‘That don’t belong here, Naz.’
‘You’re right, maybe it’s a marker.’
‘Maybe a marker left by a Southerner to point the way to a gateway,’ said Vin smiling.
As they looked southwards, they could see a shimmering effect, and a slight magnifying of the clouds in the distance.’
‘After you,’ said Vin.
‘Am I glad to see you.’ Ben rushed forward to greet them both when they stepped out of the gateway.
Ben unrolled blankets that he’d prepared for them, wrapping them around Kerri and Carter.
‘You two really are mean-looking mongrels,’ Ben joked.
‘I can’t believe I’m home,’ said Carter.
‘Let’s take a look at you, and I can give you a real welcome home.’
They both collapsed to the ground, as much from exhaustion as from relief at being home. They pulled their blankets tight around themselves and focussed all their thoughts inwards, changing back to their human selves.
‘Carter, you’re all grown up!’ Ben sounded amazed.
With all seriousness, Kerri said, ‘Your mother won’t recognise you.’
‘That’s what I’m afraid of,’ he replied.
‘I expect you guys will be wanting a bath and some fresh clothes.’
‘Was that Casey’s instructions?’ laughed Kerri, ‘I can see he left me his blanket.’
She breathed in his scent that clung to the cloth, reminding her of all the safe things in life. She felt an overpowering need to be near him, to hear his voice, and to fall asleep, knowing he was there to look after her.
‘I’ll send word, let them know your back. He’s been like a ewe that lost her lamb since you’ve been gone. Are you two hungry?’
‘I thought you’d never ask,’ laughed Kerri.
‘What have you to eat?’
‘Pancakes, of course, and the guys have been slow roasting fish for you, Carter.’
‘There’s no place like home,’ he murmured, as he slowly lowered himself to the ground and fell immediately into a dreamless sleep.
‘You guys must have been through hell.’
‘It was awful, Ben, more so for him.’ She looked down at Carter, lying exhausted beside her. ‘He spent most of his time alone. I think that’s the bravest boy I’ve ever seen.’
‘He’s not a boy anymore, Kerri. What happened that you’ve both grown up so fast?’
‘I don’t understand it, something about passing through to another place does it to you, but don’t ask me why.’
She looked down at Carter again. It was like seeing him for the first time. Brushing his hair away from his face, she looked in wonder at him, at how someone who had been kidnapped as such a small boy could have survived so much danger. Alone in the mountains, the bears, the awful storm, and he still had the courage to risk his own life for her, twice!
I think I should get to know you, all over again, she thought.
‘Ben, will you and the guys move him to the shade, lay him out on a bed. I think he’s going to sleep until next week.’
They sat around the campfire, at peace with their world, eating pancakes and drinking warm berry juice. Kerri enveloped herself in the love and warmth of her clan, who were so happy they’d both returned. The balmy night held the promise of relief to come with each breath of a breeze that drifted past them.
‘D’you think the rains will come this year?’ asked Avi to everyone and no one.
‘I remember a year they didn’t come at all,’ said Ben. ‘I remember it felt like this and it looked like this. Everything dried and brown. It was a long summer.’
She shuddered for a moment at the sight of the forest on fire in the far distance. The faint glow on the horizon fed a constant flow of smoke to the heavens, which drifted away to the east.
‘As long as the wind stays from the west,’ Ben read her mind. ‘Here you are, more pancakes for the returning traveller.’
Smiling, he passed her another plate. Sitting down beside her, he wanted to wrap his arms around her and to squeeze her so tight she would never leave again, as he’d seen Casey do, as he knew everyone in the clan had wanted to do at one time or another.
What is it about her that makes everyone love her and care so much about her? he thought.
Instead, he said, ‘It’s good to have you home, Kerri. We missed you,’ he smiled again. ‘And thanks for saving Carter.’
‘It was the other way round, Ben. He saved me, twice!’
‘What went on over there?’
Kerri took a spoon of food, savouring every mouthful, all her taste senses coming alive.
‘I never knew you made such great pancakes, Ben,’ she said, trying to put off the moment when she’d have to re-tell, and so re-live, the journey.
‘I think you’ve been away too long, girl.’
‘No, seriously, these are the best pancakes I’ve ever tasted.’
‘Well thanks, Kerri, but I don’t think they’re that good. If you want pancakes, you should taste Sam’s.’
‘Sam can’t cook!’ Kerri said in disbelief.
‘Ah, now that’s what he tells his wife, because he doesn’t want to outshine her. But when we go trekking, he’s the best man to have around. He’ll always find something to eat, and he always knows how to cook it. You should taste his mushrooms, when he fries them in butter with just picked garlic. Even the animals come sniffing around looking for a helping when Sam cooks!’
‘He’s going to be a great king,’ said Avi
‘He doesn’t want it, not yet anyway, he’s cancelled the ceremony.’
‘What happened to Grandfather?’ she asked.
‘Now there’s a mystery. Appears he was in the forest when something attacked him. Not something we’ve ever seen around here before, some wild animal, they say.’
‘When he was found, he’d crawled a good way back towards the plains. They found half of his staff close by. People are speculating as to where the other half is.’
‘What do you mean ‘they say,’ Ben. What do you think?’
‘It just seems strange, even improbable to me, that with such strange things going on around us, that Grandfather would stroll off into the forest, get attacked by a wild animal no one can name, end up in a fight so big that it breaks his staff in two, and no one can find the other half. Does anyone remember a fight when Grandfather wasn’t the last man standing? Does that sound like just bad luck to you?’
He let the question float on the evening air while he stood to place another log on the fire. They sat in deep thought, no one willing to venture an opinion, just in case it led down a road to horror stories.
Kerri sat staring at the fire, watching its sparks and embers fly up into the night whenever someone stoked it. She was seeing her journey again, in pictures within the glowing coals and newly ignited flames. Her memories came flooding back to her.
‘When I was over there, searching for the way home, d’you know how I found it?’ she asked.
‘The smell of pancakes cooking?’ asked Avi.
They all laughed for a moment, knowing how much she loved the taste.
She looked to the north and pointed.
‘I recognised those three stars. With the bright blue and red ones either side. But I can’t understand it. They were sitting on the horizon, way to the south.
‘I don’t understand, guys, how can a land be there and I can’t get to it. Where people live in a different time, where people are fighting to stay alive in snow and winds, and I’m here looking at the same stars under a warm sky, eating pancakes?’
She found she couldn’t swallow anymore. The tears came rolling down her cheeks, and big sobs filled her chest. Ben and Avi sat either side and held her tight.
‘It’s okay, girl, let it all go, you’re home now,’ one of them said in the darkness, but a darkness where she finally felt safe and warm.
The aroma of roasting fish assaulted Carter’s senses like a slap in the face. Fish! Fish! hi
s subconscious screamed at him from the depths of sleep. He crawled his way to the door of reality, and managed to half open one eye. They were doing it on purpose. Wafting the smells of fish laced with herbs in his direction, to see who, if anyone, could raise him from the cocoon he’d built himself with his blanket.
With a monumental effort, he managed to raise his second eye lid. Blue sky, mid morning, empty belly, frying fish, home. All the information came flooding into his slowly stirring consciousness, filling him with enormous relief. He tried to stand, but his spinning head made him sit back down on the cot until the dizziness passed. Carter waved a greeting to the others, not yet willing to trust his own voice.
‘Hope you’re hungry, Carter.’
‘Famished, Ben, where’s Kerri?’
‘Still asleep. She didn’t lie down until morning. I think she was overtired. We practically dragged her to bed.’
Carter risked his legs again, and this time he managed to stay upright. He staggered off to wash.
He returned to find Kerri and the others sitting around the campfire. Ben handed him a plate of roasted fish.
‘For our returning hero,’ Ben grinned.
‘Thanks, but if this is for heroes, you should give it to Kerri.’
‘Heroes don’t eat pancakes.’ Her smile for him made his heart jump. She demolished another stacked plate passed to her.
‘I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’ve eaten a bucket load of yellow berries, I can hardly stand up.’
‘I can’t seem to sleep at the moment,’ she said.
Carter stared off into the distance, as if daydreaming. The morning heat created a shimmering effect on the horizon.
Is it the sun causing that? he asked himself.
In the distance, a marker had been staked in the ground pointing to the gateway, which was now shimmering more intensely.
‘Ben, I think you should turn around,’ Carter said.
Turning, they saw a bright flash erupt before them. Avi and Ben were on their feet immediately, staffs’ in hand.
‘Bears,’ Carter said with a sense of dread.
‘Stay back,’ Ben said to them, ‘we’ll deal with this.’
‘I’ve seen these two before,’ said Kerri.
‘What do you want here?’ Ben called out.
It took a moment for the bears to gain their bearings.
‘They’re waving those sticks again, Naz,’ said Vin quietly.
‘I got this, leave it to me,’ Naz said from the corner of his mouth.
‘Oh no! It’s that nasty one again. Be careful, Naz.’
‘We mean you no harm,’ called Naz.
‘You won’t do us any harm. I’m asking you again, what are you doing here?’ Ben called.
‘We’ve come at the invitation of your king, Sam.’
Avi and Ben stood in confusion, not sure what to make of this. Kerri dropped her staff and stepped forward between them. Walking towards the bears, she seemed tiny, looking up at their towering bodies.
‘You’re the one called Naz,’ she said.
‘Yes, I’m happy you remember me. May I enter your land as a friend?’
Kerri returned to where Ben stood. Very quietly, she said, ‘They aren’t a threat, Ben, I know this one, but you’re in charge.’
Ben looked at the two massive bears, ‘You may enter, at the invitation of Sam,’ he called to them.
Naz and Vin approached the others, their staffs now lowered, but their faces still tense and alert. Kerri stepped back behind Ben and Avi.
She saw Carter still held his staff high, in a defensive stand. Kerri placed her hand on his, and gently pushed his hands down to lower his staff.
‘It’ll be okay, I promise. It’s Duma’s fault, not these bears’.’
‘But Holly is still up there.’
‘Shhh... I know, but it’s over now.’ She turned to him and realised for the first time she had to look up to see his eyes. Kerri reached up and touched his face, gently pulling his attention to her.
‘It’s past, it wasn’t their fault.’ She kissed him on the cheek, hoping to break the spell of horror that he was still under.
His eyes regained their focus and he looked deeply into hers. ‘I’ll not wash all week,’ he smiled at her.
She laughed, partly to cover a flush that came to her face, though she couldn’t understand why.
Chapter 12
‘We’re here on a mission from our boss. We’d like to meet with Sam as soon as possible.’
‘Sam’s at the Meeting Place, we’ll take you to him.’
‘I know it’s not customary for travellers to ask a king to come to them, but these are changing times. We don’t wish to cause an insult by our request. You see, we must stay close to the gateway. If it starts to collapse, we must leave quickly. We cannot be trapped here.’
Ben was in a dilemma. He knew Sam would be making preparations for defence, but could also see the reasoning of the bears’ request.
Before Ben could make a decision, Naz added.
‘If we wait here, we may also be in a position to help defend this gateway against anything that tries to come through it.’
‘Are you expecting anything to follow you?’
‘We hope our journey passed unnoticed, but I say again, these are changing times.’
‘Okay, I’ll send a runner back to tell them you’re here requesting an audience.’
‘We’re happy to wait as long as the gateway remains open.’
Ben took Kerri and Carter aside to talk quietly to them.
‘Can we trust these two?’
‘I think so,’ said Kerri. ‘I don’t believe they’d come alone if they weren’t on a mission from their boss.’
‘I’m sending Avi back to tell Sam. Do you want to go with them?’
‘I think I’ll stay and wait for Casey. I’m sure he’ll come with Sam.’
‘How about you, Carter?’
‘I don’t think I’m strong enough to run yet. I’ll only slow Avi down.’
‘Will you be okay with two bears around, after what you’ve been through?’
Kerri quickly reached for Carter’s hand and squeezed. She spoke for both of them, ‘We’ll be okay, Ben.’
‘I have another black stone, I could still send them back.’
‘That may not be a good idea. We may need that one, and we may not want to be opening any more doors at the moment. There are creatures running around over there that we don’t want to invite in.’
‘Okay, we’ll stay, Avi goes back.’ He nodded to Avi, who left immediately at a gentle run.
Ben returned to the bears. ‘You have a long wait, will you join us?’ he asked, motioning to a space at the fire and the cooking food.
‘We’ll be happy to, but I ask if we can exchange places. We must be able to watch the gateway.’
They settled down to wait. It seemed the bears’ physical size was an imposing mass, even while seated, to everyone except Kerri.
She got up and found two cups. Filling them with berry juice, she handed them to the bears.
‘You were both guarding the plateau, weren’t you?’
‘Yes.’ said Naz.
Vin cleared his throat. ‘I’m sorry that I tried to charge at you. We didn’t know who you were.’
Naz winked at him as a sign of encouragement.
‘I see you’ve still got the bump on your head, it’s a whopper. May I touch it?’ Kerri asked smiling innocently.
‘I’d prefer you didn’t,’ Vin declined.
‘That’s a story I’d like to hear,’ Ben laughed. ‘Would you like something to eat while we wait?’
‘Thank you, but no.’
‘Will you show yourselves as men? I can lend you a blanket,’ Kerri asked.
‘Now’s not the time.’
‘You said that last time,’ she reminded him.
‘We’re in your land now. If we were to change to our other form, we’ll age very quickly. Being in this form, the aging
process slows down considerably. It’s for our own protection that I refuse.’
‘What’ll happen to your message if the gateway collapses before Sam returns?’ she asked.
Vin looked at Naz, both looked unsure how best to respond.
‘We haven’t considered this question. We were expecting Sam to be here.’
‘This doesn’t seem to be a well-planned mission you’re on,’ Kerry smiled sweetly at them.
‘We may seem to be impulsive, but the reason we’re here is of the utmost importance.’
‘Maybe you’d like to discuss your mission with Ben... just in case?’
‘It may be seen as being disrespectful to Sam, to discuss it with someone else first.’
‘As a people, we don’t stand on a lot of ceremony. We’ll still call him Sam, even after he’s declared king.’
Kerri wandered off to her sleeping area. The others sat silently watching the gateway, each other, and Kerri’s rummaging.
‘Finally,’ she said, and drew from her pack a small object. She wandered back to the group with a smile of satisfaction on her face.
‘What did you say your name is?’
‘I’m Vin.’
‘I’m Kerri. Here, Vin, put this on your head.’ She handed him a bundle of green mosses. ‘It’ll help with the swelling. I feel so... responsible,’ she said, as if trying to find the right word.
Vin placed the moss over his lump and sat back to wait.
‘Your mission must be of some importance to risk entering our land,’ said Carter.
‘We come with an invitation from Sam,’ said Naz.
‘Was that before he knew of the death of Holly?’ Carter said.
The tension could be cut with a knife. Kerri placed her hand on Carter’s arm and gave a gentle squeeze. The uncomfortable silence dragged on.
Vin looked at Carter and saw the anger in his eyes. ‘Holly must be your friend,’ Vin said, ‘The one that I heard fell in the High Pass. She was defending the pass against us. We didn’t know who she was or where she came from, only that she was stopping our mission. It was a mission that we believed was needed, to stop that land, our land, and even yours, from being overrun by those ape creatures in the forest.
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