Chapter Three
On the Road
Bruno slid his chair back. He stood in the darkened cabin and circled the table. He approached the beast sprawled across the rough planked table. When he stood behind the vixen, he reached down and lifted her. Though an adult, Bruno carried the lady fox as if she weighed less than a basket of fruit plucked from his family's orchard.
In an adjoining room, Bruno found Melody's bed. He laid the fox atop the quilts and withdrew. He stoked the fireplace and placed another log on those still burning. Confident that the fire would keep the simple cabin warm, he started for the door. Just as he touched the handle, he hesitated. Bruno returned to the table and collected the paper sheet he forgot.
He sat on the top step while he held the document. A stiff breeze blew and several times it tried stealing the paper. His fingers remained locked on it. The continual snap and pop of the fluttering sheet accompanied the music of the swirling breeze as it stirred the leaves. Bruno tested the ink. When the letters did not smudge, he folded it and placed it in his backpack.
He had to choose. Bruno descended the hill until he reached the rocky outcrop where he met the prophetess that morning. Staring off to the horizon, he focused on a grey line that smudged the green landscape.
Those mountains are like walls that will entrap me if I return home. With the death of father, my brother has become lord to our family's estate. Can I abide life as a servant on my own land when I believe my brother stole what was rightfully mine? If war comes to the Nine Clans, which side shall I support? Yet I fear peace most of all since it will mean we are taking the war to others. A war will bring slaves to our lands. Can I only add to their suffering regardless of the course I choose?
Such thoughts clouded his mind as he stared back along the road he traveled. Bruno recalled telling his brother about his upcoming trip and how Broden laughed. It did not assuage Bruno's anger at his disinheritance when his younger brother assured him he would continue as the chief groundskeeper for the orchard.
Bruno did enjoy watching his brother dodge the many sows he promised to marry. Prominent families added even more pressure as Broden turned such evasions into an art form. Yet that did not make him long for home. He remembered how those sows had enticed him as possible mates until the contents of his father's will became public. After that day, none did more than display proper manners around him while shamelessly courting his brother.
His mind recalled the last village he visited atop the badger plateau. There he spoke with the merchants and debated politics with his fellow badgers. Warriors added their opinions. Some welcomed war against outsiders while others saw any upcoming civil war as a cleansing. Bloodlust ruled both sides. Only the target remained undefined.
Several merchants leaving for the lowlands discussed the need for soldiers as the clan's former leaders recruited armies against the rebels. They welcomed any who would stand with them. Other departing merchants said the same about the rebels. Warriors discussed the upcoming conflict, debating which side they would join and tried enlisting anyone who listened. By the time Bruno retreated to his room, his head spun.
Those conversations kept replaying in his mind. Then he remembered the other creatures he met along his journey. Until then, such beasts as squirrels, moles, hedgehogs, and foxes existed only in stories relayed by traveling merchants. Whatever he knew of them came from tales that might have exaggerated some points and ignored other important facts.
Bruno had never previously met such creatures since he kept to his family's holdings or the nearby badger town. Meeting them opened his eyes to the outside world. They were simple farmers who treasured the land and their families just as he did with his father's orchards. Knowing such creatures would suffer first if war ever spilled outside his homeland mountains saddened him.
The sun passed its zenith and still he could not make up his mind. He wondered if he should return to the land of his ancestors or seek another path. A soft voice surprised him out of his reverie.
"Sometimes clarity comes with the morning, Bruno."
"You startled me Melody." When Bruno saw the vixen's mouth open, he hastened his comment. "What you said will help, but right now my mind churns like a dust storm."
Melody smiled. "Did you know your coming was foretold to me in a dream?" She paused until Bruno turned towards her. "Every prophetess in my family sees the future in a different way. My mother saw it as a huge library where the words of ones fate are inscribed on scrolls. A wise owl always led the way to whichever scroll she needed. I always envied her visions as they seemed simpler than the ones I experience."
Bruno nodded, not because he understood but sensed she expected such a response. When the silence became unendurable, he again focused on the distant mountains feeling the call of home. Yet his curiosity got the better of him and he asked the beautiful fox how she saw the future.
"I see time flowing around me as if I travel along a river. Most of the creatures who receive a reading from me are quite ordinary. It takes no special effort divining their futures. The currents of time are strong and push such beasts to an inevitable destination. Fate doesn't allow them many options. I float over these waters on a raft that lets no wayward drop touch me as it could distort whatever reading I give. My journey always ends when I see a crane standing on the shore dip its head. I immerse my paw in the river, and all is revealed."
"I feel the key word in your statement is 'most.' Something tells me mine was different. It had to be so different you feel compelled to explain yourself and your powers." Since Bruno continued staring off in the direction of his homeland, he did not see how the fox reacted to his words.
"Before you climbed my hill this morning, I sailed that river. For the first time, something pushed me overboard. I swam the waters of time. Making my way to shore had me experience more possibilities than I wanted. It frightened me. I felt every outcome and knew my words would help some, and condemn others to a horrible death." Melody's voice cracked, and she remained silent for a short time; she continued her tale. "When I reached shore, the crane had me heft a boulder that could only be lifted in the reality of a dream. When I held that massive rock, I saw your face and knew your past as if we were family. The crane ordered me to throw it into the river."
Melody's paws rested on his shoulders. "My dream ended when I threw the rock. I awoke and went about my normal chores until your arrival. After my trance, I finished that dream. Once more I found myself in my boat, and what did I see? I saw that rock still suspended in the air, darting across the river like a dragonfly. All I can tell you is that whatever choice you make, the flow of time will be forever altered. The river cares not about you, only what happens because of you."
Bruno said nothing as he considered the lady's words. When he turned to face her, he found himself alone. Shouldering his backpack, he followed the trail downward. While his mind replayed the day's events, his feet carried him back to the inn without any conscious effort on his part.
A light knock on his door the following morning preceded a sumptuous meal. While he ate, his paw dug through his backpack until he found the sheet. His paws smoothed out the creases as he read the words written but a day earlier. Moving to a desk, he took quill and ink. Once he copied the prophecy, he sanded the page. Now that he had a clean copy, he balled up the original and heaved it into the fireplace. Moving to a chair bathed in sunlight, he read the cryptic message.
Behind are lands of long ago
To the fore lies a world yet to know
History gives thee lots of joys
The future morrows with girls and boys
There be two paths before thy feet
One goes forward, another does retreat.
Yet each is your Fate's mirror face
Time is short, so start the final race
Onward murderer in the sea
She shall look a lot like thee
You will on her back the waters cross
Once beyond, your past is lost
Seek the road for the end of day
Briny smell follows all the way
Last path will take thee through the thorn
Blood changes to stone in the morn
Travel long to find what you seek
A faceless mate that is far from meek
Final words, will you turn away
The choice be yours on a moon filled day
He studied the message until the morning sunlight shifted. A shadow from a passing cloud reminded him that he could not delay some decision. After he secured the witch's prophecy in his backpack, he exited the building. Neither the proprietor nor the few guests within the common room tried engaging him in conversation.
Bruno stood on the porch facing the road. To his left, the way he came. His eyes stared in that direction for several moments. He gave a snort and stepped off the porch. When he reached the center of the dirt path, he turned right.
"It's time I stop wasting daylight."