Chapter 6

The news of Rosso’s death hit the herd hard. Every death was a tragedy, but Rosso had been a pillar of the community. Everyone knew him, and whether they liked him or not (quite often it was not), he was as much a part of Sawa Sawa Mountain as the mountain itself. Waking up to find him gone was like waking up to find that the mountain had sprouted legs and moved somewhere else, or just vanished entirely.

Even though everyone knew that as neither a mother nor a child, Rosso was not protected by their arrangement with the wolves, there had been until now a sense that everyone was made safer by the arrangement. To some extent, even Grandma had fooled herself into believing it was true. But at the end of the day, wolves were wolves and goats were goats; you couldn’t expect predators to be charitable to prey.

The potential for cooperation with the wolves wasn’t at an end, though. What Grandma desperately needed—what the herd needed—was something that the wolves wanted more than to eat goats, and which only the goats could give to them. Unfortunately, there was very little Grandma had that the wolves wanted.

Once again, Grandma went over the resources she had access to. She was friends with one present and one former member of the Baku Baku wolf pack. She knew the Elders of the Para Para Fields and Suzu Suzu Plateau goat herds, although there wasn’t much they could do to help. She knew where to find blueberries, which Lala seemed to like, but how many blueberries was one goat worth? They could threaten to move away and force the wolves to move with them, but that would be just as inconvenient for everyone, and leaving the territory of one wolf pack usually meant entering that of another.

Disheartened by yet another series of dead ends, Grandma returned to the day-to-day duties that came with being Elder: checking in with everyone, listening to their problems and offering solutions. In the past, Rosso would often help with this, usually uninvited and offering contradictory (although not necessarily bad) advice. He would have made a good Elder, Grandma thought, if only he’d been lucky enough to live that long.

She found Tapu wandering by himself some distance from the meadow. When he noticed her there, he abruptly started grazing. He didn’t respond when Grandma came to stand beside him.

“The grass here is rather bland, I’ve always thought,” Grandma said after a while.

“It’s okay,” Tapu said. He took another bite, chewing it absentmindedly.

“I remember Rosso used to like it,” Grandma said, “although I never understood why. He always said it had a more refined taste than the grass elsewhere.”

At the mention of Rosso’s name, Tapu stopped chewing.

“I think that this place will always remind me of him,” Grandma said.

“He shouldn’t have died,” Tapu said. His voice was hoarse.

Grandma bowed her head sorrowfully.

“He was always so cautious and sensible. And then after all that, all it took was one mistake. What was the point?”

“Rosso’s caution was a good example for many of us,” Grandma said.

“But what good did it do him?” Tapu stared at the grass.

“It wasn’t Rosso’s fault that he died. We shouldn’t let the way his life ended undo everything he taught us while he was alive. He lives on in the people his life changed for the better.”

Tapu didn’t say anything. Grandma took a bite of the grass and chewed it thoughtfully. When she took the time to really think about it, this grass did taste different to most other grass she’d tasted. It wasn’t good or bad, just unique.

“It’s the wolves’ fault,” Tapu said at last.

Grandma didn’t comment on that. Tapu needed to feel what he was feeling, and even if blaming the wolves for Rosso’s death wouldn’t help matters, it also didn’t do any harm, at least in this moment. Losing people to wolves was part of being a goat. Tapu had been through this many times before, as had everyone.

Grandma was grazing by the river when Remi and Bima arrived, Remi’s daughter Yū and Bima’s daughter Aiju playing together as they walked. More or less all the mothers in the herd were friends with one another, or at least tolerated each other’s company for their children’s sake. Grandma suspected that in Remi and Bima’s case, it was mostly the latter.

“Good afternoon,” Grandma said as they arrived, and the three adult goats began talking as the two kids played around them.

It was Remi who first mentioned Grandma’s arrangement with the wolves. “I must say, I feel much more relaxed now that I’m not having to worry about my Yū being eaten. And to think, so much misery could have been avoided if we’d done this years ago. So many children who would have grown up by now.”

Bima shook her head at that remark. “It’s a slippery slope,” she said. “What will the wolves demand from us next?”

“If the Baku Baku wolf pack wants anything more from us, that will be an opportunity for us to request additional favours in return,” Grandma said. “I already have several ideas for things I would like to ask of them.”

“And where would it end?” Bima said. “Would all of us be expected to serve the wolves day and night or else risk being eaten? There’s no way we could have a fair and equal partnership with them, not when all they have to do in return for our favours is refrain from killing us.”

“I see what you mean,” Remi said, “but I think so long as we don’t take it too far, this arrangement can only be good for us.”

“I would never agree to anything that puts the interests of the herd at risk,” Grandma said.

“Fine,” Bima said. She returned to her grazing and said no more on the matter for the remainder of the conversation.

A few days later, it was once again time for Mii to pay her visit to the wolves. This time, no one came to meet her at the base of the valley, so Mii ascended the slope on her own.

When she reached the plateau, all the wolves turned to stare at her. Neither Lala nor Boro were in sight. It wasn’t until some of the wolves started to lick their lips that Mii realised she was hesitating, and the wolves were sensing her fear. She had definitely got the right day, hadn’t she? Surely these wolves knew she was here by appointment? Lala wasn’t here. Neither was Boro. If one of these wolves decided to attack her, would the others stop them?

One of the wolves was walking towards her. It was smirking.

Mii was just about to turn and run when the wolf said, “Hey, uh, thanks for your help last week. That root you gave me really helped.” Mii blinked in surprise, and then looked at the wolf properly. It was Tomo, and what she had thought was a smirk was actually a nervous smile.

“Oh, it was no trouble,” Mii said, managing a smile in return. “Do you know where Lala is, or perhaps Boro?”

“Lala’s gone out. I’ll fetch Boro for you.” Tomo bounded further into the lair, showing no sign of any remaining discomfort from his stomachache. So the sun root had worked, Mii thought. That was one cure she now knew worked for wolves as well as goats.

The other wolves on the plateau continued to stare at her, although they seemed less threatening now. She stared back at each of them in turn, and most looked away quickly.

Tomo returned less than a minute later, accompanied by Boro.

“Good morning, mister wolf,” Mii said to Boro. “I’m here for my weekly duties. Who should I see to first?”

Boro looked to Tomo, who shrugged. “Um,” Boro said, “Lala’s out right now. She didn’t leave me with any instructions for you. I guess I could ask around and see if anyone needs healing.”

Mii sighed to herself. If no one else was going to take charge and make sure her time was well-spent, she might as well do it herself. “Take me to somewhere reasonably private,” she said to Boro. “Whoever wants to see me, bring them to me one at a time. Stay nearby in case they get any funny ideas, but don’t watch or listen to our conversations. Got all that?”

A few of the other wolves snickered. “Hey, Boro’s taking orders from a goat,” one said to another.

Mii turned to the wolf who had spoken. “You’re more than welcome to take his place.”

That shut him up, and the other wolves began laughing at him instead of at Boro. Boro still looked embarrassed, but Tomo gave her another awkward smile, so Mii felt that she’d handled that correctly.

“You can use one of the empty sleeping caves,” Boro said. “I’ll take you there.”

“Kazu found a weird spot on her back,” Tomo said. “Do you think you could take a look at it?”

“I’ll see her first,” Mii said. She followed Boro to an unoccupied cave, went inside and turned to stand facing the entrance, trying to look like she belonged there in this space meant for wolves.

“Should I just wait outside?” Boro said.

“Yes,” Mii said, “and keep your eyes and ears pointed away whenever I’m seeing someone.”

“What if someone tries to hurt you?”

“If you’re worried, just remind them before they come in here what Lala will do to them if anything happens to me.”

“That ought to do it,” Boro said with a smile.

Tomo and Kazu arrived then.

“It’s good to see you again,” Mii said to Kazu. “Is Tomo staying with you or would you like him to leave?”

“He’s staying,” Kazu said firmly.

“All right. What can I help you with?”

Kazu glanced at Tomo, who nodded encouragingly. Kazu sighed. “There’s a spot on my back that I don’t remember being there before. I’m sure it’s nothing, but Tomo thinks I should get it looked at.”

“Can you show me?” Mii said.

Kazu lay on the floor of the cave, and Tomo delicately used a claw to push away the fur behind Kazu’s right shoulder. It took him a few tries to find the right spot. “Here it is,” he said.

Mii peered closely at it. It was a small, flat raised area of skin, slightly redder than the surrounding skin. “Is it itchy?” Mii said.

Kazu nodded.

“Are there any other spots like it?”

“This is the only one I could find,” Tomo said.

“It’s a mosquito bite,” Mii said. “It should go away in a day or two.”

“I told you,” Kazu said to Tomo.

“There’s a small chance that the bite will develop into an infection,” Mii said, “which could become quite serious if it happens. You were right to be cautious.”

“What do we do if there’s an infection?” Tomo said.

“Send Boro to fetch me if there are any other symptoms, like a fever or coughing. But so long as you don’t scratch at it, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”

“Great. Okay. Are we done here?” Kazu said.

“Thanks again for your help,” Tomo said.

“No problem. Can you ask Boro to send the next person in?”

As it turned out, there was no one else who needed treating that day. “I’m not sure why Lala wants you to come every week,” Boro said after the third time asking around the pack. “We don’t usually have sick wolves that often.”

“If something does come up, it’s best that I see it before it gets too serious,” Mii said.

“For really urgent things, we can always just come and find you,” Boro said.

“It’s not always easy to tell when something is serious. I think once a week is a good balance.”

“All right. I guess I’ll see you next week then.” Boro escorted her back to the entrance.

“I’ll bring Grandma with me next time to see Lala for their review of how things are going,” Mii said.

“Sounds good. I’ll let Lala know.”

After a few more uneventful days, Mii was grazing in the meadow one morning when she heard a cry of alarm from the opposite side of the meadow. More cries and panicked bleats followed soon after.

Mii looked around and saw a commotion forming on the outskirts of the meadow. There was a brown wolf who looked like Boro standing in the meadow, panting and looking around frantically. Every goat in the vicinity took one look at the wolf and ran, all except for Grandma, who had been nearby and was already walking calmly towards the wolf. Mii hurried in the same direction.

Grandma and Mii arrived at the same time, just as Boro said hurriedly, “Kazu’s bite has gotten worse. There’s a red spot of wet fur and she’s got a fever.”

Grandma took a step back, deferring to Mii.

“Okay,” Mii said. “We’re going to need a few things.”

It took a couple of minutes for Mii to convince Boro that they had time to collect herbs before she visited Kazu. “I’m pretty sure I know what’s wrong with her, and if I’m right, it’ll be quicker this way.”

She sent Boro to get more of the sun root that had helped Tomo while she foraged nearby for the other two things she would need: cone flower, a tall flower with long, pink leaves; and bulb root, a white root that grew under long, green stalks and which split into smaller segments.

Having gathered all three herbs, Mii and Boro walked calmly (at Mii’s insistence) up to Baku Baku Valley. Lala was waiting outside Kazu and Tomo’s cave and caught Mii’s eye as she arrived.

“I hope you don’t mind if I sit in on this one,” Lala said.

They set down the herbs at the mouth of the cave. “So long as Kazu doesn’t mind,” Mii said.

“She doesn’t,” Lala said. She sniffed at the herbs and gestured for Mii to go inside.

Inside the cave was an almost identical scene to when Mii had treated Tomo’s stomachache, except this time it was Kazu who was in visible discomfort and Tomo who was lying beside and comforting her. Tomo looked up at Mii with teary eyes when she entered. Kazu mostly looked irritable, but as Mii looked more closely, there was a slight weakness to the way she held herself.

“Tell me what happened since my last visit,” Mii said.

“The bite got larger,” Tomo said, gesturing to the same spot on Kazu’s back. Indeed, the fur there was matted and red. “And she hasn’t been acting like her usual self.”

“I told you, I’m fine,” Kazu said. “It’s just a hot spot; it’ll go away on its own.”

“She’s got a fever too,” Tomo said, ignoring Kazu’s protest.

“Have you been scratching at the bite?” Mii said.

Kazu didn’t meet her eyes. “Maybe a little bit.”

“That’s what you’ve been doing every time you sneak away from me, isn’t it?” Tomo said. “Mii told you not to.”

“Your bite has become infected,” Mii said. “If you’ve got a fever too, then it must be quite a bad one. There’s a chance this won’t get better on its own.”

“Will it get worse?” Tomo said.

“Quite possibly, if we don’t treat it.”

“Fine,” Kazu said. “What’s the treatment?”

“I’m going to apply a paste of cone flower to fight the infection, and I’ll give you some sun root and bulb root to make sure it doesn’t spread inside you.”

“Not this one,” Lala said from behind her. Mii turned and saw that Lala was pointing to the bulb root. “It’s poisonous.”

“Okay, I didn’t know that. It’s fine for goats. Are the other two all right?”

Lala nodded. Mii wondered how Lala could be so sure, but the sun root had helped with Tomo, and the cone flower was only going on the outside.

Mii ground the cone flower into a paste and began rubbing it into the red mark on Kazu’s back. Kazu made a hissing sound through her teeth.

“I can also get you something to help with the itching,” Mii said. “Here’s the sun root. Best to eat all of it since you can’t have the bulb root.”

“Will she be okay?” Tomo said.

“I think so,” Mii said, “so long as you keep applying the cone flower and taking the sun root once a day. Boro knows where to find both of those now. I’ll come back tomorrow and watch you prepare them to make sure you’re doing it right.”

“Thank you so much,” Tomo said tearfully.

“It was no trouble,” Mii said, and she left the cave. “Can I have a word with you?” she said to Lala.

“Of course,” the pack leader said, taking Mii aside.

“How did you know that the bulb root was dangerous but the other plants were safe? Have you seen them before?”

“Instinct,” Lala said. “Except for the sun root, which I had when I was a pup.” She glanced over at Boro, Tomo and Kazu, who were still talking to each other in the cave. “These younger wolves don’t know how to listen to their instincts; they just believe what you tell them without thinking for themselves. It’s sad, really.” Lala’s face suddenly became serious. “I hope I can count on you to not take advantage of any of them?”

Mii’s eyes widened at that. Surely Lala couldn’t possibly know… Wait, was this about… “Boro really was just trying to help me learn,” Mii said. “I promise, there’s nothing like that going on between us.”

Lala scrutinised her as if she had just performed an unexpected trick. “My mistake,” Lala said. “Was there anything else you wanted to say to me?”

Mii felt relieved, and more than a little silly for thinking that Lala might know about Boro’s betrayal. If Lala had known about that, she certainly wouldn’t be talking to Mii about it. “Can you look over each herb I use before I give it to anyone?” she said.

Lala smiled. “I think that would be a good idea.”

The following day marked two weeks since Lala had agreed to Grandma’s arrangement. In that time, Rosso had been the only goat to have died, which made it one of the better fortnights since the winter had ended. Grandma hated thinking of just one death as “better,” but it was. It could have been a coincidence, of course. There had been other fortnights with only one or even no deaths, but they didn’t happen often. In any case, killing fewer goats hadn’t been part of the arrangement, so that wasn’t what they should be looking at to determine how well it was going. The only thing that mattered, at least for now, was that the wolves kept to their agreement and only killed adult goats with no young children depending on them. So far, the wolves had done so.

Shortly before midday, Grandma and Mii set off towards Baku Baku Valley. Mii stopped on the way to harvest some spike leaf for the wolf she was looking after. The discovery that the gel of the spike leaf plant could be used to soothe skin afflictions had been made by Mii herself. Grandma, who was a fairly good healer, had no idea how Mii had known to try it. All Grandma’s knowledge of healing had been passed down from her own grandmother, who, as far as she knew, had received it from yet another ancestor. Grandma had never heard of anyone discovering a new herbal remedy, but Mii seemed to have a knack for it. After all, new remedies had to be discovered by someone, so why shouldn’t it be Mii?

When they reached the wolves’ lair and found Lala waiting for them there, Grandma bowed respectfully to her, and Mii hesitantly followed suit.

Lala did not bow back. “Greetings, your Elderliness. I hope these past two weeks have treated you well.”

“I am glad to say that they have,” Grandma replied.

“Is this another present for me?” Lala said, looking behind Grandma.

For a moment, Grandma thought Lala was talking about Mii, but Mii stepped forward and set the spike leaf down in front of Lala. “This is spike leaf,” Mii said. “I’m planning to extract the gel from inside the leaf and apply it to Kazu’s bite. It should soothe the itching so that Kazu doesn’t make the infection any worse.”

Lala sniffed at the thick leaf with its serrated edges. “Kazu won’t be ingesting it?”

“No,” Mii said. “That can be dangerous, especially if you pick the wrong kind of spike leaf.”

Lala nodded. “Go ahead.”

Mii picked up the spike leaf and headed unaccompanied further into the lair.

“I must say,” Lala said, “your healer has impressed me. She’s certainly made an impression on some of our younger wolves, as well.”

“And I must thank you for upholding your side of the agreement,” Grandma said. “Has it been much trouble?”

“Not too much,” Lala said. “There was only one instance I know of where a hunt was interrupted because our would-be prey turned out to be a mother goat, but we quickly adapted.”

Grandma wondered if that had been the day Rosso had died, and which mother it had been who had come so close to dying in his place. She nodded her head. “Does this mean that you are happy for our agreement to continue indefinitely?”

“Most certainly,” Lala said. “So long as your healer continues to treat our ailments to the best of her ability, you have my word that we will continue to abide by your request.”

“I’m very glad to hear you say so,” Grandma said. “Perhaps Mii could visit you more frequently in exchange for further compromises on your part?”

Lala gave a short, melodious laugh. “Nice try. If you want us to agree to any more ‘compromises,’ you’ll need to offer us something different in return.”

“If you have something in mind that you want from us, I would be happy to consider it, so long as it doesn’t put any of us at risk.”

“I’m afraid I can’t think of anything we’d want that you would agree to, but I’ll be sure to let you know if anything comes to mind.”