Chapter 9

The wind that whistled outside their hollow settled as the sun began to set. The evening glow shone upon the mossy bark that covered the eastern wall of their home, and upon the pale green feathers of Kekyo, who was already curled up asleep atop a pile of soft grass. Ugui gazed upon her fondly. All she had done, all she would surely be asked to do again, she had done for Kekyo. She had to remember that.

She spotted Mii and Grandma walking towards her tree. To stop them from calling out and perhaps waking Kekyo, she glided down and landed in front of them.

“Good evening, Ugui,” Grandma said. “Tonight is your night to check in with our friend at Baku Baku Valley, correct?”

“That’s right,” Ugui said. “Do you have a message for him?”

“We do,” Grandma said. “Please tell him that we’ve successfully arranged a meeting with the leader of the Gara Gara Mountain wolf pack.”

Ugui blinked in surprise. She had no idea that Grandma had been communicating with the leader directly, let alone to set up a meeting.

“We want to find out whether the Gara Gara wolves will offer us a better deal than what the Baku Baku wolves are giving us,” Mii said, “in exchange for us moving into their territory. We don’t expect to actually do it, but having another option available to us might strengthen our position with Lala.”

“That’s right,” Grandma said. “Three days from now, I’ll be meeting with the leader of the Gara Gara wolf pack in the cave on Poro Poro Hill. Please tell our friend not to do anything, but to let us know immediately if the wolves make any plans to hunt in that area at that time.”

“Tell him I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to tell him about this earlier today,” Mii said. “It all happened sort of last-minute. We’ll explain everything to him properly after the meeting.”

Ugui nodded and summarised the message back to them. “You’re meeting the leader of the Gara Gara wolf pack on Poro Poro Hill in three days, and he should send word if the wolves plan to hunt there. Got it.”

“That’s all for now,” Grandma said. “And thank you, Ugui. You’ve been a good friend to us.”

Later that night, Ugui left Kekyo still asleep and flew to the prearranged meeting place, where she met Boro. He had no urgent news, so she wasted no time in relaying Grandma’s message to him.

“I don’t understand,” Boro said. “Meeting with the Gara Gara wolves was never part of the plan. Grandma really wants to invite them into our territory after everything they’ve done to us?”

“They did say this was a last-minute arrangement,” Ugui said.

“How did they even get in touch with the Gara Gara leader?” Boro said. “You didn’t take a message to him, did you?”

“Grandma has other birds who carry messages for her sometimes,” Ugui said. “One of them must have done it. Although, now that you mention it, it is strange that Grandma didn’t ask me to deliver a message when I was flying past Gara Gara Mountain on my way back.”

“I guess that makes sense if they only decided on it earlier today,” Boro said. “But if that’s it, then how did they arrange the meeting so quickly?”

“I can go back to Sawa Sawa Mountain and ask for more information if you want.”

“No, that’s okay. They said they’ll explain properly when they have time. Until then, I’ll listen out for any hunting plans in Poro Poro Hill and…trust that they know what they’re doing.”

After she left Boro, Ugui headed straight for Baku Baku Valley, circling around until she spotted Lala, who was lying by herself and gazing expectantly up at the sky.

“What news this time?” the white wolf said when Ugui landed. “Is everything still sunshine and roses between the goats and their ‘friend at Baku Baku Valley?’”

“The Elder has arranged to meet with the leader of the Gara Gara wolf pack,” Ugui said.

Lala straightened her forelegs and sat upright. “What?”

“She thinks that if the Gara Gara wolves will offer them a better deal than what you’re giving them, she can use that to demand a better deal from you. It’s a bluff, though. They don’t intend to take the offer.”

The leader of the pack listened silently as Ugui told her everything she knew. Then she started laughing. “I’m impressed. Who would have thought that a goat would try such an underpawed—sorry, underhoofed—tactic? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Using one wolf pack to extract favours from another worked for Grandma once, so why not try it again? Poro Poro Hill, you say? It wouldn’t be the first time a deception has been uncovered there. You’ve done well, Ugui. Now fly home to your wife and take some well-earned rest.”

Mii squirmed in her hiding place, nestled between two massive boulders in an occluded crevice on Poro Poro Hill. It was far from comfortable, and she’d been waiting here all day. It was all for nothing, anyway, since there was absolutely no way Boro would tell Lala about the fictional meeting. Mii would just wait here until it got dark, and then she would go home and tell Grandma that they had been worried over nothing.

She still felt bad about lying to Boro. Once this was all over, they would have to explain to him that they had really suspected he was a spy. A double-spy, she supposed, since he was already spying on the wolves for them. Once again, that trickle of doubt crept into her mind. If Boro could betray his pack, why couldn’t he betray the goats he barely knew?

In the distance, Mii heard the rattle of a loosed stone. That wasn’t too unusual; the wind sometimes rattled pebbles around. Still, she felt too exposed lying here, backed into a corner. In Gabu and Mei’s story of the day everyone had found out about them, the crags and boulders of Poro Poro Hill had been shrouded in fog. Mii would have appreciated that level of concealment now. If the wolves somehow did manage to find her here, they would be prevented from hurting her both by the new rule against hunting individual goats and by the fact that the wolves needed her as their healer. That was the theory, at least. In practice, it didn’t make the situation any less scary.

There it was again, the distinct sound of paws treading over crumbling rocks, getting closer to where she was hidden. It continued for several minutes, during which time Mii didn’t dare move a muscle, until eventually she heard the voice of an unfamiliar wolf.

“It smells like a goat was here not too long ago, but there’s no sign of any other wolves.”

“There’s definitely no one here now,” another voice said. “My guess is the goat arrived but the outsider didn’t, so the goat went home.”

“Looks like it. I guess we should head back and tell the boss.”

Mii was very relieved she’d chosen a good hiding place. More than that, though, she could scarcely believe the implications of what she was hearing. When she was absolutely certain that the wolves had gone, she wriggled out of her hiding place and headed straight for Sawa Sawa Mountain.

Boro lay in the central area of Baku Baku Valley alongside Zack and Beach. The mood in the pack was considerably lighter than it had been in recent days; last night had been the third night in a row with no sign of the Gara Gara wolves.

That thought reminded Boro of the strange meeting Grandma and Mii were supposed to be having today, inviting the Gara Gara wolves into their territory once again. What if they really did end up taking an offer with the Gara Gara wolves? They would move away and he might never see them again. Still, if this meeting helped make things better for them without them needing to move away, that was for the best.

He had spent the day watching and listening out for any indication that someone wanted to hunt and checking with them where they were going. His questioning had been met with mixed reactions. One pair of wolves, when he asked where they were going to hunt, had looked in confusion at one another and said, “Just…in the forest.” Most other wolves had asked if he wanted to come with them, which Boro always declined.

Boro looked at the sky, which was starting to darken. The meeting would be over by now, and he could finally ask Grandma and Mii what was going on. “I’m going to take a patrol around the forest to make sure those outsiders don’t come back,” he said to Zack and Beach. “Do you want to come with me?”

“We’ll pass on that,” Zack said, as Boro knew he would. “Good initiative though, Boro.”

Proud (and only a little ashamed) of himself for the successful deception, Boro went into the forest and wandered around near the meeting place where he hoped Ugui would find him. Unfortunately, the warbler didn’t arrive. Instead, Boro went to a certain tree far from Baku Baku Valley and gave a soft wolf whistle. To the robin who flew down from the tree he said, “Please could you check if the Elder of Sawa Sawa Mountain has a message for me?”

The robin flew away and came back a few minutes later. “She wants to speak with you tonight at Soyo Soyo Pass,” they said.

Boro thanked the robin and headed to Soyo Soyo Pass.

When he arrived, he found three goats waiting for him: Grandma, Mii and Tapu. None of them seemed happy to see him. “What’s going on, guys? Did the meeting not go well?”

Mii glanced at Grandma, whose head was pointed downward at the ground. Tapu stared directly at him, which was a little unnerving. Eventually, Grandma met his eyes and said to him, “Did you tell anyone about the meeting with the leader of the Gara Gara Mountain wolf pack at Poro Poro Hill today?”

“No, of course not. Why, did something happen?”

“Two wolves from Baku Baku Valley showed up,” Mii said. “They were expecting us.”

“What? That doesn’t make sense. You… you think I told them?”

Mii stepped closer to him, looking into his eyes. She said in a gentle voice, “Tell us truthfully, Boro. Did you?”

“No. I promise you that I didn’t. Please, Mii, I would never do anything that might get you hurt.”

Mii sighed and stepped back. She turned to Grandma. “I believe him.”

Grandma nodded.

“Please,” Boro said, his voice weak, “tell me what’s going on.”

Mii explained it to him from the beginning. “I’m so sorry, Boro,” she said when she’d finished. “We needed to find out if it was you who was giving information to Lala.”

Boro felt numb. His friends had lied to him, had thought that he had betrayed them. But they had a good reason to suspect that. “If it wasn’t me who told Lala about Poro Poro Hill—which it wasn’t—then how did she know?”

“There’s only one other person who could have told her,” Grandma said.

Ugui was awoken in the middle of the night by Kekyo gently shaking her. “What is it?” she said sleepily as she opened her eyes.

“Grandma and Mii are outside, sweet pea. They say they want to talk to us about something important. It sounds quite urgent.”

“Both of us?” Ugui peered out of their hollow and saw the two goats waiting at the base of the tree.

Grandma caught her eye. “I’m sorry to disturb you, Ugui. Please could you and Kekyo come down and speak with us?”

Ugui looked to Kekyo. “What’s this about?”

“I have no idea.”

The two warblers fluttered down to land side by side on the ground in front of the goats. Grandma and Mii both looked down at them, their faces serious; Ugui was slightly intimidated to have them towering over them like that.

“Thank you,” Grandma said, lowering her voice now that they were closer. “We wanted to talk to you about Lala, Ugui.”

Ugui’s blood turned to ice. Lala? Surely the goats couldn’t possibly know, could they? If Lala thought she could be of no more use to her… “The wolves’ leader? Why would you want to talk to me about her?”

Grandma and Mii glanced at each other. “Was it you who told her about the meeting on Poro Poro Hill?” Mii said.

Ugui couldn’t speak. She was too busy trying desperately to think of a way to stop this from happening.

“Meeting?” Kekyo said. “What are they talking about, pumpkin?”

No, this couldn’t happen now, not like this. Ugui’s head flicked frantically between Kekyo and the two goats. She had to get out of this situation. She flapped her wings and fled in the direction of the forest. Kekyo called after her, but she didn’t stop until treetops covered the night sky and she was alone.

Her solitude didn’t last long. Kekyo followed her into the forest. “Darling, tell me what’s going on. You’re really worrying me.”

“I can’t,” Ugui said through a clenched beak.

“Why can’t you tell me?” Kekyo tried to press herself against Ugui, like they always did when one of them was nervous, but Ugui hopped out of the way. “Whatever’s going on, we can fix it. You just need to trust me. You do trust me, don’t you?”

“We can’t fix it. It’s too late. We… we need to leave. If we go to the Emerald Forest, the wolves won’t follow us there. You’ll be safe there.”

Her wife looked at her with wide, uncomprehending eyes. “Ugui… I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s happening.”

“I…” Ugui sighed. There was no point in hiding it anymore. Kekyo deserved to know the truth. “Do you remember that day, weeks ago, when those wolves chased you into that thicket and you couldn’t get out? You thought they were going to kill you, but they just kept you there all day long.”

“Of course I remember. It was the most terrified I’ve been in my life. I thought I would die without ever seeing you again.”

“It was Lala who ordered the wolves to keep you there. She wanted someone to act as a messenger for the goats, someone who would spy on them and tell her everything that happened. She told me that if I didn’t do what she said, she would…”

“Oh, sunshine…” Kekyo wrapped her wings around her. “You should have told me. We would have figured something out.”

“I couldn’t risk it. That’s why we need to leave. Lala said that if I told anyone about this, no wolf would rest until they had found you and killed you. Now that the goats have found out, this forest isn’t safe for us.”

“We need to tell the Elder about this,” Kekyo said softly. “She’ll know what to do.”

“She’ll never forgive me. How can you be okay with this? I lied to you.”

“Because if I was in the same situation, I probably would have done the same thing. Oh, darling, I’m so sorry you had to go through all this. No wonder you haven’t been yourself lately; I thought you were still shaken up by what happened with the wolves that day.”

“It doesn’t matter about me,” Ugui said. She looked around at the shadowy trees, any one of which could be concealing a wolf or another of Lala’s spies. “We need to get you away from here.”

“Let’s go home and talk to the Elder. The wolves can’t hurt us while we’re in our tree, and we can leave first thing in the morning if you still think it’s for the best.”

Ugui looked at the ground. “I… I can’t face the Elder.”

“Then I’ll talk to her. But I need you with me when I do it, okay?”

“Okay.”

When Grandma and Mii heard what Lala had done to Ugui, they were outraged. Grandma had thought it a little strange at the time how Kekyo and Ugui had arrived out of nowhere and offered their services. She knew that Lala had an unusual leadership style, even by the standard of other wolves, and that wolves had different ideas about right and wrong to goats, but she had never expected Lala to do something so needlessly cruel as threatening someone’s wife to force them to do her bidding.

“What happens now?” Mii said.

“We carry on as normal,” Grandma said. “Ugui, for your own safety as much as for our benefit, I would like you to continue reporting information to Lala. Occasionally, we may give you a different message to take to Lala, or ask you to refrain from passing on certain messages, but for the most part you should continue to do as Lala wishes.”

“No. Absolutely not,” Ugui said. “If Lala finds out I’m doing that, she’ll hurt Kekyo.”

“It’ll be all right, strawberry,” Kekyo said. “We owe them this much. You told me all those weeks ago that you wanted to do something that mattered, to help people. I know that isn’t really why you wanted us to start working for the goats, but it’s still true, isn’t it?”

Ugui sighed. “Yes, of course it’s still true. Fine, I’ll do it, but only if you promise that if Lala finds out, you’ll do everything in your power to stop her from hurting Kekyo, even if it puts your arrangement with the wolves at risk.”

“You have my word,” Grandma said. “I would have done so anyway, if it comes to that.”

“This means that Lala knows about Boro, right?” Mii said.

“Yes,” Ugui said. “Actually, she knew that Boro was meeting secretly with you since before I started… since before she threatened me and Kekyo. I think that’s why she wanted a spy of her own.”

“So she’s known about him all this time and hasn’t done anything about it?” Mii said.

“That is surprising,” Grandma said. “Has Lala said anything to you about why this might be, Ugui?”

The warbler shook her head.

“All the more reason to let things continue as they were before,” Grandma said.

When Grandma and Mii met up with Boro again later that night and told him the news, he reacted almost as badly as Ugui had done.

“Lala knows I’m a traitor?” he said with widening eyes. “She could have me killed or exiled from the pack!”

“But she hasn’t,” Mii said. “So long as we continue to act like everything is normal, Lala won’t have any reason to suspect that anything has changed. And now we have the advantage: We know that Ugui is passing information to Lala, and that Lala knows about you, but Lala doesn’t know that we know about either of those things. That means we’re the only ones who have secrets left to keep—that we know of, I guess.”

“Perhaps it would be better if there were no secrets on either side,” Grandma said. “That isn’t to say that we should immediately tell Lala what we know, but it would certainly help our negotiations if Lala could trust us and we could trust Lala not to keep secrets.”

“I don’t think we’re ready for that,” Mii said. “Lala still doesn’t care about the harm the wolves’ hunting causes, or the harm she did to Ugui by threatening Kekyo. How could we trust someone who does things like that?”

“Agreed,” Grandma said. “In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to use every advantage at our disposal.”

“How can we use Lala knowing I’m a traitor to our advantage?” Boro said.

“I will think on this,” Grandma said. “I’m sorry our association has put you in danger, Boro.”

“It’s okay,” Boro said. “We knew this might happen when I started helping you. I just didn’t expect Lala would find out and then keep letting it happen.”