Kesh Read online

  Muskrat glanced warily over his shoulder, and Kesh felt him shudder. “Do you mean the wolf?”

  Kesh nodded. “Yes, the big guy with the big teeth. Who do you think I mean?”

  “He’s Michael. To be perfectly accurate, he’s a timber wolf. They don’t usually get as big as some wolves, but Michael is as big a timber wolf as you’ll ever see.” He sighed. “I have to admit, he scares me some.”

  “Why?” asked Kesh.

  The muskrat snorted. “My boy, the word for ‘appetizer’ in wolf language is ‘muskrat.’ All of you carnivores make me just a little bit nervous.”

  In spite of his sadness, Kesh laughed. “You’re kidding?”

  Muskrat grimaced. “I don’t joke about my mortality.”

  Then quietly, Kesh asked, “What did she mean when she said ‘Anna is everywhere?’ I don’t understand any of this.”

  Muskrat composed himself. “Anna was no different than any other lone wind spider, no stronger, no weaker, and no more important. You see, Kesh, she was just a spider. She could have been killed at any time under a hiker’s boot or in the beak of a hungry sparrow. But spiders are not simply single beings, at least not the web makers, and certainly not wind spiders. They are connected through a web that exists across this world and beyond. The spider you knew as Anna was…” He stopped for a moment to consider his answer. “You see, Kesh, she was Anna, complete and whole, yet she was also one tiny molecule of Anna, a billionth of the being we call Anna. Do you understand?”

  Kesh nodded. “I actually think I do, at least a little bit. It makes me feel a little better, but not much. Tell me, Muskrat, how did Anna talk through the wind?”

  Muskrat sighed. “It’s amazing, isn’t it – amazing and wonderful. Think about it, lad. Spiders travel on the wind. Their young are carried across oceans and mountains to every part of the world on the back of the wind, and the winds bring food to their webs. They could not exist without the wind, so they have found ways to work together. You see, the spider-nature is woven into the fibers of the world, of wind and tides, mountains, forests, and deserts. Spiders are connected to everything we know, and the best of them, the Annas, are able to manifest great wisdom, but they need a way to do it. So, you see, they have an agreement of sorts with the wind. The wind is the spider’s voice. Spiders don’t have vocal cords.”

  “So what does the wind get out of the agreement?”

  “I’m not sure, but Anna once told me that the wind tends to become lonely. Spiders are wonderful company, and even in the strongest hurricane or tornado, they are able to ride along with the wind without suffering harm. She said spiders make very good friends.”

  “That can’t be true. The wind doesn’t think. It’s just the wind.”

  Muskrat sighed, “Whatever you say.”

  Kesh opened his mouth to say something else, but he decided he’d better not. He knew he had a lot to learn.

  Kesh was quiet as they made their way down the path and away from the shack. They moved slowly now, as the danger had passed, at least for the moment. Then he said, “Muskrat, is this a dream? I think it has to be a dream, but it doesn’t feel like one.”

  “Well, my boy, it’s difficult to say. It could be, I suppose, and then again, it might not be at all. I thought you knew that.”

  “Oh, then it is a dream, just something my brain is imagining. I must be home in bed then.”

  “Tell me, Kesh. Does this feel like any dream you’ve ever had?”

  Kesh shook his head. He felt as if he were trapped inside a riddle. “I don’t know. It doesn’t feel like anything I’ve ever experienced, but, in another way, it’s familiar. You know what I mean? I’m confused by just about everything, and I feel really sad about Anna. And, I’m scared. I just don’t know what to think about all of this.”

  “I understand your feelings. Nothing is certain. Listen, Kesh, waking and dreaming seem to be parts of very different worlds, but in truth, there is nothing more than a wisp of smoke separating them. You heard Anna. If you’re concerned that this dream is not as real as any waking moment, you need to revisit your waking moments. They don’t always feel so real, do they? And in those moments when you are absolutely sure, when the people and things around you are clearly in the waking world, they don’t always seem to make sense. Do they?” He added, “Besides, if this is a dream, you have to admit it is a doozy.”

  “So all of this might be a dream, or it might not. Is that what you mean?”

  “I do,” squeaked the muskrat, “in a manner of speaking. You see, Kesh, you just might be dreaming, but, then again, you might not.”

  Kesh shook his head. “More riddles. I don’t know what to think. But, then again, I am talking to a muskrat.” He suddenly stopped, creating a brief animal pileup behind him. “What about my mom and dad? How do I know that they’re really okay, and if they are, how am I supposed to tell them about all of this; how am I supposed to tell anyone? Muskrat…” His voice was on the edge, tense, panicky, “I don’t think I can do this.”

  Muskrat looked up at the young coyote. “Faith, young man. Have faith. I know you can do this.”

  They ran on, and gradually the other animals drifted off into the woods or dropped back. A soft howl rose on the trail ahead of them, and Muskrat stopped abruptly, the hair on his back bristling. “What is it?” said Kesh.

  “Look.” He gestured with his snout at a creature on the path ahead.

  A wolf stood watching them. Kesh whispered, “That’s not Michael.”

  “No. That is definitely not Michael.” The animal’s coat was a dark, metallic gray, and its long and sinewy torso sat atop odd wiry limbs. Its face was narrow, and its eyes glowed softly in the dim early morning light.

  “Who is he?”

  Muskrat did not move.

  Kesh focused on the wolf’s eyes. They were strangely familiar. “He seems scared, unsure of himself.”

  “I have no doubt that he is,” said Muskrat, “but I do not trust that one.”

  “You know him?”

  Muskrat let out a low growl, small but clearly meant to indicate his displeasure. “Yes, I know him.”

  When Kesh looked back, the strange wolf was gone. “Where did he go? What was that all about?”

  Muskrat stared at the place where the wolf had stood for a moment. “Follow me.” In the next instant, Muskrat disappeared into the underbrush. Kesh followed, being sure to keep the small animal’s scent close. Moments later, he broke out into the open night and had to pull up to avoid running into the river. Muskrat sniffed the air coming from upstream. “Do you smell that?” He asked.

  Kesh felt the bite of a sharp odor in his snout. He had smelled a hint of it before, in the shack. “My God! What is that horrible smell?”

  Muskrat said, “That, my boy, is the smell of evil, and you will understand in due time. For now, you know that the one we met on the trail tonight carries this smell. It lives deep inside him, and everything he touches reeks of it. It is the stench of death.” With that, he turned and scurried off along the downstream shoreline as Kesh chased after.

  Chapter Five

  Awake Again but More Confused than Ever

  A big hand shook Kesh out of his troubled sleep. He opened his eyes and was greeted by a giant of a man with a brown face and close-cropped jet-black hair and a graying mustache. He was wearing a County Sheriff’s uniform. “I’m Officer Wolfe. And you are the remarkable Kesh Jones.” The boy nodded, and the policeman smiled. “Yes, I can see that you are. Your parents have been looking for you all night.”

  “My parents are okay? They’re really alive?”

  The man paused and studied the boy’s face. “Unless something has happened to them in the past hour or so, I have to say they’re fine. Is there any reason they wouldn’t be?” He bent close and looked into Kesh’s eyes. “Are you all right son?”

  Kesh glanced around. He was alone in the rag man’s crude shelter and covered in a thick green blanket. “Yes, sir. I’m okay I
guess, just a little confused that’s all.”

  The officer put his heavy parka over Kesh’s shoulder and lifted him out of the hut with strong arms. “After a night out here, I’m not surprised. Come on, young man. I’ll take you home.”

  Kesh had the urge to push the man away, to fight being lifted and carried. Even though he felt weak and exhausted, he was not about to give in and let his body go limp in the strong arms. He glanced around him from his embarrassing perch. Nobody else was there. Nobody would see him. Still, he was not a child. “Sir?”

  “Yes, son?”

  “Would you please put me down? I’m cold, confused and I’m pretty hungry, but I’m not a baby. I’m twelve years old, and I can walk on my own.”

  The policeman smiled. “I’m sorry, son. I can see you’re a young man, and you don’t need to be carried.” As he set the boy onto uneasy legs, Kesh saw that one of the officer’s eyes was as black as ebony and the other a deep emerald green.

  “Your eyes?”

  The man laughed. “Everyone comments on my eyes. I suppose it’s a little strange, the different colors I mean, but they’re good, clear-seeing eyes, and they don’t get fooled much.” The man watched Kesh wobble a little as he regained his balance. “Are you sure you’re okay, son?”

  “Yes, sir. I’m okay. But, how were my mother and father when you saw them?”

  “Like I said, Kesh, they seemed fine, aside from being worried half to death about you. Why? Is there something you want to tell me?”

  He hesitated. “No. That was it. I wondered if they were too worried about me.”

  The policeman grimaced. “I get concerned about parents who don’t worry about their kids. They can never be too worried about their children.

  The ride in the squad car was warm, and Kesh felt a wave of deep weariness wash over him. He let the feeling take him, and he dozed.

  He was walking along a dark, wooded trail, and he sensed something behind him. He began to trot, and the follower kept pace. Then, he began running. He was unsure of where he was going, but the thing behind him stayed close. Then, suddenly, the tall, dark figure of a man loomed ahead, blocking the trail. He looked to the side for an escape, but the trees and underbrush grew as thick as steel wool. He considered trying to bolt past the man, but the man’s form filled the trail.

  “He’s waiting for me,” he thought. Kesh considered his options. He could go for the man and hope he’d get by, or he could turn and face the creature that had been following him. He had to decide quickly. The man smelled of danger, and the follower had not attacked him even when he had walked slowly. The choice was clear. He whipped his lithe body around and…”

  “Kesh. Wake up. We’re at your house.” Officer Wolfe was turning the squad car off of Ontario Drive and into the driveway of his house.

  He shook his head and blinked to clear out the remains of sleep and his dream. His parents, both seemingly alive and well, waited on the porch until the car pulled to a stop. His father leaped from the porch, pouncing on Kesh and sweeping him up in what he called his famous big powerful hug. His mother wasn’t far behind, and she threw her arms around the two boys, squeezing them both so tight, his dad yelled out, “Allyssa, you’re going to smother us.”

  She laughed and eased off a bit. “Sorry, guys. I’m just so happy to have my Kesh home, safe and sound.”

  When the scrum broke up, Officer Wolfe shook both parents’ hands and crouched down to Kesh’s level to look into his eyes. He said, “You’re going to be fine, but keep your eyes open, and keep a quick wit. You’re going to need it.” Kesh nodded. Then the policeman added, “The best thing you can do is tell your parents everything. Trust me on this one.”

  Kesh let out a very quiet, private gasp. He had just met this man, and he was hesitant to trust anyone, even a cop. He shot the policeman a look.

  The officer winked. “I know it’s hard and it’s going to get a lot harder before it’s over, but you need to have faith, young man. Have faith.”

  Once again, Kesh caught his breath for a moment. As the big man got back into his squad car, he whispered, “I’ll try.”

  “What were you thinking, Kesh, running off like that in the middle of the night? We were worried sick.” Kesh could see that his parents were angry, as parents tend to be at times like this, but they were also relieved and visibly sorry for their part in the whole mess. Still, he wasn’t sure of what that part was. How could they have ignored the terrifying scene in the living room? Then again, he thought, maybe that part was just a dream, or, even worse, maybe he was hallucinating.

  He just might be going crazy. Crazy people see things that aren’t there. He thought, Maybe I’m schizophrenic! He didn’t know that much about mental illness, but he’d seen enough movies to know it looked a lot like what he was experiencing. Something had driven him into the cold last night, and nothing about the night was normal.

  For now, though, Kesh was exhausted and relieved to be home and glad to be safe in his father’s arms. Although he was twelve years old, and he knew he should have been embarrassed, he let his head settle onto the strong shoulder, and his attention drifted off to the yard directly across the street, Taylor George’s house. Mrs. George and Taylor were just getting off to school. Kesh blinked. Next to Mrs. George, where Taylor had been just a moment before, was now a low, flat, broad creature with a white stripe blazing up a black forehead and down its back all the way to the tip of its tail. Kesh shook his head and tried to blink away the hallucination, and suddenly it was just Taylor again smiling and waving.

  That night, as he lay in his bed, Kesh tried to sort everything out in his mind. He had a hunch that the badger he had seen in Taylor’s yard was the beginning of a lot of problems. Maybe, he thought, he had actually seen Taylor’s animal spirit. He knew badgers had a reputation for being pretty feisty, even nasty, so it fit his classmate to a tee. Then again, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was seriously nuts. If he was going to be seeing animals all over the place, he needed to know why. As he stared at the dark ceiling above his bed, he imagined he heard, off in the distance, the strangely familiar howl of a coyote.

  He lay awake, unable to sleep, his mind racing across a landscape of darkness and danger and wonder. And he kept thinking about what the policeman had said. “Tell them everything.”

  Finally, he turned over, opened his journal, and began writing.

  Okay, so I’m supposed to believe I saw a python and a panther in my living room last night. Then I spent the night following a talking muskrat to a meeting with a talking spider. And I’m supposed to tell my parents about this? They’d think I was out of my friggin’ mind. The whole thing is way too weird. If I try to tell them what really happened they won’t believe me. And why should they? I don’t even believe me. At least I don’t know if I do. They’ll smile and say it was just a boy’s wild imagination, and they’ll pat me on the head in that insulting way grownups do.

  On the other hand, what if it really happened? What if all of it is true? If they were really a cat and python they shouldn’t have any trouble believing my story. I know one thing for sure…if I’m going to do it, I’d better do it soon while they’re still feeling guilty about me running off. I have to do before I chicken out. I have to have faith.

  He whispered the words to himself as he wrote.

  That’s it then. I’ve decided. I’ll tell them at supper.

  He felt a little better now, but not completely. He had to admit he still wasn’t convinced that the whole thing was anything but a long, complicated dream. And, what if it was true? After all, how in the world could he and the others tear down the factories? He wasn’t even sure what that meant. What exactly was he expected to do?

  Chapter Six

  Back to Normal--Well, More or Less

  My nocturnal adventures: I had a pretty good day. Mom and dad were so worried about me after last night they let me stay home from school. Good thing too. I was beat. Funny how the world looks completely different w
hen you wake up. Mom called the school office and told Mrs. Barkley that I wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be in today. She didn’t even ask me. I slept in, and when I finally got up, the sun was high on a clear blue morning, and I still had most of the day to do nothing but watch TV and play video games.

  I saw Adventure Time, Flcl, and threw in Invader Zim for old time’s sake. It’s a weird little show, and Zim is a funny little guy who always made me laugh. He still does. They all got me thinking about the impossible last night. The more I think about it, the more I know the whole thing had to be a dream. People are always walking in their sleep and seeing ghosts and goblins and other strange things. I think that’s what happened to me. For some reason my mind made me imagine I saw those animals and, of course, I panicked. I didn’t imagine that part.

  Then I fell asleep in that shack (I’ll tell you about that later). If that wouldn’t give a guy nightmares, I don’t know what would. I’d be crazy to tell mom and dad everything about the rag man, and I’m not going to mention that stuff about turning into a coyote and talking to a muskrat. There’s nothing to tell except that I had some really weird dreams.

  He closed the journal and yawned. He was still tired, but he felt better about the whole strange experience. He flipped the book open again and wrote quickly,

  It’s good to be back to normal.

  That evening, supper was quiet. Usually, he was the quiet one while his mom and dad made small talk across the table. Tonight they ate without talking, without reviewing the mundane dullness of the day, without watching their son to see if he had managed to have a day without insult, without humiliation, without feeling like the runt of the litter. Tonight the air was heavy with unspoken expectation. It was like they were waiting for him to fill them in on what had happened in the night, and he wasn’t about to go there.

  Kesh, unwilling to test the waters, as if he were afraid he might find out something he didn’t want to know, ate mechanically and left the table. As sure of himself as he had been a couple hours before, now the doubts began to creep into the back of his mind. He tried to ignore them, and when he lay down for the night, he fell quickly into a deep, dreamless sleep and slept soundly until morning.