Once Upon a Haunted Moon (The Keeper Saga)

by Thompson, K. R.

  I peeked out the living room window and saw a sheet of ice on the hood of my truck. Odds were in my favor that we wouldn’t be having school, so I knew I had a better chance of getting someone else to play “book guard.”

  I sat, flipping aimlessly through the channels on the television, when my mom showed up a couple of hours later.

  “You look warm,” I grinned at her as she pulled off her coat, ice falling from her shoulders.

  “Nice to see you, too, smart aleck,” she rolled her eyes, but smiled, as she unclipped the belt that held her gun to her side, “It’s rough out there. Bad enough that everyone seems to forget not to drive on ice…wrecks all over the place…then we get calls about animals showing up in people’s yards acting strangely.”

  Uh-oh, I thought, that zombie deer has shown up in town somewhere…

  “What happened?” I asked, hoping she didn’t think I knew more than she did.

  “Mr. McCray called in. He was worried about some track he found when he went out to get his paper a couple hours ago. I went and checked it out. It looked like a bear and a deer had wandered in circles through his garden like they were lost.”

  “Maybe they were just hungry?” I made a hopeful suggestion.

  “John McCray only has his prize azaleas in that garden. They’d have to be pretty hungry, but I don’t think that was it. His neighbor across the road had a huge vegetable garden this year, plus he keeps bees, too, but the animals never wandered that direction at all. There was something wrong with them, so I called animal control in to take a look.” She gave me a pointed look as if to say “don’t let your wolf or the others go running around in town,” then she headed into the kitchen where I heard her open a cabinet and start fixing herself a cup of hot tea.

  She came back a few minutes later, fingers wrapped around her favorite mug.

  “The sheriff went on a call up at the Harmons’s last night. Brenda was very upset,” she said offhandedly, deliberately not looking at me as she settled in her favorite chair. I cringed. I knew this form of talk. She was preparing to interrogate me.

  All I managed to say was a small, “Oh.”

  “Wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” She raised her eyes and they locked onto me like brown laser beams. Even though she had just worked a full shift and half of another without a break she was still sharp, and I was the one caught in her crosshairs.

  I caved. There wasn’t any point of even trying to lie to her. She’d know as soon as I opened my mouth.

  “I think the Lakota guys may have had something to do with it. I saw Rune flirting with Tori, so maybe he knows something. Nikki and I went out looking for them but we didn’t have any luck.” Hey, it was the truth — maybe not all of it — but enough that it would hopefully satisfy her. I didn’t want to explain why there was a book of human skin in our house. She’d send it off for DNA testing to see who it was, and then I’d be in big trouble.

  She watched me for a minute, waiting to see if I was going to add anything else.

  “Evan is very worried about Adam,” she said.

  Well, that’s understandable, I thought wryly. Adam was his son, he should be worried. After all, I wasn’t all that close to him, but even I was worried. It didn’t look good for him. I didn’t think Nikki was going to be able to take it for much longer if we didn’t find him soon.

  That thought must have shown on my face, because my mom gave me a sympathetic look and said, “Nikki is very lucky to have you for her friend.”

  I shifted in my chair, though I managed to grumble, “Yeah, I guess.”

  Noticing that she had embarrassed me, she grinned, while trying to pretend to turn her complete attention to what tea she had left in her cup. She drained it, and then took the empty mug back into the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, “I’m heading for the shower. I’m still on call, but I’m going to try to get a little bit of sleep later, after I cook up some stuff for the PTA meeting. I doubt we’ll have it, though. School’s been called off on account of the ice. You be careful if you go anywhere.”

  I got the hint immediately. She wasn’t worried about ice or school or PTA meetings. She knew there were strange things happening that couldn’t be explained, and she knew I was familiar with what a lot of them were. She was warning me to be safe and not end up missing the way Adam and Tori had.

  “Okay,” I called out, hoping I sounded happy and care-free. A few minutes later, I heard the shower turn on. I looked at the clock; it was almost 8:00 a.m. Nikki should be up; maybe she’d like “The Book of Skin” back.

  I grabbed the trash bag out of the closet, jumping when I accidentally bumped into my mom in the hallway. She must have taken the fastest shower in the history of the world.

  “What’s in there?” she asked, crinkling up her nose, “It stinks.”

  “Just cleaning out my room!” I hurried around her, setting the bag by the front door so I could grab my coat, “I’m going to go to Nikki’s and hang out with her for a while.”

  “Okay.”

  I listened as she headed to the kitchen, plundering through the cabinets, slamming the doors, obviously in search of something. I heard her muttering, “…glad he’s cleaning his room…if it smells that bad in there, he needs to clean more often…why can I never find anything I am looking for in here…”

  I slipped on my shoes as she shut the last cabinet. I slipped out the door just in time when I heard her yell, “Brian, have you seen my big yellow bowl?”

  ***

  “Did you bring it?” Nikki answered the door before I could knock. She must have known I was coming. She spotted the black, plastic bag in my hands and grabbed it, “Geez, Brian. I gave it to you so it would stay intact and you stick it in a trash bag?”

  “A trash bag and a bowl if you’re going to get all technical about it,” I grumbled, “I had to do something. That book reeks. Where are Emily and your mom? They’ll agree with me when they get a whiff of that thing.”

  “Mom’s gone to work. Em stayed the night at a friend’s house, there’s no one here to agree with you,” Nikki said, carefully taking the bowl out, rolling her eyes as she looked at my earliest attempt at containing the book, “I’m surprised you didn’t vacuum seal it like a pot roast and throw it in the freezer.”

  “I didn’t have enough plastic or I would have. Besides, I like to eat what comes out of that freezer,” I retorted, crossing my arms over my chest.

  She set the book down (no worse for wear from being squished and bagged) in the middle of the coffee table, and then settled on the floor beside it to inspect it more closely.

  “So what happened when you got home last night?” I prodded.

  “I was greeted by Adam’s father who had been called there by my very upset mother. I finally got Mom calmed down, then, after I was sentenced to an eternity of grounding, I managed to get the sheriff over to the side, and I filled him in on everything.” Nikki stared at the book. It was pretty obvious I wasn’t going to get many more details, she was preoccupied.

  I went over and sat down beside her in the floor, trying to remember to breathe through my mouth instead of my nose.

  Nikki traced her fingers along the three talons of the claw. It twitched slightly, as if it had awakened.

  “Did you see that!” she squeaked.

  I grinned, at least something had happened. We were making progress. “Try it again.”

  She put her hand out, hovering just above the book, and traced three of her fingers very lightly from the center of the book, down the talons to the sharp claw.

  It jerked against the table, then the claw relaxed and straightened, turning loose of its grip.

  We jumped when the book did, and now the two of us were plastered against the back of the couch, crammed against each other as we watched the book come alive.

  It lifted up on its spine, then opened into the dead center, and went still. We exchanged looks, and decided to sit up at the same time.

  Effle
hurt the Bog Elf had written a very strange book, indeed.

  Spidery handwriting described the attributes of something called “Water Beings” on the page the book had opened to. A sketch on the opposite page showed a tiny, pixie-like creature with hair that waved upwards in a point. The Water Being was described as pure, whole magic, fearless defenders of creeks, rivers, and lakes.

  “These are some of the good guys, but this isn’t what we’re looking for,” Nikki said, voice shaking with excitement, “Let’s flip through some more and see if we can find Wynter or Zue!”

  She flipped to the next page, and a sketch of a big, hairy creature stared out at us with beady little eyes.

  “Sasquatch. We already know about Chewy and Little It. Keep going,” I said.

  She flipped another page and looked at a wolf howling at the drawing of the moon above him. Nikki grinned, “We know this one, too.”

  “Yep, that’s who we’re looking for, Efflehurt,” I murmured, as she flipped one more page and Wynter’s wide eyes stared out at us from the yellowed paper.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Ella

  The Village

  July 7, 1782

  Old Mother’s spirit had passed, and true to her prediction, the people came to Ella for guidance. It started with Running Wolf, coming to sit with her by the fire. It was the first time he came to her, and she knew from the frown etched on his face that something weighed heavy on his mind.

  “White Wolf know ways of white man,” he said slowly, tracing a finger around the rim of a bowl of stew. He didn’t meet her eyes.

  “Yes,” Ella said quietly, “Long ago. When I was a child.”

  “Our people have many furs to trade. No trader come to village in many moon…”

  Ella knew where this conversation was headed. Old Mother was vehement in her belief of staying away from the white people. Too many of their people had died due to the lies and greed of the white man. Old Mother had thought them all liars and murderers, only wanting what they could take from her people. Her belief had been so strong that she had even discouraged the traders who would, on occasion, happen through their village. The fact that she had taken Ella in, an orphaned white girl, adopting her so completely as her own, still surprised Ella — and Running Wolf.

  Running Wolf had wished for a long time to trade his furs in the white man’s town but had never been able to do so. Each time he approached Old Mother, she had said no. Running Wolf secretly blamed Old Mother for the distrust she had shown the traders as the reason they had chosen not to return to the village. But he loved his grandmother, and respected her wishes, and never disobeyed what she instructed him to do.

  But now Old Mother was gone and he came to White Wolf and her wisdom to tell him if the journey would be one they should make.

  Ella understood the benefit that could be had from trading, but she was not certain it was worth the risk. Old Mother had been wise, and her caution kept the people safe for many years. Ella knew from her childhood that her own people considered the Indians savages; their arrival may very well be considered a threat.

  She was on the verge of denying his request, when a flash of the town flitted before her eyes. A store came into view, and she had a sense of something good being within it…something that felt like home…

  There was something in the town that needed to be seen — by her. Ella blinked, and the store and the town left. She gave Running Wolf a small, hopeful smile.

  “All right. I’ll go with you.”

  ***

  Two weeks later, they arrived in the town. She recognized the dirt road from her vision, and when the store loomed before them at the end of the road, she wasn’t surprised. She knew that it would be there and whatever she needed to see would happen when she stepped through those doors.

  They got some strange stares as they approached, but there hadn’t been any evidence of ill-will or threats toward them. The townspeople seemed curious, more than anything. Ella was almost certain the reason for the stares was the two fierce-looking warriors who accompanied her and Running Wolf.

  Standing Fox, the Keeper with a cream-colored wolf who had bravely fought the Fire Witch, still had only a single eye, but nothing escaped his notice as he kept careful watch of anyone brave enough to pass by. Tall Bear, the other Keeper, was an imposing figure, muscles rippling along the arm he held behind him, leading the pack mule with furs.

  “Let me go in first,” Ella told Running Wolf as they tied their horses to a long post in front of the store, “I’ll come for you if they are willing to trade with us.”

  “Let Keepers go with White Wolf. Even just one,” he implored, wishing to protect his small sister.

  Ella shook her head, “No, I’ll be safe. Trust me. Stay here until I come back.”

  She knew he didn’t like that she would be alone, but he respected her decision and stayed, watching as she walked up the steps.

  She stopped at the door, turning to offer them a small smile, hoping to calm their fear — and her own.

  She took a deep breath and walked through the open doorway where she stood in awe, looking around her in wonder.

  Rows upon rows of neatly stocked shelves held rolls of leather, bolts of fabric, and jars of canned goods.

  She was surprised at the woodsy scents that greeted her, but soon found their source when she glanced above her. Clumps of dried herbs, hung from the ceiling, and every few feet, there were ears of corn or strips of jerky drying on poles that stretched across the room.

  She was still standing by the door, staring at everything around her when a man came from a doorway at the back of the store. Ella couldn’t see much of his head for the stacks of boxes that he carried.

  “I’ll be right there,” he called out from behind the counter. Blonde curls sprung up like tight corkscrews behind the mound of boxes that he had set down. Finally, he appeared.

  Ella froze. There was something about him that struck her as very, very familiar. The set of his broad shoulders, hair springing up in all directions…she knew him from somewhere. From a time long ago.

  “What can I help you with?” his clear brown eyes smiled down at her.

  Somehow she had managed to walk to the counter, though she didn’t remember doing it. Instead of answering, she simply stared at him. He must have known something was amiss, because concern wrinkled his brows, and he asked kindly, “Are you well? I can call the doctor if need be…”

  “No, I am well,” she managed in a trembling, low voice.

  It was at that moment, a young Indian woman bustled through the door behind him, her arms full of bolts of fabric. She took a quick look at Ella, taking in the buckskin dress and moccasins, and gave her a wide, warm smile.

  “My wife has great skill in mixing medicines, if any of your people should need it,” the man offered, gesturing to the Indian woman, who dropped the fabric on the end of the counter.

  “I am Chenoa,” she smiled, coming slowly around the end of the counter, careful not to bump her round belly, “What can I help do?”

  “My people have come to trade. We’ve brought furs,” Ella’s voice was a little stronger now.

  “Bring them, we will trade,” Chenoa smiled cheerfully, turning back to pick up a bolt of fabric to put on the shelf.

  Ella nodded quickly, and went back out, gesturing to the three Keepers who stood anxiously by the horses. At her word, they began unpacking the mule, and Ella went back into the store, her curiosity piqued at the kindness of the man and his wife.

  “From what village have you come?” the man asked as soon as she returned.

  Ella noticed he was staring at her now, “My people are from a village to the west.”

  “But that is not where I knew you, not from a village…I know your face,” he murmured, his face pinched in concentration as if trying to figure out why he would know the face of a slight, white-haired woman, “I knew it well once…”

  Ella was now staring at him, too, but she was remembering
. The familiar wide shoulders she had seen on another man a long time ago…her papa. But the blonde curls were the same as they had always been, belonging on the little boy who had once tried to save her, his little face pinched in concentration, so determined to save his sister…

  “Billy,” the name came out in a breathless whisper.

  Billy stared at her open-mouthed, as he finally realized the face of the woman before him was the sister he had lost, “Ellie?”

  They stared at each other for a moment, frozen in disbelief. Then the moment passed and Ella ran around the end of the counter, wrapping her arms around the little brother who was now much bigger than she.

  “I’ve missed you so much! But…I saw your death!” Ella turned loose of him long enough to shake her head, incredulous, “The Fire Witch…”

  “…screamed again when I pushed the branch farther in her,” Billy said grimly, offering Ella a chair beside him, “Then I ran into the woods, but I couldn’t find you anywhere. I wandered for a few days until I happened upon a man and woman who were passing through. They took me in and raised me as their own.”

  “I am sorry,” Ella whispered, “I thought I was the only one left…”

  “‘Tis fine, now!” Billy grinned, happiness seeping out of every pore of his being, “My sister has been found!”

  Chenoa had been listening and watching the two of them with an expression of awe on her face until the three men (wearing very similar expressions to her own) came up behind her carrying the furs. With a happy smile, she welcomed them, and began questioning them as to what they needed and what they could use. Then she started piling up twice what they had bargained for, and then added even more. The people who had brought such joy into her husband’s heart would always be welcomed to whatever she could give them.

  The three Keepers stood, open-mouthed, watching the pile of supplies grow before their eyes, while their white-haired sister sat at the counter with the man, talking and smiling as if she were so happy her heart might burst.