The Unwanted Winter - Volume One of the Saga of the Twelves (90 page)

I’m not that
strong.

As was typically the case,
the conditions of life became more pressing and again her thoughts
blew away with the wind. With what seemed like the whole world
working against her, all she really needed to do, in that crazed
moment, was pee. The urge always came when she was scared - really
and truly frightened. Her bladder would grow a mind of its own and
it would inevitably try to let loose.

Ah, find a
place…

…
A blizzard… My god, what
am I going to do…?

Just find a place to pee,
Marianna!

She stood and made her way
to the farthest corner of the garage from where she slept.
Conflicted and unsure, crying and biting her nails, she unzipped
her jeans…

~~~~~~~~<<<<<<{ ☼
}>>>>>>~~~~~~~~

Fear

Day Two, Friday, 10:31
am…

It had been almost two
hours since the three boys had finished jerry-rigging washing area
at the back of the cave. As expected, every one of the children
took turns cleaning themselves and their clothes with water melted
from the snow outside, after having placed it over the great flames
in the fire pit. Together, with large bars of soap and bottles of
shampoo, they filled the air with many different scents of spring.
All three of the girls had gone in first. Intermixed, their
animated talk and laughter percolated throughout the cave, wafting
off the ears of the boys. Their dim silhouettes moved constantly
behind the screening blankets. The boys tried to contend themselves
with various menial tasks, but, as with all teenage boys, the very
thought of a naked teenage girls nearby was very huge
distraction.

Mugzy had felt himself
smile at the thought, recalling his randy youth, vying for females
against dogs who were much larger and stronger than he’d been back
then. His tactic was to wait and see, and move in when no one was
looking.

Ha, I got you!

He had chuckled, glancing
around, watching as Anthony and Andrew were stringing up some of
the cordage to the ceiling they had absconded from the large
marketplace that had followed them from the World of Man. They had
wound the rope between some of the larger stalactites hanging from
above, creating a meandering trail roughly twenty feet long, toward
the back of the cave, but near to the fire. Of what they were
making, Mugzy had no idea, but the inventiveness of these children
never ceased to amaze him. He knew eventually they would reveal the
secret of their labor through their actions.

Though he was very
curious, he stayed on the opposite side of the fire, near the still
sleeping Garfield, and Kenai, who peered about just as he. She too
took notice of the Guardians’ work with a half-smile etched on her
huge snout. Like him, she also appeared content to wait and see
what they were constructing.

An excited grin formed on
his visage.

Every once and a while,
the girls would giggle or speak of something in excited tones, and
to a boy, the males would all turn their heads to gaze at the
outlines of their female companions. For a second or maybe two,
they’d stare until one of them recovered, blushed and struck a
fellow Guardian, breaking his concentration, shattering the other’s
thoughts. That boy would blush evermore furious, and sometimes the
boys would exchange sly smiles and a few hushed words.

Mugzy’s smile would remain
in place. He was glad to see something as basic as physical
attraction. It was enough to keep their minds off the more
disturbing factors of the Melded World. They were being teenagers
and, more than ever, that was a good thing. They were being
human
too.

Eventually, the girls did
come from the washing
tent?
demurely, walking on tip-toes, obviously
embarrassed, even Sophie. She had wrapped up the Herrera sisters in
big towels - one each about their bodies, another draped over their
shoulders and yet another swirled and wound up atop their heads.
For all intents and purposes, they were completely
covered.

Mugzy’s eyes darted this
way and that, seeing the bright red flush on the cheeks of the
young women. He spied the futile attempts the boys made at being
nonplussed, nonchalant, as if nothing out of the ordinary was
occurring.

Sophie, wrapped exactly as
the little ones, laughed a nervous laugh, meeting Anthony’s eyes
shyly.

Mugzy was very proud of
the young man when his eyes stayed upon the girl’s face and didn’t
drift to other, more lady-ish places.

“
We just finished the
clothesline,” he croaked as if his throat had constricted on
him.

Mugzy knew he was just as
nervous as the teenage girl before him.

Sophie’s face and eyes lit
up like the sun. “Oh, great, thanks!” She turned to motion to the
girls. “Come one you guys let’s hang up our clothes so they can
dry.” With that Sophie went to work, stringing their garments over
the line.

Just as he figured before,
Mugzy was indeed impressed.
A clothesline,
very ingenious!

Anthony’s eyes were still
upon the teenage girl when Andrew had spoken suddenly. “Well, boys,
I’m too dirty to wait any longer… anyone object if I take command
of the washing facilities?” He glanced around at his companions.
“After all, I was the one wrapped up in a stinking animal skin on
our way here, so I’m pretty sure I smell like a barn,” he
cajoled.

“
Have at it,” was all
Joaquin said.

The rest of the males
shook their heads. They had no objections. After all, he had
explained his case admirably. He stunk.

“
Awesome!”

Andrew began the long
string of boys washing their bodies and cleaning their clothes.
Each time one came out, another went in with a fresh bucket of
water and disappeared behind the cordoned area. The dirty water
that came out unceremoniously dumped down a large crack Kenai
pointed out to them. It was toward the left of the entrance.
Apparently, she had used it to relieve herself when she was
readying the cave. Soon many of the Guardians were laughing as the
water gurgled down into the darkness below, echoing for some time
as it made its way deep into the bowels of earth.

It must go down some
ways
, mused Mugzy as Louis emerged,
squeaky clean and refreshed; the last of the boys to wash and
poured his water down the crack. Again, the brownish water
disappeared, tumbling and splashing into some chasm below. When
he’d finished, Jason and Joaquin - still wrapped up in large, heavy
towels - decided to make a smaller section, screened off form the
cave, around the crack. They explained it could be used as a
privy.

They had finished with
that a few minutes ago. A commencement signaled by Jason, who
commanded, somewhat loudly, for someone to bring “all the
butt-wipes
”
over
to the area, just in case someone had to make a quick, emergency
deposit. The boys had laughed. The girl’s had
eeew ’
ed. Even some of the Fist had
snorted with amusement.

The privy was open for
business.

Mugzy was still musing
over the comment when a small voice chirped at his side.

“
Are you afraid, Mugzy?”
came the question from Elena. She was sitting next to him,
barefoot, still wrapped up in the broad swaths of cloth. Her
clothes hadn’t dried yet.

The question caught him
off guard. At first, all he could manage was a strangled, “huh?”,
as he peered down at her.

She leaned up against one
of the logs, trying to get warm. She tilted her head to the side,
her expression serious. Her eyes bored into him. “I try not to be.
I want to be brave, but sometimes I remember things, things I liked
to do or liked to play with. I automatically think I should get up
and go play with it. That’s when I remember I can’t. I remember I’m
in another place. I remember I’m far, far from my mom and my dad,
and all the rest of my family. I get afraid. I can’t help it,
Poochers. The thoughts just come into my head like I have no
control over them.”

Mugzy recovered, focusing
his deep brown eyes on his former master, his right arm stretching
toward her. His large hand cupped her tiny chin. He made certain
his claws were retracted. “It is ok, Little Flower, to feel fear on
occasion. It is what makes us unique. It keeps us from forgetting
who we are and what our purpose in life is. It makes us hold those
things we cherish, clench them closer to our breast, protect them,
keep them safe. It makes us want to resist tyranny and fight for
what is right no matter the cost, no matter how much of our own
blood must spill.

“
I believe, little one,
when someone does not fear, they, overtime, will tend toward evil.
It is this lacking - this inability to be afraid - that oftimes
leads to recklessness, abandon, even rashness. All of these
mannerisms lead down to even darker paths we should not undertake.
Someone who does not fear will risk anything and everything to
complete a goal, sometimes at the expense of innocents, including
children like you. They will stop at nothing. Eventually, they will
destroy everything they love.

“
So, my
beautiful, it is ok to be scared, to be wary. It means you have a
vigilant heart and a sound mind, and you are on the right path. It
means you will
protect
all you love, but do so with care and compassion.” He
finished in his softest voice. He could see tears beginning to well
up in the little girl’s eyes, see the raw determination return
behind her gaze. He knew his message had reached her. He released
her chin and stroked her hair with one of his black-haired hands.
She smiled warmly as a tear fell from one of her eyes. He could see
a thousand, thousand thoughts flashing behind them. His little
Elena’s mind was working furiously to reconcile his words. He found
he couldn’t help but smile at her intelligence and her uncanny
ability to adapt.

She truly was a special
child.

I will not let anything
harm you, Little Flower.

She swallowed deeply and
wiped at the trail of moisture the tear had left in its wake. “But
how am I possibly going to protect what I love in a place like
this, where there are so many bad things that want to hurt us? I’m
only one small person. How can I keep what’s left of my family
safe?” Her eyes melted back to despair. She glanced away, looking
over at her brother, toweled as the rest of the Guardians, sitting
next to Sophie.

They were facing Andrew
and Joaquin. All of them were talking quietly across the fire pit,
joking, jibing - being teenagers.

He could sense a heavy
drapery of foreboding fall about the small girl’s shoulders.
Suddenly, he was angry. Why should she have to experience such
dread at such a tender age? She didn’t deserve this. This was
inexplicably unfair! Why?!?
WHY!?!
He caught himself, forestalling his emotions. His
sense of protectiveness overrode his furious compulsions. Mugzy
followed her gaze. “There is a reason you were chosen, Elena,” he
began a little more forcefully than he should’ve, but he intended
to get her attention at once.

Sure enough, she turned
briskly and looked up at him, her eyes narrowing
slightly.

He could feel her gaze,
but did not return it. “The magics of the Light are not to be taken
lightly. There is a newfound fate unfolding before you, as we
speak. I think you will do much, much more than ‘fine’, as you put
it. I have seen you call forth the light. I have seen you
manipulate it. Soon, I am sure you will be able to do much more
than merely that.

“
I have always known you
as a headstrong, feisty little girl. I see no reason why your
personality wouldn’t flourish under these conditions. You will
become something only spoken of in legends…” He trailed off with a
murmur of laughter, because as he spoke the words it felt more like
prophecy than anything else. The oddness of it made him chuckle.
Who would ever believe a fortune-telling pooch?

Elena blinked at him, eyes
wide, mouth ajar. “You see that in me, Poochers?!?”

He whipped his head
downward to look her straight in the eyes. “Elena, you will become
something unheard of before. Songs will be written about
you.”