by Diane Rapp
The dead mountain lion looked harmless, crumpled a few feet away in a bloody heap. The deadly black wolf sat licking her pads just a few feet from the grazing horse. Sparks seemed unconcerned as she nibbled tender shoots of grass.
Tessa stood on shaky legs and inspected the mare. The hooves were covered in blood, but her hide looked unscathed. Tessa’s saddle was a different matter. Deep scratches gouged the leather from the saddle horn to the stirrup.
She shuddered at the thought of those claws ripping through her flesh. She gazed into the wolf’s black face. “Where did you come from? Why would you risk yourself to save me?”
The wolf yawned and her long pink tongue stretched across gleaming white teeth. Tessa remembered how the snarling wolf attacked the lion and marveled at the compact body sitting before her. Sleek black fur framed golden eyes that glowed with friendliness.
Evidently Sparks accepted the wolf, since the creature saved their lives. Tessa sat on a boulder and stroked the wolf’s soft ruff. The wolf leaned into Tessa’s caress, tilting her head to encourage a scratch behind her ear, and Tessa obliged, setting a rear leg thumping.
Tessa laughed. “You’re missing tufts of hair, but I don’t see any serious injuries. You must lead a charmed life.” She stared at the dead carcass of the mountain lion. “I’d better dress the kill before scavengers arrive.”
With a sharp knife Tessa removed the lion’s pelt. “This hide’s valuable, though it would be worth more undamaged. If Trenton took it to market, he’d spin a yarn that would double its price. I guess my own story is startling enough to bring extra coin.”
She chatted to a mute audience as she worked on the carcass. Sparks grazed but the wolf watched, tilting her head and ears in the girl’s direction. The wolf possessed an alert expression, almost as if she understood the conversation.
Tessa offered some of the meat to the wolf but the animal politely refused. She said, “You probably prefer deer or rabbit meat to the stringy muscle of lion. It doesn’t matter. Scavengers will make quick work of this carcass. Trenton called them nature’s garbage collectors.”
She fell silent as she finished and wrote notes in her journal. Trenton taught her about the cycle of life and they kept meticulous records of the animal population. He always left contributions for the local garbage collectors.
Tessa sprinkled the hide with a preservative before she rolled it up and stowed the claws and fangs in her pouch. Superstitious mountain men wore lion’s claws and fangs as talismans to ward off the creatures. She’d get a good price.
“By all rights I should give you the cat’s teeth,” she told the wolf, “although Sparks shared in the kill.” The wolf responded by drawing back her front lips to display long canines. A prickling sensation crept up Tessa’s spine. “I guess you’ve got enough teeth of your own. I’m glad you’re on my side.”
Tessa eyed the trampled area. “We’ll use another trail on the way back, so we don’t meet the lion’s mate.”
She loaded her bundle and swung into the saddle. The wolf trotted ahead on the trail, looking eager to travel with Tessa. She felt glad for the company after the attack, suddenly leery about riding the trap line alone.
Soon the woods felt familiar again with signs of ordinary activity. Squirrels chattered from branches, rabbits scurried into holes, and deer scattered at their approach. The journey took on a routine rhythm as the wolf maintained a steady pace ahead of the mare.
Why did the wolf defend me against the lion? Trenton told stories about King Donovan talking mentally with wolves. Did this wolf send me a mental warning before the lion’s attack? She wasn’t sure the warning had been real or imagined. The wolf seemed comfortable with humans and certainly acted tame. Maybe she’d stay around. It might be handy to travel with a wolf as she and Maggie fled the cave. Still she’d watch for changes in the animal’s behavior.
They reached the first set of traps before dusk. Trenton’s cleverly constructed traps lured creatures into a cage using bait but didn’t harm the animal. Tessa consulted Trenton’s notebook, full of tables and graphs to chart local ecology. He never over-hunted a species. She kept just enough fresh game for their journey and freed the other animals unharmed.
Trenton hated inhumane traps. He destroyed cruel devices left by other hunters, which made it unprofitable to encroach on his territory. Did Trenton create too many enemies? Would greedy trappers eliminate him for a lucrative territory? She’d make sure they didn’t profit from his work. She dismantled the cages, keeping metal parts but burned the wood. Memories of Trenton spurred an onslaught of tears. Working in a blurry haze, she packed game bags with meat and rolled up valuable pelts.
At sunset Tessa opened a tin of “magic fire” and lit the contents to burn with a smokeless flame. She warmed her aching hands and fixed stew with fresh meat in a pot of water seasoned with a pack of Maggie’s herbs and dried vegetables. It smelled good and she felt ravenous. Tessa dished up two plates and set the wolf’s dinner on the ground.
“Go ahead, girl. It’s good.” She spooned a big bite into her mouth as the wolf sniffed the food. Licking daintily at the sauce, the wolf stood and gulped down the mixture with gusto. When finished she eyed Tessa’s plate.
“I’m glad you like it but this one’s mine,” Tessa said.
The wolf circled twice and settled on the ground, resting her chin on her front paws. Tessa smiled. “Well if we’re traveling together, I should give you a name.” The wolf cocked her head as if she were curious to hear the name.
Tessa laughed at the wolf’s expression. “It’s nice to share the fire with a friendly face. What should I call you?” Tessa looked at the wolf. Her black face framed golden eyes that reflected the fire’s glow; her mouth hung open and the tip of her pink tongue flicked to the rhythm of her breathing while she waited politely for a decision.
“Your eyes are beautiful. I read that eyes are the window of the soul, so I’ll call you Amber for the color of your eyes.” She scratched Amber’s ear and the wolf leaned into the stroke. “You saved my life, Amber. I hope you’ll stay and be my friend.”
*****
The moonless sky looked like a dark blanket flecked with sparkling lights as Tessa settled into the bedroll and slept. Amber leaned her hot body against the girl and listened to the night. She’d kept alert to guard the human like one of her cubs.
Sleep well, Tessa. We prevent evil humans from coming too close and bringing you to harm. We’ll protect you, so sleep well little one.
Tessa did not hear the mental words but dreamed of the garden. She felt safe and protected sitting with her sisters as they listened to her mother read a story.
The sisters fidgeted.
Chirping birds, flower-lined pathways, and the prospect of play distracted their attention. Their mother laughed as they wriggled, understanding their impatience. Three faces lifted in unison to smile at their mother. Their faces looked alike except for the different color of their eyes and hair. “You’re three peas in a pod,” their mother said, “my three darling girls.”
Tessa basked in her mother’s love and smiled.
At the first rays of dawn, Amber nudged the girl until her green eyes opened. Tessa said, “Good morning, Amber.” She stretched aching muscles and ruffled the fur on Amber’s head. “I guess we’d better get going.” She climbed out of the warm bedroll and munched on a bar of oats and fruit as she broke camp.
The next two days were pleasant and productive. As Tessa dismantled traps, she watched for signs of poachers but saw no signs of trouble. As she approached home she felt excited to give Aunt Maggie the three snowy white pelts tied on her saddle.
For years Trenton collected matching white pelts that Aunt Maggie sewed into an elegant white cape. These last pelts might be enough to finish the job. They could sell the cape for a fantastic price, enough to maintain Maggie in comfort.
Money would make Maggie’s life easier. Tessa couldn’t imagine life in town but had heard the wistful tone in Maggie’s v
oice as she described living in the castle. Tessa would rather explore the wide open world of Trenton’s stories than get stuck in a crowded castle.
About a mile from the cave entrance, Sparks stopped and nickered, her head up and ears pricked forward. Amber had been roaming ahead but suddenly reappeared.
Something’s wrong.
Tessa dismounted and led Sparks into a thick blind kept for emergencies. They hid behind the camouflage and listened.
A harsh voice sounded too close. “He stashed his loot near here. I followed him a score of times but always lost him near this mountain. Look over in them trees while I’ll climb these rocks.” Loud footsteps clunked down the trail.
Tessa’s chest hurt as she exhaled the breath she’d been holding. She opened a sack and tied thick fur and leather straps over Sparks’ hooves. Tessa led the animals away from the men in a zigzag route toward the cave.
As Tessa stopped near a vine-covered rock, she checked the surroundings, and yanked on a large vine. The rock wall swung open. They slipped inside and closed the doorway.
The tension in Tessa’s shoulders eased at the familiar scent of moss and granite inside the cave. In the dark Tessa snaked through a maze of tunnels by touch. Finally they reached a large cavern occupied by another horse that had bundles tied to her saddle. Munching grain, the mare lifted her head to greet the girl.
“Greetings, Precious.” Tessa rubbed the mare’s warm nose.
Torchlight illuminated the cave. Tessa saw that the natural openings above their heads were covered with thick burlap. She led Sparks to the grain trough and said, “I see Maggie’s ready to leave and none too soon with those men outside.”
Sparks eagerly dug into the hay and Tessa added oats to the mixture. “Eat a good serving, we might be moving fast. Come along, Amber.”
As the tunnel floor turned into a steep incline, Tessa grabbed handholds carved into the wall to maintain balance. Within minutes she and Amber stood before a massive wooden door. She inserted a key hanging from her neck and lifted the latch.
The door swung open. The room looked dank and dreary with the cold rock fireplace and shuttered windows—not the usually cheerful home. Tessa’s stomach clenched when she saw Maggie sitting in the old rocker.
Tessa rushed to her aunt. “Are you all right?”
Maggie stared blankly for a moment and then grasped Tessa’s face with shaking hands. “I thought those sons of Satan found you. They arrived outside the day you left, and I lost track of time in the dark. I lost hope that I’d see your sweet face again.”
Tessa flung her arms around the small woman and fumed at the ruffians who’d terrified Maggie for days. She blamed herself for leaving Maggie alone. She looked so pale and fragile in the dim light.
Maggie’s eyes widened. “Is that the devil-hound?”
“No, it’s my friend, Amber.” Tessa described the mountain lion attack.
“Those men keep a hound that howls when it tracks our scent. That devil hound must’ve tracked Trenton for them. He was too crafty to be caught by ordinary men.”
Talking about the creature brought its presence close. Tessa felt a chill sweep creep up her spine, and she shivered.
“My fresh scent outside will surely lead the hound into the cave. We must leave, now. You’ve loaded all our packs?”
Her aunt nodded. “I put the mule in the crystal cavern but Precious waits in the stable. I loaded each with half our stores. Grab these last bundles and we’ll go.” They heard the sound of scratching at the back entrance and Amber growled. With her hackles bristling, she looked double her size and ready to pounce on the intruder.
Tessa motioned silently toward the stable exit, and Maggie nodded. They hefted packs and eased through the door quietly. Amber followed them into the tunnels.
“You go ahead while I set a trap,” Maggie whispered.
Trenton built rock-fall traps at strategic places in all the tunnels. Maggie planned to trigger a cave-in and block the tunnel which meant they couldn’t return.
“Be careful,” Tessa said, and Maggie squeezed her hand.
Tessa guided Amber down the tunnels, lugging their packs. Trenton had filled his mountain with a honeycomb of granite tunnels that mimicked the labyrinths of ancient mythology. They were Tessa’s childhood playground. She knew every twist and turn, and now her knowledge might prove crucial.
The ground rumbled above their heads and they heard a man’s muffled scream. “That’s one down! How many more are there?” Tessa reached the horses and tied a bundle to Sparks’ saddle. She bent to pick up another when a man jumped out of the shadows. Instinctively she grabbed her hunting knife and faced the large man.
He loomed over her, muscular but agile. He kicked the knife, and it clattered across the floor, as he knocked her to the ground. “Got me a little scrapper and a shapely girl at that!” Rough hands bruised her breast with a hard squeeze. “We’ll have a lively time, me beauty.” He grabbed her shirt and lifted her close to his face. She gagged at the foul smell of his breath and body odor. “Want to give old Gill a little kiss for starters?”
She squirmed to escape his grip but strong fingers tightened around her neck. He shook her like a rag doll, laughing.
Tessa barely heard Amber’s growl as she gasped for breath, hardly noticed the black body leap at the enemy. When the man’s laughter turned into a painful scream, she saw that Amber’s fangs sank into the soft flesh of his underarm. Trying to shake the black monster off, he flung Tessa across the floor. Amber dropped off his bleeding arm, and stood snarling and growling.
Scrambling to escape from snapping white teeth, the brute lost track of Tessa. She crawled under a feed trough and watched Amber leap at the man’s throat. He beat at the wolf with his fist, but Amber bit hard and shook her prey.
Maggie charged into the cave brandishing a butcher knife. Tessa stayed hidden while Maggie circled behind the brute. Tessa often saw Maggie wield that butcher knife, deftly slicing meat and chopping vegetables in her cozy kitchen. Now the large blade flashed as Maggie struck the man from behind.
He stiffened, turned toward Maggie with an expression of shock on his grizzled face, and crumpled. His massive body landed on the wolf.
“Amber!” Tessa sobbed.
The body jerked and Amber whimpered. It took the strength of both women to roll the enormous body off the wolf, who looked small compared to the grotesque corpse. Her tail thumped as she scrambled to her feet and shook droplets of blood from her fur.
Tessa gazed into the wolf’s golden eyes and her vision shifted. She saw herself through Amber’s gaze, a disheveled human with frightened eyes. She heard the thoughts of a hundred voices inside her mind and felt dizzy. When Maggie touched her shoulder, the vision vanished.
“Can you walk?” Maggie asked. “We’re not safe here.”
Tessa nodded. She tied another bundle to Sparks’ saddle, grabbed the reins and followed Maggie into a side tunnel. They ran deeper into the mountain, desperate to escape. The bay of the hound echoed through the mountain as it discovered their trail. The mournful sound pursued them like a banshee from one of Trenton grisly campfire tales. Maggie triggered another landslide that closed the tunnel behind them. The barrier wouldn’t stop the men for long. It would only take a few hours of digging to clear the tunnel.
They needed to get out.
They stopped when they reached a cave big enough to hold all of them. Their faces flickered like ghostly apparitions in the flame of their lantern. They listened for the hound, but only heard their own heavy breathing and the steady drip of water in the cavern.
Maggie paced the chamber like a caged animal.
“You must rest, Aunt Maggie. The past few days have been too strenuous for you,” Tessa pleaded.
“I look worse than I feel.” She sipped water from her canteen and handed it to Tessa. “The hound will scent out our trail. We’re not safe yet.”
“I know,” Tessa said.
Maggie continued, “But if we le
ave the tunnels, we lose our advantage. Those men can track us down with the hound.”
Tessa sighed. “What can we do?”
“We must kill them all, the hound and the men.”
Tessa shuddered, remembering how vulnerable she felt when that vile man attacked her.
Maggie nodded. “It’s scary. A man can use his strength to overpower a woman, so we must use our intelligence as a weapon. Trenton designed this mountain, but we know it as well as he did.” Maggie’s eyes sparkled with determination. “We won’t run like frightened animals. We’ll set a trap for those animals, the kind Trenton might use.” The perfect homemaker plotted to kill the men who threatened her home, like a mother bear defending her den.
“Yes!” Hope glowed like a small flame in Tessa’s chest and her tension vanished. “Trenton taught me how to trap dangerous animals, and those men are the most dangerous kind.”
“We’ll camp in the crystal cave and formulate our plan,” Maggie said. “Let’s get moving.”
Tessa thought about the problem as they followed the twists and turns of the tunnels. She analyzed their prey like a crafty trapper. By the time Maggie released her final rock fall, Tessa had devised the framework of her plan.
“That one should stop them in their tracks,” Maggie said, her voice filled with venom.
The crystal cavern glowed with an eerie light. Trenton once explained that the glow came from creatures so small the eye couldn’t detect them, called it bio-luminescence. Tessa extinguished the lantern and greeted Bessie, the mule who patiently waited. Maggie sank wearily onto a roll of bedding. “We’d better get some sleep.”
Tessa’s muscles ached as she sat cross-legged on her bedroll. “I don’t think I can sleep.”
“Then rest. We’ll need our energy for tomorrow. Close your eyes and I’ll wake you in a couple of hours if you fall asleep.”
Tessa closed her eyes. Amber leaned against her and the heat from the wolf’s body eased Tessa’s tension. She soon drifted into an uneasy slumber.