Claws of Doom

by Peebles, Chrissy

  “Wow,” Olivia exclaimed, casting a quick glance at her sister.

  “Aidan,” Lilly stated forcefully, “I just want to say that I don’t think you’re an outsider. You have a gift, and it helped save my sister. Thank you. If there’s ever anything I can do for you, I want you to tell me. Promise?”

  Aidan rolled his eyes. “Sure.”

  “Promise?” she insisted.

  “Yes,” he finally conceded.

  “Good. Daniel, is there anything else you can do? I think you should tell us everything right now so we don’t have any more surprises. Argyle’s men will have some for us if they’re still looking for us. Mom and Dad used to tell us stories about him. He doesn’t sound like a nice man, so I’m sure he’s still coming.”

  Daniel, who had been leaning back against a large boulder during Aidan’s story, sat up straight. His right hand moved unconsciously to his ear and he started massaging it. “Nothing you haven’t seen already. I can move quickly. That’s about it.”

  “Lilly can find stuff,” Olivia interjected.

  The two brothers turned and looked at her.

  “What does that have to do with it?” Lilly asked.

  “Well, we’re talking about gifts, right? Lilly can find stuff.”

  The two boys turned their attention to the younger of the two sisters.

  “It’s no big deal,” Lilly remarked, shy to the sudden attention. “She’s making it sound important, but it’s not.”

  “Am not,” Olivia said defensively. “She doesn’t go looking for an item when it’s lost. It’s like she’s drawn to it. Growing up she always found things that had been misplaced. She doesn’t go searching in drawers and under the beds. When you tell her what you’re looking for, she walks right to it. It’s like she knows. To tell a secret, I used to hide stuff just to see if she could find it. She did, every time.”

  Lilly’s face fell into an open-mouthed gape. “You what?!”

  “Oh, settle down,” Olivia chortled. “It was all in good fun. Besides, maybe it’ll come in handy.”

  “I don’t get it,” Aidan interjected, shaking his head. “Aren’t you…well, blind?” he blurted out.

  “I am,” Lilly answered calmly, “but I’ll still find anything you hide out there.” A mischievous grin spread across her lips.

  “I’ve got to see this,” Aidan said, rising to his feet. “C’mon, get up!” he urged impatiently, pulling on Olivia’s shirt sleeve.

  Daniel was pushing himself up, favoring his injured ankle. “No,” Aidan said, putting a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “You just rest and watch. Olivia, go grab one of Daniel’s arrows. We’re going to hide it. I want to see if Lilly can find it.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Lilly asked as she stood. “I was just teasing. We don’t have to do this right now.”

  “Not at all. I want to see this,” came Aidan’s reply. “You wait here with your back to us. We’re going to go hide it and see if you can find it.”

  “Oh, she’ll find it alright,” Olivia remarked as she returned with an arrow.

  “Let’s go then.”

  Lilly moved over and sat next to Daniel, her back to the cave entrance. “This is pathetic,” she grumbled.

  “He’ll get over it,” Daniel said with a smile. “He’s just curious. He’ll settle down when the novelty wears off.” Daniel chuckled. “Don’t be surprised though if over the next couple of days he’s moving your stuff around just to watch you look for it.” Daniel and Lilly chatted for a few minutes about nothing until the two others returned.

  “Okay,” Aidan announced, “let’s see what you can do.”

  Lilly pushed herself up, grabbed her walking stick, and wandered out into the clearing. She shut her eyes, focusing her mind on the arrow. Aidan could see her eyes moving back and forth under her closed lids. After a moment, she opened them and started to the south tree line. She stepped over a log and dug her hand into a small pile of leaves on the other side. Aidan stood, his jaw dropped open, as she straightened back up with the arrow in her right hand.

  “Amazing,” was all he could muster as she swaggered past him and tossed him the arrow. He caught it with his left hand and turned to follow her back to the cave where Daniel sat. “That was incredible,” he stammered as he sat down next to Lilly and opposite Daniel. “How do you do that?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied. “How do you turn into an animal? I just focus on what I’m looking for and it’s like I’m pulled to it.” Lilly tossed a strand of hair out of her face. “It’s always been like that.”

  “Amazing,” Aidan repeated, shaking his head in disbelief. “I didn’t think you’d ever find it, but you walked right to it.”

  The four sat in silence for a moment before Aidan spoke up. “So now what?”

  Daniel shook his head. “I don’t know.” He looked to the two sisters as they, too, shrugged.

  “No idea,” Olivia responded.

  “Let’s figure it out in the morning then,” Daniel remarked. “I need to get some sleep. It’s been a long day.”

  “I agree,” Aidan replied. “Let me check out the rest of the cave to make sure there’s nothing in there we don’t want to sleep with, snakes and stuff,” he explained seeing the confusion on the girls’ faces. “I’m not very good with reptiles yet. They’re…different. Then you three can get ready for bed while I throw some more wood on the fire. I’d like that meat to be ready by the morning so we can take it with us.”

  “Good idea,” Lilly grunted as she stood up. “I’ll take care of the fire though while you check on things. Olivia, why don’t you give Daniel a hand.” Lilly grabbed some wood and headed over to set the logs on the embers while Aidan went searching in the cave.

  Olivia offered her hand to Daniel. He shook his head. “I can do it myself,” he grumbled, trying to struggle to his feet. His ankle throbbed as he tried to put weight on it and he fell back down into a sitting position.

  “I know you can,” Olivia replied, “but I can help you too. You’ve helped me plenty already. Helping you stand and walk inside is the least I can do.”

  Daniel looked up into her face.

  “Take it,” Olivia ordered, again offering her hand.

  Daniel gave in and grasped her forearm while she did the same to his. After pulling him to his feet, she wrapped his arm over her shoulder and helped him hobble slowly toward the entrance to the cave and closer to the fire just as Aidan caught up to them and Lilly wandered back.

  “Nothing back there that’ll hurt us,” he announced as he grabbed the bags and hauled them over to where Olivia was assisting Daniel as he sat back down. The light from the fire cast an orange glow that penetrated into the cave only about ten feet. It was just enough to allow the three to see what they were doing as they moved their packs around and settled in for the night.

  “Goodnight,” whispered Olivia.

  “Goodnight,” came the chorus from the other three.

  Chapter 12

  A Bold Decision

  The morning came in a flash, and Daniel woke to the sounds of Olivia, Lilly, and Aidan moving around the cave. His eyes felt like they had sand in them as he tried to rub the sleep out of them. He sat up and started massaging his stiff ankle.

  “How’s it feeling this morning?” Aidan asked as he repacked his bag.

  “Sore,” Daniel muttered, “but I can walk on it.”

  “Good,” Aidan replied, sitting down across from Daniel. He called back over his shoulder to the two girls. “When you two are done over there, you wanna join us?”

  After a few minutes of organizing their things, Olivia and Lilly sat down with the two brothers. “What’s wrong?” Olivia asked as she sat down to Aidan’s left, her sister across from her.

  “Decision time,” Aidan responded. “Where to now? We can’t go back to either of our homes, so where should we go? What do we do?”

  The four young outsiders looked at each other, glancing from side to side, waiting for someone
else to speak first.

  “We could go back to a house that Lilly and I stopped at on our way here,” Daniel offered. “It looked like it had been deserted for a while. We could hole up there for a bit.”

  Aidan chewed his lip as he contemplated Daniel’s suggestion.

  “How long do you think we can stay there?” Olivia inquired.

  Daniel looked over at her. “As long as we want, I would guess. I don’t think the people who lived there are coming back anytime soon from the looks of the place.”

  Lilly nodded her head in agreement. “But…” she started.

  “But what?” Daniel broke in, catching the stern expression on Lilly’s face, clearly annoyed by his interruption.

  “BUT, how long do you think we can stay there before Argyle’s men find us? They’re bound to come through there and if they do, do you think we can fight them off?”

  Daniel was taken back at her bluntness. “Well, maybe they won’t find us,” he finally managed to reply. “There’s no reason for them to look for us there.”

  “True,” Lilly shot back, “but maybe they will. I don’t think we can just hide and hope they don’t come looking for us.”

  “What do you suggest?” Aidan asked, tossing a small rock into the air and catching it.

  “I think we go there for a little while, just to rest up and let Daniel’s foot heal. Then we leave.”

  “And where will we go from there?” Daniel grumbled.

  “Then I think we should go fight.”

  The three others stared at Lilly, the same flabbergasted expression on each of their faces. It took a moment for Olivia to respond.

  “WHAT?”

  “I think we should go fight,” Lilly repeated in a matter of fact tone. “Argyle’s men have been coming out here and taking us as slaves for a long time, too long. I think it’s time we fight back.”

  “How on earth do you expect us to fight Argyle’s men?” Daniel stammered.

  Lilly’s eyes flickered in his direction before staring straight ahead of her. “The same way you did last time.”

  Daniel froze, his jaw clenching in an involuntary reflex. His eyes dropped to the dirt in front of him.

  Olivia sat staring at Lilly, dumbfounded at her sister’s suggestion.

  “It could work,” Aidan offered, giving Lilly a little wink of encouragement, forgetting that she couldn’t see it. Lilly smiled and blushed anyway at his compliment. Aidan continued, watching the rock rise and fall in front of him. “We could follow his gathering parties and ambush them,” he suggested. “With the four of us working together, I think we could do it.” Aidan turned to Olivia. “I saw you shoot back at the house. We could loop around and get in front of them. We could find a spot where they have to cross an open area. We could hide you at the far side, somewhere high up for a better view. You could do some real damage from a distance. I could do my thing with the nearby animals and with Daniel’s speed he could move in and out of their group before they even knew what hit them.”

  “What about me?” Lilly asked, a little pout in her voice. “What do I do while you three are attacking them? Just sit by and brush my hair?”

  Aidan was caught off guard by the question and only half mumbled a senseless answer.

  “You get to help us find them,” Olivia offered, picking up the planning where Aidan had been kicked off track. “We’ll need your help to figure out where they are. Plus, you can reload for me. I’ll be able to help a lot more if I can shoot, hand you the rifle, and shoot again.” Lilly sat up a little straighter as she realized she would be able to be of assistance.

  “Well, when do we leave?” Lilly asked, the excitement evident in her voice.

  “Now hold on a minute,” Daniel interjected. All eyes turned to him. “It’s all fine and dandy that we got the best of Argyle’s men once. I think it’s a bad idea to go searching them out.”

  Aidan glared at his brother. “What do you suggest we do?” Aidan asked.

  “I…I don’t know.”

  “We can’t go to the little cottage and hide forever. They’d catch us eventually. What, you scared?”

  Daniel was on his feet in a flash and on Aidan before anyone else could react.

  “Take that back!” Daniel screamed at the top of his lungs, pinning Aidan to the ground beneath him. The girls struggled to pull Daniel off.

  “What? Was I right? What are you afraid of?” Aidan answered, his voice rising in anger at Daniel’s hostility.

  Daniel punched him once in the face and was pinning his arms down again before Aidan could even suck in a breath at the sudden pain flaring across his left cheek. “Take it back,” Daniel yelled.

  “No.” Again a flash of pain seared his cheek. Aidan could feel his eye beginning to swell. “You think hitting me will change anything?” he seethed, his anger rising with Daniel’s. He knew he’d hit a nerve and pressed further. “You can hit me all day, but it won’t change the fact that you’re being a coward.”

  Daniel let out a bellow of rage and disappeared. The dust kicked up in the air lightly along the path that he’d followed and then settled gently back down to the earth. Aidan sat up and wiped his now bleeding nose with his sleeve. Both girls glowered at him with sour expressions.

  “What?” Aidan asked, pushing himself to his feet. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Are you serious?” Olivia replied. “Why did you do that? He’s your brother.”

  “Brother or not, we’re better off without him if he wants to run and hide.”

  “NO,” Lilly yelled. She reached out to find Aidan’s arm and turned him to face her. “No, we’re not. He saved me, and so I owe him. And he also has an incredible gift. We need that. In case you didn’t notice, his gift can come in handy in a fight. I don’t know what you look like, but it sounded like he punched you hard, and you’re probably hurting a little. He can do that to them too. Now I don’t know what your problem is, but you’d better fix it.” With that, Lilly let go of his arm and fumbled around until she found her pack and a rifle. “Now let’s get on the road to that house. Hopefully he’ll meet us there when he calms down. You get to carry his bag since it’s your fault he took off.” Aidan mumbled something under his breath, grabbed Daniel’s sack, and pulled the straps up onto his shoulders.

  “What was that?” Lilly asked, turning and stepping close. “What did you say?”

  “Nothing,” Aidan answered.

  “If you have something to say to me, say it so I can hear it. If not, you need to learn to keep you mouth shut, or I’ll make you look worse than Daniel did. Understand?”

  “Yeah, whatever,” Aidan stammered, taking a step back, hand up defensively in front of him.

  “Good, come on sis,” Lilly called to Olivia who stood with her hands over her mouth, trying to hide the smirk that was curling up at the corners of her lips despite her best efforts.

  Olivia picked up her stuff and joined her sister. “Let’s go.”

  Olivia and Lilly stopped briefly outside the cave to pack the meat they’d left on the fire the night before. The heat from the fire had thankfully been sufficient to dry the meat properly, giving them a few day’s worth of food if they needed it. The trip took them most of two days. They stopped a few times during the days to eat and to allow Aidan an opportunity to rest. Carrying the two packs had obviously started to take its toll on him given the pace Olivia was setting. He didn’t gripe though, and no muttering could be heard. The breaks were for the most part silent, broken only by the sounds of chewing and swallowing and instructions as to who would gather what to eat or drink. They arrived at the cabin shortly before dusk on the second day, the dining room in the same condition Lilly and Daniel had left it previously. Lilly and Olivia began cleaning up while Aidan went to get a couple of buckets of water.

  At the creek, Aidan took some time to undress and bathe. The water was cold and a shiver ran through his body. He was filthy so he jumped in anyway and gave himself a quick scrub. Washing
his face took a bit longer as he cleaned off the dried blood from his nose and gently washed over the huge knot that had formed on his left cheekbone. His winced as the pressure of his fingers glided over it.

  “Coward,” he mumbled and climbed back out of the creek and onto the leaf-strewn shore. He stood for a while allowing the cool breeze to dry him off. He closed his eyes and projected his mind out, trying to find some of his animal kin. There was an abundance of wildlife in the area. He could feel them in his mind, moving around him. He was moving from creature to creature when he came across a frightened doe. She was being chased. She splashed along the banks of this same creek, farther to the west of where he now stood. He probed more. He sucked in a shocked breath when he realized what she was running from. It was a pack of werewolves and they were headed straight for him.

  Aidan reached down and grabbed his clothes, leaving the buckets of water behind as he ran wildly for the cottage. The cramp that developed in his side was barely noticeable as the adrenaline surge pushed him forward, faster, harder. His feet slammed on the bare earth in some places, on thorny weeds in others. They didn’t slow him down. Even the bristly shrubs that tried to catch at his thighs and shins barely registered in Aidan’s thoughts. The only thing that bothered him was his eye. The swelling made it difficult to see, to judge distances. But he couldn’t slow. He could feel the deer getting close. He caught a glimpse of the house through the trees and his heart leapt. The last hundred yards passed in a flash as he rounded the house and burst in the front door, slamming and barricading it behind him.

  “Close and lock the windows!” Aidan yelled at the two stunned girls behind him. Aidan quickly pulled on his trousers and ran to a nearby window. As he shut it, he called back over his shoulder. “There are werewolves outside. They’re on the trail of a doe and she’s going to be passing by here any moment.” He ran to the next and slammed it shut. The two sisters snapped out of it and started scrambling around the room securing shutters as Aidan was doing. Although the windows to the two small rooms at the back of the cabin were locked, they shut the doors to the bedrooms as well.