Chapter 4

The morning after Lala’s visit, Mii set off on her own towards Baku Baku Valley. Tapu had wanted to go with her, but she’d insisted on going alone. The last thing she needed today was Tapu’s obnoxiously overprotective attitude getting in the way.

Grandma had assured her that she had nothing to worry about, and Mii was inclined to believe her. The wolves had no reason to go back on their agreement, certainly not while Mii was in the process of fulfilling the goats’ side of it. Still, she was a little apprehensive. Who knew what Lala wanted her for today? There might already be sick or injured wolves who needed her attention, or Lala might just want to establish a regular pattern of Mii coming to visit them just in case.

Or she might want to eat me, a voice in Mii’s head said. It was the same voice that always sounded the alarm whenever Boro or Gabu or another friendly wolf drew near. After spending so many months around Gabu in the Emerald Forest, she’d learned to ignore the voice. She wondered if Mei even heard it anymore.

When she arrived at Baku Baku Valley, she found Lala waiting for her at the base of the path that led up to the wolves’ lair. The white wolf smiled warmly at her. At least, Mii assumed warmth was what the smile was intended to convey. Perhaps that was being too charitable.

“Hello, Mii,” Lala said. “How are you this fine morning?”

Mii smiled back unflinchingly. “I’m fine. I’m glad we were all able to reach an understanding yesterday.”

They said little else to one another as Lala led the way up towards the top of the valley. (Or was the valley the place they were coming from? Mii had never been quite sure of that.) Having Lala with her calmed Mii’s nerves somewhat. Even though the pack’s leader wasn’t exactly what Mii would consider a “safe wolf” like Boro or Gabu, her presence was a sure sign that the wolves were expecting her here, and that she wasn’t walking into their midst unannounced.

When they reached the wolves’ lair, Mii saw for herself the rocky plateau Grandma had described from her own visit. Lupine heads turned toward them, their faces lighting up at the sight of yet another goat walking willingly into their domain.

Boro looked at her briefly and then looked away, making his the only head not pointed in their direction. He continued to ignore them until Lala called him over. The young wolf stood at once from where he had been lying and came to stand attentively in front of Lala.

“You remember Mii, don’t you?” Lala said.

“Hei,” Boro said. His eyes flicked to Mii for a moment, and then back to Lala.

“Good. Take her to see Tomo.” At that, Lala strode purposefully away from them, toward one of the winding paths that led deeper into the wolves’ lair, leaving Mii alone with Boro.

“You’d better do as she says,” Mii said teasingly.

“It’s good to see you again,” Boro said quietly, barely moving his mouth.

He took Mii to the raised ledge that occupied one side of the plateau, behind which was the cliff face dotted with caves. The ledge was at the same height as Mii’s head, slightly below Boro’s. The wolf hopped easily up onto the ledge, and then looked down at Mii with a worried expression. “If it’s too high for you, there’s a slope…”

Mii stood with the ledge to her side and placed her front hooves onto an almost invisible ridge in the stone. She then proceeded to walk diagonally up the side of the ledge until she could step up onto it.

The other wolves, who had been watching with interest, made general noises of amusement. “Hey, Boro,” one of them said, “where’d you find a goat that can fly?”

“What was that you were saying?” Mii said.

“Nothing,” Boro said, ignoring the other wolves. “Tomo’s right over here. I think Kazu’s with him.”

Mii followed Boro to one of the caves, wherein she saw two wolves around Boro’s age lying side by side. One had dark brown fur, the same shade as Gabu’s, and the other had lighter brown fur. The latter wolf was groaning quietly to himself, so Mii surmised that he was the Tomo she was here to see. That made the first wolf Kazu.

Kazu looked up at Mii as she stepped into the cave, and then her gaze turned to Boro, who remained standing just outside. “This is the healer goat?” Kazu said.

“Yep, this is Mii,” Boro replied.

Mii walked over to inspect Tomo. She couldn’t see any outward signs of injury. “Tell me what’s wrong,” she said.

“Stomach hurts,” Tomo moaned.

“Which stomach?” Mii said.

All three wolves stared at her as if she’d just said “which tail?”

“Um,” Boro said, “he only has one stomach. All wolves do.”

“Oh, right,” Mii said. She hadn’t known that. “Okay, I’m just going to check for signs of bloat.” She tapped a spot on the wolf’s lower-left back with her hoof and listened carefully for the distinctive sound of tightness that would indicate trapped gas or foam. She tapped it a few times but heard no such sound.

“That’s not where his stomach is,” Kazu said through gritted teeth.

“Right, of course,” Mii said. This was starting to look bad. If the wolves thought none of her knowledge would help them… “It’s just that the bloating can sometimes surface higher up,” she invented hurriedly, hoping Kazu wouldn’t know anything to contradict it.

“Perhaps if you roll onto your back, Tomo? That way, Mii can take a closer look,” Boro said.

“Yes, that’s a good idea,” Mii said, grateful for the hint.

Tomo manoeuvred with difficulty onto his back. Kazu indicated with her paw a spot low down on the wolf’s belly. “This is where his stomach is,” she said impatiently. And then more softly, “This is where it hurts, right, Tomo?”

“Yeah,” Tomo whined.

Mii was out of her depth. Since she needed to be seen doing something, she gently placed a hoof on the spot Kazu had indicated. That didn’t tell her anything. Next, she put her ear against it to listen. There was a faint gurgling sound, but she wasn’t sure if that was normal for a wolf. Okay, how would she treat stomachache in a goat if she couldn’t determine the cause? “Have you tried giving him sun root?” she said to Kazu.

“What’s sun root?” Kazu said.

Mii described the pale yellow and purple flowers with the orange, strong-tasting root, and Boro said he’d seen it growing not far from Baku Baku Valley. He left to get some, which left Mii standing awkwardly with Kazu and Tomo.

“When did the aching start?” Mii said.

“Yesterday,” Kazu said, gazing sympathetically down at Tomo, who continued to lie on his back.

“Did he eat any of the blueberries Grandma brought the other day? We were told they were safe for wolves to eat, but perhaps eating something unfamiliar could have upset something.”

“No,” Tomo said. “Lala ate most of those.”

“He hasn’t eaten anything unusual,” Kazu said. “This just happens to him sometimes.”

“That’s good news,” Mii said, and Kazu’s eyes shot up to glare at her. “I mean,” Mii hastened to say, “if he’s gotten over it before, we know it probably isn’t anything life-threatening, so we just need something to ease the discomfort. The sun root should help with that.”

Kazu nodded in agreement.

While they waited for Boro to return, Mii asked a few more questions about Tomo’s ailment. Kazu answered most of the questions on Tomo’s behalf, and by the time Boro returned with the root, Mii was quite certain that they were mates.

“Only eat a small amount now,” Mii said. “If your body doesn’t reject it, take some more every couple of hours, increasing the amount each time until the discomfort goes away. If the ache gets worse, even slightly, stop eating the root and send Boro to fetch me immediately.”

Kazu stared at the pale orange root suspiciously. “I don’t know if I trust this,” she said to Boro.

Before Boro could answer, Mii said, “What do you think Lala would do if I intentionally poisoned a wolf, or even accidentally? She’d call off the arrangement and you lot would go back to hunting our children. Even aside from that, I would never betray someone who was trusting me to help them get better.”

Kazu scrutinised her for several moments. Finally, she said, “All right, but I’m having some first. It won’t do me any harm, will it?”

“If it’s safe for Tomo, then it should be safe for you,” Mii said. “Like I said, start with a small amount, just in case.”

Cautiously, Kazu took a tiny bite of the root. Her eyes widened and she spat it out. “Why does it taste so hot? Why can I still taste it?”

“It just has a strong flavour,” Mii said. She bent down and took a moderately sized bite of the root, chewing and swallowing it quickly. Her mouth felt like a sunny day, the kind that made you want to stay in the shade. “You sort of get used to it after a while. I had it a lot when I was a kid.”

Kazu took another bite, swallowing it this time. They waited for a few minutes, after which she said, “I feel fine.”

At Kazu’s encouragement, Tomo swallowed a similarly small bite of the root. “It’s not too bad,” he said. “Actually, I think I feel a little better already.”

Mii smiled. “It takes a few hours to work. Sometimes, just doing something that you think will cure you works faster than any medicine.”

“Well, whatever works,” Tomo said. “Thanks.”

Mii and Boro left the cave. “The sun root will help, right?” Boro said worriedly. “Tomo’s a good wolf.”

“I have no reason to think it won’t,” Mii said. “Do wolves really have only one stomach?”

“Yeah, it’s only goats and deer that have more than one. Did you really not know that?”

“I’ve never bitten another animal open,” Mii said. “Honestly, I’m not sure how much of what I know will work for wolves. The anatomy is so different.”

Before either of them could say anything else, Lala returned and gestured for them to follow her into an empty cave. “Well, how did it go?” she said.

“I wasn’t able to identify the cause of Tomo’s stomachache,” Mii said, “but I’ve given him some sun root that should hopefully ease the pain.”

“Sun root?” Lala said uncertainly. “I thought that was for muscle growth.”

“It’s good for a lot of things,” Mii said, relieved that Lala had at least heard of it being used medicinally before. Deciding it would be for the best if Lala knew what to expect, she said, “I’m finding that some of what I know isn’t applicable to wolves. It may take some time for me to adjust my techniques.”

A dubious look crossed over Lala’s face, and she narrowed her eyes. She was about to say something when Boro said, “But I’m going to be helping her learn. I’m going to teach Mii about wolf anatomy so she can be more useful to us as a healer.”

Lala raised her brow, and then smiled. “Well, all right. Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Mii stifled a laugh.

Boro blushed. “I meant like, number of stomachs, that sort of thing.”

Lala turned suddenly to look sharply at Mii. “You seem awfully comfortable around wolves,” she said. “Let me guess, you were acquainted with Gabu?”

“Oh, um…” Mii took a moment to make sure she wasn’t about to reveal anything she shouldn’t. “Yes. I lived in the same forest as him for most of the past few months, until just recently. I know that wolves can’t help eating meat, and that there’s no reason why we shouldn’t try to be nicer to one another.”

“Is that why Grandma’s going to all this trouble?” Lala said. “So that we can be ‘nice’ to each other?”

“That’s not the main reason,” Mii said. “Mostly, we just want things to be better for us. The goat who passed away a couple of days ago—her name was Hana—her parents and everyone else who knew her are distraught. I know you wouldn’t eat meat if you had any other choice, but any compromises you can make that would make things less bad for us would do more good than you can possibly imagine.”

By the time Mii stopped talking, she got the impression that Lala was no longer listening, and was merely waiting for her turn to speak. “I’m sorry for the distress we may have caused you,” she said. It sounded more like a courtesy than a genuine apology. “But I’m not sure where you got the impression that we regret our desire to eat meat. I mean, can you imagine what life would be like for a wolf who didn’t hunt? She would be an aimless bundle of claws, fangs and unspent energy. Hunting isn’t just a way of getting food; our entire society is structured around it. If we didn’t hunt, we wouldn’t be wolves.”

Hearing that disheartened Mii somewhat. She glanced at Boro, but he was looking at Lala, his face neutral. “Gabu doesn’t feel that way,” she said.

Lala’s mouth turned upwards in a fraction of a smile. “Yes, well, Gabu always was a little unusual. If anyone would fall for a goat, it would be him. Now, don’t look at me like that. I may not be overly sympathetic to your plight, but I’m willing to work with Grandma in pursuit of any arrangement that’s mutually beneficial to us. You just keep doing your job, and we’ll keep to our end of the bargain, you have my word.”

“I suppose that’s fair enough,” Mii said. “Speaking of doing my job, is there anyone else you need me to see today?”

“Not today,” Lala said. “Come back here in seven days and we’ll see. Boro will show you the way out.”

“Hei,” Boro said, and he walked with Mii towards the exit.

“Does she really not care about the harm that hunting causes?” Mii said quietly.

Boro looked awkward. “It really is just a part of life for us. A really important part. It isn’t that we don’t care; it’s just that most of us never think about it from the prey’s point of view.”

“That sounds an awful lot like not caring,” Mii said.

“It doesn’t make them bad people,” Boro said. “I was the same before I met you and Grandma. Just…” he sighed, “give them time to get to know you, and maybe they’ll see things differently.”

“Okay. Are you really going to teach me about wolf anatomy?”

“If you want me to. Would that make it easier for you to keep us healthy and impress Lala?”

“It might help, yes. Tomorrow at Soyo Soyo Pass?”

“See you there.”

They reached the path that led back down to the forest. It would have looked weird for Boro to accompany her any further, so it was there they parted ways.