Winter's Fury - Volume Two of The Saga of the Twelves (36 page)

“
Is all well, Andrew
Ibarra?” queried Kodiak before the girl could respond.

The bear-dog’s resounding
voice caused her to twist to get a clear view. Instead of fear and
anxiety overwhelming her as Andrew expected, her eyes bulged out of
her head. It was as if she had forgotten about the hulking beast
altogether.

Andrew prayed she would
not flip out as she gazed back at Kodiak in
astonishment.

She looked between Andrew
and Kodiak with eyes so wide she was almost comical
looking.

Maybe she had not realized
what she had been looking at before
, he
guessed to himself. Mentally, he was willing to give her the
benefit of the doubt. After all, she was recovering from
hypothermia, right?

Andrew grabbed a hold of
one of her hands and gave it a quick squeeze. He knew it was a bold
move, but he hoped his touch would reassure her and not offend her.
He turned back toward Kodiak before she could react. “Everything is
cool Kodiak. She looks a lot better than she did when we found
her.”

The massive animal
harrumphed. “She is still cold, my dear, and this is worrisome.
Water alone will not do. We have to get her inside and into some
clothing better suited for this weather. And, we need to get
something hot inside her belly to keep her from catching a chill,
or something worse that may be beyond our means to
cure.”

That seemed to galvanize
Andrew. He was wasting time goo-goo-eyeing the poor girl. “You’re
right!” he said as he let go of the girl’s hand.

She was still looking back
and forth between the boy and the bear-dog with eyes as wide as
saucers.

He stood up and vaulted
over the side of the cart and onto the ground. He realized her
expression had not changed, and said in a hurry, “It’s ok, her name
is Kodiak. She was once a pet of my best friend. Her being here, in
this place, has changed her a-whole-god-damned-lot as you can
see.

“
This place,” he waved his
hand in the air above his head, “has a way of altering even the
most innocuous of things into…" He grinned. "Well, into something
as grandiose as Kodiak.” He smiled broad at the
bear-dog.

Kodiak wagged her head
from side to side like a tolerant mother watching over her
offspring. An expression much like she would employ if they'd been
scampering about, making complete fools of themselves.

“
She’s friendly, right?”
asked the tiny teen.

There was so much hope in
her tone it made Andrew chuckle at first. An instant later, he felt
like an idiot. Yet, when he chanced a chagrinned glance in her
direction the look on her face had not changed. She had been
oblivious of his reaction.

“
Yeah, she’s friendly,” he
retorted, meek, and then perked up, changing the subject. “You need
help out of that thing?”

That seemed to shatter the
girl’s apprehension. “Yeah, would you mind…?”

“
Not at all,” Andrew
asserted as he offered the girl his hands and she leaned forward.
He held her under her arms and lifted her from the cart as she bent
her legs to clear its’ metal edge. As if she were as brittle as an
egg, he put her on the ground. “There you go,” he added, and then
looked over at Anthony. “Hey, dude, are we gonna leave these things
out here or do you want us to drag them in?”

Anthony glanced over at
Kodiak as if he was not quite sure of the answer.

“
My daughter and I will
haul them in a bit later. Do not worry yourself over them. You just
get that poor girl into the marketplace and out of this cold,”
remarked Kodiak, her tone pointed.

Andrew nodded and motioned
for the girl to follow him into the building.

She did so without
hesitation.

Andrew stepped beneath the
motion sensor of the doors, but they stayed closed. He turned to
smile at the girl. “No electricity,” he said with a chuckle. Then
he leaned against the door and pushed his way in, pulling a small
flashlight from his back pocket and turning it on. He held the door
open for her. She stepped through the portal and into the store,
then he followed.

“
So, uh, what’s your name?
I haven’t had the time to ask yet.” He ran a hand through his hair
as if on edge.

She walked deeper into the
building, right up to the middle of the Customer Service counter.
There were a few display cases packed with various holiday gadgets
and decorations about. She reached out and picked up a stuffed
Santa doll from the foremost display, shaking her head. It was
plain to see, she was sad.

The silence grew and
Andrew was uncertain if she had heard him or not, and was about to
comment.

She replied, “My name is
Marianna White Horse.” She continued to look at the comical doll
with its bright red coat and overstuffed belly, turning it over in
her grip.

“
Oh,” was all Andrew said
at first a little caught off guard by the uniqueness of her last
name. “You don’t hear that kind of name around here too much,” he
said. He knew it had sounded lame, repeating what he had thought
seconds before. Of a sudden, he was feeling quite
unimaginative.

She chuckled and put down
the doll. “Yeah, I’ve been getting that a lot lately.” She turned
to face him. “My family and I just moved here from Holbrook,
Arizona about two months ago. You know, right before school
started.”

“
Wow, I never heard of
that city before,” commented Andrew, scratching his head in
thought.

“
Most people haven’t. It’s
more like a small town out in the middle of nowhere and not a city
at all,” she explained. She placed her weight on one foot, brushing
her long, straight hair from her face.

“
Where is it
exactly?”

“
Well, it’s off Interstate
40 in northern Arizona about half way between Flagstaff and the New
Mexico state border,” she detailed.

Andrew still had no clue
of the location the town, figuring it was in the middle of some
desert on the far side of Timbuktu.
But
northern Arizona wasn’t a desert, right?

She was watching him as
she answered his question, a smile spreading across her face. “You
still have no idea where it is at, huh?”

Andrew chuckled. “Naw,
girl, I couldn’t tell you even with GPS.”

“
I thought so.” Her laugh
was quiet.

“
Well, it’s all good. It
is a pleasure to meet you, Marianna,” he said extending his hand
toward the girl.

She took it as they
completed their introductions.

Andrew’s eyebrows rose
when he looked at how small her hand was within his own.
She’s so tiny
, he
thought.

“
So, now what?” she asked,
looking around in the darkened store. She hooked her thumbs in the
front pockets of her jeans – jeans that were still wet from her
time lying in the snow.

“
I think we should take
Kodiak’s advice and get you some warmer clothes, and then something
hot to drink. What do you think?” he offered, flashing his
flashlight about so they could see.

“
Ah, ok, I guess that
sounds good,” she mumbled rubbing her hands over the damp denim on
her thighs. She brought up her head and peered back at him. “So,
um, how many more… um, animals do you guys have like Kodiak helping
you? I mean I heard her mention her daughter and I saw the tall
rabbit-looking one, so I am guessing there are more, right?” she
inquired.

Andrew walked toward the
woman’s department, which just happened to be on that floor. It was
immediately after the customer service counter to their left. He
looked over his shoulder at Marianna. “You’re pretty smart and
you’re right too. There are three others beside Kodiak and her
daughter Kenai, but they don’t look like them at all.”

“
Oh.”

“
Yeah.” He continued, “One
looks somewhere between a giant house cat and a lion. His name is,
Garfield, and kinda only takes orders from Anthony. He doesn’t
listen to anyone else, except maybe Kodiak. The one you saw that
looks like a man and a rabbit all mixed up, he is Mr. Patas. Don’t
ask me why, he just is – I didn’t name him either, so don’t blame
me,” he said it out of the corner of his mouth.

She smiled, her eyes
twinkling.

“
The last one is a
combination of a pug-faced dog and a man. He is sort of partial to
Elena, Anthony’s sister. She calls him Mugzy. Of those three, Mugzy
is the easiest to talk too. Though he’s sort of formal, he is kind
and patient. He doesn’t seem to want to judge those around him too
much. I guess he’s kinda formally, laid-back, if there is such a
thing. The others are a little standoff-ish in their own way.
Kodiak tries to be like a mother, if you haven’t already
guessed.”

Marianna nodded at that as
they made their way through the racks of clothing, looking for
something to change into.

“
Kenai is a little like
her, but not as bossy.” He laughed at that, still talking, “You’ll
figure it out, no problem. Heck, I’ve only been with them for like
four days and I pretty much got them pegged, you know. So don’t get
all shook up when you see them, ok? They all can speak and they
know English, so you can talk to them without any problems. You can
ask them questions or whatever. They are like our guardians, so
there’s no need to be afraid of them, even though they can
sometimes look real scary and shit.”

“
Okay… Andrew, sounds
simple enough,” she concluded.

Andrew’s flashlight
illuminated a series racks and shelves. There were t-shirts,
sweaters, pants, jeans and jackets abound. There were even a few
more holding large overcoats of varying sizes and
styles.

“
Ah, here we go. Help
yourself!” presented Andrew, jutting his arms out to either side of
himself. He turned halfway in both directions as if he owned the
whole store.

Marianna began to peruse
through the various garments, looking for something she liked. She
checked the labels, with the help of Andrew’s flashlight, for a
size that might come close to fitting her tiny frame.

“
By the way, you can call
me, Drew. Everyone else does,” he said trying to keep the
conversation going. Then he saw Anthony, Sophie, Kodiak and Mr.
Patas walk pass. They were some distance away though, in the main
aisle of the store - making for the escalator. It was obvious they
were heading for the camping equipment, which was on the upper
floor. The teenagers flashed their flashlights in their
direction.

Andrew raised his hand in
greeting. “We’re just getting Marianna some things to wear! We’ll
be up with you guys in a second!” he called.

“
No problem, bro, take
your time,” replied Anthony, matching the volume of Andrew’s voice.
“It looks like we’re going to have a lot of it.”

Andrew frowned. “A lot of
what?”

“
Time, dude. There’s a
freaking blizzard raging outside. It looks like we might be here
for a while,” elucidated Anthony.

“
Are you kidding
me?”

“
I wish I was, man. I wish
I was. I’m pretty sure we'll be trapped in here for a while, socked
in by the weather.” He did not sound all that happy about
it.

Andrew understood, because
it would mean even more days of inactivity and boredom. It was a
whole lack of progress on their part, while Fenris and his cronies
gained in power and in strength. Even with the Melded World
continuing to shape itself at will, he knew that dog-faced asshole
wouldn't stop.

“
Oh well, right?” said
Anthony, filling the silence. “We’re just gonna find something to
eat and go from there. Join us when she’s all set, ok?” informed
his friend. He turned away, continuing with the others toward the
escalators in the middle of the store.

“
Yeah, sure thing,” he
called back, then made his way closer to the tiny teen girl. “Did
you hear that, Marianna? Thank god, we found you when we did! You
woulda been a frozen burrito out there by now,” he joked, making
the girl laugh.

“
Call me, Anna, Drew,” she
said. She stopped what she was about to say after, pulling a dark
brown, three-quarter length sweater from one of the racks. It was
the type that covers the hips, is tight-fitting and stylish. It
would keep her warm at the same time. And… it looked like it might
fit her. “What do you think?”

“
I like it. Try it
on…Anna,” responded Andrew with a glint in his eye.

She pulled the sopping
sweater she had been wearing over her head.

Andrew’s eyes bulged at
the sight of her bra showing through the damp shirt she wore
underneath. On a dime, he half-turned from her. “You should find
another shirt first, you know, before you put that on. Just a
thought,” he mentioned, trying to keep his voice neutral, casual.
He waved the back of his hand in the general direction of her
torso.

“
What?” she asked, looking
down to where he had gestured. His attempt at nonchalance got her
attention. Then she saw herself. She surprised him by chortling
with resignation and not exclaiming in outraged humiliation. “Wow,
I hadn’t intended on giving you a show this early in the day,” she
said. Her tone was light. She pulled the t-shirt away from her
body, making the clinging cotton dislodge from that of her bra. At
once, the cloth turned opaque and not see-through as it had been
when Andrew noticed.