run away. Now I knew the real cause for the rumble Wolf and I had felt the day we’d faced the slave traders.
“I thought I’d lost you after that,” Alex said. “I was about to turn right back around and go back to that pond when I found this.”
He flipped me the can of bear mace that Wolf had thrown out. I half smiled.
“Not many people draw moustaches on their canisters.”
“I get bored.”
Wolf snorted unhappily at the can.
“Then I found a village that looked like something out of the pioneering days,” Alex continued, “and I wasn’t even there very long when some creepy old woman bumped into me. She called me a ‘Huntsman who does not hunt wolves’ and told me which way you went. Then she gave me this getup and the hardware and a weird badge, but said not to put it on until I was out of sight of the village.” He rubbed his face, disturbed. A few days worth of stubble had darkened his skin. “She told me to hurry up too.”
I couldn’t fathom why she’d given him such an outfit when it clearly made him a target for wolves. At my left, Wolf continued to frown, occasionally sneaking suspicious glances at Alex. He relaxed a fraction when I reached down to hold his hand.
“This,” Alex said at length, “is messed up.”
“I know it is,” I said, “but we can’t turn back now.”
“Uh, yeah we can,” he stared at me like I’d lost my marbles, “we just go back to that pond and go home.”
“You didn’t see that thing that took Marianne, Alex. There is something serious going down around here, and I want to help.”
“Help? We don’t even know where this place is! It’s like we’re in fucking, uh, whatever that place is called.”
“Narnia?” I said helpfully.
“Yeah, Narnia. We don’t know the rules here, sis. Whatever we do here could have some serious consequences.”
I scowled. “She’s just a kid.”
“Yeah, kidnapped by something a sorcerer conjured up.”
I stopped. “Okay, so, what then? Do we just skip on home, go to mom’s birthday party, and act like this never happened? Meanwhile some poor eight-year-old gets murdered or sacrificed or whatever they plan to do to her? I thought you were supposed to protect and serve?”
Alex shifted, uncomfortable.
“I think it’s too late now, Alex. I mean,” I gestured at him, “you’ve even got the right costume.” I put an arm on his shoulder. “This is more important than anything going on back home. Besides,” I chuckled a little, “it’ll take them a while to notice I’m gone.”
“That’s not funny, sis.”
“Sorry,” I said. But it’s probably true. “Either way, I’m looking for Marianne. You can come along or not, your choice.”
We started walking again.
“Well, hell I followed you this far. Might as well go the distance. How far away is she?”
“She’s in a small town. We should reach it by sundown,” Wolf said. He linked his fingers with mine, his thumb gently rubbing my skin. I tried not to smile.
“By the way,” I asked Alex, “do you have an extra shirt?” As good as Wolf looked without a shirt under his coat, if we ended up anywhere near people, I didn’t think it would seem very inconspicuous.
“Sure.” He pulled the canvas sack off his shoulder and pulled out a navy shirt with a Park County Sheriff logo on the left breast. I handed it off to Wolf, holding his coat as he put it on.
“How many pockets does this coat have?” I asked, examining it. Each one looked like it contained something.
“Seven. It’s a very good number.”
“Hey, um,” Alex said, “I know we’re kind of in a hurry, but do you think we could eat something? The last time I had something to eat was when that old woman gave me this getup.”
“Of course,” I said, giving Wolf his coat back. I couldn’t believe he hadn’t asked earlier. I stopped at the edge of the path to remove my pack and rummage through it, handing things to Wolf as I dug around. “We’ve got a lot in here. We can always cook something later, but for now we have some jerky and a bit of bread.”
I looked up. “Alex?”
He was walking away from us, pointing at some mushrooms. “Are these things edible?”
Wolf eyed them for a brief second before dumping everything on the ground and running after him. “Stop! Don’t go near them!”
“Why?” Alex took one last step and disappeared.
I screamed and dropped my pack, rushing over to where