by Rick Johnson
Helga looked at her friend. “I am going to the Bone Forest,” she replied. “You and Bwellina should also follow your hearts. Go to the Cutoff and escape into the Rounds if you can.”
“No, we go to the Bone Forest with you,” Bwellina declared, coming up to join the talk. “After what happened at King Stuppy’s Trading Post, we have no life here in the Drownlands any more. And after meeting you, we who have never before had a family, now have one. If you will have us, we are united in our quest to find Breister. What is a Bone Forest among family?” Bwellina finished, looking at her comrades with mock solemnity.
“Well, other than the Bone Forest being a death sentence, it surely is a wonderful thing to share!” Burwell observed dryly. Helga looked at Burwell, and chuckled. “My plan is to share everything with you except the death sentence,” Helga replied with a grim smile. “And I think, to see Ola’s face, we are about to depart.”
The first pink streaks of dawn were beginning to light the sky as Ola spoke. “Pick up yorn things quickly,” he whispered. “We’ve got to be movin’—the Locusts have stopped singin’. That’s the signal we’ve got visitors from King Stuppy! We’re warned in time to get away, but we can’t dally. I’ll load into the canoe and head out of here. I’ll lead the King’s men on a merry old chase, then I’ll slip away and they’ll never find me. Yor lay low, and then hike to the Bone Forest, safe and sound!”
“You’re taking the canoe and leaving us here, Ola?” Helga said incredulously. “You want us to walk out of the Drownlands? This place is nothing but water and quicksand!”
Ola smiled. “Yorn follow this sand-ridge line. It’ll lead yor all the way to the Bone Forest. Don’t leave the ridgeline, it’ll bein’ quicksand on all the sides—that’ll be yorn protection. The King will be thinkin’ yor will be paddlin’ out of the Drownlands,” Ola concluded, “but yorn be walkin’ right through the swamps. He’s not be thinkin’ that way!”
Helga looked at Ola in amazement. “Ola, you’re a genius!” Helga enthused.
“Niean, Misst Helgy,” Ola replied grinning. “It bein’ the power of the Enigma!”
Giving a quick hug all the way around, Ola was soon in the canoe, paddling off into the dawn. Soon the lovely notes of a flute could be heard. As if led by a magical piper, several massive canoes filled with rough-looking Cougars, Boars, and Weasels, glided past Ola’s hidden retreat, where Burwell, Bwellina, and Helga waited. The evil-looking pursuers wore heavy, gold-braided uniforms and were armed with cutlasses and pikes. They also carried the trappings of the King’s royal court: elaborate banners and huge ensigns of solid gold.
As soon as King Stuppy’s canoes had passed, and they felt certain they were far gone, the friends shouldered their packs and began following the sandy ridgeline, heading toward the Bone Forest.
In the Path of the Gateless Wolf
Ola paddled skillfully through some of the most tangled parts of the Drownlands swamps. Weaving his canoe in and out among the enormous trees, following an endless maze of bayous, Ola confused his pursuers and soon felt certain that King Stuppy’s thugs were hopelessly lost somewhere to his rear. Despite feeling safe, Ola paddled on and on, at last heading into the Everlost region of the Drownlands—a trackless area of thick reed forests. Thin, resiliant reeds towered eight to twelve feet above the surface of the water. Flexible and light, the grasslike reeds moved in the breeze like waves. Ola loved the Everlost because of the great enigma it represented. “Now, if yorn be’in Ever Lost, the creature must o’known he’s not lost at least once, or he wouldn’t know he be’in lost!”
But Ola also knew the Everlost was a dangerous place. With no solid ground or trees to be found, a creature had to stay in a boat. But in the boat, nothing could be seen except gently waving reeds on all sides. In places, the reeds were so tall and dense that they obscured most of the sky, leaving the traveler to ‘burrow’ through the reeds in a canoe. Ola freely went in and out of the Everlost, relying on the power of Enigma: “If yor be’in in the Everlost, follow the way of those that not be’in lost! Follow those on the way to somewhere!”
Ola listened and observed the signs of flocks of birds overhead. The patterns of flight that he could glimpse through the reeds and the sound of the bird calls gave him a direction to follow. “The birds know where they be go’in,” Ola thought, “so I can go the same place they be go’in.” By such a method Ola always successfully traversed the Everlost, although he never knew exactly where he would come out! But, being a Gateless Wolf, Ola typically did not care where he ended up. It was an adventure to explore new places. Living in his canoe for as long as it took to leave the Everlost behind, Ola did not mind the slowness of this progress through the reeds. There were plenty of fish and fresh water to sustain him until he found his way.
When he at last did emerge from the Everlost, he was in unfamiliar terrain. He saw rolling grassy hills before him, mottled here and there with small fields of corn and vegetables. Pulling his canoe up on dry land for the first time in several days, Ola slowly worked the cramps of the long confinement in his canoe out of his legs, arms, and back. Spying a tall oak tree nearby, he took his flute pouch and headed off to hang by his feet and play his flute for a while. It was that time of the day when the sun is just beginning to set. Ola planned to hang and play his flute until just before dark and then make a simple camp for the night.
He had just climbed the tree and was stepping out on a branch to get settled into position, when he saw something off in the distance that startled him. A large male Wood Cow was working in a corn field! Could it be Breister? Ola was so overjoyed at the possibility that he dropped from the tree clumsily and ran off to investigate.
As he approached the muscular creature busily hoeing weeds, he could see that he was definitely dressed in a manner and style similar to Helga. Clearly, he was of the same clan. Grinning widely, Ola called out, “Yor be’in Breister? Yor know’in a Wood Cow named Helgy?”
Dropping his hoe, the beast ran to meet Ola. “Breister? Helga? Do you know such creatures, friend? Have you seen them?”
Disappointed that the Wood Cow obviously was not Helga’s lost father, Ola still retained his happy smile. At least the stranger seemed to know who Breister and Helga were.
“Who yor be’in?” Ola asked. “Yor be’in a friend of Breister and Helgy?”
“Aye, my friend,” his new acquaintance answered. “My name is Emil. If you are talking about Helga of the Hedgelands, then that is a Wood Cow I know. She is my sister.”
“Breister’s son!” Another member of Helga’s family! Perhaps he might know how to locate Breister.
Unfortunately, however, Emil had no news about Breister. In fact, Ola knew more about Breister and Helga than Emil did. Emil had not heard the news of the expulsion of the Wood Cows. After he had escaped from Maev Astuté, he had been completely unable to steer the balloon and traveled far beyond the Hedgelands.
“I tried desperately to pilot the balloon,” Emil explained, “but I had no time to learn. When I jumped on the bicycle in the High One’s Throne Room, I had no idea it was a launch vehicle! The launch completely surprised me, and with my Coyote friend draped over my shoulders, I could not handle the controls. I attempted to direct the balloon, but failed.”
Emil shook his head in disbelief as the memory of the balloon launch came back. “The wind was ferocious. It threw the balloon wildly this way and that. All I could do was keep us from being tossed overboard! Although I felt nauseous, I did manage to accidentally flip a lever that popped open an enclosure to form a passenger basket around the bicycle. With that small shelter available, we both collapsed in the bottom of the basket and rode the winds. It was very cold. The basket enclosure was fairly well closed at the top, but at the bottom there were so many gears, wheels, and other machinery that it was quite open. I had no idea where we were carried. Low-hanging clouds made it impossible to see the ground, and we sailed far past the limits of the Forever End. The balloon traveled on far into th
e night, in what direction I could not guess.”
“Yor came down near’s about, I take it?” Ola inquired.
“Aye, the balloon landed not far from here,” Emil replied. “I tell you, Ola, that balloon just suddenly dropped like a rock! A seam split open. We were fortunate that the split was relatively small. We dropped rapidly, but the balloon lost gas slowly enough that, although we crashed hard, we were not badly hurt.”
“Yorn Coyote friend is here?” Ola asked.
“Aye,” Emil answered. “His name is PorNart-1604. He’s with me at Mar-Marie and Ord’s house.” Noting Ola’s quizzical look, Emil continued. “Mar-Marie and Ord are Norder Wolves who live with their four daughters and three sons in a house just on the other side of this cornfield.
“Norder Wolves!” Ola exclaimed. “Here?”
Emil looked at Ola with a pitying look. “And just exactly where do you think ‘Here’ might be?”
Ola did not reply. He realized that he could not be sure where he was, but he was very surprised to find Norder Wolves. His wide wanderings in the wilderness gave him a broad understanding of where the homelands of different folk lay, and what patterns of movement different adventurers, traders, and rogues tended to follow. Norder Wolves near the Everlost? He had never heard that. He was puzzled. Then he realized the problem. “Enigma!” he breathed softly to himself. “The more a creature be’in sure he knows stoof, the more likely it be’in that he don’t know it all.” Drawing on the power of Enigma, Ola regained his composure. He was ready to meet the Norder Wolves.
“Come on, Ola,” Emil invited, “I’ll introduce you to Mar-Marie and Ord.” Picking up his hoe, Emil motioned for Ola to follow. As they walked around the cornfield, Emil related more of his story.
“See that low hill right over there? That’s where the balloon crashed. When we came down, it wasn’t easy for us. PorNart-1604 was in terrible shape—frostbite, maybe some broken bones, shallow breathing. I was very worried. But from the hillside, I could see the faint light of the farmhouse and felt hope. Although very weak and exhausted, I picked up PorNart-1604 and carried him to the farmhouse. When we reached it, I managed to knock once. When Ord opened the door, I toppled over into the house. Mar-Marie nursed me and the Coyote back to health.”
Ola was fascinated by the story. His mind raced. Norder Wolves were distant ancestors of Ola’s folk. So, there was some special interest in his anticipation of meeting Mar-Marie and Ord.
As they approached the farmhouse, Ola could see a heavy set female Wolf in a plaid apron sweeping the dirt path in front of the house.
“Hullo! Mar, we’ve got a visitor! Call Ord! It’s a friend of my sister!”
Mar-Marie stopped her sweeping and looked curiously at Ola. She, too, was apparently surprised to meet another Wolf. She gave a warm and welcoming smile.
The beautiful weather, warm and mild, and the bright red and green plaid Mar-Marie wore made the welcome seem especially lovely to Ola.
“Nar, sweets! Just hold there a moment,” Mar-Marie greeted them. “The dust is deep in the path. It’s not fitting as a welcome. Hold just there a moment, while I finish my sweeping.” The female Wolf swept the dirt path furiously, setting up great clouds of dust, stripping off every speck of dust that could be removed.
When she stopped sweeping at last, she smiled again at her visitors. “So sorry, sweets, but you caught me in my evening sun-making. I dare not delay it,” she said, as if they would certainly understand. “Nar, sweets, forgive me a bit more, if you would. Stay there while I get Ord and bring you some water to drink.” As friendly as the Wolf’s welcome had been, she still made it clear they were not to approach the house yet.
Ola looked to Emil questioningly. Emil, understanding Ola’s bewilderment, grinned at him. “Aye, it seems odd, does it not?” he remarked. “But there’s a beautiful reason that we are asked to respect.”
Soon, Mar-Marie returned with a crockery pitcher of water and cups. She offered some to Ola and Emil. “If you’ll be so kind as to sit over there while you drink your water, I’ll finish up my sun-making in a stitch. Ord is down in the root cellar doing some work. Now, if you’ll just excuse me a bit, I’ll finish up and we can welcome you proper.”
Carrying the pitcher and cups over to a bench Mar-Marie had indicated, Ola and Emil sat down to wait. Ola noticed that the Wolf was now sprinkling the area she had swept with water, making it damp but not muddy. Then she came back with her broom and swept the sprinkled area furiously. Ola had never seen such a thing.
“It’s a kind of ritual that Mar does every day just at sunset,” Emil explained. “She calls it sun-making. She believes that if she does not leave the path in front of her house spotless and easy to travel in the dark each day, that the sun will not be able to find its way to her door...Mar says that the new day will not come if her path is not clean and easy to walk in the dark.”
Ola gave Emil a broad smile. He liked Mar already! She understood the power of Enigma! “Emil, Mar be’in a wise creature. Yor find’in the brightest light only by clean’in the places that can’t be cleaned! Yor mak’in a path in the dark for the brightest light!” Emil, still not fully acquainted with Ola, gave his new friend an appreciative, but uncertain look.
When Mar-Marie had finished sweeping, the path in front of her house was extremely smooth; the dirt surface hard-packed and clean. Without a doubt, Ola could see that the stretch of path going past Mar-Marie’s house clearly stood out from the rest of the path. He found it hard to imagine the sun walking along in the dark and needing a special surface to find its way, but he respected the belief of his host. If nothing else, her efforts did make the path beautiful and easy to walk. And who really knew what made the sun rise? He certainly didn’t. Maybe she was right!
“So, come on into our house, sweets,” Mar-Marie invited. “You’ve found a lost traveler, I see, Emil?” she said, looking at Ola.
Walking into the house, Ola saw a male Wolf, dressed in rough dark clothes; like legends Ola had once heard of voyagers on the distant seas. The Wolf had long ashes-gray hair. Ola judged that he was perhaps forty years old, similar to what he guessed Mar’s age to be. The Wolf was heavy set, like his wife. Although his rough coat bulged with a bit of a paunch, he was nevertheless strongly muscular, with thick arms, broad shoulders, and clear eyes circled by wizened rings.
“Ord,” Mar-Marie said to the Wolf as he ascended the last stair or two out of what was apparently a cellar under the house, “you must leave your work and welcome a new friend.”
The Wolf walked quickly over to Ola, holding out both his paws to him. “Greetings, take peace in our humble house,” he said, grasping Ola’s paw in both of his own in a warm pawclasp. “What business brings you?” he asked.
“My business?” Ola repeated, pausing. “I am a Gateless Wolf, a follower of the path of Enigma.”
“Seeing your outfit, there’s no question what you are,” Ord replied. “We’re well-acquainted with the path of the Gateless Wolf. But what’s your business?”
“I be’in a wanderer in search o’ the lost and trooubled,” Ola answered. “I roam the wilds hop’in to find travelers need’in help. I be’in in yorn lands in service to a missing Wood Cow, late of the Hedgelands, family of Emil, and now unknown.”
A shadow passed briefly across Ord’s happy face. “This Wood Cow—the Hedgelands, you say? There’s many a missing beast that’s n’er seen again in the Hedgelands,” he said, looking grim. “You came out of the Everlost,” Ord observed, “that means you’re likely either escaping from someone, or hunting someone. No one goes into the Everlost on a lark. So, what’s your business?” Ord’s words were now cool and hard.
Ola was confused. “Why, I be’in a wander’in beast, no moore, no less. A help’in creature. I be only escap’in King Stuppy’s rouges and cutthroats. Why do yor welcome a stranger with such questions? Yorn own good beast sense knows well that what I say be’in true.” Ola suddenly leaped up and swung into the rough-hewn rafte
rs of the farmhouse. Hanging by his feet he looked at Ord with twinkling eyes. “If yor need’in more proouf that I be’in a true Gateless Wolf, I’ll just be’in play’in yor a tune on my flute,” Ola said, putting this flute to his lips.
“Now, you're a feisty one,” Ord returned, shaking his head with a renewed affection. “I'm glad you’re full of spirit, a feisty one! But don’t hold it hard against me...I had to test you. We’d be sorry later if you weren’t what you say.” Then, to Ola’s astonishment, Ord himself swung up onto the rafter and hung by his feet too!
“Yor be’in a Gateless Wolf!” Ola exclaimed. “No other creature knows how to be hang’in like that.”
“And what did you think?” Ord replied. “Did you imagine that all the Gateless Wolves are wandering youngsters like yourself?”
There was no need to say more. Ola and Ord both dropped to the floor and embraced like long-lost brothers. Pulling up chairs before the fire, they fell into animated conversation. Talking far into the night, they barely stopped for the dinner that Mar-Marie and Emil prepared.
Emil listened with interest as he and Mar worked on the other side of the room. Much of the talk bore no special interest for him. But a change in his manner of disinterested attention occurred when Ord explained how he and Mar had chosen to settle in the remote unsettled lands along the crest of the Everlost.
“We are pioneers of a sort,” Ord said. “Mar and I made our homestead here nearly thirty years ago. I grew up in a clan of sea-faring Norder Wolves, and for a long time the wanderlust of that life carried me along. I sailed for some years as a young rip,” he continued. “But later I grew tired of the sea, and followed the Gateless Wolf path. Although I loved the practice of Enigma and the rest of the Gateless Wolf ways, the lonely life of wandering from place to place did not satisfy me. I could not ignore the promptings of my heart that something was missing. Especially when I first laid eyes on Mar-Marie! Seeing her made me feel like the Gateless Wolf life would be so much more wonderful if she would go along with me. So, I asked her to take to the Gateless Wolf path with me.”