by Lola Swain
“People thought of it as a leper colony?”
“Yep,” Anthony said and smiled as we walked down the dock toward our swan boat. “So there are more instances of wildlife around the Battleroy than any other area and our dogs protect the grounds from that.”
“How do the animals, the alive kind, see our wolves when people, the alive kind, can’t?”
“Gee, I don’t know, Sophia,” Anthony said and helped me into the swan boat. “Can’t say that I’ve ever had a conversation with a bear or coyote to find out why they can see our dogs.”
“I suppose not,” I said and smiled. “So they adhere to the same rules as we do? They can’t go off the grounds?”
“They don’t go off the grounds, if that’s what you’re asking. No one does.”
“Yes, that’s my dilemma, what I’m trying to figure out,” I said and stared at the hotel as Anthony rowed us back. “I can’t believe I hit that poor thing in the face.”
“You sure were scared, huh?” Anthony said and smiled.
“Yes, terrified.”
“But not anymore?”
“Nope, not anymore,” I said. “But when I first saw them…holy cow.”
“I should have told you before about the presents,” Anthony said. “That may have not made you so afraid.”
“What presents?”
“Sometimes, like they did with you, they’ll give gifts to the animals on the other side when they’re guarding the perimeter.”
“What, like mittens and toasters?”
“No, like groundhogs or birds or even frogs, you know, whatever they kill on the grounds,” Anthony said and looked at the sky. “They push whatever they’ve killed with their noses just over the line so the other animals can snatch them. The moon is so big, it’s mesmerizing.”
“Huge,” I said and looked into the full moon. “You should find May Gaspar and invite her to sit and watch the moon with you tonight.”
“I couldn’t,” Anthony said and stared at me. “I told you why.”
“Yes, you told me why Anthony couldn’t ask May Gaspar out, but I bet Tony could definitely ask May Gaspar to come sit with him under the moon.”
“Do you really think she’ll say yes, Sophia? I mean, I’ll d-i-e if she laughs at me.”
“First of all you can’t d-i-e if you’re already dead,” I said as Anthony rowed us to the dock. “Second, she may laugh at Anthony, but May Gaspar would never laugh at Tony. It’s a mindset.”
“What should I do?” Anthony said as he tied the boat to the dock.
“Just act confident, as if you don’t have a care in the world…arrogant,” I said and got out of the boat.
“Like James?” Anthony said.
“Yes, like James,” I said and laughed. “Or even James Dean. If you act like James Dean, people will treat you like James Dean.”
“Sophia,” Anthony said as we walked back toward the hotel, “James Dean died in a fiery crash while driving a cool car. I died because I ate twenty-four poisoned baked potatoes and choked on my own throw up.”
“What does that have to do with anything? Look, just go up to May, cool as a cucumber and say: ‘Hey May, wanna go gaze at the moon?’ Just like that. Oh, and lean up against something when you say it.”
“I don’t think I’m cool like that, Sophia.”
“Sure you are. You are Tony, caretaker of a pack of warrior wolves from the Underworld! What the hell is cooler than that?”
“And if you find everything as soon as you look for it, you find it in vain, you look for it in vain.”
Antonio Porchia
“Well, well, if it isn’t Joe Hardy and Nancy Drew,” James said as Anthony and I walked into the library. “How were the hounds of hell?”
“Cute,” I said. “What are you up to?”
“Oh, just a little reading,” he said.
“I don’t think he likes me,” Anthony said into my ear and cocked his head toward James.
“Of course he does,” I said and gave James a dirty look. “I just think he may feel a little jealous of Tony.”
Anthony looked down at his feet and his face turned a brilliant red. He looked at me and smiled.
“Don’t worry, Sophia,” Anthony said. “I will handle this.”
“There isn’t a problem, Tony,” I said and grabbed Anthony’s arm.
“Tony?” James said.
“I think that—” I said.
Anthony held his hand up to my face and pressed his finger against my lips.
“Shhh, it’s okay, Sophia,” Anthony said. “Tony will handle this.”
“Okay, go ahead,” I said through Anthony’s fingers.
“My good man,” Anthony said and walked toward James with his arm extended, “I mean you no disrespect and want you to know that I am not here to intrude on your territory.”
“Uh…thanks?” James said and looked at me and shrugged.
I nodded at James.
“Please,” Anthony said and grabbed James’ hand, “a gentlemen’s handshake. I want you to know that I only have the utmost respect for Sophia and for you. Sophia loves you and has no interest in me.”
“Well, thank you for saying so, Anthony,” James said and bit back the beginning of a smile.
“You are welcome. I just wanted to clear the air, mano-a-mano. That means, hand to hand,” Anthony said and held his hands up and pressed his palms together.
“Yes, I’m aware,” James said and cleared his throat.
“You see,” Anthony said and turned around to face me and put his arm around James’ shoulder, “Sophia is my friend.”
“I can appreciate that,” James said. “I suppose I did feel threatened.”
“Ah,” Anthony said and nodded, “I knew it. Things are purely platonic between us. I don’t want to overstep since you and I now have an understanding, but I hope you know, I will defend her to the end.”
“Now I know, Anthony,” James said and smiled.
“Feel free to call me Tony,” Anthony said and walked to the door. “Now, I must say goodnight. I need to find May Gaspar and ask if she will watch the moon with me. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Tony,” I said and sat down at the conference table. “Come by tomorrow.”
“That was certainly interesting,” James said as Anthony walked out of the library.
“Lower your voice please,” I said and flipped through Alexander Battle’s diary. “Tony is sensitive.”
“What’s all this Tony shit?” James said and sat down opposite me.
“Why?” I said and stared at him. “Are you jealous?”
“Jealous? You cannot be serious. I am me, after all.”
“Lord, James, your arrogance is nauseating,” I said and closed Alexander’s diary.
“Lord, Sophia,” James said, “my arrogance is one of the things you love most about me.”
“Can we just drop it?”
“Of course, butterfly,” James smiled and dragged Alexander’s diary across the table toward him. “So, what did you think of the Fairy Tale Island?”
“Well, it certainly was fairy taley,” I said and flipped through the Liber Juratus. “You know, I wish they would have at the very least translated these books for modern readers.”
“And the dogs,” James said, “what did you think?”
“Dogs? You mean wolves, don’t you?”
“Yes, wolves.”
“God, I was fucking terrified. But then when they showed themselves and I showed myself, I fell in love, really. Look, they gave me a present,” I said and pulled the bone out of my pocket and put it on the table.
“Yum,” James said and flicked the bone across the table. “Yes, we are blessed with very altruistic, vicious wolves.”
“Anthony told me that they push the present over and coyotes or other wolves on the other side come and snatch it away. I wish I knew that first night that they were there to protect me and not kill me,” I said.
“What would you have done differe
ntly?”
“I’m not sure that I would have done anything differently, but maybe I wouldn’t have been so scared.”
“Seems impossible not to be scared that first night though. It’s a pretty scary event.”
“Yes. You know, Anthony told me that he saw May Gaspar before he died, just like I saw you. Even though there is still life, death is imminent so we’re able to see others even though we’re not yet others.”
“It is a pattern,” James said.
“It indicates to me that once set in motion, the plan can’t be stopped.”
“It is what it is,” he said.
“So, why’d you try to stop me?” I said.
“Well, I didn’t try that hard, did I?”
“You were pretty persistent.”
“But you’re here, so it seems my plan to thwart your death didn’t work.”
“Have you tried to intervene before?”
“Nope,” he said.
“Then why me?”
“I don’t know, Sophia. What do you want me to say?”
“I want you to tell me why you bothered.”
“Sophia…”
“Come on, James. Can’t you for once be honest with me?”
“For once? When have I not been honest with you?”
“Just tell me why you tried to stop me.”
“I was in the rose garden when you pulled up with him and I watched you. You seemed so sad and I felt sorry for you. I didn’t want you to experience any more pain. Okay, happy? Let’s go eat.”
“But you took a huge risk. It’s against the Law to interfere. And that kiss…”
“Yes, that kiss,” he said and frowned. “I didn’t try as hard after that kiss. I sat outside the door to your suite while it was happening and I wished for you that it would be over soon.”
“You could have intervened then.”
“I didn’t want to intervene then, I just hoped for a quick death for you.”
“Aw, you couldn’t live without me.”
“I could live without you, Sophia.”
“Oh, that’s nice. Well, if that’s the case then you should have tried harder.”
“You didn’t let me finish.”
“Finish what…insulting me? No, thank you. Let’s just drop it.”
“Let me finish what I was saying!”
“Lower your voice. Okay, finish.”
“I had a change of heart. A…fuck, I don’t know, an internal struggle. I could live without you, Sophia. But after that kiss, I didn’t want to live without you.”
“I should have let you finish,” I said and spun the bone on the table.
“Yes, that’s a problem. So quick to judge.”
“I’m sorry. But it’s not like I ever know what you’re thinking.”
“Because they’re my thoughts, perhaps? We don’t have to know what one another is thinking to be close, Sophia.”
“I don’t want to live in your head. I just would sometimes like to know what you’re thinking. What you think about—”
“You?”
“Now who’s interrupting?”
“Is that what you were going to say?”
“Yes. I don’t feel very close to you sometimes and that makes me sad. Before our adventure tonight, Anthony and I only spoke to each other a handful of times. I always only thought of him as the kid who died from the poisoned baked potatoes.”
“He is the kid who died from the poisoned baked potatoes.”
“Right, however, tonight I learned he’s so much more than that. We played Secrets.”
“What the fuck is Secrets?”
“I can’t tell you that. The point is we shared things about each other that caused us to feel differently about each other. And now, to me, Anthony is no longer just the kid who died from the poisoned baked potatoes.”
“So, you want more of me? Impossible, you are,” James said and ran his fingers through his hair.
“You asked.”
James stared at me and sighed. He picked up the bone and pointed it at me.
“Grab the other end of the bone,” he said. “If you can snatch it out of my hand, I’ll tell you a secret “
“I’ll take that challenge,” I said and stood up.
James stood and I grabbed the end of the bone.
“Wait, this isn’t fair. I have the side with the meat.”
“Fine,” he said and turned the bone around.
I gripped the bone and planted my feet into the floor.
“Okay…go!” he said.
James quickly yanked my end of the bone out of my hand.
“I won the prize,” he said and sat down at the table. “Now, you tell me a secret.”
“The bone was slippery,” I said and wiped my hand on my dress. “Okay, a secret about me…”
“Sit down. I’m asking the questions,” James said.
“Wait, we didn’t work that out before so it’s not fair. You never said that the winner gets to ask the loser whatever they want.”
“So, write to the Governor about the injustice. I want to know why you married him.”
“I told you before they killed me. I was jealous of the relationship he had with Nellie and I wanted to show her that I was better.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“You’re not a woman.”
“But why him? Surely you could have found a million men in Boston.”
“Because he was the closest and it seemed the easiest.”
“What did your parents do to you?” he said.
“That’s two secrets and not part of the deal.”
“There is no deal.”
“Well, that’s my deal. Let’s go again,” I said and picked up the bone.
“Okay, big time,” James said and grabbed the bone. “Get ready to tell another secret.”
We each gripped the ends of the bone and pulled against one another. I directed all my strength into that bone and pulled with everything inside me. I was determined to win a secret from James.
“Oh, you’re upping your game, huh?” James said as he struggled with the bone.
“I am going to win, you wimp,” I said and bore down and yanked. “I feel like a wolf struggling to pull a piece of meat out of a squirrel’s mouth.”
“You’re the squirrel!” James said.
“Fuck you, I am the wolf. You are the squirrel!”
“You best watch out, I’m going to pull you to the other side. Then, I will tear your ass apart,” James said and yanked hard on the bone.
And then it came.
“James!” I said and released the bone.
James flew back, took out the suit of armor in the corner of the library and slid across the wood floor on his ass.
“What the fuck, Sophia?
“I just thought—”
“You owe me a secret now!”
“Fine, okay. Listen—”
“No, two secrets!”
I pulled James off the floor and dragged him over to the couch.
“Sit down and listen to me, please? I figured it out…Brandt and Nellie. I cannot believe how simple it is.”
“Tell me,” he said.
“The wolves. I’ll use the wolves.”
“Baby doll, it won’t matter,” he said and pulled me beside him. “The wolves are a part of our world. Even if the wolves do your dirty work, the effect will be the same.”
“No, you don’t understand. I know—”
“It doesn’t matter who does it, if it’s done by any of us, Brandt and Nellie will stay.”
“No, but—”
“I know that it’s disappointing.”
“Would you shut the fuck up and let me finish!”
“Wow,” he said and shook his head.
“Please?”
“Go ahead.”
“I know they can’t kill them, but they can bring them to the line.”
“Yeah and so can we. That’s what I was attempting to get at before I was int
errupted. Rude, by the way.”
“You don’t get it. The wolves bring gifts, offerings to the other animals. The other animals are attracted to the wolves and those gifts. The wolves push the gifts over the line with their noses. Anthony says there are wolves and coyotes and even a black bear or two. This area more than any other because of the woods. Brandt and Nellie are the offering, James!”
“The wolves push them over the line,” James said.
“Yes! And the other animals, the animals the wolves summon, tear their asses apart.”
“Sophia, this could—”
“Tell me it will work.”
“Work.”
“I have to work out the confession though. I mean, I want them dead, of course, but I also need to think of Bobby Allen.”
“We need to plan it out,” James said and squeezed my knee.
“Adelaide?”
“Yes.”
“Will you come with me? I think I pissed her off last time.”
James and I went to Adelaide as the sun rose and I woke her again.
“Twice in twenty-four hours? And I see you brought back up. Lucky me,” Adelaide said as her face cracked.
“Adelaide, Sophia has a plan and wants to run it by you,” James said and hopped up on the alter.
“Make it fast, Sophia,” she said.
I told Adelaide of my idea and included as many details as possible.
“So, what do you think?” I said and flicked a leaf off her shoulder.
“I think that there are a few variables that you haven’t thought of,” she said.
“Such as?”
“Such as, what if the wolves kill their victims before they get them to the line?”
“They’ll be instructed not to,” I said.
“Instructed? They’re not schoolchildren, Sophia. They are wild beasts.”
“Anthony says they are here to do our bidding,” I said.
“True, but they can be…unpredictable. You put fresh meat in their mouths, they may not be able to resist the urge to bite.”
“They won’t without the command,” I said. “Besides, I will make sure they’re well fed. What else?”
“Well, you’re counting on the presence of vicious animals on the other side capable of doing their bidding. You have one night, one shot to get this right. What if, at that moment, only a few pigeons and maybe a frog show up at the line?”