by P. C. Cast
“Rattlesnakes,” Jenna said with a shudder.
“Yes. It’s early in the year, so most of the snakes are still in their holes. Later in the summer it would be stupid to try to harvest anything without a team of Warriors going ashore with you as protection. Still, be vigilant, and if you hear anything resembling a rattle load your slingshot and get ready to fire.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be careful,” Spencer said.
“At least we won’t have to worry about the Monkeys while we’re on land,” Mason said.
“On land you won’t, even though they’ll probably call to you from the trees and try to get you to come to them.”
“Why would they do that if they’re so awkward on land?” Mari asked.
“If they can get you under the canopy of one of the trees, every Monkey in that tree will drop on you. Awkward or not, their teeth are sharp. A group of them can definitely kill you.”
“Not going anywhere near the trees,” Mason said.
“In the water they are vicious little thieves. Keep the boat at the dock. Monkeys live in dens they make either in the ruins of a city where some of the buildings are still above water, or here, where there isn’t a city, and where they build dens at the waterline. They can only be accessed underwater. Strange but true fact—one of the staples of their diet is Mouth eggs. The Mouths lay them in shallows near islands or in the ruins of cities. Monkeys devour more than half of them every season. And from about now until midsummer Mouths will be laying eggs, which means the Monkeys will be fat and lazy—especially on land.”
“That’s a good thing,” Nik said.
“It is. Remember, you’re going to be in the most danger when the group comes back and loads the boat. Move fast. Nik, Wilkes, don’t help them. Let Mason do that. The two of you, don’t take your eyes off the water around you,” Antreas said.
“And on the return trip Spencer, Jenna, and Mason will paddle while Wilkes and I continue to be ready to shoot,” Nik said.
“Yes. The water is clear here, which works in your favor, but the Mouths are dark colored and many times look like shadows, or even ruins below the water,” Antreas said. “Watch for their tentacles. They’re easier to spot.”
“Because they’re light colored, right?” Mari asked.
“Well, the bottom side of their tentacles are white. The top of them are the same dark color as their bodies, but when they lift them from the water you’ll be able to see the white. Don’t wait. Shoot.”
“Aim for their eyes,” Nik said.
“Or their open mouths,” Antreas said. “But the eyes are the best shot. Their skin is so thick you can rarely get a fatal shot, but their eyes aren’t on the sides of their heads like most fish. They’re on top so that they can see their above-water prey.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t miss,” Nik said grimly.
“Well, save your arrows unless one of the damn things attacks,” Wilkes said. “You might get lucky and they will have already fed. They only hunt when they’re hungry—though the Monkeys are always bothersome. Unless a group of them can trap you they won’t kill, but they will steal from you, and they’ll also attempt to unbalance your boat. My best advice is if the little bastards start messing with you—shoot one. Kill it. The Mouths will feed from it and the Monkeys will take off.”
“We’ve got it,” Nik said.
“We’ll handle them,” Wilkes added.
“Are all of you ready?” Mari asked.
When the five of them nodded, Antreas and Danita paddled to the boat Wilkes shared with Mason and Spencer. Danita quickly switched places, and Bast nimbly jumped from one boat to the other. Then Wilkes, Mason, and Antreas paddled to pick up Jenna before heading to Mari and Nik.
Mari took Nik’s face between her hands. “Do not die. And I’d prefer it if you didn’t get hurt, either.”
“I’ll do my best,” Nik said, kissing her soundly before he and Antreas changed places.
“Okay, head straight at the island from here. You’ll see the dock. From there the blackberries and potatoes aren’t far. Like I said before, they’re just up from the beach, but well outside the tree line. I’ll take the Pack past the island and then we’ll circle and wait for you,” Antreas said. “Be smart and be safe.”
Laru grumbled again as Nik and Wilkes began stroking against the lake, aiming the boat for the island.
* * *
Just the thought of wide-mouthed, tentacled monsters lurking under the water had Nik’s nerves on edge, but the sight of land, closer than it had been for five whole days, steadied him.
A scream echoed around them, sounding exactly like a young woman being tortured.
“That is so disgusting,” Jenna said.
“It makes my skin shiver.” Spencer peered down into the water surrounding them. “It’s especially horrible that they’re trying to lure us to those giant Mouths.”
“Nik and Wilkes won’t let them get us,” Mason said. “And we have our slingshots for the snakes—don’t forget that.”
The girls nodded somberly, checking and rechecking their supply of rocks and being sure their slingshots were easily accessible.
“I see the dock! It’s straight ahead.” From his position in the front of the little boat, Nik squinted against the glare of the sun off the lake and could see the small wooden structure jutting off the side of the steep bank to the island.
Monkeys covered the dock. They were about the size of Terriers—had the canines walked upright. As they got closer Nik could see that except for their faces they were covered with fur that was a strange color—brown with a green tint.
“They look just like the water,” Jenna said.
“That’s why they’re that weird greenish-brown color,” Nik said. “Camouflage.”
“Mason, take my paddle,” Nik said, handing it to Mason, who was sitting directly behind him in the crowded canoe. Then Nik raised his crossbow, sighted, and let an arrow fly over their heads, so close to the Monkeys that it almost grazed three of them.
The creatures began screaming—this time they sounded like animals instead of terrorized girls. Most of them jumped into the water and disappeared under it. A few others waddled from the dock and awkwardly made for a grove of pines not far inland.
“Wilkes, steer us up to the dock. Mason, keep paddling for me. I’m going to watch the water—and what’s beneath it,” Nik said, reloading his bow.
The water was clear and deep. Nik estimated that he could see about ten feet below the surface, and then everything got dark. Shadows moved within shadows, and the sunlight captured strange shapes that Nik was sure were Mouths, though none rose to the surface.
They steered the boat easily to the dock, stopping beside it. The wooden structure was small and, like Antreas had described, it jutted from the steep side of the island to rest along the surface of the water. It was only wide enough for a couple of people to stand side by side, and it was covered with Monkey excrement.
“Bloody beetle balls, that’s repulsive,” Nik said, wrinkling his nose at the smell.
“We’re going to do this fast,” Jenna said, looking from Spencer to Mason. “Are you two ready?”
Spencer and Mason nodded.
“Remember everything Antreas said,” Jenna continued. “We stay within eyesight of each other. We do not go into the trees. We look and listen for snakes. And we hurry.” As Jenna spoke, she and Spencer were wrapping their hands and getting out their little harvesting knives, which were really just sharpened flint set in wood, but worked perfectly for snipping clusters of blackberries from the thorny bushes.
“I’m ready,” Spencer said.
“Me, too,” Mason said.
Mason had one of the precious shovels the Clan had salvaged decades before—and all three of them had as many nesting baskets as they could carry. When they took the baskets apart to fill, there were straps attached to them so that they could be carried over their shoulders.
“Okay, don’t forget—if the Monkeys
come too close give Wilkes and me a shout and we’ll shoot more arrows at them. Hell, if they won’t leave you alone, I’ll kill one of them,” Nik said grimly. “That’ll keep them away from you.”
“Thanks, Nik. We know we can count on you and Wilkes,” Jenna said.
Nik thought Jenna had grown up a lot in just a short time. She was proving to be a valuable member of the Pack. Actually, all three of them—Jenna, Spencer, and Mason—were Pack members Nik was proud of. Spencer had a gift for brewing and fermenting. She’d even managed to trade in the Saleesh villages for several bushels of apples, and had talked Mari and Sora into letting her keep a few of the bushels so she could create something called cider, which Nik was really looking forward to trying.
Mason was always willing to lend a hand to help any Pack member, and except for Third Nights, when Moon Fever had ahold of him, his face was rarely lacking a smile.
“I like them,” Wilkes said, and Nik realized the older Warrior was also staring after the three teenagers as they jogged up from the bank.
“I like them, too, but we need to watch the water and them,” Nik said.
“You’re right. Ah, the girls found the blackberries.” Jenna turned and gave the boat a thumbs-up before she and Spencer bent to the task of harvesting berries. Wilkes continued, “I’ll watch them and give you updates if you keep your eyes on the water.”
“Will do,” Nik said. “It’s not like I can look away from it without getting a creeping feeling up my spine.”
“Your dislike of water comes in handy right now,” Wilkes said with a smile, though his attention was focused inland on the kids. “Okay, Mason just waved, and now he’s digging.”
“And while I’m staring at the water looking for fish that can swallow canines whole, I’m going to think about all of the delicious things Sora is going to do to those potatoes,” Nik said.
“She’s impressive,” Wilkes said. “Both of our Moon Women are impressive.”
Nik nodded, squinting at a dark shape under the water. He couldn’t quite decide whether it was a shadow from the dock or something more ominous.
“I like that you’re saying ‘our’ Moon Women. I was worried about you being unhappy away from the Tribe,” Nik said.
“Honestly, I was, too—at first. But there’s a freedom to being with the Pack that we didn’t have in the Tribe. Women are the lawmakers, and I find I like that—a lot.” He glanced at Nik and shrugged before returning his gaze inland. “They’re kinder than we are, and they’re also more intuitive. Mari and Sora are making good decisions—not ‘hysterical’ at all, as the Saleesh priests would describe them. They showed excellent judgment with how they handled Dove’s vision. The Saleesh people were warned—men and women—and they didn’t do it like impetuous children would have. They made sure we were safe and we had a plan. Then they confronted the Saleesh. That’s good decision making.”
“I agree. And this journey—though it has, of course, been difficult—also hasn’t been filled with the kind of bickering and backstabbing that had seemed to be commonplace in the Tribe the past several years.”
“Thaddeus…” Wilkes spat into the water as if to get the taste of the word out of his mouth.
“He played a major role in the change in the Tribe, but it wasn’t just him. Think about the Elder Council. Those men had been making decisions for the Tribe for decades.”
“Yeah, once appointed to the Council you’re on it for life,” Wilkes said.
“Exactly. We only had one point of view in the Tribe for a long time, and it was an old, stagnant one. Father and I discussed it often. Sometimes he agreed with me on the changes I talked about, but more often he’d tell me that I’d understand after I was made a Companion. Well, I’m a Companion, and I still believe the Tribe had become tunnel-visioned and stuck only seeing one point of view, which was usually a male’s and a Companion of a Shepherd’s.”
“How long does a Moon Woman lead?” Wilkes asked.
“I’m not sure. I know that Mari’s mother had chosen Sora and Mari as her apprentices shortly before she died—and she wasn’t much older than you,” Nik said. “Mari and Sora are already opening the Moon Woman training to others—something that breaks with their Clan traditions.”
“Mari seems to like breaking traditions,” Wilkes said, and Nik could hear the smile in his voice, though he didn’t take his eyes from the water.
“She does, but she also values lessons that were learned in the past. I like that balance.”
“As do I,” said Wilkes. “I hope the Wind Riders agree.”
“I’d be surprised if we actually joined a Herd,” Nik said. “It’s more likely that we create our own settlement, but I’m really looking forward to seeing a horse. It’s hard to imagine an animal so big it can be ridden.”
“We’re going to have a lot of new things to learn. It’ll keep me young,” Wilkes said. “Nik—Monkeys to the east in the trees. I can see them watching the girls.”
“Keep an eye on the water. I’ll look,” Nik said.
Nik studied the grove of big old pines, and easily saw a whole group of Monkeys filling the branches of the two trees closest to where Jenna and Spencer were harvesting berries. The girls hadn’t noticed them. Their backs were bent, and even from the distance of the boat Nik could see that they were moving quickly and had already filled two of the baskets.
He glanced at Mason, who was west of the girls. He, too, was completely focused on what he was doing. As Nik watched, Mason reached down and lifted a handful of potato vines, shaking the dirt from the little red nuggets of new potatoes before he pulled them free of the vines and put them in the waiting baskets.
A scream came from the trees, and everyone’s head turned to see the Monkeys jumping up and down on the boughs, causing the pines to look like they were shivering. One of the creatures threw a pinecone at Jenna. It fell short, but Nik didn’t hesitate. He sighted his crossbow and let an arrow fly. It embedded in the bough the Monkey was standing on, causing a dozen of them to scatter while they jabbered and shrieked.
“They’re getting restless,” Nik said.
“Hey, what’s that?” Wilkes pointed to a dark shape under the dock, not more than five feet from them.
“I think it’s a Mouth,” Nik said. “I noticed it before, and couldn’t decide if it was a shadow or not. When they come back I’ll watch it. The only things feeding today are going to be our Pack.”
“Did I hear Antreas right when he said we only have a few hours left to paddle today and that we’ll actually get to be on dry land tonight?” Wilkes said, still staring at the darkness beneath the dock.
“You did. He said we’re stopping at a place called Flatrock.”
“Does that mean we’re going to be fighting off Monkeys all night? Not that I’m complaining. It’ll be good to sleep on land.”
“According to Antreas the island isn’t more than a big rock that’s flat on the top. Nothing grows there, and it’s literally a rock, so Monkeys can’t build dens at the waterline,” Nik said.
“And no Monkeys means no Mouths, either,” Wilkes said.
“Exactly.”
“The girls are done! They’re helping Mason with the last of the potato digging,” Wilkes said.
“Good, I’m ready to get away from this stench,” Nik said.
“Okay, they just waved and they’re strapping the baskets over their shoulders,” Wilkes reported.
He and Nik kept eyeing their respective targets, but they also arranged their arrows within easy reach. Just touching the barbed tips calmed Nik. He’d been the best bowman in the Tribe for years, and he had no doubt about his ability to take out any Monkeys or Mouths that threatened them.
“On their way back—heads up! The Monkeys are also on the move,” Wilkes warned.
He hadn’t needed to. The Monkeys weren’t subtle. Chattering to one another, they waddled from the trees and dove into the water, morphing into expert swimmers before disappearing beneath the frothing w
aves.
Jenna, Spencer, and Mason returned smelling of sweat and earth, and making Nik long for the end of their journey.
Mason was the first into the boat. He stood, balancing, as Jenna and Spencer handed him their laden baskets. The dark shape that had been lurking under the dock moved, and Nik caught sight of something that looked like a snake. He aimed his crossbow and spoke quickly.
“Get in the boat. I see a Mouth. It’s there—under the dock.”
“Last basket in!” Mason said. Then he lifted each of the girls and practically tossed them into the cramped little boat. “Okay, we’re loaded. Let’s go! Let’s go!”
The paddling was left to Mason, Jenna, and Spencer. Wilkes and Nik sat at opposite ends of the boat, crossbows raised, sighting into the water.
They were only a few yards from the dock when Spencer shrieked and said, “I just hit something with my paddle!”
Wilkes turned in time to see a Monkey diving beneath the boat. “Monkey—under us.”
And then from the opposite side of the boat came a shriek that perfectly echoed Spencer’s—sounding exactly like one of the girls had fallen overboard.
“Don’t let it shake you,” Nik said, sighting down into the water.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Jenna shouted as a furry webbed hand glided silently up out of the water, grabbing one of the straps of a basket filled with blackberries. She lifted her paddle over her head and brought it down on the creature’s wrist sharply. The Monkey cried out and the water writhed as it tried to swim away, but it didn’t let loose of the strap. Jenna bent a little out of the boat so that she could swing at the thing again, this time rapping it on the knuckles of its webbed hand. It squealed, dropped the strap, and dove under the surface.
At that moment a tentacle slithered up out of the water in the exact place the Monkey had been, reaching for Jenna.
“Nik!” Spencer screamed.
“Get back!” Nik swiveled, trying to get a clean shot of the huge fish. He could see it clearly now. It had to have been twenty feet long—almost bigger than their boat. Its body was black and wide, and its enormous oval-shaped maw was open. Rows of teeth glistened wet. They weren’t sharp, like a canine’s incisors. Instead the teeth looked like rough-tipped bumps that were barbed so that once the Mouths bit something it was almost impossible for the prey to escape. Tentacles, like massive white-bellied snakes, grew from either side of its mouth. It seemed they moved with sentience of their own—and they were all reaching for Jenna.
