The Unwanted Winter - Volume One of the Saga of the Twelves (59 page)

“
I thought you’d run away.
We all did. I guess I was always a little bit mad at you for that,”
he admitted. His eyes were so filled with tears, Joaquin felt, at
any second, they were going to cascade down his face like a river
bursting over the edge of a levy.

“
That is ok, Tony, I
probably would have felt the same way,” offered Kenai in her sweet,
rumbling voice, like age-old rocks crumbling.

Mikalah still wept quietly
into her fur, clinging onto her neck as if she needed support to
stand on her own two feet.

“
I just loved you so
much…” His voice did break then. He half-turned away from them, in
order to gather himself.

Both Joaquin and Jason
looked away, giving him a degree of privacy.

“
Thank you for loving me,
Tony. I have always felt it, even when I was here all alone and
frightened to death. I knew somewhere, out there in the great big
nothing, you loved me. It was one of things that kept me sane, that
kept me focused.” Kenai’s massive eyes brimmed as well. She stopped
to clear her great throat, which rattled Elena and made her pull
back her head from the bear-dog’s neck.

“
No, thank you, for
everything you have done, because, without it right now, most of us
would be freezing to death, out there in the snow,” he said,
masking his emotions.

Around the cave, many
others of the group voiced similar opinions, instinctively
attempting to break the awkward intimacy of the moment.

Kenai just nodded in
acceptance, but otherwise stayed silent. Her eyes were locked on
Anthony, her gaze thoughtful as a tear or two soaked into the hairs
about her eyes.

“
Well, Kenai,” began
Joaquin, exhaling a huge, rattling breath of air, glancing around
the cave again, “it looks like you have done just about everything
you could have done in order to make this place as hospitable and
welcoming as possible, especially under the circumstances.
Thanks.”

The bear-dog smiled warmly
at him. Her orbs coming to rest upon the larger boy, her snout
making her grin appear somewhat strange, unlikely, on a creature
that shouldn’t have been able to do so.

“
So,” he went on, clapping
his hands together, “let’s see if we can get this fire going. It
looks like Andrew is about to turn into a Popsicle right before our
eyes.”

Anthony perked up. “Yeah,
that’s a great idea, dude. Does anyone have matches or a lighter or
something to light the fire?” he asked expectantly.

The animals just looked at
each other and shrugged, having little need for such tools. Their
thick hides and furs were more than enough to keep them
warm.

The kids glanced at once
another, shaking their heads negatively.

“
Use the fire rocks I
found,” offered Kenai. “They are right there sitting along the rim
of the pit I built.”

All eyes turned to look
the two flat, palm-sized rocks the bear-dog had indicated. Both of
them were much darker when compared to the rocks upon which they
sat.

Fire Rocks?
thought Joaquin, puzzled by the bear-dog’s
phrasing.

Jason made his way over to
them an excited expression on his face, making Joaquin stare at him
with a little apprehension. He was immediately uncertain. He knew
his friend could be slightly eccentric at times. The look on his
face made him hope silently the kid wasn’t going to embarrass him
this time around. In the past, he’d been known to do just
that…

“
Is that flint?” asked the
Asian teen, picking up one of the stones, examining both sides in
thought.

Joaquin’s eyebrows shot up
in recognition.
Flint!
He winced suddenly, having forgotten the swollen shiner below
his left eye. The jerking motion sent a jolt of pain across his
visage.

“
What is flint?” asked
Mikalah. Her face, made puffy with crying, was bunched up in
confusion, her curiosity boiling over.

Jason glanced over his
shoulder at the little girl with a broad smile on his face. “It’s
used to start fires. Kenai’s term, ‘fire rocks’, is actually quite
accurate.”

The little girl turn her
head to the side in thought, her expression unchanged.

“
Hey, does anyone have a
pocket knife or something made of steel?” Jason looked around his
expression as enthusiastic as Anthony’s had been a moment
before.

Joaquin glanced around at
the kids, then noticed Andrew fiddling around with the pockets of
his jeans.

“
Hey, I think I have
something you could use,” said Andrew.

All eyes turned to the
boy.

Anthony chuckled,
quirking: “Drew always has something up his sleeve.”

At his side, Joaquin could
see Anthony’s sisters were smiling as well. He figured it must be
some sort of inside joke.

Andrew pulled out a tiny
Swiss Army knife-kit, tossing it over to Jason.

Joaquin felt his face melt
in to a grin. Jason loved Swiss Army knives, ever since he’d been a
little boy.

“
Awesome,” was all
Joaquin’s friend said and quickly bent down into the pit. He
flicked open a tool from the knife-kit that looked like a standard
screwdriver head, about two inches long.

All of the kids gathered
around him. He held the rock in his left hand, placing the edge of
the screwdriver against a flat area of the flint, applying a degree
of pressure. Deftly, he struck it across the surface of the stone.
Joaquin was surprised to see a huge spark neatly jump from the
contact zone, between the flint and steel, and into the kindling
Kenai had already placed within the fire-pit.

Mikalah let out an
impressed,
Aaaaah,
as it dawned on her what Jason had been talking
about

Joaquin could almost hear
her think,
Fire rocks!

The spark smoked where it
landed for a bit, glowing dimly in the half-light of the cave. The
kindling must have been extremely dry, because when Jason bent a
bit closer and blew softly upon the ember, a second later, a bright
yellow-orange flame burst forth. Within moments, it was spreading,
catching ahold of the thicker twigs and leaves. A minute later, it
began to burn in earnest.

Anthony trotted to the
stack of wood alongside the wall of the cave. He pulled forth a
handful of small branches, and ran back. He fed them to the fire,
to build up the heat, so it would consume the larger ones Kenai had
stacked “tee-pee” style. The coals they would leave behind would
insure a lesser chance of the blaze dying out with time.

“
Aaaah, man, you don’t
know how good that feels,” moaned Andrew. He came farther forward
and let the warmth of the fire sink into his chilled body. At his
side, Jason held up the both pieces of flint and the Swiss Army
knife to him.

“
Looks like you’re the
keeper of the tools, since I gather from your friends over there
you seem to be one to always have the right thing at the right
time,” he said.

Andrew smirked at the
other boy, but took the implements of fire and put them in his
pockets. He just laughed to himself and then resumed warming
himself. The fire grew precipitously and began to spread its
soothing heat farther about the cave.

“
How did you ever manage
to find flint, Kenai?” wondered Anthony, walking up to his former
pet and scratched her behind the ears. The rest of the kids and
animals either sat on the wooden logs or the floor
nearby.

“
I had
five years, Tony. I had
a lot
of time on my hands,” she replied with a just a
hint of sarcasm, though she was smiling back at him by the time
she’d finished.

Anthony laughed aloud and
let himself be led back to the fire. It was roaring now, giving of
a decent amount of heat. He sat on one of the logs and Kenai laid
down beside him, letting the warmth wash across his
face.

They all fell silent,
letting the much welcomed heat from the flames chase the cold from
their bodies, warming both their bones and their minds. Each of
them was content to be still for a spell and allow themselves some
time to catch up with the events unfolding around them.

The seconds passed into
minutes, only the periodic crackle and hiss of the fire echoed
throughout the cave. Joaquin watched the smoke curl and twist up
toward the ceiling, half-expecting to see it gathering en masse
above them. He was surprised to see, there was a small crack
directly above the spot where the fire burned. He knew why Kenai
had chosen to build the fire pit here. It must have led to some
other chamber or possibly, to the surface, because, quite
conveniently, the smoke was sucked right through the crack and
vented out of the cave, almost at the same rate it made its’ way to
the ceiling.

Huh
, thought Joaquin,
who would’ve
imagined we’d have a natural chimney in a place like this.
He let his eyes fall back to the Kenai, who was
resting near Anthony, enjoying the fruits of her creation. Even
through the veneer of her tremendous bulk and impressive features,
he couldn’t help but think how magnificent a beast she was.
Bear-dog or not, Kenai rocked!

“
So,” began Andrew, “what
do we do now?” He’d always been known to ask the
obvious.

Both of the girls
giggled.

Another inside
joke?
wondered Joaquin.

“
Well, I think,” began
Anthony, looking about the fire at the rest of companions. He was
still scratching at Kenai’s head, who now had her eyes closed,
enjoying his touch very much. “We have two major issues to deal
with right now. One, we all really need to talk, get our stories
straighten out, so we can try to figure out what is going on with
all this ‘stuff’.” He waved a hand about his head indicating he was
talking about the world around them in general. “And two, we need
supplies, and I mean all kinds of supplies – blankets, tools, first
aid, a jacket or coat for Andrew, and most of all food. I mean, my
sisters and I haven’t eaten since last night’s dinner. I don’t know
about you guys, but I’m really hungry.”

“
Yeah, I am too,” agreed
Mikalah, slightly forlorn.

“
Me too,” echoed
Elena.

The other kids nodded in
agreement. They all would’ve liked something to eat.

Joaquin slapped his hands
upon his knees and said, “I think we should go out and get supplies
first. After we get a little organized in that department, we can
try to figure out what’s going on and maybe decided what to do
next. We gotta keep our strength up, right? So, I vote we got get
some food first.”

Jason laughed.

“
What?” inquired Joaquin,
taken aback by his friend’s unusual response, his hard squint
making his face hurt where he’d been clouted by the Swüreg
earlier.

“
Spoken directly from your
stomach!” replied Jason, still bouncing with chuckles.

Joaquin just shook his
head and glared at the smaller teenager through his
eyebrows.
You little turd!

“
Yeah, but where are we
going to get supplies? I mean, the kind that Anthony is talking
about?” questioned Andrew, looking more tired than ever now the
cold had melted out of his body. He was finally able to sit at
ease.

Joaquin and Jason looked
at each other over the fire, smiling hugely.

“
What?” asked Anthony,
noticing him and Jason knew something the rest of them
didn’t.

“
We can probably find just
about everything we need at Vons,” said Joaquin through his grin,
laughing quietly.

The other four kids look
back at him in amazement, their mouths and eyes were a myriad of
circles gaping back at him.

Then Andrew asked, “How
can that be possible when… well, this place is all jacked
up?”

“
It is possible, because
that’s where we woke up this morning,” stated Jason.

“
Inside a supermarket, is
that what you’re saying? You’re saying you guys woke up in a
grocery store?” repeated Anthony, wanting to be sure of what Jason
was explaining to him.

Joaquin stood up and waved
his arms to get everyone’s attention. “Let me explain the entire
situation, before all your panties get wadded in a bunch. I know it
sounds ridiculous at first, but after what we’ve all been through
today... I think you guys’ll understand.”

Mikalah giggled at the
“panties” reference, though Elena frowned, wiping the last of her
tears from her face.

Joaquin continued,
absently rubbing his swollen eye. “Last night, my mom had asked
Jason and me to go get her can of cranberry sauce and some other
crap at Vons real quick, because she was cooking and baking things,
getting ready for Thanksgiving.” Joaquin paused and smiled a little
embarrassed, then, “Since, I started driving she’s been giving me a
lot of errands to run, so she doesn’t have to interrupt whatever
she’s doing and stuff. I guess, it makes things a little easier for
her, and plus I don’t mind having an excuse to drive, you know,
because I just got my license and I… I kinda want the
practice.”