Helga: Out of Hedgelands, Rick Johnson [suggested reading txt] 📗

just Wolf Salt who took care to see that mother and Rideon arrived in port safely. After docking in Port Newolf, Bram saw something that changed her life. Feeling young and energetic, Bram and Rideon said goodbye to Captain Ord and set out to find situations in Port Newolf. The bustling town made them feel hopeful. Everywhere creatures loaded down with pails and sacks or pulling carts jostled them. Although the town had the look of having sprung up overnight, the muddy streets surged with energy. There surely looked to be plenty of work to do. But they had barely begun exploring the town, when they saw a group of Grizzly Trackers preparing a young Cougar to be hanged on a gallows. Bram was horrified at the sight—a burlap bag tied over his head...Chains circling his entire body...A noose being fitted around his neck. She could not stand the grotesque and barbaric sight. Whatever the Cougar had done did not deserve such treatment! Bram felt nearly sick to her stomach.

“Forgetting all manners and courtesy, Bram rushed forward and pushed her way toward the Cougar, begging for his life. ‘No, please, don’t hang him! Take me instead! I demand it!’ The Grizzly Trackers were greatly surprised. They had never seen such a thing.

“At that time, Port Newolf was a wild frontier and rogues and hellions were a dime a dozen. Judgment of criminals was swift and harsh. Most offenders were simply told to ‘move on and not come back.’ Many of the lawless ones were sent into the Drownlands where they lost themselves in the swamps and were forgotten. At times a lawbreaker was sent to the gallows as an example of what could happen if they did not run away. That was the fate of the young Cougar.

“Murmurs in the crowd said that the young Cougar, Stuppy Marit, was a small-time pirate. Others said he was just in unlucky circumstances. No one knew, or really cared. Port Newolf was rough, and justice, at best, was untidy.

“In the end, Bram’s pleas prevailed. The Grizzly Trackers set Stuppy Marit free, on condition that he head off into the Drownlands and lose himself there. They ordered my mother to go with him. ‘Yea, he goes free on your plea, my lass,’ the Grizzly judge said. ‘But your plea takes you with him. Plead for a no-good, and you become one.’

“Captain Ord and Rideon tried to rescue Bram from her fate, but to no avail. The Grizzlies, having released one criminal, would not change their minds on another one. Grizzly law on the frontier was stern. ‘Plead for a no-good, and you become one.’ Threatened by the Grizzlies that they would seize his ship and burn it if he continued to argue with them, Captain Ord sadly gave up his attempt to save Bram from exile into the Drownlands. Rumor has it that the good captain soon after gave up sailing and never went to sea again.

“The story of Bram in the Drownlands is long and has a considerable sadness to it. I will not tell it all to you now. But you must know that my mother was a good and honorable Cougar. She was forever good. She married Stuppy and, for many years, held hope for his reform. At first, she believed his promises that he wanted her to start a school for his workers and the other beasts that were drawn to him. Alas, he was too coarse and uncouth to know what he was promising, or to keep his pledge. Each time a school would be started, King Stuppy would overrule mother’s homework assignments and allow the filth of his scurvy ‘royal court’ to grow. Mother refused to teach school where no one wanted to learn and where everyone had a unique personal stench.

“But her secret remained. Not even King Stuppy could take it from her. Little by little, the increasing size of King Stuppy’s scurvy crowd, and the mounting tide of filth and vile odors they brought, caused Bram to silently withdraw her attempts to start a school. But she withdrew with a purpose in mind. She would teach her daughter well. So, even in spite of the King, mother taught me to read and speak a proper tongue.

“‘I refuse life on the lowest terms for you, Annie,’ she used to say. ‘What is in your mind and heart is the only thing that is surely and truly yours. Gain all you can of mind and heart and no one can take it!’

“So, you see, friends,” Annie concluded, “my father is King Stuppy Marit—the wealthiest trader, and self-proclaimed ruler, of the Drownlands—but he never cared about me, or my mother. Bram just gradually faded away, like a candle burning out. The wealthier the King got, the more she withdrew and focused on teaching me. She just couldn’t stand the way he treated the creatures. I hated it, too. Finally, I ran away and joined a gang of bandits who were raiding King Stuppy’s traders. I thought it was a great way to get back at him...” She grew thoughtful, staring off into space.

“But it turned out not to be so great, is that it?” Toshty asked gently.

Annie sighed. “I’m still looking for the unbroken circle of friends.” She looked at Breister and Toshty. “But maybe I can finally learn everything my mother tried to teach me. Maybe even unfortunate, foolish Cougars—just like crazy Owls—can have a real family?” This was phrased as a question, but sounded more like a statement of hope.

For several minutes, Annie said nothing more, allowing what she had shared to sink in. She noticed that Breister seemed to be considering something. At last, she asked him about it.

“What’s on your mind, Breister,” she said. “You look like your thoughts are far away.”

Breister smiled. “Yes, there was something very interesting to me in your story.”

Annie looked questioningly at him.

“I was just thinking how interesting it is,” he began. “I apprenticed with an old Wood Cow carpenter—a retired seafarer. I was just wondering if Bram’s friend might have been the same old salt...His name was Klemés ma di son Colé!”

“You knew Klemés—the old ship’s carpenter?” Annie exclaimed. “The name is unusual enough that it seems likely that it might be the same one!”

“Yes,” Breister agreed slowly. “And there’s something especially interesting to me about old Klemés. While I was his apprentice, I took note of his young and lovely granddaughter...Her name was Helbara...”

 

A Parting of Ways

When the travelers arrived, dusty and road weary, at the Cutoff station, they moved quickly toward bed. They hoped to get an early start the next day. As the three friends unloaded their bags, Breister talked pleasantly for a few minutes with Zeke, the station-master, telling him a bit about his travels. A few days later, Zeke, in turn, would entertain a Bayou Dog named Burwell with his stories about the strange trio he had met. But, as he drifted off to sleep, all Breister knew was that he felt a growing sense that he was, at last, somehow close to Helga’s trail.

Breister, Annie, and Toshty set out early the next morning in the bladder canoe. “We paddle for several days through the backwaters of the Drownlands,” Toshty explained, “then we travel for a few days up a stream that runs into WooSheep Bottoms. From there, it’s just a short hike to my cabin.”

The next several days brought a closer sense of friendship among the travelers. Something wonderful had happened to break through the icy loneliness that had long sent Toshty and Annie off on their isolated paths. Breister, for his part, felt a sense of relief and comfort to feel that he could trust these friends. Together, they were all happier and stronger than any of them had been apart.

On the fourth day of their voyage up the creek toward WooSheep Bottoms, Breister sensed that Annie was agitated. Toshty, too, seemed ill at ease. Something was up, Breister knew, but his friends were not saying what was bothering them.

The next morning, Breister was roasting some fresh frog legs on a spit for their breakfast, when Annie cleared her throat to get his attention. He looked up at her expectantly, continuing to turn the roasting spit over the campfire.

Annie smiled at him. She was holding Toshty’s wing in her paw. “Breister,” she began, “Toshty and I have something to tell you.”

Looking at the joy in the eyes of his friends, Breister felt that he did not really have to be told what they were going to say, but he replied, “I’m all ears. Go ahead.”

Annie pulled Toshty forward as she moved closed to Breister. “I’m not going any further with you, Breister.” He looked at her questioningly. “As you know, some of my past is not very pleasant. I’m not proud of that. I want to leave that behind me and start a new life. I know there are Grizzly Bear trackers all over the Bottoms looking for me. If I go to the Bottoms, my life will be over...” She stopped and looked at Toshty.

“I’ve asked Annie to marry me,” Toshty grinned. “And she seems to like crazy old Owls!” He hugged Annie’s shoulder with one of his wings. “So, we’re taking the long route back to the cabin,” Toshty said, with a look of contentment. “We’ll see you there later, perhaps, but don’t wait for us. We’re going back to the Rounds to get married first. Annie can’t go to WooSheep Bottoms, and we don’t want to go to the Drownlands or the WooPeace, so that leaves the Rounds.”

Breister nodded and smiled at his friends. “I wish you the best...in making your unbroken circle of friends stronger,” he said with a loving look at his happy companions. “Now, I just need to find the rest of my circle!”

“Don’t worry, Breister,” Toshty replied. “We’re not leaving you in the lurch! I can give you directions to my cabin. When you get there, make yourself at home...” He paused, looking embarrassed. “I actually need you to do something for me there,” he continued. “I have some art lessons scheduled for tomorrow. There will be a couple of Otters and a Fox who will come to the cabin expecting me to teach them to paint,” he laughed. “I’d be much obliged if you would be there to tell them that, well, uh,” he smiled at Annie, “that art lessons are postponed until further notice!”

Breister smiled, but felt a bit annoyed. His friends were leaving him. Not only that, but helping Toshty might delay his own search for Helga.

“And, Breister,” Toshty said, “the young Fox I mentioned—name’s JanWoo-Corriboo—she’s one of the most amazing young beasts you’ll ever meet. She can take you to the ‘Mountain That Moves But Stands Still’—you can trust her completely and she’s as brilliant as they come. You’ll be in good hands with her. If your Helga is anywhere to be found, JanWoo-Corriboo can help you find her.”

Breister’s annoyance evaporated. He was happy for his friends and felt confident of his path forward. If all was not yet well for him, he felt somehow that things were improving.

The three friends loaded their belongings back in the bladder canoe and set off again. “We’ll paddle with you a bit further toward the Bottoms,” Toshty said. “There’s a little sandspit that is covered with trees, bushes, and reeds. We’ll drop you off there. It’s not far from my cabin. Then we’ll paddle back to the Drownlands Cutoff to catch the running-wagon back to the Rounds. The next time you see us, we’ll be husband and wife.” Toshty beamed.

A few hours later, Toshty beached the canoe among some dense reeds. As Breister got out of the canoe, he was well concealed by vegetation.