Silvermoon. A Tale of a Young Werewolf. A YA Novel. 12-18 (11 page)

Her brow knotted and her face paled and she answered in kind, “No, I heard it too.”

His features matched hers and he asked, “But who was that inside my head, I thought only you could do that?”

“It could have been your real father calling you.”

“You know my father?”

“No, I don’t, I heard a male voice say, ‘
My son’
that’s all.”

He sat up and asked, “You said, ‘my three companions’, how did you know about them?”

“I’ll explain later, so, who are they?”

They both turned to a knock on the door.

He called out. “Come in.”

Yvette entered, followed by a nervous Ingrid. Yvette closed the door behind her and whispered, “We heard voices.”

He stood up and said, “Jennifer, these are two of my companions, Yvette and Ingrid.”

For some reason they didn’t shake hands, they just stood there. Yvette stared at Jennifer and she stared back, Ingrid asked, “Can somebody tell me what we are doing here?”

Jennifer said, “We five must go on a journey.”

Ingrid asked her, “We five, a journey, where to and why?”

“A thief broke into our home and stole a valuable antique. An old rune stone, it is worthless to the thief, a woman, but it means a lot to my family. I fear she will want a ransom, a ransom we cannot pay and I fear she will destroy it out of sp
ite. I know where she hides out;
it’s somewhere in the Welsh mountains. I really need Jason’s help to find her, so will you come with us, it will be an adventure?”

Yvette said, “Of course we will.”

Jennifer looked past them at the open doorway.  “Where is the other one, there should be three of you?”

Yvette said, “I’ll go and get him,” and surprised them both by grabbing Ingrid by the arm, and left the room with her.

The door closed and Jason asked, “Can’t we tell them the truth?”

“What! You can’t be serious.”

He looked away, his face burning. “Sorry, I thought…”

She cut him off,
and said softly,
“Do you know if you can trust them?” She added as she stared at him, “
For
I’m not sure if I do.”

He looked at her. “I’ve known them as school friends for five years, we study together, we take part in sport together and we support one another in our studies. They rely on me and they are dependable, even though they are an odd trio.”

She walked about some and then said, “One of them did seem a little strange, I sense something about her. She seems to be hiding something.” She glanced in his direction, “What do you think?”

He smiled, remembering his uncertainty. “You mean the dark one, don’t you, she’s alright, she’s French
and it’s the smell, she reads by candlelight, burnt wax.  She is quite a good swimmer
too
, they both are in fact, it’s a pity the river is still frozen.”

She moved towards the open window, it was snowing once again. “Which reminds me, our journey. Helga told me we must find a lake, a reservoir, a path will lead us from it to the goblin’s lair. It is in this region that we should also find your people.”

He watched her as her breath left her mouth in gentle wisps in the cold room. She had been absent from his life for five long years. He not forgotten what Lucas had said, that they would meet again when they were older, but Lucas had not taken such an event into account.

Now she stood before him in all her beauty,
despite being
dressed in her winter clothing, sturdy hiking boots, an anorak, breeches and thick stockings. Her head was free and her long hair was plaited and coiled up around the back of her head. It was the gold and ginger hair that had hung about her like a veil, that night at the ford. He knew she could hear him in her mind, but he didn’t care, he would bare his soul to her if she wished. He thought of her sitting on the jetty, of her standing up, her hair hanging down behind her, this time older. He was afraid to ask her if she was betrothed to someone and said in his mind,
“Do you have any idea how much I love you, is it as much as you love me?”

She turned from the window, smiling. He caught,
“How did you-?”
in his mind, then nothing, but there was no mistaking the thought, in fact she might as well have said the complete sentence out loud.

He walked over to his bedroom doorway; he said as he walked past her, “I’ll get dressed.”

Chapter nine.

The joining
.

After John arrived, Jason explained about the treasure hunt that would lead them through the Welsh mountains. They were excited at the prospect and agreed to leave immediately before the robber got too much of a lead.

After sorting out their winter clothing they made their way in silence to the kitchen and raided the pantry. Yvette directed them. “Take the cheese and milk and bread. Take the olive oil and any tinned fish, liver pate, any nuts you can find and all the fattening foods, and lots of bananas.”

Jason said to her, as he stuffed his rucksack, “You’ve done this before haven’t you?”

Yvette smiled that warm smile of hers and he felt suddenly drawn to her, in a protective way. His feelings for her had grown over the years, but he knew right there and then that his feelings were the same as hers, nothing more than brotherly, as Jennifer was now foremost in his mind.

She said brightly, “I am an experienced mountaineer, I love the snow, but snow and wind can kill you, and to keep up our strength we need the right food.” She fastened her rucksack and slung it over her shoulder as if it weighed nothing. “I will lead the way, you follow with Jennifer and Ingrid, and John can bring up the rear.” She seemed to relish saying the last sentence and added, “It’s the best place for him, him being almost full grown.”

Jennifer came over and told her, “I know the heading, Yvette, due north until we come to several rivers, after which we climb and search for a village that is situated by a large reservoir, a natural lake-.”

“Yes, I know of it, but I can’t remember the name, I couldn’t pronounce it anyhow but I know the river that runs from it.”

“Do you mean the Claerwen reservoir?”

“Yes, and the Aferclo-.” She looked at them, her brow knitting fiercely.

Jennifer said, “And the river is the Afon Claerddu.”

Yvette’s eyebrows rose, “Yes, exactly!”

The others had joined them and Ingrid pulled a face, “I’ve been there on my holidays, it’s rather boggy in places.”

John said, “Not now, it will be covered in snow, and the river and lake will be frozen.”

“With small woods and big rocks everywhere,” added Jennifer.

Ingrid’s brow furrowed. “It’s a long way off isn’t it?”

Jennifer turned to her. “Twenty odd miles, that’s not a long way.”

She replied, “Yes, as the crow flies, but we aren’t crows.”

Yvette asked her, “You are not changing your mind are you?”

John chided her, “Come on, Ingrid, be a sport, a big strong girl like you, afraid of a bit of snow, I thought you liked a challenge.”

Her gaze fell as she said quietly, “Mountain climbing isn’t my thing, I can’t stand heights.”

Jason said, “We won’t be climbing mountains, Ingrid, we will be going up hill and down dale. Of course there will be detours because of the weather, I would say, thirty miles, it will be a matter of hiking, not climbing.”

Ingrid glanced at Y
vette and said, “Okay. I’m game;
I love hiking anyway.”

John said, “I think it will take us two days to get there under these conditions.”

Yvette added, “I would say three or more if this blizzard keeps up.”

Jennifer said, “She’s right and we have to go now though, blizzard or no blizzard,” she added, looking at Ingrid, “Oh, yes, my parents are offering a reward.”

Ingrid
said, “That’s not necessary, you are amongst friends.”

John turned on her, “You speak for yourself young lady, education costs money.”

In the following silence Ingrid looked about her and said, “Well, what are we all waiting for, let’s move.”

After a last eq
uipment check they set off and
left by the back door and cut through the woods to avoid discovery.

The blizzard died down some and the snowfall appeared to thicken, mainly due to the lack of wind.

Despite her small size, Yvette moved tirele
ssly through the knee-high snow
at a steady pace. Jason stayed as close to her as possible, he knew he didn’t have to worry about Jennifer, her being an elf, but she couldn’t lead them and betray her identity by walking across the snow. As for Ingrid, she thrived on the cold weather. John, on the other hand seemed to be struggling all the time, even after walking in the others tracks, but he never complained.

They finally stopped as the sky lightened and the snowfall ceased.

After their meal of bread, cheese, nuts and milk, taken in a copse on the top of a hill, they moved on. After an hour they came upon a wooded area and relieved themselves of their waste products and moved through the sparse foliage until darkness came, then they made camp.

Jason went with Jennifer in search of wood. They hadn’t gone far before they found a place of devastation, uprooted trees were everywhere. Jason looked at the path cut through the woods. “Looks like a tornado hit this place.”

Jennifer looked up at the branches, sadness stained her eyes. “The poor trees, nature has been unkind
to them
.” She moved closer to him and he was tempted to put his arm around her and tell her not to worry as he was there. She reassured him,
“Jason Longfellow, I am not a baby, I am quite capable of taking care of myself, I find pleasure in your presence, a pleasure that increases as we come closer, but remember we must be careful not to get carried away, and yes, I long to hold you too, and to kiss you, but that I fear, would be our undoing.”

He looked into her eyes.
“If it meant my death I would still be willing to take-.”

Her thoughts bit deep as she cut him off, “
Well I would not, I care too much for you to take chances.”
She said aloud, “Look, beneath
that bush, there’s a nice big log for the fire, not too long either.”

He looked at her, her smile was warm and friendly, and he had thought she would be angry at his foolishness. “I’ll go and get it,” he said.

She followed him and watched as he retrieved the log from a bramble bush, as he rose up and hoisted the wood onto his shoulder she asked, “You miss your family don’t you.”

He stepped over a fallen tree. “Of course
I do
. I miss the farm and our dog.”

“I never met your parents, what are they like?”

He knew she meant his foster parents. “
They are hard-working people and honest.
I miss my mum, the teacher. I remember my last school period. My mother was voicing one of her opinions on the hardships of life, of how fate itself could influence a person’s destiny.
“Imagine destiny, your life, as a river, upon which you are travelling. The river meand
ers pleasantly, but never stops;
sometimes it runs straight and easy and when it turns it can turn gently, or sharply. Sometimes the way will become narrow, but still...”