The Raven Saga Box Set

Chapter 28

Charlie moved over to the now roaring fire and sat down, making himself comfortable as he told us about a small group of travellers he'd seen just a few weeks before. Having not recognised any of the group, Charlie had kept his distance, watching from above. They were a group of young hikers. “Kids,” said Charlie, “the human variety... not fellow goats!” he added, chuckling.

“I just stood grazing while I watched them attempt to make a fire. They drank lots of beer and acted like idiots,” he added, “other than them, there hasn't been much going on around here for quite a while... unless you count the time when a strange young woman stayed the night. It was around Christmastime, I believe.”

“A strange young woman?” questioned Gabriel, “I wonder who that was.”

“Her name was Tabitha, I think. That's it. Do you know her Gabriel?”

He shook his head.

I was intrigued. Who was this Tabitha? Where had she come from? Where was she going? What was she doing up here alone? And why was she strange?

Going by Gabriel's friendliness to the goat man, I finally accepted that Charlie must be somebody (or something) that could be trusted, so I pulled out my sleeping bag and laid it down next to Gabriel's where I curled up and listened to their conversation to find out more about the folk that often gathered around the mountain.

Charlie had obviously spent some time watching Tabitha, and he revealed that she appeared to be a witch.

“So what was she up to at Christmas, Charlie?” asked Gabriel as he warmed his cold hands over the flames.

“I don't know where she was coming from, but she stopped at this very cave for a night. I was near enough to watch her without being seen,” said Charlie as I began to get the feeling that he was something of a voyeur.

“She was alone, to begin with, but was later joined by a young man who wasn't exactly the kind of boy you'd like your daughter to bring home if you know what I mean. He was covered in those awful tattoos, all up his arms and legs. Dreadful things. I thought they were perhaps lovers, but before I knew it, they had a huge argument. I couldn't quite hear what they were fighting about, but it was clearly serious. And then just when I thought they were over it, he turned into a wolf, of all things. I knew then that I needed to make a quick exit, so I went and hid away in my cave until they left. They were gone by the next morning. I was intrigued, to say the least. I'd have loved to know what that was all about,” he said.

“Interesting,” said Gabriel, “but I don't know either of them. Did you hear what the boy was called?”

Charlie sat motionless for a moment, deep in thought. “Aah yes. It was Zoltan.”

Zoltan and Tabitha. A werewolf and a witch. I asked how Charlie had come to the conclusion that she was a witch.

“I just knew... it was written all over her,” he chuckled, before adding, “that and the fact that she appeared to be attempting to cast spells before wolfie arrived.”

I was so fascinated that I decided I wanted to meet them. I wasn't sure why there was just something about the way they had been described that intrigued me.

Gabriel and Charlie began chatting about things that were of little interest to me, so I decided to have a wander around on my own for a while.

“Be careful, Lilly and don't go too far,” said Gabriel as I walked away from them as they continued chatting.

Dusk was approaching, and I knew it wouldn't be too long until it was dark, so I kept fairly close to our camp. Since becoming a mountain lion, my eyesight had improved dramatically, even in human form, but because I wasn't familiar with the area, I certainly didn't want to tempt fate. And I never forgot that I had promised Gabriel that I would remain in human form.

As I walked out of sight of them both, I heard the gentle cooing of an owl. Following the sound, I saw the majestic creature sitting on the branch of a lone tree. As he cooed, he just sat staring off into the distance. I didn't want to disturb him, so I just stood for a few moments, watching. Looking around for somewhere to sit, I noticed a large smooth rock a few metres away but to get there, I'd probably make some noise. I tiptoed as silently as possible and, sure enough, he turned his head to look at me. He probably knew I was there all along.

Sitting down so he wouldn't feel threatened, I watched as he did nothing. He just sat and stared at me while I admired his unusual dark eyes. After a few minutes, he must have got bored of my face, and so he turned to look in the opposite direction before he took to flight and disappeared.

I stayed where I was and, looking around me, I saw what a spectacular place it was. It was amazing how far we had actually climbed, the tops of the dense woods below were quite a distance away. Other than me, Gabriel, Charlie and the lone owl, we appeared to be very much alone. It was an excellent spot to get away from it all, and I could certainly understand Gabriel's penchant for doing that occasionally. Whenever life had a strange twist to it, I supposed. Over the course of Gabriel's life, there had certainly been rather a lot of twists and turns, and the majority of them weren't particularly pleasant.

I wondered about Charlie. Who was he? And how did he have such a posh British accent? It was bizarre. As far as I knew, wild mountain goats didn't exist in the UK, and for creatures that were capable of changing from animal to human, they must have been born into it. Like I was, it was in my genes. There was something about Charlie that was a little strange. Why had he changed the subject about his injury? And why had he been watching us for a while before coming down to greet us? After giving it a bit more thought, I wasn't so sure that I trusted him, so I walked back round to make sure everything was okay. Darkness had fallen, and I didn't want Gabriel to worry unnecessarily about my whereabouts. I also knew that he would be preparing some food before we called it a night.

Sure enough, as I wandered carefully over the rough terrain back to the camp, I could smell the food. I just hoped that the bears couldn't smell it too. But Gabriel knew what he was doing.

Although I watched Charlie carefully while we ate, I concluded that there didn't appear to be anything to worry about and so, exhaustion taking me by surprise, I curled up in my sleeping bag and drifted off to sleep. The sound of Charlie's and Gabriel's words did nothing to keep me awake.

oOo

“Lilly, Lilly.”

I awoke with a start, someone was nudging me, “Wake up, Lilly. It's Gabriel. He's gone,” said Charlie as he finally managed to drag me out of comfortable sleep with a bang.

His words twisted my stomach into a knot, “he's gone? What do you mean, he's gone?” I asked, jumping out of my sleeping bag. I looked around and saw that Gabriel's sleeping bag was still there, exactly where it had been the night before, a few embers smouldered in the fire but Gabriel was nowhere to be seen.

“Are you sure he didn't just go to get some water or something?” I said, trying hard not to panic, even though I could feel it rising from the pit of my stomach.

Charlie shook his head and stuttered, “I've... I've been awake for over an hour. I thought the same. I assumed that he had gone for water or to the toilet. But he hasn't come back, Lilly. We must leave immediately. We must travel to the Elders together. There we will be able to get some help,” he said as he grabbed everything in sight and shoved it into mine and Gabriel's rucksacks.

I didn't even want to think about what might have happened, but I couldn't prevent those negative thoughts from entering my mind. Had a bear attacked him? Surely I would have heard if something so large and ferocious had done, wouldn't I? What about a vampire? Or that man who could change into an alligator, the one Gabriel had first mentioned months ago? My mind was running riot. I thought of Rose, 'Breathe, Lilly, breathe. Slowly, in and out, in and out'. I knew that's what she would be telling me to do.

Charlie stood looking at me, quizzically, “Lilly, my dear. What are you doing? We must get out of here.”

“I need to calm down, Charlie. I need to think about this sensibly and not react wrongly. I wouldn't want to rush off only to find that Gabriel isn't far away. I can't just leave now. Anything could have happened,” I whispered while I continued to practice the deep breathing techniques.

“That's exactly why we need to leave now. We need to get to the Elders now,” he said authoritatively.

“You go, and I'll stay here and wait,” I said, standing my ground.

“Lilly, you are coming with me, and you're coming with me now, young lady,” he said as his nostrils flared. His face and demeanour changed suddenly, and I began to get the feeling that Charlie wasn't who or what Gabriel thought he was. I began to think that my intuition the previous evening had been spot on. Charlie wasn't one to be trusted.

“Charlie... where is my grandfather?” I asked. “What have you done to him?” I asked.

He turned and laughed a deep laugh, “You're a smart girl Lilly, aren't you? I thought I had fooled you both last night, but clearly not. Now listen to me. If you want your grand-father to remain alive, you had better do as I say.”

I knew I had no choice but to do exactly as he said. Until I knew where Gabriel was, I couldn't risk losing him altogether. I nodded, trying hard to keep myself from transforming.

“Pick up your bag and walk ahead of me... that way,” he said, pointing in the same direction where I had seen the owl the night before.

I stumbled ahead and tried to think of ways to escape, but I knew I couldn't go anywhere. Because if I did, I might never see Gabriel, alive, again.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

“Why are you doing this?” I asked Charlie after we'd walked in silence for over an hour. “What have you done with Gabriel?”

“Be quiet and keep walking,” he said, while I wondered how my grandfather had trusted this beast. He was usually such a good judge of character, how could he have let this happen? But I knew it wasn't his fault. Being so close to the Elders, Gabriel had assumed he could trust him. Clearly, he had been wrong.

Charlie was after something. I didn't know what that was yet, but I would find out soon enough.

The fact that Gabriel was gone and Charlie was k********g me suggested I had something he wanted. I dreaded to think what it was. As I thought about this evil creature, I began to notice something familiar on a tree a little further ahead. It was an owl. And it looked an awful lot like the one from the night before. It was watching me. I wondered if it was just an owl or if it had special abilities. I stared at it, hoping that it would somehow swoop down and rescue me. But it didn't. Like before, it swiftly looked away and then took flight.

“Keep moving!” yelled Charlie, and he shoved me, causing me to stumble on the loose stones beneath my feet. As I fell onto my knees, I contemplated whether I should just change and rip the goat to shreds.

But I calmed myself down again, thinking about Gabriel's safety. I pulled myself back onto my feet and rubbed my hands on the front of my combats, to get rid of the grit and dirt. In the distance, I could see what appeared to be another cave. We seemed to be heading in that direction. After another ten minutes or so, as we approached it, I noticed that we were not alone. Somebody was waiting for us.