by Livi Michael
No, she wouldn’t do that, Sam thought fiercely, brushing a tear from his eye. She would never leave without saying goodbye.
He knew he had to do something. He lifted Jenny’s lead from the hook by the door and, although his mother had told him to wait in after school until she got home and do his homework, he opened the door and ran out into the whirling storm.
13
The Task Revealed
Jenny lowered her nose to the first drop of blood.
‘The great hound seeks the mistletoe twig,’ she said, and the other dogs looked at one another, mystified. ‘He must on no account be allowed to have it, for with it he can unleash Ragnarok on the nine worlds and reign supreme.’
She paused, understanding finally why Fenrir had tried to trick her into giving him the twig. She shuddered at the thought of what would have happened had he succeeded, and the other dogs looked at her dumbly.
‘Only one other hound can defeat Fenrir,’ she said, sniffing the second drop. ‘The greatest of all hounds. The Guardian of the Darkest Way.’
‘Er – who?’ asked Boris, but Jenny didn’t answer. She knew who the Guardian of the Darkest Way was, she just didn’t know why he would be on their side, or even how they could find him. Suppressing these questions, she moved on to the third drop of blood.
‘The greatest hunter must sound his horn,’ she said, ‘to end the final battle.’
‘And who might that be?’ asked Gentleman Jim, but Jenny only moved on to the next drop.
‘He shines above three worlds, but his soul is in a place far below,’ she said, and paused for a moment, perplexed. The message was getting more mysterious, if anything.
‘What’s she talking about?’ Boris wanted to know, but Checkers hushed him.
‘His soul must be released,’ said Jenny, sniffing the next drop.
‘Er – how?’ whispered Flo, but Gentleman Jim nudged her warningly.
‘The Guardian of the Darkest Way will not come willingly,’ she added after examining the sixth drop of blood. ‘He must be fought, if necessary, and brought from his lair. So that the soul of the hunter can be released.’
‘A fight – hooray!’ said Checkers, but no one else spoke.
Jenny trembled. She dared not think about fighting the Guardian of the Darkest Way. There was nothing for it but to press on with the message.
‘The great wolves must be kept at bay until the hunter returns,’ she said, after sniffing the seventh drop. ‘So that they do not swallow the sun and moon.’
She shook herself lightly, so that the others wouldn’t see how scared she was. This was getting worse and worse.
‘Only the Thread of Destiny can restrain the great wolves,’ she said, touching the next drop with her nose. She paused for a moment, deep in thought.
‘Well, go on, then,’ said Checkers, bounding round them all. ‘What’s next?’
‘The mistletoe dart must be returned,’ said Jenny, and she looked up.
There was a short silence.
‘Er – it doesn’t say how we’re supposed to do all this, does it?’ asked Gentleman Jim.
Jenny went back along the nine drops of blood. She sniffed for a long time, so that Checkers nearly burst with impatience.
‘Each of you will have to enter the void,’ she said finally. ‘Follow the Dog Star. It will take you on your separate journeys.’ She looked up to see blank expressions on the faces of her five friends. ‘That’s all,’ she said.
‘Oh, right,’ said Gentleman Jim. ‘Er – you do know that none of that made sense, don’t you?’
Checkers looked ready to bound off straight away, then he paused and said, ‘Void?’
‘Fimbulwinter?’ said Boris, who was still trying hard to keep up.
And Gentleman Jim said, ‘It doesn’t make sense. What does it all mean? What are the nine worlds?’
But Jenny shook her head. ‘I do not know them,’ she said. ‘I only know my world and yours. Each of the worlds has its own gods. Mine has the ancient gods Odin and Freya and Thor. This hunter, whoever he is, must belong to a different world, with different gods, but I do not know which one.’
‘Oh, well then,’ said Flo, who was suffering from the cold now and was anxious to get back home. ‘We can’t go there unless we know where it is, can we? And we don’t, because, as Gentleman Jim says, the message doesn’t make sense -’
‘It does make sense,’ said Jenny. ‘I have to return the mistletoe dart.’
‘Yes, but how?’ said Flo. ‘I vote we all go home and think about it after tea.’
‘Some of us don’t have homes to go to,’ said Gentleman Jim, looking very sad, and briefly he told them about monstrous Maureen.
Then Checkers said he wouldn’t be in a hurry to get back either, and told them about John, who had turned into a raving lunatic just because Checkers had eaten a bit of paper. And Boris said he didn’t care where he went, so long as it wasn’t back to the dogs’ home.
‘Well, some of us do have homes to go to,’ Flo said, a little desperately. ‘Pico? Your mum must be missing you by now.’
Pico seemed sunk in a reverie. ‘I don’t know,’ he said in a distant tone. ‘I always wondered when my time would come to travel to far horizons. And I think this may be it.’
Flo shook herself to get rid of the snow. ‘You’re mad, all of you,’ she said. ‘All this talk about wolves and gods and strange messages in the snow. I know what that message means. It means we should all go home and have a good night’s sleep.’
Just then, a terrible howling filled the air, above the howling of the storm. It was a howl of desolation, destruction and ravening hunger. If the end of the world could be put into a howl, it would sound like this one. All who heard it felt they had gone temporarily insane. Flo shrieked and tried to hide, rather unsuccessfully, behind Pico, and all Checkers’s hair stood on end, so he looked like an enormous toilet brush.
‘What – was – that?’ gasped Gentleman Jim.
Jenny stood her ground, though her bones were rattling with fear. ‘Fenrir,’ she said.
Fearfully, the dogs followed the direction of her gaze. They could all see that the great wolf-clouds were nearer to the sun and moon now. They seemed to be travelling slowly, which was a good thing, but not if you considered that they were actually covering immeasurable distances of time and space. Exactly between them, on the far horizon, they could see a dark speck, growing bigger.
‘He has burst his bonds,’ Jenny said in despair. ‘Nothing can stop him now. He has roused the great wolves and he is coming here.’
Checkers ran forward immediately, barking for all he was worth.
‘Here?’ squeaked Flo. ‘Whatever for?’
‘For the mistletoe dart,’ Jenny said. ‘Were you not listening?’
‘Oh,’ said Flo. ‘Well – that’s all right, then – you could just give it to him – you know. It’s got to be returned anyway, hasn’t it?’
Her voice rose in panic, but Jenny shook her head impatiently. ‘I cannot return it to Fenrir,’ she said, ‘for with it he will bring chaos and destruction to all the nine worlds and reign supreme. As I said.’
‘Oh, well, now you’re being picky,’ Flo said, gabbling a little. ‘Just get rid of the thing and we can all go home.’
‘No,’ said Gentleman Jim, looking considerably shaken. ‘No, I don’t think that’s how it works, is it?’
Jenny’s eyes were dark with despair. ‘Ragnarok is already coming to this world,’ she said. ‘Unless we do as the mistletoe tells us, all the worlds will be destroyed. We have to find the greatest hunter of all and release his soul, so that he can blow his horn and prevent it.’
All the dogs fell into an appalled silence as they began to realize what this might mean.
‘Well, I for one will not stand for it,’ said Pico. ‘I shall keep the great wolves at bay until the hunter returns.’
‘Pico,’ said Gentleman Jim, ‘you are a miniature Chihuahua.’
Pico bri
stled all over, which made him look a tiny bit bigger. ‘You heard the prophecy,’ he said earnestly to Gentleman Jim. ‘We cannot just stand by and let some demented canine unleash the forces of destruction on the earth!’
‘But how are we going to stop him?’ said Gentleman Jim.
‘Discretion is the better part of valour,’ said Flo.
‘I’m with Pico,’ said Checkers unexpectedly. ‘This is our earth and we love it. Who has not smelled the scent of rabbits at dawn or followed the trail of a hare? Who has not experienced all the rich, tangled scents of a wood in the rain? We’re not just going to let some howling beast come along and take all that from us! What are we – dogs or cats? If there’s a battle to be fought, I’m your dog! I’m with Pico – and Boris is with me – aren’t you, Boris?’
‘I – expect so,’ said Boris dubiously. ‘But I still don’t understand what we have to do.’
Jenny looked upwards, but she could see only the frightful sight of the wolf-clouds, and the black speck that was Fenrir growing steadily larger. She closed her eyes briefly.
‘We must each claim the quest that is our own,’ she said, opening them again, ‘and follow the Dog Star in our hearts, and it will take us where we need to go.’
‘Will do,’ said Checkers, bounding off. Then he bounded back again. ‘Er – what is the Dog Star exactly?’
‘The Dog Star is Sirius,’ said Jenny. ‘But I do not think it can be seen in this storm.’
‘No,’ said Flo, more cheerfully. ‘And we can’t do anything without that, can we? So I vote we all go home and –’
‘YEEEEAAAAAWWWOOOOOHHH!’ howled Fenrir again.
Flo fell to the ground, gibbering in fear. Checkers bolted backwards into a thorn bush, then barked like a lunatic at all the prickles. Gentleman Jim’s knees gave way and he crashed heavily into Boris, who simply stood, stunned. Only Pico barked back at the great wolf.
‘WOOF!’ he said.
Jenny trembled and shook until the blast of the howl subsided. Already the black speck in the distance seemed wolf-like in shape.
The task seemed too terrible to inflict on her friends, but Checkers said, ‘Well – there’s six of us and only one of him!’
‘What about those other wolves?’ said Flo, and they all glanced upwards towards the galloping wolf-clouds.
‘Look,’ said Gentleman Jim. ‘What exactly are we meant to do?’
Jenny sighed. ‘The Dog Star will show us,’ she said. ‘Gentleman Jim, you are a hunting dog. I imagine that it is your destiny to find the great hunter. And Pico must travel with you, to fulfil his own destiny.’
‘WOOF!’ said Pico, happy to be given something to do.
‘Checkers, you are a natural warrior. Only you can fight the Guardian of the Darkest Way. The path is full of dangers. Will you try?’
‘Just watch me!’ said Checkers, emerging finally from the thorn bush, with at least half of it still in his pelt. ‘Let me get at him!’
‘Boris will go with you, for it is too dangerous to travel alone, and he will be your guardian. Boris, will you accept this task?’
‘Er -’ said Boris, but Checkers said, ‘Of course he will!’
‘It is very important that you all accept your tasks,’ said Jenny, and everyone looked at Flo.
‘That leaves someone to hold off the great wolves, Skoll and Hati,’ Gentleman Jim observed, while Flo wondered frantically what excuse she could possibly make.
‘Does it?’ she said, since he seemed to expect her to say something.
‘And restrain them with the Thread of Destiny.’
‘Whatever that is,’ said Flo.
‘Flo,’ said Jenny, ‘will you accept this task?’
‘Me?’ said Flo, stepping backwards. ‘Good heavens – no. You said I was wise, not brave,’ she added accusingly.
‘It is your wisdom you will need. There is no point trying to fight the great wolves -’
‘Good,’ said Flo. ‘Because I wasn’t planning to.’
‘You must outwit them.’
‘I don’t want to outwit them,’ said Flo. ‘I don’t want to do anything with them. I want to go home!’
The last bit came out in a kind of yelp. Jenny just looked at her, her head on one side.
‘Definitely not,’ said Flo. ‘I don’t even know what the Thread of Destiny is!’
‘Flo,’ said Jenny, ‘only you can do this.’
All the dogs looked at Flo. She looked back at them. It was a solemn moment – the kind of moment in which she should have said, ‘Very well, then, I will,’ in an impressive kind of way. Flo could feel that it was that kind of moment. She licked her lips.
‘I can’t,’ she said. She could see the disappointment in their eyes and began to babble. ‘I’ll have to get back,’ she said. ‘My owner will be wondering where I’ve got to. Or else she’ll forget and lock the door. And I can’t be locked out – not in this weather. Really, you should all get back too.’
They all continued to look at her.
‘I can’t do it,’ she went on. ‘It’s not fair. It’s really not my kind of thing at all. I never said I was brave,’ she finished lamely.
All the time she was talking, she was backing away, and the others watched her solemnly. Then Gentleman Jim turned to Jenny.
‘What happens if one of us does not accept the task?’ he asked.
‘Then the quest will surely fail,’ said Jenny. ‘We will go to certain death. And the world will end.’
‘I thought so,’ said Gentleman Jim.
There was a short, depressed silence, then Pico raised his head.
‘But we have to try,’ he said to Jenny. ‘Don’t we?’
And Jenny smiled, looking down at him.
‘Yes, Pico,’ she said. ‘We have to try.’
‘There are still five of us,’ Pico said. ‘Together we will fight the Hound of Destruction and save the world!’
Flo felt horrible. She turned her back on them all and slunk away, gradually gaining speed.
‘I didn’t ask to be given a quest,’ she muttered to herself. ‘It’s all right for them – they’ve not got homes to go to any more. Except for Pico – and he’s always wanted to travel. I don’t want to travel, and I’ve got a perfectly good home, with a nice fire and food and a good bed.’
She had forgotten for the moment about Henry, but even if she had remembered, he would have faded into insignificance in her mind, compared to the appalling task Jenny had tried to give her.
‘Wolves devouring the sun and moon indeed,’ she muttered to herself, gaining speed. ‘Why would anyone in their right minds take on a dangerous quest? At this time of night and in this weather.’
For now indeed the storm was building up.
14
The Chapter of Being Lost in a Storm
‘There is not much time,’ said Jenny, raising her voice above the storm. ‘Dear friends, we must separate. I will go north. I do not know where you have to go ’ She looked at them anxiously for a moment. Checkers seemed alert and ready for anything, Pico determined, and Gentleman Jim very serious. Boris wagged his tail hopefully. Any minute now, he thought, he would start to understand. Jenny sighed. She did not know what dangers lay ahead for them. She could only hope that they would all make it back.
‘Hold the image of the Dog Star in your hearts,’ she said. ‘The brightest star you can imagine, it will take you where you need to go. When you come to the end of the storm, the void will be there.’ She paused again. Already the snow was so thick that she could hardly see them. ‘I must go,’ she said. ‘I will keep you all in my heart. I hope and trust that we will meet again. Farewell.’ Without another word, she turned and walked into the storm.
The others watched her go, a small white dog in the swirling whiteness of snow, then a dark shadow, then nothing.
‘Good luck,’ called Checkers.
‘Take care,’ said Gentleman Jim.
‘Where’s she going?’ asked Boris.
O
nly Pico trotted after Jenny for a few paces, sniffing anxiously, before turning round.
‘She should not go alone,’ he said.
‘She must,’ said Gentleman Jim. ‘And we must go too.’
‘Off we go, then!’ cried Checkers, pelting back. ‘Come on, Boris!’
‘I don’t think –’ said Boris.
‘No, don’t think,’ said Checkers. ‘Whatever you do, don’t think. Follow me!’
Boris looked round, baffled, for a moment at Gentleman Jim and Pico, then gave up and trotted after Checkers.
Gentleman Jim looked down at Pico, who was once again practically covered in snow. They were the only two left on the croft.
‘Well, little fellow,’ said Gentleman Jim, ‘it looks as though it’s just you and me.’
Pico shook the snow off. He had no idea where they were going, or what they were about to do, but this was his first taste of freedom and he was in no hurry to give it up, despite the bitter cold that was rattling his bones.
‘Why don’t you climb up on my shoulders?’ said Gentleman Jim.
Pico was about to protest, when the wind blew a flurry of snow right over him. He was completely submerged and Gentleman Jim had to nudge him out.
‘Come on, climb up,’ the great hound said.
Pico was so cold he could hardly speak. His teeth were chattering. He clambered on to Gentleman Jim’s back and clutched his collar, trying unsuccessfully to see between the big dog’s ears. Soon he was raised, rather unsteadily, to a dizzying height, as Gentleman Jim began to plod through the storm.
‘I – I don’t know where we’re going, do you?’ he managed to say.
‘Nope,’ said Gentleman Jim.
It wasn’t the most encouraging reply, but Pico kept his mouth shut, because every time he opened it, snow whirled inside. And some of the snow was hard, like little pellets of ice. It whipped about his ears and into his eyes, so he shut them as well. Instantly he could see the glimmering of a star. It winked and disappeared, then reappeared again. Pico opened his eyes, and all he could see was the swirling snow, then he shut them again. There the star was, clearer and brighter this time, over to the east. He clutched at the folds of Gentleman Jim’s neck in excitement.