LupineDreams

Chapter 3 – Werewolves and legends.
In which Lupina transforms and we hear a legend.

I found out later that Lupina had waited until she thought we were asleep, which we were, and silently slipped out of the tent, over to the pool. She told Francis and me, later, that she had looked into this pool, and thought about what it would be like to change into a werewolf. Then, she felt a sharp pain, all over her body. She looked in the pool again, and there, she saw a huge, black werewolf.
This time, I can honestly say that I saw this werewolf, so this time, you can get an accurate description of what it looked like.
It was pretty huge, probably the height f a small house, and about the width of a medium sized tree. It had muscles that could probably let it pick up a small bus and hurl it a good half mile, if not a whole one. It had claws that could rip open a large mammal in one swipe, and huge, vicious teeth. It also had two sabre teeth, so I suppose you could call it a sabre toothed werewolf. Its eyes were blue, just like those of a young grey, arctic, or tundra wolf. Its sleek black fur shone as it reflected the moonlight. Its ears, whilst fairly long, weren’t tufted whilst being furry. The werewolf’s tail was long, and as it swung the tail, it knocked down a small tree, and crushed a bush. The werewolf bounded through the forest, clearing two or three meters in one leap. It hurtled through, dodging trees with the air of someone running through a crowd, as if the trees simply parted for it. It leaped over fallen trees and streams splashed through small puddles and scattered herds of deer. It galloped through the forest all night, returning in the wee hours, around 5 o’clock. I am assuming all this from what Lupina told me, and also the fact that she came back into the tent around 5 in the morning. I asked her where she’d been, and said she went to the loo.
I didn’t think she’d lie to me, being her friend, but I suppose she didn’t think I’d believe her. I mean, I don’t blame her for it, it’s just when you simplify it, it sounds like she was being a good friends. I suppose even friends keep good secrets from each other. I suppose that’s why people write diaries. It’s like sharing your secret with a friend you now you can trust, and you know won’t desert you for it, or think you’re mad.
Anyway, in the morning, we all got up, dressed went to the loo, had breakfast (museli and fruit, then eggy bread and sugar!) got the horses ready, and set off. We travelled for a long way, and still Lupina seemed very happy and energetic. She was really hyper. I simply assumed that she was on a sugar high, but then she never got the low you normally get from a sugar rush.
Francis was looking at her in an odd way, as f she thought she knew something new about her, but wasn’t sure about her information source. It was really weird, but I didn’t really pay it any heed, being more worried about what would happen if I pulled the muscle on my backside, and if I’d already done it anyway.
A few hours in, we stopped to have a rest and a drink. I was so pleased I almost sang, but decided not to, as a man had come over the mini hill we were just about to cross. He looked a bit like a monk, as he was wearing something that looked like robes and were pure black. He saw us and asked us very politely if we would like to hear a story before we set off.
“Good morning there to you fine girls, may I ask where you’re headed?“ he asked
“We’re on a Duke of Edinburgh’s award adventure, and we’re heading for the little town down the road, Marksbury.“ Lupina replied.
“May I offer you a story to speed you on your way? “ he asked, kindly.
Almost simultaneously, the other four said,
“No!“ And we said,
“Yes!“ So we came to an agreement, that the other group could carry on until they found a really good place to stop and rest, and wait for us there while we caught up. We wanted to listen to the old man’s story, and being nice, kind and polite people, we asked him if he would like a drink or anything to eat. He agreed to have a drink, but refused to deplete our supplies of food.
“I have been travelling the length and breadth of the country to find a most magical creature. I have studied the skies and made some of the most accurate maps of the sky it is possible to make, but still I have not found it. I have been looking for a werewolf.
During a dark cold winter, a young boy set out from is house in the town of Telesbury. He headed out to the forest nearby. He had heard the old tale of the bard of Strenford, who was killed and devoured by a monstrous being, a huge wolf like creature, with huge sabre teeth. “
At this point, I noticed Lupina, simultaneously try to look as if this had nothing to do with her, completely overdoing it, and listen intently. I paid it no heed, and continued listening to the bard’s story.
“ He walked through the thick snow covering the forest floor, for the trees had recently been cut for firewood. He heard a low growling behind him, whipping round he saw trees, and snow. He turned again, drawing his knife. He walked slower, more tentatively. He heard the growling again, louder now, and closer. Whipping round he cried ‘show yourself!’ He saw a small mass of snow shift, and realised it was not a pile of snow, but a rabbit. It pelted past him, obviously terrified for it’s life. He turned again, and there saw, right in front of him, the body of a man. It was ripped into two pieces, and was reddening the snow in front of him. He could just recognise the man as his own father.
He fell on his knees and cried, “O, Spirits! How could you allow this to happen to such an innocent man as my father!“ As instructed by the spirits, and as tradition, he began the simple, yet important ritual of burying the dead. He found some berries, and crushed them into a red paste. He made the necessary markings on his father’s body, and then began to dig a hole. Realising he needed to make one more marking, he went to find another few berries. When he came back, he found that the hole had been dug for him. He believed it to be the work of the spirits, and thanked them. He made the final marking, on his father’s crotch. He tried to lift his father’s body and place it into the hole, but found it was too heavy. He sat down and wept. If he did not finish the burial soon, his father’s spirit would wander the earth forever, as a lost ghost. He then saw a pair of long, white, furred hands pick up his father and place it gently in the hole. He looked up and saw a similar beast to the one mentioned in legends, but it was pure white. The beast covered the body in snow and earth, and then went over to the boy. He went and wrapped his tail around him, and licked him. He suddenly realised that he was cold. The werewolf cuddled the boy to keep him warm, and they slept there for the night.
In the morning, the creature allowed the boy to ride on his back back to the village. As they entered, they saw many people calling the boy’s name, and searching for him. The boy leaped off the werewolf’s back and ran to his mother crying, “He is dead! Father is dead!“ To which the townspeople asked, “ Was it this beast that killed him? “
“I do not know, I found him ripped in half.“
“Have you buried him?“
“Yes, the werewolf helped.“
The werewolf was allowed into the village, and was allowed to have scraps of meat from the butcher, and everyone loved him.
Unfortunately, there was another werewolf in the area, and it began to take children from the village. The white werewolf was blamed for these attacks, and was shot. But still the other werewolf took children. So the townspeople went around, shooting everything that it could have been. Soon, they found the black werewolf. It was shot many times.
Still to this day, children go missing from the village. Still, many creatures are slain. But the townspeople have never found the true reason. That it is the boy who takes them. The boy who was friends with a werewolf takes them to another village, where animals are cherished. They may return, later, but the boy remained faithful to the white werewolf’s last words.
“Take care of the children. Make them take care of the creatures, whatever it takes.“
For the boy is a werewolf.“
Once the bard had finished his tale, he got up, made his farewells, and left.
“That was an interesting story.“ I said, genuinely finding it one of the best stories I had heard.
“I suppose we should catch up to the others, or they’ll be wondering where on earth we are." Lupina suggested.

Chapter 4 – Knowledge is Power is Knowledge.
In which we carry on with our adventure, and find out that Lupina is a werewolf.

So we got onto our horses, and cantered after them. They had found a small lavender field, and had sat in that. They got up, mounted their trusty steeds, and galloped off ahead.
“We’ve got the map!“ Francis shouted after them. At this, they came to a sliding halt, which they had obviously learnt from their western riding classes. They waited for us, and when we got close up with the map in hand, they nicked it and galloped ahead.
“Aren’t you gonna shout ‘we’ve got the map!’ again?“ Lupina asked Francis with a half smile on her face.
“Ah well. Better follow them.“ Francis helpfully suggested, before galloping off after them, whilst I cantered along behind, getting further and further away from everyone else. Apologising to my butt, I galloped after the two. Finally, I caught up, and we all slowed to a canter, having met up as a seven again. We made a pact not to split up again, and that you’re not allowed to run off with the map. So we cantered on, then walked for a bit, to let the horses call down. We dismounted, and then walked on our own two legs. As the sky was beginning to get dark, we looked around for a clearing. We spotted a possible candidate, and went over t investigate. As the ground was firm, and there was a good water supply, the other four began to cook tea. We put up our tent in three minutes, the other people’s tent in two minutes, made the loo in 1 minute, and built the horse’s shelter in five minutes. By this time, the four had got out the sausages, cut the buns, and put the sausages on the stove. We set about cutting slices in the bananas and putting chocolate in, so that we could melt the chocolate, and have chocolate banana for pudding. The sausages were now done, so we had ate our tea while the bananas were cooking. We ate in silence. Everyone was just too tired to do anything. So we ate our bananas and went to bed. I needed the loo in the middle of the night, and got up to go, and found both Lupina’s and Francis’s beds empty. I leaped out of my bed, and practically ripped open the zip. I tried to calm myself.
“Festina lente, Catherine.“ I whispered under my breath. By the way, that means ‘hurry slowly’. It means the same as ‘More haste, less speed.’ I carefully opened the zip, and took some deep breaths. I saw, being a competent tracker, that some of the dew had been rubbed off of the grass, and that there were slight dips in the grass shaped like footprints. I followed these footprints, and found the forest clearing. I saw that a couple of branches had been broken, and that there were more, clearer footprints in the slightly softer earth. I followed these, and came to another clearing - ette, and saw Francis looking intently at something. I snuck up behind him, but even I couldn’t escape his somewhat supernatural hearing. He whipped round, and shushed me, whispering at me to get down. I peered at what he was looking at, but couldn’t see anything. He pointed at a small shadow coming from over the other side of the pool, coming from in the trees. The shadow moved, and I saw Lupina, sneaking out to look in the pool. And then I knew why, because I blinked, and there was the black werewolf. I stifled a scream, but I must have made some noise, because Francis looked at me with a questioning look on her face, before leaping up, and disappearing through the trees. I assumed she had gone to find Lupina, and I followed him. Well, tried to. I got caught on innumerous branches and trees. I couldn’t get through, and turned back to go the other way. Finally, I found the black werewolf. It seemed to recognise us, obviously, as it was Lupina, and I blinked, to see Lupina stood there in front of me, human.
“Ok, before you start asking questions, I’m just gonna tell you the facts. I’m a werewolf. It’s a genetic thing.“ This was typical Lupina, always the scientist. “ It’s like one of those things that skips a generation, except this time, it didn’t, and my mum, grandma and I are all werewolves.“
“You’re not gonna bite us are you?“ I asked, slightly intimidated
Lupina laughed. “ It doesn’t get passed on by biting.“
“Are you sure?“ I wanted confirmation.
“It’ll only get passed on if you fight back and some of my blood ends up in your bloodstream. The werewolf genes are contained in the DNA in the nucleus of the blood cells.“
“How long have you known?“ asked Francis, cool as anything.
“Since my grandma told me, a few weeks ago.“ She replied
“How big is your wolf?“ he asked, interested.
“About 6 foot 10.“ she stated
“That’s pretty big.“ he commented
“Ok, I don’t mind telling you all this, because I trust you, but you mustn’t tell anyone else.“ she said, hesitantly
“Yeah, like anyone would believe us!“ I laughed.
“Seriously Catherine, if you tell anyone I could even die.“
That shut me up.
“Who’s there?“ We heard a sluggish cry coming from the other side of the clearing, from the direction of the four’s tent. We rushed into the cover of the bushes, and silently crept through the bushes, and snuck into our tent. One of the other four, I couldn’t see who, came out and looked around. She didn’t see us, and we went unchallenged.

Piczo