* * *
Riley eventually regained his composure. He said next to nothing as they hiked through the forest of pines close to the banks of Moosehead Lake. When he did speak it was only to Luza or to Birchard. Keira stayed back, away from the group, with the four coyotes always within sight of the teen.
She could have pushed the pace, but the more she walked, she understood better that time was irrelevant. Even now as she avoided another branch to the face, she found it ironic there was no forced march last night through the woods. They had already pushed themselves so hard from the death of Bilal to getting to this distant part of Maine, for what reason did they stop?
No, she decided that if Riley had his way, the four of them might have left in the early morning hours even before the first glimpses of dawn. She could see it clearly, him leading them out of the lodge, the sleep still in their eyes, all with the shared goal of getting to the shore before the first rays of the sun appeared.
Her bed prevented that from ever happening. Heck the excursion with Corky made sure of it too. If Riley was mad at her, he should be blaming himself. It was only after his behavior that Keira left the house. She smiled, satisfied with delaying his plans.
Even though she was upset and annoyed by the teen, she knew that he could help her get to Lane. With her father’s face fresh in mind, like her mother’s, Keira pushed onward hopeful this would be one of the last days they would be apart.
* * *
“I miss the days that I could just sleep on your neck and be carried from point to point,” Luza said with a smile.
“I’m sure you do. Don’t get any ideas. You’re too big for me now.”
“Riley!” Luza held her hand to her mouth. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you about manners? I’m not too big. You’re not strong enough.”
For the first time in a while, Riley laughed. “You got me. I can’t handle your awesomeness.”
“That’s better. If you insist, you can carry my bag.”
“Since when do you have a bag?”
“I don’t know since I’m the only one who apparently needs to eat and well Corky gave me cookies, beef sticks, and baggies of Cheez-Its. What was I supposed to do? Say no? You clearly don’t know me.”
“At least you are thinking with your stomach. I like your clothes by the way. You look ...”
Luza stared at the young buck, “Yes, what are you going to say?”
“You look pretty.”
“Wow, you’re a charmer today. Do you do this with all the girls? I mean CAT LADY back there might need a compliment or two.”
“Hey, I’m not listening, but I heard the ‘cat lady’ reference Luza. I’ll get you back for that one,” Keira bellowed from a good one hundred feet away.
Luza rolled her eyes. “Noted, she definitely has animal hearing now. How I forget.”
“No Princess, no compliments for the peanut gallery, only you,” Riley said in a very low voice.
“Thank you, my prince.”
He grabbed onto Luza’s hand and led her around a large pine tree.
“Wow holding my hand now. Taking some initiative I see.”
“Oh stop, I’m guiding you along.”
“Then let go of my hand,” Luza said, “Or don’t. I don’t care.”
Luza squeezed Riley’s hand. She was grateful for his company. Regardless of his ongoing dispute with Keira, he was always good to her.
* * *
The oversized loon looked down on Keira from an old nest he had found. Birchard’s red eyes stood out in the mid afternoon twilight, as the sun had shifted into decline.
Even if Keira hadn’t been scanning the woods, she would have noticed the bird. She had slowed her pace the last half hour to let the two “love-birds,” as she had appropriately dubbed them, more space to talk.
“Why are you back here? I’m not blind,” Keira directed her query towards the bird.
“What? They sent me back to see if you were okay.”
“Clearly I’m struggling in this chilly weather. First we went over the hill, now under, on this journey to the center of the world. There’s no hope of it ever ending, and of that I mean Luza and Riley talking.”
“I follow you.”
“Do you? I just want to have some peace and quiet.”
“I liked you better in the lake. You weren’t so — ”
“Standoffish?” Keira replied.
“Not exactly.”
“I’m waiting. So what were you going to say Red-Eye?”
“You’re different, perhaps in a good way. I don’t know. Who am I to judge?”
He swooped down from the tree and glided to a lower more distant branch.
“Too scared to land on my arm, like you do with Foxy?”
“I didn’t take you as the type.”
Frown in place, Keira offered her left forearm to the bird.
Birchard peered cautiously at the teen. “This isn’t a trap? You’re not going to strangle me Princess?”
“Why would you think that? Get over here or I’m going to turn into something and then you’ll be sorry.”
He flapped his wings and squawked. “I don’t think you can fly.”
“Yet,” Keira corrected. “Come on.”
The old loon landed gracefully on her arm.
“Are you sure they can find their way without you loon?”
“The boy has been here before as has the fox. They can figure it out now that we are on the trail.”
Keira made another mental note about her traveling partners and their familiarity with the area. She seemed to be the only one unaware of this place. It was slightly unnerving.
“What do we need you for then Red-Eye?”
“Oh me, this old bird?”
“Do you always ask a question to a question?”
“Do you?”
“Can you just answer the question,” Keira raised her voice.
“I suppose I can, but do you really want the answer?”
Keira shook her arm and Birchard flapped his wings to remain balanced.
“You’re not fun. Would you prefer a riddle or just straight to the point?”
“Again with the questions and commentary, just be done with it.”
Birchard lowered his beak and sniffled. “No one has time for an old loon anymore. Things used to be different. There was reverence and respect for my kind.”
With her free hand, Keira made a circling motion towards the bird. She shifted to the right to avoid a low hanging free branch.
“Maybe I would show you some if you shared some of your wisdom.”
He coughed and his little stringy tongue appeared, ever so briefly. “For one Princess I would keep your night time activities to yourself.”
“Is this about Riley?”
“No,” The bird looked into Keira’s amber colored eyes with blue specs. “My goodness this was the real news of the day. Even the owls that should be sleeping were catty on your account.”
“You don’t think Luza and Riley know? Do you?”
“Not yet, but soon.”
“I don’t know what the big deal is.”
“It’s BIG.”
Keira looked crossly at the bird. “You’re not going to tell me why?”
He laughed at the teen. “We’ve seen this before, my fellow loons. It is not news to us, but it will become news to others.”
“Good or bad?”
“It depends on the side one falls on.”
“Fine don’t tell me. I’ll figure it out soon enough.”
“You will child. Be careful.”
* * *
A couple hundred yards ahead, Riley continued to lead Luza through the less dense foliage. He continued to hold her hand and she remained close to his side. Neither said much as they trudged along the hard packed pine needle surface, but nor did they have to.
Luza felt safe with Riley. It wasn’t that Keira hadn’t protected her as well, but the Prince of Perucica had kept his promise. He ne
ver veered far from her and now in her new form she felt like she needed him more than ever.
The boy was still upset about the previous night. It wasn’t just about getting on to the Great Loon and the gate. This was a bigger issue, that of putting Luza in danger which he had vowed never to do if he could avoid otherwise. The ordeal at the fast food restaurant weighed on him greatly. There was a sullen melancholy look to his appearance from the downward shifted shoulders and he didn’t walk with his head upright.
“Luza,” he said softly.
She leaned into him as they walked underneath a series of interlocking branches from several trees.
“Yes my prince.”
“I’m sorry I failed you yesterday. There was a lapse in my judgment, and for that I’m sorry.”
Squeezing tighter onto his hand, she grinned. “I’ve had worse. The orange soda tasted good at least.”
Halting, Riley smiled weakly at the Arctic teen. Still clasping onto her hand, he placed his other on the side of her face.
She closed her eyes and pressed his hand against her cheek. “It’s okay Riley.”
“I will do anything to keep you safe, especially now.”
Luza stared longingly into the doe colored eyes of the teen. She kept his hand on her cheek and smiled. “I don’t like being a helpless two-legged freak, but at least now I can feel this.”
She released his hand and reached for his neck, pulling Riley’s face closer to hers.
Their faces were only a few inches apart when a loud squawk filled the air. Immediately they separated and stepped behind different trees.
“What is going on here?” Birchard said loudly.
“Nothing Red-Eye,” Luza said with a sly look towards the bird.
“And I was born yesterday right Princess?” The loon had remained on Keira’s arm.
“I don’t think you were,” Keira raised an eyebrow. She noticed that both teens were blushing. She looked over at Riley and then at Luza. “Why did you stop? Aren’t we close?”
Luza replied in a snarky tone. “Oh shut up Keira. You know why we stopped.”
“Did you drop something? Did Riley freeze up from a bright light?”
“Lover’s quarrel perhaps?” Birchard added.
“You never know with kids these days. Come along my faithful loon, not much farther to go I presume, unless you’re Riley there trying to get to first base.”
Keira giggled as both Riley and Luza let her pass.
Birchard glanced over to Luza. “Save it for the dark.”
Riley was speechless. He didn’t even look at Luza, almost ashamed for what happened or didn’t happen. He simply kept walking and motioned the girl to follow.
Chapter 10
The afternoon sun had begun to set by the time the party had made it to the shores of Moosehead Lake. Keira and company had hiked four hours, far longer than she had expected the journey to take. Thankful for the extra rest, she did feel hungry but kept that to herself, not wanting to have to hear or deal with Luza and her ongoing desire for food.
Riley and Luza had separated from each other after the earlier incident. Riley stayed back with his head down most of the time, while Luza eventually made her way to the front with Keira and Birchard. All three teens and the loon arrived to see a similar sight. There was a vast body of water directly in front of them with no boats or anything to navigate the lake with.
“How does this work exactly?” Keira put her hands in the forty degree water. “I’m not really into the whole swimming thing.”
“You were fine in Manning,” Luza reminded her.
“We didn’t have a choice. It was warmer than this water.”
“Ladies, you don’t have to swim,” Birchard interrupted.
“Are you flying us over?” Keira laughed.
“Ask Bucky. He knows what to do,” Luza looked back at the boy.
Riley ignored the name, but still commented. “I was here in the middle of the night. Even then there’s only one way in and off the island.”
“Wait who said anything about an island?” Keira peered out onto the lake, not seeing anything but shoreline and trees.
“What else did you think we were going to?” Luza said.
“I don’t know. It’s not like anyone here is telling me much of anything. I just assumed we would be going to some great loon nest on the edge of the lake.”
“We don’t have great loon nests. Even the Great Loon might be an exaggeration.”
“How am I not surprised? Are we going to build a raft and row out to a few rocks?”
“Yeah Princess, since last time we were rowed to some rocks —” Luza playfully replied.
Riley stepped away back to the tree line. He looked carefully at the ground for several long moments. Scanning, he leaned down and picked up a small oval shaped stone.
“Skipping stones sounds like a great idea,” Keira was not amused.
“Be patient Princess,” Birchard flew down from Keira’s arm and stood on the small isolated beach.
“Do you want me to do it?” Luza asked.
Riley smirked. “No I don’t. Have you even skipped a stone before?”
“There’s always a first.”
“Maybe later I can teach you.”
“Enough already,” Keira rested her hands on her hips.
Ignoring Keira’s comment, Riley gave Luza a final look before he threw the stone in a side arm motion.
The little stone skipped not once, or twice, or three times, but twenty. Small circular ripples formed in the water, in a perfectly aligned row.
“What did that accomplish?” Keira asked Birchard.
“Now the real fun begins.”
Bubbles, lots of bubbles, formed along the surface. The ripples disappeared completely and from the bubbles a large wooden boat rose to the water level.
It floated one hundred feet off the shoreline.
“Amazing,” Luza said.
“Great so time to get wet,” Keira shrugged.
Birchard shook his head “no.” He waddled a few steps into the water. As he did so the water separated from his webbed feet. With each step, the water vanished and gave him a dry path to the awaiting boat.
“Come we must hurry.”
Luza and Riley immediately walked into the water. They followed the bird to the awaiting boat. Keira was more skeptical. She hesitated with each step.
Looking around she saw the pristine clear water of Moosehead. There were fish an arm’s length away.
“How long does this stay?”
“Not long enough I fear,” Birchard said from the safety of the boat.
The teen glanced behind her to see the clear path already covered with water. She quickened her pace and joined the others in the boat. Just as she climbed in the dry path was gone entirely.
“That’s a cool party trick,” Keira looked back at the distant beach they had walked from.
“You’ve seen nothing yet,” Riley added. “Just sit back and enjoy the ride.”
Keira sat down on the dry cushioned seat. She looked at the fifteen foot long oversized canoe and marveled first at the eight rows of seating. There were two cushions to every row.
Sitting closer to the bow of the boat, Luza plopped herself down next to Riley. She sat crossed legged. Without a word, she opened her backpack and took out a bag of Cheez-Its.
Keira chuckled at the white haired teen. She watched Riley lean against Luza and then shift slightly to look at the water.
Birchard took to the air.
“Where are you going?” Keira asked.
“Oh bother, I’ll see you when you get there.”
“But how?” Keira looked at the oar-less boat. Birchard didn’t stay to answer her final question. He glided away and went higher and higher into the sky.
Around the time Keira could no longer make out the loon, the boat began to move.
She reached for the sides, afraid the craft was going to flip.
“How?”
&nb
sp; Riley smiled from the other end of the boat. “Don’t lean out too far if you really need to know.”
His response piqued her interest as the boat began to pick up speed. It wasn’t necessarily zooming across the water, but neither was the canoe meandering across the surface. There was a distinct wake, one that Keira had only seen back on Manning Lake when she would go water skiing with the Tearels.
There was a breeze rushing across her face. Keira’s hair flew aimlessly obstructing her vision. She grabbed onto what she could and with her head turned against the wind, the teen quickly put her hair into a bun.
Unable to resist, she peered over the side of the boat. A series of distinct shadows caught the princess’s eye. She couldn’t tell what they were, but something, someone was pushing this boat. Shifting to the other side it was more of the same.
“Should I be worried?”
“Unless you’re afraid of turtles,” Luza replied.
“Turtles?”
She nodded to Keira. “Lots of them.”
Riley shouted, “It depends on the size of the boat they need. There’s probably twenty under us right now.”
Keira peered back over the side and then she noticed the hard painted shell and a set of muscular legs. These weren’t normal turtles.
The teen had no idea how long they had already traveled as the shoreline was not even a faint reminder when she turned around. The lake itself continued to expand. There was water everywhere and waves. White crests from a northern wind had caused the moderately calm water they had left to become downright dangerous. For some unknown reason, their boat was immune to the menacing waves the teens could see developing around them.
Keira shifted herself to the middle of the bench. Whether it was flashbacks from a few days earlier rowing on Manning, the speed of the boat, or the closeness of the waves; Keira’s fingers were white from grasping onto her seat. The others were smiling and laughing. She didn’t bother to inquire. With Birchard now gone, that lingering feel of a “third wheel” became more evident.
Luza glanced across the boat at Keira and waved. She had finished her first bag of Cheez-Its and was thankful for the treat. Looking at Riley she wanted him to be closer to her, but thought better of it in their current location.
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