Prologue

It was a bright and sunny day. The flowers were all in bloom, a gentle breeze rustled through the trees, and a young goat was running for her life. Small animals fled the forest floor as predator and prey approached. Those who sat safely in the branches of trees or hidden in bushes merely watched.

Though her mind was filled with frantic plans for escape that she knew would likely never work, the goat found time to regret that she hadn’t heeded the frequent warnings from her herd: Don’t go into the forest alone. And yet, every time she’d done so in the past, nothing had happened. How was she to know that this time would be different?

Behind the goat, following close behind and getting closer, was a wolf. Not, as the goat may have thought, an evil, malicious creature whose every waking moment was devoted to inflicting terror on innocent young goats. Just a wolf.

This was not a regular occurrence for the wolf either. What occupied the wolf’s mind and drove her pounding feet ever onward was not malice, but giddy exhilaration. Come quick, everyone, I’ve caught a goat! she envisioned herself saying. Well done, they would say. You get an extra large share of the meat. This catch would be the talk of the pack for weeks to come. People would look at her and think, That’s the wolf who caught that delicious goat.

Reverberating through the trees, there came the sound of someone tripping on a low branch and, with a cry of despair, falling to the ground. As the birds chattered in the early springtime air, the chase between a goat and a wolf came to an end.

Chapter 1

The Elder Goat of Sawa Sawa Mountain walked with trepidation towards the craggy peaks of Baku Baku Valley, the lair of the wolf pack that counted this entire forest, and the surrounding hills and mountains, as their territory.

This time last year, the wolf pack had been in disarray following the sudden deaths of not only the pack’s old leader, but also several of the strongest and highest ranking pack members. After that incident, many of the remaining wolves had defected from the pack, trying to survive on their own. The fractured pack and lone wolves had been little threat to the Sawa Sawa goat herd. For almost a year, there were fewer goats lost to wolf attacks than anyone could recall in living memory.

Unfortunately, the respite didn’t last. After the cold winter months had taught the lone wolves how difficult it could be to survive on their own, those who had made it through the winter had rejoined the pack. The pack’s new leader had taken full advantage of the situation, and the Baku Baku wolf pack was now once again a threat to be taken seriously.

The complacence the goats had learned over the past year had cost them dearly. Every few days, the Elder received news of some horrible incident befalling a goat who had strayed too far from the herd. Sometimes, two, three, or even four goats would be killed at a time, the wolves appearing out of nowhere when their victims were least expecting it. The herd would survive, of course—the pack’s new leader was smart enough to ensure that their food supply wouldn’t run out—but all the same, something had to be done.

These were the thoughts that occupied the Elder’s mind as the steep cliffs of Baku Baku Valley drew closer and the terrain grew rocky underhoof. As the Elder began the ascent to the heart of the wolves’ lair, canine silhouettes peered down from high overhead. They vanished a moment later, perhaps reporting to the pack’s leader that her guest was soon to arrive.

Sure enough, the moment the pinnacle came into view, the Elder saw a large gathering of wolves lying in wait on the rocky ground. The leader of the Baku Baku wolf pack, a white wolf with piercing, sea green eyes, lazed at the front of the group. She smiled as she locked eyes with the Elder, and said something to the other wolves that the Elder was too far away to hear. The wolves continued to lie where they were as the Elder approached, watching the solitary goat with a mixture of hunger and bemusement. All except the leader, who maintained her derisive smile and unfaltering gaze throughout.

“Greetings, your Elderliness,” the leader said at last. “I must admit, I wouldn’t have thought that a goat of your standing would wish to demean themselves by associating with the likes of us.” One of the wolves chortled loudly at that and was shushed by his companion. “And so, when a little bird told me you wanted to meet and parley, I was intrigued enough to accept.”

“Call me Grandma,” the Elder Goat said, meeting the pack leader’s eyes and returning her mocking grin with a polite smile. “That’s what everyone calls me nowadays.” The Elder shifted slightly and dislodged something from her back, a leaf-wrapped package that fell to the ground. She backed away from it, bowing her head respectfully. “A gift for the leader of the Baku Baku wolf pack,” she said, “picked fresh from the bushes of Waku Waku Hill only a few days ago.”

“What kind of gift does a goat get for a wolf?” the pack leader said, sounding amused. She made a gesture with her paw.

In response to the gesture, the wolf who had shushed his companion earlier stood up and came to investigate the package, nudging it open. “It’s full of berries,” he said, grinning at the obvious stupidity of giving berries to a wolf.

“Try some,” the Elder said. “I’m told that these berries are particularly delicious to goats and wolves alike.”

The wolf who had opened the package looked questioningly to the leader, who examined the berries from a distance and then nodded her head decisively. Cautiously, the wolf lowered his head and took a small bite of the berries, chewed them for a moment, and then immediately went back for more. The other wolves watched with sudden interest.

“That’s enough, Zack,” the pack leader said. “Save some for the rest of us.” The wolf she had called Zack stepped reluctantly away from the berries and rejoined the group. The pack leader looked at the Elder with renewed fascination. “Where did you say these came from, Grandma?”

“From a hill many, many miles from here,” Grandma said. “A friend of mine was kind enough to deliver them especially for this occasion, along with news of how my grandchild and their new family are getting on, of course.”

“This grandchild…” The pack leader looked away for a moment in a convincing impersonation of someone lost in thought. “That would be Mei, wouldn’t it? Tell me, how is Gabu getting on nowadays? It’s been an awfully long time since I last saw him.”

Grandma glanced at a brown furred wolf who was lying near the back of the group, looking slightly nervous. He met Grandma’s eyes and shook his head minutely. So Boro hadn’t told her. “Gabu is doing fine,” Grandma said. “So are Mei and the others. I’ll be sure to let them know you asked after them. May I ask how you’d prefer to be addressed?”

“You can call me Lala.” The pack leader smiled humourlessly. “Everyone does. I should thank you for your kind gift. I regret that I was thoughtless enough not to get you anything in return.” She made another gesture, and a different wolf came and dragged the opened package further into the wolves’ lair.

“Your gracious hospitality is thanks enough,” Grandma said. “I came here wishing only to talk.”

“Then talk we shall,” Lala said. “But before we get down to business, I simply must show you around our humble home and let you see for yourself how we do things around here.” Before Grandma had a chance to accept or reject the offer, Lala turned to the crowd of wolves assembled behind her. “Go about your business as usual and pretend that Grandma and I aren’t here.” A moment later, the wolves had obediently dispersed and Lala was at Grandma’s side.

“That’s very kind of you, but I—”

“I insist,” Lala said.

The thought of going further into the wolves’ lair didn’t appeal to Grandma, but she reminded herself that if the wolves meant her harm, then going further in would make little difference. And if she refused her host’s hospitality, that might make this situation even more perilous than it already was.

She allowed Lala to lead her further up the slope and onto a rocky plateau, with a raised platform fronting a sheer rock cliff face on one side and a steep precipice on the other. The cliff face held several cave openings, too dark to see inside from this distance. The opposite side, the one that was open to the air, overlooked a marvellous view of the forest, although Grandma wasn’t in the mood to enjoy it.

Besides the way they had come, there were many snaking, sloping paths that led to places out of sight. Grandma knew roughly how many wolves were supposed to be in the pack, and the gathering that had greeted her a moment ago represented less than half of them. This winding labyrinth of ledges and cliffs could have concealed that many wolves many times over.

Some of the wolves Lala had told to go about their business were now lounging here, appearing to be enjoying the sunlight or talking idly amongst themselves in voices too low to carry. They all pointedly avoided looking at Grandma and Lala, taking seriously Lala’s command to act as if she and her guest were not there. Only Boro remained standing. Grandma could see him trying to watch them out of the corner of his eye without it being obvious that he was doing so. He was not succeeding.

When they stopped walking, Grandma positioned herself so that Lala would be facing away from Boro while they talked. “This seems like a fascinating place to live,” she said. “What do you use those caves for?” She indicated the openings in the cliff face.

“Most of them are for shelter,” Lala said. “That one over there,” she indicated a cave that looked indistinguishable from all the others, “is where we store our food.”

That would be where the blueberries would have been taken, Grandma surmised. Along with, perhaps, the former members of her herd. “I see,” she said. “And what’s over there?” This time, she indicated one of the paths that led away from the plateau.

“How funny that you should ask after that one in particular. Let me show you,” Lala said, and led Grandma along it. It took them to a smooth, slightly sloped surface of rock that overlooked the forest, like the plateau had done, but from a different angle this time. There were no other wolves here. “I take it you have no idea what this place was used for?”

“None at all.”

“Do you see that hill over there, near Sawa Sawa Mountain?”

“I see it,” Grandma said, although in truth, her eyes weren’t what they once were, and it was little more than a green blob with nothing but the larger green blob of Sawa Sawa Mountain to act as a reference point.

“That hill is where your grandson would leave signals to his boyfriend. And this,” Lala gestured to encompass the surface they were standing on, “is where Gabu would leave his reply.”

Mei hadn’t told Grandma that particular detail of their story. “Did you know about this at the time?” she said.

“I knew Gabu was communicating with someone, and I was very close to deciphering their code when the two of them got themselves caught.”

Grandma tried to focus on the hill Lala had indicated. She thought she recognised it, although it wasn’t a place she had given any thought to until now. “They worked so hard to keep their relationship secret from us. I wish they hadn’t had to.”

“In fairness to them,” Lala said, “we would have killed Gabu if we’d found out. We tried to, in fact. And you drove Mei out.”

“I’m afraid we did,” Grandma said. “I deeply regret how I and the rest of the herd treated Mei after we learned of his relationship with Gabu.” She remembered one of the few details she had been able to learn about Lala from her various sources, and decided this was as good a time as any to put it to use. “It must have been hard for the pack, learning that Gabu had been disobeying your laws. Did you know him well?”

“He was a packmate, nothing more. The only time I really spoke to him was when I was trying to find out who he was meeting with and why.”

Grandma nodded in acknowledgement. Gabu had assured her that Lala had been romantically interested in him, although perhaps Gabu wasn’t the best judge of such things, or perhaps Lala was choosing not to discuss it. “Do you think your former leader was right to handle the situation the way he did?”

Lala smiled. “I like to think that we have a more enlightened view now on what constitutes acceptable behaviour for a wolf, at least when it comes to consorting with goats. Here we are, talking civilly together, and if anyone has a problem with that, they can take it up with me. Speaking of which, I doubt you came all this way just to talk about how much we regret what happened with Gabu and Mei.”

“Quite right,” Grandma said, and adopted the voice she used when speaking as Elder. “I’m here on behalf of the Sawa Sawa goat herd to propose an alliance between us and the Baku Baku wolf pack. I believe that all of us stand more to gain by cooperating with each other than from the constant opposition that has been the tradition until now.”

“An alliance?” Lala said mirthfully. “I would love to hear what you think your herd could do that would benefit us—save for the obvious, of course. As I’m sure you’re aware, your people form an important part of our diet, and it would take a significant incentive for us to consider giving that up.”

“I understand this all too well,” Grandma said. “I don’t expect you to stop eating goats, but we may be able to negotiate certain conditions under which you could refrain from doing so. As for what we could offer in return, that remains to be seen.”

Lala’s face became more serious. “What sort of conditions did you have in mind?”

“For a start, we would ask that you leave children and new mothers alone. You may not know this, but my daughter was killed by wolves when her child, my Mei, was very young. As heartbreaking as it was to lose my daughter, what made it worse was seeing Mei grow up without a mother. Since then, I’ve seen many similar tragedies befall the children and mothers of our herd, some even in the short time that I’ve spent as Elder. It’s a hurt that we could all do without.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Lala said, sounding almost as if she meant it. “As I’m sure you know, young goats are one of our most dependable sources of food. They’re so easy to catch that even Beach can manage it most days, and after all, you’re always making more of them, so it’s not like we’re going to run out. But if it means so much to you, perhaps we could be persuaded to give them up. Who will you offer up in place of the children and mothers we could have eaten but didn’t?”

“No one,” Grandma said firmly. “I could not ask anyone to let themselves be eaten, nor will we do anything that makes it easier for you to kill us. What we offer instead is favours and wisdom. I’m told that your pack has a respectable knowledge of herbal medicine, for example, but perhaps there are things we know that you do not, things that could save lives or ease suffering among your people. Our young Mii is the most skilled healer I’ve ever known, and she would certainly agree to treat any wolves in need of help.”

“Interesting,” Lala said. “What you propose could be of great value to us, possibly enough to justify acceding to some of your requests.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Grandma said. “Should we discuss specific arrangements, or do you need to confer with your pack first?”

“The pack will do what I say,” Lala said. “But I see no reason to rush into this. How about we meet up again tomorrow, at Sawa Sawa Mountain this time, and finalise the agreement there and then?”

“You want to come to Sawa Sawa Mountain?” Grandma said, keeping her face and tone perfectly pleasant.

“Of course,” Lala said. “I couldn’t ask you to come all this way a second time. And besides, I wouldn’t want anyone thinking that the Elder of the Sawa Sawa goat herd only agreed to our terms because they were negotiated in a potentially hostile environment. It wouldn’t be any trouble, would it?”

“No trouble at all,” Grandma said with hardly a moment’s hesitation. “It’s decided, then.”

“Excellent,” Lala said. And then, without turning her head away from Grandma, she said, “Can I help you, Boro?”

The young wolf had been watching them for the past several minutes from behind the cliff face where the path curved around. Grandma had been trying her best to ignore him in the hope that Lala wouldn’t notice him there. He startled when Lala addressed him, and made the mistake of retreating further into cover. He slunk out again a moment later, which was the right decision.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just, um…”

“You’ve never seen a live goat up close before who wasn’t running away from you?” Grandma said calmly, smiling at Boro. “What’s your name?”

“Um, I’m Boro, ma’am, and yes, that was it. Sorry, Lala.”

“I’m sure there’s nothing to be sorry for,” Grandma said. “Lala and I were just making arrangements to see each other again tomorrow.”

“Quite right,” Lala said. “Now, a small gesture of goodwill. Boro, tell the rest of the pack that from this moment onwards, until sunset tomorrow, no goats are to be killed. On pain of death.”

“Hei,” Boro said in acknowledgement, and left hurriedly.

Grandma sighed inwardly. She hadn’t asked Boro to keep an eye on her during her visit here, and she doubted very much that he would be of any practical assistance if the worst came to the worst. He would, at least, ensure that everyone in the pack was aware of Lala’s order, and let Grandma know if Lala rescinded it the moment she was gone. She hoped that Lala had believed the excuse for why Boro had been spying on them; the young wolf could be in serious trouble if not, but there was nothing she could do about that right now.

The two leaders made small talk as Lala escorted Grandma back to the entrance to the wolves’ lair, and soon, Grandma was making her way back down the slopes of Baku Baku Valley and toward the relative safety of the forest.

As she went, Grandma set her mind to thinking about how she might tell her herd that the leader of the Baku Baku wolf pack would be paying them a visit. It would be a test of her authority and the herd’s trust in her judgement, and she was certain that Lala had meant it as such. But there was one detail that even Lala couldn’t have predicted, and which would make convincing the herd all the more difficult.

Most of them had no idea she was visiting the wolves at all today.