"Is that you, Kink?" Ilien asked, shuffling forward.
A long snout poked out the entry, still wearing its ever-present grin. "Yeah. Whatchya want?" Kink answered, his tongue dancing in the darkness.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure. Okay." The giant dog emerged, his back end so crooked he walked like a horseshoe.
Ilien winced at the wicked angle of the canine's spine. "How did you get that way?" he asked.
Kink sat. "What way?"
"All crooked like that," Ilien said, pointing in every direction at once.
Kink looked at himself as if for the very first time. He nodded toward the cabin.
Ilien’s brows darkened. "The Giant did that to you?"
Kink's smile slipped away and he shivered. "Yeah."
"Why? What did you do to deserve that?"
"Tried to get in the house, that's what. Slammed the door on me." He looked at his bent backside. "But it ain't that bad."
Ilien looked back at the imposing bulk of the cabin. "I don't get it," he said.
"Get what?"
"Why you stay with him," Ilien pressed, his eyes hardening.
"Because there's no escaping, that's why," growled Bleak as he crawled out from the cramp confines of his house. "This side of the forest is enchanted. There's no way out. You can go in, but you can't get back to anywhere but here, or the swamp, or the meadow. I've been to them all and it's all the same. There's no getting home."
"What about the lake?" Ilien asked. He looked out across its serene surface, trying to discern if he could see the far shore.
Bleak followed his gaze. "Let's just say there was never an empty dog house until we tried escaping across the lake." He fixed Ilien with a grim look. "Hungry fish."
Ilien shook his head in disbelief. "Then how did you get here?"
"The same way you did. Caught in a lousy trap." Bleak's eyes held challenge for a moment, then the big dog looked away.
"I still don't get it." Ilien threw his hands up. "I mean—"
"What's there to get?" Bleak said, the challenge returning to his gaze.
"Well, for one," Ilien said, stepping forward, "where exactly am I? And where did all you dogs come from? And why are there so many of you here to begin with? You can't all be that stupid to get caught in the Giant's traps."
Bleak spun on Ilien, his fur standing on end, his long legs stiff with anger.
"Well, I don't see any other animals here!" Ilien shouted, gesturing at the forest all around.
Bleak made to reply but turned away and grunted. Kink stepped forward, a grin across his face. "You're in the Drowsy Wood, the only enchanted forest left in all the world," he said. "We dogs come from the other side of the lake where the sun always sets, and we're all still here because the Giant won't tell us how to get back home. And yes, other animals do get caught in the Giant's traps, but they're on the list." Ilien stared at Kink, perplexed. "He eats them," Kink finished.
"Now do you get it?" Bleak asked, looking over the lake again at the frozen dawn. The giant dog fell silent and sat back on his haunches, peering longingly at the sun.
Ilien drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was obvious that the dogs, talking or not, couldn't help him. He was lost, stranded, marooned on a thin slice of mystical forest literally in the middle of nowhere. And he still had to find Windy.
"Is it always like that?" he asked, following Bleak's gaze across the lake.
"You mean never quite morning?" Kink said behind him. "Yeah. I haven't seen the sun in years. I miss lying in it." He sat gingerly on his crooked back end.
Ilien scanned the shoreline. Straight even pines wrapped around the mirrored lake, a brown picket fence topped with green. "There has to be a way out of here," he said.
"Well there isn't," Bleak snapped. "You just forget about getting out of here or you'll bring trouble to us all. Bad enough you're here at all. You'll be the ruin of the Wood for sure."
"I don't understand. Why does everybody keep saying that?"
"Because you're a Nomadin-child. Don't you get it?"
"But I'm not. And no, I don't get it!"
"Shut up out there!" howled Crank from his doghouse. "Can't you see I'm trying to sleep!"
"Sorry, Crank," Kink said, smiling stupidly.
"I wasn't talking to you, you idiot!" Crank stuck his head out the door. "I was talking to those other two idiots!"
"Oh yeah. You're right," Kink realized, his smile never leaving him.
Crank extricated himself from his dog house with considerable effort. "For howling out loud, there's no getting any rest around here, is there! You're dangerous because you're still alive, boy. The Nomadin were never supposed to have children, not while the Necromancer still lives."
"But I'm telling you my parents aren't Nomadin," Ilien argued. "They're not magical at all." He stopped and turned away. "At least my mother isn't."
"What do you mean, at least your mother isn't?" Crank asked with a sideways glance.
"I never knew my father," Ilien spoke softly. "He left when I was very young."
Crank shrugged. "Well then, there you go. Your father was Nomadin."
Ilien considered his comment in silence.
"And Nomadin children are forbidden!"
"It can't be," Ilien said, thinking of his father. "It just can't be."
"Well it is!" Crank barked. "Your parents understood the dangers. At least your father did. He knew Reknamarken would hunt you down when the time came."
Ilien shook his head. "It's impossible."
Crank clacked his teeth in anger. "What's the matter with you? Haven't you heard a word I've said? You're about as thick as that girl the Giant brought back today. You're a danger to us all, boy!"
Ilien nearly jumped. "What did you say?"
"I said you're a danger to us all!" Crank took a quick step forward. "You have a problem with that?"
"Not that! The girl. What girl?" Ilien exclaimed.
"The pretty one the Giant caught right before he caught you," Kink answered. "She was real nice. She even petted me." Kink looked over at the cabin. "There she is now!" he gushed, jumping up and down.
Ilien turned and saw Windy watching him through the cabin window high above, her breath steaming the cold glass.
Chapter XI
Into the Dog House
"Windy!" Ilien shouted. He ran to the window, trailed by an excited Kink. The cabin was built for a Giant, not a boy, and the window was well out of reach. Windy peered down at him from ten feet up, pressing a finger to her lips.
"Windy! Are you alright?"
She looked behind her then motioned for quiet again. She attempted to open the window but it was twice the size of a normal window and it wouldn't budge.
Ilien looked around the Giant's yard not knowing what he was looking for. "We've got to get her out of there."
"We can't. She's locked in," Kink said. His twisted rump sat next to him on the ground and he eyed it as if it might begin to itch on its own accord. "She's part of his collection now," he said, and began to sniff his fur for fleas.
Ilien peered back up at Windy, who was trying to open the window again. "What do you mean? Collection?"
Kink took a break from his flea hunt. "Oh, he has such a nice collection! Candlecranks, boondogglers, parakites."
"Don't you mean parakeets?" Ilien corrected.
"No. I don't think so," Kink said, and he scratched behind his ear with a thick paw.
"How in the name of all that's canine do you know what he has in his collection?" It was Crank, of course.
"Well—" Kink began to itch his bent behind, and soon fell into a fit of scratching and gnawing.
Crank looked on in open disgust. "Well what, you contorted cur!"
"Well—ooh that feels good—oh yeah—that hits the spot."
Crank leapt on top of Kink in a fit of rage, knocking him to the ground. "I swear I'll straighten you out right quick if you don't answer my question!"
"
I've been inside and seen it," Kink whined. "Now get off me!"
"Yeah, get off him!" Ilien demanded, inching forward. "No one likes a bully."
Crank turned an angry glare on Ilien and stepped off Kink, advancing stiff-legged. "I've about had it with you, boy, Nomadin or not. Maybe your parents didn't have the fortitude to end you like they should have, but I do."
Bleak stepped in front of Crank, blocking the shaggy dog's way with his great, barrel chest. "And I've had it with you. Come closer and I'll end your complaining once and for all."
The two dogs faced off in heavy silence.
"Stop it," Kink pleaded, still sprawled out on the ground where Crank had left him.
"Cool off, both of you," Ilien shouted. "The important thing is that Kink's been inside and if he's been inside then we can get her out."
Crank held Bleak's challenging glare for a moment, then fixed Kink with a deadly stare."And you never saw fit to mention that before?" Kink curled into a shivering ball, and Crank regarded him distastefully. "What good will it do, anyhow? We all know that there ain't no way out of here."
He's right, Ilien thought. Even if I could free Windy, what then?
"We could go see the Swan," Kink offered, peeking his snout out from between his paws. "Maybe she could tell us how to get out of here."
All heads turned toward Kink.
"What did you say?" Bleak asked.
"I said we could go see the Swan. Maybe—"
"Jumping cat crap!" Crank shouted. "If we could go see the Swan then we'd be out of here already, you tearing idiot!"
Kink cowered before Crank's rage. "Oh yeah. You're right," he whimpered.
"Hold on." Bleak padded over and put a comforting paw on Kink's shoulder. "Kink. Have you been to see the Swan?"
"Yes?" Kink answered uncertainly, unwinding himself, his eyes darting from dog to boy to dog.
Everyone was stunned to silence, except Ilien. "Who's the Swan?"
"I can't believe it," Bleak said. "I can't believe you've been to see the Swan."
"Don't be angry." Kink slunk to his feet. He glanced over at Crank, looking like he was ready to bolt into the forest at any moment.
"We're not angry." Bleak took a kinder tone. "You didn't do anything wrong. We're just surprised, that's all. But I am a little curious, Kink. How exactly did you go see the Swan?"
Again Kink looked ready to run, but instead he fell cowering to the ground. "I knew it was wrong! I knew I shouldn't have done it! He told me not to! I'm sorry! Please don't tell him!"
The fur along Crank's spine rose slowly into the air. "What are you talking about? Don't tell who?"
"He'll skin me alive! Please don't let him get me. He told me not to go near it. Now he'll rip me to shreds!"
All eyes turned toward the last dog house. It stood ominously empty.
"You've been inside the last dog house?" Crank's gaze grew wide.
"Don't be mad," Kink pleaded. "I didn't mean to get in trouble. I didn't mean it. It's just that the Swan is so nice to me. She's so kind. And it's so terrible here." He curled into a shaking, quivering ball and began to cry. "I'm just so lonely."
"For crying out loud." Crank turned in disgust.
Ilien moved to Kink and stroked his giant head. "It's alright boy," he soothed, looking back at Crank in disapproval.
"Look! He's treating him like a pet!" Crank stalked over. "Get up! You're disgracing us all!"
"I'd be proud to have a dog like Kink for a pet," Ilien declared, scratching him behind the ear.
Kink looked up. His tongue fell out of his mouth. "You would?"
Ilien smiled. "Of course I would."
"Now I've seen everything!" Crank protested.
"Will you shut up!" Bleak shouted. "Now Kink, just tell us—" Kink cowered in fear again and Bleak drew a deep breath, then continued more cautiously. "Look Kink, are you telling us that we can go see the Swan through the last dog house?"
Kink peered upwards, his thick brows quivering above his watery eyes.
"It's alright," Ilien assured, patting him gently. "You can tell him."
Kink swallowed hard. "It takes you right to her."
It was as if the air had been kicked out of everyone present. No one moved or spoke. The silence was finally broken by the faint sound of someone tapping on a window.
"Windy!" Ilien cried. "We've got to get her out of there. You've got to help me."
"Count me out," Crank said. "I'm not staying here any longer than I have to." He trotted over to the dilapidated dog house at the end of the long row. Without looking back, he squeezed through the front door and was gone.
Bleak looked at Ilien, then back at the dog house. "All these years," he whispered. "It was always right under my nose, all these years." He turned to Kink. "And you never left us. You always came back. But why?"
Kink began to shiver, the massive muscles on his thick legs twitching wildly. "He told us not to go near it. He said he'd rip us to shreds. If he ever found out—" His eyes glistened. "I was afraid he'd hurt you."
Bleak looked sadly at Kink. "Oh Kink," he said. "It's okay. Come on." He headed for the dog house and Kink slowly followed, his tail between his legs. Ilien watch in dismay as the two began to leave, but Bleak suddenly stopped. He stood silent for a moment, shaking his lowered head. "I know I'm going to regret this," he muttered.
Kink's tail shot up and Ilien smiled broadly.
"Alright! I'll help you!" Bleak yelled, spinning around. "But I have a life to get back to, you know, so let's make this quick!"
Ilien jumped into action. "Kink, you've been inside the Giant's cabin. How did you get in?"
Kink padded over and sat by Ilien, his ever-present tongue hanging out. "Through the front door,"
"You mean you just walked through the front door?"
Kink nodded. "The Giant leaves it unlocked. How else do you think I got in? Down the chimney?"
Bleak approached, chuckling.
"Okay," said Ilien. "Once we get inside, then what?"
"This is how it is," Kink said, jumping to his feet and taking the tone of a Commander in Chief explaining his plan of attack. "We'll have to wait until the Giant and his wife are sleeping. Then we have to move in real quiet-like, you see. Down the hall, careful not to wake them. That's real important. Then we pass five doors on the left, or is it five on the right? Anyhow, then left, or is it right again? Well, it's past the kitchen and past the dining room, the living room, den, spare bedroom, trophy room, wash room, a closet—at least I think it's a closet—knitting room and the kitchen again." He stopped his narrative, looking a bit confused.
Ilien gaped at the cabin in astonishment. "All that fits in there?"
Kink grinned. "Yeah. Can you believe he has two kitchens?"
"I think I'll stay out here and keep watch," Bleak said, suddenly eyeing his escape route.
"Okay." Kink turned to Ilien. "So it's you and me. Let's go."
"Shouldn't we wait until they're asleep?" Ilien asked.
Kink sat down. "Oh yeah. You're right."
Ilien looked back up at Windy, who by now appeared annoyed having been ignored for so long. "We'll get you out of there soon," he mouthed up at her. He gestured with his hands as he spoke, as if translating a foreign language. "We—have to wait—until the Giant—is asleep. Then we —will come in—and free you."
Windy shook her head and threw up her hands. Ilien started again.
"We—have to—" He stopped and pulled out his pencil. "Does anyone have any paper?" he asked.
Silence fell as the dogs looked at each other in disbelief. "We're dogs," Breach replied. "Does it look like we have any paper?"
Ilien smiled, red-faced. "Oh yeah. You're right." He placed the pencil back in his pocket before it could comment, then repeated his mime routine to Windy. She seemed to understand this time.
Ilien turned back to the dogs but was stopped by more tapping behind him. Windy was trying to ask him something. He watched her through the glass as she mo
uthed something to him, signing with her hands as well.
He shook his head. "I don't get it. What did you say?"
She glared down at him, going through the motions again.
"Sorry. Still don't understand."
Again she tried to ask him, this time more animated.
"But then?" Ilien mused. He looked back at Kink. "But then? What does that mean?"
"How should I know?" Kink said, looking more confused than ever.
By now Windy was jumping up and down as she tried to tell him yet again.
"Oh! What then! What then!" Ilien cried, finally understanding.
Kink stared blankly up at the window. "I still don't get it."
Ilien waved his hands to get Windy's attention. "Kink here," he pointed to Kink, "knows a way out of here. We're gonna—" Windy suddenly disappeared from the window. "Now where did she go? Boy, she's touchy."
The crash of the shattering window was followed by a whirlwind of objects flying through it—books, potted plants, candlesticks, pictures, forks, knives, dinner plates. As each one hit the ground Ilien could swear they all cried, "Ouch!"
The steady stream of items suddenly stopped and out popped Windy's head.
"Look at all this stuff!" she cried. "It's the most wonderful collection of magical items I've ever seen!"
"Are you crazy?" Ilien shouted. "What are you doing? Get out of there right now! The Giant will catch us all!"
"There's just one more thing. I've got to have it!" She disappeared again.
Bleak watched in horror, then sprinted over to the last dog house. "Half the legs, half the brains," he said. "She's lost her mind!" He leaped through the entryway and vanished.
Kink sat calmly on his crooked haunches, his tail waving in the air next to him. "I bet I know what she's getting," he said, matter-of-factly.
Windy appeared at the window again, struggling to pull something behind her. She crawled through the broken window and dropped heavily to the ground holding one end of a string. Whatever was on the other end was still inside and, from the sound of it, wanted to stay that way.
"Let go of me at once!" came an angry shout from inside the room. "Ouch! That hurts!"
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