Chapter 6: Atalaya's Birthday

“Clearwater has found the trail!” exclaimed Rhys. Ailwin stumbled as he heard Rhys’ joyful shout. Tightening his grasp on Talina, he turned his head towards Rhys. The wolf’s howl could be heard coming from their right and ahead of them. Shaking off the wolf’s vision, they picked up their pace as they followed Clearwater’s call. They were able to travel much faster this way, adjusting their path each time they heard the wolf’s rally howl.

Kasula also heard the wolf howl. Landing on the upper branches of a large quaking aspen. She listened to the call and identified it as Clearwater’s. It came from the opposite side of the cottage from where she was currently searching. Flying up above the treetops she headed towards the wolf. “Close. We’re close. Soon we will have my precious niece home with her mother.”


Samantha pulled the cake out of her cookstove and placed it on the table. A stew was bubbling in a large copper pot, and the bread dough sitting on a chest of drawers near the stove was risen and ready to bake. Fresh vegetables from her garden sat on the table waiting for her to decide how she was going to prepare them. Atalaya’s birthday gift, a small tin bucket and shovel with a stuffed unicorn peeking out of the bucket, sat hidden in Samantha’s workbasket near her rocking chair. Quaeth lay sleeping in a bassinet near the table as Samantha busied herself in the kitchen. At the sound of the lone wolf cry, she gripped the edge of the table and stared out the nearby window. Seeing nothing to bring her comfort she reached out a shaking hand to grasp the zucchini and began chopping it into smaller and smaller pieces. “Atalaya, where are you? Please Ailwin, find her and bring her home to me.”


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Sossheni eased her way out of her ash’s trunk and made her way up to the child’s resting place, high in the tree’s branches. Sunlight glittered off her long green tresses as she leaned forward to search the child’s face. She slept, securely fastened by vines and thin boughs to the trunk. Sossheni listened to the child’s slow even breaths as she rested, trusting her safety to the tree. The sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting a web of shadows over Atalaya’s face. Her short curls fluttered in the breeze, their copper tint a sharp contrast to the deep brown of the tree’s trunk. Sossheni reached towards the child and lightly traced her fingers over the copper curls. When the child did not move, Sossheni pressed more firmly on the brow and drew upon the energy from her tree as she searched the child’s thoughts and then looked into the possibilities of what the child might become as she grew. Smiling, she glided from branch to branch until she came to the bottom row. There she sat, waiting for those who were searching. The wolf howls sounded closer and closer as the searchers made their way to her glade.


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Clearwater’s ears flicked up as he heard Rhys and his family making their way towards him. The scent of the missing child filled his nose making him quiver in eagerness to take up the hunt again. He tilted his head back as he howled again, guiding the others to him. Bounding to his feet as they approached he ran up to Rhys, nuzzled his hand and then headed off, following the child’s scent. The path wandered through the trees, seemingly randomly at times, but Clearwater never faltered or slowed. He heard his pack following, their footsteps gently rustling the leaves and other forest debris as they made their way. They were moving quickly rather than quietly, the wolf noted. He was aware of Rhys using his eyes, a now comfortable melding of their minds and spirits. He also felt the mind of Ailwin, noting his worry for his child, but not letting it interfere with his tracking. Entering the glade, he knew that he was nearing the end of his search. The child’s scent filled the space of the glade, as if she had trod around and around the edges of the glade. It was strongest in two places. The first was the large flat rock near the center. Reaching it, he sat and waited for the others to arrive, keeping his gaze on the ash tree that towered over the other trees in the area. There. That was where the child was. He waited for his pack.