Escape From Manitou Island: Part 22

PART TWENTY-TWO:
Passing The Buck

"OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!" A HIGH-PITCHED voice shrieked. "CHARMIAN!!"

Charmian had just enough time to blink. Then something enveloped her so tightly that she could barely breathe, and she gasped for breath, her ribs squeezing together. Her vision started to go fuzzy and multicolored, and stars danced before her eyes, and she thought for certain that she was ready to pass out...when she noticed that there really was something fuzzy and multicolored and sparkly before her. She blinked a few more times, wheezing, and whatever was squeezing her drew back a bit, and the face before her gave her the hugest smile she'd ever seen.

"CHARMIAN!!" it yelled again. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!! YOU'RE HERE!!"

Charmian let out a choking noise. Immediately the grip around her ribs loosened and she started sucking in lungfuls of air; the strange figure let go of her and took a step back, clapping its hands and cheering wildly. Charmian's vision cleared and her brow furrowed as soon as she recognized who she was looking at.

"Pee...Peepaukawiss...?" she asked faintly, still searching for her voice.

Peepaukawiss cheered and hopped up and down, clapping his hands. "YOU REMEMBER ME! I WAS HOPING YOU'D REMEMBER ME!" Every time he hopped the multitude of feathers adorning every part of him--even more so than Megissogwun or even Niskigwun wore--bobbed like mad, red and orange and green and blue and every color in between. He looked like a powwow dancer that had stripped every parrot in the Amazon just to decorate himself. Suddenly the feathers that Charmian had come across in the tunnel made sense; she dug them out of her pocket and looked at them with a frown.

"You lost these...?" she asked, spreading them in her hand. She vaguely remembered Peepaukawiss--or Puka, as they sometimes called him--sampling feathers from Dakh and Sikt Natha's wings when they had visited Fort Holmes.

Puka clapped his hands again and hurried forward to pluck them from her. "I DID lose these! That tunnel is so DREADFUL!" He put his hand to his head, palm outward, looking ready to swoon. "I nearly died a MILLION times over just working my way down here...!"

Charmian's confusion refused to abate. "But--what are you--"

Something popped up onto Puka's shoulder and waved just as frantically as he had. Charmian glanced at the little figure there and saw a smile fit to rival Puka's.

"HEY CHARMIAN!" Marten yelled. "Remember me?!"

Charmian blinked, then felt her spirits start to rise. "Of course!" Marten hopped from Puka's shoulder to land on her arm and he gave a toothy grin. He was a Mikumwesu--perhaps just over a foot tall, basically human in appearance, but his hind feet were tiny paws, his nose was slightly pointed, and his ears were furry and set high almost like those of a squirrel. He wore a red sash and a little red cap with his outfit, and she knew that the latter helped him shapeshift, when he wanted to. He sounded, acted, and looked much like a young child, though she knew that he was well over three hundred years old. He kept waving as if she couldn't see him and she smiled. She frowned then, and glanced back up at Puka.

"What...what's going on here?" she asked, perplexed. "We come looking, and find you here..."

Puka clapped his hands together. "OH! I'm on a visit! We visit with each other all the time!" He grinned at Marten, his eyes nearly disappearing. "Isn't that RIGHT?"

Marten nodded vigorously. "Uh-huh! All the time!" He did a backflip and landed shakily on Puka's shoulder; Puka responded by letting out a shrill squeal and grabbing him up, smooshing him to his breast and rocking back and forth while Marten's long fluffy tail flicked. Charmian's eyes nearly rolled back into her head and she had to keep herself from gagging. Now she remembered. If there was anybody who could rival Marten in terms of overreacting, it was surely Peepaukawiss, Manabozho's older brother.

She dusted herself off and straightened out her clothes a little bit, as crawling in the tunnel had mussed them up; Kweemo and Maang, the loons, waddled around the floor, and X'aaru crept into the room behind them, peering about meekly. "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting to see you again any time soon...oh!" She pulled off her pack and dug in it. "I keep forgetting to give away my gifts...I brought you all something..." Everyone's eyes lit up; when the loons approached she had to nudge one away with her foot. "Not you guys."

"Presents?" Puka quickly came forward, clasping his hands together and bobbing up and down. "You got us presents?"

Charmian nodded. "Mm-hm. X'aaru, yours first, because I forgot to give it to you and Khiieta back at home. I wasn't sure what a pair of Ocryxes would like so I thought maybe it would be a house--um--cavewarming present." She lifted out a small roundish object and held it before his face. X'aaru's eyes widened when he saw the little snowglobe that she held, an image of Arch Rock nestled inside; she shook it and little flakes of snow started to swirl around. The demon's mouth dropped open as if she'd just made snow fall in the cave itself. "I'm going to have to carry it in my pack until we get back so you don't lose it...hope you like it."

X'aaru's tail started waving back and forth. "It's--it's BEAUTIFUL! Khiieta will LOVE it!" He sniffed at it with great curiosity. "How did they get that blizzard inside there...?"

Puka was shifting from foot to foot like he had to go to the bathroom. "What did you get me? What did you get me?" he begged.

"Hold your horses." Charmian dug in her pack a bit more and brought out a thin white box. She cast him a look, then bit her lip and pulled at the lid. "I wasn't really sure if I'd run into you again...and I didn't really know what you would like..." He surged forward, hopping up and down again, and she held the box out so he tore it open. He blinked and stared at the contents as if puzzled.

"They're...fibers and stuff." Charmian pulled out a strand of colored fuzzy string, then another strand, this one of ribbon. "For decorating things like scrapbooks...you seem to like really colorful things, and I thought maybe..."

Puka's eyes slowly widened to the size of basketballs. "OoooooOOOOOOHHHH!! They're GORGEOUS!!" He let out a squeal and hopped up and down like a schoolgirl at a music concert, grabbing the strings and ribbons in a fistful and immediately setting to work tying them around his feathers and upper arms. "I'LL LOOK SO WONDERFUL WITH ALL THESE!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!"

Charmian pursed her lips. "Well...at least some people like their gifts."

Marten hopped onto her shoulder and waved his hand. "What'd you get me?" he asked.

"Hold on, I didn't forget you," Charmian said, pulling another item out of her pack and handing it to him. He took it and cocked his head to the side. "It's a beanie cap," Charmian said, and tweaked the propeller with one finger so it spun; Marten's eyes lit up. "It won't help you change into a wolverine or anything, but I thought you might get a kick out of it."

Marten beamed from ear to ear. "WOW! A BEANIE CAP!" He promptly mashed it down onto his head, flicking the propeller; a pair of little wings popped out of his back and he floated upward as if the cap were lifting him. "THANKS! This is GREAT!"

Charmian suppressed a smile as she put the snowglobe away and slipped her pack back on. "Glad you like them all," she said; even though she knew the gifts had all been pretty trivial, their enthusiasm made the ordeal with the two loons seem almost bearable. "I actually came here though for another reason," she said, Puka and Marten enthusiastically comparing their prizes. "I was hoping you had a shortcut that might get me to Glooskap a little faster," she said, and their cheering died down; Marten cocked his head and peered at her closely.

"You want me to give you a shortcut?" he asked. "But I thought you didn't like my shortcuts..."

"Well, they're nice enough, except for when I'm falling in underground puddles or jumping off of cliffs," Charmian hastened to say. "I was hoping you might have a shortcut that didn't involve either of those. Or any giant birds," she added, when the Mikumwesu opened his mouth. He shut it again and rubbed at his chin thoughtfully for a moment, then his face lit up and he hopped down from Puka's arms.

"I know JUST the shortcut you want! It's this way! C'mon, it doesn't have any puddles or cliffs or birds or ANYTHING!"

Charmian frowned a little--that seemed almost too good to be true, for one of Marten's shortcuts--but she followed him anyway, Puka, X'aaru, and the two loons doing the same. Marten smiled as they approached the blank wall.

"Glooskap helped me out with THIS one!" he said. "He didn't like the puddles or cliffs or giant birds either, go figure! So he said that THIS would be the perfect shortcut to his cave! I just needed somebody to try it out on! Well, I guess you're the ones!"

Puka clapped his hands together. "Eeeeeeee!! This is so exciting!!"

X'aaru's ears quivered. Charmian fought down a sigh and stopped before the wall; Marten made a little flourish with his arms, danced in a circle, and flourished again, and Puka squealed and clapped with great cheer. Despite her nearly overwhelming desire to grab him up and shake him like a terrier shaking a rat, she held her peace until the Mikumwesu was done, after which he tapped a finger against the wall--"Rutabaga!"--and an entryway appeared. He beamed and waved them toward it, stepping inside. "C'mon! The maiden voyage of Glooskap's shortcut!"

Charmian sighed. "At least it can't get any more annoying," she murmured, and they all followed one another into the tunnel.

As soon as she found herself walking along something that looked oddly like an airport terminal, with the bright lights and requisite Muzak playing softly overhead, she started chewing on her lip hard enough to hurt. "Though I've been wrong before," she admitted, Marten dashing up to a very modern-looking door and tapping it with his hand so that it opened. He waved and they slipped out of the hallway and blinked when the large echoing cave opened up before them. Marten shut the door and gave a flourish and it disappeared into the blank stone; Charmian looked upward at the high ceiling and frowned, still trying to work her mind around what she'd just seen, before deciding that, like the loons, it just wasn't worth wasting too many brain cells over.

Marten and the loons scampered across the floor, the latter two crowing one after another, "Glooskap! Glooskap! O-ho! Glooskap, o-ho!" Charmian looked at the walls but saw nothing different about them; she couldn't tell one cave from another in this place. They were lit well yet there was no visible light source; she'd told herself long ago to just get used to this odd fact. Several tunnels opened up in various places; Marten ran to one, Kwemoo--or Maang--to another, and the second loon to a third, all yelling out Glooskap's name; Charmian, Puka, and X'aaru stepped toward the middle of the room and glanced around curiously, Puka still affixing the ribbons and strings to various parts of his outfit, in the most garish way possible. Charmian rubbed her head.

"You know, I almost expected him to be waiting right h--"

"Here, you mean?" a voice suddenly said from where Puka had been, and she shrieked and jumped, bumping into X'aaru, who looked ready to fly into a panic. Puka was craning his neck to get a look at her around the person now standing in front of him; he smiled gamely and held up a hand in greeting, and Charmian blinked, actually surprised that he wasn't wearing a business suit. She pushed herself away from X'aaru and took a hesitant step toward Glooskap, before finding her hand firmly clasped between his own; he gave a dramatic bow and she forced herself not to make a face.

"Good day, young lady!" he exclaimed cheerily enough. "Welcome back to my abode! Mi cave es su cave! No?"

Charmian carefully extricated her hand, hoping not to offend him. "You were expecting me--?"

"Actually, I was expecting Marten...and...that thing." He waved vaguely at Peepaukawiss and stood straight again. "You wouldn't believe how long they've been crashing here...eating all my food...leaving feathers and stuff lying around on the floor..." He dusted himself off, which seemed to be an odd habit of his, then looked at her closely. "Now that you mention it, I am rather pleasantly surprised to see you here! I can't imagine what you had to go through after coming through the Sky Tree...did you take my shortcut?" His face lit up immediately and he leaned forward as if she were about to share some wonderful secret. "Huh? Didja? What'd you think? I picked the music myself. What'd you think?"

"Um...it was...ambient." Charmian did make a face this time. "I hope you don't mind too much that I came here for a serious reason...and not to listen to elevator music or anything..."

Glooskap let out a huge sigh. "I told Marten we should've gone with John Tesh...but noooooo." He stepped aside and gestured toward a tunnel. "You wouldn't happen to be here about Malsum, would you? Because as I assured you, he's perfectly safe and sound."

"Malsum...?" Charmian trailed off when he waved at the wall beside the tunnel and something faintly glowing appeared, like a projection on a screen. Charmian stared at the dim image of a great black wolf curled in on itself, its eyes shut as if sleeping. She shook her head and Glooskap waved the image away; she let out her breath with some relief. Malsum had been the dark spirit that had controlled Chakenapok the last time around.

"No, not Malsum," she reassured him. "Actually...I'm not sure if you'd know anything about him at all...but Geezhigo-Quae said this was the best place to ask--"

Glooskap threw back his head and crowed, and she grimaced, wishing that she hadn't made the mistake of saying Geezhigo-Quae. "A-HAH! The old gal STILL likes me! After all these centuries I've STILL got it!" He leaned toward her again. "You know, I have yet to take her out to a decent dinner! Seems she's always busy! You'll put in a good word for me when you head back, won't you--?"

Charmian nodded in frustration. "Yes, I'll put in a good word! Though I doubt it'll matter much!" She took a breath to calm herself down. "I wanted to ask if you know anything about a guy named Megissogwun. The Pearl Feather. He's causing some trouble on the Island...and we think he came from the east."

Glooskap frowned a little. "'Megissogwun'...? Hm." He rubbed his chin, staring ceilingward thoughtfully. "Name doesn't ring any bells...and I thought I knew everybody in these parts. You're sure he's from around here?"

"I actually don't know. Geezhigo said maybe, because he wears a big Megis shell, and has it in his name, he came from the east like the shell did."

"Hm." Glooskap nodded. "I suppose it makes sense...they have a story that a long long time back, a great shell traveled westward from the ocean, and settled where their own people are, even before the Island was created. Not that I know much about such business. I think I slept in that day." He peered in the direction that Malsum had been in. "You don't know anything else about him? Like why he's bothering the Island and such?"

"According to Geezhigo he's the one who destroyed the first Island," Charmian said, and Glooskap's head snapped around so that his eyes fixed on hers, making her want to squirm. He frowned and his eyes grew darker, though she knew it wasn't aimed at her.

"I thought a flood destroyed the first Island," he said.

Charmian rubbed her neck. "Megissogwun's the one who started the flood. By getting the Underwater Lynxes to help."

Glooskap's look grew darker. "Those Lynxes, eh...?" He turned and started pacing a little. "Always had a bad feeling about them, and we don't even get them here...sea serpents are bad enough!" He glanced at her and gestured. "Go on, tell me all that's happened. The CliffsNotes version."

"I guess Megissogwun got in a big fight with the West Wind a long time back, after Geezhigo remade the Island," Charmian said. "Kabeyun beat him, and now he's back and wants to kick his ass, but nobody knows where Kabeyun is..." She trailed off, her stare drifting toward the floor. "And he took Manabozho's daughter. For collateral. He says if we don't find him Kabeyun, then we don't see Turtle again."

Glooskap was silent for so long that she wondered if he was even still there; she peered up and saw that he was staring at her now. "I see," he murmured. "So it's personal again." He turned and headed for the righthand wall, holding up his hand; an image of the ocean appeared, similar to what Charmian had seen happen before in the cabochons of the Sky Tree's main room. Glooskap stared at it for a long time, then looked back at her over his shoulder with a frown.

"What's he look like? Maybe somebody in the ocean's seen him."

"A big guy, all covered in beads and claws and shells and stuff...lots of feathers...and a shell tattoo and a feather tattoo."

Glooskap turned to the ocean image once more and she realized that he was communicating with it silently. He tilted his head, frowned, then nodded, shook his head, and nodded again; he waved the image away and turned around to face them.

"Well...whoever he is...nobody here seems to know of him," he said, and Charmian's hopes sank. "That's not to say he didn't come this way...maybe everyone's too young to recall. It must've been a terribly long time ago. He must be a very old manitou." He came toward her and stroked one of his feathers thoughtfully. "I realize this isn't the most helpful...if I could think of someplace else to ask..."

"Do you think there might be a way to find out where he is, at least?" Charmian asked. "Because he said he'd be watching us, but we don't know where from. I hate the thought of what he might do to Turtle if we take too long--I don't even know where Kabeyun is!"

"West, of course," Glooskap said.

She gave him a dirty look. "I know that. I just don't know WHERE in the west! The west is pretty big, you know?"

"Not where you come from," he retorted, but waved it off. "Fine, fine! Let's put it this way. If he's as powerful a manitou as he seems--and I know Kabeyun, and you'd have to be a pretty tough cookie to beat him--then he might not even be where you can reach him. I assume he's in some sort of 'alternate dimension' as your people so unromantically put it. Much like the Sky Tree and this cave are. He could be watching from right over your shoulder, right this minute." He paused. "If you were considering pulling one over on him...then I'd have to suggest rethinking that idea."

"He didn't strike me as incredibly smart," Charmian said.

Glooskap shrugged. "Smart or not, he knows what motivates all of you, and I think that's good enough." He stood up straight, eyes widening. "Cripes! You said he took Manabozho's girl--aiee, I hate to think how HE'S reacting to this!"

"All he did was leave the room..." Charmian paused, then made another face, putting her hand to her head. "CRIPES! I didn't see where he went!"

Puka hurried around to stand at her side, wringing his hands anxiously. "This big terrible beast ran off with little Turtle?" he cried. "And you don't even know where he IS?"

Charmian dropped her hand. "Glooskap! You really don't think 'Bozho would try to find him...do you?" When he just gave her a pointed look she grimaced. "But how can he go after him without any idea where he is?!"

Glooskap crossed his arms. "Maybe you're underestimating him a bit. This is his girl who's been taken, so maybe he would show a tiny bit of sense--? Not any great sense, mind you, but--" When Charmian glared at him he waved both hands. "Okay! What I'm saying is, he knows he has to head west. Who's to say he didn't just cut the crap and go THAT way first off? Who knows, maybe it's even where this Pearl Feather went off to. What better place to be than the one closest to all the action, yet the one nobody would think to look for you in--?"

Charmian's eyes widened. "You mean--AAGGHH!!" She pulled at her hair. "Why he can't just WAIT for all of us to go along--!!"

Glooskap rolled his eyes. "After all this time, you're still surprised that he doesn't always make sense--?" He cut her off before she could speak. "I can only give you general advice. But at least I'm good at advice! I should start a column. Ask Glooskap." He pursed his lips. "Your best bet is that both of them are westward. I doubt this Megissogoof would think to sit back on his duff while everybody else does all the work? If he's as much of a warrior as he claims to be, then I doubt he'd be so lazy." He looked at his wall as if something still showed up there. "All I know of Kabeyun's whereabouts is that you will have to travel very far west. Mudjikawiss, that lunk doesn't live even halfway as far as Kabeyun does. I'd recommend packing a lunch or two."

Charmian's face grew miserable. "That far...?" When he nodded she lowered her head. "But...how do we even get that far? It was so much trouble just finding Mudji...I don't think I could even make it."

He made a scoffing noise. "What--you think you'd be heading out alone--?"

Puka started hopping up and down frantically. "OH NO YOU WON'T!! If it's for Baby Brother then you BET that I'll be there!"

Marten hopped up and down as well. "Me too! Me too! Pleeeeeeease, Glooskap--?" He hopped onto Glooskap's shoulder and threw his arms around his neck so that Glooskap rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Charmian felt a small tug on the back of her vest and turned her head. X'aaru peered up at her meekly. "If you think maybe you could use me..." he murmured. "Then maybe I could come..."

Charmian bit her lip. "I hate maybe endangering anybody else--" she started to say, but the looks that they all got were such that she couldn't finish the sentence. Glooskap shrugged and Marten climbed around to his other shoulder.

"Like I said, young lady, I doubt you could make it otherwise! The only others I've known to travel such a distance as a matter of course are the Thunderbirds. You think you could hold your own against a Thunderbird--?" When she just lowered her head even more he crossed his arms and lifted his chin. "Settled, then. I suggest you get back to that Island and put together a team. You'll have a long walk ahead of you." He paused, then lowered his own head, looking thoughtful. "Then again..."

Charmian looked up at him. "What?" When he said nothing she felt her fists tighten. "What is it?"

"Well..." Glooskap pursed his lips again. "I was just thinking. You came here, east, to try to find information." He paused. "I was just thinking that maybe the best people to ask about finding a manitou would be other manitous."

Chamian's brow furrowed. "But--you're a manitou! And you didn't know--"

He shook his head. "Not me. A WIND manitou!" He frowned at her. "I have to spell it out for you? Remember when you asked 'Basso and Puka here where you could find Mudjikawiss? Maybe Wabun or Shawondassee or Kabebonikka would know whereabouts Kabeyun is."

Charmian's eyes grew. "You mean--ask the other Winds? They might know where to find him--?"

Another shrug. "Can't guarantee it, but it's worth a shot, for Turtle, wouldn't you say?"

Charmian stared at him for a moment or two, then lowered her head, thinking. "If I can't find Kabeyun," she murmured, "then what makes you think I can find any of them?"

Glooskap gestured at the wall and an image of the ocean appeared again. "I tell you this, young lady, the three other Winds have not made themselves so inaccessible as old Kabeyun. I know you would have little difficulty finding Wabun and Shawondassee--they're the closest you'll find to humankind. Kabebonikka, he's a slightly different story...you'll have to go quite a ways to find him...but he doesn't hide himself away that much when he senses a challenge. If you show up there demanding answers, I'm inclined to think he'll show up, too." He put a finger to his chin. "Now that I think of it, Kabeyun is the only one I've never met, not even once. I'd suggest seeking out Wabun or Shawondassee first of all. They're not as likely to know much, but at least you stand a better chance of finding them. If anybody knows where the Wind goes, it's another Wind."

Charmian fiddled her fingers. "How do I start?"

"I'd pick myself the finest team anywhere," Glooskap suggested. His mouth twitched. "Your definition of 'finest' is probably much different from mine, though. You want to be heading far away from the Island? Then take somebody who knows their way around. And somebody who can talk their way around, too. That reminds me!" He started fishing in his pocket, then scowled and turned in a circle. "Where is it...know I put it somewhere...there it is!" He stepped toward Charmian and pulled something out from behind her ear, holding it before her face; when she saw that it was a little necklace her eyelids lowered and she gave him a dull look. "What...? You mean your people don't find that fantastic anymore? Eh, jaded..." He handed her the necklace; she took it and saw that it was a little wooden carving of a face with its mouth wide open and its tongue nearly sticking out; she furrowed her brow. It certainly wasn't something she would pick out in a store.

"I realize it's not the prettiest thing in the world," Glooskap said, "but it might be helpful. Came up with it myself, in fact!--after hearing about that nice little pinecone Nokomis gave you last time, I just had to see if I could one-up the old gal. Well, here you go." He slipped it over her head and poked a finger into the face's mouth. "If you've heard a language once before, even if you didn't understand it, this'll help you understand it. Like a--oh, what do you call it...a universal language translator. Star Trek, or whatever. I made it so it should help both you and everyone else you choose to go with you, even if they're not in your immediate company--gets long distance, too, without the extra charges!" He beamed proudly. "What do you think! Almost like I saw the future! Eh?"

Charmian turned the ugly little pendant about and bit her lip a little. She let it fall back against her chest. "I guess," she said reluctantly. Glooskap's enthusiasm faded and she hated that she'd disappointed him; yet the thought of the enormity of the task before her didn't make her feel like cheering any. Before she could say anything else, Marten jumped and landed on her shoulder; she didn't even complain, as she usually did.

"C'mon, Charmian!" He bent down to peek into her face. "It won't be THAT bad! I'll be with you, remember?"

"Me too!" Puka nodded adamantly. "I haven't seen Baby Brother in so long...I promised to keep up on him...well, what better time than now!"

"I don't know what I can do but I can come," X'aaru offered.

Kwemoo and Maang started bobbing their heads up and down, up and down. "O-ho! The servants of the mighty Glooskap shall assist if needed, o-ho!"

"The six of us won't be nearly enough," Charmian protested.

Glooskap rolled his eyes and reached out to nudge her back so that she glared at him. "Well, as Marten would say, duuuhhhh. That's what you have friends for! Isn't it? You mean to tell me that after all that time you've spent on that Island, nobody else would be willing to lend a hand...?"

"But--how do I ask them to do that?" Charmian begged.

Glooskap just folded his arms and cocked his head. "I rather think ASKING would be the EASIEST part!" he replied. "Just tell them the truth. Tell them that it's either a little bit of their time--or the Island itself!"