by Sven Grams
Reading on, Sara could get little more detail from the letter. Then came the last few lines:
Internal changes have lead to an unfortunate and dangerous shift in the Mintury Council’s behaviour. Their aims and methods have quickly altered into something at odds with many of its members. This is an uncertain time, I advice caution on all fronts.
Take care of yourself Veron,
Elleren Comnton.
Sara looked up, lost in thought. So what was going on? Was Sage Filfia a spy? Who was doing what under whose authority? If her grandfather couldn’t figure it out, how was she meant to? Sara recalled some of the last words her grandfather had said:
‘Something has gone really wrong. I think that Ms Filfia is in danger…’
Of course she was in danger; treason was not something you wanted to be accused of.
‘There are no bears…’ her grandfather had said.
What the heck did that mean? No bears. There had been no attacks by the Bear Clans for years.
Sara shuddered at the thought. Anthro Bears where massive vicious thugs, uncivilized brutes, most wolves didn’t even consider them Anthros. Even joking about bears was distasteful.
Sara was unsure of what to do, she was already in enough trouble and that was nothing in comparison to what would happen to her once her mother found out about what had happened at RefugeCross a few days ago. Sara doubted she would ever be allowed to leave the farm on her own again.
‘Well hello, beautiful,’ said a voice to the right of Sara. This sudden appearance caused Sara to jump in fright.
‘Jammet!’ Sara exclaimed, clutching the letters to her chest. ‘You scared the life out of me,’
Jammet gave her a smile before making his way down the rocky creek bank.
Sara hastily put the letters into her large pocket.
‘Secret documents ha?’ said Jammet, noticing the female wolf’s hasty concealment.
Sara simply smiled at the young male wolf.
Jammet made his way to stand in front of Sara. Being the same age as her he was of a similar height. His fur colour was a light brown, while the long wavy tussles of hair on top of his head were a sandy blond, the unkempt strands constantly falling in front of the handsome youth’s friendly eyes.
‘Another secret mission for you grandfather?’ he asked, taking a seat next to Sara.
The young female moved over a bit to make room.
‘You could say that.’
‘Haven’t seen you around for a while,’ the male wolf said. He watched the light flicker from of the small trickle of water nearby.
‘Oh, you know, on secret missions and all,’ Sara said with a smile.
Though Sara was defiant and hostile at school because of the way she had been taunted, she was far from such with her two close friends. They had always treated the young girl well, and were some of the few Anthros who got to see the real Sara Kelgorn.
Despite her current situation, the young female couldn’t help but feel at ease in her old friend’s company. Jammet and his twin sister Jameen had remained Sara’s friends even during her tumultuous time at school. Though they had grown distant recently, Sara actually valued their friendship quite highly.
Looking across at the handsome male youth, Sara couldn’t help but admire his strong athletic physique. Catching her subconscious actions, Sara turned her head away before Jammet could catch her out. Annoyed with herself, the blush that appeared on her face still showed through her fur.
Jammet smiled cunningly, he had felt the outburst coming from the young female even if he hadn’t seen it.
Being as young as she was, Sara’s emotions where still far from being completely under her control. Ever since she matured, they had proved as problematic as they had useful. Realising what was happening to her, the wolf tried to keep her emotions in check. Coughing nervously, Sara tried to distract herself by looking up into the trees.
‘Anything you can talk about?’ Jammet asked, giving her a curious look.
Sara’s expression darkened as her real life problems returned to her.
‘I think I’m in trouble,’ she said eventually.
‘Anything we can help with?’ asked another voice from Sara’s right.
Sara looked up to see Jameen suddenly appear from the undergrowth. This time Sara was not particularly surprised at another sudden appearance. The two close siblings were never very far apart from each other.
‘Hey Jameen,’ Sara greeted with a smile. Jameen returned the smile, happy to see her old friend again.
‘Not interrupting anything am I?’ asked Jameen with a cheeky smile.
Sara shook her head in amusement, she and Jammet had had a brief innocent, moment, or two since the two had matured into adolescence, which had unfortunately been once stumbled upon by Jameen.
‘Thanks sis,’ said Jammet in mock annoyance.
‘Just saying,’ replied the young female innocently, moving down she stood in front of the two. Jameen and her twin brother shared the same colour in hair and fur. Indeed, their fringes were similarly out of control, the difference being that Jameen had shoulder length hair while her brother kept his short at the back.
‘So what’s the problem?’ Jameen asked Sara.
‘I can’t really say,’ replied Sara quietly after a while.
‘That bad, ha?’ Jammet inquired.
‘You haven’t heard?’ asked Sara.
‘Heard what?’
‘About my grandfather.’
Both Jameen and Jammet shook their heads.
‘He was attacked and poisoned last night.’
‘Is he ok?’ both siblings asked at the same time, their voices filled with concern.
‘I don’t know, he’s unconscious.’
‘Who did it?’ asked the female twin, Jameen.
Sara paused for a moment, wondering how much she should share with her friends.
‘Exiles,’ she said eventually.
Both of the twins recoiled in shock.
‘But don’t tell anyone, at the moment they think it was bandits,’ added Sara hastily.
‘How do you know that?’ asked Jammet, his surprise growing with every new revelation.
‘I was there,’ admitted the young female.
‘No way!’ said Jameen.
‘It gets worse,’ continued Sara, her head sinking lower. ‘You know all those trips I’ve been taking into the lion territory? The whole thing is mixed up with these exiles, and the Mintury Society.’
Both of the young siblings looked at each other, in shock and disbelief.
‘You’re kidding right?’ asked Jammet carefully, not really wanting a confirmation.
‘I wish I was,’ said Sara, dejected. Tucking her legs close to her chest the young wolf put her head on her knees, hugging her legs tightly.
‘I knew there was something funny going on,’ said Jammet suddenly.
Sara looked questioningly at the handsome young male.
‘About a month or so ago I spotted a group of wolves sneaking around near the river,’ he said. He turned to address his sister. ‘I told you they were exiles.’
‘Just because they’re all males, doesn’t mean they’re exiles,’ defended Jameen, crossing her arms
‘Didn’t you tell your parents?’ interrupted Sara.
‘Sure,’ replied Jammet. ‘But they told me to leave it alone, as if they already knew?’
‘That was probably my grandfather,’ informed Sara, placing her head back on her knees. ‘He was assisting the exiles.’
‘Oh…’
‘Well then I probably shouldn’t have been spying on them…’ continued Jammet.
‘You were what!?’ exclaimed Jameen. ‘I thought you were sleeping out in our old cubby house, you know, chasing fireflies, or collecting frogs.’
‘I was… well sort of,’ admitted Jammet. ‘Come on, it’s like another week before school term starts, there is nothing else to do around here!’
Sara, Jameen and Jammet ha
d built the tree house years ago in a giant old tree on the banks of the river Thitchel. It was built in a perfectly concealed spot, and over the years the regrowth had made it almost impossible to see, even if you were looking for it. In all these years the twin’s parents had never been able to find the small shelter. It had been a welcome hiding place for the twins when they had gotten up to mischief, which for these two, was quite often.
‘What did you hear?’ interrupted Sara, interested.
‘Not a lot, they were pretty quiet as they went past.’
Sara’s heart sank, and her ears drooped correspondingly, she had hoped he had heard something more.
‘I do know that a team of them went off a few nights ago. And that they are obviously expecting to come back this way.’
‘How do you know that?’ asked Jameen.
‘They were setting up a crossing point just near the bend, you know, the narrow one just downriver of the tree house.’
‘And they haven’t come back yet?’ asked Sara.
‘Two of them stayed behind, but the rest haven’t come back yet,’ said Jammet.
‘Do you think that they could have something to do with the attack on your grandfather?’
‘They’re all part of the same group,’ Sara confirmed, her mind digesting the new information.
‘How do you know?’ asked Jameen.
Sara looked at the female wolf.
‘When was the last time you got any news?’ Sara asked.
‘A couple of days ago, there’s no reason to go into town at the moment without school.’
‘There was a break-in to the inner city at RefugeCross.’
‘What!?’ exclaimed Jammet.
‘You don’t get the news for a couple of days and look what happens,’ complained Jameen, throwing her head up in disgust. ‘Nothing ever happens around here, and the one time it does, we miss it!’
‘It’s all tied together,’ said Sara, partially to herself.
‘What is?’
‘Everything, the robbery, the attack, it’s all leading up to something big?’
‘Something big!’ Jammet said, not being able to recover properly from his continued shock. ‘Are you saying what has happened isn’t big enough?’
Sara looked from one of her friends to the other, her mind deep in thought. If it was all connected, nothing would happen until the group from the robbery returned. If Sara was lucky her grandfather would wake up before then. He would know what to do. In any event, she still had a few days before Captain Felx visited Torstberg.
‘And you’re sure they haven’t come back yet, it’s really important,’ asked Sara again, her serious voice carrying sincerity.
Jammet seemed to have recovered from his shock a little, his mind was racing, but he continued to calm down.
‘Sure, they hid ropes and left markers, they wont leave them around once they’re back over,’ he assured her. ‘I can check later if you like and tell you when they’re back.’ Leaning forward, Jammet turned to give Sara a goofy lopsided grin. He was at least happy that his little game had become useful to someone. ‘I could even rough them up for you if you like,’ he added in a cavalier tone.
Sara gave him a questioning look.
‘They did try to kill me and my grandfather,’ she reminded him. ‘These are exiles we are dealing with,’
‘Oh,’ he said, suddenly deflated. ‘I forgot.’ Nervously the young male coughed, the seriousness of the situation swamping his attempt at light humour.
Sara couldn’t help but empathised with the young wolf, he really did seem sorry. Only a few days before she would have acted the same, nothing remotely this serious had ever happened to the three of them, and to suddenly be surrounded by it was, well, surreal.
Jameen observed her friend Sara a little more closely, reading the waves of emotions Sara was emitting, unhindered. The seriousness of the situation was much more apparent to the female twin, who could sense more effectively then her brother that her friend was in real trouble.
‘I’ll go with you tonight, we’ll take turns on watch,’ offered Jameen, turning to her brother.
‘Yeah, thanks,’ he replied, happy that he would have company. ‘That would be great.’
Suddenly his little game had taken a whole new turn.
‘Thanks you two,’ Sara said suddenly. ‘It would really help me to know when they get across. Hopefully my grandfather will be awake before then.’
‘And if he’s not?’ asked Jameen, concerned.
‘Well, then I’ll just have to think of something else,’ Sara replied.
Though not particularly confident, Sara was feeling better, her ears were alert again and one turned to pick up the distant sound of happy yipping. It was Pitch, either her sister or mother was close by.
‘Sorry to drop this on you and run, but I have to go, I’m already in enough trouble,’ said Sara getting up.
‘And this is before they know any of this I assume,’ said Jameen, her heart reaching out to her friend.
‘Yeah,’ replied Sara in a thoughtful tone. ‘I’ll explain it all properly later, thanks for everything.’
Sara whistled to Misha who trotted over obediently. Mounting up quickly, the young female wolf took one last look at her friends.
‘One of us will head over as soon as we see something,’ assured Jammet.
Sara nodded and quickly led Misha out of the creek forest back towards her home. Watching her go, the twins stood in silence for a few seconds.
‘You think it’s all as bad as she says?’ asked Jammet, not turning to face his sister.
‘It’s Sara,’ replied Jameen. Her greater ability to read emotions had given her a scary view into how serious it really was. ‘It’s probably worse.’
Both of the young wolves frowned, since when had life become so complicated?
Sara lay in her bed. An open window allowed the moonlight to flood into her room. She had come to a decision.
Beside her lay her weapons, a travelling bag and everything else she would need to travel in the wilds for a few days. Currently she was praying that she would not have to use them.
Free of thought and emotion, she simply stared at the ceiling.
The afternoon had carried on as normal, her mother and sister had suspected nothing.
In the middle of the day a messenger had arrived with news from her father. Before they could read it, however, they were given a general announcement by the messenger declaring that Bear Clan scouts had allegedly been spotted on the North West approach. All outlying posts had been abandoned and the northern pass defences had been strengthened. No one was to enter the WesternWilderness until the all clear had been given. Sara instantly knew what her grandfather had been talking about.
‘‘There are no bears…’’
The so called sightings, had been made up. The wolf soldiers who had raised the alarm had obviously been instructed to do so by her grandfather, Mr Thorntreck. Mayor Petrice was unwittingly reacting to a threat that wasn’t really there.
With the wolf posts abandoned, the summer home of Sage Filfia would be isolated in the WesternWilderness. The Sage herself would not be in any danger from bears. In her summer home the powerful wolf Sage was safer then in the middle of Torstberg. Surrounded by animals and nature, which she herself could control, there was no danger to Sage Filfia from savages.
A warning would be sent, but no further action would be taken. Thus the Sage would be completely alone.
Sara had no doubt that the exiles had figured out some way of either getting into her home, or more likely getting her to come out of her home where she would be more vulnerable.
The news from her father was more positive. Her grandfather’s condition had appeared to stabilise. He would probably regain consciousness in a few days. Now the only question was, would it be quick enough?
Sara had continued to concentrate on her chores for the rest of the day, even receiving some rare praise from her mother. There had been an ulteri
or motive however; as well as having everything she needed to leave for a few days in a bag lying by her bed, in the stable her riding equipment was waiting next to Misha, it was hidden, but fully prepared for Sara to make a quick getaway.
Sara continued to stare at the ceiling, her mind blank but focused, she could feel everything, hear everything. The young wolf’s senses were on overdrive, she was scared to death.
Outside her window, she could just make out the sounds of someone moving around. The light scampering of an ossum told her that it was someone her pets knew. Sara was not surprised in the slightest when a small tap came from her window, someone was throwing small pebbles to attract her attention, and she already knew who it was. With a deep breath the young wolf sat back up. She took a long look around her room, subconsciously hoping it would not be for the last time.
Some minutes later, Sara was leading Misha in silence down the path that came from her house. Beside her, Jammet walked quietly, a frown on his face, he was not happy with what was going on.
‘Isn’t there another way?’ he asked, already knowing the answer.
‘I have to warn her, I just don’t know what else to do,’ Sara said simply. ‘The Exiles could be on their way over right now.’
‘Surely you could tell your mother, someone else could go,’ said Jammet. ‘Or at least let me go with you,’ he offered.
Sara could tell from his voice and posture that he really didn’t want to go, which made the offer even more sweet.
‘No, this is my mess,’ said Sara, her voice monotone. ‘My life is over once my parents find out what happened at RefugeCross anyway. At least this way I can try and fix it so that I can at least live with myself.’
‘RefugeCross? What has that got to do with you?’ asked the young male.
Sara broke her concentration to look at the blond haired wolf, realizing that she hadn’t told him yet.
‘I was caught trespassing in the inner city,’ she said, the shame coming through slightly in her whispered voice.
Jammet didn’t respond, his unbelieving expression saying it all. Without realizing it, he took a step back from the girl, as if slightly scared to be too near to her.