“Almost there,” Daniel panted. “We can walk the rest of the way.” Daniel stretched out his back and shoulders and started walking again on the path they’d been following. Lilly wasn’t sure, but it sounded like he was limping a little, favoring his right ankle just slightly.
“You okay?” she asked as she hustled to keep his pace.
“What?” Daniel asked, pulling his gaze from the snow-capped peaks of the mountains.
“Your leg,” Lilly explained. “Did you hurt it?”
“What…what makes you think I’m injured?” Daniel stammered.
“I can hear your limp. Are you okay?”
“It’s fine,” Daniel replied. “I twisted it on the way to your house. It’ll be fine, just a little tender.” The fact was his ankle was killing him. It wasn’t getting any better, and wouldn’t as long as he kept punishing it with long runs, especially long runs while carrying someone. Hopefully I’m done with that, thought Daniel to himself.
Chapter 11
Reunited
Daniel and Lilly arrived at the designated meeting place as the last of the daylight disappeared and the moon took over the illumination duties for the evening. Lilly took a seat on a rock with the rifle resting on her lap as Daniel wandered around making sure they were alone.
At the base of Mount Slieve Gullion there was a cave. The entrance was where Daniel, Aidan, and their father had spent so much time honing Daniel’s skills. Aidan had come along, not to watch Daniel, but for the opportunity to encounter new wildlife. These meetings allowed him to work on his gift as well. The clearing was unremarkable. It probably wouldn’t have been considered as such had it not been for the time the three had spent there. Daniel’s running, stopping, and starting again had beaten down what little plant-life there was around the mouth of the cave where the trees had not been able to root.
Daniel picked his way around the beaten earth noting the marks on the trees from where the arrows shot at him had missed. At the far eastern side of the clearing, he took off and dropped his bow and quiver and sat down. His mind wandered back to earlier, more innocent times. He closed his eyes and on the backs of his lids watched the games he and Aidan had played here. He could see his father sitting to the left of the cave entrance watching them and laughing at their antics. He could almost hear Aidan’s giggles as the two traded jokes. His ears perked up when he realized that he could, in fact, hear giggles coming from the path he and Lilly had arrived on. Jumping to his feet, Daniel ran to Lilly and pulled her to her feet as Aidan and Olivia entered the glade.
The two girls initially froze. Olivia was staring at Lilly as she began moving as swiftly as she could across the clearing. Each of their eyes began welling up with tears. Aidan looked from one to the other trying to anticipate which would speak first. The two sisters screamed at the same time and ran into one another’s arms, chattering away like chipmunks. Daniel looked to Aidan and his eyebrow raised as he tried to figure out what the girls were saying to one another.
“What?” he mouthed to Aidan.
Aidan merely shrugged and walked over and stood beside Daniel.
“Glad to see you here,” Aidan said. He gave Daniel a little nudge with his elbow.
“What took you so long?” Daniel teased.
Aidan rolled his eyes and wiggled out of Daniel’s pack. “This thing was heavier than I thought. You can have it back. I’m tired of carrying your weight,” Aidan replied with a smile. He took off his bag as well and dropped it next to his brother’s. “Anyone chasing you? Or can we just stay here tonight? I’m tired of walking and my back hurts.”
“I backtracked on our trip here and didn’t see anything. I think we can rest here for the night,” Daniel answered as he picked up his bag and carried it toward the mouth of the cave. “We should set up our fire over here just in case,” Daniel called over his shoulder. He dropped the bag at the entrance, then sat down absentmindedly massaging his ankle. Aidan brought his stuff over as well and knelt down next to him.
“What happened to your foot?” Aidan inquired, a frown etched on his face.
“It’s nothing,” Daniel lied, looking away.
“Let’s see it.”
“What’s to see? I twisted it a little. I’ll be fine,” Daniel replied, looking back at his brother.
“Let me see it,” Aidan repeated. “We need it to heal if we’re going to keep moving. I just want to see how bad it is.” Aidan thought back to Imogen, their mother, who had trained as a nurse when she was younger, back when schools had still existed. She’d passed on her knowledge to both of her boys despite their age. She’d been convinced that everyone in the family should know as much as possible about their bodies. Many nights had been spent pouring over her old books—hers and the new ones their father had been able to acquire for trade. It was a good thing too. She was gone now and they couldn’t rely on her to take care of them. Aidan’s heart felt heavy in his chest. Pulling himself back to the present, he swallowed the lump in his throat and knelt down in front of Daniel.
Daniel pulled up the leg of his trousers and pulled down the sock. “Satisfied?”
A deep blue and black bruise wrapped the entire circumference of Daniel’s ankle making it impossible for Aidan to see where the wound originated. The swelling was not a good sign either. At this point, if Daniel took his shoe off, it was unlikely he would be be able to put it back on.
“Where does it hurt?” Aidan asked as he reached out and gently grabbed Daniel’s foot. He fingered it gingerly, trying to locate any possible breaks. Daniel hissed through his teeth. “Right there I guess,” Aidan said to himself. He continued examining Daniel’s ankle, gently rotating it to see range of motion while pressing and massaging various places until he was at last satisfied. “Doesn’t look too bad,” he offered up at last. “Well, I take that back. It does look bad, but I don’t think you broke it. I’ll go get our dinner. You stay off your foot. That needs to heal.” With that, Aidan walked away.
“We’ve got a little bit of meat left over,” Daniel called after his brother. “It’s in Lilly’s pack.”
Aidan raised his hand and gave a brief wave to acknowledge his brother’s comment and kept walking.
Olivia and Lilly, having at last composed themselves, sat down facing one another where they had been hugging and talking. As Aidan approached the edge of the dell, Olivia called out to him.
“Where are you going?” she hollered.
“I’m going to find some dinner,” he called back.
“Would you please come over here first?”
Aidan meandered across the clearing until he stood next to the two girls.
“Aidan, I’d like you to meet my little sister Lilly. Lilly, this is Aidan.”
Aidan leaned down and offered his hand. “It’s my pleasure. I’m glad Daniel got to you before Argyle. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Thank you. It’s my pleasure as well,” Lilly responded, putting her hand out.
Finally realizing why Lilly had moved so slowly across the clearing when he’d arrived with her sister, Aidan took her hand and gave it a firm shake, his eyes wide with surprise at what he’d missed.
“And thank you for saving my sister from those men. I’m still not sure how you and your brother did it, but I’m happy you did.” She stood. “What can we do to help?”
“Don’t worry about it. I can take care of it,” came Aidan’s reply, hesitant now that he knew of Lilly’s disability.
“I’m sure you can take care of it,” Lilly shot back. “I’m going to do my part here if that’s okay with you. How about Olivia and I get firewood? We can build the fire and have it ready for when you get back. I’m sure you’ve figured out that I’m blind, but I’m not useless.”
Caught off-guard by her forcefulness and with no support coming from Olivia who eyed him awaiting his reply, Aidan could only summon a one-word answer in response. “Fine,” he mumbled and made his way into the dark forest in search of dinner.
When he
returned, he found a comfortable fire waiting for him at the entrance to the cave. Not wanting to fill their shelter for the evening with smoke, they’d built it just outside for better air circulation. Aidan and the two sisters quickly prepared a stew with some of the leftover meat and the vegetables Aidan had brought back. At last, with dinner warming over the fire and the remaining meat drying nearby, Aidan, Olivia, and Lilly joined Daniel in the cave.
“Since dinner won’t be ready for a little while,” Lilly began, “I’d like to hear how you two saved my sister. I’ve never heard of anyone fighting off Argyle’s men.”
Aidan looked over at his brother. Daniel did not meet his gaze.
“Daniel already told me a bit of what he can do,” Lilly continued, “but I don’t think running fast is going to scare Argyle’s soldiers away. What’s the rest of the story?”
Again, Aidan looked at Daniel. This time Daniel seemed intent on picking at something on his pants and didn’t seem interested in the conversation.
Aidan looked down at his own feet crossed in front of him. “I…I’m not sure how to begin,” he stammered.
“Why don’t I tell her my story, and then you can fill in the rest?” Olivia offered, seeing Aidan’s unease. “Besides, this will be my first real time hearing it all too.” Noticing the surprised look on Lilly’s face, she continued. “That first night, after they saved me from Argyle’s men, we talked. I think there’s still more to the story that I don’t know, so hopefully I’ll get to hear the rest.” Daniel flinched, but she went on. “I think we can talk about that tonight. I’d like to figure out what each of you can do.” Aidan nodded his agreement so Olivia continued. She told the story of how she was taken from her home, chained, and marched across the countryside until she at last stood in the woods near the boys’ home. She told of the sounds of the animals in the forest around her, the cries from the men, the growls, shrieks and snarls. She related the feel of the air swirling around her from the beating of unknown numbers of wings and the movement of large animals passing around her. She spoke of the sudden silence when the last of the men stopped screaming. Standing in the dark, she was sure that she would be next. Terrified, she stood alone, waiting to be attacked. That was when Daniel appeared and took her into his home, freed her from her chains, and tried to settle her down. Lilly sat dumbstruck through the whole tale. She didn’t utter a word until her sister had finished.
“Wow,” was all she could muster when her sister finally fell silent.
Olivia turned to Aidan. “Your turn.”
“Why don’t we eat dinner first,” Daniel interrupted. “The stew’s ready, and if we wait for Aidan to finish, the vegetables will be soggy.” While what Daniel said was true, Aidan sensed in the comment something more, a bitter edge.
He’s probably just tired, Aidan thought to himself, and pushed up to his feet. “I’ll get yours,” Aidan told Daniel, placing a hand on his shoulder to keep him seated. “You need to stay off that ankle for now.”
Aidan, Olivia, and Lilly cut the meat for dinner into smaller chunks, dropped them in the stew and filled the wooden bowls Daniel had brought from home before sitting back down in their previous spots.
They ate in silence for a while savoring the hot delicious meal. When everyone had had their fill, Aidan took the rest of the pot and dumped it at the edge of the cave.
“What are you doing?” Olivia asked. “That will attract animals.”
“That’s the point,” Aidan answered and laughed as Lilly’s eyebrows shot up. “I’m expecting a guest for dinner.” Custos wandered out of the woods and lay down next to the pile of meat and vegetables, pawing through it and finishing off the scraps.
“Who is it?” Lilly asked. “Shouldn’t you introduce your friend?”
Daniel and Olivia suppressed their snickers as Aidan led Lilly to where Custos was feeding.
“Lilly, I’d like to introduce you to Custos, my oldest and most trusted friend.”
“It’s lovely to meet you,” Lilly stated. She extended her hand.
Aidan linked his mind with Custos’s and prompted the animal to raise its large paw and drop it into Lilly’s outstretched hand. Lilly jumped back and the others burst out laughing.
“What? What’s happening?” Lilly shouted over the ruckus. “It’s not funny!”
Both of the boys fell immediately quiet, ashamed, and the color rose in their cheeks. Olivia, on the other hand, only laughed louder.
“It is funny,” she choked out. “You should have seen your face.” Olivia gasped for breath. “Custos is a bear. Aidan’s gift is with animals.” Olivia’s peals of laughter finally petered out into giggles as tears streamed down her face. “That was priceless.”
“Not funny,” Lilly repeated, though Aidan could have sworn he caught a glimpse of a smirk play across her lips. “Anyway, it’s very nice to meet you Custos.” Lilly gave a quick curtsy and then turned back to where the others sat. When dinner and clean up were out of the way, and with Custos tended to, Lilly insisted that Aidan tell his portion of the story.
“Nobody outside our family knew about my gift until the other night. The night the men came to our house to pick up Daniel, that is,” Aidan began. “Afterward, I told… or rather showed Olivia, so now I guess I should tell you. I don’t want to scare you when I have to use it.” Looking directly at Lilly, Aidan pressed on. “I can communicate with animals.”
“No. It’s more than that, come on, tell her everything,” Olivia interrupted.
“Give me a minute… I’m getting there,” Aidan said. “I can…influence their behavior.” Aidan stopped when he saw the look of confusion on Lilly’s face. “I can control them, if that’s what you want to call it. I can get them to do what I want. It’s hard to explain. That day last month, Daniel’s fourteenth birthday, I knew Argyle’s men would come. I couldn’t let them take him away. He’s the only family I have left.” Aidan saw Daniel shift uncomfortably next to him. Still, he went on. “I spent the day gathering my friends. Every animal that I found in the area I sent back to our house to guard him. There were quite a few by the time I was done. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what I was doing, Daniel. I thought you might try to stop me.” Daniel said nothing, just nodded slowly. “Daniel fell asleep in the house, and I snuck out through my bedroom window and climbed up onto our roof. All my friends were there. Bears, wolves, mountain lions, birds, bats, you name it and it was probably somewhere in the woods around our house. They waited with me, quietly.”
Lilly was leaning forward, captivated by his every word. Olivia reached up and brushed a small curly lock of hair out of her eye, hooking it behind her ear, and whispered “Go on.”
“When the men showed up at our house, I warned them.” Aidan shook his head at the memory. “They didn’t listen. I told them what would happen. I tried. You have to believe that.”
“Okay,” Lilly said calmly, trying to ease the anxiety she could hear the anxiety in Aidan’s voice and encouraging him to continue.
Olivia was watching her sister, ready to deal with her reaction to what was coming next.
“They just didn’t listen,” Aidan continued. “They laughed at me. One of the men in front drew an arrow and shot it at me. One of my friends took care of it, but I knew we were in trouble and needed help. So… I changed forms.”
Aidan waited to be sure Lilly heard and understood, but what he saw on her face was expectation. She was waiting quietly for him to explain, so he did. “Using my gift, I changed into a mountain lion and attacked Argyle’s men.” At that, Lilly gasped in total shock. “I’m sorry,” he hurried. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s hard to explain to other people. That’s why I’ve never told anyone until now. How do you tell someone that? How can I expect anyone to believe me? Even if they do, they’ll think I’m a freak. We’re all outcasts as it is. I don’t want to be an outsider to the outsiders.”
Lilly realized how distraught Aidan was and reached out with a calming touch to show she was o
kay. After a moment, he asked, “Are you sure you want me to go on?” Lilly nodded, so he pressed on. “We… the other animals and I attacked them. We didn’t stop until they were all gone. All except one as it turned out.” Aidan looked up, his eyes glistening. “They should have listened to me!” he shouted. “I didn’t want to have to do that!” His hands curled into tight fists in his lap as he told the rest of his story. “When it was over, I came back to the clearing in front of our house. That’s when Daniel came out. I told him about Olivia, how she was standing chained in the forest. He went to get her while I went inside to clean up and put some clothes on. When I came back out of my room, Daniel had started breaking the chains off. We told her a little about ourselves that night,” Aidan went on, giving a small nod of his head toward Olivia. “I just didn’t tell her everything. We left the next day to come get you, Lilly, before Argyle found out about it and sent more men,” Aidan finished. He let out a long sigh and slumped back against the rock behind him.
“How?” Lilly asked. “How do you do it?”
“I don’t know,” Aidan mumbled. “It started a long time ago. I can get them to do what I want pretty easily. I’ve been able to do that for as long as I can remember. A few years back is when I found out I could change into them. I have to share water with them for that to happen though.”
“You can control and turn into any animal you want?” Olivia inquired.
“Not any animal, just the ones I’ve shared water with. And I can’t control werewolves. My parents told me it’s because they are an abomination. I don’t know,” Aidan trailed off.
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