The Exiles (18 page)

‘Good morning,' said Sara, her voice not really all that cheerful.

‘Good morning,' replied her sister, the two exchanged a look that held much more meaning then their few words.

‘Breakfast is on the table!' called their mother from below.

It was almost noon and Sara had still not had a chance to read the letters. The morning had been spent doing her chores. During this time she had been working near, or with, her mother and sister.

After initially becoming frustrated, Sara had then focused on her work, trying to get it done quicker so as to have a chance to get away. She and Misha were now close to getting the last of the livestock into the lower paddock, having done the hard work of rounding up all of the large beasts with the help of Pitch and Tatch.

Sara's eyes scanned the animals, they were now assembled and simply following the routine. They knew the way; the tricky part was getting them to realize that that was where they wanted to go.

The livestock in question were not like cattle on our world, but they had the same function, providing meat and milk to the Anthro farmers. The livestock on the Anthro's world actually looked like a giant version of an Australian wombat. They were called morsets and weight up to a tone or more each. Morsets had massive, round muscular bodies which sat atop stumpy powerful legs; a small round head with large furry ears was located at one end of the stocky body, with a short triangular tail at the other. On top of their head, with its small eyes and large mouth, were a series of plate like horns running from its wide nose all the way up to the top of its head. Morsets were normally covered in a greyish short fur and were actually quite tame, despite their large bulk.

Sara moved Misha forward to hurry the last of the smaller stragglers through the gate, their round bodies bouncing along as they scurried through the fence opening. Off to the side of the gate, Tatch was already lying under a tree, exhausted from the round up in the warm morning sun. Pitch had also disappeared. Looking up, Sara could see the young animal stretched out on a low branch, its four limbs dangling over the side as it panted happily while looking at its owner

‘Good job boy,' praised Sara. ‘You to Tatch,' she said to the older ossum, who was too tired to acknowledge her.

Moving Misha around, Sara closed the gate. Satisfied that she had completed her task quickly, Sara looked for a good spot to take a break. Just across another field was a small creek; it being the same one that she and Trex had eaten the stolen melons at those many years before.

‘Stay here,' Sara quickly instructed.

The two spotted ossum males watched their master ride away from the comfort of the shade, their desire to move anywhere anymore in the increasing day's heat being low in any case.

Sara knew this creek well. As her family's neighbours had two young children of Sara's age, it was a place she had spent many an afternoon until only a year or so ago.

The changes of entering adolescence had altered many more things in the young wolf then just her appearance.

Below the shade of the large trees that flanked the creek, Sara found her favourite large rock, right next to the small trickle of flowing water. She let the young horse roam free as she eagerly took the documents out of her pocket.

Thumbing through the letters, Sara inspected each of the envelopes. Many had large elaborate prints and water marks, probably identification seals and authentication markings. Sara noticed that each letter was dated. The young wolf thanked the Anthro wolf version of god, called Gaia, that her grandfather's meticulous record keeping had carried onto his secret life.

Reading the first document, Sara was disappointed. It was effectively some kind of high-society newsletter. She didn't understand the connections, but did recognize a few of the names used, these were quite important wolves. The next few were similar, and Sara noticed, quite detailed. It appeared much was going on back at the capital of the Wolf Kingdom.

Finally she came to a letter addressed to her grandfather. It was only brief and indicated that agents of the council would be in the area soon to undertake some affairs. It gave no details, but stated that it would require giving them assistance in undercover operations throughout the Wolf Kingdom territory, and providing information about the Lion Empire held territory as well.

Sara noticed that this was only three months old, about the same time that her grandfather had asked for her to undertake scouting missions in the lower plains.

The next letter looked very official and somewhat weather worn. It appeared to be a basic identification document, stating that the carrier had the full authority of the Mintury High Council, and should receive the full support of her grandfather. Attached to it was a small letter addressed to her grandfather, it was effectively reassuring him of the importance of the mission and the trustworthiness of the exiles. Looking back at the other document, Sara read the name, Philton Histock. Sara assumed that this must be the name of the elegant red wolf her grandfather had fought. He had definitely looked like a natural leader to Sara.

Turning over the document, she noticed handwriting down the bottom. It was a short list:

•
Information on river crossings across the river Thitchel upstream of BridgeHead
.

•
Details of the coastline
.

•
Up to date maps and troop placements within lion and wolf territories
.

•
Boat acquisition options
.

•
Details of the desert
.

•
Maps and information on the WesternWilderness, including border patrol information
.

And finally:

•
Detailed information about the layout and guard movements within the inner city of RefugeCross
.

The handwriting was not her grandfather's. It was probably that of the red wolf, Sara concluded. The fine penmanship was elegant and elaborate, not something you would expect from an exile. Sara wondered what the red wolf had done to be exiled in the first place. Though Torstberg did receive regular news from the rest of the kingdom through its own postal service, not everything was made public.

Continuing on, Sara found another newsletter, which she skipped to go onto the two final documents, both being personal letters. The young female wolf recognised the sender as being an old friend of the family, one of the most influential families in the kingdom. They were clearly responses to letters her grandfather had written. The first was a month old and gave details of a possible traitor within Torstberg. The sender speculated that the group of exiles was probably sent to root out the culprits.

Sara stared at the last letter. She was trying to make sense of responses to a letter she had not seen, and answers to questions she didn't know. Reading it slowly, she realised that her grandfather had obviously been informed of some of the details regarding the plan of the exiles, but was ultimately not sure what they were trying to do. The response from the friend of her grandfather agreed that the exile's requests were odd, and that they would investigate further on her grandfather's behalf.

Then came the clincher, her grandfathers friend had agreed that the wolf Sage Filfia was the likely suspect for the traitor investigation. Apparently Filfia had cast some key votes that blocked the Mintury Council's intentions. The Sage was well recorded as a peace activist and was pro-dialog with the Lion Empire. Sara blinked a few times; this was a massive accusation, particularly against a member of the government.

Reading on, Sara could get little more detail from the letter. Then came the last few lines:

Internal changes have lead to an unfortunate and dangerous shift in the Mintury Council's behaviour. Their aims and methods have
quickly altered into something at odds with many of its members. This is an uncertain time, I advice caution on all fronts
.

Take care of yourself Veron
,

Elleren Comnton
.

Sara looked up, lost in thought. So what was going on? Was Sage Filfia a spy? Who was doing what under whose authority? If her grandfather couldn't figure it out, how was she meant to? Sara recalled some of the last words her grandfather had said:

‘Something has gone really wrong. I think that Ms Filfia is in danger…'

Of course she was in danger; treason was not something you wanted to be accused of.

‘There are no bears…'
her grandfather had said.

What the heck did that mean? No bears. There had been no attacks by the Bear Clans for years.

Sara shuddered at the thought. Anthro Bears where massive vicious thugs, uncivilized brutes, most wolves didn't even consider them Anthros. Even joking about bears was distasteful.

Sara was unsure of what to do, she was already in enough trouble and that was nothing in comparison to what would happen to her once her mother found out about what had happened at RefugeCross a few days ago. Sara doubted she would ever be allowed to leave the farm on her own again.

‘Well hello, beautiful,' said a voice to the right of Sara. This sudden appearance caused Sara to jump in fright.

‘Jammet!' Sara exclaimed, clutching the letters to her chest. ‘You scared the life out of me,'

Jammet gave her a smile before making his way down the rocky creek bank.

Sara hastily put the letters into her large pocket.

‘Secret documents ha?' said Jammet, noticing the female wolf's hasty concealment.

Sara simply smiled at the young male wolf.

Jammet made his way to stand in front of Sara. Being the same age as her he was of a similar height. His fur colour was a light brown, while the long wavy tussles of hair on top of his head were a sandy blond, the unkempt strands constantly falling in front of the handsome youth's friendly eyes.

‘Another secret mission for you grandfather?' he asked, taking a seat next to Sara.

The young female moved over a bit to make room.

‘You could say that.'

‘Haven't seen you around for a while,' the male wolf said. He watched the light flicker from of the small trickle of water nearby.

‘Oh, you know, on secret missions and all,' Sara said with a smile.

Though Sara was defiant and hostile at school because of the way she had been taunted, she was far from such with her two close friends. They had always treated the young girl well, and were some of the few Anthros who got to see the real Sara Kelgorn.

Despite her current situation, the young female couldn't help but feel at ease in her old friend's company. Jammet and his twin sister Jameen had remained Sara's friends even during her tumultuous time at school. Though they had grown distant recently, Sara actually valued their friendship quite highly.

Looking across at the handsome male youth, Sara couldn't help but admire his strong athletic physique. Catching her subconscious actions, Sara turned her head away before Jammet could catch her out. Annoyed with herself, the blush that appeared on her face still showed through her fur.

Jammet smiled cunningly, he had felt the outburst coming from the young female even if he hadn't seen it.

Being as young as she was, Sara's emotions where still far from being completely under her control. Ever since she matured, they had proved as problematic as they had useful. Realising what was happening to her, the wolf tried to keep her emotions in check. Coughing nervously, Sara tried to distract herself by looking up into the trees.

‘Anything you can talk about?' Jammet asked, giving her a curious look.

Sara's expression darkened as her real life problems returned to her.

‘I think I'm in trouble,' she said eventually.

‘Anything we can help with?' asked another voice from Sara's right.

Sara looked up to see Jameen suddenly appear from the undergrowth. This time Sara was not particularly surprised at another sudden appearance. The two close siblings were never very far apart from each other.

‘Hey Jameen,' Sara greeted with a smile. Jameen returned the smile, happy to see her old friend again.