The Unwanted Winter - Volume One of the Saga of the Twelves (68 page)

The thought led to
another. She began to ponder the difference of how things had been
and how they were now, in the present. This notion made her a
little sad, because she couldn’t talk her Mom or her Dad whenever
she wished. For the first time in her young life, she began to
understand how much of a luxury it had been to speak with them at
will. There were no cell phones here. There weren’t pay phones
either. There was no e-mail or text messaging. Her parents were so
far away, she couldn’t imagine the distances between her and them
now. Were they in another galaxy?

It would’ve been nice to
speak with them, she thought as she absently twirled the same
strand of Mugzy’s hair around her index finger. It really wouldn’t
have mattered what she said to them. The fact she could say
anything
to them
would’ve been worth it. She felt her heart sink at the idea. The
thought of not having the all-protective hug of her father scared
her more than anything. No longer would evil be held at bay by the
big arms and muscles of her
Daddy
. She was terrified of what
this new reality would bring. She felt the tears coming again and
probably would’ve cried.

Andrew spoke at that
moment, pushing her thoughts aside. Her mind skipped to a new
topic.

“
Well, I hope they come
back soon, because I am hungry as hell,” he said, having flung the
somewhat decrepit animal skin from his shoulders and onto a nearby
log. The fire was sufficient to warm him without the so-called
garment about his person, of which he seemed greatly relieved. The
thing reeked of smelly socks.

Mikalah laughed. “Andrew,
you are silly,” she spoke through her laughter.

“
What?”
replied Andrew his hands spread out to either side of him. “I am
hungry. In fact, I am so hungry
I could
eat a wildebeest!
” he said changing his
voice to that familiar cartoon character.

Her worrisome thoughts
evaporated like water on hot concrete. “Haha, I get it,” Elena
interjected, giggling as well. “The Lion King, I get it.” She was
thankful for the timely interruption.

Andrew joined in the mirth
briefly. “Haha, you like that one huh?” he asked, but it was a
rhetorical question. They lapsed into silence. Andrew rubbed on his
empty stomach as he watched the flames of the fire before him, a
pained cast about his face.

Elena was watching him the
whole time. Wordlessly, she wondered if Andrew might be hungrier
than he was letting on. She had no idea when he had eaten
last.

“
Something comes,”
announced Kodiak of a sudden, looking back at the rest of them.
“Mugzy guard the children while I go out and investigate.” She
didn’t wait for a response. She merely stood up on all fours and,
in a flash, was through the twisted entryway of the cave, out of
sight. Mugzy, carefully extricated from Elena’s hand and fingers,
and strode swiftly toward the portal, sniffing the air and
listening to the limit of his abilities. Andrew motioned for the
girls to stand behind the log farthest from the mouth of the
cavern, putting it and the fire pit between them and the any
potential threat coming from the entrance to the cave.

They all stood there for a
minute or two, jumping every time the fire popped or sizzled
loudly, on edge, waiting for the worst to happen.

Elena nervously clasped at
the hand of her sister, who didn’t look back at her, but merely
returned the clutch. Their eyes glued to the grayish light of the
stormy day shining through the opening. Elena chanced a quick
glance at her brother’s friend. To her unpracticed eye, Andrew
seemed poised for action, holding in his right hand a miniature
baseball bat he must’ve forged into some sort of club. His feet
were braced, about a shoulder length apart. His gaze was fixed on
the mouth of the cave, unwavering, intent.

Mugzy had flattened his
body against the facing wall; horizontal to the portal, in perfect
ambush position should an enemy walk into the cavern.

There, they all remained
unmoving, quiet, anticipating the worst and hoping for the
best.

They stood, for a few
minutes, and then a few minutes more.

“
Elena, what do you think
is –,” began Mikalah, her voice echoing loudly through the
cave.

Mugzy motioned for her to
be quiet.

She cut off in
mid-sentence, a worried expression filling her face, hoping she
hadn’t done something to jeopardize the safety of the group. Guilt
and regret began to mount on her small shoulders.
Please, god, please, let us get out of this
alive.

Elena took her sister’s
other hand and they both went to their knees behind the log,
holding hands, looking into one another’s eyes for a brief moment.
But, they couldn’t do so for long. As if compelled, their heads
swiveled and their gaze fell back toward Mugzy and the world lying
beyond. The intensity of the situation was compounding by the
second. The tension a palatable string, stretched taut, on the
verge of breaking.

The minutes stretched and
seemed like hours, and still nothing.

What possibly could be
taking Kodiak so long?
wondered Elena,
massaging her neck at the hairline. Her constant craning was
causing it to stiffened and cramp.

Mikalah abruptly pulled on
her hands. The motion brought both sisters closer together with
their heads nearly touching.

Whispering so low, Elena
could barely hear her.

“
Elena,” Mikalah began her
eyes boring into hers, “I know there have been many times when I
didn’t agree with you, just as there have been times when you
didn’t agree with me. There have been many times when I think what
you do, and how you act, is stupid. I know you’ve thought the same
about me just as much.”

Elena merely nodded a
little, unnerved by the finality with which Mikalah was speaking.
She didn’t like it. It was scary.

“
But, I
didn’t get the chance to say this to you before all
this
happened, there was
no time. I mean, from Grandma’s house to this time it has been go,
go, go and do, do, do. I haven’t had the time to tell you, despite
all of that stuff, I really do love you. I always will. I want you
to know just in case…” She couldn’t finish.

“
Mikalah, don’t talk like
that, please!” she said emphatically, but in hushed tones. “We will
get out of this. We have too, ok? Besides, I know you love me just
as you know I love you too. We more than family. We are sisters,”
responded Elena, holding onto Mikalah’s hand almost as tight as she
could when she noticed Mugzy’s body language change.

The love and admiration
for one another disappeared, only dread remained.

From across the cavern she
could see the man-dog was getting ready to pounce. Then, she knew
something bad was coming through the entrance of the cave. Mugzy
tensed even more, his muscles flexing to bursting.

“
Hey, you guys, it’s us –
Anthony and Kodiak, don’t throw any rocks or dirty socks at us or
anything, ok?” called Elena’s brother from the passageway, leading
to the cave entrance.

A flood of relief sloughed
off the mountain of anxiety and fear from Elena’s
shoulders.

She watched Mugzy relax
and come away from the wall to stand blocking the portal. Beyond
him, she could make out figures straining and pulling at some large
bundle, but Elena couldn’t see more than that. Mugzy leaned forward
to lend a hand, pulling hugely. Elena watched the muscles in his
legs bulge from the strain. Whatever it was, it was
heavy.

It seemed like a blink of
an eye later, they were in the cave!

Anthony and Kodiak lugged
a shopping cart piled high, bundled with a furniture blanket, which
was tied down.

She came from around the
fire to get a better look.

Mikalah was at her
side.

Andrew came from the
opposite side of the fire pit with a look of expectation written
plainly upon his face.

She noticed with a start
the shopping cart sat atop a pretty red and gold sled - both of
them lashed together tightly. She found herself smiling at the
novelty of the idea. She didn’t know why exactly. Maybe she was
just happy to see her brother was unharmed and well, things were
going to be better than she had initially imagined. It couldn’t
have been just the ingenuity, the practicality of the shopping cart
lashed to a sled. Maybe it was both. She would never know. Her
heart was suddenly lighter for it. It made her grin from ear to
ear.

Kodiak pushed the cart to
one side, clearing the way into the cave.

Then Kenai came in roped
and harnessed, pulling two shopping carts with tremendous effort,
one after the other, each of
them
tied firmly to a sled.

Next, a chubby boy, Elena
hadn’t seen before, walked cautiously into the chamber. He gawked
about the environs of the cave in wide-eyed amazement.

Elena’s own eyes widened
in surprise an eye-blink later. A teenage girl followed the boy,
her hand upon his shoulder. She was a walking embodiment of the
beauty of winter. It was the only way she could describe her. She
was a pale princess. Elena was certain of this, because only a
princess could be as pretty as the girl standing before her. She
shared a glance with her sister.

Mikalah mouthed the
word,
wow!

They both turned to stare
at her once again.

Joaquin, Jason, and Mr.
Patas followed immediately thereafter. Each of them pulled shopping
carts overflowing with supplies as well. As with the others, they
were tied and bundled against the weather, but neither of the girls
seemed to notice. The young woman before them captivated them to
utter stillness.

“
Hey, you guys,” hailed
Anthony once all of the burdens had been pulled entirely into the
cave. They lined up the carts about ten feet to the left side of
the entrance. All heads turned toward him, “I would like to
introduce you to Louis Willigan. He’s eleven.”

The five who hadn’t
ventured out to scrounge for supplies nodded toward the stocky
boy.

Elena found both her and
her sister smiling at him. To her, he looked cuddly and plump, with
his broad, round face and red cheeks, stuffed inside the hood of
his jacket like a sausage.

Anthony then gestured
toward the princess. “This here is Sophie Reed, age unknown at the
time.”

Sophie laughed. A sound
that was almost musical to Elena’s ears.

“
They have decided to hang
out with us, since they have nothing better to do, especially since
there’s a raging snow storm outside and they have no
shelter.”

Everyone chuckled lightly
at that, even the animals. Garfield merely grunted and walked to
the fire to warm himself, being light-hearted was somehow beneath
him

Elena could tell her
brother must’ve told the two newcomers about Mugzy and Kodiak,
because neither of them so much as blinked twice when they set eyes
upon the massive bear-dog and the immaculate canine with his
pushed-in face.

“
So, I’m going out on a
limb here and guess you guys found us something to eat?” asked
Andrew, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Anthony turned to look at
him with a huge smile etched across his face. “My friend, we found
a whole lot more than that. Let’s get down to business!” he said
cheerfully.

They didn’t have to be
told twice. Within seconds, they descended upon the shopping carts,
undoing the knots in the ropes, pulling aside the heavy furniture
pads, revealing an incredible hoard of just about everything they
would need to survive for some time within the cave.

Elena let out astonished
gasp here and there, as the contents of the shopping carts was
revealed. Eventually, though, her natural disposition took over and
she couldn’t help but say, “Why don’t all of you grab something to
eat that isn’t hard to make, and go and sit by the fire. I, and
whoever else would like to help me, will stay here and get this
stuff organized, so we don’t make a huge mess. If we are going to
have to live here in this cave for a while, then we
have
to make sure we put
everything away neatly. Otherwise, we’ll be walking in our own
trash in like days.”

Mikalah grimaced at the
thought as though she could already smell something
offensive.

Anthony looked at his
sister and shook his head. “Well, guys, when she talks like that,
there is no chance whatsoever we can change her mind. So, we might
as well get something quick to eat. I’m sure she’ll have us all
working before we know we’re actually working. She is like this
busy bee of efficiency.”

The children smiled,
looking at each other for a heartbeat or two. In the end, their
hunger prevailed over embarrassment at being the first one to make
a move. Almost as one, they stepped forward, slowly pawing over the
food and supplies, searching for something quick to eat.

The animals, on the other
hand, stayed back.

After a short time, Kodiak
announced: “The Fist will hunt separately and in turns, so as not
to leave you children without protection.”