“I need an answer, Evercloud.”
I hope one of the others gave the right answer. Evercloud grimaced and sighed.
“Well,” he began. “I guess if I’m being forced to name a leader…I would have to say…Whiteclaw…and Riverpaw, and Ben, and Tomas, and also myself…is that all right to answer the question that way?”
“It is your answer, Evercloud. You may give it in whatever way you like. Now, let us join the others.”
Padre Esteban and Evercloud made their way into the kitchen and joined the group. Once again, everyone sat around the table. All eyes were on the Padre now, waiting expectantly for the results of the test.
“I received some interesting answers to my question,” began the Padre. “Very interesting indeed. None of which were ultimately wrong,” he paused and the expectant eyes around him began to twinkle with hope, “and none of which were ultimately correct.” The twinkle left the eyes of the travelers and they began to hang their heads, unable to believe that they had all failed. “However, for the purposes of this specific test, one of you gave an acceptable answer.”
“You mean we passed?” said Evercloud brightly.
“Yes, you passed the test.”
The group jumped from their seats and began to celebrate, throwing their arms into the air and congratulating each other. Riverpaw grabbed Evercloud in his arms and rubbed his shaved head like a proud older brother.
“Wait,” said Tomas, “who was it? Who gave the right answer?”
Padre Esteban looked around at all of them. “Do you all wish to know who it was?” The group nodded collectively. “Evercloud. It was Evercloud who gave the acceptable answer.”
The group turned to Evercloud and began to cheer him. He couldn’t believe that his answer had been right, or acceptable, as Padre Esteban had put it.
“What answer did you give?” asked Riverpaw.
“I-I said all of us. All five of us.”
“Well done, Evercloud,” beamed Whiteclaw.
The travelers continued to praise Evercloud and celebrate their victory, when the Padre interrupted.
“So, I expect that you would like to be on your way then? Or would you like to rest here a while?”
“On our way?” asked Ben absently.
“To see Tenturo,” added Esteban. The group’s eyes widened as they remembered what prize they had won. They gathered themselves and answered yes, enthusiastically. “Then follow me.”
Esteban led them back into the room with the hole in the roof.
“We should fix the hole before we leave,” said Whiteclaw gesturing toward the roof.
“What hole?” asked Padre Esteban. The group, confused, turned their gaze up to where the hole in the roof had been, just a second before, and found that it was gone. They looked back at the Padre with a new reverence. “Well, don’t look at me like that,” said the Padre. “I’m not the one seeing holes that don’t exist.” The Padre shook his head and walked over to the mural on the wall in which Tenturo was being chased by the black beasts. He then took from around his neck a chain that had a small white stone hanging from it and pressed the stone against the mural. All at once, the mural seemed to melt away from the wall and a passageway opened up. “Follow this passage and it will lead you to Tenturo.”
The group thanked Padre Esteban and moved their way into the dark passageway. Evercloud was the last to enter the passageway and before he did, he stopped to ask the Padre a question.
“Padre, you said my answer was acceptable, but not ultimately correct. What did you mean?”
“My boy, your answer was acceptable because it mirrored the sentiment of the true answer. The truth is that every creature in this world leads itself. Or should I say, every creature in this world should lead itself. Remember that, Evercloud.”
“Thank you, Padre.”
And with that, Evercloud disappeared into the darkness.
WATER
Between the Earth and the Sky
There was absolutely no light inside of the passageway, so travel was slow. It proved especially difficult for Whiteclaw. He had not yet become adept at navigating with only one eye. The small dark space he was now in made the weakness glaring. He found himself bumping into the wall of the passageway. On one occasion, he stumbled to the floor. Evercloud had been walking behind Whiteclaw and moved in front of him as the bear picked himself back up.
“Follow my lead, Uncle.”
Evercloud stayed directly in front of the bear as they continued down the passageway, walking close enough that Whiteclaw could sense him.
“Thank you, Evercloud. I guess I haven’t gotten my bearings back just yet.”
“Don’t worry, Uncle, you will. The darkness makes it difficult for even those of us with both eyes. Once we get back into the light, everything will be better.”
“I’ve always admired your optimism. It’s a good thing to have on these long journeys.”
“Well, I’ll take what I can, I suppose.”
“You know, Evercloud, sometimes we bears don’t always say the things we are thinking, even if we have thought it many times before. Sadly, it’s usually the good things that are left unsaid. I’m saying this now because I want you to know that you have succeeded. Whether by the standards of man or by the standards of bear, you have become a good person. You are just and kind and brave and you should be proud of that. I am proud of you…and if your father could see you now, I know that he would be too. I just want you to know that.”
“Thank you, Uncle.”
The group continued down the passageway for a long time. More than once did they question if there might have been a fork in the tunnel that they had missed. However, every time the question was raised, it brought about the same conclusion. It did not matter. They wouldn’t be able to find it in the darkness. Keep moving. They had no idea for how long they had been walking or even what time of day it was. All that they knew was that they were tired and they wouldn’t be able to continue much longer without rest. They walked and walked for what felt like hours and finally, Ben called for a halt.
“We need to rest. We have no idea how much further this goes. We should sleep.”
Nobody argued with Ben. They were all tired. As they lay down, Evercloud remembered something he had been meaning to tell the bears. He took his opportunity now, figuring a little levity may help their sleep.
“Uncle, do you remember when you told me to use a human name while in the village?”
“Yes,” said Whiteclaw.
“Well, the name I chose was John. John Ball.”
The bears began to laugh heartily, the echo carrying down the passageway.
“I don’t understand,” whispered Tomas to Ben. “The Balls are a very nice family.”
“I assume, Tomas, that there are some things that we are better off not knowing,” replied Ben. “Have a good sleep.”
Once the laughter died down, everyone fell happily to sleep.
• • •
No light came to wake the weary travelers. Riverpaw was the first to rise. He had no idea what time it was or for how long he had been asleep. One hour? Possibly ten? His body was a little sore, but he felt ready to continue so he called to the others.
“Breakfast time. Get up and get your food.”
The rest of the party lazily opened their eyes. Tomas lifted his head up.
“I’m starving,” he said. “What’s for breakfast?”
Riverpaw chuckled. “Nothing. I just knew that would get you up.”
“That’s a lousy joke,” whined Tomas. He rubbed his belly and pouted in the darkness, not understanding why all of the jokes seemed to be confusing or at his expense.
They all took out some stale bread that they had in their packs and munched on it, washing it down with water from their skins.
“Ugh. I think that Esteban’s delicious food and drink may have spoiled us,” said Ben, choking down his bread.
After they had eaten, they wasted no time in continu
ing the journey.
“Pray for light, everyone,” called Ben.
“Pray it doesn’t blind us when we finally see it again,” muttered Tomas.
The fates seemed to be shining on them this day, for it wasn’t long before they saw a dull light in the distance. They now moved forward more rapidly, eager to see the end of the passageway.
“There are two torches,” said Ben. “Looks like they are on the walls. They must be in front of a door. We’re almost there.”
Able to see more and more with every step, the travelers rushed forward in excitement. But as they reached the torches, shoulders and spirits fell once again.
“Some great sign these torches turned out to be,” said Riverpaw.
There was no door in front of the torches, no break in the passageway at all. Merely a change in direction as the path turned into a flight of stairs, going up as far as any of them could see.
“Do you think we’ve reached the mountains?” asked Evercloud.
“Only one way to find out,” said Ben, and the group began to climb the staircase.
Their path was no longer impeded by darkness, as torches lined the walls intermittently. This gave the group hope that they were close and morale rose a little higher. Tomas figured he’d break the monotonous silence with a song:
“Oh, there once was a girl who enchanted my world,
And her eyes were as bright as the sea.
If I could’ve, I swear, I’d have married her there.
But her waves, they weren’t crashing on me.”
At this point, Ben decided to join in for the chorus:
“Oh Delilah, Delilah, what can I do?
I’m lost in the ocean alone.
And I pray for the waves, that one of these days,
Will deliver me onto your shore.”
Riverpaw turned to Evercloud. “Want to dance?”
Evercloud shook his head. “Between their depressing songs and your bad jokes, I think I may have been better off staying at the cave with Iolana.” Evercloud’s face went red. Why did I say that? he thought. The brothers Floyd had stopped singing now, and Evercloud hoped that it didn’t have to do with what he had said. He looked over to find Riverpaw, laughing quietly. Evercloud hit Riverpaw on the shoulder. “Stop laughing at me,” he whispered.
“Then stop making a fool of yourself,” replied Riverpaw.
Evercloud frowned and continued to climb the endless staircase.
Hours went by and still the travelers climbed. Short breaks were taken far more often as the climb was proving to be quite arduous. The bears and Evercloud were doing far better than the brothers Floyd, having lived on a mountain and having dealt with inclines. However, no one was finding the climb to be pleasant.
“We have to be close,” said Ben, breathing heavily. “The desert is not that large. Even walking through the sand, we would have been well into the White Mountains hours ago.”
As if on cue, Tomas looked up. “I think I see the end of the stairs.”
And indeed he did. The party had reached the top of the staircase and it had brought them to a short corridor with large red double doors at its end. Everyone smiled as their spirits soared, though smiling was all they had the energy to do. They reached the doors and Ben knocked upon them.
Slowly, the doors began to open away from them. Orange light poured over their faces and it seemed as if it was the brightest light any of them had seen in their lives. It was the light of the sun. They walked into a large room with a table placed in its center. Many ornate chairs lined the sides of the table and it seemed quite awkward, alone in such a large room. As their eyes adjusted to the light, they looked toward where it came from and noticed that the room that they were in was open to the sky at one end, as if an entire wall had been forgotten in the planning. The sun played along the line of the mountain range, glowing in its heavenly perch. They had, in fact, been climbing through a mountain as Evercloud had guessed. Now they stood in some sort of room, dug out of the side of a mountain, looking out upon the range. The scene in front of them was inspiring and the air was crisp and fresh, filling their weary muscles with renewed energy.
“This must be higher than Gray Mountain,” said Riverpaw, in awe of the beautiful vista.
“I believe it is,” added Whiteclaw. He turned away from the orange glow of the sun to gaze at the rest of the room. It was a very long room with little decoration, save for the table and chairs. Though at the other end of the room seemed to be the statue of a man. Whiteclaw began to walk across the room toward it. The others noticed his departure and began to follow him.
The party reached the statue and looked upon it. It wasn’t especially large for a statue, no bigger than a normal sized man. It seemed to be cast in some polished metal that no one could recognize. The statue stood at attention with its eyes fixed upon the horizon. The group looked around at the rest of the room, hoping to find a clue, but there was nothing.
“What are we supposed to do now?” asked Riverpaw, rhetorically.
Suddenly, the eyes of the statue began to glow red and a voice emanated from its metal frame.
“Who has passed the test?” asked the voice.
The group looked at Evercloud. He stepped forward, in front of the statue and answered: “I have.”
The statue made a whirring sound and the red glow of the eyes changed to a deep blue. Then a small click was heard and the voice returned.
“Take the parchment and candle. Good luck to you.”
The door of a small compartment in the torso of the statue swung open slowly. Evercloud looked inside to find a small piece of parchment and a candle. He took them out and turned them over in his hands. The candle was plain enough. Yellow, roughly the length of his hand and not even two fingers thick. The parchment was ordinary as well, yet it was weathered and folded in upon itself. He unfolded it and saw a message had been written in ink. He read it aloud:
Whoever has passed the test must be brave and strong and true
To travel down to Oldham’s Bog and retrieve these items two
An apple from the tree of death, none ever seen so red
To poison both the guardians and free the wind again
Next the hammer she hath made from oak and steel and bone
Nestled tightly underneath the witch’s cursed throne
Use the candle for passage quick to the bog and back
Two may go and two may come but must stay close at hand
The world is old and full of lies but also full of truth
And here between the earth and sky the questions fall to you
“So we have to travel to a bog?” asked Tomas.
“We won’t be doing anything,” said Whiteclaw. “Evercloud passed the test. It is he who must travel to Oldham’s Bog.”
“Well it sounds like I can take someone with me. The parchment says that the candle can take two there and bring two back.” Evercloud looked at everyone. “So who should I take?”
“That is your decision,” answered Whiteclaw. “We cannot choose for you.”
Evercloud looked around. Who to choose? Should he choose whom he wanted to choose, or whom it made the most sense to choose? As he pondered his decision, Riverpaw stepped forward.
“I don’t care if it is your decision,” he said to Evercloud. “If you think you’re going to leave me here with that creepy statue while you’re off having all the fun, then you’ve lost your mind.”
Evercloud smiled at his cousin. “Well, since you asked so nicely.”
“So, what are we supposed to do?” asked Tomas. He walked over to the table and had himself a seat. As soon as he sat down, the table was covered with food and drink. His eyes widened as he gazed at the sumptuous dishes before him.
“We eat,” said Ben, his mouth watering.
Evercloud filled his pack with some of the food and then looked at the candle. “I guess this must work once it’s lit.”
“Yes,” said Whiteclaw, “but the parchment seems
to suggest that you and Riverpaw must remain in physical contact while it works.”
“Fair enough,” said Evercloud and hoisted himself onto Riverpaw’s back.
“Make sure you two return to us,” said Whiteclaw. “Even if you have not completed the task. We can always try it again. Do not be foolish.”
Riverpaw and Evercloud nodded.
“Here,” said Tomas, handing a lit match to Evercloud. “I took it from the Padre’s place.”
Evercloud took the match in one hand and held the candle out in his other and then looked down at Riverpaw.
“You ready for this?”
“I’ve been waiting my whole life for something like this,” Riverpaw replied with a grin.
Evercloud lit the candle and with a flash, they were gone, without a trace.
Biding Time
The little tavern along the road from Kreskin to Gable wasn’t seeing the business that it used to. This was due to the feud that had been going on for years now between the two most powerful families in each village: the Laughlin family of Gable and the Montgomery family of Kreskin. It had all started with a rumor that Lady Montgomery and Lord Laughlin had been having a secret affair. Rumors being what they were, it spread like a plague upon the two villages, even reaching the most esteemed doorsteps of the Montgomery’s and Laughlin’s respective estates. Lord Montgomery, being none too pleased with what he was hearing, questioned his wife on the matter. Without hesitation, the Lady denied the accusations and called for retribution against whoever started such a nasty rumor. The tales of her husband’s infidelity also shook Lady Laughlin. In his defense, Lord Laughlin swore that he would find the vile perpetrator.
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