I looked ahead and leaned down so he could hear me over the wind that passed over us. “They’re catching up!”

  Chris clenched his sharp teeth and picked up his speed. “Hold on!”

  I tightly gripped Chris’ mane and pressed my chest against his back. We approached one of those infamous curves and Chris leapt over the watery chasm before landing with a slide at the other side. He didn’t lose an ounce of speed, however, as his long claws found their grip and he dashed down the trail.

  I risked a glance over my shoulder. Our doppelgangers did the same for the jump, but they didn’t have the speed. Much was my relief when the distance between us began to lengthen, and soon I watched the monsters turn in opposite directions from each other and drop into the water.

  I returned my attention to the path ahead of us and smiled. My relief, however, was short lived when I noticed Chris and my reflections on either side of us. On our left was mine atop his back, but there was no Chris. On our right was Chris in his wolf form, but no me.

  Realization struck me at the same time our mirror images burst out of the water with their hands grabbing at us. My doppelganger pushed me off Chris’ back and threw us into the water on the opposite side while the water wolf attacked Chris.

  For the second time in less than ten minutes I found myself in the bone-chilling grip of the marsh waters. I thrashed in the creature’s hold, but the plant tendrils wrapped around me, pinning my arms to my sides and trapping me in the cold darkness. I couldn’t hold my breath and life-saving bubbles escaped my lips.

  The murky water rushed into my lungs and my strength failed me. My befogged mind couldn’t help but wander back to the last few long hours of my life, a prelude to the news reel that was about to begin. Pity it would be so short.

  I saw my mother as I imagined her during our conversation, pale and more than a little frightened. Then there was Ethan as pale as bed sheets under which he lay, and Duncan and Bonnie teasing and being teased. Finally, there was Chris and his handsome smile he reserved just for me.

  Chris. God damn it, I wanted to live for him.

  And then a soft light intruded on my flashing life.

  22

  My blurry eyes widened as I beheld the familiar glow of my lifeline come roaring back to life at the end of it. The brilliance revealed the creature before me as some massless shape of slime and seaweed. The creature hissed and scurried away to the blackness beyond sight, and the tendrils that held me did the same.

  I used the last of my strength to kick upward, and in a moment I broke free of the surface. I’d only been held a mere six inches from the dreary air, but it was air I was most grateful for as I took in a deep breath of it. That is, until I saw the two wolves going at it on the path.

  Chris stood on the opposite side of me with his doppelganger between us. At my wet entrance my lifeline darted out and shot the mucky werewolf in the rear. The wolf loosed a garbled yelp, and in its distraction Chris swung a massive paw that connected with the side of his foe’s face. Evil Chris was sent flying into the water, and with that kind of company I clambered out of the pool. I stretched myself out on the ground and coughed up a bit of mucky water.

  Chris leapt over to me and leaned his furry face down even with mine. A whimper escaped his lips. I smiled up at him and patted his snout. “I’m okay, but I’m going to need a bath after this.”

  Chris’ eyes dropped to my chest where my lifeline had formed into a glowing ball. I wrapped my hand around the incorporeal orb and a blast of heat and steam hit my face. My vision was clouded for a moment by the white air before it cleared, revealing Chris’ shocked face.

  I looked down at myself and found that my body and clothes had all been dried. A snort escaped my lips. “Dry cleaning, eat your heart out.”

  Chris grinned. “A heart is what they’re missing.”

  I pretended to tap the soft surface of the orb. “I wish I could figure out how to work this thing. First it goes off, then on again.”

  Chris tilted his head to one side. “What were you thinking before it reappeared?”

  I lifted my eyes to him and smiled. “Oh, just about a certain wolfy boy and how I wanted to do this one last time.” I leaned forward and pecked a soft kiss on the side of his snout.

  He nuzzled my cheek in return. “Then keep feeling that. It saved my ass.”

  I cast a look at where his other self had gone and snorted. “Well, one of your asses.”

  Chris looked to his right where the path waited for us. “And let’s get out of here before I’m forced to breathe in my own breath again.”

  I tried to stand up, but my whole body was shaky from the near-drowning experience. “I could do with a ride.”

  “Gladly.”

  Chris knelt beside me, and I slunk onto his back. He stood and waited for me to get comfortable before dashing off down the trail. The extreme murkiness in the water faded and our reflections were no longer the grotesque mockeries they once were. After about a mile of long running the ground changed to hard earth and short, stubby trees with heavy lengths of vines hanging from their limbs popped up. Rocks with moss cloaks appeared, and in a short while Chris trotted up to a wood spike fence some four feet tall.

  I climbed off him and set my hand atop his back as I inspected the short defense. The wall came up to my shoulders, and I could lean over the top, which I did.

  A stick bopped me in the nose.

  I yelped more out of surprise than pain and stumbled back. Chris leapt between me and the defenses and growled at the fence. A gate opened in the fence and a bearded face peeked out. The head hovered a foot from the ground and was made of more wrinkles than a pure-bread hound.

  He glared at us through all his face fuzz. “What do you want?”

  I rubbed my nose and frowned. “Some aspirin would be nice.”

  “We don’t have any, so get lost.” The short man started to close the gate, but his attention fell on my chest. His eyes widened and he hopped out, revealing his full form to us.

  The strange man stood at about a foot with a white beard that nearly touched the ground. He wore a bright green shirt with white pants, and his black buckle shoes shone to a bright shine. Atop his thin white hair was a cap with a peaked top that drooped over the back of his head.

  This little man was unmistakably part of the gnome clan we sought. Well, except for the sharp two-foot spear he sported in one hand. That, too, ended in a fine point.

  He waddled over to me and beckoned me with a chubby finger. “Lower. I want to get a good look at it.” I cast a questioning look at Chris who shrugged. The gnome frowned at me. “Well? Are you going to kneel or not?”

  I sighed and knelt on one knee. The gnome leaned close to my chest and rubbed his chin in his palm. “Yes. Very interesting.” His hand darted out and cupped one of my breasts. “Very nice, too.”

  I yelped and dropped back onto my butt. In less than a second Chris had borne down on our short acquaintance. He snapped his jaws around the gnome’s body, and the short dwarf dropped his spear in surprise. Chris didn’t bite down, but his teeth came very close to puncturing

  * * *

  “I was just seeing if they were real!” the gnome yelped as he thrashed in Chris’ jaws. “Our leader has told us you humans now make fake ones!” Chris tightened his jaws around his small prey.

  “Wait a sec,” I spoke up as I sat on my knees to face the pair. “Before you turn him into a short meal, we should probably get him to tell us how he gets ahold of his leader.” I could see the disapproval in Chris’ feral eyes. It made me both flattered and annoyed. I stabbed a finger at the ground. “Chris, drop him. Drop.”

  Chris reluctantly opened his jaws and the slobber-covered gnome dropped to the ground. The short man tried to scramble away, but Chris clapped a paw over his beard and pinned him in place.

  I caught the terrified eyes of the gnome in mine. “We’re not here to hurt anyone, and we’re not here for a show.” His face drooped slightly at my last comment. “We’re here to find your leader. We need his help to save the forest.”

  The gnome’s eyes opened slightly. “So, there is trouble afoot in the woods!” He squirmed in Chris’ hold and glared up at the wolf. “Do you mind getting off me?”

  Chris shrugged. “I’m comfortable.” I cast a look of warning at my mate, who reluctantly released the gnome.

  The short man leapt to his feet and picked up his spear. He spun around to face us and stretched to his full foot of height. “But how do I know you’re not the source of the problems in the woods?”

  I pointed at the glow on my chest. “Would someone who’s evil have this glowing out of them?”

  He squinted at my orb and furrowed his brow. “Didn’t notice it before, but I suppose it checks out. You can see our temporary leader and he’ll tell you what you want to know.”

  The gnome tapped the ground twice with the end of his spear, and the gate behind him swung open by the hand of one of his compatriots. The opened gate revealed a small town of thatched-roof huts with stone chimneys. The homes were spaced evenly apart, but unevenly set according to any discernible street grid. Outdoor fireplaces and corrals with miniature cows and horses were thrown into the wild mix. The town, however, was kept clean by a thick layer of beautiful grass that covered all the ground, and even crept up the sides of some of the houses.

  At the far end of the town stood a mud-brick house of two floors, the only one in the tiny metropolis with such a thing. Chris trotted at my side as we made our winding way down the central street, and the guard gnome followed behind. Gnomes peeked out of their houses and gawked at us.

  We approached the large house and the wood door opened. A gnome of an impressive size, some two feet, stooped and stepped out. He wore the same baggy attire as the others, but atop his head was perched a crown woven from reeds and topped at the front by a round stone smoothed to a shine. The leader also sported a staff with the same kind of stone perched at its top.

  He puffed out his ample chest as we stopped before him. “What’s wanted here?”

  The guard gnome scurried forward and gestured at us. “These mortals want to see Randall.”

  The head gnome looked us over and wrinkled his fat nose. “Why?”

  “We’re trying to save your world, but we need Randall’s help,” I told him.

  The gnome wrinkled his nose. “We know there is mischief afoot. The reflects in the marshes have been more active of late. But what proof do you have of your mission?”

  * * *

  The gnome turned his back on us and faced the doorway. “I don’t believe you! Now go away before I sic the dogs on you!”

  23

  My jaw hit the ground. “But we’re here to bring your leader back! We need him to help us find out where Silva is being held!”

  The gnome turned his head slightly and glared at me with one brown eye. “I said leave!”

  Chris shook his head. “We’re not leaving until you tell us where he is.”

  The leader’s bushy eyebrows crashed down and he raised the stick a few inches from the ground. “Then you leave me no choice!”

  He clapped the stick on the grass. There was a slight squishing noise, and Chris and I waited in tense anticipation. The leader frowned and repeated the slam. “Why isn’t this working?”

  The gnome guard sidled up to him and lowered his voice to a whisper that I barely caught with my werewolf ears. “You have to strike it against a rock, George.”

  “What? Oh, yes, I see.” George stepped to one side with his back still facing us and hovered the stick over a stone near the entrance to the house.

  He was interrupted by his companion. “George? Shouldn’t we just let them get Randall back here?”

  George glared at him. “Are you mad, Fred? They could be spies for the troublemaker out to kill our leader.”

  Fred used the end of his spear to point at me. “But that’s real.”

  George’s brown eye flickered over me and the corner of his lip curled up slightly. “Are they?”

  Fred shook his head. “Not the softies! The light!”

  George’s attention reluctantly fell on my lifeline, and he frowned. “So what?”

  Fred rolled his eyes. “So bad guys don’t have glowing white light! Them’s the rules!”

  George lifted his nose in the air and a dangerous look slipped into his eye. “Listen here, Fred. I’m the leader now, and what I say goes. Understand?”

  Fred shrank back and nodded. “S-sure thing, George.”

  The tall leader cleared his throat and returned his attention to Chris and me. “Now begone!”

  He clapped the bottom of the staff against the stone. This time we weren’t disappointed at the baying of hounds came to our ears. We spun around to face our foes and beheld a pack of some dozen dogs racing toward us with their jaws snapping and their claws extended.

  Chris and I gaped at them as they reached us and attacked… our ankles.

  The hounds of hell for the gnomes were like their horses, short and hilarious. The dogs nipped at my shoes and gnawed at my socks. I picked one up by the spiked collar and studied the animal. It was as small as a puppy, but with all the features of an adult.

  I turned my face to George. “Seriously?”

  He spun around and showed off a red face of fury. “G-get out of here! Now! This instant! You won’t get any help from us!”

  I looked to Chris who had a small dog swinging stubbornly from his wagging tail, clamped on by teeth and sheer determination. “Well?”

  He wagged his tail a little harder and his new accessory flew off the collide into the other yapping dogs like snapping bowling pins. “We don’t have much choice.”

  We reluctantly left with Fred marching behind us. The gloomy swamp greeted us with all the hope of a funeral, and Fred shut the gate behind himself. He turned to us with a broad grin. “George is something else, isn’t he?”

  I raised an eyebrow at his strange demeanor. He looked like that cat that had swallowed the goldfish. “He’s something.”

  Chris plopped himself down beside me and stretched upward into his human form. “There doesn’t happen to be anybody else we can talk to, is there?”

  Fred stabbed a finger at himself. “There’s me.”

  “I meant someone who can help us.”

  “That’d be me again,” Fred insisted as he fumbled around in one of the pockets of his pants. “Just lemme see if I can find it-ah!” The gnome drew out his hand and thrust something at me. “Take this. I swiped it from George a couple of days ago.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “Is that what I think it is?”

  Fred nodded. “Yep! It is one of your ‘cheesy burgers.’ Our king brought us this in order that we might visit him on occasion.”

  The ‘cheesy burger,’ or what was left of it, had long since departed this world, though not before someone had taken huge bites out of it. Apparently, the customer hadn’t appreciated something inside the meaty sandwich and tossed it in the trash where flies had feasted on its corpse before the gnome king had discovered it.

  I reluctantly accepted the sandwich with two pinched fingers and turned it over in my grasp. “How is this going to help us find him?”

  Chris shook his head. “We have great noses, but I think even your nose couldn’t follow where that came from.”

  Fred rolled his eyes. “You don’t follow the scent, you munch to where it came from.”

  A little bit of color drained from my face. “Wait, we have to eat this thing?”

  Fred frowned. “And what’s wrong with that? It’s delicious!”

  “Maybe in a past life…” I mumbled as I gingerly sniffed the burger. My stomach flip flopped.

  “So it’s a type of magic?” Chris guessed.

  Fred nodded. “Of course! You think we’re all just looks? Just take a bite and it’ll send you to where Randall is.” He paused and furrowed his brow. “Well, unless he’s moved, of course. You can never tell with him. One time he had us uproot the whole village and move it half a mile just because he thought the ground was too squishy.” His shoulders drooped and he sighed. “Those were the good old days. Now we just stay put and mold in place.”

  I looked down at the hamburger and pursed my lips. “Won’t you get into trouble helping us?”

  Fred snorted. “Like I care what that bully says. I didn’t get this job” He thrust out the spear, “by letting bullies pick on me. Now then” He poked my leg slightly with the spear. “Get moving!”

  I studied the burger again and cringed before I lifted my eyes to Chris. “The whole forest owes us big time for this.”

  He grinned. “If we live long enough, we’ll send them the bill.”

  I sighed and took a deep breath. “Well, here goes nothing.”

  I drew the burger up to my lips and opened my mouth. “Wait!” The shout came from Fred. He snatched half the burger from my jaws and slapped it into Chris’ hand. “If you’re going together then you’d better eat it together. Otherwise, one of you takes a bite and pop! You’re gone with the burger!”

  With a chunk missing I had a clearer view of the rancid meat. “Are you sure there isn’t a better way of finding Randall?”

  Fred shook his head. “Nothing’s more reliable than munching! Now munch away and go get Randall!”

  I held up the burger to Chris. “Cheers.”

  He did the same, and I saw my own disgust reflected in his face as we both took a bite. The hamburger tasted as bad as it looked, and the spongy food slid down my throat with all the grace of an elephant fitting through a small doorway.

  The moment the meat hit my stomach I felt as though something punched me in the gut. My head spun, and so did the world around me. The dull colors of the swamp swirled and changed into bright hues. The sounds, too, changed, from the soft murmur of the gnome folk to the noisy passing of cars.

 

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