Chapter Four

Everything in Small Steps

Currents of Betrayal

Hope had to forget all the nonsense about werewolves. According to what she'd read, she wouldn't know anything for sure until the next full moon came and went, hopefully, without needing a serious shave. At least she didn't have much longer to wait. Thankfully, she should know one way or the other within the next few days.

Never mind that werewolves didn't really exist. They were myths, not reality.

Was her mind trying to betray her again? After all these years of thinking she was getting by, was she now imagining werewolves? What would be next? Vampires, elves and fairies? As a child, she had always wanted to believe in unicorns. So maybe she could conjure up one of those.

No, she wasn't crazy. Werewolves did not exist. Neither did unicorns, and that was a shame. She had to believe that a series of unconnected details paired with her exhaustion had simply played tricks with her already loosely wrapped mind.

Worst of all, Granny was beginning to look at her in that worried way and ask, "Are you alright, dear?" And mostly she was alright. Her injuries were better, leaving no lasting signs of the attack. Except for the urge to howl at the moon. Well not even that. Yet.

#

Athair and the boys traveled for three more days, and yet learned little about the members of the Bear Clan. Sundair and Domari clearly lead the group, and they allowed none of the others to interact with them. Domari went so far as to apologize for this lack of communication. She was only willing to explain that the Alpha Pair were her and Sundair's parents, and that they would treat them fairly.

Athair was curious about the appearance the others took in human form. Their clothes were different, mostly decorative and of bluish colored cloth of various shades, which revealed enough of the women to make him blush. He still felt more comfortable around women with more decorum. He'd grown up with women in long dresses and still preferred to guess at what was under all that cloth rather than have their bodies exposed for all to see.

Several of the clan had colorful tattoos reminding him of ancient Celtic customs. The only Eagle Clan member who chose the skin art was Díon, who would do anything considered rebellious. Díon had the wonderful ability to control the fine details of his appearance, so the tattoos he wore could change daily and often did.

Their hair styles were also strange. One of the young men actually had bright blue spikes. Although Athair found this somewhat outrageous, he was intrigued by how and why they would choose to do this. He wondered how long it would be before some of their young decided to adopt the style. And he smiled at the reaction he knew Allaidh would have to the relaxed clothing of today's women. His children deserved to be part of this world, and finally they would get their chance.

On the sixth evening, the group left the forest and entered a cleared meadow. Domari motioned for them to take human form as they began across the field. She moved to Athair's side and quietly said, "You will need to follow me directly to my parent's home. Please do not talk to the others until after you have met with the Alpha Pair. There is much you must know if you wish all to remain safe here in Lakeside."

Athair nodded at her cryptic remarks and passed them on to Rath and Dàn. Preparing for whatever was to come, he studied the village as they approached. Along the far side of the meadow, many small homes were scattered beneath one outstretched arm of the thinning forest. Soon they were walking on a slightly overgrown flagstone path past the first of the homes. The houses were small and quaint. Most were built of stone or brick, but some were of wood and were painted white, tan, pale blue, or green. One was a cheery yellow. Most had well-maintained shrubs and flower gardens in their yards, although more than half of them looked empty, with no curtains in the windows or other signs of current inhabitants.

A couple of the houses had large, bowl-shaped, gray disks set near them. Athair had no idea what those were. There were many things he saw that puzzled him, and a few that reminded him of the stories Sgrios had shared with them over the years.

In front of the yellow house sat a shiny yellow machine. It had windows and seats on the inside, and Athair concluded this must be one of the horseless carriages Sgrios had told him about. They had seen a few on the roads, but the machines had moved too fast for them to see clearly. Athair had wondered if his brother had exaggerated many of his stories. Sgrios had told him so many over the years that were outrageous, but it seemed the world had developed at an amazing pace.

Several people were gathered outdoors enjoying the warm evening. Youngsters played in a cleared part of the field throwing a small ball around, while others sat nearby at tables and cheered for those playing.

The homes did not crowd each other, yet there were many of them. The path they followed widened to a road, perhaps eight or ten feet wide. He couldn't imagine how the Bear Clan had managed to live within this village, but he found it very encouraging. Perhaps his clan could relocate to a small town too, something they had all thought was too risky to consider. He wondered how this clan maintained their secrecy.

Then he noticed that there were wolves scattered among the people. And he stared in surprise as one of the people started a fire magically under the steaks they were cooking. How could that be?

Surely these were not all Valàfrn. The area was spacious. There looked to be housing for hundreds, maybe thousands here. But with so many of the homes unoccupied, where were the rest of the people?

The path that had become a road now had houses on both sides. They still had plenty of space around each, but the buildings here were larger.

Domari and Sundair continued to lead them in silence, but the others in the group talked quietly. Athair clearly heard two of them discussing their trip to the nearby village and the hunt they had enjoyed. It seemed it had been a pleasant trip until they had come upon Athair, Dàn and Rath. They had cut their travels short to return to Lakeside.

As they left the road and passed between two large homes, Sundair quieted them and signaled them to alertness. The only sound was music floating from the open windows of the house to the right. They entered a dense apple orchard, where light scattered into dim streams at either side of the path. The hair rose on Athair's neck, and he tensed. The darkness seemed to move with a presence, all its own. Then ahead of them, three shadows wavered and grew into human forms, men who stepped into the light to block their way.

Standing tall before them, a man all in black snarled, "Who are these strangers?" He growled aggressively toward Sundair. "Why have you brought them to our town?" Five others stepped from the shadows, including two women.

"This does not concern you, Bequlf." Sundair said as the siblings advanced as though to force their way between the newcomers.

"If it concerns the safety of my people, it concerns me." His group pushed close together to form a blockade.

Sundair hesitated, and then seemed to come to a decision, "They are of another clan. We are taking them to Sandulfr."

Bequlf motioned to two of the men, who stepped apart as if to allow them through. "How do you know they are not dangerous? Other clans might attempt to steal our territory." He glared at Sundair, demanding answers Athair didn't think he would get. He continued, "The Eagle Clan is closest, and they are nothing but stealing dogs."

Rath stiffened.

With an evil smirk, Bequlf said "These smell of that same trash."

Despite Athair's restraining hand on his arm, Rath faced Bequlf with clenched teeth and an intense growl. He was a man in his prime and very proud of his family. He was unlikely to suffer such insults without retaliation.

"Thieving trash." Bequlf growled back and launched himself the short distance to grab Rath by the throat. Instinctively, Athair jumped between the two, prepared to defend his adopted son. Bequlf's interrupted attack forced him to stumble into Athair, who caught him by his jacket and jerked him effortlessly inches above the ground.

"Enough." Sundair shoved Bequlf and Athair apart. "This gains us nothing." He glared sternly at Bequlf. "You may talk to Sandulfr about them if you wish. Otherwise, it is not your concern."

"I will see to this myself." Bequlf stepped aside and straightened his jacket. He threw Athair a malevolent glare. "You will regret coming here," he promised.

Privately, Athair agreed.

Dàn's silent thought confirmed Athair's gut feeling. "This will not go well, but we must continue as we have begun."

"Do you know more?"He questioned Dàn.

"Only that we must proceed on this course. Unfortunately, they will turn on one of us."Dàn's guarded expression gave nothing away and as usual, Athair could sense little of his emotions. All he could assume was that Dàn would tell him more as it was needed. Until then, Athair would have to make plans to get them both away and safe.

"When this happens, I will clear the way and you and Rath will return to our clan. Tell Rath what you know, and my wishes."

Dàn definitely knew more than he chose to share, which usually told Athair more than what he said. He knew they would turn on him because of his interference. Not the children. Still, he worried about them. Rath was strong. A born fighter and a survivor. Dàn sought only peace. All of his struggles were internal. Although Athair's first instinct was to protect the boys, he knew they were both strong enough to face what was coming. He trusted Dàn's instincts. If he said they should continue, then it was probably their best choice.

* * *

"Hope, will you go pick up lunch?" Steve asked her in a chipper, optimistic voice.

"I thought Julie was going to get it today."

"She's helping with the kittens. Will you please go?" His voice had a slight begging quality, and she realized that he wanted to take advantage of the private time with Julie.

"Yeah. I'll go." She could hobble that far, and the stretch might even help her feel better.

"Thanks, Hope. You're the best! Julie is so excited about feeding the kitties." He pulled his car keys from his pocket and tossed them to her.

"Wait! Where was lunch ordered?" She had figured she could walk to pick it up, but if he wanted her to drive, it must be further away.

"Frank's Deli."

A place all the way across town.

"Come on, Hope. It's really not that far. There's only one turn the whole way. You can do it. Look, the day's beautiful. You can practice the steps we've worked on. Please, do it for me."

Julie stepped around the corner carrying one of the newborn kittens in a feeding towel. "Steve, did you get the formula?"

"Just a second. I need to heat it up." Steve said this to Julie and turned back to Hope with a sappy smile stretched across his starry-eyed face.

"Fine. I'll go. But you'd better ask her out this time." Hope grabbed her purse and went to Steve's car. She stopped beside it and sucked in a deep, fortifying breath. Steve was right. The day was nice and there was no reason she couldn't be the one to go get lunch. Frank's Deli was easy to get to and only a few minutes away. She could do this.

Steve was positive she could overcome her fear of driving. In the last six months, he'd been pushing her to try harder. His newest program was to break the act of driving into small easy steps.

Step one: Get into the car. Although this at first seemed simple, Hope still hesitated to open the driver's door. But only for a moment. Then she sat down on the seat, closed the door, and buckled her safety belt. She sighed in satisfaction. She was inside the car. She had finished step one.

Step two: Start the car. Hope inserted the key in the ignition. Maybe the car wouldn't start. Maybe she would have to ask Julie to get lunch after all. Hope turned the key, and the engine fired to life. Steve's car was only a couple of years old. He kept it in perfect running condition, even changing the oil on schedule. So of course it would start with no problem.

Step three: Go. Steve always said, don't think about it. Just put the car in gear and go.

Hope didn't think. She backed out of the parking space, turned onto the street, and slowly drove the four blocks to Frank's Deli. She pulled into Frank's lot, parked, and turned off the car.

She'd done it! She had driven on this simple errand. She bounced from the car in her excitement, and then had to go back for her forgotten purse. Their order was ready and waiting. She paid for it and was soon on her way back to the car, still smiling.

Steve's plan of using small steps actually worked. Hope chuckled as she thought, step one, get into the car. She sat inside it enjoying that small triumph. The feeling was liberating. She felt independent and whole and for once, not scared. She knew Steve would be proud of her success in this personal triumph. She could only imagine the look on his face when she came back with lunch. She'd use his steps to get back. If they worked once, they'd work again.

She buckled her seatbelt and turned the key. And for the first time in her adult life, Hope was glad to hear the sound of the engine coming to life. She put the car in reverse and began backing out of the space.

Squealing brakes and a honking horn had her stomping the brakes. Rationally, she knew the other car had plenty of room to pass and that the driver was a jerk. But she shut down physically as her memories took over. Her body simply locked up. Her eyes closed and she sat there shaking, sweating, and totally lost in all her old terrors. She relived the car wreck, felt again the pain, loss, and guilt. The self-pity.

A tap sounded against the window. She looked up to see Steve standing there. How had he gotten to the deli? How had he known?

He opened the door. "Move over Hope. I'll drive us back."

She started to move, and the car jerked. It was still in reverse. Steve reached over and put it in park, giving her time to slide to the passenger side.

"You did good to get here." He sat down next to her but made no move to drive back just yet. "I'm proud of you for getting this far."

"How did you know?"

"I called Frank to check. He said you were sitting here not moving. I thought you might need me." He wrapped his arm around Hope and hugged her in a tight, brotherly hug.

She stayed in his embrace for just long enough to get her bearings back then pulled away. "Thank you." She huddled into the passenger seat, clutched at the seatbelt, and tried not to think about how she had failed again.