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Gibbous Moon Waning

by Altivo Overo (copyright 2016)

Francis sat there for quite a long time. He had heard of students breaking under the pressure of college work and doing strange and dangerous things. Could he really have fractured so badly as to commit a murder without knowing it? It seemed so unlikely, and yet with his experiences of the past few days, the possibility haunted him.

Finally he decided that he had to go talk to someone about it. There were counselors at the health center, he knew, but he'd probably have to make an appointment and wait. He didn't want to frighten Ernie with the whole story either. His roomie was a great guy, but not exactly a deep and steady thinker. On the other paw, Ernie was right about one thing. If Francis had tried harder to make new friends, he might have someone to fall back on now. No use crying over spilt molasses, though.

He wondered if he could find Jay Greyson or Win Blackear. Francis didn't know what classes either of them had, nor where they lived. They had always come to him instead, and usually unexpectedly. Well, Francis thought, he had better try something, and he wasn't ready to just go to the watch and confess a crime he didn't know he had committed. He had no evidence, other than dreams and his odd experiences with the disappearing bundle in that hollow tree.

As the raccoon pulled his jacket on against the newly developing chill of late autumn, he felt the brandy bottle where he had stuffed it into his pocket. Maybe best not to carry that around, he thought, and hastily pulled it out and stuck it into the drawer with his toothbrush and grooming supplies. Shutting the drawer, he hurried from the room before he could change his mind.

Francis started out toward the library by force of habit, but decided almost immediately that it would be a bad idea to go back that way. Even if the whole scene had been cleaned up by now, he didn't want to look at it. So he turned and headed for the bridge to Chatton, with some thought that he might walk along the old towpath now that the sun was out and the sky clear. When he reached the bridge, however, he let his feet take him across and into the city.

Francis didn't know Chatton well. He came from Sunrill, a much smaller town that lay two days away by foot. Being in no mood to sit in class and unwilling to go back to the library, though, it seemed to him that this might be a good day to explore.

He knew from what Ernie told him that some areas of the city were not very hospitable to strangers, but the area immediately around the bridge catered to students and faculty and should be safe enough. Starting up the street in the opposite direction from the wine merchant to whose shop Ernie had taken him, Francis tried not to think about his dilemma. Sometimes, he had found, problems resolved themselves if you didn't pick at them for a while. Instead, he browsed the shop windows and looked at the other folks on the street, noticing that a fair number of them did not look like students at all, and must come from some other part of the city.

At the first corner, he passed the entrance to a tavern called The Wolf's Head. A carved wooden head, with open jaws and many sharp white teeth, hung above the door. The peeling paint on the lintel proclaimed "Wolfes Hedde est. 350CY." Putting a paw into his jacket pocket, Francis found he still had the change from purchasing the brandy, which would probably be more than enough for a cider or whatever they might have. He was about to turn in when a raccoon couple came out the door, evidently a bit tipsy in spite of the early hour.

The girl giggled. "Oh, Win, maybe I should trade you for this handsome lad," and even as Francis realized that she was in fact referring to him, his ears pricked at Win's name. Sure enough, the other half of the couple was Win Blackear.

Win blinked in recognition and then grinned at the girl. "That's my buddy Francis," he announced. "I wouldn't wish you on him, you know. He can do better."

The girl only laughed. "As if you could be choosy yourself, Win Blackear," she snorted. "No one else would have you, and that's a fact."

Blackear ignored this jibe, turning to Francis and saying "Francis, pal, what are you doing out here slumming so early in the day. No classes?"

Francis shook his head. "Listen, Win," he said, trying to sound as serious as possible, "I need to talk to Jay. Do you know where I can find him?"

"Oh, that's easy. We just left him inside here. Look in the farthest corner from the door," Win answered.

The girl tugged at Win's arm. "Come on, you great lump," she said, winking at Francis even as she addressed the other raccoon. "I want that lunch you promised, and I think you need at least some tea to sober you up a bit."

Win shook his head, and as he did so Francis noticed the small hole in the corner of his right ear. So Jay was telling the truth about that at least, he thought.

"Bye," Win said, waving a paw as the girl steered him away.

Francis returned the girl's wink and entered The Wolf's Head, which was mostly empty except for a few ferrets and a skunk standing around the circular bar. An otter behind the bar waved and called to him "What'll you have?"

"Cider?" Francis asked, hopefully.

"'Tis the season, lad," the barkeep answered, as he shoved a glass under a tap and filled it. As Francis reached the bar, the glass appeared in front of him.

"Two coppers, mate," the otter said brightly. Francis gave him three.

"There you are, and thanks."

"Thank you, sir," the otter answered and touched his ear as if saluting some titled gentlefur.

Francis took his glass and peered into the shadowy corner Win had indicated. Sure enough, there was a gray wolf sitting in the booth there, though the light wasn't good enough for him to be sure it was Jay. He walked in that direction.

As the raccoon came within a few feet of the booth, Jay looked up and recognized him. The wolf smiled, but not with the energy that Francis would have normally expected.

Jay waved Francis to a seat opposite his, and the first thing he said was "Show me your token."

Thinking this an easy demand to satisfy, Francis reached into the pocket where he had been keeping the little disk, but it wasn't there. He checked every pocket, and even the space between the lining and outer fabric in case the token had slipped through a hole and settled there. He couldn't find it, and admitted so. The raccoon expected a punishment but all Jay did was shake his head sadly.

"What's wrong?" Francis asked.

"Everything has gone wrong," was the wolf's response. "You've heard about that killing this morning?"

Francis nodded. "I was past the scene before they even cleaned up," he said. "It's awful."

"Yes, it is. Especially since they found one of our tokens on the ground there."

"What?" Francis stared at the wolf. "How do you know?"

"One of my friends, a ferret, is in the watch. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone but he mentioned it to me. The description of the thing they found matches perfectly."

Francis was not given to oaths, but now he swore. "Gods! And I can't find mine now. But I know I still had it this morning before I went out. It must be back in my room somewhere." A cold frisson of doubt touched the back of his skull and traveled down his back. Had it been there? Or was that the day before? Now he wasn't sure.

"Listen, Jay, I've got to tell you something," Francis said.

The wolf leaned back in his seat with an expression of great pain on his face. "Sure, go ahead," he told Francis.

So Francis told the whole story, about the dream, the instructions from Ulf, the hidden weapon in the hollow tree, and his apparent sleepwalking.

"So, you see," he finished up, "I don't know if I'm responsible. I mean, I would never do such at thing knowingly or willingly, but could I have done it while sleepwalking, without waking up? Or could someone have somehow planted a suggestion in my mind to make me do this with my own paws?"

Jay did something unexpected then. He reached out with both paws and took Francis' left in them. "I have to tell you something too," he said. "There really is no Alpha Eta Rho. I've only been pretending that it still exists."

Francis opened his mouth but nothing came out. Jay squeezed his paw and let go.

"I'm sorry," the wolf said. "I really am. I borrowed the idea of Alpha Eta Rho from some old college history materials, without knowing what the group really was."

Francis found his voice then. "Why would you do that?"

Jay hid his face in his paws, folding his ears back tightly. "Because," he said, so softly that Francis could barely hear him, "I have this little problem. I like raccoons. Boy raccoons. Like you. You'll probably hate me now."

A tear splashed on the table. Francis was very surprised, but not repulsed. He patted the wolf on the arm. "Don't do that," he said quietly. "It's all right. How could I condemn you for it when I've been wanting to become a wolf? But what about Win then? The book? The pledge and the tokens? Where did they all come from?"

Jay raised his muzzle to look at Francis with wet-rimmed amber eyes. "Win will do anything for a joke. I originally tried it on him because he wanted to get one of girls in his classes to go out with him. She was a wolf, and wanted nothing to do with him. He didn't quite fall for my story, but went along with it for a lark. And he agreed to help me with you, once he heard me talk about that essay you read in class.

"By then he knew about my own interests, but he didn't care. He thought you might work out for me, and if you didn't, it would be a fun joke anyway."

Francis blinked at the wolf. "So you made up Alpha Eta Rho just as a complicated come on? An ice breaker to get you dates with raccoons?"

Jay looked sheepish, as much so as a wolf can manage. "There really was an Alpha Eta Rho once," he said. "I just sort of appropriated it, since the group has been extinct for more than a century."

"You know, Jay," Francis said, "This would be very funny except for two things. First of all, I can't find my token and I really did find that knife or whatever it was in the hollow tree where Ulf in my dream said it would be. Secondly, this really messes with me because I was sort of feeling attracted to you. I've been fighting myself, trying not to admit that I felt these things, for years now. But I really do like you. Now what are we going to do?"

Francis rubbed his right paw over his eyes. This had grown even more complicated than he could ever have thought possible.

"And," he added, almost as an afterthought, "I still don't know whether I committed a murder while sleepwalking, or someone hypnotized me into it, or if it's all just a coincidence."

"It's certainly strange," Jay agreed, "that you would have a dream like that. There really was a Stefan Ulf. He really was a very large, all black wolf. He really, really hated deer, it seems, because he blamed one for ruining his father's fortunes. And, he was the founder of the original Alpha Eta Rho, back in 346 or so."

"And I never had any way of knowing all that," Francis said, wide-eyed. "So how did I dream it?"

"It wasn't me, that's for sure. I..." the wolf paused and rubbed his eyes. "Damn it, Francis, I was going to have a friend come to you and pretend to be a senior member. He was going to give you your difficult task to prove you could do anything for the pack. It wasn't to commit a murder though."

"What was the task going to be?" Francis just had to ask.

"I was going to have him tell you to..." Jay stopped there. "I can't say it, it's so embarrassing. You've been so good not to just walk out of here..."

"I'm not leaving now," Francis told him. "What?"

"He was supposed to tell you to come find me in a certain place, and... and... kiss me."

Francis had to chuckle at that, in spite of everything. "I'll tell you something, Jay," he said, "and maybe it will help. Every time you've hugged me and called me 'little brother' it made me feel really good, like I was walking on air. I wouldn't have refused to kiss you."

The wolf blinked and his ears perked. "Really? You mean that?"

The raccoon nodded. and patted the back of Jay's paw with his own. "I've never been in love or in a relationship," he said. "I don't know much about it. But I am attracted to boys, not girls. Even my room mate, Ernie, seems to have figured that out. And I find wolves far more attractive than my own kind, as you already know. We may both be strange, but neither of us is worse than the other."

Jay sniffled and Francis thought he was going to start crying again, but the wolf seemed to stiffen and regain his self control and pride. "You give me hope," he said.

Francis nodded. "But first we have to figure this thing out. Where did the token come from? The one the watch found at the crime scene?"

The wolf shook his head. "I don't know. I only ever had three of them. Mine is right here. He reached into his vest pocket and showed it to Francis. I'm sure Win still has his, though I haven't seen it for a few days. And you had yours, when, as recently as this morning?"

"Yes," Francis agreed. "I don't know where it went since then, but I remember now, I dreamed that I was looking for it outdoors in the grass, and couldn't find it. So when I woke up, I looked and it was in my pocket. Then..." he paused, remembering. "I'll bet I know where it is," he said abruptly.

"Where?" Jay asked. "It could be important that you be able to produce it, if the watch comes looking for us. A number of people know I was doing something with the name and some have seen the token. If the watch should advertise or try to find out what the token is in some way, they could find us."

"I'm pretty sure it's back in my room," Francis said, "and I think I know where. Let's go look." He got up from the table and tugged at Jay's paw. "Come on, I'd like you to be with me."

"All right," the wolf agreed. "I can't say no to you now, because this is all my fault." He stood up, and obediently followed Francis out of the tavern and back toward Lupus Hall.

(continued in "All That Glitters")