired, hungry, and cold, by the time I reached the edge of St. Louis, I was proud that I had made it this far. But then they found me.

  “A pack of wolves hired by my father cornered me in a ditch. I had a choice. Either I would come back with them and marry Yitzhak or they would kill me. I chose to fight and they left me for dead in that ditch. And that’s where Danny found me.”

  Miri stared at Lilith and reached out to her with her power. She felt her fear of the wolves and her gratitude at being rescued and brought to P.A.W.S. She magnified the good feelings and added a few of her own, then sent them back to Lilith.

  “Thank you, Miri,” said Lilith. “Well, now you know. Please don’t tell anyone.”

  “I won’t,” replied Miri. “I promise.”

  “I’m sorry I can’t help you any more with your book. There is something you need to know to read its stories. But I don’t know what it is. My father, of course, would know, but as I have said, I hope to never see my father again.”

  Miri sighed and put the book away at the back of her drawer.

  “I’m hungry,” she said. “Let’s go get some supper.”

  Chapter 41

  Danny was surprised when Miri and Lilith walked into the dining room together. Could they finally be becoming friends? Danny thought that unlikely.

  Since they had returned from New York, Danny had been avoiding Quentin. His mother had told him the night he got back that Quentin needed to talk to him. Danny couldn’t imagine what he possibly could have to say after all these years.

  After supper, he and Miri went for a walk in the park. It was almost summer now and official classes were nearly over. On June 21 they would have their Solstice Dance. Danny was looking forward to dancing with Miri, looking forward also to relaxing and having some fun over the summer, but experience had taught him that fun was not something that came easily at P.A.W.S.

  Some of the students and staff would go home for the summer. Danny wished that Miri had not insisted that they came back from New York. It would have been better to have stayed away from Jessamyn and Quentin.

  They walked in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts, and then sat down on a bench. Danny had a crust of bread in his pocket that he’d taken from supper. Now he crumbled it into tiny pieces and tossed it to the little crowd of sparrows which gathered around them, fighting over every crumb. Danny loved the irony of the cat feeding the birds.

  Suddenly there was a loud squawk, and a huge Canada goose landed in the middle of the sparrows, dispersing them hither and thither. It stared at Miri and Danny with beady orange eyes, honked loudly, and slowly began to transform. The goose gradually metamorphosed into a slightly overweight kid of around fifteen with a mess of light-brown, greasy hair, and a crop of pimples on his forehead.

  “Sorry to interrupt, but I’m lost.”

  “Who the hell are you?” asked Danny.

  “Oh, we haven’t met yet. I’m Gordon Pugh. I’m a new exchange student here from Canada. I just missed you guys last week when you were in New York. I stopped by at the New York Institute on the way here. Would have stayed there longer, but I had a run-in with a gander in Central Park. How was I to know they were supposed to have mated for life?”

  Miri and Danny stared at Gordon, open-mouthed.

  “In any case,” he continued, “I know who you are. You’re Danny, Jessamyn’s son, aren’t you? And you must be Miri. I’ve heard you’ve got some kick-ass power in you, though you wouldn’t know by looking at you, would you? Always the quiet ones.”

  By contrast, Gordon’s voice was loud and abrasive, rather like the honk of the goose. He held his hand out to them to shake. Reluctantly, Miri took hold of it. It felt slightly damp with sweat. Also, Miri realized that Gordon himself smelled a little of pond water and suspected he’d been swimming around the lake in his goose form.

  “Pleased to meet you, Gordon Pugh,” said Miri, trying to dislodge her hand from his as he didn’t seem to want to stop shaking it. Finally he let go and then repeated the process with Danny, who glared at him, still angry at the interruption.

  “The thing is,” explained Gordon, “I don’t remember how to get back to the cedar tree. You guys couldn’t show me, could you?”

  Reluctantly, they got up from the bench and walked Gordon back to the entrance of P.A.W.S. Gordon continued a one-way conversation all the way back, explaining his plans to explore St. Louis during the summer and the classes he hoped to take in the fall. Danny soon tuned him out, his thoughts returning to the conversation he had been avoiding with Quentin.

  Miri slammed her mental shield in place as Gordon’s incessant honking battled its way into her thoughts.

  Once inside, Gordon followed them to the rec room and continued his jabbering until they met Sean and Joey. Thankfully, at that point he joined them, and Miri and Danny went and
sat on a sofa at the back of the room to get as far away from the new exchange student as possible.

  They had just settled in when Danny looked up and noticed Quentin peering in through the door. When he spotted Danny, he entered the rec room and walked up to them. Danny nodded politely at his father, but inwardly wished he would take the hint and go away.

  “I apologize for the intrusion, Miri, but might I borrow Danny for a few moments?” said Quentin.

  Miri nodded and Danny reluctantly followed Quentin out of the room.

  They went into the small room that Quentin had been given as an office in P.A.W.S. He had his scrying bowl set up on the table and a number of magical supplies and books dotted around the room. Quentin had not been here for long, yet already it looked like he’d made himself at home.

  Danny did not want to think about where he slept, didn’t want to entertain the thought that his mother had invited this man back into her bed. He had tricked her, made her believe that he was dead, and left her alone and pregnant while he chose Alistair and immortality. How could his mother trust this man? How could Danny?

  “How is Miri?” asked Quentin.

  Danny looked up, surprised at the question.

  “Okay, I guess.”

  “I think I may have located the missing charm.”

  “But that’s wonderful. We need to tell Miri.”

  “I’m not so sure about that, Danny. The charm is dangerous. It still contains fragments of Alistair’s soul. It would be better if Miri stayed away from it.”

  “Surely she should have a say in that,” replied Danny. “Where is it?”

  “With Miri’s uncle, David Katz.”

  “That’s odd. How do you think he got hold of it?”

  “That we still don’t know, and that’s what worries me the most. Someone must have passed it to him, someone inside P.A.W.S. And there were only two people in P.A.W.S. who knew about the charm, Miri . . . and you.”