Part 96: Breaking Camp

Main story folder & table of contents: "Escape From Manitou Island" 
Previous chapter: "Part 95: Making It Personal" 

PART NINETY-SIX:
Breaking Camp

CHARMIAN! YOU SPOKE to her!

Charmian's head jerked up, striking the ceiling of the tunnel--"Ow!!" Her eyes squinched shut, and immediately she found the Red Swan staring right back at her. She blinked, then let out a startled yelp.

The Red Swan didn't even seem to notice her surprise. She clasped her hands together, her own look urgent. "You spoke to the Sky Mother!" she exclaimed as Charmian started rubbing her head. "How did you get through to her--? How did you make it?"

"Huh--?" Charmian winced, then glanced around them. They appeared to be in the cave. "Why...?"

The Red Swan's brow furrowed. "Well...I had thought that the only means of travel you had was through my dreams! Yet I didn't sense you! How could you have actually gone there--?" A small frown came to her face, and she peered down at Charmian's hands. "Charmian...are those webs?"

Charmian blinked, then clasped her hand around the Weaver webs as if to hide them from sight. "Huh?" she said again, suddenly feeling anxious for some reason.

The Red Swan lifted her head and met her eyes. "Are you hiding them from me--?" she asked in a hurt voice.

Charmian opened her mouth to deny it--knowing that her face would scrunch up awfully, just like Cheengwun had claimed that it did every time she lied--only to see two yellow dots appear right behind the Red Swan. Her mouth snapped shut; the woman seemed to notice her shift in attention, and stood up straight, turning her head. They both stared stupidly at Chakenapok as he stepped forward and placed his hand on the Red Swan's shoulder; she had enough time to blink, then vanished from sight. Charmian let out a startled yell and jumped.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" she cried.

Chakenapok turned and gave her a look fit to rival any of Nigankwam's or Cutfoot's. "I suggest you get back to where you were going, and stop dallying around talking to her," he snapped.

Charmian's jaw dropped. "What? Have you gone off the deep end?! She's the one keeping me connected to the Island!"

Chakenapok clenched his fists and took a step toward her; she actually put her hand up to cover her chest, taking a step back. "As if you truly need this right now! When what you REALLY need to be doing is heading NORTH! Find Kabebonikka, find Kabeyun, and get this all OVER with! If you expect to see Turtle or much less your Island ever again!"

"But--" Charmian got out; Chakenapok scowled and held up his hand, his fingers starting to glow. In response she shut her eyes tight. "WAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUP!!"

Her eyes popped open and--thunk!--"OUCH, DAMMIT!!" She grimaced but made sure to keep her eyes open this time, as she started rubbing at her aching head and glancing around. Nothing but dirt. Her brow furrowed in confusion.

What the hell WAS all that?! Why was the Red Swan interrogating me like that? And what's with Chakenapok? Was he just about to kill me?!

Has everybody gone FRIGGING NUTS?!

Letting out an anxious sound, she started crawling once more, much faster this time. "The sooner I get out of this stupid tunnel," she whimpered, "the better!!"

Once she reached the tunnel's end, she slowed down again, cringing and peeping out reluctantly...but no rampaging manitous or bears or anything came at her, though she did hear a snuffling sound, and spotted a wolf poking its nose inside. She let out her breath; it must be one of Manabozho's. She carefully crawled out, and when the wolf let her pat its head she sighed in relief.

"I guess the other guys went on back to the camp, huh," she murmured. "Well, no clue what your name is, but thanks for holding down the fort." She pulled a granola bar out of her pack, made sure that it had no chocolate in it, and handed it over; it was gone in two seconds, and they were then headed across the field and back toward the camp. She rubbed her arms and glanced upward; dawn seemed to be approaching, and she couldn't believe that she'd been gone so long. Time really must work differently between the two realms. She sighed.

"I hope they're not too worried about me..." She slowed a bit to see a lone shape seated upon a rock at the edge of the woods. "Well at least somebody bothered waiting!" She shivered at the chill and waved at the wolf. "You can go back to whatever you were doing...thanks." She watched as it turned and headed back in the general direction of the lake, then waved at the figure which now stood up to watch her approach.

"Feel lucky that you managed to drag yourself back here!" she yelled. "If you hadn't, then you would've said goodbye to that OTHER gift I promised to give you! And I'll have you know it's a good gift, too! One you can't buy in a store." She started jogging, making sure that her pack wouldn't fall open. "If you're waiting for a hug, I just crawled through fifty miles of dirt, so it wouldn't be a very good one..."

She lifted her head and then her eyes nearly fell out. She stumbled to such an abrupt halt that she nearly fell over, her mouth flying open.

Niskigwun stood beside the rock, holding his spear and giving her much the same look. "Hug?" he blurted out, and Charmian felt her face go as red as his did. She blinked before she could start screaming in humiliation, and then her eyes goggled again.

"NISKIGWUN!" she yelled, loud enough to make him jump, and she raced straight toward him. She forced herself to stop--the way that he'd just said hug was obvious--and looked him over instead. She pulled on his arm, found no bruises, ducked to look at his middle, found no wound, stood on tiptoe to look into his face, but he looked as normal as anything, merely flustered. Her mouth fell open again.

"You're--you're BACK!" she cried. She gasped and dashed behind him; he jumped now when she grasped one of his wings. "YOUR WINGS ARE BACK!" She ran around in front of him again, waving her hands wildly. "What HAPPENED?!"

Niskigwun could only shrug, obviously very confused. "I--I cannot rightly say! It must have been that strange medicine man fellow you all left me with! All I know is I awoke, and..." He gestured at his wings and at his middle. "There again...and all gone..." Another shrug. "And then he basically threw me out!" He opened his mouth as if to add something, then closed it, furrowed his brow, and shook his head. "And then disappeared. I do not know where he went. But he said he would take 'credit.'"

Charmian's eyes grew. "CUTFOOT did all this?" she cried excitedly. "I had no IDEA!" He cringed but endured it while she pulled on his wings again, shifting them this way and that. "I can't believe they're really back! This is great! I was so worried!"

He craned his neck to look at her over his shoulder, and his brow furrowed. "Charmian...what was this about a 'gift' and a 'hug'--?"

"Huh--?" Charmian's face grew hot and she let go of his wings, cringing and ducking her head. "Um...nothing!! I thought you were Thomas at first because I wasn't expecting you to be better so soon!"

Niskigwun blinked, paled, then let out a great sigh. "Oh." He ran a hand across his brow. "Thank goodness!"

Charmian frowned, ready to ask him what he meant by that--he'd looked almost disappointed, for just a split second--but now he seemed genuinely relieved, so she figured she must have just imagined it, and shook her head. "Sorry!" she exclaimed. "I honestly didn't know Cutfoot would do such a great job! Have you been back to the camp yet--?"

"Oh...yes...I headed back to see if you were there." Niskigwun glanced toward the trees. "They were rather astonished to see me, as well." He got a meek look and fiddled his fingers. "I sent a few of those canoe fellows screaming down toward the stream...I do not even know how they knew!"

"Word probably spread," Charmian said. "We were all really worried about you!" She grasped onto his spear so that she didn't have to grab him, and started pulling him along. "Come on! You're just in time! We have to head north to Kabebonikka...I'm sure you know why!"

Niskigwun apparently agreed, as he picked up his pace, and she let go of his spear so they walked side by side toward the trees. "By the way," Charmian said as they went, "I met your brother."

Niskigwun blinked, then looked at her. "Which one?"

Charmian nearly tripped over her own foot. "You mean you have more than one--?"

Niskigwun halted and drew himself up, wings flaring. "I am the eldest of a family of seventeen children!" he exclaimed.

This time Charmian's jaw nearly hit the ground. "SEVENTEEN?" she yelled, so loudly that it echoed off the trees and made him grimace. "Seventeen kids--?!"

"Yes!" Niskigwun exclaimed, growing flustered again; he gave her an odd look as they resumed walking. "You mean this is not the norm among your people...?"

Charmian shook her head adamantly. "NUH-uh! Where I come from the norm is two kids!"

"TWO children?" it was Niskigwun's turn to yell. He made a huffing noise. "What sort of family is THAT?"

"It's a heck of a lot more normal than SEVENTEEN!" Charmian retorted. She rubbed her head. "Cripes, your mother must be tired!"

Niskigwun's brow furrowed again and he hurried to catch up with her. "What is that supposed to mean--?"

They stepped into the area of the camp, and those who noticed turned to look at them. Charmian spotted Winter Born first when the girl jumped to her feet and came running toward her, a huge smile on her face. "CHARMIAN! You're back!" Before Charmian could stop her, she'd leapt up and clasped onto her as if she were a koala clinging to a eucalyptus tree, and Charmian had to struggle not to fall over. Thomas approached as Niskigwun kept on walking, though as they passed he slowed down just long enough to murmur something at Thomas's ear.

"I believe you will enjoy this 'gift' she is going to give you," he said under his breath, then moved on as Thomas frowned in puzzlement and Charmian's face went brilliant red.

"You told him what you're going to give me--?" Thomas asked when he reached her.

"No!!" Charmian hissed between clenched teeth, putting Winter Born down. "Never mind!!" She walked further into the camp, several of the others getting to their feet and giving her expectant looks.

"Did my shortcut work?" Marten asked.

Charmian nodded. "Like clockwork."

The Mikumwesu beamed and hopped up and down. "WOW! KNEW it!"

"Are we going through the other one now?" Winter Born asked. "We worked really hard on it! See?" She held up her hands and Charmian made a face at the dirt under her fingernails.

"Yeah...we should be. Ew! Go wash those off, would you?" Winter Born pouted but turned and went trotting toward the stream. "Oh...that's right. Mishupishu can't take the tunnel..."

"Not to worry!" Marten exclaimed. "While you were gone I started another one! In the stream! Mishu says he can poke out the rest of the way on his own, and X'aaru will go with him! That way maybe they can go the same way that we do!"

"But how do you know it'd end up in the same place?" Charmian asked anxiously. "I hate the thought of us getting separated. Khiieta would kill me!"

"Don't worry!" Marten echoed himself. "We dug it in the coldest part of the stream...and they said they would think things about winter...so hopefully it'll work!"

Charmian frowned. "This reasoning is way weird but whatever you say."

"We were told it'd be best to get going as soon as possible," Thomas said, raising an eyebrow.

Charmian nodded at him. "Megissogwun showed up..." instantly everybody was listening "...and made it pretty clear that it's in our best interests."

"I STILL don't get why he went after that Turtle Fairy and not after ME!" Manabozho leapt to his feet, fists clenched and teeth bared. "WHY? Why didn't he come for ME?"

Peepaukawiss waved his hands and hissed. "Sshhhh!! You WANT to tempt fate--?!"

Manabozho's face went brilliant red. "It's MY family he has an issue with!! I rather think he should come and fight ME if he plans to fight anyone!"

Puka's jaw dropped. "B-Baby Brother!! We're from the SAME FAMILY!!"

Manabozho waved his arms now. "BUT YOU'RE THE WEIRD ONE AND YOU DON'T COUNT!!"

Charmian cut a hand through the air. "SHUT IT!! It's actually GEEZHIGO-QUAE this is all about!" she yelled, and the silence came again, and the stares. She forced herself not to grimace. "It's...a REALLY long story which doesn't bear repeating right now!" she insisted. "All I can say is we have to get going NOW. Make sure we've got all our stuff, and go. We don't even know how accurate these tunnels are. I'm guessing we just have to take that chance." She sighed miserably.

Bouchard let out a heavy sigh of his own. "All those furs! How is it that you can't even come up with a shortcut OVER the water? Why must every shortcut be UNDER things...?"

Francois tapped Charmian's shoulder and gestured at the other voyageurs; she looked to see that they were milling around, looking rather listless. "Ma chère...perhaps it'd be best to leave them here," he suggested. "After all...they did exactly what they promised, and then some. To ask them to leave their furs and business behind and come along with us would be a bit much."

Charmian bit her lip. "I guess you're right," she said reluctantly, and sighed again. She walked toward Bouchard, who gave her an uneasy glance as if expecting her to set his hair on fire. She scowled.

"Fine," she said. "If you guys want to go back and get your canoes and go back home, then go ahead. I can't guarantee we're coming back. But thanks for bringing us this far at least."

Bouchard blinked, then stood up straight. "Merci! The sweetest words I've heard in AGES! It'll be good to get back on NORMAL ground!" He turned and started waving hurriedly at the rest of them, and they began picking up their belongings, talking excitedly. Bouchard began walking in the direction of the lake, only to be almost bowled over when one of the voyageurs shoved his way past him and came dashing toward Charmian and Francois. Charmian blinked when she recognized Baptiste, who started waving his hand like she couldn't see him.

"I'll come! I'll come!" he cried.

Charmian's brow furrowed. "Why--? Don't you guys have more important things to do--?"

Baptiste shook his head so hard that the tassel on his cap flew from side to side. "Nah-ah! You've been to the REAL Manitou Island, haven't you--? Over and over again--?" When she nodded, puzzled, he started hopping up and down as excitedly as Marten. "I want to see it for myself! The REAL Manitou Island! Then I can tell such stories as will blow their boots off! REAL stories! And then they won't LAUGH ANYMORE!" These last two words he yelled at the top of his lungs, shooting a venomous look at Bouchard and the rest.

"But..." Charmian rubbed at her head. "We're not going to Manitou Island, not yet..."

"But you're going someplace else equally strange, oui--?" When Charmian nodded the voyageur started beaming. "Well--count me in! That'll just be ANOTHER true story I can tell! I'll have a whole winterful of true stories to tell them! And there will be NO MORE LAUGHING!!" Another shout over his shoulder.

"You're sure?" Charmian asked. "I mean, there's going to be this big evil guy, and this other evil guy, and it's just--" She found herself talking to air, and blinked. "What the--?" She looked around before seeing him busily picking up his belongings and slinging them over his shoulders--he rushed to the opposite side of the camp, picked up Winter Born when she came trotting from the stream, and made off with her in the direction of Marten's tunnel. Winter Born had enough time to shoot Charmian and the others a very perplexed look before they were gone.

Charmian was silent for a moment before saying, "Did he just kidnap her...?"

Francois glanced at her and shrugged. "Well, ma chère...I guess that means we're stuck with him. Are we ready to go along?"

Charmian rubbed at her aching head again. "I guess...unless anybody else has any objections--?" She looked to Bouchard. He shook his head adamantly, readying his rescued bundle of furs.

"No thank you, Mademoiselle! I would MUCH rather head back home where I belong...where water serpents are things you eat...and people don't throw fire at each other, they just shoot each other like civilized folk!" He slung the furs over his shoulder with a tumpline. "I wish all of YOU the best of luck--for you'll need it, if you have to keep dealing with that MISHOSHA fellow!" He made a face like he'd just eaten bad fish.

"Okay then." Charmian waved. "Bye and good luck." Bouchard gave a perfunctory wave before whistling and calling out to the remaining voyageurs; they were departing pretty quickly, several of Manabozho's wolves accompanying them. She glanced in the direction of the stream, remembering what she'd been told about Mishupishu and X'aaru, and worrying a bit before telling herself not to bother; at least if the shortcut didn't bring them out in the right place, they could always come back. She pulled a little of the Weavers' web from her pocket and held it out to Kwemoo and Maang, and they flapped over and plucked it up, a tiny bit each.

"Take this to X'aaru and make sure that he uses it along the shortcut," she ordered. "Tell him to be sparing with it...it lasts a long time."

"O-ho!" the two loons cried, and flapped off.

Charmian turned to the others remaining, and shrugged. "I guess we go, then!" she said, and waved; they all started tramping northwestward, toward the little hill with the white flowers.

The going got somewhat mucky and swampy, and all of their chatter quickly died; the mound finally appeared, dotted with dying trees, and they clambered up it to look at the tunnel that had been dug. "We couldn't dig it very far," Winter Born said reluctantly, "because there was a big rock in the way. But maybe one of you can take care of it...?"

"Not sure how," Charmian mumbled, but decided that it was too late to try digging elsewhere, by now. "Okay...who wants to be the first through?" She looked at everyone around them.

Silence. Everyone peered at everyone else for a moment. "I'm fully willing to go through first," Charmian added, before Manabozho pushed his way forward, nearly knocking over Pakwa, who shot him quite possibly the evillest look that he'd ever gotten. Charmian frowned a little when he halted before her, raising his head loftily and crossing his arms.

"You look like a cigar-store Indian when you do that," Charmian said.

Manabozho blinked. "A sig--sig-what?" He shook his head. "Never mind! It's OBVIOUS that no one else cares to be first...and who is better equipped to deal with a troublesome rock than I? I go first, and blast this puny little rock, and we go on our way. And waste our time on Kabebonikka, because everyone knows he's a bag of wind."

Puka started giggling. "WINDBAG! I can't believe I didn't think of it!!"

Charmian shrugged. "Whatever you want, then." She stepped aside and gestured at the hole in the ground. "Go right on in."

Manabozho actually snorted at her before doing so, stepping in and crawling out of sight. The others watched him until he vanished, then Winter Born blinked, and peered up at Charmian. She chewed her lip.

"Oh," she said. "I forgot to mention the muddy spot--"

A squelching noise came from inside the tunnel and they all winced. "Think he just found it," Charmian said. She put her foot in the tunnel. "I'll go next, in case he needs a wipe or something...everybody better go single file, because that last tunnel was pretty nar--"

A whistling noise cut through the air now and her muscles stiffened; her head shot up just in time to see something thunk in one of the nearby trees. Everyone whirled around to look and saw the quivering handle of a hatchet protruding from the trunk; Lieutenant Barrington stood right beside it, his face as white as chalk. He turned his eyes slightly to the side; the thing had missed him by mere inches.

Everybody stared at it stupidly. Charmian's confusion grew. "Where did that come from--?" she managed to get out, before rustling noises from the opposite direction caught their attention, and she saw Francois and Baptiste both go for their guns. Winter Born's mouth fell open, and Charmian whirled back around to see something emerging from the stand of sickly trees on the other side of the hill. It took her a moment to recognize Black Elk Horn's glittering dark eyes--but that was mostly because of the long dark barrel of the gun aimed right at them.

Continue:

Part 97: Close Quarters  (13+) It's just one altercation after another for Charmian's group...! #1713357 by Tehuti, Lord Of The Eight

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