by Adam Browne
“That it was Amael who had Vito murdered and not you?”
“I didn’t put my paw to this! I merely… turned the other cheek. I had to, for the Republic.”
Josef said nothing – but was clearly enjoying himself.
Stroking Rafe’s fevered brow Janoah moved on, “Do you have enough white-imperium for him?”
“I drained some from the suit.”
Janoah nodded her approval and grunted.
“That does mean he’ll have less in the tank when it’s time to make the arrests,” Josef pointed out.
“Rafe is more important. Ulf knows that lump of iron in there can’t function by itself.”
“No, but it’ll be a marvel if Rafe recovers in time to use it before the Summit… if ever again.”
Janoah spat, “He has to! You have to make him well!”
Josef adjusted his spectacles and pushing off Rafe’s table grumbled something unintelligible.
“What did you say?” Janoah pressed him.
“Stroud,” the cat hissed.
“Stroud? Nurse Meryl?”
With much whisker-twisting and paw wringing, Josef finally came out with it. “I need her. For all my medical skills and imperious knowledge it’s her, blast her. It’s her soft little voice that Rafe responds to. Her hot soup and… and brow-mopping and… and bedtime stories! He kept crying out for her until I hit him with enough taubfene to kill a bear. I’ve done all I can do; it’s Meryl he needs now. I swear she has some power that I can’t replicate, whether it’s merely psychological or possibly even some imperious healing corona – such things have been recorded, you know.”
Janoah planted her paws on her hips. “What, like the miracles of Ulf? You’re not serious, Doctor.”
“I never jest about my field, Janoah!” the cat said gravely, and not a little officiously.
Janoah looked down on Rafe, silent, pensive.
“I can call HQ at the next stop,” Josef said.
“No,” Janoah dismissed. “Meryl’s too far away. It’d be pointless now, as well as suspicious; certain wolves back at HQ might ask questions, or worse.”
“Then perhaps you’d better stay with Rafe.”
“Me?”
“You’re the next best thing to a friend he has, ‘Jan’.”
“I… I can’t. I must remain with the Alpha. It’s bad enough I’ve left his side at all during this crisis. Every second I’m gone Horst can poison his ear against me.”
“Well I can’t play nursemaid!” Josef spluttered.
Janoah suppressed a shudder at the thought. Looking up from feverish Rafe, she met Josef’s smoky, bespectacled eyes. “No… but there might be someone aboard who can.”
*
“I’m going tae find Linus.”
“We should stay here,” Olivia seethed. “We’ve already drawn too much attention to ourselves.”
Sliding the cabin door open, Sara said, “Ah don’t care, Ah have tae know what’s happened tae – agh!”
An ALPHA Prefect stepped into the doorframe – the red wolfess with the green eyes, the same one who’d been sitting with ALPHA’s leaders earlier.
Pushing Sara inside the cabin she slid the door shut.
“Sara Hummel, I presume,” she said loftily, casting her green eyes over the short black wolfess. “You look like your mother, albeit a dwarf,” she chuckled, turning to the tall brown wolfess in a more convincing Howler Cub getup. “And Olivia Blake, is it?”
The girls exchanged looks, then Olivia said, “I’m sorry, Prefect, uh… whoever you are-”
“Janoah.”
“Pleasure I’m sure, but you must have us confused with someone else.”
Janoah beamed wryly, “Save it, girl, Vladimir’s told me everything. Or should I say confirmed what I already suspected?” She locked the door behind her, “Don’t worry, I’m a friend of his. And of Linus.”
Another mutual glance passed between the girls. “How do we know?” Sara dared.
“Because were I not,” Janoah explained, paws cupped before her like a school mistress, “I’d be compelled to inform my ALPHA colleagues, or the Bloodfangs, that we’ve two stowaways impersonating Howlers, which is a very grave offence punishable by a hefty jail sentence.” Letting that sink in a moment she smacked her lips and continued, “As it is I require your help. In fact, Lupa’s fate may turn on whether you are who I think you are, Sara.”
Sara raised her chin nervously, “Which is?”
Janoah’s searched for the appropriate term, settling for better or worse on, “Bruno’s old flame.”
*
The dining carriage was divided into two camps, Amael and the Bloodfangs one end, the Alpha and his Prefects the other. The thought occurred to Vladimir that ALPHA was heavily outnumbered at least ten to one, but this was a diplomatic incident, not a war, and the peace held.
So far.
“This is a private Bloodfang affair,” Amael growled again, slamming a paw on his end of the table.
“It is a Howler-on-Howler crime,” Horst replied from the other end, “which therefore falls under ALPHA’s jurisdiction. This is what we were set up to do!”
“By Ulf, our beloved Den Father has been murdered!”
“Rest assured we’ll find the culprit.”
“We already have. It was that mad dog, Uther!”
Horst huffed, “Uther is no friend of mine, but he is not mad like your Den Father was. Vito was a senile old drooler and an embarrassment to your pack, so it stands to reason-”
“How dare you!” Amael interrupted, rising to his feet with outrage.
“So it stands to reason,” Horst barrelled on, looking Amael up and down, “that a Bloodfang Elder waiting for his chance to shine would benefit by Vito’s death and nobody else! Giving Uther back to the Bloodfangs would guarantee only his convenient death and silence regarding who paid him to commit this most heinous deed.”
Amael reached for his sword, “Are you accusing me of lupicide, you fat-”
“Gentlebeasts, if you please,” the Alpha merely said, raising his paws and not his voice.
Still, he evoked silence.
Adal looked to Amael. “Elder Amael,” he said calmly, his white mask-like face smiling somehow, even whilst solemn, “I assure you we are accusing nobody at this time. I hear and understand your concerns, but you must appreciate my position. The Lupan Laws state that this is indeed a Howler crime – it is Lupicide. Therefore, according to the legislation which Vito himself voted for at such a summit as we’re shortly to attend, this regrettable incident falls to ALPHA to investigate. For me to do anything less would be a dereliction of my duties for which I could be impeached.” He spread a paw, “Now, if you wish to change the law so that this quandary doesn’t arise again, I suggest you elect Vito’s successor in time for the Summit and lobby him to create a new motion to do so. Your pack is fractured and frightened; you need a leader. ALPHA will retire to our carriages and allow you to get on with the lengthy ballot process.”
Amael absorbed Adal’s speech, muzzle twitching with barely-contained rage. Oh to run you through, you arrogant son of a hyena, he thought.
“Fine,” he sniffed, sitting back down, “but I warn you, Adal, when I’m elected Den Father your carriages will be promptly disconnected from my train and shunted into the nearest siding. Vito might’ve been soft, but I’m not ferrying you black-cloaked turds anywhere for free. You can get out and walk!”
“What?” Horst woofed, jowls wobbling. “How dare you speak to a winner of the Imperium Heart in this manner-”
“Horst!” the Alpha grunted at his Prefect, silencing him. He stared at Amael. “When you’re elected, Elder Amael?” he said, one arm resting over the back of his chair, paw spread. “Don’t you mean if you’re elected? Or is your pack a dictatorship already?”
“Not at all, we’re as democratic as the next pack,” Amael replied, looking around at his Bloodfang comrades. “All those in favour of me succeeding Vito raise their paws.�
��
The eleven remaining Bloodfang Elders raised their paws unanimously, even if some needed a glare from Amael or their comrades to do so.
Many others, Grand Howlers and Howlers alike, raised their paws and acclaimed Amael heartily.
“Aye!”
Vladimir managed to refrain; if anyone noticed they would put it down to his natural modesty and reticence.
He hoped.
“As you can see this lengthy ballot process won’t take as long as you gambled,” Amael gruffed confidently across the table. “If I were you, my ‘Alpha’, I’d start packing your bags and making new transport arrangements.”
“You can’t abandon us!” Horst blustered. “We’re expected at the Summit!”
“Do you think any of the Den Fathers will miss you after your conduct of late?” Amael replied coolly. “Den Father Flaid despises you and you’ve even lost soft old Thorvald by arresting Tristan Eisbrand, clumsy oafs that you are. Mark my words, ALPHA; this summit will precipitate the end of your reign of terror.” Amael pointed ahead, towards the tacked-on ALPHA carriages, “Now get to the back of my train where you belong!”
*
Janoah had no sooner explained that she was responsible for Bruno’s disappearance than the red mist of rage descended upon Sara, compelling her to cross the cabin in a heartbeat.
“Rot!” she spat, raising her arm to strike Janoah.
A noble effort, but the Prefect grabbed Sara’s wrist well short of contact and pushed the little wolfess stumbling back into Olivia, dealing a small imperious shock for good measure.
“Agh!” Sara yelped, her arm tingling from paw to elbow.
“Next time,” Janoah menaced, “I’ll take it off.”
Growling, Olivia stepped protectively in front of Sara, which amused Janoah greatly.
“Oh dear, I’m in trouble now,” she mocked, cupping a paw to her cheek.
Knowing better than to try and fight a Howler of Janoah’s famed power, Olivia instead demanded, “Why Bruno? What did he ever do to anyone?”
“The same reason Doctor Josef is after you; Rafe’s got what it takes to bear the Eisenwolf mantle. Whether you do as well is… debatable.”
Shaking her paw, Sara pushed to the fore again, “You stole him from us! From his father!”
“I did what I had to do, for Lupa.”
“Lupa?”
“Yes, Lupa!” Janoah reiterated. “The only thing that holds this world together is wolfen domination.” She looked Sara over with patronising disdain, “You may not believe it, limp-pawed Arkady-educated liberal that you are, but the hogs, hyenas and little beasts would all tear each other’s throats out were it not for the Pax Lupi we’ve nurtured for centuries. For peace to continue, Lupa’s dominion must continue. Doesn’t matter what wolf rules or how it’s done, provided Lupa flourishes. Rafe will help see to that; he’s happy to, it gives him purpose.”
Sara shook her head, “Why d’you keep calling him Rafe fer? It’s Bruno! Bruno Claybourne!”
Janoah shrugged and huffed, “I didn’t pick his name; it was mere happenstance.”
Sara’s dark little face scrunched up with bafflement.
“Bruno had to be seen to die,” Janoah explained, with a tiresome air, “so that my… ‘persistent’ husband and various others interested in his talents wouldn’t search for him, even less suspect I had him. The body you identified a year ago was that of some dying Howler called Rafe.”
“What?”
“Josef applied a little makeup and swapped Rafe’s and Bruno’s papers, thus falsifying Bruno’s death.”
“That’s disgusting!” Olivia gasped.
“I’m not proud of it, but needs must, my dear.”
Sara stood dumbfounded for an epoch. “Ah knew it was nae him,” she mouthed at last. “Ah knew it.”
Janoah frowned curiously, “If you knew why’d you sign the papers, girl?”
Sara averted her eyes with shame, “Because Tristan told me to. He wanted tae protect me.” She looked up at Janoah, “From you, Ah see that now.”
Janoah chortled. “Tristan always was a bit of a flapper, unlike his unshakeable cousin. Rest assured, you’ve nothing to fear.”
“Oh aye?”
“Cora Hummel’s daughter you may be, but you’re of no consequence to me,” Janoah dismissed, adding, “To Bruno, on the other paw, you might mean a great deal... provided he even remembers you.”
Olivia snorted, “Charming wolfess, aren’t you?”
Janoah cocked her head a little. “What you think of me is neither here nor there, my dear, but if you care about Bruno as much as you claim you’ll help him.”
Sara shook her head, “How? What can we do?”
“Maybe nothing,” Janoah admitted, “but you could at least try.”
Sara looked to Olivia, who shrugged.
With great difficulty and much huffing and puffing, Janoah managed to squeeze a rather stale, “Please?” past her proud tongue.
“All right,” Sara replied, daring to stipulate, “on one condition.”
“What?”
“Let Tristan go. Ah know you arrested him. Get him out of ALPHA HQ like you did Linus.”
“It’s not the same,” Janoah hissed, “Tristan’s guilty-”
“Ah don’t care!” Sara woofed. “You’ll have tae let him go anyway; Thorvald will make ye. So do it sooner!”
Janoah frowned a moment, then smiled and said, “All right, girl, I’ll see what I can do.” Sliding the cabin door open and checking the way was clear, she beckoned, “This way.”
*
Josef Grau leapt to his feet from a snatched snooze amidst piles of boxes as Janoah opened the carriage door and allowed two Bloodfangs in.
“Who’re you?” the cat demanded, tugging officiously at his lapels. “Get out of here! This is ALPHA territory!”
“Do calm down, Doctor,” Janoah tutted, shutting the door and barring it. “They’re here to help.”
Josef stared suspiciously at the newcomers as Janoah beckoned them around the metal operating table upon which Rafe lay. As the Bloodfangs stepped into the light recognition hit Josef like a right hook.
“You!” he hissed, pointing at Olivia. “Stay right where you are, you’re under arrest-”
“Not now, Doctor!” Janoah growled.
“But they’re the ones-”
“I said not now!” the Howler reiterated firmly. “These citizens are under my protection. Leave them alone, is that clear?”
Silence and order prevailed.
With a nod from Janoah, Sara approached the table with some trepidation. She stood looking over Rafe for the longest time, studying his every powerful contour, his every scar, even going so far as to feel the rough, plasma-scarred pads of one of his big brown paws.
Suddenly Sara glared across at Janoah and Josef. “What’ve you done tae him?”
Before Janoah or Josef could respond, Rafe stirred.
“Meryl?” he grunted, lifting his head a moment before collapsing back. “Meryl… is that you?” he growled gently, eyes searching, fingers twitching.
Stroking Rafe’s brow Janoah looked at Sara and said with intent, “Meryl’s right here, Rafe. She’ll sit with you.”
“Jan… Jan, I-I-I can’t see.”
“I know, I know. Josef had to hit you with a lot of imperium, but it’ll pass. Just rest easy Stenton and let your body heal. Meryl will sit with you, won’t you Meryl?”
Overwhelmed, Sara could but nod regardless.
“Take his paw,” Janoah urged under her breath.
Sara did so, both her tiny black paws vanishing amidst just one of Rafe’s. Even as the giant wolf moaned in pain and tensed every mighty muscle hanging off his rotting bones, his grasp would no more bruise a peach than Sara’s hide.
“Unngrrrfffgh!”
Sara looked helplessly to Janoah, “Och! What do Ah do?”
“Just stay with him,” Janoah replied, looking to Olivia and back again, “Both of you. The
rest is up to him.”
“But Ah’m nae… ‘Meryl’,” Sara whispered.
“Whoever she is,” Olivia added with a dismissive flick of the ear.
Janoah explained simply, “His nurse.” Then spoke to Sara specifically, “My dear girl, Rafe… Bruno… hardly knows what’s going on right now. Just mop his brow and hold his paw and let him believe whatever’s convenient to his confused mind. He’ll be all right.”
Throwing a last warning glare at Doctor Josef, Janoah headed for the door and back to her ALPHA duties, saying unto herself, “He has to be all right.”
*
Panic had gripped ALPHA, or at least Horst. The rotund white wolf strode up and down the carriage gesturing with his paws and mopping his brow.
“We’re finished,” he woofed, medals tinkling, “washed up, kaput! Amael’s going to leave us here in the middle of nowhere and turn everyone against us at the Summit in the meantime. The Den Fathers will vote to strip us of all power if not execute us!”
The Alpha reclined behind his desk, “Calm yourself, Horst, we’re not done yet.”
“My Alpha, without your rhetoric in the Den Fathers’ ears to raise the spectre of the war and remind everyone why we exist, our purpose will be quickly forgotten for expediency. Nobody likes us rummaging through their dirty laundry, I understand the sentiment, but if someone doesn’t hold the Howlers to account then Lupa is doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past!”
“If Amael succeeds, any vote made by the Den Fathers will be moot because they’ll be dead,” the Alpha pointed out. “So what difference would my ‘rhetoric’ make?”
“What if we were to assassinate Amael?” Horst suggested breathlessly.
Duncan laughed across the way, “What?”
Horst looked between him and Adal, blustering, “If he’s gone, there’ll be no uprising, even if THORN succeeds. Nurka needs Amael to run Lupa; nobody’s going to listen to a bunch of hyena savages.”
“Someone will just step sideways into Amael’s boots,” the Alpha said. “That’s the point; we have to get them all in one fell swoop.”
