Prone To Wander (rough draft)

Chapter Six

More than an hour later, Ruben returned, with a heavy load over his shoulders. Wearily, he dropped it at Quinn's paws, and stepped back. “I cost you two meals as of this morning... I'm sorry, it's the best I could do.”

Quinn was taken aback, there before him was a blackbird, more than half the size of the squirrel who had caught it. “You didn't owe me anything,” he said, “But I'm impressed all the same. I thought that silly little wolf's claw was the only weapon you had.”

“Well it was... it still is really. This little twig won't last long as a bow, and it doesn't shoot far either,” Ruben sighed.

“Malaki said you had a real one, but you broke it in a fight,” Quinn replied. “I've been sitting here thinking this whole time, wondering why I never asked you what happened. So friend, what did happen? All I know is that your family was taken.”

Ruben was silent. He turned his attention to higher branches, where he could see Malaki and the two raccoon kits dashing to and fro. Quinn waved a paw in front of his face, and stared hard at him, “Well, do I have to beg or are you going to start talking?”

Ruben gave another sigh and sat down, watching with disinterest as Quinn began plucking the small blackbird. “Alright then, if you insist,” he said finally, and looked his friend in the eyes, “I think it was five days ago now... but honestly I can't be sure. I was with my brother, Jacob, and his family. I don't have a mate, no pups, but I have them. Jacob and his mate, Kalah, they have three pups. You know Malaki of course, and he has a brother, Gabriel and a sister, Yakira. Jacob and I had just found a wonderful blueberry patch the day before. So, we took everyone to go gather some. It was a good time... until those blasted weasels showed up.” Ruben's ears flattened, and his eyes shimmered with tears that refused to fall.

“There were more than a dozen of the beasts,” he continued, “Still we tried to fight them off. Jacob had a stone axe, and he swung it into a few heads that day. I had my good bow with me, in case we went hunting. I took it and managed to get back far enough to shoot a few of the enemy, but I ran out of arrows and then raced in like an idiot, swinging that bow. One of them knocked me from behind, and I fell to the ground. They thought I was dead. I saw Jacob, I heard him scream my name, he was trying to get to me. That's when they managed to grab him and bind him. The last thing I heard was some ermine saying to “leave the dead one” they wanted live prey, and didn't want anything to slow their pace. It sounded like they had a long way to go.”

“Why live prey?” Quinn muttered.

“Search me,” Ruben replied. “I just keep thinking that if I had slowed down, thought things through, we could've beat them then.”

“Maybe,” Quinn said, as he plucked the last few feathers from the bird, “Or they might've taken you too. Don't stress yourself over the past my friend, you'll miss the present and won't be ready for the future.”

“Wise words from a cunning creature,” Ruben said with a smile. “What about you? How did you end up with Cavan and Kelly?”

“Oh, well... I had a brother once too,” Quinn replied, nearly choking on the words. “I'll spare you the details, and just say that he and his mate were the adventurous type. I was too for that matter. They borrowed more trouble than they knew what to do with however... I found them and... it was too late. So, I went to their home, and grabbed the kits and promised I would take care of them. That's all I've been doing ever since. Well, until you came along.”

“Right, and now you have someone else to look after,” Ruben said.

“No,” Quinn retorted, “I needed someone to pull me out of the misery I was stuck in. You've helped me, as much as I've helped you. I just hope we can rescue this brother of yours and the rest of your family... it would be a shame if we both lost our brothers.”

“We have more in common than I realized. If all else fails, I guess the two of us will have to be brothers,” Ruben teased, and Quinn couldn't help laughing.

This turned out to be a wonderful joke to Malaki and the kits, who were in the branch directly above their elders. Cavan was the first to drop down, and with a wide smile ask, “Does that mean I should call you, Uncle Ruben?”

When the jesting and teasing had subsided, and Quinn had finally eaten something, the group started moving again. The scent had faded, but wasn't gone completely, and the tracks were visible. Quinn resumed his role as tracker and guide, with Ruben shadowing him, and the young ones played as if nothing in the world was wrong. The mission was still serious, the risks were still high, but there was far more hope to go 'round.

It was late morning when the friends saw a river snaking it's way through the forest, just to the west of them. This was too wonderful a thing to be ignored. Quinn insisted they go down to the river so he could search for food, and Ruben, knowing his friend was still hungry, agreed.

Cavan and Kelly found a bit of river bank that was all sand and smooth pebbles, and began searching for prey. Between the two of them, they caught three crayfish, and a small frog. Ruben and Malaki stayed off of the bank and watched as the raccoons enjoyed the water, and ate their fill at last. Quinn caught two catfish, and they were large enough that he shared with the kits. He offered to bring some to the squirrels as well, but Ruben politely refused. He and Malaki had found another oak tree and were content with the dozens of acorns they'd collected.

Malaki did become curious however, as he watched these friends dipping their food in the clear water before eating it. He came up to the edge of the river bank and called out, “Does it taste better if you wash it first?”

“Something like that,” Quinn replied, and continued eating.

The young squirrel then leaned over the grassy ridge he was perched on, his nose stretching toward the water for a drink. He could just reach, and got his drink, only to have the damp soil give way under his paws and send him splashing into the river. It wasn't deep where he fell. He was able to stand with his head out of water, but came up from his unplanned dive coughing and sputtering. Ruben saw it, and dropping his food, rushed to the river bank in a fright.

“Well that was graceful, wasn't it?” Quinn laughed, and scooped Malaki up in his paws.

The little squirrel was thoroughly soaked, and thoroughly embarrassed. He could hear his uncle asking, “Is he alright?” as Quinn climbed onto the grassy ridge and sat down.

“He's fine,” the raccoon reassured, “Just got an unexpected washing.”

The young squirrel was set down, dripping wet and shivering. Ruben tussled his ears, and looked as if he wanted to say something, but only smiled.

Cavan had followed his uncle out of the river, and came up behind Malaki, asking, “Squirrels aren't supposed to go swimming, are they?” Ruben and Malaki both shook their heads. “Well then we should get you dried off!”

With that, Malaki found himself in his friends paws as the kit began nuzzling and grooming. The sight of teeth made the young squirrel flinch and he nearly screamed out, “Cavan, let me go!”

“Cavan, you're scaring him. Set Malaki down,” Ruben demanded.

The kit obeyed with a forlorn, “I'm sorry, I was only trying to help. I didn't mean to scare you, cousin.”

Malaki shook some of the water from his coat, and managed a smile, “It's alright, but don't chew on me,” he said with a shudder.

Quinn shot Cavan a glare, and it looked like the kit was readying himself for another apology, when his uncle asked, “Did you just call him “cousin”? Or did I imagine that?”

“Well, if you and uncle Ruben are brothers now, wouldn't that make us cousins?” Cavan retorted.

“We're not brothers,” the raccoon said, almost groaning.

“Of course not,” Ruben chimed in, “If you were my brother you'd do things like, teach me how to track better, and save my life when I do something foolish, and...”

“Alright fine, but I've never heard of a brother I could eat in three bites,” Quinn growled.

“I think I'd be at least five,” Ruben said, and dashed away as the raccoon's paw shot after him.

The chase was short, as the very second Ruben's paws reached a tree, Quinn's paw reached the squirrel. He sat down and scratched Ruben's head with a single claw, “Some brother,” he teased, “I know they say you can't choose your family, but how'd I get stuck with a smart alec squirrel?”

Suddenly, Malaki came racing up to Quinn's shoulder, with Cavan and Kelly not far behind. “Uncle Quinn we saw an ermine! He was running along the river bank!” they were all yelling.

Ruben was set down, and everyone hurried back to where the young ones had seen the enemy.