Chapter 3

The secluded pinnacle was hers alone; she’d made it clear that no other wolves were to approach. On a clear morning like today, she could see for miles around in all directions.

Look, she thought to herself, there’s the river. How mightily it bends the land to its will. And around it, there are the hills and valleys, who think themselves so unchangeable. And there, across the river from us, is Sawa Sawa Mountain. I do hope they’re looking forward to my visit. And far, far in the east—is it that mountain, I wonder, or is it the one next to it?—that is where my brother died on a foolish errand of spite. He should be happy, at least, to be buried alongside his beloved leader. And just a little ways further on, there live a goat and a wolf in an idyllic little forest where nothing bad ever happens.

As she continued to catalogue in her mind all the places the morning light touched—there’s Giza Giza Mountain, and there’s Soyo Soyo Pass—an olive brown warbler landed nervously on the far side of the pinnacle from her.

“Hello, Ugui,” Lala said. “Do you see Babi Babi Field over there?”

The warbler didn’t respond.

“Every so often, a herd of deer comes to graze there. Here one day, gone the next. Catching them there is quite the puzzle. I don’t suppose you could fly over there and let me know if they’ve arrived yet?”

The bird paused before saying, “Do I have to?”

“Of course not. It was just a thought. Forget I ever asked. Anyway, what have you come to tell me? Has young Boro sent a message to our friends at Sawa Sawa Mountain?”

“He told them what you said about asking the goats for more than they bargained for. It looked like Grandma was relieved to hear it was only that; she was more worried about whether you’d keep your promise not to hurt any of them.”

“I see. Thank you, Ugui.”

The warbler shifted uncomfortably. “If you really want me to check on the deer, I will. Just, please…” she trailed off.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lala said. “Just fly back home to your loving wife and we’ll say no more about it. Still living in that charming old oak tree?”

“I’ll let you know if I hear anything else,” Ugui said, and she flew away hurriedly.

So, Lala thought to herself, Grandma doubts whether the Baku Baku wolves keep their promises, does she? Now, where was I? Over there is Sowa Sowa Meadow, and there’s Moko Moko Mountain…

Grandma lay near the outskirts of the meadow. Behind her, Mii paced anxiously back and forth, and Tapu stood on watch, alert for any possible danger. It was already late afternoon, and there was still no sign of the Baku Baku leader.

“Maybe they’re not coming after all,” Tapu said.

“Are you sure she didn’t tell you a specific time?” Mii said.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Grandma said patiently, even though this was the fourth time Mii had asked that. “And I’m certain that she’ll come today.” Whether or not Lala would come wasn’t what was preying on Grandma’s mind. She looked at the slowly setting sun, the words of Lala’s promise echoing in her mind, and she knew with a dreadful certainty when Lala’s visit would come.

The rest of the herd was divided in their reactions to the impending visit. Grandma had told them the partial truth that Lala had promised not to hurt anyone during her visit; what she hadn’t told them was that the promise lasted for the entire day. She didn’t want anyone testing the extent of that promise, just in case some wolf out in the forest hadn’t heard about it or couldn’t control their appetite. As such, much of the herd remained at Sawa Sawa Mountain despite the potential risk, gossiping animatedly about what was to come. Others had fled to remote grazing spots despite the separate danger that came from isolation.

“Maybe we should go to Baku Baku Valley,” Mii said. “We can hold the discussion there and away from the rest of the herd.”

“I know this is stressful, but please try to calm yourself,” Grandma said gently. “The leader said she would be here today, and we have no reason to expect she won’t be. If nightfall arrives before she does, then we can make other plans.”

“If she’s going to come, why is she leaving it so late?” Tapu said.

Grandma took a deep breath. She didn’t want to give Mii and Tapu any further cause for concern, but at the same time, they deserved to know the full extent of the situation. Against her better judgement, she said, “When I told the herd yesterday that Lala promised not to harm anyone during her visit, that wasn’t quite what Lala said to me, although I thought it was an accurate summary at the time. What she actually told me was that no goat would be killed from the time she made the promise until sunset today.”

Mii let out a gasp even as Tapu was saying, “Well, that gives us less to worry about, doesn’t it?”

“What are you going to do if she arrives after sunset?” Mii said with a trace of panic in her voice.

“If that happens, then I’ll talk to her away from the herd,” Grandma said calmly.

“Wait,” Tapu said, “is that why she’s taking so long? If she’s waiting for her promise to run out, she must be planning to do something that would break it, right?”

“I think it’s more likely that she wants us to worry and feel as though she has all the power in this situation,” Grandma said. “That’s why we won’t let it worry us.”

“She kind of does have all the power, though,” Mii said. “If she decides we’re no use to her, she can just eat us whenever she likes, but if she does something we don’t like, there’s nothing we can do.”

“Unfortunately, that is true,” Grandma said. “We should be mindful of any way we can change that situation, either by making ourselves indispensable or by showing the wolves that we are not powerless.”

Lala watched with satisfaction as the western sky began to grow golden. She had timed their arrival perfectly. By now, the goats would have realised that their brief respite would soon be at an end, and they would be dreading what might happen when she arrived. She would be the big, scary wolf sauntering into their home and acting all friendly, and they would know that although she was their guest, it was they who were there on her sufferance.

The adorable green mound of Sawa Sawa Mountain peeked out from above the treetops ahead of them. It was actually rather endearing that the goats called it a mountain at all. Mountains were supposed to end in a point, not a dome, and they certainly didn’t have trees growing at the summit.

“How many different goats can you smell, Boro?” Lala said.

“Um,” Boro said, and sniffed the air. “More than I can count.”

“How come we never hunt here anymore?” Zack said.

“Plenty of food for everyone!” Beach added in that obnoxious, manic voice of his. Lala hated that voice with a passion, but Zack and Beach were loyal wolves and did what you told them to without question. And they always came in a pair, so as much as she would rather have left Beach behind and brought only Zack, she had to put up with both of them.

“Because hunts here almost always fail,” she said. “There are so many goats here that one of them is always looking in your direction, no matter which way you approach from. And once one of them sees you,” she made a sweeping gesture with her paw, “all of them are gone.”

“Yeah, but there are sometimes one or two stragglers, goats too old or sick to run fast enough,” Zack said.

“Who wants to eat old or sickly goats?” Lala said.

“I mean, a goat’s a goat,” Zack said, but he didn’t press the issue any further.

Beach said at lightning speed, “Goats are goats and goats are animals and wolves are animals and animals are animals so goats are wolves and wolves are goats,” and he and Zack burst out laughing together.

“Truly, you two have a dizzying intellect,” Lala said. She turned her attention back to Boro. “I don’t suppose you remember the Elder Goat’s scent well enough to find her again?”

“No, I don’t remember what she smells like at all,” Boro said.

“Really?” Lala said. “But she was right in front of you.”

A look of panic crossed over Boro’s face, which he tried unsuccessfully to hide. “Oh yeah,” he said, and closed his eyes as if trying to relive the moment. “Actually, I think I do remember.” He sniffed the air again. “She’s nearby.”

She desperately wanted to teach this young wolf how to lie convincingly. Even Gabu had exhibited a greater aptitude for guile; after all, he had managed to keep his association with a goat secret for more than a week. Instead, she only nodded. “Take us to her. Let’s make an entrance.”

As soon as they emerged from the forest, they saw Grandma lying on the grass of the meadow, accompanied by two other goats, whom Lala designated Goat One and Goat Two. Goat Two, who had been scanning the surroundings, noticed the wolves and said something to Grandma and Goat One. Grandma stood up at once, caught Lala’s eye, and bowed her head.

Lala kept her head held high, smiling sweetly as she led the others confidently forward. “Grandma, how pleasant it is to see you again.”

The Elder raised her head. She did not return Lala’s smile. “I wish I could say that the pleasure is all mine, but I do not appreciate the disrespect you have shown us by arriving in this manner.”

Lala was taken aback by this, which she made no effort to conceal. “I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about. I happen to hold you and your people in the highest regard.”

“In some respects, sure,” Goat One muttered.

“You say so with your words,” Grandma said, “but not with your actions. Arriving just before your promise not to harm us expires was not respectful; it was unkind. A leader like yourself should know better and strive to do better. Have I been unkind to you in any of our dealings so far?”

How dare she? It wasn’t Lala’s job to be kind to goats—the very thought of that was ridiculous. Her job was to get the best outcome possible for her pack, and if that meant being “unkind,” then so be it. It wasn’t as if Grandma wouldn’t have done the same in her position. Okay, fine, perhaps Grandma had given her a gift of delicious berries, which weren’t even poisonous, when their positions as guest and host had been reversed the day before. But that was only because Grandma had been at a disadvantage. She’d come to Lala, after all, a goat in a wolf’s lair, making outrageous demands that they change the way they hunt. Of course Grandma had needed to show her hosts respect; that was only pragmatic. Why should Lala, a wolf, have to return the favour now?

It was with a twinge of annoyance that Lala realised she hadn’t responded to Grandma’s question, and Grandma was still waiting for an answer. Goat One and Goat Two watched her carefully from either side of Grandma, and she could feel the other wolves’ eyes on her too. Now, in addition to being angry at Grandma, she was furious at herself for letting this goat get the better of her emotions. She had half a mind to call off this whole arrangement right now, but that would have looked petulant. She forced her jaw to unclench.

“You have not, and I apologise for any disrespect I may have inadvertently shown.” There. Was she happy now? If the Elder Goat wanted to play at being nice, if that was the game they were playing, then Lala would not be outdone. “That is to say, I apologise for my inconsiderateness in arriving so late. My companions and I will, of course, do you no harm during our visit, sunset or not.”

Now Grandma smiled, no doubt thinking she had won that exchange. She introduced the goats either side of her, but Lala wasn’t paying attention. Lala responded with automatic “Nice to meet you”s and “It’s a pleasure”s, and introduced her fellow wolves, but she committed neither goat’s name to memory. Goat Two, whose face was a constant frown, kept staring at her as if she was about to leap for the Elder’s throat, which, to be fair to him, had briefly crossed her mind. “Grumpy Goat,” she would call him from now on.

“Would you do us the honour of giving us a tour of this charming home of yours?” Lala said once the introductions had concluded.

“What, you mean you haven’t shown yourselves around here before?” Goat One said. Sassy Goat. She was Sassy Goat now.

“Please don’t be rude to our guests, Sassy Goat,” Grandma said. Okay, Grandma didn’t actually say “Sassy Goat,” but it amused Lala to pretend as if she had. “It would be my pleasure,” Grandma said to them.

Only now did Lala take the time to inspect her surroundings. It had been quite some time since she’d last “shown herself around” Sawa Sawa Mountain, although not much had changed. The ground was well-trodden by the hooves of countless generations of goats; it was no wonder they preferred Fuka Fuka Valley for grazing. None of the other goats she could see were grazing right now. They all stood in a cluster on the far side of the meadow, staring with apprehension and the tiniest bit of wonder at her and the other wolves. As Grandma took them on a slow, ambling walk around the rather dull meadow, the cluster of goats moved to keep a consistently large distance between them.

Grumpy Goat kept trying to interpose himself between the wolves and Grandma and Sassy Goat, until eventually Grandma told him to stop doing it. Lala gave automatic responses to Grandma’s droning commentary on this tree, and that bush, and the stream in that direction that you can’t quite see in this light but which looks marvellous on a sunny day. Boro seemed to be genuinely interested, and while he didn’t say much to the goats, he listened attentively to everything Grandma said.

After a short while, Sassy Goat broke off from them and engaged Zack and Beach in a separate conversation. Lala tried to listen to what they were saying, but they had moved too far back and she could only hear the occasional word. She caught Gabu’s name once or twice, which made her more curious, but she diligently maintained her pretence of acting polite to Grandma and kept her ears pointed forward.

The tour lasted until the light became too dim for Grandma to see clearly by, by which point they had covered only half the circumference of the meadow. Perhaps by coincidence, or perhaps not, the oak tree by the side of the mountain was one of the places Grandma didn’t get around to showing them.

“I really am truly sorry for arriving so late in the day,” Lala said. “I suppose we ought to discuss what we came here to talk about.”

“Indeed,” Grandma said. “I’d like to begin by telling you some more about the services we can offer in return for your kindness. Mii”—Lala had gotten bored of substituting the goats’ names in her head—“is the healer I told you about yesterday. She has agreed to treat the ailments of any wolf in need of help, and to explain her use of herbs as she does so.”

“I was given to understand that all your knowledge of herbal remedies would be shared with us upfront,” Lala said.

Grandma smiled. “I think an ongoing arrangement would be more agreeable to us. All of the remedies we know of will be available to you, should you need them.”

So long as we keep to your bargain, Lala thought. “Of course. Perhaps Mii could visit us at Baku Baku Valley once a week and we could send for her here in case of emergencies.”

“That would be fine,” Grandma said, and Mii nodded her approval. “If you should require any additional services from us…” Grandma began, but Lala cut her off.

“Oh, I think Mii’s assistance should be more than enough for the time being. It would be most unkind of me to expect more from you when you ask so little in return.”

The three goats, plus Boro, stared at Lala in surprise.

There, you weren’t expecting that, were you? Lala thought, although her face was all smiles. I bet you spent all day thinking up petty little things you could offer us to sweeten the deal, and now all that effort has gone to waste. “Speaking of which,” she said aloud, “I believe you asked us to avoid killing any of your children and mothers. Done. From this day forward, none of my wolves will be permitted to hunt juvenile goats, or any adult goats who are clearly accompanying them.”

Grandma recovered slightly from her surprise, and a smile showed on her face. “That would be incredibly kind of you,” she said earnestly, and Lala couldn’t help but feel a fleeting sense of satisfaction at causing that joy. That was silly, she told herself. She hadn’t agreed so readily to Grandma’s demands to make the Elder Goat happy; she’d done it to wrong-foot her opponent. There would be other opportunities to extract additional favours from the goats, and cementing their association here and now would ensure that those opportunities came about.

“Of course,” Lala felt the need to say, “I’m trusting you not to take advantage of my generosity. If I find that you’re attaching a juvenile goat to every group of goats who goes out to graze alone, then the deal’s off. We still need to eat.”

Grandma nodded. “There will be no deception. I will make sure of that.”

“Good. I believe that concludes our business for today. I look forward to seeing Mii at Baku Baku Valley tomorrow morning to begin her work, and perhaps the two of us can meet again in two weeks’ time to review how things are going.”

Mii and Grandma both signalled their assent to this, so the four wolves said their goodbyes and began the relatively short journey home.

“That went well,” Boro said.

“What were you and the healer goat talking about?” Lala asked Zack and Beach. She kept her voice casual, but Zack still recoiled slightly at the question.

“She asked us about Gabu,” Zack said, “about whether we knew him.”

“Go on,” Lala said. And when Zack hesitated, “You won’t be punished for telling me truthfully what you and the goat talked about. Keep in mind that I’ll be seeing her tomorrow, and I might just ask her to confirm what you say.”

“We said we used to be friends with him, and she asked what we thought of him being exiled. We told her that he broke the pack’s laws and he knew the consequences for that.” Zack hesitated again. “And then she said, wasn’t Lala breaking the laws by meeting with the Elder?”

Lala smiled pleasantly. “And what did you tell her?”

“We said that sure, Giro wouldn’t have liked it, but Lala’s the leader now, and if she thinks it’s fine, then it’s fine.”

“Quite right,” Lala said.

Zack looked relieved, and then tensed up again. “And then she asked us, did we miss Gabu? And we said, yeah, sometimes we do. He was a good friend to us.”

Beach nodded in agreement, his usual excitable energy muted somewhat.

“I miss him too,” Boro said quietly.

Now Lala was surrounded by mopey, sentimental wolves. It was starting to get on her nerves. “Well, not to worry. He’s in a better place now.”

“He’s not dead,” Boro said, although a slight smile returned to his face.

“I still don’t know what he was thinking, going off with that goat,” Zack said, “but I hope he’s happy, wherever he is.”

“A little over a year ago, you were trying to kill him,” Lala said.

“He definitely made some mistakes; no one’s denying that. But somehow, that doesn’t seem so important anymore,” Zack said. “Not with Giro and… and the others gone.”

And now Lala was thinking of Bari again. “You’re right,” she said shortly. “Chasing after him was pointless.”