Valley Of Glamorgan (7 page)

Finally there was a loud howl and I watched
the last of the wolves run away, their tails between their legs.
Knoll quickly followed, disappeared for a moment but then
reappeared, walking out of the woods wearing the clothes he had
packed. I breathed a sigh of relief that he had brought them as it
could have been more than awkward walking through the woods at
night with a naked man. At least I knew that I hadn’t been drugged
the whole time and what had happened was real.

Rushing towards me Knoll asked, “Are you
alright Mina?” I let the nervous giggle escape that I had been
holding in from my previous thoughts, and reassured him that I was
alright. Satisfied he began walking again and I ran to catch up. As
we walked I couldn’t help but tell him how amazing he was but I
also couldn’t help ask him why he had chosen a lion?

He briskly answered as he saved me from
tripping over a log, “I chose a lion because they are fierce and
loyal animals. They are feared by many and the brute strength that
they have is astounding. They have always amazed me.”

To see his face light up when he spoke of
his animal half was amazing. I hadn’t seen him this animated
before; I liked seeing him so happy. “What does it feel like?” I
blurted out the question, hoping it wasn’t too personal; although
if it was he didn’t say anything. He just continued talking as we
continued to make our way through the woods.

“At first,” he began, “it hurt. Your bones
are sore, but after a while they grow accustomed to changing. Now
the change happens so quickly I don’t feel it anymore.”

I noticed that his eyes seemed to shine in
the moon; they were a cat-like yellow. As he continued speaking, he
was obviously unaware that I was staring at him as I listened to
his description. “The change of sight and smell are wonderful. And
the feel of the earth beneath my feet is indescribable,” he
finished speaking.

Giggling I couldn’t help but correct him by
saying, “Your paws you mean?”

We both sniggered, and I saw a small grin
spread across his face as he bumped into me playfully saying, “Yes
Mina, my paws.” Somehow, I couldn’t help but be in awe over how
strong he had been when he had handled the wolves.

“Knoll,” I said, stopping and looking at him
as he turned to face me, “The way you handled those wolves was
amazing.” He just smiled, and for a moment it looked to me as he
actually pushed his chest out in pride.

“I know,” he said jokingly, as he lightly
pushed his side into mine once again and I realized I liked this
playful side of Knoll. It was like a breath of fresh air.

At last we reached the edge of town. The
street lights were so bright they nearly blinded me. And I would
have fallen flat on my face if Knoll hadn’t caught me; helping me
to stay on my feet. Quickly I thanked him and we continued on our
way. Knoll explained that we were going to a car lot about twenty
minutes away where we could purchase a car from one of my father’s
old friends.

“I am surprised to hear that he has human
friends,” I exclaimed.

Knoll interjected, “Remember when I told you
that if a human is nice to us, and if they treat us with respect,
then we would take care of them?”

I nodded my head in agreement, simply
replying, “Yes.”

As soon as I confirmed that I had
remembered, Knoll continued, “Well, this man saved your father’s
life. Your father, whose animal is a black bear, was walking in the
woods when a hunter approached him. The hunter was about to shoot
him when this man emerged from the woods and made the hunter leave.
It seems he had seen your father turn into the bear but didn’t want
him to be killed, so he had followed him through the woods, to
ensure his safety.”

I was surprised by the man’s bravery and
said, “That was brave of him. But I have to ask, why didn’t the man
just run away? You said yourself that we are born to look like
humans because, if not, they would kill us.”

Knoll took a moment to ponder my question,
before responding with, “The man is a Native American, and he
belongs to the Cherokee tribe. They have legends about us that they
firmly believe in so the man knew not to be afraid, unless he tried
to harm your father.”

Smiling with understanding, I said, “That
was exceptionally nice of him. I’m looking forward to meeting such
a kind soul.”

Knoll appeared surprised by my reaction, so
caught me off guard by saying, “Mina, you still find ways to
surprise me.”

Blushing I asked him, “Why is that?”

“Because you have such a kind soul,” he
quickly answered.

Before I could thank him for his compliment
I fell to the ground, wincing at the pain coming from my feet. “I
suppose my feet are telling me they are refusing to move anymore,”
I said, trying to use comic relief to ease the tense situation.

Ignoring my comment Knoll kneeled on the
ground in front of me. Placing my foot in his lap he slowly pulled
the soaking wet boot and sock off my foot. Grimacing he said, “Oh,
Mina, why didn’t you tell me that you were in pain?”

I couldn’t see why he had such a worried
expression on his face so I shrugged my shoulders, replying, “They
didn’t hurt badly enough.”

Knoll just glared at me, making it quite
clear that he didn’t buy my story. Then he moved his hand so that I
could see why he was so upset. My foot was nearly purple; it had a
blackish-hue. It was also quite swollen. Gasping, I realized that I
couldn’t feel the pain anymore, but then again I couldn’t feel my
foot either. Panic began to overtake me and as I looked into
Knolls’ concerned eyes I started to ramble questions. Would my feet
be okay? Would I ever be able to walk on them again?

Waiting patiently for me to get all the
questions out Knoll finally replied, “Yes Mina, you got away with
it this time, but had you kept on walking until we reached the car
dealership you might not have been so lucky.”

I snorted before saying, “Thank God that
didn’t happen.”

Knoll narrowed his eyes at me, responding
seriously with, “It’s no joking matter Mina. I cannot protect you
if you refuse to be honest with me.”

Wanting to apologize for some reason I
stopped myself. How could I tell him that I didn’t want to stop
walking, no matter how bad my feet hurt, because I enjoyed talking
to him?

He waited silently for a few minutes to see
if I had anything more to add but continued talking when I remained
quiet. “I understand that you are trying to be noble, but it is
still lying. I will never lie to you and I haven’t. I expect
nothing but the same from you,” he commanded, appearing to look
five feet taller than he actually was. I felt as if I could hear
the lion roaring in his voice.

Holding my head in shame, like a child I
knew he was right, so turning to him I said, “From now on I will be
totally honest with you.”

He simply nodded his head, saying, “We need
to find a place for you to rest while I go and pick up the car. You
cannot travel on with me with your feet to badly hurt.”

Suddenly I started to panic; I didn’t want
to be left alone, not when there were people out there who were
looking for me and who wanted me dead. “Couldn’t you carry me?” I
quickly asked him.

He could obviously sense the shakiness in my
voice, but kept his composure as he told me, “I could carry you,
but if I need to phase because of danger you would not be
safe.”

Desperately I searched my mind for some
excuse as to why he would have to take me with him, but I knew that
it was useless. Looking round I searched for a good spot where he
could leave me hidden. Pointing behind me I said, “I guess you
could leave me in that store over there.” And looking to where I
had pointed, Knoll saw a hardware store. Its sign had letters
blinking, like those on a hotel, and it read, ‘Harold’s Hardware:
Open 24 hours; for your convenience.’ I chuckled and couldn’t help
but ask, “What kind of person is out driving around at three in the
morning and says, “Hey, I think I’ll pop into Harold’s and pick up
some nails?”

Maybe I had laughed a little too loud as I
suddenly sensed Knoll was in a funny mood. Looking at me he simply
said, “I am not sure Mina, but I am grateful, as you should be,
that there is a warm place I can leave you in. That way you will
not have to sit out here and freeze any longer.”

Silently I nodded in acknowledgement,
looking at his face as he picked me up in his arms and began
carrying me towards the store. Softly I spoke so only he could hear
me. “Always the optimist,” I said, chuckling a little
sarcastically.

Despite his mood Knoll smiled and went on
carrying me. The warmth from his body was surprising, especially as
it was below freezing outside. When I told him that he felt so warm
he just responded, “Yes; another perk of having the animal inside
you.”

Laughing, I told him that sounded like
something a crazy person would say. But he mustn’t have got the
joke as he remained silent until we reached the sliding doors of
the store. Carefully setting me down he told me to go inside and
find a place to sit. I tried to stifle a laugh as he stressed,
“Mina, do not talk to strangers; and if anyone asks, your car broke
down and your father walked the rest of the way to get someone to
fix it. I will be no longer than an hour.” And with one last look
he turned and walked away without saying another word.

Turning quickly I walked into the store,
thankful for the blast of hot air that blew through my hair as I
entered. There was a young girl, probably about my age, working the
door and greeting people. She was sitting on a stool reading a
magazine but as I started to walk past her she put the magazine
down and jumped down from the stool.

“Hello,” she said, “Welcome to Harold’s
Hardware Store. How may I assist you and your hardware needs
today?”

Whilst I appreciated that she was being so
accommodating all I wanted to do was find a place to rest so I
simply replied, “Hello, I’m Carmina. My father and I were driving
through town but our car has broken down. We have had to walk a
long way,” and I pointed to my bare foot. Looking at it she
grimaced as I continued, “I need a place to hang out and rest until
he gets back.”

Smiling she led me to an aisle that held
outside furniture before kindly saying, ‘You can rest here until
your father comes for you.”

In some respects I was taken aback by her
generosity. “Thank you,” I called out as she walked back to her
station by the door. Sitting down in a rocking chair I felt relief
flood my entire body. It was so warm and felt so good; that was
until my feet started to thaw! Suddenly they began burning like
before, only maybe worse this time. I wanted to scream but was
afraid I would get kicked out of the store; or maybe something
worse, like draw attention to myself. Stealing myself, I grit my
teeth and did the best I could; sitting back I bit my lip and tried
my best to ignore the pain.

I must have dozed off as some time later I
found myself being woken up by an older gentleman. Gently shaking
me said, “Excuse me miss there is a man outside asking for you.”
Clearing my eyes I thanked the man then standing on my sore foot I
grabbed my back pack and slowly made my way to the door. Parked
outside was a yellow pickup truck and, to my relief, I saw Knoll
sat behind the wheel. Getting out of the truck he opened the rusted
door which made a loud grating noise, disturbing the silence.
Quickly taking my bag from me he placed it behind the seat, saying
he would be back shortly as he made his way into the store;
returning a short time later with a bag full of stuff which, having
once climbed into the truck, he handed to me.

“Here Mina,” he said, insisting that I take
the bag. Peering inside I saw there were a few bags of chips, some
cans of soda and a bottle of Ibuprofen. I thanked him for the
essentials and popping the top of the Ibuprofen canister I
carefully opened a diet soda and quickly swallowed a couple pills.
Then I laid back and relaxed, placing my feet up on the seat but
being careful not to lay them on Knoll.

Giving me a knowing smile, Knoll suggested I
try to sleep. I felt bad for him as I knew he must be just as tired
as I was, yet despite myself I couldn’t fight the tiredness that
had over taken my body. As we drove along my eyelids grew heavy,
and before I knew it I was asleep.

Chapter
5

Unlike the night before, I had the most
vivid dream I had ever dreamt in my entire life. I was walking
through the woods with Knoll when all of a sudden Jack and
Stephanie appeared. They were dancing and laughing. Then Jack
reached for my hand and, pulling me close he said, ‘I love you Mina
bear.’ Tears stung my eyes as I tried to pull away, but he kept
holding my arm; gripping it tighter and tighter. All of a sudden
all the life seemed to drain from their faces and they both
crumbled to the ground.

Sitting up sharply, I sucked in a deep
breath. Apparently I had startled Knoll because he had swerved off
the road, but then had quickly corrected himself. “Mina,” he
exclaimed “Are you alright?”

Wiping the tears from my eyes I sat up
straight. Running my hands through my messy hair I assured him I
was alright. “Just a bad dream,” I whispered; whilst still trying
to force the images from my mind.

“Would you like to talk about it?” he asked
genuinely; concern lacking from his hoarse voice.

I thought about how it would feel to explain
the dream, but I politely rejected his offer. I didn’t want to
burden him with the images that would forever be embedded in my
mind. So laying my head against the cold glass of the truck window,
I just said, “I must have slept longer than I thought!” It was more
an observation than a question, but still Knoll felt the need to
confirm that I had indeed slept; for almost eight hours. As I
thought about it I couldn’t imagine the dream lasting as long as
eight hours but, if it had then I was grateful that I could only
remember a small portion of it.