The Wolf Tree (36 page)

Ray saw them in the moonlight.

Two Bowlers, spread at least a hundred yards apart, waited in ambush. As Marisol raced past, one of the Bowlers brought his rifle to his shoulder. The barrel flashed.

Unole collapsed in a tumble of legs and torn earth.

It was late in the day when Sally heard the first of the rougarou call, “They are returning!”

The rougarou Mangoron and the giant Conker rounded the trunk of the Great Tree nearly a thousand feet above. The pack gathered eagerly at its roots, whining and barking like pups. Hethy put down the stick she was using to draw letters in the earth, and joined Sally, watching the two make their way down. Jolie twisted her way through the pack to stand at the last step.

As Conker approached her, he held out her shell knife and put his large hand over the siren’s shoulder. “I have found it.”

Jolie’s smile fell as she saw the somber expression on Conker’s face. “What is wrong?”

Conker shook his head, continuing to follow Mangoron. “Renamex.
Nata
. My pack,” Mangoron announced. “I bring dire news. I know now why we have not returned to our true forms. Our stewardship has failed. The Great Tree is dying. Its outer branches are crumbling. We were right to help Conker, for he and his father’s hammer are our only hope. This Machine must be destroyed before the Tree perishes.”

The pack erupted in questions. Renamex growled and snapped to settle them. Sally pushed her way through the terrified and furious pack. “What does this mean?” she asked Renamex. “Can I cross?”

The
nata
turned from the loud voices surrounding them. “No, Coyote. It’s too dangerous.”

Sally turned to escape the commotion and knocked into Jolie. The siren took her by the shoulders, looking down at her curiously.

“What do you mean? You were going to cross the Wolf Tree?”

But Sally broke from her grip and ran.

From the fireside, Sally watched with anxiety as the pack discussed Mangoron’s news over at the Great Tree’s roots. Hethy plucked the feathers from another bird, her eyes
occasionally flickering to Sally or to the rougarou. Neither girl spoke.

Although she would not be able to reach her father across the Great Tree, she had the rabbit’s foot. It pointed to the west, calling Sally to continue her journey. She could still find her father. But to have traveled across the Great Tree—what an adventure that would have been!

Would Quorl and Hethy and the others let her continue after her father now? Renamex would want to meet as a pack to discuss it. They would want to know more about the rabbit’s foot. How could she explain whether the foot was meant to restore her father’s powers or to forge the spike? She was not even certain!

But she was certain she needed to find her father. All depended on that! And if they decided she was too young to be venturing across the plains alone, then what would she—

Sally was startled from her reverie as Conker stood before her. She scrambled to her feet.

“Easy, girl,” he said softly. “I’ve only come to return your blanket and to thank you for letting me borrow it.”

Hethy stood to take it, smiling up at the giant. “You’re welcome,” she said. “Was it cold up there?”

Conker nodded. “Fierce cold.”

Hethy gave a cough and then said, “Started on your handle?”

Conker looked over his shoulder at Jolie, who was building a separate fire a dozen or so yards away. “We’re about to begin. You can come watch if you want.”

“Thanks,” Hethy said. “Maybe in a bit. I’m about to set these birds to cooking. I’ll bring some to you when they done.”

“We’d appreciate that,” he said, and turned to go, letting his gaze fall once more on Sally.

Sally sat fretting for a long time. Finally Hethy stood, wiping her hands on the front of her dress. “Well, them birds’ll be cooking for a bit. I’m going to go watch them work on that handle. You want to come?”

Sally shook her head dully.

Hethy turned a brow up quizzically. “Okay then. I’ll be back.”

Sally watched as Hethy approached the other fire. Jolie was crouched beside Conker. The giant was working intently. Moving the knife in long, controlled strokes down the branch, he shaved away the bark in thin ribbons. Hethy knelt, placing her hands on her knees. She began coughing, bending forward as it shook her frame.

Sally anxiously watched her friend a moment longer as the fit subsided. She hated what she was about to do. She couldn’t call attention to herself. It was like back at Shuckstack, when she had snuck away. She had been careful then. Nobody had realized until she was gone.

She couldn’t pack the blanket or any provisions. They could turn to see her at any moment. What would she eat? How would she survive? She had nearly starved before, even with Hethy’s help. Well, she would have to worry about that later. Her first step was to get away unnoticed.

Sally slipped her fingers around the straps of her rucksack,
picking it up. She walked slowly, making her way toward the rougarou as if she were listening to their discussion. Casting a careful glance, she saw Jolie talking to Hethy, Conker working on the handle.

Keep going, she told herself. They’ll take care of Hethy.

The rougarou were too busy to notice Sally, and she kept walking deeper into the shadows around the roots of the Great Tree. Sally broke into a run. When she reached the edge of one of the buttes, she slid on her hip down the slope of soft dirt, tumbling at the end and landing hard on her elbows. Sally scrambled to her feet, touching her hand to her pocket to make sure the rabbit’s foot was still there, and raced along the gully until she found herself out on the open prairie. The low moon illuminated wisps of cloud. Looking back, she could see the Great Tree behind her, ghostly and seeming no farther away than when she left.

After a time, she slowed to a jog and then walked as she made her way across the grassland. She had to keep going. She couldn’t stop now; she was still too close. But she was hungry already and wished she had eaten before she ran away.

A gunshot echoed.

Sally froze. She was not used to the sound of guns and could not guess how far away the shooter was. She crouched on the ground, her heart racing. Another shot rang out. No, they were not firing at her. This much she could tell. But someone was shooting, and they weren’t far away.

A pinnacle rose in the dark ahead. If she could reach it, there would be more of the buttes and canyons and places to
stay hidden there. She quickened her pace, and as she did, she drew the rabbit’s foot from her pocket to check the direction.

The rabbit’s foot was glowing.

Sally stopped. Why was it glowing? She’d never seen that before. But Ray had.

She heard something. The beat of feet against the earth. It was growing louder. Sally turned back toward it. Something was racing across the prairie toward her.

Her legs tangled in her dress as she spun around. Stumbling only a moment, she ran, knowing she had nowhere to hide.

Over her shoulder she saw it. A shadow descended upon her, enormous and leaping. She fell backward and cried out as it landed before her.

“Where are you going, Little Coyote?”

“Quorl … wh-what are you doing here?” Sally stammered, her hand to her chest.

“You should not be out here alone. There are men about with guns.”

She held up the rabbit’s foot, letting its warm white light illuminate Quorl’s eyes. “Look. The
Toninyan
is glowing. That means a Hoarhound is out there with those men. Are they after the rougarou?”

“No. How would these men know of us? They must have some other aim. But they are armed, and if this beast is with them, then you are at risk. Come, let me take you back.”

“I’m not going back, Quorl. I must find my father.”

“You’re leaving without your friend Hethy?”

“She … she shouldn’t come. It’s
my
father. It’s too
dangerous for her. I hate goodbyes and I didn’t know how else to leave without making it hard, on me or her or any of you. The pack has been so kind to me, and I’m sorry I left without explaining, but I must go, Quorl. Please tell them I’m sorry.”

Quorl looked curiously at Sally and growled low.

“I am bound to you, Little Coyote. You said your father could help stop this Machine. If we can find him, maybe he can join Conker and together we can fight. I am coming with you. I will be your guardian.”

Sally could not help herself. She threw her arms around his neck. “Oh, Quorl.”

“Get on my back,” Quorl said. “Let us get away from those men. Which way does the foot tell us to go?”

After Hethy left to check on the roasting birds, Jolie watched Conker work. He had stripped the branch of its bark. Beneath, the grain was tinted a dusky red unlike any wood she had ever seen. Conker shaved the wood slowly, sculpting the handle with precision as Mangoron had instructed. He stopped on occasion to judge the balance and feel of the grip beneath his hands, and then he continued, altering here and refining there.

The pack was making noise, and Jolie stood to look. Hethy was speaking to them, and the expression on her face made Jolie wonder if something was wrong. Renamex was giving orders, and one of the rougarou raced away.

“I will be back in a moment,” Jolie said, but Conker hardly heard her.

As she approached, Hethy ran up to meet her, coughing with the exertion. “You didn’t see Yote nowhere, did you?”

“No, why? She is missing?”

“Quorl, too. They’re gone and no one knows where they went.” Hethy was wringing her dress in her hands, and she mumbled nearly inaudibly, “She’s gone and followed it without me. She left me, sure enough.”

“Followed what?” Jolie asked.

Hethy turned her eyes away, guilt and fear mingling. “I ain’t suppose to tell you. She don’t want you to know.”

“Know what?”

“I promised her and I’m afraid she’ll be mad. But she might be doing wrong. I just don’t know.”

“I want to help you, to help your friend,” Jolie said. “I heard Coyote say something about wanting to cross the Wolf Tree. Is that what this is about?”

“It’s her daddy,” Hethy relented. “She’s trying to find him. He’s lost somewheres. In this other world. The Gloaming.”

“The Gloaming?”

“And she thinks she can rescue him ’cause she’s got this foot.”

“A foot?”

“A rabbit’s foot. Made of gold.”

Jolie’s mouth fell open. “Who is this girl? What is Coyote’s real name?”

“Sally.” Hethy winced. “Sally Cobb.”

Jolie’s mind erupted with a thousand thoughts. Sally!
What was she doing out here? Why wasn’t she with Ray? And why did she have the foot? Jolie imagined all that could have occurred in the past year since she’d last seen Ray. Her heart stung as she thought of him.

“Do you know Ray, Hethy?”

“That’s her brother. I ain’t met him.”

“But he is alive?”

“Sure. ‘Less something happened to him in Omphalosa.” As she saw Jolie’s puzzled expression, she added, “The town, where I come from. Yote … Sally told me that’s where Ray was going. To try and figure out what was causing the Darkness. To try and stop that awful clockwork.”

“The Machine!” Jolie paced, trying to piece together what was happening and what she should do. “But we are Ray’s friends. Why did Sally not tell us who she was? She knew who we were. She had to.”

“She told me not to tell you. She didn’t want you to know. Oh, what foolishness that girl takes to!”

“It is all right,” Jolie said, calming herself and wanting to calm Hethy. “You were trying to be a good friend. You wanted to be loyal, and that is good. We have to find her. We have to find Sally before she gets too far.”

Hethy gestured to the rougarou. “Renamex. She done sent out Coer. But Sally, she ain’t going to want to be found. She’ll try and resist. And Quorl’s with her. He got a debt to her. He’ll do whatever Yote asks.”

“But I have a way to stop her.”

“You ain’t going to hurt her?”

“No,” Jolie said. “I am a siren. There are powers I can use. If we can catch her, I can convince her to come back with us.”

“We’ll need to be quick like,” Hethy said. She ran over and spoke with Oultren. The rougarou listened and then followed Hethy back to Jolie.

The rougarou crouched on the ground. “I will carry you,” she said.

Jolie looked back at Conker. All his attention was focused on completing the handle for the Nine Pound Hammer. She could do this without him. They would find Sally and be back before he finished.

Jolie swung her leg over the rougarou’s back and Hethy got on behind her. As they raced away, Jolie heard a rifle fire in the distance. And then another.

23
HOSTAGES