Dark Moon Brother
Part Three
By the end of that week, young James had well and truly ingratiated himself into the household. For someone who purported to be 'travelling the Kingdoms', he certainly enjoyed bunking down in their woodshed, Virginia thought to herself. It was a surprise, really, given the interrogation Wolf had given him that first evening. But she could tell that Wolf wasn't really interested in threatening or frightening the boy and she supposed that James might have known it too, but there were certain ritualistic exchanges to go through first.
"So. Your names, age, rank, etc" gruffed Wolf. The boy said something in wolfish, likely his pack name, thought Virginia.
"Human name is James" he added. "I am 14 summers this year, and the third son of my parents, who are (more wolf speak), or Charles and Etta, of Lower Darkstone in northern Hood Forest". The litany was well rehearsed, Virginia could see. Probably had to explain himself every few miles as he crossed the boundaries of wolf families.
"Is Etta the daughter of Ange, the healer of Goosetown?"
"Oh, yes sir, that's my gran. She's pretty old now. Do you know her?"
"Yes, she fixed me up once. I might have even met your mother, but Ange had many daughters, and let me know in no uncertain terms that none of them were availible to a scruffy vagabond like me!" said Wolf, grinning and winking at Virginia.
Virginia was enthralled. She loved hearing about Wolf's past life, even though he was reluctant most of the time to open up. It was the past, he often said. Wolf's didn't dwell over the past like humans did, apparently.
"Well, I might have been a vagabond, but I was never scruffy!" he was continuing. That she could believe. He was always impeccably turned out, even if most of the clothes he wore were stolen. People stole clothes here like 10th Kingdom folk stole pens from the office. Nobody ever bothered reporting such things, they just went out and misappropriated more for themselves. Sometimes, if you were lucky, your pinched shirts could even find their way back to you, but there was no telling how far they had travelled to do so. Virginia had so far been lucky to have her wardrobe still intact, or perhaps it was simply that her odd fitting, unladylike clothes had not yet found a niche market. Wolf certainly never complained about her short skirts or skimpy tops, she mused, daydreaming.
"Hello? Lamb chop? Are you there?" Wolf's voice intruded on her thoughts.
"I was just saying, James has grown weary with life on the road. Could he stay here with us for a spell?"
"Oh, of course. He's very good around the farm. I could use the help for a while. I want to put up a new fence, and we'll need to start getting wood for winter, and..." she teased, seeing the boy gamely trying to look excited at the prospect of hard labour.
"He's an artist too, you know" said Wolf
"Really? Show us some of your work?"
James shyly drew out some of the scrolls she had seen in his pack, unwrapping them as if unveiling a treasure. As they were indeed, she saw, bending over Wolf's shoulder to see. Several beautiful portraits and landscapes were revealed, many different faces, some human, wolf, elvish, all drawn with skill and concentration. Gorgeous vistas of wood, fields, rivers and castles filled the parchments. Wolf blew out his cheeks, impressed.
"Cripes, these are fantastic! You'll have no trouble finding a master to apprentice under, cubling!"
James blushed under the praise, rerolling his works and stowing them carefully away. He straightened, yawning.
"If you don't mind, sir and miss, I might seek shelter again in your woodshed. It's been a long day, but a good one"
"Of course. Do you need blankets, pillows or anything?" Virginia asked. "And it's just Wolf and Virginia, James"
"You are the Wolf and Virginia, aren't you? The heroes who saved the Kingdoms. Tales of your adventures have reached even to my distant home" the boy said meekly, ducking his head. Virginia was both charmed and discomforted at Jame's tone of reverence. She glanced sideways at Wolf, but his expression gave no clue as to what he was thinking.
"Yes, we are Wolf and Virginia. But we're just ordinary people, really, and we want to stay that way" she answered him. He looked at her dubiously. She sighed.
"Go on then, off to bed, scoot!" she said and he obeyed instantly, like a well trained cub. Wolf turned in his chair and pulled her down on to his lap, holding her tight for a moment. Cub, his belly full, had curled up on the thick hearth rug, asleep.
Wolf drew his mate's face towards his own, kissing her deeply, making her breath start to catch in her throat. He inhaled her scent, learning that the optimum time for conception had passed. He shoved her off, towards the direction of their bedroom, lest he lose control and take her right there and then on the kitchen table. He watched as she sauntered up the stairs, before going to Cub, picking him up from his nest of hearth rug. He cuddled his son, thinking. He hoped Cub would grow to be as nice a cubling as their young house guest, James. It had felt strange, after all this time, to be talking once again with his own people, hearing the old familiar names roll off his tongue like he had met them yesterday. He felt a sudden longing to go back there, see and smell his folk, tread the paths of his cubhood once more. So much time had passed, so many years. Would they even remember him? Would they have heard the tales now being told across the Kingdoms, and equate that with their memories of the sullen, unforgiving youth they had sheltered all those moons ago? He laughed quietly. He certainly had been a handful, he had to admit. Yet for all his surly manners, uncompromising attitudes and self-destructive tendencies, they had not rebuked him, nor cast him out. They knew better than any, what he had gone through, what he had seen. Perhaps they had known all along that he would either grow out of them, or his ways would get him killed. Well, he wasn't dead on some bonfire at least. And he had grown out of his terrible anger. Well, mostly anyway.
He shook himself out of his darkening thoughts. What would his short lived New York therapist say? he chided himself. Tears pricked at his eyes as he looked at his Cub. This cub would never have cause against the world, he vowed silently. He turned to put out the lamps and secure the doors. He peered out the window, the half-moon giving him plenty of light enough to see that nothing moved, nothing suspicious prowled the gardens and fields. Satisfied that his abode was untroubled, he padded up the stairs to Cub's room, laying him down gently. Cub mumbled in his sleep, but did not stir. Wolf drew the curtains back slightly to allow the pale moonlight access to the room, bathing the crib with silvery rays. He whispered a wolf blessing before tiptoeing down the hall to where his succulent Virginia waited. Her arms enfolded him as he drew near.
Afterwards, they lay sweaty and tangled, sheets and pillows askew. Wolf tickled Virginia under her chin and she retaliated by pulling just hard enough on his tail to elicit a soft growl.
"Do you like James?" she asked him.
"Yeah. He seems a good kid. Truthful"
"Is it usual for adolescents to just wander off from their families like that? What if his parents are looking for him?"
"It is typical for young males. And his parents would not have let him go if they were not satisfied he was capable of fending for himself. Although there are a few things that cannot be learnt until you find yourself alone in a strange forest"
"Hmm. Have you been thinking today about visiting New York again?"
"Oh yes. I can't deny that the thought makes my skin crawl" Wolf glanced unconciously at his healed broken finger.
"And visiting Grandmother and the others?"
"Well, we may as well do that too, since we'll be there. But, Virginia, promise me this. If I see, or scent, any signs of danger, will you listen to me, do as I say? I don't mean to boss you, you know that..."
"I'll do it, love. Anything for you" Virginia shivered, remembering the awful moment of waking up in a strange hospital, no Wolf, no memory. As if he'd disappeared into thin air.
"They won't have forgotten me, those men" He drew her towards himself again, running gentle hands over her. The night passed on.
Now, a week later, Virginia laughed to see James trying vainly to sketch a portrait of Cub as he wriggled around amongst the flower beds in the front yard. She was putting the finishing touches to their packing in preparation for the journey to Wendell's palace and thence to New York. James had definately earned his keep (well, just earned it, seeing as the growing teenager could put away more than even Wolf could). He had swept, mended, tidied and haggled with the locals over prices for eggs and milk. He had plans to build a hen-house whilst they were away, he'd said this morning. This statement had brought something of a feral glow to Wolf's eyes when he heard it. No doubt Virginia would have to be lugging yet another set of keys around if the hen's were to survive a single moon cycle.
She saw Wolf come round the corner then, hauling the unhappy Jed, attached to the pony cart. Jed disliked Wolf intensely and the feeling was mutual. She came to rescue the poor put-out pony, sending Wolf to get their baggage and round up Cub. Presently, they were all settled, Virginia to drive with Wolf and Cub in the back. James ran down the path to open the gate for them, effecting a dramatic bow as they went though.
"Good travels. Come back soon!" he waved at them, skipping back down the lane, out of sight.
The farm passed out of view and they turned out on to the main road to the castle, some ten miles distant. Virginia looked closely at Jed's bushy tail as they went, seeing that he had two little passengers. The fairies clung bravely to the coarse horsehair. Probably on their way to visit someone at the castle. Virginia waved to them. She thought fairies cute, but wasn't about to be fooled by their innocent expressions ever again. She waved at them again, but they didn't deign to respond. Jed snorted and passed wind loudly. Virginia stifled a giggle at the wilting fairies. Startled suddenly, she jerked on the reins as a strange apparition appeared on the side of the road. Just for a split second, she thought she saw an old stooped woman raise her hand and wave at them, but she was gone now as if never there.
"Everything alright, love?" enquired Wolf from the back. Virginia shook herself, clucking an appology to Jed for yanking his reins.
"Yes Wolf. Just saw something for a moment"
"What did you see?"
"Well, for a moment there, I thought I saw Shaman" Virginia looked back over her shoulder at Wolf, who sat up, snuffing the air. He shook his head at her. No scent then. How odd, she thought. She gathered up the reins again, signalling to Jed to move off. The remaining few miles passed by without incident and soon the huge palace came into view.
Wendell's castle was a great expanse of stone and glass, much more grandiose and imposing than any Virginia had ever seen in her native Kingdom. It dwarfed all who approached it, yet for all it's size, it gave off an aura of fun and magic, with dozens of banners flapping in the breeze, colourful dress uniforms of the guards, a constant flow of folk from all walks of life passing through it's gates. Their humble cart had been spotted coming, obviously, as the inevitable red carpet had been rolled out and an honour guard of sorts had assembled on the steps leading up to the great entrance way. Polite applause greeted them as they disembarked and the cart was led away as the King came skipping down the carpet to meet them.
"Wolf, Virginia! How nice to see you, my friends!" he beamed at them, reaching at once for Cub, who went willingly into his royal embrace. Cub thought he smelled funny, like he had rolled in flowers.
"It's good to be here, King Wendell" said Virginia formally, adding the title to appease the ever present courtiers.
"Come in, come in. I'm sorry, Virginia, your father is away from the castle today. He has, umm, convinced a fair maiden to visit Kissingtown with him"
"Oh, I see" Virginia squirmed inwardly at the thought of her father with any maiden, fair or not.
"Well, actually, it might be fair to say that said maiden is in fact quite a, umm, mature lady who has, in all likelihood, needed no convincing at all, really" Wendell added diplomatically.
Virginia heard Wolf snorting quietly in the background as he sensed her embarassment. She elbowed him in the ribs.
"It's quite alright, Wendell. We've just come to use the mirror. Time to introduce Cub to his Grandmother, plus a few others"
"Oh, well" The young king looked vaguely disappointed. Virginia thought he must be lonely, probably keen for company.
"Of course, when we return, we'd like nothing more than spending a few days here with you and Dad. Just like old times, right?" He brightened immediately at the thought. She could all but see the plans and receptions coming their way. Even Wolf looked excited at the prospect. She sighed. He was totally shameless when it came to being feted and fussed over by the nobility. Leading the way, Wendell turned and they made their way through the seemingly endless miles of gilded corridors to the heavily secured room containing the magic mirrors.
"I'll leave you here, then. Those things give me the willies! When do you want the Travelling Mirror turned on?"
"How about every day at noon? We're not expecting to be gone more than a few days"
"Right then! See you when you get back! Have fun!" waving, Wendell disappeared in a cloud of advisors and lackeys.
Facing the Travelling Mirror, Wolf and Virginia stood a moment looking at each other. This would be Cub's first trip through and neither could find a way to explain the process to him. Wolf held him securely with the baby sling for extra protection strapped to his chest. Virginia reached out and activated the switch. Behind them in the room stood a guard ready to shut it off once more when they were through. She reached out to Wolf's hand, feeling the ever so slight tremor there. Taking a deep breath, they stepped through.