Escape From Manitou Island: Part 16

PART SIXTEEN:
By Lake & By Land

"OLD MOTHER MANITOU! Charmian!" Winter Born's voice cried from outside Sugar Loaf Rock. "Come outside! Something's happened!"

Charmian, the soldier, and the others all glanced toward the entryway. Charmian frowned.

"Winter Born...?"

"Charmian--!" the call came again, closer this time; she turned away from Mani and the soldier and jogged for the entryway, making her way outside. Moon Wolf and Mani's calves still waited outside, looking down the slope from the rock; Winter Born was making her way up toward them, gasping for breath, her feet dirty. She saw Charmian and the others and picked up her pace, scrabbling at the loose gravel. Her eyes were wide and some wisps of hair flew loose of her braids; she swept them back with one hand.

"Something's happened!" she exclaimed again, and pointed southeast. "On the shore! Stick said to call you!"

"Stick--?" Charmian's frown grew, confused, but she started making her way down the slope. The soldier opened his mouth, then shut it and followed; Old Mother Manitou stood in the entryway, nearly scowling, but when Charmian glanced back at her she just nodded and made a shooing gesture. They jogged out of the little clearing around the rock and into the woods.

"What is it?" Charmian panted as they made their way along the path.

"Something on the shore!" Winter Born cried, and that just made Charmian's unease increase exponentially. "Stick said you might know what to do! I ran all the way here!"

Charmian chewed her lip. Stick called for ME--? What would I know about such things? It isn't a Mishupishu, is it--? I don't know ANYTHING about how to deal with Mishupishus!

Where the hell is Manabozho when I need him?! Wasn't HE back there--?

They remained grimly silent until they came within earshot of the tribe, and now Charmian's unease started to shift into full-fledged anxiety. There was a great to-do here again, even more so than there had been when the soldier had been discovered; just remembering him, Charmian glanced back, and saw that he didn't look as if he wanted to follow her at all, yet he hadn't slackened his pace. "Where is it, Winter Born--?" she called out, hoping to avoid Black Elk Horn, if he was present.

Winter Born pointed toward the bluff. "On the shore! They found something!"

"Huh--?" Charmian's brow furrowed. "On the shore again--?"

The girl nodded. "I've never seen ANYTHING like it before!" she exclaimed, and jogged off through the camp. Charmian turned to the others following her and pointed toward the shore.

"Maybe it'd be best if you guys head that way, and I'll meet up with you as soon as I figure out what's going on!"

Thomas nodded and he and the others turned eastward. Charmian briefly met the soldier's eyes before he disappeared among the trees; she turned back to the camp and started glancing around, hoping to find a familiar face. She spotted Winter Born running to the far side of the camp, then spotted her returning with White Deer; the two of them came straight at her, their eyes looking almost ready to fall out of their heads. Charmian skidded to a halt just as they both flung their arms out to point east.

"Something on the shore!" they both exclaimed, then turned and ran in the same direction that Charmian had already sent the others in. She blinked, then fumed, before following.

Most of the Islanders remained upon the bluff, peering down through the trees although the camp was set so far back that the shore wasn't visible from here. Charmian picked her way down the bluff until meeting up with Mani; she grasped onto his antler and he helped her along, Flint, Winter Apple, and Speckled weaving along through the trees and whistling. As the shore loomed into view Charmian could see a small group of people gathered on the sand, and a rattling noise came to her ears. She frowned and worked her way around a spring, nearly tumbling down toward the water before catching herself and letting go of Mani's antler; she pushed the weeds out of her way and jogged along the rough bit of shore road, which was barely more than a dirt trail here. The source of the rattling noise became clear now; it was Stick-In-The-Dirt and several of the other medicine men, shaking turtle-shell rattles and looking down at something that lay before them. They chanted something as they rattled, until he spotted her; then his eyes grew and he waved her forward as if their lives depended on it.

"What is it--?" Charmian whispered, hating the thought of speaking aloud.

He just kept waving. "You have experience with this--I thought maybe you would know what to do!"

I have experience--? What is he talking about--? Charmian reached him before thinking of looking down, then her eyes goggled and she let out a little shriek, jumping back and nearly taking two of the medicine men with her.

A strange wet form lay upon the sand and rocks, curled in on itself. It was human sized, and had a head and torso and arms like a human, but that was where the similarity ended. Instead of being white or copper, its entire body was greenish in color, and gleamed under the sunlight as if it had been painted with pearlescent paints; it had no hair whatsoever, and instead of legs, bore a long smooth tail terminating in feathery fins. Another fin ran down the length of its back and over the tail, and its ears as well as its fingers were webbed; its eyes protruded like those of a GeeBee, but they were shut, and from her vantage point, Charmian could see little gills behind its ears, rising and falling as the creature panted weakly, water gleaming on it in droplets which were already drying under the sun.

"A Nebanaubae," Charmian blurted out in surprise.

Everyone's eyes grew even wider and they took a step back each. Charmian leaned closer to the creature. She'd come close to Nebanaubae before, but they had been in the water all the times that she'd seen them; she'd never seen one out in the open air. She started to stretch her hand out toward it, when Stick-In-The-Dirt grasped her wrist and shook his head violently.

"Don't touch it!" he hissed. "What if it changes you--?"

Charmian bit her lip. Around here, it was believed that the Nebanaubae tended to kidnap humans, and bring them down beneath the water where they would transform them into their own kind. A Nebanaubae had attempted to grab hold of Charmian at least twice during her last visit, but she still had all of her limbs, and breathed on land, so she wasn't sure what to think of the story.

"Why would a Nebanaubae be on the shore?" she asked, confused. "I've never even seen one on the Island itself. Do you guys even have them here--?"

"They do not show themselves much," Stick-In-The-Dirt said. "I believe I saw one all of once. And I can't even be sure. It was during a rainstorm. They only come on land when it's raining heavily."

"Why--?"

"I suppose because it allows them to shapeshift to look more like our kind, so they can walk. The water, also--" He cut himself off and started gasping in panic when Charmian reached out one finger to tentatively poke the creature in the arm. "Don't touch it!!"

"I don't think it's in any shape to change me, Stick," Charmian murmured, and reached to poke it again when its eyes popped open and it turned its head to look straight at her. She gasped and jumped back--its eyes were large and silvery, like a cross between those of a fish and those of a human; everyone backed away from it, but all that it did was flip its tail and start making gasping noises. Stick-In-The-Dirt scrambled for the bluff, but Charmian hesitated, glancing back at it. It didn't follow, or try to grab hold of anyone; if anything, she would have said that it looked like it was--

Her eyes grew and she whirled around, dashing back toward it. "What are you DOING?!" Stick-In-The-Dirt fairly screeched, waving his arms.

Charmian halted beside the Nebanaubae and bent over it. It looked up at her and continued gasping; it seemed to be trying to talk, but no speech came out. She remembered that when the Nebanaubae had spoken with her before, they had used some sort of mass telepathy. Her eyes focused on the gills behind its ears and she saw the way that they opened and closed, and she waved frantically at Stick-In-The-Dirt and the others.

"I think it's suffocating! It needs to be in water!"

"Suffocating--?" Stick-In-The-Dirt echoed. Charmian grabbed onto the Nebanaubae's arm and started pulling it toward the lake, but as soon as its tail touched the water it dug its fingers into her arm and started thrashing as if the lake were made of hot oil. Charmian blinked, then pulled it back. She looked at the medicine men again.

"We have to get it up the bluff! Into water!"

One of the other medicine men frowned. "But the only water big enough is the demon's lake--!"

"There's another one," Charmian said, looping her arm under the Nebanaubae's and giving Stick-In-The-Dirt a pleading look. He wavered, then got a miserable look himself, yet came forward to assist her. Mani came out of the trees and whistled as they struggled to carry the creature over to him; he knelt down and Thomas assisted now, and they awkwardly draped the Nebanaubae over the manitou's back. Mani turned his head to peer at the gasping creature over his shoulder, and flared his nostrils as if it smelled bad.

Charmian came up beside it and looked at it herself, chewing on her lip. "I don't like how pale it's getting," she murmured, and touched Mani's shoulder. "Think you can call a few friends--? I want us to get there together."

Mani let out a long loud whistle as they started back up the bluff. The medicine men hung back as soon as manitous began appearing from the trees, whistling in return and cocking their heads. When Mani bobbed his head at them they knelt to allow Charmian and Thomas atop their backs; Moon Wolf accepted his ride only reluctantly, and the soldier refused outright, backing away from his manitou every time it approached him until he finally tumbled back into the undergrowth. Charmian would have found the scene amusing at any other time; as it was, she nudged her manitou in the side, and they all started bounding upwards at an incredible speed. She had just enough time to glance down at the shore and see how quickly they were leaving the medicine men behind; then the green of trees was flying past them, and she dug her fingers into the manitou's ruff, pressing herself close to it to avoid getting caught on a tree. Mani appeared to know where she wanted him to go, as he didn't even ask before heading north, and then turning inland. The land they raced across grew progressively hillier and harder to traverse, earth changing into muck and ferns and weeds glutting the ground. The manitous leapt easily over fallen trees, but had more difficulty navigating the damp earth, and had to continuously duck their heads to avoid getting their antlers hung up on low-hanging branches. Mani whistled and they adjusted their course, thudding down a slope and into a small clearing. Instead of grass, the bottom of the clearing was taken up by a small pond lined with reeds, trees shading the shore. The manitous' hooves made sucking noises in the mud as they neared the water and Charmian jumped off of her ride to go grab hold of the Nebanaubae's arm. Thomas and Moon Wolf joined her, pulling the creature down and carrying it toward the spring. Charmian had to let go as the other two swung the Nebanaubae back and forth a few times, then heaved it into the air as far as they could. It did a twirl before plunging into Croghan Water with a terrific splash, and Charmian winced, knowing that the pond was deep but hating the thought of it striking something anyway. They stood and watched the ripples on the water fade, shielding their eyes and keeping silent.

For a moment or so nothing happened; then bubbles began to rise to the surface and pop, then a head splashed out of the water, sucking in a great breath. The Nebanaubae's eyes opened and glinted and it looked around itself as if confused, ears flicking; it spotted the others on the shore and opened and closed its mouth a few times, gills flaring. After a pause it came swimming toward them.

Moon Wolf and Thomas backed away from the shore, and Charmian saw the manitous, save Mani, do the same; the big brown manitou lowered his head and showed his antlers, but the Nebanaubae ignored him. It halted a few feet from the shore, making breathy noises as if trying to speak with its vocal cords cut.

Charmian's brow furrowed and she shook her head. "I don't understand. How do I talk to you?"

The Nebanaubae fell silent, looking around itself disconsolately. Its eyes lit up then and it raised its hand and placed it against the water's surface, palm flat. It did this a few times before Charmian frowned, but she crawled down to the water's edge, doing the same with her own hand. "You mean like that?" she asked.

The Nebanaubae bobbed in the water. You can hear now? it asked, and she jumped a little, then let out her breath and nodded. The creature had an odd slurry voice, as if it were just waking up and trying to speak through mud, but at least it was coherent now. Charmian felt a bit of awe to realize that perhaps they hadn't used telepathy with her after all; it seemed now to be more like some sort of subsonic vibrations transmitted through the water.

"Yeah," she said. "You were beached on the shore. I tried to put you back in the lake, but--"

The lake is bad, the Nebanaubae interrupted her, and immediately everyone was staring at it intently. Its gills flared again. We were seeking an entrance to beneath the Island, to enter the streams, which we have done before. But the entrance was blocked. We could not get through.

Charmian bit her lip. "I told X'aaru and Khiieta to block off anything they found down in their cave...maybe they got to the entrance your people use. What happened to all of you?"

The Nebanaubae bobbed. Most of us proceeded to the other shore. We thought we might find a way through there. But those of us who remained did not hear back from them. We waited, but the water was going bad. We could not stay longer. We all began to look for ways beneath the Island. I could find none.

"The water was going bad--?" Thomas echoed, and frowned at Charmian. "That's exactly what Niskigwun said, isn't it?"

Charmian nodded, growing even more anxious. "And Augwak and the Ocryxes...bad water, bad smells..." She glanced up at the Nebanaubae. "What exactly is it about the water that's going bad? Can you explain at all--?"

The Nebanaubae swirled its fins. Something which is not supposed to be there, it said, and without elaborating, glanced abruptly down at the spring that it floated within. It cast Charmian an anxious look; she wanted nothing more than to question it further, but she bit off her questions and sighed, nodding at the water.

"You can stay safely in there for now. It leads down beneath the Island. There's a guy down there named Chakenapok and if you tell him I sent you, he'll let you stay. If you run into any of the others, tell them that they're welcome to stay down there too. Until we get this all cleared up."

The Nebanaubae nodded, relief in its eyes, before plunging into the water again, its tail flipping above the surface before it vanished from view, leaving only ripples behind it. Charmian's shoulders sank; she felt the others staring at her, but tried to ignore their looks, instead pushing herself awkwardly to her feet and wiping her brow.

"Why didn't you question it more?" Moon Wolf asked with a bite in his voice.

"It could have helped, you know," Thomas said.

Mani whistled. Red Land One is not afraid of a Sleeping One, is she--?

"No," Charmian said with a shake of her head. "I'm not...I just get the feeling it wouldn't've been of much more help in its state anyway." She turned away from the spring and headed back toward Mani. "I think we should dig up Augwak and try to talk to the others again. They HAVE to know about more than just something going bad." She gave them a pleading look. "Do you guys think you can help round the others up? Augwak and Pakwa, and X'aaru and Khiieta if you can get them out of their cave, and Niskigwun and anyone else we might be missing. I need to talk to them all together if possible and see if any of it fits."

Thomas made a face as he reached for his manitou. "GeeBees and Ocryxes...lovely combination."

Charmian shrugged. "Best I could think of." She climbed atop Mani and he turned from the water, toward the woods. "I'll head east and see if I can get X'aaru and Khiieta. Tell whoever you find to meet me near Arch Rock."

They nodded and got back upon their manitous, which whistled before trotting off among the trees. Mani turned east and started picking his way through the boggy woods again; after a moment or two the calves appeared as if out of nowhere, and trailed along behind, still whistling. Charmian wasn't sure what they were saying as they spoke so fast, but she imagined that they were prattling with each other, as small children tended to do.

"I don't see why it's so hard to just keep all together," she grumbled, digging in her pack as they went. "It's like everybody just gets LOST every few minutes! How I ever got anything done before, I have no idea...I've run into Crooked Creek, and Justin, and X'aaru, and Old Mother Manitou and everybody...and I keep forgetting to give them their gifts..." She pulled something out of the pack and held it out to the side so the manitou could catch sight of it. "Here, Mani. I got this for you."

She saw his eyes shift to the side and they lit up as soon as he saw the little heart-shaped charm she was holding, dangling from a chain; one half of it was silver and one half was gold. He whistled and she looped it around his antler. "Remember when you shared your spirit with me?" she asked, and he whistled again. "This kind of made me think of that. Sorry that I couldn't think of a nicer gift, but I'm not really sure what manitous...well...do in their spare time."

He whistled a third time. Do not mind! Good gift! Thank Red Land One!

She smiled slightly and sat back, adjusting her pack. "At least you aren't terribly picky...I got Old Mother Manitou a wall hanging...I kind of hate to think of what she'd say about that!"

No sooner had the word "that" left her mouth than a terrific crashing noise came from the woods, and a manitou went racing across their path. Charmian nearly jumped off of Mani's back when another shape collapsed in the weeds beside the trail. She gawked at the sight of the British soldier lying facefirst in the grass; he put out his hands to slowly push himself up, and grimaced, spitting leaves from his mouth. Mani whistled at him before Charmian could tell him not to, and his head jerked up. His eyes grew as big as saucers and he let out a yelp, falling backwards this time. Mani's ears swiveled and Charmian sensed his amusement; she mentally rebuked him, and he lowered his head a little.

"Are you okay?" she asked, starting to climb down.

The soldier pushed himself up again, batting aside ferns and making an awful face. "I don't care what you try to say," he groused as he grabbed onto a sapling to help himself up. "But those damned things are MONSTROSITIES!"

Charmian rolled her eyes. "They're called manitous. And you'd better get used to them, if you plan on staying here long."

He shot her a dark look as he dusted at his uniform. "Do I look like I'm planning on staying here--?"

She shrugged. "I guess you can head back, if you want." He blinked, and the look on his face started to change; she realized what she'd just said and winced. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean it that..."

She trailed off, as he was already turning away and looking into the woods. He still rubbed at his shoulder even though from what she'd seen, Justin had completely healed it; biting her lip, she finished climbing down, digging in her pocket.

"Hey." He glanced back at her, looking annoyed, but she saw the shadows under his eyes. She held out a candy bar and he frowned at it. "It's...it's a sweet, where I come from." When he looked ready to refuse it she waved it a little. "It's got sugar, which helps keep you awake. I thought maybe after all of that you could use one."

His eyes widened a little, then his tensed muscles relaxed; she couldn't tell if he wanted to smile or cry. He took the candy bar and absently unwrapped it, looking out into the woods again.

"What that thing...that...manitou...said," he murmured after a moment, not lifting the candy to his mouth; she looked up at him. "If you could even call that saying..." He turned his head to look at her. "How can any of that be true? How can any of this be real? It goes against every single little thing I've been taught. This place makes no sense."

Charmian shrugged again. "I never claimed it made sense. I felt the same way you do when I first showed up." When he stared at her she gestured toward the shore. "I came on a ferry. Um...where I come from, they have a lot of ferries to get here." She spread her arms. "The East Bluff and West Bluff have candy-colored houses on them, and there's a great big hotel."

He looked at her as if she were nuts, then sighed and turned his head; she bit her lip. He'd seemed ready to rebuke her for telling fibs, but had apparently thought better of it. At least he finally lifted the candy bar and took a bite of it, chewing slowly.

"I know it's kind of hard to believe," Charmian said. "But it's different here. It'll take some getting used to..."

"I'm hardly going to 'stick around,'" he said, not looking back at her.

She lifted her head. "Then what do you plan on doing--? Going back? What is there for you there now?"

She saw him nearly scowl. "What is there for me here? If any of what that thing said is true, you think I'm any more inclined to stay in a place full of s--" He cut himself off as soon as her own face started to furrow into a scowl, and looked back into the woods. "A place as inhospitable as this?" he finished, taking a bite of the candy bar as if he were biting off somebody's hand.

"It isn't that bad," Charmian insisted, seeing the look on his face just grow blacker. "Once you get used to it. And the people here are nice, mostly." When he turned to meet her eyes again she felt like shrinking in on herself. "Mostly...except for Black Elk Horn. I would try to keep away from him..."

"Believe me, Missy," the soldier replied, "I will be keeping away from as many of them as I possibly can."

Charmian opened her mouth to retort, then blinked. "Missy--? I don't even know your name!" She felt her ears grow warm; how long had they been talking together now, and all that he was to her was "the British soldier"? She stepped around to stand beside him. "My name's Charmian--and that's Mani. Well, that's what I call him anyway. That was Thomas and Moon Wolf you saw earlier, by the way...really, this Island is a nice place, once you get used to it, and give it a chance..."

His glare made her want to wilt. "And see what giving a chance can do...?" he said coldly, and she lowered her head, fiddling her fingers. He finished off the candy bar and crumpled up the wrapper in his hands.

"Andrew," he said, and she looked up at him, brow furrowed. "Lieutenant Andrew Barrington," he said, pronouncing it lef-tennant; she had to think it over for a second before figuring it out. He gave her a brief look, and she offered a smile; he still seemed to think that she was at least a little loose in the head, before turning away, tossing the wrapper into the grass and heading up the trail.

Charmian blinked, then her jaw dropped. She snatched the wrapper up and started fuming. "HEY!" she exclaimed, jamming it in her pocket and storming after him. "You think you can just--" She stopped in her tracks when Mani grasped her collar in his teeth and held her in place, and she waved her arms. "THE WOODS AREN'T YOUR GARBAGE CAN, YOU KNOW!" She tugged on her shirt. "Would you mind letting me go--? He's littering your woods, you know!"

Leave him! Mani exclaimed. Is Red Coat One truly worth your time? Find demons, gather at Arched Rock. Like planned. The three little manitous appeared out of nowhere again, circling and whistling. See? A good lesson. Mainlander ones speak a lot, often do little. The calves whistled loudly and fell into line behind him as he started walking, Charmian beside him. She made a face.

"How come I feel like you're giving lessons at my expense...?" she mumbled, before brushing it off. "If I know them, then X'aaru and Khiieta can't have gone too far from their cave; they seem rather obsessed with the--"

She cut herself off as soon as the three little manitous, which had made their way onto the trail ahead of them, vanished into little puffs of mist; Charmian jerked to a halt, eyes going wide. She dug her fingers into Mani's fur. "Mani! What just--"

Mani bristled and started letting out an odd growling noise which she wasn't used to hearing from manitous; she looked at him apprehensively, then gasped when it was suddenly as if they had been plunged into a wind tunnel. She clutched at Mani's side and gritted her teeth as a gale of wind descended upon them, whipping at her hair and clothes; she managed to hold up one hand to shield her eyes, which were already stinging and streaming.

"Mani!" she cried over the roaring. "What is that--?"

She sensed him whistling, but the wind carried the noise away. Mani dug his hooves into the earth and stood his ground, lowering his head; Charmian slid forward to grab onto his antler, as it afforded a better grip. She peered over the points, eyes widening again when she saw the wind concentrating on the trail just ahead of them. As she watched, she could have sworn that it was taking form, somehow.

As if to prove her right, the wind began to fade, and she had to blink the blur from her eyes; as soon as she opened them again she saw that she and Mani were no longer alone, and gasped. She heard Mani snort and felt him tense, his hackles prickling. The one who had just joined them stared at her with baleful yet oddly blank eyes, and she felt all of the blood drain from her face.

A big man, all painted and dressed up in feathers and beads...a powerful manitou...

Charmian's eyes couldn't even blink anymore. She stared up into the blue eyes glittering back at her, and suddenly understood how Augwak must be feeling.