Chapter 8

    “What sorts of spells can Shasta do?” Mr. Hunter asked.

    Joshie and Mandie glanced at each other, both looking uncomfortable.

    Maple went to the door and watched, waiting to see if the Other Twins would answer and if they did, what would they say.

    “Hmm?” Prompted Mr. Hunter.

   Both Joshie and Mandie turned their large round grey eyes on him but didn’t say anything.

    “What? You can’t say?” asked Mr. Thunder.

    “Well…” said Mandie.

    “You can trust us.” said Mr. Hunter.

    “Well…” said Joshie. “We were wondering when we could go home. We miss our home and Shasta and Kyle.”

    Oh no. Here’s where the hard part starts! Mr. Thunder sent those words out.

   Looks that way. responded Miss Starfire.

   Are we skilled enough to keep them willing to stay? Wondered Mr. Hunter. He realized he and Miss Starfire were still pretty young, not much older than the Other Twins if they even were.

    Mr. Thunder was mature so Miss Starfire and Mr. Hunter turned to him for guidance now. Maple was standing right inside the doorway now, sensing possible trouble.

    “Come on. Are you two not having fun here?” Mr. Thunder asked in a totally friendly way.

    “Yes…but…” began Mandie.

    “We didn’t tell Shasta and Kyle we were leaving. They don’t know where we are and we’ve been gone a while.”

    “Don’t worry. We’ve sent someone to tell them.” said Mr. Thunder.

    “You did?” asked Mandie sounding doubtful.

    “That will make them mad. They only wanted Quetzal, Armand, Miss Feather or yourself to go back there.” said Joshie with noticeable anger in her voice. “It wouldn’t at all be smart to make Shasta mad.”

    “Why not Joshie? What will she do?” Mr. Hunter asked.

    “Make who ever shows up hurt.” said Joshie.

    “And badly.” added Mandie.

    “By using Magic?” asked Mr. Thunder.

   “Yes. She knows a lot.” said Joshie.

    “What sorts of things can she do with her Magic?” Mr. Thunder asked.

    “Make people sick. Die. Suffer or have babies, get well…all sorts of things.” said Joshie.

    Sounds a lot like the magic my Wolf Mom talks about. Miss Starfire said telepathically.

    Sure does. agreed Mr. Hunter.

    This Shasta sounds dangerous. We need to know how many of the Others can do this. said Mr. Thunder.

    “Hey Joshie!” Said Mr. Hunter putting all the charm he could into it. “Can a lot of your people do Magic like Shasta! It sounds real grand what she does.”

    Mandie looked at Mr. Hunter, smiling wildly all of a sudden, her doubtful expression replaced by one of delight at having his attention. “Only a few are as powerful as Shasta is at performing witchcraft but a lot know some magic. Mostly healing magic.”

    “Nice.” said Mr. Hunter, flashing his brightest smile at her.

    Mandie giggled.

    So did Joshie.

    Then Joshie said. “We still want to go home, right Mandie?”

    Mandie’s happy smile faded. “We do. Surely we’ve been missed by now. They’ll be looking for us.”

    Maple moved into the room knowing she would be needed soon.

    “Why not stay a while longer.” said Mr. Thunder. “You’re both welcome. Let’s all get to know each other better.”

    “Where’s Armand? We’d like to see him.” said Mandie.

    That’s if we can pull him away from Miss Feather. said Starfire telepathically.

    They’ll have to part to eat, drink and sleep. said Mr. Hunter.

    We hope. added Mr. Thunder.

    “Well, well.” Maple moved all the way into the room deciding it was time for her to intervene. “I think it’s about meal time. How about you two go into the kitchen and cook yourselves some nice juicy fried meat?”

    “Yeah!” Both Joshie and Mandie said jumping up. “Can Miss Starfire, Mr. Hunter and Mr. Thunder eat with us too? Raw meat of course!”

    “If they wish they sure can.” said Maple.

    “Do you want to?” Joshie asked them as Mandie hurried into the kitchen.

    The sounds of preparation filled the house.

    “Sure.” said Mr. Thunder. We got to keep them happy. He added telepathically to Mr. Hunter and Miss Starfire. He knew they didn’t want to be around cooking meat any more than he did.

    “I will.” Miss Starfire said.

    “Count me in.” said Mr. Hunter.

    Joshie clapped her hands, giggled then went to join Mandie in preparing their cooked meat.

    “That is really important information you three got from them but I felt it was time to back off a little.” Maple told them.

    “I could feel them starting to resist as well. We all could.” said Mr. Thunder.

    “Have this meal with them, keep them happy, then work on them later.” Maple said.

    “Okay.” agreed Mr. Hunter.

    Then the sounds of sizzling and popping came from the kitchen. Then the odor of cooking flesh drifted into the dining room.

    “Ugh. How can you stand that…smell Maple?” asked Miss Starfire.

    “For the good of the Wolf People.” said Maple. “We must sometimes sacrifice.”

    “Well, you sure are. Having to smell that all the time.” said Mr. Hunter.

    “We have to eat with them and witness them eating…cooked meat.” said Mr. Thunder with a grim look on his face.

    Maple patted him on the back. “For the good of the Wolf People you must sacrifice. I’m going over to talk to our Leader. You three can fill him in on the details of what you learned here.” Maple left the house.

    Miss Starfire, Mr. Hunter and Mr. Thunder all looked at each other.

    “Guess one of us must prepare the cubed raw meat for us.” said Mr. Hunter.

    “Mr. Thunder can.” said Miss Starfire.

    “Mr. Hunter can. Joshie and Mandie are in love with him. It will help him get even closer.” said Mr. Thunder.

    Mr. Hunter groaned and headed toward the kitchen. “Such sacrifices. We should all go in there. You two can sit at the kitchen table and act as buffers.”

    The scent of cooking meat was growing stronger and more noxious.

    “Okay.” Miss Starfire wrinkled her nose at the offending scent and followed her Wolf Brother into the kitchen.

    “I’m coming.” groaned Mr. Thunder, trying not to breathe and failing.

   

Reviews

Throughout Earth's history, when ever a civilization meats another, the less advanced civilization is either exterminated or enslaved... It seems to be going on here as well with the wolf people making contact with these 'others.' I wonder what their next move will be. Fascinating!

[Black Cat Fever]

This ends of a funny note, that whole cooking scene!

[Eric Cox]

It's funny and cool the part with cooked meat being disgusting and the scent becoming noxious. A cool chapter.

[Star Wolf]

We know Shasta has a lot of power so it's something for the Wolf People to be concerned about. Like the humor about the cooking meat.