“It is.”
“Would you have had him not be a knight? Who then would have saved you? Am I not my father’s son? You cast me out without an hour’s warning to find honest work, and so I did, for you had faith in me that I could. Can you not have faith that I will find a lord to serve who will not serve the darkness nor offer me to this hideous tithe you fear? The Swan Knight was a knight, was he not?”
She stood, and, for once, her voice was trembling with emotion, and her normal serenity was gone. “We have discussed this matter enough! You will never persuade me to permit this! Never!”
2. A Short Never
As it happened, it took only four months of tireless pleading, promising, arguing, cajoling, wheedling, raging, sulking, storming, and begging for Ygraine to be worn down.
“One promise you must make me,” said she. “To reveal your name to no soul, living or dead.”
And so Gil promised.
It was an early morning in Advent, and the snow was on the ground, and a week remained before Christmas when Gilberec Moth, singing, and his dog, Ruff, barking, went out.
Gil’s heart was soaring like an eagle, for he was armed and armored with his father’s sword and habergeon, helm, and shield. The gray mantle his mother had given him was around his shoulders, blowing in the wind. Over one shoulder was his knapsack. Gil with the sun above him in the cloudless sky watched the shadow of himself passing along the contours of the snow, admiring the tall, sharp shadows of the swan wings projecting from his helm. Every now and again, Gil would hold up the shield in both hands, turning it so that he could study the handsome design of azure and silver and gold: a swan of white on a field of blue beneath a crown of gold.
They walked and gamboled through field and wood and back road to the main highway. The armor should have chafed and weighed him down, but in his light-hearted mood, he hardly noticed.
“Where are we going, Gil? Where?”
“Errantry!” shouted Gil. “We are knights errant!”
“Which means what?”
Gil looked up and down the highway. “I think it means we should head for Brown Mountain and look for the elfs. Do you think anyone would give a ride to a knight errant?”
Ruff’s ears drooped. “No one picks up a hitchhiker with a dog.”
3. A Long Hike
It was a little before noon, and the boy and his dog were trudging up the snowy slopes of Brown Mountain.
Hours passed as they searched. Ruff and Gil were seeking the door into the mountain from which the knightly elfs had come. Ruff cast about, sniffing and hunting, but said the door must not be in this part of the mountain.
Ruff said, “You know, you know, I am pretty sure elf doors move around. You cannot get in unless you know the right words. Besides, you were probably looking at a postern door, you know? The back door. I bet the big one is farther up.”
“No,” said Gil crossly, “I am sure the door was around here. That is the stream Nerea and I swum up. Or is it swimmed?”
Ruff said, “Mermaids can do both.”
“And there is a waterfall farther upstream I do not remember swimming up.”
“Mermaids can find strange shortcuts and go around things even when there is no way around. We are looking in the wrong spot.”
Gil looked at him suspiciously, “Are you afraid of meeting the elfs?”
Ruff said, “Do I look crazy? Of course I am. But I am not sure this is the spot to look… look! Look!”
“I heard you.”
“No, I mean look! Look over there.” And he pointed with his nose.
Gil said, “I don’t see anything.”
“Human eyesight! Who in the world put you in charge of the world? Let’s go!”
“Wait! What did you see?”
But Ruff was already running across the snow at a gallop, flinging snowflakes high and wild, barking.
Gil, his armor clanging and ringing at every jarring footfall, pounded after him.
The two went into a valley and then came up to a rise where a line of pine trees stood, their branches white. Ruff hunkered low to the ground and crept forward stealthily, his hindquarters quivering with excitement. Gil did not need to be told. He threw himself on his face and crawled forward on elbows and knees, trying not to groan under the weight of the forty pounds of metal he was carrying. He had to undo his chinstrap and wiggled the helm off his head because the neckpiece otherwise would have prevented him from craning his neck, and the eyeholes would have restricted his peripheral vision.
He looked.
The valley below them was half hidden by clouds of fog crawling like giant white snails through the scattered trees. Gil saw a set of tracks in the snow in the near distance, going down the slope away from him and disappearing into the fog. It was two or three parallel pairs of naked feet, accompanied by paw prints too large to be from any natural creature.
Gil starting crawling forward, trying to get a better look at the prints, but a low growl from Ruff warned him to freeze. Gil held still and squinted, peering.
On the far side of the little valley, emerging from the fog that filled the valley floor, now came furry figures. At first Gil thought it was a troop of apes and a very shaggy pony. He could not see clearly because of the intervening branches.
But then the trio reached the crest of the rise opposite Gil. There were no trees there, and Gil saw the distant figures clearly against the blue sky beyond.
They were covered in hair from head to foot and moved with a rolling gait with knuckles near the ground. The one in the lead was carrying a war axe. The one in the rear turned, and Gil saw a wild beard and blazing eyes. It had fangs like a baboon and nostrils like an ape.
“Bigfoot….” whispered Gil.
Ruff said, “Oh, no! Oh, no! Those are Woses. Their charm is in their fur. You cannot fight them.”
Gil recalled where he had heard the name of the creatures before. A tremor of hate shivered through his body.
“I can fight them. I will!”
“No one fights the Abominable Snowmen. And I also smell a wolf around here. A big wolf.”
“Ruff, I am going after those guys.”
“Okay! Okay! Just… Let’s be careful.”
4. Ford
It is possible that they were too careful because the afternoon went by, and the yeti eluded them. In one place, two hours later, the trail crossed a stream partly covered with ice, and in the muddy banks was a wolf print twice the size it should have been.
Ruff said, “Are you sure we want to be following these guys?”
Gil said, “I am supposed to be a knight. They do knightly things.”
“You don’t have a horse,” said Ruff. “Can you even be a knight without a horse?”
Gil said, “We already talked about this. I read every book in the library about knighthood, but just reading about fencing and jousting and practicing on my own after work is no good.”
Gil had been working as a groom at the local farm of a man named Hoosick. He had made several friends among the horses there but could not remember the names of the other farmhands. That job ended with the harvest a few weeks back and had given Gil more time to pester his Mom about being a knight.
“I need money to buy Mom something nice for Christmas. So I am seeking some traitor knight or robber baron to beat up. If I win, I get his arms and armor and his horse. It is called the victor’s right. I figure I can pawn the arms and armor at Mr. Yung’s pawn shop. Mr. Yung gave me a good price for Nerea’s golden hair pin.”
“Why not pawn that armor you got on?”
“A dog would not understand.”
“Well, I understand we got to go farther upstream to find a ford. These guys are pretty darned tall, and the water neck deep on them would be over your head.”
Gil said, “I bet they are heading for Blowing Rock, aren’t they? My hometown.”
5. Rest Stop
It was night. The two came out of the woods into an oversized parking lot. There w
ere a weigh station, a diesel pump, and a cluster of diners and convenience stores gathered into a rough semicircle around the parking lot. Beyond that were trees with snow on their branches, and beyond them the square shadows of a long-abandoned railway station. Beyond the railway station Gil could see the town square of Blowing Rock. The shops and the courthouse had been decorated with giant snowflakes and neon candy canes. There was a giant pine tree in the square draped with colored lights, with an electric star on the highest bough. The star was taller than the tallest building there.
Gil said, “Seems really strange they would head into my hometown. Won’t someone see them?”
Ruff said, “They can hide themselves in a mist.”
“Can you find them?”
“Sure! Sure! Just watch me!”
Ruff went carefully around the parking lot once, twice, and then a third time.
He came slowly back, ears drooping and tail dragging. “Nothing. I lost him.” And Ruff hung his head.
Gil said, “I am not going home to my Mom and telling her my first day out as a knight errant was a bust! We got to think of something. Got to come up with an idea.”
Gil and Ruff stood in the snow among the parked trucks beneath a buzzing neon light. Gil said glumly, “I wish there was a squirrel or something I could ask which way they went. I don’t like the winter. All the birds stop talking. Animals hibernate. I am used to hearing voices.”
Ruff perked up, “Hey! Hey! I got an idea!”
“What?”
“You can talk! You! That way it won’t seem so quiet. Dogs like talking. Especially when you say good dog! Talking like that is best.”
“Great idea,” said Gil sarcastically.
Ruff’s ears drooped.
Gil sighed, seeing it was unfair to take out his bad mood on Ruff, so he scratched him behind the ears. “Good boy! Good dog!”
“See!” exclaimed Ruff, his tongue lolling. “That was fun!”
Gil found himself grinning. “I guess it is fun.” Gil looked thoughtful. “Come to think of it, speaking of, um, speaking, I think I should say something when I yell like Bruno taught me. Like words. A battle cry.”
“How about ‘Go Hornets!’—?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s the battle cry of your school you got kicked out of. You know, when you were expelled.”
“I don’t think I am legally allowed to use that any more.”
Ruff said, “How about ‘Merry Christmas!’—?”
“I am not sure if that counts as a battle cry.”
“It is something I hear a lot of humans say about this time of year. Whoops!”
“What is it? What is it, boy?”
Ruff suddenly barked and looked excited, “Oh, no! Oh, no! I smell something elfish.”
“It is them?”
“No, but it is something!”
“Lead the way!” Gil took up his shield and followed the scampering black-and-white dog across the parking lot, his mail jingling as he jogged.
Ruff sniffed at the glass door of a burger joint. The glass was fogged with condensation. Gil pushed open the door. It was warm inside, filled with the smell of fried meat. Here was a restaurant, but the back wall opened up into a corridor where there were other shops and stands, like a miniature mall. Gil stepped in, scowling at Ruff. “You and your junk food! Did you smell something elfish? Or just a filet-o’-fish?”
Ruff’s ears drooped. “The nose knows! How could you doubt me?” So Gil had to kneel and rub his belly by way of apology until he was in a good mood again.
A figure dressed in a Styrofoam outfit of a giant hamburger in a top hat loomed up behind them.
“Excuse me, son. No dogs allowed in here!” came a voice out of the hamburger.
Ruff said, “Oh! Tell him you are blind! Blind men’s dogs get to get in everywhere. People feel sorry for them because their humans are blind.”
Gil was staring at the hamburger-man in confusion. “Excuse me, sir. This might seem like an odd question, but– you are a human being wearing a costume, right?”
“Very funny. You are advertising for some sort of Dungeons & Dragons-themed place moving in, are you? Your outfit looks heavier than mine. Anyway, the manager won’t let anyone bring his dog in here.”
Just then, Ruff took off at high speed, yapping. The noise of his nails scrabbling on the tile floor was like hailstones. Ruff rushed out of the burger joint into the main section of the mall. He pelted around the corner and out of sight but not out of earshot.
“I’ll go get him!” said Gil over his shoulder as he ran after Ruff, his mail clattering and clanging and the hems of his great gray cloak whipping after him.
Ruff turned into a little side corridor past a water fountain. Here were signs for the men’s room, the ladies’ room, and a door labeled NO ADMITTANCE. Ruff pointed at the ladies’ room door with his nose, cocking his foreleg, and barked. “In here! In here!”
Gil skidded to a halt. “I cannot go in there!”
But then a horrifying, shrill scream rang out, and a loud sob of anguish that tore at the heart. Gil smashed the door aside with his shield and barreled into the room, one hand on his sword grip.
There were three woman in the bathroom, two of whom let out shrieks of surprise when Gil entered. The third woman was screaming for another reason. She was a heavyset woman with an overlarge purse filled with diapers and wipes. Next to her was an empty stroller. There was a fold-down changing table built into the wall of the bathroom. On it was a tiny figure wrapped in pink baby clothing, utterly motionless and silent like a dead thing.
Gil squinted, not sure what he was seeing. There was a bright light just above the changing table, and a shadow was cast on the smooth surface. The shadow did not match. The baby’s chubby little hands and feet did not cast hand-shaped or foot-shaped shadows. Instead, the silhouette was some sort of root, something like a turnip, but with stalks filling the armholes and foot-socks of the baby outfit. Gil raised his eyes to a motion he saw in the mirror and then looked at the bathroom window. It was a narrow slit, too narrow for a person to fit through, but it was swinging.
Ruff barked, “I see him! I see him! The real baby is over there! The redcap has got him!”
Gil said, “What? I didn’t see it–”
Ruff said, “Follow me!”
The heavyset woman was bent over the motionless baby who cast the shadow of a plump plant growth. She looked up, her face wet with tears, and screamed, “Get a doctor! Lubomira! My baby is not breathing! She is not breathing! Little Loobie!” Her wild eyes fell on Gil. She blurted out: “You have to save her!”
Ruff, barking like a string a firecrackers, leaped across the bathroom, up to the sink and then up to the sill. A twist of his body and he was out the narrow window and down.
Gil felt a jolt run through his frame when the woman begged him for help, as if his muscles were on fire. He spoke, “I will save the baby, so help me God! Wait here!”
Gil pelted out the door. In the small corridor outside were several men, attracted by the screaming, looking frightened and uncertain.
When Gil in his winged helm and shield and cloak came out of the ladies’ room, one of them said, “Hey!” and another, “Stop him!” but Gil slung his shield before him and knocked aside the two men who stood in his way.
He ran out the door marked NO ADMITTANCE. Inside was a back room. Here were shelves, boxes, a sink, and another door leading to a loading dock. He leaped off the dock onto the wet pavement, heard his dog barking, and ran that way, his armor ringing like music.
6. Redcap
There was a narrow alleyway between the backside of the mini-mall and the neighboring building. “Here! Here!” barked Ruff. “I see the baby!”
The helm limited Gil’s view. He yanked it off, tucked it under his right arm like a football, and pounded down the alley, kicking up snow and melted water with every step.
A sudden turn to the left and he saw Ruff in the distance, on the
other side of a small brook, flitting through the trees. Ruff was barking at what looked like a dust-devil or eddy of wind passing along the snow. Gil leaped up a berm of gravel, over some rusted railroad tracks, down the gravel slope on the far side. Then, he sprinted through the trees.
The unseen swirl of wind passed through a thicket of tangled branches, and Ruff was thwarted, held up by the many twigs and jags, barking at whatever invisible thing was skipping away beyond. Gil ran up, smashing through the thicket with his shield and trampling it with his boots. He gritted his teeth and put every ounce of strength into running.
They were now on the common green. No one was around. The lawn of the Blowing Rock town square was empty except for scattered patches of snow and the giant pine tree covered with electric lights in the near distance. Ruff barked, “You go left! I’ll go right! Drive him toward me!”
“But I can’t see anyone!”
“He don’t know that! Lesson One! Awe and terrify!”
Ruff ran to one side, teeth bared, barking madly. Gil ran across the little common green of the town square to the right, waving the helm he carried in his hand over head, showing his teeth, and bellowing ferociously.
Ruff barked madly and lunged. Suddenly, Ruff had in his teeth a doll-sized cap of bright red set with an owl feather.
A little blurry swirl of wind suddenly became clear and easy to see. Here was a miniature man, no more than twelve inches tall, dressed in a green doublet and hose, his head bare, with a face as hideous as a vulture’s face, eyes bright with glee and malice. The little man was scampering toward the giant pine tree covered with colored lights in the middle of the common green, laughing gaily. His tiny arms, no bigger than soda straws, were able to carry the body of a baby four times his size over his head. It was like seeing a normal-sized man carry a baby elephant. It was the real Loobie, still alive and breathing, and sleeping peacefully despite the jolts and ruckus.
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