Sole Wolfess and Kid
© 2022 by M. Mitch Marmel and Walter Reimer

(The Sole Wolfess and Aedith ‘Sunny’ Winterbough are courtesy of E.O. Costello. Thanks!)
Thumbnail art by  marmelmm

Part Fifteen.



“Mommy?”

We were outside now, and I paused to look down at Aedith. “You weren’t going to hurt anyone? Were you?” she asked, an uncertain expression on her face. Her ears were down and her tail drooped.

I smiled and crouched to look her in her eyes. “I tried very hard not to hurt anyone,” I said, “but know this, my Aedith, dear daughter; I will hurt anyone and anything that tries to take you away from me.” I perked my ears at her. “Is that okay?”

“Uh-huh,” she said after a moment. “I love you, Mommy.”

I gathered her up in a hug. “I love you too,” and I nuzzled her until she started to giggle. “There, now,” I said with a grin, “feel better?” She nodded happily and I said, “Want to go see the flower show?”

“Sure!” So off we went, paw in paw.

We took our time, making our way through the central market so Aedith could look at all the things that were being sold. Lisbet and Dorotea didn’t have a stall in the market, but that was no problem. They couldn’t be in two places at once.

Hmm. Knowing what I did of Tali’s Temporal Corps, it was probably possible.

[Note appended to manuscript: “Yeah, I could probably tell you, but I’d have to erase your memory afterward.”]

[Note appended to manuscript: “Well, it’d be pointless to ask, then.”]

[Note appended to manuscript: “True.”]

I noticed that the barrel of molasses the Vulpitanian ant-cart had destroyed had been replaced, but I fancied that I could still smell a sickly sweet undertone in the air. It was a warm day, and I guessed that the spilled molasses had literally gotten everywhere.

We headed for the river, only to be stopped at the bridge by a trio of guards. Several other furs, some driving ant-carts, were waiting patiently or looking at the river. Aedith and I got close enough to see, and her eyes went wide.

The river appeared to be boiling, and I decided to ask why.

“What’s going on?” I asked one guard.

The wildcat shrugged. “All river approaches are closed for the time being."

"Why?"

Again with the shrug. "Fish riot."

“’Fish riot?’”

“Yeah.” His ears twitched. “Somebody made up a wagon-load of food for the fish. Wanted to charge a dusk or two per pawful so people could feed ‘em.” He sighed and leaned on his spear. “But he overloaded it, and the wagon fell over, and – “

“Fish riot?” I offered.

“Fish riot.” The feline smothered a yawn behind one paw. “It’ll probably be all over in a few minutes or so. Gonna be some nice fat fish, too,” he added, unconsciously licking his lips.

Leaving the guard to daydream about the many ways one could enjoy a fish, cooked or not, Aedith and I stood and watched the denizens of the Blue Onoob River eating their early lunch. It didn’t take long for the buffet to end and the gluttons cleared off, and after making sure that the coast was clear the guards waved all of us across the bridge to the show.

Now, before I met Ooo-er, I really didn’t have much appreciation for flowers. There were some growing wild in the deserts around Artemisiaford but I never paid much attention to them.

[Note appended to manuscript: "After all, you can't roll around in them."]

[Note appended to manuscript: "You'd be very surprised."]

My wife, though, loves flowers, and through her I started to admire their beauty.

Of course, when a comely otteress approaches you and all she’s wearing is flowers, you really begin to take notice.

So, paw in paw, Aedith and I walked around and looked, and sniffed, and looked some more until it started getting close to lunchtime. The organizers of the show had about a quarter of the island set aside for various restaurants and other concerns to offer refreshments, and the area was immediately adjacent to a children’s play area.

Very well planned, I thought.

Some of the flowers I recognized from Elfhame; lilies, roses and anemones were very well-represented, with competitors vying for awards for their cultivation of the best blooms. Others I had seen in the mountains north of the Seven Villages, like mountain syringa and hydrangeas. Aedith thought they were all very pretty.

We lunched on meat-filled pastries and fruit juice, and after eating Aedith wanted to go play.

I ended up seated on a bench with some other parents, watching my daughter and other children playing happily. The area had slides, swings and a few other things that I couldn’t really recognize, but it appeared to me that the children all thought they were great fun.

While Aedith was running off her lunch, I glanced around and caught sight of an approaching otter. The same one that had been looking rather intently at me back at the Temple.

He looked a bit uncertain as he stopped a few paces away and asked, “Excuse me, are you – are you from Elfhame?”

“Yes,” I said, a little warily.

“My name’s Arnie,” he said, “Arnie Rivers. Do you know – “ and he gave a serious of clicks, chirps and hoots that caused my ears to perk straight up.

“Ooo-er?” I asked.

He brightened perceptibly. “Yes! That’s the name she said the dry-footers – er, excuse me, people in Faerie gave her. She and I, well – and afterward she mentioned a wolfess.“

“You two had venery together?” I was eyeing him as I asked the question. He nodded and I said, “I’m her wife.” His expression changed to one of dawning horror and I raised a paw. “Calm yourself. I’m not angry with you.” Elves Don’t Lie; I was angry at myself. I had been the first to betray our marriage bed, so it was only right and just for Ooo-er to return the slight.

What bothered me is that she chose a mel to do it with. Although, from an intellectual standpoint, she could have done much worse than Arnie. I took a breath and asked, “What can I do for you?”

“Hm? Oh! Um,” and he reached into his Elfintory. “I was hoping that you could give this to her,” and he held out a sealed letter.

I took it, resisting the urge to give it back to him in the form of ashes and tiny scraps, and put it into my own Elfintory. “I’ll make certain that she gets it,” I told him, reminding myself that I’m being tested.

He thanked me, courteously enough, and walked away.

I sighed, and almost missed catching sight of three mels strolling past. Hard to miss, as they were all three dressed as femmes. Quite garishly, as well; voluminous robes, overdone makeup and wigs piled high with decorative combs and pins.

One of them, possibly a mink, said loudly, “Sure, I can see the point, but why do I have to be Yum-Yum?”

The second, canine from the shape of his ears, replied, “Because you have a better singing voice – and a lovely figure.” He snickered. “And you lost the rock-paper-scissors match.”

“Not my fault – you were the one throwing paper twice in a row. What was I to think?”

“Enough of that,” the third, rather chubbier figure said as the mink spluttered. “We have to get to the theater on time,” and the trio moved off through the crowd.

I shook my head. They looked familiar – Tali’s mate and his nitwit friends from the Lowfolk world, maybe.

“Twits,” I grumbled half to myself.

[Note appended to manuscript: “Takes one to know one.”]

[Note appended to manuscript: “Shaddap.”]

[Note appended to manuscript: “Didn’t you go and see what they might have been up to, wolfess?”]

[Note appended to manuscript: “No, master, I had greater concerns – and I didn’t want to get caught up in the Stupid. Of course, *you* would have immediately thrown in with them, and probably ended up with a starring role.”]

[Note appended to manuscript: “Shaddap, wolfess.”]

[Note appended to manuscript: “Hah! You know I’m right.”]

[Note appended to manuscript: “Elves Don’t Lie, wolfess, but you don’t have to rub it in.”]

Aedith was showing the other children how to play King-upon-the-Mountain when I noticed another trio moving about in the crowd.

All three were feline, quite obviously so, a femme and two mels.

The femme reminded me only a little of Tali; she had bone-white fur and long, reddish-brown headfur plaited in a braid down to her shoulder blades. She was wearing a knee-length brown skirt and a tan blouse, with a bag hanging from a strap from one of her shoulders. The femme was moving around the various stalls hawking floral arrangements and paw-crafted items.

The first mel was a lanky fellow with blotchy gray and brown fur and short black headfur that extended to a set of dark sideburns from his ears to his lower jaw. He gangled quite a bit, dressed in a suit of clothes that seemed a little too tight and short in the leg for him. The mel appeared intent on following the femme around, but in such a way that she wouldn’t notice him.

If she didn’t notice him, she was bloody blind.

The third mel appeared . . . gray. Light gray fur, dark brown headfur, short scraggly brown beard, dressed in a dark gray suit with a hat pulled down almost over his eyes. An unlit, slightly crooked tube of pipe-weed depended from the corner of his mouth. He was following after the first mel with an air of resignation.

Hmm. There was a story there.

But I ignored it, because I was applauding and laughing along with the other parents as the children played.



<NEXT>

<PREVIOUS>

<FIRST>