Chapter Twenty

Lamorna could not lie still for long; that luxury was denied her as her brother began to grumble for food. She pulled him closer against her, cradling him awkwardly, shushing him. Automatically, he turned towards her, small mouth open, seeking nourishment.

Realising what he was doing, Lamorna started to cry again, helpless, hopeless tears. “But I have nothing, nothing...” Sitting up, she cradled him, sticking her little finger in his mouth. This quietened him for a few seconds before he began to wail again. She struggled to calm him, she tried holding him in different positions, but he only became more agitated.

Until finally, she herself wailed in frustration. “I don’t know what to do. Mam, I don’t know.” Looking up, she spied the chunky, curved moon through the trees. Sitting cross-legged, she held the struggling little child against her, and rocked back and forth, eyes shut, frowning hard as she tried to remember the words Vanora had used: “Steora of the moon, mother... keep him from harm, watch over him. Please, mother, White Lady, help me help him. Please...”

The night wore on; still Lamorna repeated her pleading. Gradually she became aware that they were no longer alone, and she bit her lip to hold back a scream. The lamps the soldiers had dropped had long since gone out. Warm fur brushed against her, something cold and wet snuffled across her cheek. She flinched, sucking in her breath, before recognising it as something familiar.

“M-Mistress Wolf?” she said. More snuffling noises sounded, and she realised there was more than one wolf. As they surrounded her, it felt as if they were embracing her with their bodies. Feeling a tingling warmth in her limbs, she turned her face skywards and smiled through her tears.

A wolf kept nudging the baby, trying to pull him away before Lamorna finally realised what it was trying to do. Reaching out, she ran her hand against the wolf’s side, keeping her hand on it as it lay down. Using her hands to ‘see’, she laid her brother against the wolf, and helped him latch on.

By the light of the half-moon, she gradually made out the shapes of five wolves, sitting around her, including the one feeding the baby. One was pressed against her. Hesitantly, she stroked its fur; it did not pull away. When she carefully put her arm around it, it leaned closer against her.

The jagged teeth of pain that trapped her heart eased a little, the feelings of abandonment and loneliness loosened their hold on her. She felt a surge of love toward the White Lady and, especially, the wolves. Her previous fear of them seemed, to her, an irrational thing now.

The wolf that had been feeding the infant started to get to her feet. Lamorna reached out and picked her brother up to wind him.

The wolves got to their feet and stood around the body of Mistress Wolf, heads bowed. Then they lifted their gaze skywards, towards the moon, and howled. The sound raised the hairs on the back of Lamorna’s neck and made her shiver. She gasped as the howling was taken up by distant packs. Surrounded by wolfsong, she was struck by the utter sadness of it; it brought a lump to her throat and tears prickled her eyes. She’d never thanked Mistress Wolf for all she’d done for she’d assumed they’d be together all the way to journey’s end.

The howling gradually died down. One of the larger wolves hunkered down, and the others shuffled and pushed Mistress Wolf’s body across its back. Then they walked away without a sound, fading like ghosts into the forest.

“Goodbye,” said Lamorna. But she was not alone; the wolf that had fed the child stayed by her side.

When Lamorna remained where she was, the wolf nudged her arm and, taking a few steps, turned and waited. With a heavy sigh, the girl sorted out her brother and the sling, rearranged her pack and got to her feet. She rested her hand tentatively on the wolf’s back. “May I? Mistress Wolf didn’t seem to mind.” The wolf did not pull away, and they began to walk.

*                      *                      *                      *

This time, Lamorna remained in the forest, even though the wolf had taken her within sight of a cottage with a white rose bush. After what had happened at Genna’s, she did not want anyone else getting hurt because of her. She wondered if all the villages along the way had been alerted. Was anywhere safe? She felt as scared as when she had first started her journey, but this time she was determined to survive.

Strangely, the sacrifice of Mistress Wolf, and seeing her mother’s wraith strengthened Lamorna’s resolve to survive. She had to. What right did she now have to take the easy path, the coward’s path? So, she hid in the forest. Having finished the small pie that Genna had packed for her, she was left with stale bread and cheese.

For the first time, she took a proper look at her new companion. The wolf tilted her head to the side, staring back at Lamorna with brilliant yellow eyes. Whereas Mistress Wolf had been as silvery as the moon, this wolf was as black as a moonless night. She was smaller than Mistress Wolf but of a chunkier build, giving her the look of a plump puppy. To Lamorna’s relief, she seemed to enjoy contact with the girl and, especially, the baby.

Proper sleep eluded Lamorna that day. She kept coming awake from dreams of being chased, being lost, unable to find her brother; of running after her mother but never managing to close the distance between them. The times she was awake, she lay still, letting the sounds of the forest wash over her.

The birds kept up a continuous chattering; she could hear the scampering of unseen animals, the whispering of leaves teased by the breeze. She remembered a time, probably not so long ago, when the mere thought of being in the forest had terrified her. Yet now, it seemed the most natural place to be and she could not imagine feeling safe anywhere else. Watching the sunlight sparkling through the darkened leaves, she wondered where she would eventually make her home.

Each time she remembered Daroth’s last words – “I will find you and keep you safe” – she was left feeling bewildered; she realised that she had unconsciously decided that he had chosen Janina. She wondered if he would defy his father and try to find her. But how would he know where to find her?

With a heavy sigh, Lamorna turned on her side and tried to sleep, but it eluded her. Slightly envious, she watched her brother sleeping peacefully; even the wolf dozed seemingly without a care.

She decided not to wait until dark before resuming their journey. Once the baby had had his feed, she gathered him and her belongings together. Although late evening, it was still light enough. Lamorna set a brisk pace and felt better for doing something positive.

As ever aware of her surroundings, she realised that the forest was thinning, and frowned, for all this time they’d kept to the heavily wooded parts of the forest. But the wolf carried on unperturbed.

Lamorna glanced up at the dark shapes of clouds scudding by, pushed along by the strong breeze. She absently wondered what the distant sound was that kept drifting towards her until they came within sight of a river. Stopping, she looked around.

The river skirted the forest and ribboned away into the distance. The terrain was fairly flat with some trees gathered together while others stood proud and alone. The area seemed quiet and peaceful enough.

Deciding to fill the water skin, she made her way cautiously towards the riverbank. Staring at the river, Lamorna pursed her lips. The water was further down the bank than she’d realised; to fill the water skin she would have to lean over more than she felt comfortable doing with the baby still in the sling. Undoing it, she gently laid him down on the ground beside the wolf. Concentrating on not falling into the river, Lamorna carefully filled the skin. As she straightened, the wolf leapt to her feet.

A man was walking towards them.

Scooping the infant up, keeping her head bowed, Lamorna hurried back towards the trees with the wolf trotting ahead. She was almost at the tree line when the man suddenly appeared beside her, startling her into a run.

Silently, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

Gasping loudly, she dropped the baby who immediately began to wail.

The wolf leapt from the trees. The man punched her on the nose; she yelped loudly. Before she hit the ground, he kicked out with his foot and sent her flying. She slammed against a tree before falling to lie still.

“No! Let me go. My baby–” Lamorna cried out as he slapped her, shook her and threw her to the ground. Dazed, she lay moaning.

The man stood over her, not taking his eyes off her, seemingly oblivious to the infant screaming mere yards away. He dropped to his knees and slowly pushed her dress up over her legs.

“No, don’t...” Her voice no more than a whisper, she feebly tried to push his hands away, but she might as well have been trying to shift a boulder. Turning her face away, she saw her brother’s tiny arms punching the air with every cry he made. She reached out for him but was roughly pulled back by her silent attacker.

“Get up,” said a gruff voice.

The man atop her stopped moving.

Lamorna stared; another man was standing behind her attacker, his sword resting against the man’s neck.

“I said, get up.”

The silent man slowly got to his feet.

“Are you hurt, child?”

“What?”

“Are you hurt?”

“No, no.”

As her attacker backed away, she pulled her dress down and crawled unsteadily to her brother. Lifting him carefully, she held him close. She stared at the wolf, lying so still. She prayed to the goddess that her companion was still alive; she could not bear the thought of another losing its life for her.

“Walk. That way. Go.”

Lamorna looked over her shoulder, eyes wide.

“I will return momentarily,” said her rescuer as he prodded his captive to start walking.

She continued to stare as they disappeared into the trees. The baby had started to quieten. Putting him down, she checked him as best she could; he did not appear to be injured. She offered up a silent prayer of thanks.

The wolf moved with a soft whimper.

“You’re alive,” said Lamorna as she picked her brother up again, and hurried to the animal’s side. “I thought... you were lying so still.”

As she struggled to sit up, Lamorna gently ran her hand down first one side then the other. The wolf did not flinch at her touch. But when Lamorna stroked her muzzle, she jerked back.

“Oh, you poor thing.”

The wolf’s ears pricked up before lying flat; she stared over Lamorna’s shoulder.

Lamorna got to her feet and turned. Her rescuer had returned. Alone.

He regarded her closely before looking around.  “You are on your own?” His gaze returned to rest on her as his frown deepened.

She was unable to answer; she was too busy staring at his shirt with the chain links on the shoulders. The last time she had seen similar shirts, the men wearing them had been dragging her father away.

“Are you travelling alone?” His tone suggested that he was not a patient man.

She nodded hastily.

“Why? Do you not know that it is dangerous for a child, especially a girl-child to be out alone? Well, I see at least you have a dog for company.”

The baby started to cry, albeit softly, and she automatically drew him closer.

“And a little one. But you are no more than a child yourself.” His tone had softened somewhat.

“He is my brother.”

“Are you so alone in this world? Have you no other choice but to put yourself in the path of peril?”

She blinked, mouth hanging open. He was a soldier, and she was in this situation because of people like him. Why was he questioning her so innocently? She straightened her frame but could not bring herself to look directly at him. “Thank you for saving me, sir. You need not trouble yourself further. We can make our own way.”

He snorted. “You are surely not thinking of continuing on your own?”

“We have come this far–”

“I cannot allow you to carry on alone.”

Panic began to set in as she wondered at the meaning of his words. Did he know about her? Had he been sent to look for her? Had he saved her from one horrible fate only to drag her off to another?

“I won’t go with you,” she said.

“Are you not afraid? What if there are others out there like him? Your dog couldn’t save... Wait.” Taking a step forward, he peered closely at the wolf who regarded him boldly. “That is no dog.”

Taking that as her cue, Lamorna hurriedly began to gather her things.

“You travel with a wolf?”

She remained silent. Backing away, she quickly thanked him again then turned. The wolf was already moving away.

“Wait.” He darted forward and caught hold of her arm; the wolf growled but kept her distance. “I mean you no harm. I only wish to help.”

Her lip quivered as she looked up at him. “But you don’t help. Soldiers don’t help, they only hurt.” An uncontrollable shivering seized her, her knees buckled and she felt herself falling.