He sniffed his way for about ten minutes. The sun was rising now, but it looked strange through the fog; a weak, yellow circle in the middle of the white. Nearly there, he said to himself. He reached a small patch of dirt close to the edge of the lake.
There – I have it! He buried his snout in the dirt. Ah, that smells delightful. He used his front legs to dig in the soft dirt – success! One, two, three... he dug out nine from the ground. Then he changed back into human form and put the precious truffles into his basket and walked back to P.A.W.S., whistling a happy tune to himself. It was going to be a great Thanksgiving!
Trailing behind Hugo, using the fog for cover, was a lone wolf. He observed Hugo as he reached the tree, and then he disappeared into the fog.
At breakfast, Hugo recruited a group of students to help in the kitchen with the feast. As well as Miri, who often helped out and seemed to truly enjoy cooking, he had Sandy, Tessa, Mandy, and Joey. Joey was particularly enthusiastic and set about making a cranberry sauce by jumping up and down on the cranberries in kangaroo form. When the sauce was complete, Hugo suggested that maybe Joey should go and take a shower before the Thanksgiving feast.
The rest of the volunteers started laying out the tables in the dining room with all the wondrous side dishes that Hugo had created: crescent rolls, salads, casseroles, vegetables, sweet potatoes, seven different kinds of stuffing, pastas, grains, and of course, Joey’s cranberry sauce.
On the dessert table Miri counted twelve different kinds of pie. She smiled to herself. So Hugo had managed to save some of these for the feast. It had seemed, when Miri was helping Hugo, he would often be helping himself to yet another slice of pie, “just to check that it’s okay!”
Finally, just as Jessamyn was walking into the room, Hugo brought out a huge turkey. Jessamyn was glowing. Today she was wearing a green gown that matched her eyes and that Miri swore gave off an aroma of pine needles.
Jessamyn raised her silver scepter, and instantly there was silence in the room. She chanted a few words in the strange lilting language she always used for spells:
Lig dúinn a cheiliúradh, a mhaisiú, a bheith joyful agus buíoch.
Danny had explained it was Gaelic; that Jessamyn, hailing from Ireland, preferred to intone her spells in Irish Gaelic, and that magicians around the world used various local ancient languages in their magic.
Instantly the room was embellished with autumnal decorations, including pretty wreathes and leaves in a myriad of different colors, and all around the perimeter of the room were jack-o’-lanterns, each with an exquisite picture carved in it. When Miri peered more closely at the pumpkins, she noticed that many of them were carved with the shapes of the animals that were currently residing in P.A.W.S. She smiled when she recognized one jack-o’-lantern that seemed to be carved with the likenesses of her and Danny in their feline forms.
In the next twenty minutes or so, all of the P.A.W.S. students and staff drifted into the dining hall in ones and twos. Everyone who entered stopped and admired the decorations and gazed hungrily at Hugo’s generous spread.
Eventually they all found their places and the feast began.
Mandy sat next to Josh. Despite that, she still felt a little sad. Normally on Thanksgiving, when she was at Saul Emmanuel, she would have left the school and gone back home to her family for the holiday. She wondered what the academy had told her family about her disappearance. Did they think she had run away... or worse? Josh had explained that in a few months she might be able to go and visit them, but for now it was simply too dangerous.
Miri, on the other hand, was having a wonderful time. She had hated Thanksgiving with her uncle and aunt, who had been obliged to take her over the holiday, as even the staff at Saul Emmanuel needed a few days off now and then. But today, for the first time since her omama had died, Miri felt she had a family.
Each day Miri felt better able to control her power. Most of the feelings around her tonight were warm and positive, except for Mandy’s sadness. She wished there was a way she could use her power to help Mandy somehow. She wondered if it might be possible to send her some of the positive feelings of the other folks in the room.
She decided to try an experiment. She focused on Josh. His emotions were full of concern for Mandy. He truly wanted her to feel better. It wasn’t quite love yet, she could feel that, but it was something close. What if she took that concern and magnified it? Could she send it back to Mandy instead of Josh? She tried; she sampled a little of Josh’s emotion, magnified it, and focused on Mandy – send. Did it work? Yes! Mandy was smiling at Josh. It was clear she didn’t know exactly what had just happened, but she could feel it.
Miri smiled also and retreated back behind the mental shield that Jessamyn had helped her construct. She was getting better at this. Time for some more of Hugo’s pumpkin pie, she thought. She finished her pie and decided to take a piece up to her mother. Nora has been gaining strength every day, and they had begun to talk, filling in the missing years. It was still not clear if Nora would ultimately survive her attack. The wounds inflicted on her by Alistair and his pack were extremely serious, and Mrs. Bumsqueak’s potions did not fully relieve her pain. Miri suspected there were internal injuries and often wondered if Nora would be better off in a hospital, but neither Nora nor Jessamyn wanted this.
Even on Thanksgiving eve, Josh and Danny were going out on patrol. Strange wolves had been seen in the park more and more frequently, though so far neither the zoo pack nor any of the P.A.W.S. members had been able to talk to them.
Jessamyn had been trying to scry Alistair’s whereabouts without success. She feared he had co-opted a magician into his pack who was blocking her spell and maybe was trying to penetrate the wards around P.A.W.S.
Still Miri was happy as she went to check on Nora. She had a home. She had friends. She had Danny. This Thanksgiving she had a lot to be thankful for.
Chapter 38
The pumpkin pie was good. Nora took very small bites, as it still hurt to swallow. Miri told Nora all about their Thanksgiving feast. It sounded wondrous. Miri wished Nora could have been there, but she was still too weak to do anything much more than go to the bathroom, and that with the help of Mrs. Bumsqueak.
Nora looked at her daughter, at her long, dark hair and blue eyes. Does she look like her? Maybe a little. But what’s unnerving is that she could see her father’s features in her face. Nora knew she needed to tell her. Miri deserved to know who her father was, if only to be prepared when he came for her. Because Nora was sure he was going to come. He wanted her charm. By now he must know that Nora had returned it.
Nora wondered if Alistair knew she was still alive or if he thought he had left her dead in that playground. Maybe it would have been better if she had died. He had a magician working for him. Nora had seen the magician working magic with this big silver bowl and silver wand, and she knew he helped Alistair keep tabs on his pack. She knew that was how Alistair got her back the other times she had tried to run away.
She had told Miri about the magician, but Miri had said not to worry about that, as there were protective wards around P.A.W.S., that Alistair could not get in here. But she didn’t know how important getting in here was for Alistair; didn’t know that she was his daughter.
Tell her, Nora. Tell her before it’s too late.
***
“What’s wrong, Nora?” Miri still couldn’t bring herself to call her “Mom.” This woman had been a stranger her whole life. You couldn’t change that overnight. Yet she could sense waves of trepidation flowing from Nora at that moment. Carefully, Miri took the emotion and tried to analyze it, careful not to amplify it. She used her power to sense other close emotions. The only other person nearby was Mrs. Bumsqueak. Zamir had the evening off. Mrs. Bumsqueak emanated calmness, whatever the situation. Miri drew on that and tried to send the calming waves to her mother.
“I have to tell you something, Miri – something important. It’s about Alistair. You have to remember that
I was very young when I first met him.”
And there it was, what she had been trying to tell Miri but couldn’t before, that Alistair was Miri’s father.
No, that couldn’t be true! How could that monster be her father? The monster that had attacked Josh when he was only nine years old. The monster who had turned Mandy. How, how did this woman let that happen? Why didn’t she run?
But there was more. It was worse than Miri could possibly imagine. Nora told her about her sister, who had only lived a few minutes before she was murdered and eaten by Alistair. How she was terrified that the same thing would happen to Miri, and so she left her in the soft blue shawl with Omama. Now Miri understood. All those years she had thought Nora had abandoned her, when instead, she had saved her life.
“I’m sorry, Miri. I never should have taken your charm, but I was so scared, and Alistair said he would marry me if I wore the charm.”
“Marry you?” Miri didn’t understand. “Why? Why would you want to marry him? He’s a monster.”
“He’s very persuasive, Miri. From the beginning, Miri, I loved him. And later, even when he beat me, even when he killed my first little girl, still I loved him. I knew I shouldn’t have, I knew I should have hated him, but I didn’t and still don’t – even now! I’m scared, Miri. I’m scared that one of these days he’ll walk through that door, and I’ll run back into his arms. I should have died that night in the playground. It would have been better. By living and being brought here, I’ve put you in terrible danger.”
“But why? Why did you return my amulet, Nora? Why didn’t you just wear it?”
“I tried to,” she explained. She pulled down the front of her shirt and exposed the spot just under her throat. There was an image of a cat etched into her skin. Miri recognized the cat instantly. It was her cat, the one from her charm.
“It burnt me, Miri, and Alistair was very angry with me for removing it. He was sure that if I just left it on my skin, I would be able to transform, but I couldn’t do it. It hurt too much.”
“But why return it to me? Why not just leave it with Alistair if you loved him?”
“I had a dream, Miri. I know it sounds stupid, but in my dream two cats talked to me, and it felt like they were Mama and Papa. They told me to return it. And when I awoke, I knew that’s what I had to do.”
Miri was silent for a few moments. Then she turned once again to Nora. “Thank you for telling me this, Nora.
I... uh... I think I need some time alone to think.”
“I understand, Miri. I’m sorry...”
***
Miri walked out of the infirmary, her mind in turmoil. How could Alistair be her father? How could Nora love him? It all seemed incomprehensible. Without thinking, she found herself walking upwards towards the trapdoor that led to the Jewel Box. She climbed up and went to sit on a bench. It was very quiet there tonight. A quick mental scan, and Miri established that she was indeed alone.
Even at night this place was breathtakingly beautiful. She looks up into the sky through the glass ceiling. No fog tonight. Today’s weather had been crisp and cold, and the sky tonight was cloudless. Infinite stars twinkled above her. A half-moon hung in the sky, glowing silver. It was a vast, unexplored universe out there. At the academy she had often fantasized about escaping to a distant world where nobody would know her, starting life afresh. Seems, though, that wherever you went, life would eventually catch up with you.
Why? Why did Nora have to come back into her life? She was doing perfectly okay without a mom, thank you very much. Here at P.A.W.S. she had found her own separate planet, away from the rest of civilization. Why did the outside civilization have to infringe onto her new world?
Why couldn’t it just leave her be?
She sat in the Jewel Box looking up into the stars for hours. It was so peaceful here away from all the emotions of the other P.A.W.S. residents. She didn’t even notice when three hours later she was no longer alone on the bench.
“Beautiful, aren’t they?”
“Yes.” She turned and looked at Danny, wondering how long he had been sitting there. Suddenly she had such an overwhelming sense of relief that he was there with her. She had to tell someone about what Nora had told her. Had to do it now, before she burst.
“Danny... when did you...”
“A while ago. You know it’s almost midnight? I went to your room. Lilith said she hadn’t seen you since dinner.”
“I bet she was happy about that.”
“She was, rather, especially as she was entertaining Zamir!” Danny replied with a grin.
“You’re not jealous, are you?”
“Oh, no,” said Danny, putting his arm around her. “Relieved is more like it.”
He looked at her with his green eyes and long lashes. His lips touched hers. It felt so good. Yet after a couple of minutes, she pulled away.
“I need to tell you something, Danny. I have to tell someone.”
She explained to him what Nora had told her, that Alistair was her father. She expected him to be shocked. Instead, he looked at her and said, “We suspected as much.”
“What?” She was completely taken aback.
“Me, Jessamyn, Josh. We figured there had to be a connection between you and Nora and Alistair. It makes sense that he’s your father.”
“She says she still loves him, Danny. How can she? How can anyone love that monster?”
“He’s very powerful, Miri. He has power over those he comes into contact with.”
“But I thought that was only if he turned them.
According to Nora, he never turned her into a werewolf.”
“Come on, let’s go downstairs. I think we need to talk this over with Josh.”
Josh was sitting alone in the rec room. He looked exhausted. Miri hardly saw him these days. He spent most of his time either tracking with the wolf pack or training Mandy.
Danny explained to Josh what Miri had told him about Alistair. Josh looked at her, and at that moment she burst into tears. It was all too much to bear.
“How could she, Josh? How could she possibly love him?”
“You know,” said Josh, “Alistair can be very charming when he wants to be. That’s part of the hold he has over people. Also, he rewards those who help him handsomely and punishes transgressors ruthlessly and publicly. What surprised me is that I don’t remember Nora from when I was living with Alistair. I think perhaps he kept a separate apartment for her to keep her away from the pack. It might even be true that he cared for her. It would explain his self-control in not turning her.”
“But what do we do now? Nora says he’ll come after me.”
“Yes, I suspect he will. When Alistair wants something, or someone, he usually gets what he wants.”
“But he can’t get into P.A.W.S., right?”
“We would hope not. But in any case, you can’t stay underground forever, and for sure he knows that you’re somewhere in Forest Park. There have been a lot of sightings of strange wolves in the park in the last couple of weeks. We suspect he’s scouting the area.”
“So what can we do?”
“Be ready... and you need to keep refining your power. My understanding is that it’s very strong. Keep working with Danny and Jessamyn, and stay alert, especially if you go outside.”
“What about Jessamyn? Can she watch Alistair in her scrying bowl?”
“No, not usually. He has strong wards around him. We believe he has employed a magician of some power, but we have been unable to identify him.” Josh yawned.
“You look exhausted, Josh,” Miri said. “Maybe you should get some sleep.”
“Nah, I can’t now. I’ve got to go and meet the pack.”
Wearily, he got up from his seat and walked out of the rec room. Danny and Miri sat in silence for a while. Then Danny turned to Miri.
“It will be okay,” he said. “I won’t let that bastard get anywhere near you.”
“Except,” Miri replied, “that bastard is
my father and apparently always gets what he wants.”
Danny walked Miri back to her room and kissed her tenderly before he left. “Good night, Miri.”
“Good night, Danny.”
Lilith was fast asleep in her bed when Miri walked in, and she noticed that, unusually for her, she was in human form. She seemed to be moaning quietly in her sleep. Miri changed into her nightgown and got into bed. She was exhausted and fell asleep instantly.
***
She was woken abruptly two hours later when Lilith let out a piercing scream.
“Hey, are you all right?” Miri called up to the top bunk.
Miri got out of bed and looked up at Lilith. She was sitting bolt upright in bed, white as a sheet and trembling.
“It’s coming!” she said. “I can feel it.”
“What’s coming?” Miri asked.
“I don’t really know,” she said. “It is huge – a tiger, maybe, or a giant wolf or... both. Some kind of monster. I’ve never seen anything like that before... at least I don’t think I have...”
“It’s coming here?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“When?”
“Soon, very soon...”
“But it could just be a dream, right? A nightmare.”
“No, it wasn’t a dream. I know... I know the difference. The prescience, it’s my power. I’ve had it ever since I was small, ever since...”
But she didn’t finish the sentence, obviously trying to suppress a memory she definitely did not want to relive. And now Miri remembered that Lilith had told her about her power that afternoon in the park just before Nora had taken her charm. She remembered that she hadn’t really been convinced. But now she could feel Lilith’s fear as she relived her vision of the monster who was coming here, and her fear, at least, was very, very real.
Chapter 39
Quentin Frakes had worked three days straight on the cat amulet. On the surface the charm looked the same, but the alchemist knew that sometimes appearances can be very deceptive, and the amulet had indeed been transformed. The spell that bound the charm to Max Katz had been broken. The charm was a free agent now, ready to bond with its new owner.
P.A.W.S. Page 16