The Wolf You Feed Arc (33 page)

Rune stared at him. “You don’t know?”
 

Kjell shook his head.
 

“She’s my mother,” Rune turned and walked away.

Kjell was stunned. “Rune, I’m so sorry. I should have known. Are you okay?”

“Not now, Kjell! There’s stuff to do.”

***

The next morning, Tore came down from the loft and helped dig the graves.
 

After cleaning up in front of the house the night before, Rune had changed to his wolf form to do another search of the area. Once the graves were dug, Tore and Kjell searched the barn again. Tore was convinced that Eva and Johan were in there, but all Kjell could detect were the same traces of old scents he’d smelled yesterday. They weren’t strong enough to suggest the kids were still there.

When Rune returned with no further information, they buried Kachina and Nea. Rune carved markers for them, and one for Annike too. Tore returned to the loft and sat by a pile of straw, refusing to eat.

“What are we going to do now?” Kjell asked.

“I don’t know, but we can’t just hang around here. Johan and Eveline must be somewhere. We didn’t find their bodies, so we have to presume they’re alive.”

Kjell nodded. “What about Hania? Do you think he’s with them?”

“I didn’t think about him. Did you pick up any scent?” he asked.

“No. His truck’s gone. Did he leave before, or after this happened?”

“It had to be before. He wouldn’t have left their bodies out there, if it was after. Anyway, if he was here while it happened, we would have found three corpses. Whoever did this wouldn’t have left witnesses. After killing two defenseless women, they’d have no problem getting rid of an old man,” Rune said.

“Is it them again? Dad’s brothers from the clan, the ones who killed my mom when we were kids?”

“I can’t think of any other explanation,” Rune said.

“I’m gonna go up and talk to Dad. Try and persuade him to come down.”

“Okay, ask him for an address for the commune. My guess is we’ll find them there,” Rune called after him.

***

Tore sat on an upturned bucket, his elbows resting on his knees, his head in his hands. Kjell squatted beside him.

“Dad, we have to…”

“Shush!” he said, leaping to his feet. Kjell frowned and listened.

Then he heard it too, faint shallow breathing. He swung his head around trying to pinpoint the sound. There! A patch of red flashed right in front of him. Kjell moved closer to the scrap of red plaid flannel shirt. As he knelt to examine it, he saw more of the fabric leading under the straw. And not just a shirt, jeans and… sweeping the straw away, he couldn’t believe what he uncovered. A familiar scent suddenly filled his nostrils.
 

The kids were here!

Johan lay with his arm draped over his sister. His red checked shirt wrapped around the two of them. Eyes closed, their breathing shallow, they clung together as Johan protected his sister.

Tore yelled to Rune. “Up here, they’re here! Oh my God! Fetch some water, they’re here.”

Tore had no idea where his children appeared from. Johan and Eva looked as if they had been lying there the whole time, but only seconds ago there was nothing there. There was no way he and Kjell could have missed them. Rune arrived with bottles of water. Tore knelt beside Johan and rolled him away from his Eveline. Johan moaned as he struggled to gain consciousness, his mouth cracked and dry. They must have been hiding for days. Tore poured water onto his son’s lips. Johan’s tongue licked across them.

“Eveline.” Rune scooped her into his arms, “Hey Eva, come on, honey, wake up.”

Johan’s eyes opened. Fear, then recognition flashed across his face. He struggled to sit and Kjell scooted behind him to help him up. Tore put the water to his son’s lips once more and Johan sipped it as he slumped against Kjell. Rune pulled Eva across his lap. Tears slipped down his cheek onto her face. Tore passed the water bottle to Kjell and moved to his little girl. Parched, pale, her chest barely moving as she took slow short breaths. Lying there, she looked so small. Tiny delicate hands hung limp, her long dark hair was dusty and full of straw. It hung to the floor, as her head lolled. Rune looked at Tore, his face ashen as he silently begged his father to bring his sister back to them.

Images of Kachina and Nea swam around Tore’s head and for one awful moment hers joined them. They’d already dug two graves and he couldn’t bear the thought of digging a third.

Johan pushed himself from Kjell’s arms, crawled across the floor and put his mouth to her ear. He stroked her hair, whispering something to her. Tore sat dazed. He stared at them, unable to move, not knowing what to do. Kjell pulled off his shirt, soaked it with water from the bottle and wiped it across her lips.

“Eva, c’mon wake up.” Rune’s voice broke and hope slipped from his eyes. Johan sat up. A smile crossed his face. He held his sister’s hands and pulled her forwards. Eva groaned and spluttered and coughed. Her eyes flew open and she reached for Johan. He flung his arms around her. Rune and Kjell wrapped their arms around her too, smiling, relief sweating out of them.

“Water,” she croaked. Kjell held the bottle to her lips and Rune passed another to Johan, insisting he take more. Johan sank back to the floor, tipped back the bottle and drank.

Tore sat a few feet away, watching his daughter as she sipped a few drops. Her color began to seep back into her skin. His heart had almost stopped at the sight of her lying so still.
 

Johan turned to his father, tears in his eyes. “Mom, Nea?”

Kjell put his arm around him, pulled his head to his chest. “Do you know who did this?”

Johan nodded. “They hunted for us. But we hid. I couldn’t stop them, there were four…” He began to sob. “They were big, they tried to find us.”

“Do you know who they were?” Kjell asked again.

He nodded, “They gave me a message.”

“Go on.” Kjell wiped his brother’s face with his wet shirt.

“Th…they said tell Dad, he should have stayed dead. That they won’t give up until Erik gets his revenge.”

Tore let out a long mournful howl. Erik had taken almost everything from him, and now he’d tried to take Johan and Eva too.

“Dad?” Kjell was on his feet moving towards him, his hands outstretched. Tore’s hands shook, anger surging through his veins, hate taking over his entire body.

“Dad,” Kjell repeated.
 

But Tore didn’t answer.
 

He sprinted to the ladder and slid down to the barn floor. Only one thought was on his mind. He had to find Erik, and end this once and for all.

His hand was on the door of the truck before Kjell and Rune caught up with him.

“Tore, stop. We need to plan this. Wait, we’ll go together.”

He swung around to Rune, his breathing heavy. “No, I’m going alone. This has to end.”

Kjell pushed himself between his father and the truck. Rune moved closer, his hand reaching for Tore’s arm. “Let’s help Johan and Eva first. We have to get them to a hospital.”

Nothing made sense to Tore. Why were they stopping him? They couldn’t expect him to let this go. He shrugged off Rune, and pushed him backwards. Rune stumbled but lunged back to grab him, quicker than Tore expected.

“Dad, don’t do this…” Kjell came at his father from behind.
 

As his hands curled around Tore’s biceps, Tore sent his elbow back into Kjell’s chest, knocking the wind from him. Kjell tripped and fell against the car, gasping for breath.
 

Rune stepped forwards, fists clenched, “Tore, we have to wait. Johan and Eveline need us, for God-sake, they nearly died. Let’s get them checked out. We need to make sure they’re okay.”

Something snapped inside Tore. Lines became blurred. He could focus on only one thought. He had to stop Erik.
 

Rune stood between Tore and the truck as he tried to prevent his father from leaving. Tore’s knuckles connected with Rune’s face, he saw the blood from the boy’s split lip but he couldn’t stop himself. That first punch, released fury inside him that he could not quell. Barely conscious of what he was doing, Tore lashed out, over and over again at Rune. Kjell jumped in and they wrestled, both hitting the floor hard. But seconds later Tore was back on his feet. This time, it was Rune who tried to subdue him. Dust flew everywhere. One of their fists connected with Tore’s jaw and sent him hurtling backwards. He landed on his ass and Kjell threw himself on top of his father.

As Tore fought off his sons, he saw Eveline’s face, tears streaming down her still too pale cheeks. She trembled as Johan held her hand. There was shouting but Tore couldn’t hear the words, couldn’t process what anyone said.
 

A car skidded to a halt, dust clouded around them. Voices shouted. Kjell and Rune disappeared and others took their place. Big bodies held Tore down, thick accents yelling his name. Strong arms gripped his shoulders and wrists. “Hold him still.”

Tore tried to buck them off but couldn’t move. He saw a needle, screamed at them to stop. “I have to get to Erik, I have to stop this!”
 

The prick in Tore’s arm was quick. The sudden heaviness in his limbs surprised him. He attempted to scramble to his feet a few times. He shifted to wolf, trying to throw the lethargy from his body. The others leapt backwards in all directions.

“Don’t hurt him, Hania.”
 

Was that, Kjell? Rune? The voices swam in Tore’s head, the world turned foggy and the atmosphere oppressive. He stumbled sideways. His four paws splayed outwards as he tried to regain his balance. People circled him, their voices low. He tried to lift his head to see who they were, but it felt too heavy. Unable to control his four legs any longer, he slumped to the ground, his tongue lolling from his mouth. Rune crouched before him, and stretched out a hand to his head.

Tore was exhausted. His muzzle sank to the floor between his paws. He shifted back and curled into a ball. The world began to swirl around him, and he closed his eyes.

31

Four Hours Later.

“How are they, Hania?” Kjell asked, as his grandfather closed the door to the room where Johan and Eva were resting.

“They’ll be fine, dehydrated and hungry. They haven’t eaten or drunk anything for three days, but the main thing is they’re unhurt. Johan did a fine job of protecting his sister.”

“Did they see what happened?”

“No, thank goodness. Johan knew something was wrong, but he had the sense to realize he wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop them. He chose to protect his sister instead.”

Kjell sighed. “A hell of a decision for a thirteen-year-old to make.”

Hania nodded and led him into the kitchen. He busied himself making a strong pot of coffee. Kjell slumped in a chair.
 

Hania found it hard to imagine Kjell as the little three-year-old that used to sit on his lap while he taught him to read. The boy had grown into a fine looking young man. He was so like his father. Had a serious side to him, which made him seem older than his seventeen years. And that same inner strength and calmness that Hania had once seen in Tore. Hania sighed. They would need that over the next few hours, days, maybe longer.

“I’m so glad you arrived when you did grandpa. I don’t know how Rune and I could have contained Dad on our own. When we found Johan and Eva something flipped in his brain. If you hadn’t arrived with Molega, I…”

Rune came into the kitchen, his hair damp from the shower. He pulled on his clean shirt. “How’s Dad?” he asked.

“Still sedated. Molega will let me know when he’s awake. Then I’ll go and talk to him.”

“Kjell, did you get anything out of Johan about why my mom was here?” Rune asked.

“A bit. He told me Kachina had received a letter from Nea, not long after we left on our trip. When Kachina got here, Nea arranged to come and visit. She wanted to say goodbye to my mom.”

“Yes, I was here when she arrived. But I left a few minutes later. She was alone and I didn’t see the harm. I should have anticipated something like this, but I thought they were safe. Erik believed Tore was dead so I never thought there was the remotest chance...”