The eyes just stared at him until his head swung away, ears flat on his head.
After waiting another moment, Claude softly swore to himself. “Of course not. Of course you won’t make a mark for me.”
As the doctor started to get up, Wolf’s head swung back. “Actually, I don’t want to get my claws dirty, if you don’t mind. They’re a real bear to get clean.”
Eyes wide and mouth open, the shocked Claude fell back onto his rear in the dirt.
Wolf’s mouth opened in a silent laugh. “Sorry, but you did seem to expect it.”
“I…I did, but I didn’t. How is this possible?”
One silver-tipped shoulder raised in a shrug. “Well, if you ever find out, let me know.”
“Wals? And Rose? They don’t know?” He hadn’t thought to rise from his less-than-dignified position in the dirt.
Wolf shook his head. “Too dangerous in this time period. But, when we get back, it won’t be a problem.”
“You’re going back, too? Why won’t it be a problem?”
“I’m hoping you remember the time I told you, that since you were a man of science, you should think of all this as an adventure.”
“We met before?” His startled eyes narrowed as he thought back on the words. “I don’t remember any wolf… Just…,” he broke off with a startled gasp as the piece fell into place.
“Yeah.”
“Did Walt know?” He thought back to that last night they were all together.
Wolf nodded. “He never saw me like this, but he knew ‘something’ happened to me when I would make these jumps.” Wolf gave a little chuckle. “Walt always wanted to go with me on one of my trips. I’d never let him.”
Talking about his boss seemed to settle the doctor. He smiled at the remembrance of Walt’s eagerness to try something new and exciting. “Why not? He would have loved it.”
“No, never. The disorientation. The possible danger. I’d never take that chance with Walt.”
Claude thought about his own reaction to the displacement in time—the confusion and the memory loss. “You’re probably right. Is he really gone?”
Wolf just nodded.
“I was hoping Wals was wrong.”
“When we get back, I’ll take you to see him,” the wolf promised, thinking of the chamber below the Pirates ride.
Claude’s eyes got big and hopeful. “Really? You can do that?”
Realizing the doctor meant something different, Wolf was about to say no. But, he recalled his abilities and his own needs. “Remind me once we’re back and you’re settled again. You have a lot of catching up to do. Then I’ll see what I can do.”
“What else do you know about Walt’s…Walt’s condition?” He wasn’t sure how much Walt had told this mysterious man, if he had been in the inner circle.
“Everything,” Wolf assured him. “Wals does not, however, and we need to keep it that way, please. Rose, well, actually I’m still trying to figure her out. I don’t know exactly where she fits in with all of this. My father won’t tell me what he knows.” He gave a disgusted snort. “I just know I was assigned to be her Protector, just as I was with you.”
“Your father? Who’s your father?”
“The Shaman.”
“Of course he is,” the doctor muttered, glad he was already sitting down.
Wolf gave his silent laugh. “Like I was saying, once I can get you out of here, Lance, Kimberly, and I will debrief you when we get back.”
“Who?”
Wolf got up from his watch of the cabin. The pirates didn’t show. He knew they had to be planning something big. “Please try and not worry about it right now. There’s a lot you are going to have to deal with.” To change the subject, Wolf asked, “Do you remember how we got here? Do you remember the lightning?”
The doctor paled. “Yes.”
Wolf headed back to the village. “That’s what we’re waiting for.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that.”
Practicing the archery skills he had learned in his high school gym class—and hadn’t used since—Wals lost yet another arrow behind the rocks where the Shaman told his stories. As the sun got lower in the west, he pushed the bushes this way and that looking for Mato’s arrow. Finally finding it, with a shout of victory, Wals turned to go back to the practice field. The sun hit the rocks just right, causing the crystal flakes imbedded in the rock to shimmer like diamonds in the light. He touched the warm surface and was surprised when the solid-looking rock moved under his fingers. Crouching down, he could barely see the dark outline that forms when dirt or mortar is removed from a setting. Using the tip of the arrow in a way Mato would never approve, he felt around the rock in question. Tightly wedged, it would only move side to side. Wondering if there was more to it than that, Wals examined the other rocks nearby. Finding another one higher up that also moved, he pried it out with the arrow. When the new rock fell to the ground, he started to reach inside the small hole. Rising on his tiptoes, his hand kept moving inward and down. Trying not to think about rattlesnakes or spiders, he concentrated on reaching the lower stone. When it wiggled, he exerted more pressure and it, too, popped out of place. Pulling his arm out, he quickly counted his fingers. Laughing at himself, he inserted his hand in the new hole and found a rough cloth with something hard inside. The small bundle made his fist too large to draw out of the hole. When it dangled from his fingertips, he was able to pull it out into the waning light. Not sure what he had found, and not sure who else might be nearby, he stuffed it down his shirt and quickly returned the two rocks to their holes. Settled back into place, he was then unable to wiggle them out of their spots. “Fascinating.” Wals headed for the tipi he shared with the unmarried men.
Relieved to find it empty since the men were around the communal dinner fire, he retrieved the bag. The material was similar to that worn by the people in camp and was tied shut with a small piece of twine. Inside was a long, heavy metal chain. Pulling it out, he was shocked to find a large heart-shaped red-colored stone set in the middle of three familiar-looking gold circles. “Mickey? I found a Hidden Mickey?” He was dumbfounded as he recognized the shape that held the stone in place.
The sun was sending its last rays through the trees before it set for the night. Wals held the pendant into the light that streamed into the tent. He was dazzled by the flashes of color that exploded from the beautiful stone. “Wow. I thought only diamonds did that….” He stopped and held the chain closer to his face to really look at the stone. “This could be a diamond.” But it is so big.Is there even such a thing as a red diamond?
Not knowing anything about gemstones, he decided this would look splendid around a certain fair neck and smiled in anticipation of her happiness. With a happy smile, he reached out grab the stone and put it back in the bag.
As soon as his fingers closed over the diamond, his sight clouded and he had the feeling he was somewhere else. The clouds in his mind parted as he saw himself, dressed in some kind of costume at Disneyland. He looked like a prince, dressed in royal blue with a red cape over his shoulders. There was even a feather in his flat hat. The vision pushed him forward until he was walking into a swirling maelstrom holding some kind of white bird. The swirling continued until a dragon emerged, opening its mouth and coming right at him….
The stone fell onto the dust of the ground as Wals jerked back in fright. The vision immediately stopped and his mind cleared. His heavy breathing continued, though, as he tried to figure out what had just happened. Seeing the beautiful heart-shaped stone in the dirt, he swore and bent to pick it up.
Again, his fingers brushed the stone and now he was dancing…no…he was waltzing with a beautiful blond woman elegantly dressed….
Opening his hand, the pendant fell swaying at the end of the chain still in his grip. “Where did that come from? It seems to be coming from the pendant. That’s the only thing different here.” He gave a startled gasped. “It has to be the pendant.” He tentativel
y touched the gold circles that made up Mickey’s outline. Nothing happened. He moved the tip of one finger to the cold stone and could immediately feel his mind slipping. Pulling back his finger, breathing hard, Wals dropped the pendant into the protective cloth bag and pulled the twine tight.
“Okay, now what do I do?” He knew he had found something powerful.
Wals used the quiet days at camp to get to know Rose better. It was obvious to everyone that she was quite taken with his boyish good looks. Her beauty always captured his attention and would leave him almost speechless.
When none of their skills proved useful around the camp, Wals and Rose had been assigned the low task of collecting firewood for the ever-burning cooking fire. Working their way inland, away from the River, they found it took longer and longer to return to the encampment. Talking, joking, touching, the time flew by. They eventually found a secluded meadow filled with yellow flowers. After filling her apron with the fragrant blooms, they sat in the shade of a towering pine tree while Rose wove the flowers into garlands. The first would be for her own fair hair. After much protesting, the second would be set on Wals’ brown head. She told him it looked “regal.” Recalling his thoughts of the Princess Aurora, he kept a mental tally of instances—such as this—that might explain if he was correct in his assumption about her real identity. Besides that, how could he resist any request from such a beautiful woman?
Hand in hand, they finally wandered back toward camp, remembering the wood only when they were almost back and empty-handed. The women of the camp, seeing the looks on the couple’s faces, would smile to themselves as they worked. They knew the magic of the woods.
One day while they were out, supposedly looking for more kindling, farther north than they usually traipsed, Wals noticed the day had turned particularly warm. He saw Rose look longingly at the spot where Cascade Peak used to tumble noisily over the rocks. There were still train tracks from the old mine running past the ruins of the falls. Hand in hand, they followed the trail until it suddenly end and revealed a secluded pool of water. They could see remnants of a trestle over the water and a boarded-off entrance to a tunnel carved into the rocks high above them. Wals hadn’t noticed the empty tunnel when he had taken this same trail with Mato searching for the doctor. ”This is Bear Country, isn’t it?”
Rose looked around a little sadly. “Yes, it is. We wouldn’t have dared come here just a few years ago. There were always bears here either fishing or swimming. That is, when they weren’t sleeping. It’s such a shame they’re all gone now. But it used to be nice.” Just then a fish jumped in the still water.
He indicated the pool with the tilt of his chin. “We aren’t bears, but do you want to go swimming?”
Rose’s eyes lit up. She hadn’t been swimming in ages and would love to wash her hair. “Can we?”
Wals surveyed the surrounding area. The ever-present River was a few hundred yards away from them. The pool itself was down inside a small grassy meadow. Once they were down at the lake, there was no chance they’d be seen from the river. They would have complete privacy and security. He started pulling off his worn shirt. Not sure what else he planned to take off, Rose modestly dropped her eyes until he had entered the cool water. “Come on in!” Swimming backwards, he wondered what she would really do.
Looking quickly around, she saw no one, not even the pair of sharp blue eyes that kept watch from the edge of the forest. She removed her apron and outer dress, leaving on her white chemise. She added her slippers to the neatly folded pile, and then untied the black ribbon holding her hair back from her face.
Wals had expected her to dip a tentative toe in the cool water. He was impressed when she dove straight in and swam over to where he was treading water.
“Oh, this feels wonderful!” Her face was all smiles, her arm automatically went around his neck to help keep herself afloat.
“When did you learn to swim like that?”
A frown quickly crossed her face and was gone. “I don’t know. I’ve always known how to swim, I guess. Do you want to race to the far side?”
He smiled at the eager look in her lovely blue eyes. He could feel the warmth of her body mixed with the coolness of the glassy water. “No, this is good.”
She gave a tinkling laugh and pushed away, swimming on her back with slow, lazy strokes, her hair fanning out around her.
He dropped underwater and swam until he was right beneath her. Pushing up off the rocky bottom, he surfaced right next to her, grabbing her in his arms.
With a happy shriek, she threw her arms around his neck as he carried her to the grassy bank. The sunlight hit every drop of water beading her face, making her look like she was encrusted with diamonds. Dropping down next to her, Wals kissed the drops nearest her eyes.
She pulled away from his mouth. At his curious look, she asked simply, “Do you mean it?”
Knowing what she asked and knowing she was serious, he sat up. “With all my heart,” he whispered. “I can’t think of anyone but you. I have something for you. I…I wasn’t sure when it would be right to give it to you, but this feels very right.”
She watched as he went over to his pile of clothes. He pulled his fringed pants back on over the longjohns he had worn swimming. Picking up all their clothes, he brought them back to Rose. Overcome by déjà vu as he reached inside his shirt and pulled out the cloth satchel that held the red diamond pendant, Wals had a succinct feeling of fate—like he was supposed to follow this grand act of love. Carefully hanging it off of his finger by its gold chain, the pendant slowly turned in the sunlight, red fire shooting out over them. It was brilliant in the bright light.
Rose gasped. “I can’t wear that! It’s too precious!”
He smiled. Her lips said she couldn’t take it, but her eyes were flashing with delight. “You have to wear it. Think of this Hidden Mickey as my heart that you already possess.”
Rose dimpled. “What’s a Hidden Mickey?”
He showed her the three iconic circles that made up the back of the pendant. He could tell she didn’t recognize the outline of Mickey Mouse. Wals kissed her neck. “Take my gift. It’s a powerful heart.” In the back of his mind, he wondered if he really should give it to her with its special, mysterious ability. At her skeptical look, he laughed. “It’s true! I’ll bet it’s from Merlin’s own treasure.”
Rose reached out to touch the turning heart. “Powerful, huh? What does it do?”
Still wondering about the visions he had seen, he pulled it away from her reaching fingers. “It shows you things. Are you sure you want to see?”
Her beautiful lips smiled. “What do you mean? Like my future? If I can see you in it, then, yes, I do!”
Wals fastened the golden chain around her neck. Before she had a chance to touch the gemstone, before Wals could kiss her again, a black blur suddenly came between them. Wolf roughly pushed Wals out of the way. He stared at the diamond, its color stark against the white of her chemise. He looked back at Wals who was irritated by the interruption, even if it was just the wolf.
When the wolf looked back at the pendant and then at Wals again, it was obvious he was demanding an explanation. “Alright, alright, nosey. I found it in a hidden cave behind the rocks where the Shaman tells his stories.” At that, both Rose and the wolf looked at him with a demanding, inquisitive look and Wals knew he’d better continue with the explanation. “I was retrieving an arrow and saw something that didn’t look quite right. Moving some of the stones away, I found this. I’m not sure why it looks like Mickey,” he mumbled more to himself, “but the pendant looked as if it had been hidden a long time. I left some of the gold I found in the cave in its place. Rose, why am I explaining myself to a wolf?” as he turned from Wolf’s inquisitive face to hers.
“Oh, I do that all the time. I still think he should answer me.” A fond smile played over her face. “What gold did you find in the caves? You never mentioned finding gold in there.” Curious, Rose momentarily forgot the priceless
diamond that hung around her neck.
Again the wolf turned to him, silently demanding him to continue. Wondering about the odd look on the wolf’s face, Wals continued his account. “It was after I found Fort Wilderness was closed. As I was riding back to your cabin, the mare seemed too interested in the cave. When I went in to investigate the noises I heard, I ran into—literally,” he grinned over at her, “a large chest. I got it opened and found a bunch of old clothes, two goblets—one was gold and the other was silver—the gold one covered with all different color gems. Below that I saw layers and layers of gold coins. I grabbed up a handful of the coins and left everything else. When we all went back later, the chest was right where I had left it.” He shrugged when he finished talking. The wolf looked as if he was processing the information. Rose was fingering the heavy gold chain, her attention back on the jewelry. She wasn’t interested in anything that had to do with the pirates who forced her from her home.
One thing, though, interested her. “Tell me, Wals, how do you know this pendant is from Merlin’s treasure? Did you hear the rumor?”
Now it was Wals’ turn to be confused. “What rumor? You’ve heard of this? I thought….” He broke off. He didn’t want to admit that he was just making it up as he went along to impress her.
Rose didn’t seem to notice his unfinished sentence. Mesmerized, she lifted the diamond by its chain, staring at it as the facets flashed the colors of the rainbow in every direction. “I heard a long time ago that Merlin had made a mysterious pendant for Nimue, the woman he loved. She learned all his tricks and then refused his love. The fable was that she entombed him in a tree for all eternity. The pendant was said to have vanished.”
Wolf! The Legend of Tom Sawyer's Island Page 27
