Once Upon a Haunted Moon (The Keeper Saga)

by Thompson, K. R.

  He looked lost. Wound so deeply in his grief, he didn’t even notice the slight, white-haired girl who climbed the hill to watch him, until she stood just a few feet away.

  “I know how it feels. I’m sad, too,” she told him quietly, shivering a bit with cold, “If you don’t mind, I’ll sit with you awhile.”

  The Wolf watched her settle down in the grass, wrapping a worn blanket around her shoulders. He paced a couple more times, and then sat next to the huddled, little figure on the ground, offering her some of his warmth. After all, they shared grief well together before, why not now, too? She knew what heartbreak was, her love sat high up in the sky next to his own now.

  He huffed, settling down to put his muzzle on his paws. Ella patted the fur between his shoulders, and so they sat, side by side, silent for a few minutes, looking into the sky.

  “I’m glad to find you. I don’t like being alone,” she confided to him.

  He gave her a small grunt, indicating that he normally preferred solitude, but then gave her a small lick on her hand to let her know he didn’t mind sitting with her. If anything, he actually enjoyed being with the little white-haired creature. It reminded him of what belonging with people felt like. He hadn’t belonged to anyone in a very long time, and he had no plans whatsoever of belonging to anyone now. But in sitting under the stars with the girl, he found a kindred spirit, and he knew he would sit with her again when she came out to sit under the stars.

  Ella sat next to The Wolf and listened. Somehow, she had managed to pick up on his thoughts. Even though he hadn’t known he was doing it, he told her his own story.

  The Wolf had forgotten how it felt to be human until recently. Understandable, really, since he had been a wolf for a very long time. At first, he kept track of the days, and then the weeks after the Great Spirit had refused to put him in the sky. But soon it dragged on to months, and then years. Soon, keeping up with time became an impossibility, and so was his ability to think and feel as the human he had been. He began thinking as the Great Spirit had meant him to, guarding the forest as a wolf, keeping close eye on the people who had once been his own. He watched them from afar, staying hidden, never getting very close, until the white men came. Then he saw his people die, and the few of them who remained ran to the shelter of the mountains. Though he was a wolf, he knew something had to be done. He had to help them in some way — there were so few of them left. He still cared about them.

  He made his second trek to the top of the mountain to bargain with the Great Spirit, hoping for better results than he had gotten the first time.

  Give me something to help them, he implored the Great Spirit, If I must live on this Earth, let it be for this reason…let me help them…

  A single light struck him from the clear, night sky. His body tingled from his nose to his tail. He came down from the mountain with a purpose. He knew the Great Spirit had granted his wish and he held something inside him that would save them.

  For the first time since he had left, he approached his people. No one knew him. But he hadn’t expected they would, there was nothing about him that resembled the man he had once been. At first, they kept their distance, thinking him rabid, coming to finish off the few who remained.

  Then he spoke. He wasn’t sure how it happened, and it had not happened since. But they had understood him and knew he was no ordinary wolf. He raked his claws across a stone and gave it to them, willing the magic into both it and the people, then gave them instructions to always care for what the Great Spirit had given them.

  The next morning, their six strongest warriors had turned to wolves…they called themselves “Keepers.” His people had survived, and he took solace in the fact that the magic he had given them would keep them safe. He had kept his distance since then, watching them from time to time from the cover of the forest. If he spent too much time watching, it made him remember what he had been — and that was something he wished to forget above all. So he preferred his solitude, and on the occasions he needed company, he turned to the wolves in nature, running in their pack as one of their own.

  He hadn’t interfered with the humans again — until he happened upon the brave, little white-haired creature at the creek. The courage she showed touched him, so he took her to a place where he knew she could be safe. Then he shared his magic with her, too.

  The Wolf looked at the girl who leaned quietly against him, gazing up at her star. He was very glad he had saved her, then realized that she may have very well saved him in return.

  The Wolf and the girl sat in companionable silence for the rest of the night…and for many nights afterward, sitting together on the hill as they kept watch on the sky to remember the ones they loved.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Brian

  We decided to reenact a scene from Indiana Jones to get the book. You know — the part where he grabs the treasure and puts the bag of sand there, hoping that the booby traps won’t get him? Which of course doesn’t work and he still gets chased by the huge, rolling rock…

  You know how the story goes.

  We discussed that particular movie in detail for several minutes, wondering how we were supposed to get that book without dying, or worse — having our skin made into a book like the one we were trying to steal. Of course, none of us had a bag of sand handy, so that part was out. Indy would have been very disappointed in the planning of our adventure. Booby traps were imminent. Some of us weren’t going to make it back alive. We ended up deciding we should just grab it and run like there was no tomorrow. But there was one slight problem — none of the wolves wanted to touch it. Erik even went back out and brought Tommy and Michael in, giving them orders to go and carry what had now been labeled “The Book of Skin.”

  For the first time ever, they disobeyed orders. Giving Erik two identical “drop dead” looks, they left, going back out to take up their posts and stand guard in the library.

  Nikki rolled her eyes, and then she left the room, too. She came back a few minutes later with a hoodie she retrieved from the back of her Jeep.

  “I’ll get it,” she offered, solving part of the dilemma as she approached the podium.

  “Wait!” I stopped her as she reached up, “I’ll change to wolf, you can hop up on my back, and then grab it. We’ll be faster getting out of here when the rock comes after us.”

  Nikki rolled her eyes again as Erik and I both turned to our wolves. She got up on my back as instructed, then tossed the hoodie over the book, bringing it down on her lap, barely grabbing into my fur before I ran as fast as I could from the room.

  We didn’t hear a giant crash, or the rolling sound of the giant rock. No poison darts were shot at us, nor gaping holes threatened to impale us with their upright spears.

  It was uneventful as we made it back to the library. I guess I became used to something constantly trying to scare the crap out of me, or maybe I just expected more of a response from Wynter’s magic.

  After we were all safely out of the corridor, the door shut quietly, and the woodwork became busy removing any evidence there was ever a door there at all, clicking and snapping to restore the original pattern that stayed on the wall during school hours.

  I hadn’t been the only one expecting booby traps. Erik let out the deep breath he had been holding, “We’ve got whatever it was we were supposed to find. Let’s get out of here!”

  We made it out of the school faster than we got in, then we headed to a picnic table by the football field.

  Nikki laid her bundle in the middle of the table, carefully unwrapping it to inspect it.

  “Look, I think it has a title,” she said, leaning over to peer at it closer, oblivious to the scent that it gave off, “Creatures of Magick by Efflehurt the Bog Elf. Wow, that name’s a mouthful! I wonder how the claw opens…” she poked around at the talons. A half hour passed as she pored over the book and she never realized that all of the wolves had retreated a safe distance up from her and the wind that carried the scent, with the
exception of Ed, who was ever farther away, sitting quiet and alone under a tree.

  “I refuse to ride in the Jeep with that thing,” Tommy told Michael emphatically.

  Michael nodded his agreement, and then turned to glare at Erik as if daring him to contradict their decision. It was obvious the cousins were not above mutiny at this point.

  “We’ll go back as wolf,” Erik nodded toward Ed, “We’re going to have to get him out of here soon. He’s acting worse now.”

  “You guys can go on if you need to. I’ll ride back with Nikki when she’s ready,” I offered.

  “Will you guys be ok without us?” Erik asked.

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “All right. If you find out anything, make sure you call me. We’ll stop by and update Evan and see if there’s something he can do for Ed.” he shot me a small, tight smile, and then motioned to the others, as he headed toward the woods.

  “I can’t seem to figure it out,” Nikki finally looked up at me and frowned a few minutes later, then looked around, “Where did everybody go?”

  “Back to check on Adam’s grandpa, since we kinda ran out on him,” I smiled.

  Nikki nodded, “I didn’t mean to do that, but I’m glad they’re checking on him.”

  “We’d better get headed back, if you’re ready. Your mom will be worried…”

  “My mom!” she jumped up from the table, remembering, “My house! The kitchen is still a wreck, she’ll call the police! We’ve gotta go!” Throwing the hoodie around the book, she snatched it up and we ran for the car.

  “What are you going to tell her about Tori?” I asked, settling in the passenger seat.

  “I don’t know,” she frowned as she got in the driver’s seat, “Here, hold this.” She set the swaddled book in my lap.

  “Can’t we set this thing in the floor or strap it to the hood of the car or something?” I grimaced.

  “No, just hold onto it. It’s old. I don’t want it to get messed up,” she ignored the fact that I was trying to concentrate on breathing through my mouth instead of thinking about the fact that the cover on the book use to cover someone’s body.

  I mumbled something not so nice under my breath.

  Nikki was either deep in thought or ignoring me, because then she said, “I’m going to drop you off at your house, you take the book with you…”

  “Ooooh, no!” I forgot, taking a deep breath through my nose, and gasped as my brain registered the smell again, “I’m not taking it with me!”

  “Please? How am I going to explain that book when I get home? I can’t leave it in the car…”

  Well, that’s for sure, I thought sarcastically. The smell would never come out of this car if you left it in here overnight. Your Jeep would be ruined.

  Nikki frowned at me as she heard my thoughts. “It’s not safe to leave it in the car,” she explained, “What if the Lakotas came by and stole it? That’s another reason you need to keep it at your house, you can guard it better than I can. It’s the only thing we have right now that might help us.”

  I saw her point. She was right. Even if I didn’t like the idea of it, I was going to be stuck guarding “The Book of Skin.”

  “Do you need me to go back with you to your house and make sure everything is all right?” I asked.

  “No, I’ll be okay. I’m heading straight home. I’m betting Sheriff Black Water will be there when I pull up, so at least I can tell him what happened. If anything else happens, though, I’ll call you,” she pulled into my driveway. I got out and watched until she drove out of sight. I hoped Adam’s dad was the one who would be at Nikki’s house and not my mom. He would at least understand the Spriteblood magic and the Lakotas.

  I tried to ignore the lumpy hoodie as I carried it into my house and down the hallway. I took it into my room, stopping to look around for a good hiding place that was preferably airtight and smell-proof. I kicked a pile of dirty clothes out of the middle of the floor and set the hoodie down, then opened up my closet door.

  I hated the idea of that book being in there with my clothes. They’d stink forever. The only other alternative was under the bed, but there was no way I was going to sleep on top of that thing, so I left the book sitting there on the floor and went to raid the kitchen for the largest plastic container I could find. I hit pay dirt with my mom’s super-sized, bright yellow Tupperware bowl. Surely that would work. If it could hold a lasagna that could feed all the members of the PTA, it should be big enough to hold one magical, smelly book.

  I came back and unwrapped the hoodie, careful not to actually touch the curling brown cover, then picked the book up by one of the black talons that held it shut. I sort-of lost my grip (I’d only been using two fingers to lift it,) but it still landed in the bowl. Relieved that I didn’t have to pick it up again, I wiggled the bowl a little so the book would lie flat.

  Then I noticed that the book was raised just a little bit higher than the top of the bowl, thanks to the big, freaky claw.

  Determined to make it fit, I stuck the lid on, then put my knee on the lid and added a little bit of my weight to squish it down just a little.

  Finally, I was rewarded with a sucking sound as the edge of the bowl made a vacuum seal with the lid. Victorious, I carried a slightly out-of-shape bowl into the closet and shoved it into a corner, piling magazines and old hockey gear on top of it, then shut the closet door.

  Then, taking a deep breath (as I praised the maker of Tupperware), I sat down on my bed, ready to guard “The Book of Skin” through the night, hoping someone else would be willing to be its protector the next day.

  Chapter Twenty

  Ella

  The Village

  April 30, 1782

  Moons upon moons had passed. Ella kept vigil over Old Mother each day, watching as the old woman grew older and more feeble with each sunset. She knew her time would come soon, and though she loved her like a mother and would miss her greatly, she worried more about the effect it would have on her people. Who would they turn to? Who would they trust when she was gone? Old Mother had always been the foundation that kept them together. Never was a decision made without her wisdom. Ella feared what the future would hold for the village when that time came.

  She was thinking about that future one morning as she helped Old Mother sit down by the fire.

  The old woman’s body was feeble, but her mind was as keen and sharp as it ever had been, “White Wolf not worry about what time has not brought to her. When time comes, then White Wolf worry,” she said solemnly, staring at her through her white eyes.

  “I can’t help it,” Ella said quietly, eyes filling with tears, “What will happen to us when you are gone?”

  “Life move on. Just as there was one before Old Mother to show the people their way, there will be one after,” she said wisely, hand reaching out to pat Ella’s arm in comfort, “It is way of life. When one leave, another come take place.”

  Ella didn’t say anything for fear she would only cry. She stayed silent, watching the contents in the pot warm on the fire.

  “White Wolf has magic and kindness in her heart. When time come, White Wolf find courage in her heart to lead the people,” Old Mother predicted, “Time come soon. Old Mother ready when Great Spirit say come. White Wolf will lead. People will trust and follow White Wolf.”

  Old Mother’s prediction weighed heavy in Ella’s heart. She knew they would trust her. They already did. Since she heard the thoughts of The Wolf, her magic grew stronger. She had even more visions, more and more frequently, each showing her small bits of a possible future. Each vision she told to Old Mother, who warned or instructed the people to prepare. Though it had been Old Mother who led them, they knew the words came from White Wolf. They named her Seer, their wise woman, and regarded her with great, yet wary respect.

  The last vision had been the hardest to bear witness to. It was the only one she hadn’t told to Old Mother. She didn’t need to. Old Mother already knew — she welcomed the end of he
r life.

  Two more days passed, and Ella stayed closer than ever, watching Old Mother’s spirit start to fade. She didn’t even leave Old Mother at night to sit with The Wolf when the nightmares came. Instead, she curled up beside the old woman’s pallet on the floor, should she be needed through the night.

  On the last day, she woke, and knew the time had come. Old Mother wouldn’t rise, no matter how hard Ella urged her to get up. Her breathing had gone shallow and her blind eyes remained closed. Ella did the only thing left she that she could do.

  She sat and held her hand.

  And waited.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Brian

  I’m used to nightmares. Especially here lately. But on this night, I awoke in a cold sweat. I couldn’t remember what the nightmare had even been about, but I knew it was worse than dreams I normally had.

  I think it was the awful scent that had permeated the room. I took a deep breath and almost gagged. Yeah, that had to have been what had woken me up.

  Groaning, I rolled out of my warm bed and flung open the closet door. It wasn’t a surprise when I saw the lid on the bowl had popped open. There wasn’t a bit of doubt of what had made my room smell like a rotting tomb.

  I pulled the bowl out and did the knee-on-the-lid trick again, hoping for the same result I had achieved the first time.

  It didn’t work. The rim of the bowl had busted from the strain I put on it earlier.

  I looked at the clock. 5AM. I was stuck with the book for at least a few more hours. I grabbed a garbage bag and stuffed the book and the bowl in it as far as it would go and tied a knot in it, hoping that would help.

  My mom still hadn’t made it home from work, but I didn’t worry too much. Her job kept her out a lot. For living in a small town, it seemed to keep pretty busy. I personally thought it was because of the magical stuff that happened — but who knows. It really didn’t help that there were only three law enforcement officers for the whole county. My mom, one other deputy, and Adam’s dad…the sheriff.