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Return To Manitou Island: Part 108 |
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My Silent Guide CHARMIAN AND MOON Wolf cringed and fell back, an icy gust of wind blasting over them. They tumbled halfway down the slope before managing to stop their fall, and Niskigwun and the Iroquois glanced up at them in surprise. Charmian didn't have a chance to lift her head and turn around before she spotted the Iroquois snarling and wallowing through the snow straight at them, though their yellow eyes were fixed somewhere above her head; she gasped and would have jumped out of the way, had not Moon Wolf shoved her down into the snow. To her surprise the men dashed right past her--only to let out a collective cry and tumble over just as she and Moon Wolf had, landing at various places in the snow. The three of them stared at the Iroquois for a moment, then all glanced up at the gateway. Charmian sucked in a shaky breath when she saw that Thomas stood there, his hands crooked in front of himself and his face set in a scowl. He noticed he had their attention and waved hurriedly. "Come on!" he shouted. Charmian let out her breath. Needing no more prompting, she scrambled up the slope once more, Moon Wolf following; they passed Thomas, who continued aiming at the Iroquois until Niskigwun shouted, "I will stay behind to take care of them! Go on!" Then he backed up to the gateway himself, again gesturing at them to go through. "I will be right there! Go on!" Charmian hesitated; Moon Wolf grasped her wrist and pulled her through. There was a brief swirl of dizziness, then they tumbled out of the Fairy Arch to land in the snow on the other side. Moon Wolf winced and rubbed at his elbow while Charmian glanced up at the Arch; a second later Thomas came through, still sending blasts of cold air after him, until he fell from the hole and landed hard like they had. He sat up and rubbed at his head with a grimace. "Ouch," he muttered. Charmian clambered toward him, eyes wide. "Thomas!" she exclaimed. "That was you--?" She let out her breath. "I'm so glad you're okay!" He looked at her and his brow furrowed. "I'm okay--? You're the one who got all beat up and then disappeared--!" Moon Wolf got to his feet, still holding his arm. "We should not stay here," he said. "If any of them come through, they will come straight at us." "Agreed," Thomas managed to get out, pushing himself to his feet. He took Charmian by the arm and they started on their way up the bluff. "I came straight from the Dupries house," he said as they went, "though I got a look at Silver Eagle Feather's tribe--Mani said they had evacuated--? To the other side of the Island? What in the hell is going on, Charmian?" "It's kind of complicated," she said meekly; he gave her a look and she bit her lip. "The Iroquois--they got possessed, and attacked the tribe, but Silver managed to hide everybody until they were gone. Then they went through the Fairy Arch. There's Shadow Wolves over there, too. We started fighting them, and..." Her eyes welled up and she chewed on her lip even harder. "And..." Thomas looked at the two of them. "Little Dove said Niskigwun was with you," he said, and his brow furrowed. "He looked all right...he is all right, isn't he--?" "Not Niskigwun." Charmian wiped her eyes. "Wabasso. Wabasso's the one." Thomas's look of confusion grew; he glanced at Moon Wolf, who met his eyes; they didn't say anything, but Charmian could tell from the way the look on Thomas's face changed that they were communicating. He averted his eyes and continued climbing, though he tightened his grip on Charmian's arm. "I'm sorry," he murmured. They reached the top of the bluff and he pulled her up, Moon Wolf following; Cloud stood here, nostrils flaring. "Speaking of Iroquois, I had Mani go try to look up that fellow you got from Black Elk Horn--he said something about everyone being taken to the other side of the Island..." Charmian winced and fell down on one knee. The other two halted immediately and bent over her. "I'm...I'm okay," she murmured. Thomas actually looked angry. "No, you're not! You're all covered in bruises! Little Dove said Justin never took care of you before you left!" "It's not so..." Moon Wolf shook some snow off of himself. "I will go see if I can find him," he said, as if seeking an excuse to leave, and turned and went off in the general direction of the Dupries house. Charmian made a face, but Thomas grasped her arm and helped her to her feet. He used his foot to scrape snow away from the base of a tree and set her down beneath it, its boughs hanging heavy overhead. Charmian drew in on herself and rested her head on her arms. "Possessed," Thomas said to her, and leaned against the tree with his arms crossed. When she looked up at him he said, "You said those Iroquois had gotten 'possessed' somehow. What happened? All I remember is what happened at Devil's Lake." He frowned slightly. "The spirit stone...it went into me? And then into them somehow?" Charmian stared at him for a moment, then lowered her head and nodded. "When Niskigwun shot it out of Chepi...it went into you. Then we got it from you, but it broke into pieces, and went into the Iroquois. Moon Wolf knocked you out..." his frown grew "...and we took you to the Dupries house. You were still unconscious when we left." "And what about you?" he demanded; when she just stared at him again he had to avert his eyes. "Your face," he said. "Your arms and everything. You're black and blue all over." He seemed to wince a little bit, then lifted his eyes meekly. "Did...was I the one who did all that to you...?" Charmian's brow furrowed. She put her hands out to push herself forward. "It's not your fault! It was that spirit stone that did it!" She cringed to see the look on his face grow even worse. "I did do all of that--?" "Thomas, I don't blame you! I'm not mad! It's just some bruises. I hit you, too. So did Moon Wolf, and--" "Only because I was hitting you!" Thomas exclaimed. He waved his hands. "What did I even do? Did I say anything, too--?" The look on her face must have changed again, for his did as well. "I said something--? What did I say--?" Charmian fiddled her fingers. "Well...not anything too bad...you kind of called Niskigwun a fairy, but, that's because he is one..." "About YOU! What did I say about you?" Charmian shrank into her clothing. "Nothing too bad..." she murmured in a tiny voice, as the words Like someone like me would actually care a bit about someone like you? echoed through her head. Thomas took a step back and put his hands to his head, his face hidden from her for a moment; then he dropped them and spoke in a voice so sharp that it made her flinch. "You talk like I just accidentally bumped into you or something! I saw what that stone did to that woman and to Augwak! I can't even remember what it did to me! But all those bruises on you make it pretty obvious!" "It wasn't your fault," Charmian said again. "You never would've hurt me if you'd known what you were doing!" He flung his hands up again. "That's just it! What if this happens again, and AGAIN I don't know what I'm doing? That spirit stone brings out a Wendigo's worst qualities--doesn't it? Then this never would've happened if I hadn't even been there!" Charmian pushed herself to her feet and clenched her fists. "Don't say that! Don't ever say that!" "It's the truth!" Thomas retorted; Cloud stood off to the side watching them both, yet did nothing. "I remember how you acted when you first found out about me! And you had every good reason to act that way! If this is what I'm like when I don't know what I'm doing!" His voice lowered, but didn't sound any less angry when he continued speaking. "What if I'd really hurt you?" he demanded, and Charmian was surprised to see that his eyes were wet. He's--he's crying--? she thought. Over me--? "What if I'd killed you? What would you or the Island do then?" She scowled. "Moon Wolf could've killed me too! But he didn't! Because he didn't know what he was doing, and it wasn't his fault! It's the same with you--you think I'm going to go blaming you for something you can't control?" He let out a flustered sigh. "Don't you get it--? That's my point, exactly! You wouldn't have been in such trouble if I hadn't been there!" He crooked his fingers and looked at them as if they didn't belong to him, then bared his teeth and grasped one pointed canine between thumb and forefinger. "This!" he exclaimed. "THIS is the reason why you're hurt again and who knows how many more times it could happen--? Because of--this!" He pulled his hand away with a look of disgust. "If I weren't like this, you never would've been hurt so badly. He wouldn't have gotten control over me, and you wouldn't be looking like that! If I'd killed you--" "You DIDN'T!" Charmian snapped. "So knock it off! I already told you I was wrong! I don't care if you're half GeeBee, half one thing, half something else! It doesn't matter! That has NOTHING to do with what happened!" He clenched his own fists this time. "You know full well it has EVERYTHING to do with what happened!" He reached out one hand and touched his thumb to the bruise under her eye before she could flinch back. "It's only because of what I am that you look like this right now!" Charmian stared at him for a moment, then her eyes darkened. "Black Elk Horn did that," she muttered; he blinked as if surprised, and she brushed his hand away. "Look. If I've learned one thing on this Island, it's that it doesn't matter what you are--if you're half demon, or half GeeBee, or half whatever--it's what you do that counts. You can let something completely take you over, or you can learn to control it and use it for good." She waved her hands at him. "In the whole time I've known you, you've never let this take you over! You control it, and I know you'd never hurt anyone intentionally! Even with that blood you found a way not to hurt anybody! You go out of your way to make sure you don't hurt somebody else!" She gestured back toward the Fairy Arch. "Do you know what Niskigwun said--? He said that Chakenapok could've taken him over if he'd wanted. And those Iroquois--? You think they're part Wendigo, too?" His eyes lowered and he looked as if he wanted to disappear into the snow. "Chakenapok went after you because he knew it would upset me--and that's NOT your fault! Unless you want to apologize for being my friend! That spirit stone was what did all this--NOT you. So if you think I'm going to tell you to buzz off before you end up killing me, then you're going to have a long wait, because I'd NEVER believe that's going to happen!" Thomas still stared at the ground, unable to look at her; she could tell from the look on his face that he was still flinching from what he'd done to her. "I don't see how you can even say that, with your face looking the way it does," he mumbled. She let out her breath and her shoulders sank. "Do you know what I was most scared of back there?" she asked. "Not of you killing me. But I was really scared of you forgetting me." He finally lifted his head to look at her, brow furrowing. Charmian lowered her eyes now, and they stung. "You recognized me, but you didn't recognize me," she murmured. "And I thought I'd have to hurt you, and I hated that. But more than that I hated thinking you'd forget about me. That's the worst feeling I've had so far. Bruises don't feel like anything compared to that." She heard Thomas take a step forward. "I would never do that," he said, and she looked up at him. His eyes were fixed on hers, and she could see the blur in them even through the blur in her own. "I wouldn't ever forget you," he said, and the tone of his voice was such that she knew he meant every word of it. They stared at each other for a moment, then Charmian blinked, and had to wipe at her eyes. Thomas stood down as well, and glanced toward the woods. "What's taking him so long...?" he muttered as she sniffled and rubbed away the tears. He let out a frustrated sigh and paced back and forth. "It shouldn't take so bloody long...I don't see why he didn't just take care of you earlier, when you were still there..." "It's not that bad," Charmian murmured. She touched the bruise under her eye and made a face. "Black Elk Horn actually hits harder than you do," she said, which seemed to surprise him, as he gawked at her before flushing furiously. She took a breath and let it out. "Look. There should be a spring nearby, and I'll go and wash my face off a bit. You can go and try to see what's keeping Moon Wolf and Justin if you want." His face tensed. "And leave you on your own--? No, I don't want to do that. Not when you're in this shape." "I'll be fine, honest. The springs aren't so far away from here." "And neither is the Arch, nor those Shadow Wolves, nor those Iroquois! I'm hardly going to be responsible for you getting all beaten up again!" Charmian rolled her eyes and sighed gustily. "Oh, will you knock it off! You weren't responsible the FIRST time! I'll take Cloud with me if it'll make you feel better! That way I won't be alone, okay--?" He frowned, as if not believing her. "Would you promise to ride him rather than go running if something happens--?" he demanded, and she rolled her eyes and sighed again. "Yes, I'd promise to ride him rather than run. Duh. I'm not that stupid." "You may not be that stupid, but you're that stubborn," Thomas retorted. One good thing to be said about you, at least you're too thickheaded to know when to give up! Charmian scowled. "I said I'd do it!" she exclaimed, and turned aside, to show that she meant it. "Go find Moon Wolf, and I'll be at the springs! Though I really don't see why you'd have Justin waste his time, since I've been a lot WORSE!" "Stubborn," Thomas grumbled again, but turned and walked off in the direction that Moon Wolf had gone in. She waited to see that he was really leaving before turning herself and letting out another gusty sigh. She winced and rubbed at the bruise that Black Elk Horn had given her. Damn, did that hurt. "I'm going to be having a nice long talk with him once this is over," she muttered, approaching the bluff. "I bet he'd never treat Silver Eagle Feather that way...not without her kicking his ass..." Cloud followed her as she walked, and she had to stop atop the bluff and peer around herself, trying to sense out the springs. The East Bluff was littered with them, but under the snow they would be a little bit harder to find. She tried sensing one somewhat higher up the bluff so she wouldn't have to climb so much, and headed vaguely north. "Maybe I can think now," she murmured, and rubbed her arms. "Without being babysat all the time." She chewed on her lip and walked slowly. "Ogimah-Quae said somebody I've never talked with at all, yet somebody I know very well...this is the one who'll guide me to the Shadow Wolves." Her brow furrowed. "But that doesn't make any sense, because I've talked with everybody I know. Maybe she meant somebody I haven't talked with very much...?" She looked skyward as she thought. "I haven't talked with Walks-On-The-Shore very much...but I did talk with him some after Chief and Pierre got me drunk, and I don't know him too well...I didn't talk with Singing Cedars much, rather than yell at him, but I don't really know him either..." She frowned. "Maybe Mani? I know him pretty well, and we kind of communicate, but not much through talking...though...I tend to talk to him and he answers in my head...and it seems like if he knew where to find Ogimah-Quae, he would've just told me already...I haven't talked with Gautier!--but...I don't know him either...!" Her face scrunched up. "Aaggghh! Why does everybody talk in riddles around here?! How's somebody supposed to get something done when nobody ever just gives a straight answer anymore--?" Cloud bumped her elbow with his nose. She pulled her arm forward and peered at him in puzzlement, then patted his muzzle. "Sorry, boy; the chocolate's in my pack, and I don't even know if it's good for horses." She pulled her pack off nevertheless and started digging around in it, slowing to a stop. "Though I might have something else...I think I had a granola bar, if Pakwa or Marten didn't steal it..." She dug out a mildly squished granola bar and peeled it open, holding it toward the horse. His nostrils flared as he smelled it, and he took it in his mouth and started crunching. Charmian smiled slightly and put her pack back on. "I bet Thomas never gives you anything half as nice, does he? Springs," she said, snapping her fingers. "That's right...maybe I'll feel better once I find one of those...hey!" She yelped when the horse nudged her again, this time in the back; she stumbled forward before catching her balance, and shot him a dark look. "Stop it! You could knock me right off the bluff, you know!" She rubbed at her back. "And here I thought you were such a nice horse--I bet Thomas put you up to--hey!!" She gawked and scrabbled her feet when Cloud took a step forward, seized the collar of her coat in his teeth, and started hauling her along with him. She was actually dragged through the snow several feet before managing to tear herself loose; she started hopping around him frantically, but he merely turned in circles, keeping her in his sight the entire time. "Are you NUTS?" she yelled. "Stop that! I know how to ride! I don't need a horse carrying me in its MOUTH! I don't even have any more granola bars, if that's what you're looking for! I'll remember to pack more the next time--so stop being so snippy about it, okay--?" She bit herself off and blinked; Cloud came toward her, lowered his head, and bumped it against her chest, nudging her a step back. She opened her mouth to protest, but the way that he met her eyes when he lifted his head again made her pause. He snorted, tossed his head, then lowered it, and tried to bump her again, but she stepped back on her own. "What're you doing?" she finally asked, confused by his strange behavior. "Are you trying to tell me something--?" She felt utterly stupid, expecting a horse to act like Lassie, yet she couldn't think of anything else that he might be doing. "What is it?" she asked, then bit her lip and made a face. "Did Thomas fall in the well--?" Cloud lowered his head; "Okay! I'm going!" she exclaimed, and started walking, casting glances back at him as she went, to make sure that he wouldn't butt her again. She chewed her lip nervously as she walked, wondering with a twinge of anxiety where the horse could be taking her, and why. She looked all over the woods but saw only trees and snow; yet several times he nudged at her again, as if to guide her onto some invisible path, and she obeyed, not wanting to get dragged along again. "Look," she said after a bit of this, "if you want me to go somewhere, then why not just carry me there? Jeez! I promise I'll just ride!" she said, when he gave her a look that was almost skeptical, if a horse could look skeptical. "It's better than you HERDING me!" she snapped, at which he took several steps to stand beside her, and flicked his tail. She stared at him until he tossed his head and snorted, and she gave him a dark look and reached up to grasp his mane. "You're really rude, you know," she muttered, but climbed atop him safely; he resumed walking along the invisible path they'd been taking, but he picked up his pace, trotting along and carefully avoiding low branches so as not to sweep her off. Still, they had to duck their heads sometimes, and Charmian looked all around herself as the terrain began to change, the trees all standing at odd angles, the tips of ferns still visible beneath the landscape of snow, and the nearly level earth evolving into numerous rises and hollows. She bit her lip as she watched the scenery go by, and didn't really recognize much of it at all. "The Island playing tricks on me again...?" she murmured to herself. "I could've sworn that the last time I was here, I walked all over the stupid thing, but it seems like everywhere I turn to this time, it's new or different...Scott's Cave...Chimney Rock...another Chimney Rock..." She made a face. "Where are we even going? I'm supposed to be waiting for Thomas, and he wasn't in the best mood when he left, you know--!" In response Cloud started to slow his pace until he walked again, and they started descending a slope so steep that she had to hold onto him tightly. Something glinted ahead in the dim light and she squinted but it was too obscured by trees for her to tell what it was. She pressed herself as close to the horse's back as she could as the branches were very low here, and to her surprise they came out facing what looked to be a small frozen pond bordered by trees. She blinked a few times, frowned, then pulled off her pack and started digging in it again. "I know it's in here somewhere..." she mumbled, and at last pulled out the Mackinac Island guidebook that she'd brought from home. "Aha! Let's see..." She opened it up to the map and pored over it, glancing up at the pond, then down at the map a few times. "We were on the East Bluff, then went way inland...if this were Mackinac we would've passed by the Battlefield...then that makes this..." She frowned again, then looked up at the tiny body of water. "Croghan Water? I've never been here before." She climbed off of Cloud's back and made her way down to the pond, still keeping her head low; she halted at the edge and looked at the ice. "Where I come from, this is called Croghan Water. It's named after this guy in the Battle of 1814, and..." She glanced at the horse, then rolled her eyes. "Never mind." She tapped the ice with her foot. "Well? What's the big point of all this? I could've told you there was a pond here, if you'd just let me..." Cloud stepped down to the edge of the pond and cracked his hoof against the ice. Charmian jumped when it broke, a little patch of darkness showing through the white; she gave him an odd look but peered down into the hole anyway. "Um--it's water," she said. "That's kind of why it's called Croghan Water." Cloud snorted and butted her so that she nearly fell onto the ice, having to catch herself with her hands before her nose could dip into the little hole. "CRIPES!" she yelled in frustration. "What the hell is your PROBLEM--?" That was when something beneath the water caught her attention, and she cut herself off, furrowing her brow and leaning as close as she could to be sure that she'd just seen what she thought she'd seen. As soon as the image clarified, her eyes grew wide in disbelief. "No...no way!" |