A Frosty Tail

by Dawn Sister

  Whatever was happening here, he could not ignore the note of fear in Jack’s tone, or in his wide, frozen eyes.

  “I’m here.” He said, finally taking hold of Jack’s hand.

  His touch seemed to shock Jack, and his eyes widened even more as they focused on Liam. Their eyes locked, and for one fleeting moment, what passed between them was something that felt like regret, although Liam couldn’t say at all what the regret even was.

  “Oh Liam, I’m so sorry.” Jack whispered, before closing his eyes, his body going limp.

  “Jack.” Liam scrambled closer, taking Jack into his arms, pulling him onto his lap. “Jack, no. God, please.”

  Jack’s body went rigid, and the colour seemed to leach from his face. No, not just from his face, from everywhere. His face, his hands, even his clothes, turned white. As white as his hair. And then, suddenly, his hair was everywhere, covering everything, and his body was lighter, and shrinking, and, within seconds, Liam held, not Jack in his arms, but a limp, white fox.

  In shock, Liam dropped the creature and fell on his backside, shuffling backwards a little before stopping. Kneeling up, he reached out his hands to the fox, holding them over its prone body. Liam was still shaking with cold, but he did not feel it, as adrenaline pumped through his body.

  “What. The. Fuck?” He gasped, staring at the fox.

  What the hell was going on? Was he hallucinating because of the cold, or had Jack just turned into a fox? No, not just any fox; his white fox. The one he’d been catching glimpses of for weeks now. The one that had waited for him on the track two nights ago just before he had……fallen.

  Liam gasped again, as realisation dawned, followed by denial, then realisation, and then firm denial. There was no way this fox and Jack were one and the same. But Liam had just seen the change with his own eyes. Or, had he, in fact, drowned in the lake and this was his dying mind, trying to cling onto…something? Or, worse still, had this all been a dream from the very beginning, when he’d hit his head two nights before. Was he still lying, unconscious on the track? Was that why he felt so damn cold right now? Somehow the thought that his entire encounter with Jack could be all part of an elaborate, concussion induced dream was even worse than the thought that they both might have drowned. Liam could not make sense of any of what he’d just witnessed, or of anything that had happened since he’d first met Jack.

  The fox gave a whimper, the sound so like Jack’s voice that it struck a chord in Liam’s heart. Whatever was happening, he could not abandon Jack now. The man had saved Liam’s life twice, whether it had all been a dream or not, he had to continue to either dream, or live through this, and help Jack in whatever form he had chosen to take.

  Something was terribly wrong. The fox/Jack, was too still, its breathing shallow and rapid. That wasn’t right, and ice was forming on the tips of the creature’s fur. Liam was frozen to the bone as well. They both needed to get warm or, whether they had fur or not, they’d both be dying of hypothermia.

  The weather had turned too, grown darker as clouds had begun to fill the sky. A cold wind began to gust, and in the distance, Liam heard the low rumble of thunder. Thunder in winter? It wasn’t unheard of, but it was unusual. It usually meant heavy snow was on its way. Typical that the snow that had been forecast for the last few days would pick now to make an appearance.

  There was no time to lose. Liam scooped the fox up into his arms, wrapping it up in the coat that had swamped Jack, but now completely swallowed up the fox. He pulled on his own coat, thanking whatever deity was watching over them that they had discarded their coats before they’d begun larking about on the ice.

  Feeling, not much warmer, but not much colder either, Liam made for home. Sheer determination got him to his back door. He had to get Jack to safety whether this was real or a dream.

  The trouble was, some of the things that had happened had been incredible, and Liam knew he didn’t have that good an imagination.

  ****

  Frosty Memories

  Safe in the cottage, Liam dried the white fox and wrapped it in some soft warm towels. The ice on its fur appeared to have melted and to Liam’s relief the fox moved and curled up into a tight ball to sleep, its breathing slowing and its body relaxing. That was what Liam needed to do as well. He stripped off his frozen clothing and pulled on warm pyjamas. Loathe to leave the fox alone, and too exhausted by now to consider carrying even the fox’s light body anywhere else, Liam banked up the wood burner, grabbed some blankets and settled on the sofa next to the fox.

  He could not sleep, however. Too many thoughts whirled around in his head. If he’d had questions about Jack before, he had a thousand more now. The main one being what the hell did he do about all of this? Jack was hurt, but Liam couldn’t call a doctor, because Jack was—well not quite human. Should he call a vet? But Jack wasn’t exactly a fox either.

  Liam didn’t feel he could call anyone, because who the hell would believe him anyway?

  The fox stirred beside him, causing him to jump. As Liam stared down at the bundle of white fur the air around the creature began to shimmer. A noise, like tiny crystals being poured onto a mirror, filled Liam’s ears. The fox’s fur began to glow, the same glow Liam had seen when he’d been submerged in the icy lake.

  Between one moment and the next, the fox disappeared and, in its place, lay Jack, still curled up in a tight ball, but taking up considerably more space on the sofa, so that his head and shoulders were now in Liam’s lap.

  “Well, bloody hell.” Liam shook his head in disbelief. “This is something to tell the grandkids.”

  “If that’s a proposal, I accept.” Jack’s voice croaked. “But I think you might have to tell me first.” He sat up and frowned, his pale eyes searching Liam’s face. “What happened, big feller?” He asked. “One minute we were larking about on the ice, the next I wake up here, and naked.” He snorted. “Not that I’m complaining about that part after everything we did last night and this morning. I just don’t remember the in between bits, that’s all. I hope I didn’t miss anything good.”

  Liam stared at him open mouthed. “Miss anything good?” He squeaked, feeling a little hysterical. “Nah, you just fell through the ice, and when I tried to rescue you, I got caught as well. I’m not sure, but I think you rescued me and then you kind of turned into a fox.”

  “I what?” Jack’s expression was one of utter confusion, and for one moment, Liam thought he was faking it, but the shock seemed genuine.

  “You don’t remember?” Liam asked him, frowning.

  Jack gave a humourless laugh. “I think I’d remember falling through ice, Liam.”

  “And the fox part?”

  “Utter nonsense.” Jack scoffed. “You have a very active imagination, big feller. Either that, or you hit your head a little harder than we thought when you fell the other night.”

  “Right.” Liam didn’t really know what to say. Jack was obviously suffering from some sort of amnesia, brought on by the shock of plunging into the ice-cold lake, perhaps? He appeared to remember that they’d spent the night together; that he had helped Liam two nights before, and that ridiculous nickname, but there were some rather obvious gaps in his memory. Liam wanted to push the matter, but Jack was in a vulnerable situation and memories were a fragile thing. Liam needed to be the sane one here, not the crazy one, trying to convince Jack he had turned into a fox. Liam was having a hard-enough time as it was, convincing himself that what he’d seen had been real. He was afraid if he pushed too much it might make matters worse. He didn’t want to distress Jack.

  Liam was not confident at all that he could deal with this alone, but he had no idea who to call, or what to tell them. “Hi, I have this guy here, who might also be a fox. Only trouble is, he can’t remember anything except the fact that we slept together. Which, admittedly is a bit of a relief, but not much consolation if he can’t remember anything else about himself.”

  “Look, Jack. Why don’t I get you some dry clothes? I
’ll make us both a hot drink and we can try and……” He paused because Jack’s eyes had widened, and his face had paled considerably. He looked suddenly very afraid. “What? What is it?”

  “W-who’s Jack?” He asked. “Why did you call me that?”

  Liam frowned. “Because that’s your name.”

  “No, it isn’t, it’s……” Jack paused, gasping and breathing quickly. “Oh god.” He gave Liam a helpless look. “You’re Liam.” He breathed. Liam nodded. “Yes, I remember that. And I remember everything we did last night.” Liam felt his cheeks burn and bit his lip, trying not to react too much. “Before and after that, though….” Jack’s brow furrowed in concentration. “Oh god, I can’t remember.” He looked up at Liam, his expression anxious and his skin pale. “How can I remember your name, but not my own? What’s going on, Liam?”

  Liam did not like Jack’s vulnerable, confused tone, nor the fear he saw in Jack’s lovely eyes. His protective instinct won over any other concerns he might have. This man needed his help and he was determined to give it. He took Jack’s hands in his and held them tight, feeling how much warmer they now felt, although he couldn’t quite decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

  “Jack. I don’t have any answers right now, but whatever is going on, we’ll figure it out together, okay?”

  “B-but why…?” Jack took a deep breath, obviously seeing the honesty and sincerity in Liam’s expression. He nodded, swallowing and holding back tears. “Okay.” He said, in a small, shaky voice.

  “Right.” Liam had no idea what to do, or say next, but he’d offered a warm drink and thought that might be a good place to start. “Dry clothes, and then a hot drink, or maybe some broth?” He asked. Jack’s expression brightened somewhat, and he nodded.

  “Yes please. You make the best broth.”

  “If I remember rightly, it was the first broth you’d ever had.”

  “That’s right.” Jack laughed. “I did say that, didn’t I?” He frowned again. “I can remember that clearly enough.”

  “You’ve had a shock to your system.” Liam laid a hand on Jack’s cheek. “Give yourself time to recover.”

  He didn’t suggest doctors or hospitals. What would happen to Jack if he changed into a fox in the local hospital walk in centre?

  Liam found some clothes for Jack: a t shirt that had shrunk a little but would still be too big for Jack’s smaller frame, and some joggers that they had to fasten with a belt because they were far too big to even sit on Jack’s hips. Jack also made a plaintive plea for socks because his feet were freezing. Liam tried not to react, but he knew there had to be something drastically wrong. He’d watched the man scoot about on the ice in his bare feet for goodness sake, and he was only now feeling the cold?

  After staring at the socks for a few minutes with a helpless look on his face, Jack looked up at Liam.

  “I, er, seem to have forgotten how to put these on, Liam.” He chuckled awkwardly. “How stupid is that?”

  Liam made no comment as he bent to lend a hand. He simply reinforced the fact that Jack had had a shock to his system and things would come back to him eventually. At least Liam hoped they would. He was more confused than ever. Was Jack suffering from amnesia, or was this the real Jack, his memories returning after some sort of episode that had resulted in him wandering about in the hills with few clothes and no shoes?

  With Jack settled on the sofa, Liam went into the kitchen to make them something to drink. He could see Jack, curled beneath the blankets. He was still shivering despite the warm clothes and thick socks. Liam had even turned up the heating. It was so warm in his cottage now he was afraid they would both melt.

  Liam took a moment to gather his thoughts. What the hell was going on? That there was something terribly wrong with Jack, he had no doubt, but what it was, or what exactly had caused it, he had no clue.

  “I’ve turned the heating up.” Liam called. “Things should get a little cosier.”

  Jack turned his head and flashed Liam a foxy grin, and it was a foxy grin. Everything this man did, his mannerisms, his smile, the way he seemed constantly on the move, was fox-like in a way Liam felt he should have noticed from the very beginning.

  He shook his head and focused on the task at hand. If he thought too much about this entire situation, he was sure he’d go mad. In real life people didn’t change into foxes and foxes most certainly did not change into beautiful young men.

  The phone rang, shocking Liam out of his deep thoughts. However, if the noise had shocked Liam, it terrified Jack. He dived off the sofa and ran, blankets and all, into the kitchen to push himself against Liam so hard, he was sure the man would have climbed inside his sweater if he’d been able to.

  “W-what in the name of Mother Earth is that noise?” Jack stuttered, looking about him with wild eyes.

  “Jack, it’s okay, it’s just the phone.”

  “Th-the what?” Jack’s question might have made Liam think this was more amnesia rearing its ugly head, except, even before their impromptu swim in the icy lake, Jack had acted as if he didn’t know about everyday things: broth, knives, chopping vegetables. He’d thought electricity was like magic. He hadn’t known what a sofa was called. What was going on here? Was he, in fact, a fox that had turned into a man? And if he was, what the hell had prompted him to do such a thing? Not to mention the fact that it had happened at all.

  The phone continued its obnoxious ringing, so Liam reached across to pick it up, soothing Jack’s tremors by stroking the top of his head as he held him close.

  “Hello?” He hooked the phone between his shoulder and head in order to keep his hold on Jack.

  “Oh, Liam, I’m so glad I caught you in.”

  “Mrs Appleby.” Liam groaned inwardly as he recognised the voice on the other end of the call.

  This happened every year. He’d have one day of holiday, maybe two, before his clients began calling him again asking if he could just do this, that or the other, if he wasn’t too busy, or if he was just passing by, which he often was.

  “What can I do for you Mrs Appleby?” He didn’t really mind, and he was usually very accommodating. He had told her she could call him at any time, and for any reason. Today was really not a good day, but he listened anyway.

  “It’s leaves, Liam. My garden is covered in leaves again, and I know that isn’t a good enough reason to call you out while you’re on holiday. It’s just that there’s an awful lot of them and they’re on my path as well. There’s so many of them. I struggled to get to church this morning. I was afraid I would slip.”

  “I cleared all of your leaves the day before yesterday, Mrs A.” Liam frowned.

  There’d been a lot but there hadn’t been enough left on any of the trees nearby to cover her lawn and paths again so soon.

  “It must have been the wind, blowing them back again.”

  “There wasn’t any wind last night.” Liam frowned.

  He knew Mrs Appleby sometimes called him for help because she wanted someone to talk to and did often exaggerate the problem just in case there was a possibility he might refuse to go and help.

  “I really do need someone to come and clear them. Even if it is just from my front path. I can’t get out otherwise.”

  This did not sound like one of those calls, yet how could Liam think about working today when he had other people to worry about?

  “Mrs A, I really want to come and help, but right now is not a good time. Have you tried your neighbour? Raphael?”

  “Oh, I did. He’s not answering his phone.”

  Liam sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Right. I’ll sort something out, Mrs Appleby. I promise.” As he made the pledge, he was wracking his brain as to who to call, or who would even be available to help her on such a busy, holiday weekend.

  “You’re a good lad, Liam. Thank you.”