What He Heard

Chapter 21

            Willow, backpack and homework already dropped off at her house, hip checked the front door open, kicking it shut as she entered the green gloom of the hallway. She didn’t slow, walking through to the back, humming slightly until she reached the warm light of the kitchen. One step and a single glance into the room told her that today wasn’t going to be a normal lesson day.

            Her uncle Allistair stood in the middle of the room, watching her approach instead of lounging against the counters or sitting at the table as he usually did. He didn’t even have their teas mugs and cookies set out. That alone, knowing her uncle’s habit of thinking with his stomach, told her something was up.

            “What’s wrong?” she asked, stopping in front of him.

            His brown eyes bright under their greying brows, Allistair began pacing. “This whole situation is what’s wrong,” he rumbled, gaze narrowing. “I thought we had time. I thought patience was the best solution. I’m not so sure it is anymore.”

            “The hunters?” Willow said, eyes following her uncle’s back and forth movement.

            “What else? It is one of the greatest threats we’ve faced since I became Defense Leader. Never before have cryptozoologists actually come to our woods! I thought if we used our usual tactic and waited them out, we’d be safe. If we let the cold, boredom, and eventual snow chase them away, they’d get no hint of us or suspect interference. But then Austin James went missing and I saw the glaring flaw in my plan.”

            She winced, not liking his tone or expression. “You know that at least once a month one of the little ones gets into the forest by themselves. It’s in our nature and can’t be helped. And it’s not like the hunters have cameras this close to our property. They’re pretty much sticking around the waterfall area, stumbling around there. We’re far enough away that it takes even me a good chunk of the morning to make it out there. The likelihood of any of our runaways getting found by them is pretty low.”

            Allistair turned on her, glaring. “But the chance is still there. Have you learned nothing from me, Willow Reese? We can’t risk this! Not if our family’s to remain safe and free. If you cannot see why we can’t leave a danger like the hunters here, then it’s clear I need to choose a different successor!”

            Willow flinched, her eyes dropping to her toes. “I’m sorry, Uncle Allistair. I didn’t mean it like that. Just, that you shouldn’t be beating yourself over something that turned out alright. You’re the one who said dwelling on what might have been will drive you crazy, that you should just learn and move on.”

            For a moment, he stopped, his eyes on her. Then her uncle sighed. “You’re right, Willow. I have been focusing too much on the danger that could have been, instead of the danger that still could be. It’s clear enough we can’t wait for winter to chase them away for us. We’ll have to be more…proactive.”

            She raised her head to meet his eyes, recognizing that tone of voice along with the sly smile pulling his lips upward. She felt her heart rise too. “What are you planning?”

            “Nothing yet. I’ve only just started. And I’ll need to speak with the other Elders, who may have ideas of their own. We need to find a way to make our stalkers move on, without appearing to have interfered at all. We need something to draw them off. Preferably far off. Hmmm….”

            “I can help,” Willow said, after a few minutes of silence, except for the ticking of the kitchen clock. “I can at least help come up with ideas or with the planning.”

            He grinned and reached over to ruffle her head the way he had since she’d only come up to his knee. “You’ve already helped me, but I won’t say no to more ideas. That can be this week’s homework. Come up with ways to get rid of the hunters that won’t trace back to us, anyone closely associated with us like the rangers, and that won’t have them returning any time soon. And I don’t want violence to be part of the answer either. Even if these people are a threat to us, they haven’t actually tried to harm anyone, and I don’t want us to be the first to strike. It sets a bad example. Oh,” he said, pausing artfully, his smile going wicked. “And you might as well get your Rune in on the planning, seeing as he’s aware of us. He seems to have the right, tricky sort of mind we could use right now.”

           “He’s not my Rune,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “But I’m sure he’ll have fun coming up with ideas with me. He has more fun coming up with crazy plans for causing chaos than is healthy. Between the two of us, I’m sure we can come up with something that’s both effective and sneaky.”

            “That’s my successor,” he chuckled, messing with her hair again. “And it’s a pity that boy isn’t family, or I’d say you have major competition. Still, at least you’ve brought him into the family, at least peripherally. I think he’ll be good for all of us, and not just you. We could use more non-family who know about us and are friendly. It’s not like the spouses we’ve brought in haven’t already proved that outsiders can keep our secrets. But that’s neither here nor there. You come up with what you think will work, and next week, I expect a full plan report with identified strengths, weaknesses, possible issues, besides just the best and worst outcomes. I’ll have the plans myself and the Elders have come up with, and between the two of us, we ought to be able to make a shortlist. Now, I’m sure you have homework you should be doing, so I’ll let you go do it. You leave me to my plotting.”

            Willow smiled at that and gave Allistair a quick hug before hurrying back outside. The house walls felt all the tighter for having borne, even for such a short time, the full force of her uncle’s anger.