The Wolf Tree

by John Claude Bemis

“Then let’s do it.”

  “Now?” Ray asked.

  “Now,” Marisol replied, her jaw set.

  Lying on their stomachs, they peered down at the Bowlers’ camp. Away from the Five Spot’s protection, they had to be particularly careful. Redfeather had his bow and arrow, along with his tomahawk.

  The steamcoach was shadowed against their campfire. They could hear the voices of the men as they ate their meal on the far side. The horses grazed several yards outside the firelight.

  Ray looked around for who was on guard duty. Murphy and another man were sitting outside the firelight, smoking cigars in the dark. Sokal, the man who had seen B’hoy, was sitting on the bench atop the car. A Winchester rifle lay across his knees.

  Ray whispered, “Muggeridge is in there. Look. The door’s cracked.”

  “Perfect,” Redfeather said.

  “Okay, here he goes,” Marisol said. After giving him a kiss on the top of his head, she laid Javidos down in the grass. The copperhead began slithering, his thick body moving over the earth. Marisol closed her eyes.

  Ray and Redfeather watched Javidos move closer and closer. From their angle, the copperhead’s body caught the firelight and they could follow his progress. After a few minutes, Javidos was nearly to the car. Sokal climbed down from the car and stretched his back. His boots were not more than a few feet from Javidos.

  Redfeather notched an arrow in his bow. “No,” Ray whispered quietly in his ear so Marisol couldn’t hear him. “Don’t be hasty! If something happens to Javidos, we can’t risk being discovered.”

  “I know,” Redfeather whispered. “Just in case.”

  Ray looked over at Marisol. Her eyes were still closed, her face still and passive as she concentrated on seeing what Javidos saw. The copperhead moved wide around Sokal, going underneath the car to keep away from his feet. Sokal had not noticed him.

  Javidos lifted his head onto the step off the back of the car. He was almost there. The door was cracked, an outline of light framing the doorway. Just as Javidos put his nose to the doorway, the light went off inside and the door opened.

  Javidos dropped beneath the car as Muggeridge stepped down and turned back to lock the door. Pike came around the steamcoach to meet Muggeridge. The two talked. Sokal walked over toward the two men. Marisol gasped, and Ray looked over to see her struggling to hold her concentration.

  Sokal cocked the Winchester and said something that startled Muggeridge and Pike. Ray realized what Sokal was doing. The agent had spotted Javidos.

  “No!” Ray gasped.

  Sokal aimed the rifle down, angling it into the shadows under the car. The barrel flashed, and if Ray had not rolled over to put his hand over Marisol’s mouth, her scream would surely have given them away. B’hoy croaked and took flight.

  “Wait.” Redfeather waved his hand. “He missed. Javidos might be okay.”

  Ray took his hand from Marisol’s mouth, and the three looked toward the steamcoach. There was a bit of commotion. Sokal was holding the gun toward the ground, swinging it this way and that in the dark. Muggeridge and Pike had backed away from the car but suddenly ducked and swung their arms around to protect their faces.

  “B’hoy!” Ray said.

  Shouting erupted, and several of the other Bowlers came around the side of the steamcoach to see what was going on. Sokal shot his rifle repeatedly into the night sky, but B’hoy had gotten away, Javidos dangling in his talons.

  “Quick!” Redfeather grabbed Marisol’s hand. “We’d better get back to the Five Spot.”

  They ran, and when they returned to their fire, B’hoy was already waiting. Javidos wriggled on the ground next to him.

  “Oh, Javy! Te pido perdón,” Marisol exclaimed, picking the copperhead up to caress and dote on him. B’hoy gave her a loud squawk and she added, “Yes, thank you, B’hoy! That was very brave of you.”

  B’hoy hopped around proudly and then landed on Ray’s fist. “Absolutely you deserve a treat.”

  Redfeather brought him some of the pronghorn and held it out. “How’s that? Hey! I think he likes it.”

  “Of course he does.” Ray smirked. “He’ll eat anything.”

  Marisol put her hand abruptly to her throat with a gasp. “Muggeridge! I heard him. Before that man tried to shoot Javidos, he was talking to that other Bowler.”

  “What did he say?” Ray asked.

  “They were talking about whatever is in that car; it’s following a sort of scent or something. They said they were getting close. Not more than a day or two more. And then Muggeridge said what they’re tracking.”

  “What?”

  “A golden rabbit’s foot. Whatever’s in that car is leading them to your father’s foot. They said, ‘At last we’ll get the boy.’ They meant you, Ray. They think they’re pursuing you.”

  “But … but that’s impossible,” Ray said, fear and puzzlement pounding in his head. “That can’t be! How can they be after the rabbit’s foot? The rabbit’s foot is back at Shuckstack … with Sally….”

  Ray went cold.

  The Bowlers were pursuing Sally.

  20

  FAMILIAR STRANGERS

  SALLY AND HETHY FEASTED. THE ROUGAROU FOUND A stand of trees nearby and carried back limbs in their mouths for a fire. Others hunted fat prairie birds for the girls. The girls were treated like queens, but their treatment hardly compared to the reception showering Quorl.

  Each rougarou came in turn to him, nipping at his chin or rolling and prostrating himself or herself before the silver wolf. Quorl’s eyes blazed with pride, but he masked his pleasure with a demure gaze at Renamex. “My nata. Tell them to stop.”

  “You have saved us, Quorl. Let the pack honor you as you deserve.”

  “But we are not wolves,” Quorl growled. “They should not act as such….”

  Sally laughed and relished the proceedings. Around her the sun was rising, washing the strange eroded land formations in warm light. She looked up at the Great Tree rising from beyond the canyon’s rim, ghostly and swirled with the pink and purple colors of dawn.

  Sally turned to a golden-furred rougarou who had brought them birds. “Won’t others—people nearby—see the Tree? I mean, it’s so huge. I think they could see it back at Shuckstack.”

  “No, Coyote,” the rougarou said. “Only those who have been blessed by the rougarou can see the Great Tree. Do not worry. Have you eaten enough? What else would you like?”

  “Oh, I’m so full,” Sally said. “How about you, Hethy?”

  As she turned, she found her friend already asleep, curled in the grass with her blanket under her cheek. Her skin looked grayer than usual, more faded. Sally too was exhausted from the long journey and the terrifying pursuit and the excitement of the Great Tree’s return. “No. I think I’ll sleep now. What is your name?”

  “Coer,” the rougarou replied. “The nata has charged me with taking care of you two. If you need anything—when you wake—I will be here.”

  “Thank you, Coer.” Sally lay down beside Hethy and fell asleep almost at once.

  When the girls woke, the sun was high. The Great Tree looked faint, like the moon during the day. As he had promised, Coer was lying nearby, ears alert and head high. He got to his feet when he saw Sally and Hethy stir. Sally looked around and realized that there was only one other rougarou, besides Coer, still there.

  “Where is Quorl?”

  “There is urgent business,” Coer said. “He is speaking with the pack. They have gone to the roots of the Great Tree. They are not far away. We will take you there now.”

  As they climbed up from the canyon, Coer introduced the other rougarou as Oultren. Her fur, like Coer’s, was golden, flecked on the tips with black, but Oultren had a large whitish patch across her breast.

  “What did you mean by ‘urgent business’?” Sally asked.

  “We are still wolves,” Coer explained. “We have been this way so long we have nearly forgotten our true forms. But Quorl reminded us that, sinc
e the Great Tree has been found, our true form should have returned.”

  If he was concerned, Sally could not read it from his canine expression. “You mean you should be men again?”

  “And women,” Oultren added. “But not human, like you. Just as we are not wolves, although we may look like it. We are rougarou—neither human nor animal.”

  Hethy exchanged a puzzled expression with Sally. But Sally did not question them further, as they were reaching the Great Tree.

  Up close, the roots rose from the prairie like an enormous rock face. The sides were gray-brown and its surface was as substantial as if it were an actual tree or a mountain. The bark of the Great Tree was like the bark of any oak or maple, but magnified, making Sally feel she was nothing more than a tiny insect. Looking closer, she could see that the grooves in the bark made enormous shelves and ridges and could easily be ascended, much as one would climb a set of wide, irregular stairs. There were any number of ways to climb the Great Tree, and as Sally let her eyes follow the rising trunk, she saw the Tree become transparent and misty, mingling with the blue sky and clouds beyond.

  The rest of the pack was circled together in the shadow of the enormous roots, talking formally. They sat with the three black wolves together, then the three white, the three red, and finally the other gold besides Coer and Oultren. Quorl, with his strange blue-silver coat, sat in the center. It was as if they were following some particular etiquette or aesthetic design. The reason was beyond Sally’s understanding, and she could only wonder at its purpose.

  When Renamex saw the girls, she got up. “Come and join us, little ones. We have questions for you.”

  Sally and Hethy entered the circle of the pack. The rougarou were all grand and enormous, like the statues of lions guarding a palace gate. Hethy took Sally’s hand to follow her to where Renamex was gesturing with her nose. “Go on, Yote,” Hethy whispered. “You first.”

  “Here. Sit by me,” the black rougarou said. “We are grateful to you for helping Quorl. We feel shamed by what we have done to him, but we were not ourselves. The loss of the Great Tree afflicted us. And still we have not yet found our true forms as rougarou. We have much still to discuss and consider, but for now we want to know more about you. Quorl says you carry the Toninyan, but it is buried in a rabbit’s paw of gold. May I see it?”

  Sally took the foot from her dress pocket. Renamex sniffed at the golden foot, turning her head back and forth to inspect it. Another rougarou joined her. He was surely the largest of the pack, nearly all white but with a ridge of ebony running from his nose along his spine to his tail.

  “This is Mangoron,” Renamex said. “He is more familiar with the magic of your people.”

  Mangoron gazed on the rabbit’s foot for a long time before saying, “This object is very powerful. How did you come to possess it?”

  Sally told about how her brother had first gotten the lodestone from their father, and how it had become the rabbit’s foot. She admitted that she had broken her promise to her brother by taking the foot from Shuckstack, but as she went on to tell the listening rougarou about how her father came to be lost in the Gloaming, she explained, “His powers were trapped in the hand when it was severed. That’s why I want to find him. I know how to return his Rambler powers to him.”

  Renamex looked once more at Mangoron before saying, “This object must be protected. There are men who would want to possess it. Whatever force drove the Great Tree from us is still at work. You are not safe traveling with it unguarded across the prairie. No, do not be afraid, Coyote. I see that you are worried that we might take it from you. We would not do that. You and you alone must hold on to the foot and keep it secret from others.”

  “That’s what I want to ask you,” Sally said. “I don’t want to continue across the prairie. I want to search for my father by crossing the Great Tree. Will you let me? I know that it’s difficult to find your way. Quorl told me all about it. But the rabbit’s foot—my father’s hand—it can show me the way. I’m sure it will.”

  Renamex looked around at the other rougarou. Glances and expressions too difficult for Sally to understand were exchanged between the wolves.

  “It has never been done by a child,” Renamex finally answered. “Even if you knew the way, the journey would be difficult. I am not certain it would be easier this way than if you continued over the land on foot.”

  “I would go with her,” Quorl said.

  The pack shifted. A rougarou whom Sally had not met said, “You are injured, Quorl. The way is too steep. It would require all your strength.”

  “I am bound to this girl now,” Quorl said. “If any of us were to guide her, it should be me. But I understand that maybe another would make a better guide….”

  Sally felt a flush of excitement and pride. She had saved Quorl and helped him find the Great Tree. Now he would help her find her father.

  “Quorl, I can wait while you heal. If you are really willing, I can wait a little longer.”

  Quorl nodded. “A few days, Little Coyote. Just give me a few days.”

  * * *

  That night, after the girls ate, Sally and Hethy were finally alone. Half of the rougarou went out to patrol the prairie. Others slept at the roots of the Great Tree. Coer and Quorl spoke together several yards from the blazing fire.

  “You sure are quiet, Hethy. Are you still afraid of them?” Sally asked.

  “I ain’t afraid of them. They’re kind and I feel safe with them watching over us. What I’m worrying on is you.”

  Sally smiled halfheartedly. “What? Why are you worried about me?”

  “You ain’t telling them the truth is what. About that foot.”

  “I told them the truth,” Sally said, lowering her voice. “What did I lie about?”

  “It weren’t what you said but what you ain’t said. Don’t you remember what we talked about? About that spike?”

  Sally’s face darkened and she grabbed Hethy’s arm. “You be quiet, Hethy Smith! You don’t know what that foot’s for. My father will destroy the Machine, but only if I save him. If you speak a word of this to Renamex and the others, they might not let me find my father. They might not let me go after him.”

  “Granny Sip died ’cause of what that Machine done to those people in Omphalosa,” Hethy said. “I want to know that that clockwork is going to end.”

  Hethy twisted to pull her arm from Sally’s clutches, but Sally squeezed harder, saying, “Don’t you understand? Father will know how to destroy the Machine. And I’m going to find him with or without you. You promised to be my friend. I thought you were going to help me and we’d rescue my father and then we could all live together at Shuckstack.”

  Hethy swung her arm and broke Sally’s grip. Hethy’s chest heaved as she backed from Sally, her dark eyes wide.

  Sally trembled as she asked, “What if it was Granny Sip? What if there was a way you could bring her back? I have that chance, Hethy! Don’t you see? I thought my father was dead. But he’s not! I can bring him back.”

  Hethy looked frightened. Either from fear that she might be abandoned by Sally or because of Sally’s vicious expression and the way she had been clutching her arm, Hethy burst into tears.

  Sally reached a hand to the sobbing girl. “It’s okay, Hethy. I’m sorry I shook you like that. I … I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  Hethy jumped to her feet, her hands cupped over her eyes, and ran off. Quorl and Coer turned their heads curiously, and then Coer got to his feet.

  “Don’t worry,” Sally said, her voice shaking. “She won’t go far.”

  “Should I follow her?” the rougarou asked.

  “No, she’ll be back,” Sally said, and lay down on her blanket.

  Sally woke in the night to some sort of excitement among the rougarou. She looked around, but Hethy was not there. Had something happened to her? Sally got up and walked toward the pack, clustered together by the Great Tree.

  As she moved closer, Quorl turned.
/>   “What’s happened?” Sally asked. “Is Hethy—”

  But then she saw Hethy in the shadows by Coer’s side. She coughed into her hand a moment, but then stopped, settling back behind Coer.

  “Strangers,” Quorl replied ominously. “Some of the pack patrolling found two humans. They’ve asked to speak to the nata.”

  “Who are they?”

  “I don’t know. They’ve only just arrived.”

  Staying close to Quorl’s side, Sally peered through the pack to see the strangers—a boy and a girl—waiting as Renamex approached them. Everything about the pair was bizarre and frightening to Sally. And what frightened Sally most was that she thought she knew who they were.

  The girl was barefoot and wore a peculiar dress that seemed woven from grass. Her skin was pale as moonlight and her dark hair hung in a single braid past her slim waist. She wore a funny shell on her belt. As Sally looked closer, she thought the shell might be a knife, but where the girl would have gotten such a weapon, she couldn’t imagine.

  The boy—black and nearly twice Sally’s height—carried a club of heavy wood. Although he certainly was not threatening the rougarou surrounding him, his manner suggested that if it came to it, he would be a terrifying adversary, even to the rougarou.

  Sally had never met either of them, but she knew them without a doubt. This was the siren Jolie and Conker, John Henry’s son. But how? Conker had died destroying the Gog’s train. No, she remembered. Mother Josara had seen in her bowl that Conker was alive. But how had he survived? And Jolie … Ray was heartbroken that she had disappeared. Sally knew this in a thousand ways that Ray had never said.

  Sally tensed. If they realized she had the rabbit’s foot, would they try to stop her from reaching her father?

  Renamex, with Mangoron at her side, was approaching Conker and Jolie. “Welcome,” she said in a near growl. “We trust that you come in peace?”

  Conker laid his club on the ground, and Jolie removed her shell knife to do the same. “Yes, we come in peace,” Conker said. “We’re looking for the guardians of the Wolf Tree.”

  “You have found us. I am Renamex, the leader of the rougarou. Why are you looking for the Great Tree?”