Ander - Part 2: Subchapter 16
16
The crowd outside was even bigger than yesterday. Word that the village's resident Wolf was leaving for good must have gotten out, and every Fox wanted to get one last look. Unlike yesterday, though, the atmosphere was heavy and sombre, more like a funeral than a gawk fest. There were still whispers flowing from Fox to Fox, but not of the excited variety. These were kept low and respectful. Ander could hear them as he passed through the crowd, each Fox squeezing together to make way for him so that he seemed to move inside a bubble of empty space.
"Why is he leaving?"
"I heard his people are after him. Something to do with some crime."
"So he's fleeing? But won't they come here looking for him?"
"No, you idiot. He's not fleeing, he's going back so that they _won't_come."
So many eyes, either staring directly at him or avoiding staring at him. It was funny, in a way. He was so different here, the very embodiment of his own name, and yet he's felt more at home here in Grovenglen than he ever did with his tribe.
"I wonder what he did?"
"I don't know. Must have been something bad."
Ander has been around long enough to start recognizing some of the faces. There was the pup who had asked him if Wolves eat Foxes who don't listen to their parents. Jake, his name was. Standing over by a group of farmers were Jonathan and Jonah from the windmill. Struggling to see through all the jostling Foxes was the one who had kept asking him what had happened to his arms. Ander forgot his name, though. And way over on the other side of the road, at the back of the crowd, standing in the shade between two homes with her cloak wrapped tightly around her body...
...Sarah.
Ander stopped.
What was she doing here? He scanned the crowd, looking for Mateo, but he was nowhere to be seen. He supposed she might be here with her husband, that "Michael" Rufio mentioned, but if so, why was she standing off by herself? Would she come here alone? She had no qualms against coming to apologize to him in the dead of night, but that was over and done with.
Wasn't it?
I'm sorry, Ander.
He didn't know whether he was remembering her actual words or the echoes from his dream. Either way, he was getting a headache.
I'm so, so sorry.
For what? It can't be for the way she reacted. Not that alone. What did she have to be so sorry for that she almost cried while saying it?
For everything...
The way she was looking at him, with her face half-hidden by her hood...
What was she doing here?
Sarah suddenly turned tail and ran, ducking and weaving between the outside stragglers with deceptive speed. Ander considered running after her, but with the crowd packed so tightly around him there was simply no way he could reach her in time, at least not without trampling a dozen Foxes in the process.
All he could do was watch her disappear between the houses, and he wondered...
What did she know?
This thought repeated itself in Ander's mind until the crowd became thin enough for him to make some real progress down the road. He turned back and saw Rufio, Bethany, Layla and Kiana standing outside the house he had come to think of as a home. Rufio, with one hand on Kiana's shoulder... Layla, jumping up and down to be able to see over the crowd... Bethany standing off to the side, sober as ever.
They were all waving at him.
Ander waved back, thankful that they were too far away to see him blink back his tears. For better or worse, this would be the last time he saw them, and he engraved every detail into his memory as best he could.
That done, he turned his back and set off on the final leg of his strange journey through life, with the Cora looming in the distance...
...waiting for him.
*
Ander stood on top of the hill, looking down at the ground. It was right here where the egg shattered, spilling its blood into the earth. There was no sign of that now, of course, but still.
You're no brother of mine.
Banno...
You never were.
He knew something.
You're not even a real Wolf.
At the time, Ander thought those were just the furious ravings of the insane, but now?
Your whole life is a lie.
Too much has happened.
Your blood is a lie.
It can't all be a coincidence. It just can't.
I'm sorry, Ander. I'm so, so sorry.
Sarah...
For everything.
She spoke his father's name. Right here, in this very spot. Even now, a part of him tried to convince him it was just his imagination, or a cruel remnant from his dream, but he knew in his heart of hearts that wasn't true. She said "Kadai," clear as day.
There were so many questions. If only he had more time, he would -
That scent. Ander turned his face upwind and sniffed the air. There was no mistaking it. This scent belonged to Sarah, and it was much too strong to be a leftover from yesterday. Was she following him?
At the top of this hill he had a very clear view of the surrounding area, but he couldn't see her. He sniffed again, her scent like a blend of the earth and baked bread in his nostrils, and maybe just a touch of chicken feathers. She had to be nearby.
Ander slowly started to make his way down the hill, back the way he had come, carefully looking over every bush and tree big enough to hide a middle-aged vixen, her scent growing stronger with every step he took.
And now it was taking on a salty, bitter aftertaste. It was the scent of panic, steadily increasing. Wherever she was, she knew he was coming after her. No point in tiptoeing around in the middle of an open road. "Sarah?" he called out. "I know you're here, Kai."
No response. Ander looked form tree to tree. There were quite a few growing on either side of the road, and she could be hiding behind any one of them, but judging from the scent...
That one; a large apple tree. It still had a few blossoms on it, with petals of five in white and pink.
Ander quietly approached, his footfalls making no more noise than the last of the dying blossoms drifting onto the ground.
Sarah suddenly broke away from her hiding place and tore down the road like a startled jackrabbit, her cloak rippling in the wind.
"Hey, wait!" Ander shouted. Damn, she was fast!
He looked over his shoulder, back at the Cora, patiently waiting for him, then at Sarah's back, rapidly receding.
He had made a commitment to Kiana, to her family, to her entire village, but surely there was still time? There had to be. He had to know.
Ander ran after her.
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