“I’m sorry.” She pulled back embarrassed. Her superior expression was firmly back in place making me wonder what exactly had just happened. Even though we were touching for the briefest of seconds, her pulling away from me left a cold void within me that had not been there before.
“Come on,” she growled, turning away from me. “I’ll speak to the others about letting you stay with us until we set off to fight. Don’t think for a second about trying anything funny because if you do, I’ll think nothing of turning into my tiger form and eating you.”
I followed her back up the mountain trail for the second time with a grin on my face, leading a very displeased unicorn behind me.
Back at the top, Ulix and the others were cooking something over the fire. Judging by the size of it, I’d say it was a skinned rabbit or squirrel. There was no way there was going to be enough of it to go around. When Ulix caught sight of me, he stood, looking fit for murder.
“What did you bring him back for?” he barked at Aaricka. A few of the others stood looking at me menacingly. This wasn’t going to be easy.
“Cool it, Ulix. He says he is going to speak to his father, you know, the King of Clubs, to allow us safe passage through the Club Kingdom.”
“And you believe this horseshit?”
“We are setting off in a couple of days. We need all the help we can get. What harm will it do to let him stay with us?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Ulix was not going to back down, but one look at the determination in Aaricka’s eyes told me that neither was she. Despite the fact that she was half Ulix’s height, she strolled right up to him, her finger outstretched, which she prodded into his stomach.
“Look, Ulix, who’s in charge here? Because the last time I looked, it was me. I set up this group, it was my idea to fight, and it was me that found this cave system. He’ll stay with us because I say he will.”
I was impressed. She was certainly no wallflower. Ulix, on the other hand, looked less than impressed at her words.
“Well, you’ll have to give him your share of the food because I’m sure as shit not giving up mine.” He went back to the campfire, and as if to prove his point, pulled the rabbit or whatever it was from the flames and took a bite out of it.
It was then, it dawned on me how I could help. I’d spent enough time in the Club Training Camp under the expert tuition of Wulfric to know how to hunt. I could see a handmade bow resting near a rock with a sheaf still full of arrows sitting next to it. Without asking permission, I picked both up, fitted an arrow into the bow, and aimed upwards at one of the birds flying overhead. I pulled back and let the arrow fly through the sky until it hit its mark, bringing the bird back to earth with a thump and nearly landing right on Ulix.
“What the?” he said as the bird landed next to him. It wasn’t a huge bird, but it was big enough to feed a few more people. He looked at me with his mouth gaping open as he realised what had just happened.
“Nice trick, Tiny, but I bet you couldn’t repeat it.”
I replied by pulling another arrow from the sheaf and firing once again into the sky. I might not know much, but I knew how to shoot, and I was confident enough in my abilities to take that bet if I chose to.
Another bird came crashing to the ground, falling not far from where the first one landed. This time, I got a cheer from the others around me.
Ulix just grunted and went back to eating his rabbit, which it looked like he had no intention of sharing with anyone.
The others ran towards me, smiles replacing the grimaces on their faces. After a round of pats on the back and handshakes, I was able to retrieve the two birds, pull the arrows out to use again and set them both up on a spit above the fire.
“Can you show me how to do that?” a little voice asked from behind me just as I put the second bird on the fire. I turned to find Nikka behind me, a grin on her face.
“You want to learn how to cook a bird?”
“No, silly,” she replied. “I want to shoot one.”
I looked around at the number of people and calculated just how much meat each would get. Now that Ulix had taken the rabbit for his own, another bird or two wouldn’t go amiss.
I picked up the bow and handed it to her.
“Follow me.” We walked to the edge of the outcrop and looked over the precipice. I was just about to tell her to look up when a movement in the undergrowth about fifteen feet beneath us caught my eye.
“Shhh.” I pointed down just as a deer came into view.
I heard her gasp as she saw the beautiful animal below her.
Handing her an arrow, I put my arms around her and showed her how to slot it into place. I kept one hand on hers, and with another on the string, I aimed carefully and helped her pull back. Then, whispering in her ear the word “now,” we both let go of the string and watched the arrow fly right into the heart of the deer, felling it instantly.
“Well done, sugarplum,” I said to her as she squealed in excitement.
“I did it!”
“You did, sugarplum. Well done! Let's go get it.”
I held her hand as we strolled across the outcrop, passing Aaricka who was watching us intently.
“I hope you are hungry.” I winked at her as we passed. She gave me a look of curiosity but had a smile on her face as we passed; me, walking, and Nikka, skipping ahead of me. We headed back down the path once again, stopping when we reached the deer. I checked that it was dead, and giving Nikka a wink, I pulled it up onto my shoulders. It was a small deer, practically no more than a fawn, but it still weighed heavily on my shoulders. Nikka skipped back up the pathway, singing to herself as she went.
“Mommy, Mommy, look what I killed.” Nikka trilled, full of excitement. A look of astonishment came over Aaricka and the other members of the group at the sight of our kill. A couple of big men ran over to help me carry the deer to the campfire.
“That’s unbelievable! You really are a good hunter,” said Aaricka, coming over to me.
“Not me. Your daughter gets the blame for this one,” I replied, looking down at the little girl’s face filled with pride at her own achievement.
“You did this, cupcake?” she asked, bending down to give her daughter a hug.
“Yes, Mommy. Juniper helped.”
“Well, I think you should both get the first serving,” she smiled. For the first time since meeting her, she looked at ease. She was so beautiful when she didn’t look like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her dark smile made my heart flip in ways I was not in any way prepared for. Nikka ran towards the men who were now expertly skinning the deer, preparing it to put over the fire.
“It looks like we might need a bigger campfire,” I said jokingly to break the tension of what I was feeling.
“Thank you.” Aaricka looked at me, and my heart flipped over again. What was going on with me?
“You were all hungry. I just wanted to help.”
“Not just for that. I’ve not seen Nikka smile like that for months. You gave my daughter something to smile about, and I can’t thank you enough.”
“Hey, she’s a great kid. I barely had to do anything.”
“You did more than you could ever know.” She kissed me lightly on the cheek, and I knew then I was a goner. The scent of her hair, wild berries, and the warmth of her lips on my cheek sent sensations coursing through me that I had never known before. I had to close my eyes to savour the moment because it was gone almost as quickly as it started. When I opened my eyes, she had moved back to the campfire to be with her daughter. What was just a throwaway moment of thanks for her had left a mark on me that I knew would take a long time to forget, not that I wanted to forget.
It seemed that the men with the deer knew what they were doing. I watched as they got to work cutting it into small pieces to allow us all to eat that day.
As the deer would take a good while to cook, even with cutting it up into small pieces, I decided to go and hunt for some berries
or fruits to go with the meal. As part of our training under Wulfric, we were shown which berries and roots were safe to eat and which were poisonous. I’d have liked to take Nikka with me again to teach her the difference, but I could see her chatting excitedly with her Mother and knew that this was a precious time for them.
Instead, I introduced myself to a couple of the women who had hugged me earlier and asked them if they would help me.
Both Kasey and Suzy, as they introduced themselves, seemed eager to be of assistance, so I took them to where the trees were the thickest and showed them which berries to pick. Kasey was a pretty young woman in her early thirties, and I assumed Suzy to be her mother, as the older woman looked so similar to Kasey. They knew quite a bit about berries, but the ones they knew about were scarce at this time of year. I showed them which plants to dig up to use the roots and a couple of trees that had edible bark. By the time we’d washed everything in the lake and made our way back to the outcrop, both birds and some pieces of deer were already cooked. I handed the roots and bark around for people to put on their makeshift plates made out of large vine leaves. The only one who didn’t take any of the food was Aaricka.
“Why aren’t you eating?” I asked her, feeling both perplexed and protective of her at the same time, although I didn’t know why. This girl could take care of herself. “There’s enough food to go around.”
As I looked at the others tucking into the food like it was their first meal in days, which it probably was, I couldn’t understand Aaricka’s reluctance to eat.
Instead of speaking so everyone could hear, she drew in close and whispered in my ear. “I’m a tiger. I’ll eat later when everyone else goes to sleep.” She nodded at the remains of the deer that had been kept to one side.
“You’ll eat it raw?” I asked. I’d seen how fierce she was as a tiger, but I couldn’t imagine her tearing her teeth through the raw flesh of the dead deer.
She only nodded.
Dusk had come in suddenly, and the temperature had dropped considerably.
“Come on, cupcake,” said Aaricka to Nikka, picking up the sleepy child. I watched as she carried her into one of the caves, and we were all silenced as she sang a haunting lullaby, which echoed off the cave walls.
“I guess we should find you somewhere to sleep,” said Kasey, beside me as the song came to a close. I was rooted to the spot, not wanting to leave in the hope Aaricka would start the beautiful song again, but I didn’t want to appear rude, so I followed Kasey to a small cave with a bed of leaves already made up. The unicorn followed behind, not wanting to be left outside in the cold air.
“We had others here,” explained Kasey as she showed me the bed, but they decided to go back to town when they realised just how harsh it was up here. It gets very cold on a night.
“I have a blanket. Nikka can use it.” I said, remembering the one that the unicorn had on its back.
“She has plenty of blankets, don’t you worry,” Kasey said with a smile. “You should use it for yourself. You are going to need it.” She left me alone with my thoughts and the unicorn for company.
“Hey, boy,” I said, patting its head while I rooted around in the saddlebags. I found another blanket rolled up in the bottom, leaving one for him and one for me.
As I rested my head on the dry leaves that would be my bed for the night, I heard the savage noise of teeth tearing flesh and smiled. At least, Aaricka would eat tonight.
7th February
Morning dawned bringing with it a fog so dense I could barely see more than a couple of metres out of the mouth of the cave. I could hear the rustling about of activity although I couldn’t see anyone. The smell of smoke told me that someone had lit the fire again. The unicorn butted his head against me to get me to move.
“Ok, boy, I’m getting up.” The leaves made a surprisingly comfortable bed in which I would have been happy to stay if it wasn’t for the unicorn nudging me.
“Morning!” trilled a small voice I immediately recognised as Nikka’s. Her small shape appeared through the fog, and I couldn’t help but smile as she danced her way into the cave, giving a little pirouette and then a bow at the end.
“Mommy wants to see you,” she said and then pranced her way out of the cave the same way as she had come in.
I pulled the blanket from myself, grabbed the insistent unicorn’s reins, and headed into the grey fog.
“There you are.” Aaricka appeared in front of me, holding the bow and sheath of arrows I had used yesterday.
“Going hunting?” I asked casually.
“No, we are, you and me.” She thrust the bow and arrows at my chest, causing me to grab them.
“Can I at least take the unicorn down to the lake, so he can chew on some grass and have a drink?”
“No time for that. This fog is getting thick, and we need more food. There is a little of the deer left, but it won’t keep for long. When the fog rolls in, it can stay for days, so we need to stock up. I’ll ask Kasey if she’ll take him to the lake. It’s her job to collect water for us anyway.”
I didn’t want to point out that it was already way too foggy to be able to hunt. Any animal would pretty much have to walk right up to us with a target painted on its head for us to be able to shoot it. But the thought of spending time with Aaricka was enough to make me keep my mouth shut and follow her blindly.
Getting down the path to the lake was difficult enough as it was, and the thick fog did nothing to help.
Aaricka, on the other hand, was cutting through the fog at a quick pace, her feline eyesight allowing her to walk the path with ease. At the lake, we took a path that led us farther down the hill, cutting through a dense crop of trees. Keeping up with her was difficult as she moved at lightning speed.
“You need to slow down,” I wheezed, bringing my hands down to my knees to rest.
“I’m not slowing down. You’ll just have to move quicker,” she snapped back. “You are no good to me if you can’t keep up.”
Her feline eyesight and agility put me to shame, but her words challenged me. I ran a little quicker to close the distance between us.
“We have to be quick,” she explained. “It might seem like fog to us, but really, we are so high up, it might be clouds. If we go low enough, I’m hoping that we will be able to get below them. If I’m wrong, then we will all go hungry.”
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about that,” I said to her retreating back.
“About what?”
“The deer yesterday. You are a tiger. You are born to hunt prey. Why don’t you and some of the others just change into your animal form and hunt? I’m guessing that you’ll be a much better huntsman as a tiger than I am as a human.”
“That’s what you Clubs think isn’t it? That we are all savages that go around murdering each other.”
Confusion rained down on me. “I was talking about food.”
“Uh huh. And what if that deer had been a Spade. A shifter like me? If I’d have killed it, it would be the same as you killing one of your people.”
I had a feeling I was wandering onto some very rocky territory, and I wasn’t talking about the path.
“But you were happy enough to eat it when I killed it. You even let me take Nikka with me. Are you saying that you are happy for her to kill and not you?”
She turned and snarled at me. “If I didn’t need you, you wouldn’t be here.”
“But...” I held my hands up at her angry stare, while she prodded her forefinger into my chest. I knew I’d offended her, but I couldn’t quite understand why. A few of my brother Tarragon’s classes in International Relations up at Urbis University probably wouldn’t have gone amiss in my education.
“No, I don’t want Nikka to be a killer. She had to go with you because she would know in an instant whether anything you killed was actually an animal or a spade in their animal form. You got lucky with the two birds, but I couldn’t let you out with the bow and arrow on your own. You could have inadvertently
killed any one of us.”
It suddenly dawned on me that I knew absolutely nothing about shifters. The thought that I could have killed one of them without knowing filled me with horror. The thing was, I’d known that Spades can change into birds. How could I have not even considered that the two birds I killed weren’t really just birds?
“I’m sorry, I...”
“You didn’t think! Yeah, that’s obvious, but you better start thinking, buddy, because I don’t want any casualties.” She turned back towards the path, leaving me feeling empty and more than a little sick at my own actions.
“Hang on a minute. That still doesn’t explain why you don’t hunt. If you can tell the difference between an animal and a Spade, why don’t you go out as a tiger and get food for everyone?”
“Because it’s not as easy as that. In my human form, I can tell straight away between the two. Spades smell differently; they walk differently. It might be imperceptive to an outsider, but all Spades know their own kind. However, when I am a tiger, all I see is food or threat. If I hadn’t eaten well thanks to you last night, it would be dangerous for me to change into a tiger around you. I’d eat you as soon as look at you.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“I don’t want to turn into a tiger to hunt. It’s dangerous. You are here to hunt. I’m with you to tell you what you can and can’t hunt. It’s the only way to make sure that we all get fed and that no one gets hurt. I let you take Nikka hunting yesterday because we had all made a pact to stay in our human form unless there was a threat. I knew you wouldn’t hurt one of us. You, on the other hand, are so utterly absorbed in yourself that you came to the Spadelands, not even bothering to research who we are.”
I couldn’t think of a reply to her, as I knew she was right. I’d not taken the time to really think about who the Spades were.
Seven of Clubs (War and Suits Book 6) Page 4