Author's Note: This story is best understood if you have read the Companions Quartet by Julia Golding. It is not necessary, though. It is written by both me and JazzinAces. We will alternate chapters. This chapter is mine. I hope you enjoy!
"There are no mythical creatures; just creatures man ran into hiding."
Julia Golding
Jackson Overland stared out the window of the airplane. Moving again. Not that it was all bad. He'd lived a lot of cool places in his eleven years and any friend he made was fascinated by his tales.
But it wasn't all good either. His mom was always moving because of her job, so Jack and Emma had to leave behind countless friends from all over the world. Come to think of it, what was it about her job that made them need to move? What... what was her job?
This question had never occurred to Jack to ask. His mom had always said, "We have to move because of my job," but never said what that job was. He turned and leaned over his little sister to ask his mom. Who was asleep. Jack sighed. He'd ask later.
The airplane touched down in Cornwall. Jack waited for his mom and sister to get their bags and make their way along the aisle. He moved out and grabbed his luggage from the overhead compartment. It was much too heavy for the eleven-year-old to get down on his own. His arms buckled under the sudden weight thrust upon them and the bag fell right on a woman. She fell backward into a seat, the heavy bag right on top of her. Jack, thinking quickly, pulled with all his might on the handle.
"Sorry," he murmured, embarrassed. The woman looked into his with piercing frost-blue eyes, contrasting his brown eyes perfectly. There was a certain energy, Jack noticed, about this woman. An exciting energy that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up straight.
"It's not a problem," she said, her voice sounding cold as ice. She took the slim briefcase she had dropped and walked briskly down the aisle to the exit. He watched her go, feeling a need memorize her pale face, her black hair, her striking eyes. He felt a connection to this woman. But it couldn't be anything. She was just some woman.
A taxi took them from the airport west toward a small town just south of Dartmoor National Park: Lochwell. The driver took them to their new home, a humble house with one floor and a basement. It wasn't a large house. None of them ever were. Two bedrooms, usually, with one bathroom. It was never fun to share a bedroom with his sister. This one, though, had three bedrooms, so Jack could have his own. Finally. Emma clearly had the same idea.
"We have three rooms?" she exclaimed. "I can't believe it!"
Jack chuckled and made his way down to the room at the end of the hall, which he immediately claimed. He already was planning the layout in his mind. The dresser over here, the bed right there, his bookshelf there... yeah, England was already starting to grow on him.
"Go get your sister and go around town. Look around. Explore. Maybe you'll find something cool."
Jack nodded and went to Emma's almost-empty room. A sleeping bag and the bag Emma had brought on the plane was all that was there. Their furniture hadn't arrived yet. Jack's sister had her nose deep in a book. Jack snuck around the edges of the room, right behind his sister. He held his hand just above her shoulders, and as he said, "Boo!" she jumped, and her head snapped up from her book. He laughed.
"Jack!" she yelled, hitting him with the book. He jumped back, holding his knee in pain.
"Dad says we should explore the town."
Emma dog-eared her book page and stood up. "Ready when you are." The two exited Emma's room, waving goodbye to their father as they left the house.
The summer sun burned bright and hot. Mostly around were houses; the town and the people were nowhere yet. They heard a door close across the road and looked to see a young girl with black hair and a red headscarf come down her driveway and walk along the sidewalk. Jack could distinctly hear her singing something, but the words were unidentifiable. He waved. She looked at him in bemusement, and then dashed across the street to meet the two Overlands.
"You're the ones that moved here, right?" Jack nodded. The girl held out a hand. "Evelyn Lionheart."
Jack and Emma each took the girl's hand in turn. "I'm Jack Overland, and this is my little sister Emma."
"Nice to meet you," Evelyn said.
"You too. We were going to explore the town. Could you give us a tour?"
The girl nodded and they walked down Ivydene Road. He could hear now the song she was singing. "I'm sure I don't know, says the great bell at Bow. Here comes a candle to light you to bed. Here comes a chopper to chop off your head."
"What are you singing?"
"Oranges and Lemons," she replied simply.
"It's kind of morbid, don't you think?"
"I know. I like those kinds of songs. My mom says that's how she knew I was a-never mind."
"What was it you were going to say?" Emma asked.
"It's nothing," Evelyn said, shoving her hands into her jean pockets.
"Oh, come on, tell us," persisted Jack.
"I said never mind!" Evelyn yelled. Then she looked up to see the primary school. "Here we are."
"This is the town?" Emma asked dubiously.
"No," replied Evelyn with a grin, "this is just the beginning of the fun." She beckoned the Overlands as she ran off. Jack, without question, followed, but Emma was sure the girl was mad. The only reason she eventually followed was that she didn't remember the way clearly enough to go home alone. Evelyn led them around to the back of the school and began to climb a metal ladder. "Come on up! This is how repairmen get up here if trees fall on the school or something. It's really cool."
When they reached the top, they could see neighborhoods in front of them and the town behind. "There's my house," said Evelyn, pointing. "That one's yours over there."
Jack grinned as he spotted it. Emma came up and leaned over the side as the other two were. Jack grabbed the back of her shirt and pushed her forward. Then he jerked her back. "Saved your life!"
"Jack!" she yelled. She seemed to do that often. Evelyn snickered and turned around to the other side.
"There's the Laundromat. That's the grocery store. There is the best food in the whole town. Brock's. The best fish-and-chips store in the whole world! I mean, out of those I've tasted. If you brought pocket money, we can get some."
Jack checked his pockets. "I think we have enough for lunch. I haven't eaten, and I think I'm starting to get hungry."
"Okay!" Evelyn climbed back down the ladder and dashed off toward the town. Jack and Emma exchanged looks. She sure was an interesting character. As they walked, they conversed pleasantly. "Where've you two lived before here?"
"Well, we were born in Pennsylvania. Then we went to Canada, Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, the Philippines. Then we moved back to Burgess-that's the city in Pennsylvania-and then we moved here."
Evelyn's eyes widened. "No way. That's so cool! I mean, I knew you were from the States, because of your accent and all-"
"You're the one with an accent!" cut in Emma.
Evelyn shook her head and the three argued fervently yet jokingly until they reached Brock's. Evelyn ordered fish and chips and sodas for the three of them and at their seats they paid her back. No one spoke. They were too hungry and the food was too good to do anything besides eat. At last their meal was finished and they hiked back up to the primary school.
"What do your parents do?" inquired Evelyn.
Jack laughed. Exactly what he'd been wondering. "Well, my dad does all sorts of stuff, but just because he hates being idle. He hasn't gotten a job here yet. And mom... I honestly don't know. She's never said. Her job is the reason we're always moving."
"Maybe she works with my mom. She's always going on business trips. If you tell me your mom's name, I could ask my mom and you'd know."
"Joye Overland?"
"Oh, everyone knows Joye Overland. She's a Trustee in-never mind."
Again with the 'never mind'. What was she hiding? "Am I allowed to ask?"
"Of course not." They walked in silence the rest of the way home.
"Mom," Jack asked conversationally, "what exactly is it that you do?"
His mom looked at him out of the corner of her eye, an eyebrow raised about as far as it could possibly go. "Why do you ask?"
"Well," he began slowly, "we just have to move all the time, and I was wondering why? What is your job and what is it that makes us move?"
Jack's mom looked at him sternly. She looked ready to say something important. "You've always had a special connection with dogs, am I right?"
Of course. All he had ever wanted was a dog, and not only for the normal reason. He liked dogs because they were more fun than a barrel full of monkeys, but then everyone did. There was something understanding in them, something almost sentient about the animals. Impossible, but that was the way it seemed to him. Everyone called him "Jack the Dog Whisperer" and he guessed that's what he could be called, if anything. Due to his mother's job, though, he could never have a dog, so he volunteered at animal shelters. He'd calm the wildest dogs and comfort the most easily frightened.
"Yes, but what does that-"
"Tomorrow, you're going to find out what my job is." Jack's mother ruffled his brown hair lovingly. That answer didn't satisfy the boy completely, but it was better than nothing, he supposed. He left the couch and went to his newly-furnished room to read. He was deep in a fantasy novel but couldn't read it. His mind was too busy thinking of what secret occupation his mother could possibly hold.
"Goodbye, Joye," Thomas Overland said with a quick peck on his wife's cheek.
"We won't be long," Jack's mom said with a wave. Jack waved as well before closing the door. They got into an old Chevy, which was all they could afford, and drove for fifteen minutes to a house hardly bigger than their own. They parked in front of the house and his mother knocked on the door. A grey-haired man opened the door.
"Ah, Joye!" he exclaimed. "So nice to see you." The man and Jack's mother embraced.
"Jackson," his mother said, "this is Michael Bauers, an expert in his field."
Mr. Bauers held out a hand. Jack took it and the man shook Jack's hand firmly. "Nice to meet you, Jackson."
"Jack," he corrected, without thinking to say so politely.
Mr. Bauers nodded and gestured the two in. "So this is our victim, hm?" The man sized up Jack.
Jack, upon hearing the word victim, widened his eyes. "M-mom, I don't know if..."
Mr. Bauers chuckled and shook his head. "That was a joke, son. We're going to give you a simple, painless test and you can join the Society."
"The Society?" Jack looked up at his mother. "You work for the Society?" His mom nodded. "But what is the Society?" Jack's mother offered him a cryptic smile in response.
"So all you have to do is sign," Mr. Bauers continued, offering Jack a sheet of paper, "and we'll begin your assessment."
Jack looked up at his mother for approval and at her curt nod, he scrawled his name on the line. He followed the grey-haired man through the door he was holding open. He saw four tables in a circle and an object on each. One was a mouse, another a lizard, a third a raven and the last a crystal.
"Anything I say to you must be kept to yourself. If you fail, you must forget everything." Jack nodded slowly. "The first stage is an assessment by the objects and animals here. Each represents one of the four companies."
Jack was confused. "Mister, I don't-"
"Stand in the center of the tables, here," Mr. Bauers directed, pointing. "Now hold out your arms, palms down, and point them at each object or creature. Don't stop until you've gone all the way around."
The boy nodded, still confused, but did as he was told, starting at the mouse. Nothing happened. "Keep going," encouraged Mr. Bauers. Jack moved to the lizard. Again nothing happened. Still nothing happened with the bird but when Jack reached the crystal, he began to feel the same energy he had when he saw the woman on the plane. It glowed warmly.
"Good, boy, good! You may drop your arms." Mr. Bauers gave Jack a hardy thump on the back, pushing him forward into the crystal's table. "Oh, sorry," he said sheepishly. A series of many tests followed, including Jack simply playing with Mr. Bauers' dog.
When they were finally over, Mr. Bauers wrote one last thing on one of his many papers and put the pencil behind his ear. "You, dear boy, are a companion to frost wolves."
Jack, still confused, looked up. "Frost wolves?"
"Yes. They bring frost and snow and such."
"I'm still confused."
"You won't be for long." Mr. Bauers herded Jack back in the house.
Jack met with his mother. He remembered he couldn't tell anyone anything. "It was very... interesting. He said I am a companion to frost wolves."
"Is that so? I'm a companion to the Cerberus. I have a lot to tell you."
Joye sat down on her son's bed. "Hundreds of years ago, mythical creatures roamed Earth just as any other animals did. But they were hunted. Unicorns were slaughtered for their horns and pure white pelts and hair. Dragons were killed not only for their treasure hordes, but also for their glimmering scales and claws. All were killed because of the glory that came with the kill. The mythical creatures were declining. But one woman wanted to change all that. Together with a few friends, she convinced people that these creatures were only legends. How can you boast of something if no one believes the deed can be done?" She stopped and looked at her son. "Are you getting all this?"
"I think so."
She cleared her throat and continued. "These people were the first companions: people connected to mythical creatures. They formed the Society for the Protection of Mythical Creatures. And now you are one of those companions."
"But... what's your job?" Jack was intrigued but a little disbelieving of her story."
"I am a Trustee. I am one of the four leaders of the Society. There is one for the company of two-and-four-legged being and beasts, one for the company of reptiles and sea creatures, one for the company of winged beasts and one for the company of the four elements: water, earth, fire and air.
"As I said, I am a companion to the Cerberus and a Trustee for the company of two-and-four-legged creatures. That's why I move all the time. I have to be lots of places to be so I can be in charge of hundreds of people."
"What does this have to do with me?" Jack was warming up to this idea a little. He didn't know that he would be aflame with the excitement of the Society.
"You are a companion to frost wolves, which you'll meet tomorrow."
Jack grinned in anticipation.
Michael Bauers led Jack to the edge of a Dartmoor forest. "We are going to meet your mentor and your companion. I've met your mentor. She's a very nice woman. And very smart." They came upon a kneeling woman with pitch-black hair. Mr. Bauers cleared his throat. "Mrs. Maddox."
The woman jumped to her feet. "Eira Maddox," she said, holding out a hand. An alarm went off in Jack's head. It was the woman Jack had seen on the plane. He felt her energy again, energy he realized was connected to frost wolves. Eira had traded her red business dress for jeans and a hoodie, matching what Jack wore every day. He was always cold enough to wear the warm things, even on the hottest of days.
Jack took her hand. "Jack Overland."
Eira thanked Mr. Bauers, and he left. She put an arm around Jack. "I'm here to introduce you to your new companion. His name is Elmfloe. As it is summertime, there is clearly no frost, so I'll have to use ground ice-snow cones ice, really." Eira took a thermos from her backpack. She took some small ice crystals on her finger and licked them off. Then she let out a loud howl. Before Jack's eyes, paws began to materialize, then a nose, then the head and eventually the wolf was complete. It was pure white save its lips, eyes, and nose. The wolf was bigger than an average horse.
Hello companion, said Elmfloe, and Jack realized he wasn't hearing the wolf's voice through his ears but his head. The energy grew much stronger. She has already told you my name and I know yours.
Oh, replied Jack, I see. Can I... could I touch you?
The young frost wolf's laughter echoed in Jack's head. Of course, he replied, as long as I can smell you.
Jack cautiously reached forward to touch the wolf's nose. It was colder than anything he had ever felt, but it did not sting like ice did if you held your hand on it too long. It was a gentle, if freezing, fire. Elmfloe ran his nose along every part of the boy, inhaling and memorizing his scent.
"Remember," said Eira, "that one breath from your friend can make a person feel cold. Another will put them to sleep. And the third will give them frostbite. You, of course, are immune, but I'd keep an eye on your pal in case anything happens."
Elmfloe snorted, earning a glare from Eira. "I mean it, dog." Her words were harsh, but there was a playfulness Jack could sense.
Elmfloe stared right at Jack. You want to go for a ride?
There was no question. Jack swung a leg over the large wolf and after they shared a howl, they took off into one of the many forests of Dartmoor.