By:
Kimberly T.
All
the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles
are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company.No
infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by
the copyright holder.All original
characters are the property of Christine Morgan, not Kimberly T.
Author's
note:This story begins immediately
after the end of Christine's story "Renewal," which was one part of her
much larger posting, "Not Forgotten."Some
of the events related herein reflect the events of stories further along
in Christine's timeline, right up to the end of "The Second World Tour." ********************************************** May
24th, 2015 Dear
Delilah, The
good news is, I'm feeling much better now.The
disease isn't just in remission anymore; now it's completely gone, and
I'm as healthy as ever. The
bad news is, I'm not going to be able to come home for a while.Not
for a long while... Samson
paused in his writing, his heavy brow furrowed in concentration as he absently
scratched under his furry chin with the cap end of the pen he'd been writing
with.This was undoubtedly the hardest
letter he'd ever had to write... and made even harder by how self-conscious
he was feeling right now.He'd always
disliked being the center of attention, and he was all too aware of how
everyone else in the cave was either openly watching him or very deliberately
trying not to watch him. The
gargoyle Hippolyta was one of those trying not to watch him; she was engaging
the Sasquatch tribe leader Oruulu in conversation, negotiating how often
she would be permitted to come to visit Samson and what she would be allowed
to bring with her.But little Aanuu,
the youngest female in the tribe, was openly gawking at him and slowly
edging closer as well, ignoring her mother Nuura's and the tribal elder
Haeruu's warning mutters to behave herself.But
at least Aanuu's stare seemed to be more from curiosity over the peculiar
thing he was doing with his hands right then; though they had the power
of speech, the Sasquatch had no written language, and writing a letter
was as foreign to their worldview as driving a sports car.Luul,
on the other hand... no doubt about it, she was giving him what Samson's
stepfather had called the once-over-lightly.And
that was by far the most unnerving part; Samson was fairly used to stares
from curiosity, because virtually every newcomer to the Labyrinth had stared
at him at first, second and usually third sight.But
except for his mate Delilah, no one had ever, ever looked at him with even
a hint of lust in their eyes... He
wanted to go home, to go back to Delilah and lose himself in her loving
embrace.He wanted to see Talon and
his family again, even to hear his old friend Amos cracking his usual bad
puns and smell Ruth's latest culinary experiment bubbling and/or burning
on the Labyrinth's communal kitchen stove.He
wanted that with all his heart, and he did not want to stay here in a cave
in the woods and be the stud bull for a bunch of desperate Sasquatch females.He
didn't!Okay, there was that little
voice inside him wondering what it would be like, but really, he didn't... But
he owed these five females, because without their help, he'd probably be
dead by now.They had showed him
how to heal himself of the rare bone disease that had been killing him;
for all their "primitive" ways, these people had an ancient wisdom of their
own bodies and healing ways that modern medicine simply could not compete
with.They could regulate their
own metabolism, control their body temperature, and speed up the healing
process for all but immediately fatal wounds... And they had shown him
how to do that for himself; how to completely drive out the disease that
had been killing him and repair all the damage it had done.In
only one week, he'd gone from being on the very brink of death to perfect
health again, though he still had some weight to put back on. He
put all that (except for the bit about that little prurient voice inside
him) into the letter for Delilah, explaining and probably over-explaining
how the tribe had no other males to sire the next generation, and he owed
them a few years' worth of stud-duty in exchange for saving his life.And
how there were evidently blood-ties to consider as well... From
what the females have told me, I'm pretty sure I have the DNA of Luul's
dead mate Hooroon inside me; years ago, three of the tribe's males were
captured by "evil humans" (which had to be Sevarius' goons) but only Hooroon
escaped alive, and when he returned he had told them of a "sick human"
(undoubtedly the old me) who had been changed into "part-People" and had
helped him escape.I never saw more
than the one captive Sasquatch, so I guess the other two males must have
died as a result of Sevarius' experiments before I was kidnapped and taken
there.Anyway, since it's basically
Hooroon's blood flowing in my veins, in addition to the duty I owe them,
I feel sort of an obligation to him as well. Samson
paused in his letter-writing, wondering if he should go into the details
of that particular biblical tradition, straight out of the Old Testament;
if a man died and his widow was left without sons, it was pretty well expected
that one of the dead man's brothers would marry the widow and sire children
on her until she had a son to support her in her old age.He
finally shook his head; there was really no point in mentioning it.That
tradition may be from the Bible, but it hadn't been enforced in Western
culture for thousands of years, and even if it were, neither he nor Delilah
were exactly avid church-goers.The
only reason he knew of that tradition was because of all the time he'd
spent in the hospital as a kid; there were times when he'd be lying there
in bed with nothing worth watching on TV, and if his parents hadn't brought
a fresh set of library books for him to read, he'd flip through the pages
of the ubiquitous Gideon Bible, found in virtually every hospital room
nightstand.But that was nearly twenty
years ago, and he didn't even know why that tidbit of information had popped
into his head a while back... it was almost as if part of him was trying
to further justify his staying in the forest...He
shook his head almost angrily, and went back to writing the letter. ...The
females are adamant about only Hippolyta being allowed to visit; they won't
allow even other gargoyles to come here, and the first one to try will
be "challenged." And as I understand it, a challenge is serious business;
the fight wouldn't end until somebody's dead.That
poor pilot's accidental death was bad enough; I don't want any more blood
spilled because of me, on either side.Tell
everyone to stifle their instincts to protect family and clan members;
coming to liberate me is not an option. I
promise, Delilah, as soon as the females say my obligation to them is fulfilled,
I'll leave and come back to you, my true mate.In
the meantime, the females already said Hippolyta's allowed to carry letters
and letter-writing supplies back and forth when she visits, which is how
I got the paper and pen to write this letter to you.And
they just finished agreeing on a regular visiting schedule; she'll be coming
by on the full dark of every new moon.Hippolyta
said you can send letters to me sealed inside envelopes addressed to her,
and she'll be mailing this letter out as soon as she returns home.Please
give Talon, and anyone else who wants it, the post office box address written
on the outside of this envelope.I'll
be waiting to hear from you at the dark of the next new moon. I
love you, forever and always, Samson He
carefully tucked the letter into the envelope, sealed it and wrote "Delilah"
on the outside.He couldn't write
any more than that; Delilah had no last name, and he was ashamed to admit
he didn't know the castle's mailing address.Or
even worse, his own mailing address in the Labyrinth!He
knew there was a post office box that everyone used if they needed to send
or receive mail, but he hadn't mailed or received a letter from anybody
in well over a decade.Hippolyta
had already said that finding a mailing address for the Aerie Building
wouldn't be a problem for her; a one of the policemen working for her would
surely be able to glean a suitable address from the Internet.But
it was still embarrassing, having no more idea of the mailing address for
where he lived than the average five-year-old child...With a wry grimace,
he handed the envelope over to Hippolyta and asked her, "Would you write
your mailing address on there, please?" Hippolyta
nodded gravely and wrote the address of her post office box on the envelope,
saying as she did so, "I'll put this inside another envelope for mailing,
so I can include a letter of my own for your mate and her clan."She
gave a wry smile of her own before continuing, "I should have done so years
ago, but never quite managed... But they are the most likely to have heard
what became of the rest of my rookery kin and former companions.I
know that my brother Corwin found happiness at last, for I saw a photo
of him and his companion Griff after they and their King Arthur foiled
that terrorist plot in London, but sometimes I fear the worst for Cassius,
Icarus, Ezekiel and Tourmaline." Samson
nodded sympathetically, and told her, "I know Lexington and Alex Xanatos
have programs and people that constantly search the Internet and major
newspapers for news of gargoyle sightings.If
your friends have been seen anywhere, one of them will know about it." And
all too soon after that, Hippolyta was scaling a nearby tree outside the
cave entrance, preparing to launch and glide back to Trinity Bay.She
said with an encouraging smile, "I'll bring you more paper, pens and suchlike
when I return at the new moon, in three weeks, and surely by then I'll
have a letter or two for you as well!"Then
she grimaced and added, "Indeed, I can virtually guarantee at least one
letter, from Sevarius; she was most wroth at being told she could not visit,
and she'll likely be pestering you to change Oruulu's mind on the subject." Samson
nodded resignedly; he'd been expecting that sort of letter already.And
then there was nothing more to say, and Hippolyta launched and glided off
towards the east and south, and Samson was alone in the night. Well,
not actually alone; he could hear, though faintly, snippets of the conversation
between the females back in the cave.In
the two nights between Hippolyta's first visit--and Samson's discovery
of just what the females expected from him--and her second visit with the
writing supplies, the females hadn't really pushed the issue; they'd done
little more than comb his fur, and include him in the group cuddles that
were their usual sleeping arrangements.But
now that they were guaranteed to be alone with him for the next three weeks...Oruulu
was claiming that as the tribe leader, she had first dibs.And-Haeruu?
Yes, that was Haeruu!-was saying that the eldest should go first!And
he was pretty sure that Nuura had just protested that Haeruu was well past
the age of breeding... to which Haeruu replied that while her breeding
ability had ended, her interest in males hadn't!And
now... oh, Lord.If he'd heard right,
Luul had just suggested that they all just tackle him at once, and see
what developed... Samson
slowly rolled his eyes up to the heavens, shook his head, and muttered
under his breath, "Dear Penthouse..."He
turned around and headed for the cave, mentally continuing, One night
I was just minding my own business, when... ** *** Three
weeks later, Hippolyta returned with the promised supply of writing paper,
envelopes and pens, all thoughtfully packed in a small metal box that would
protect them from the elements.She
also brought all the mail that had accumulated for him in the last three
weeks: five letters, and a package a little larger than a loaf of bread.Sure
enough, one of the letters was from Sevarius, but the other four were from
Delilah, Talon, Dee and Tom, and the return address on the package suggested
it was from the castle.While everyone
gathered around in curiosity, Samson slit the package open with a fingernail
and pulled out the contents: his favorite currycomb from his quarters in
the Labyrinth, a baggie full of Broadway's special-recipe oatmeal-raisin
cookies, and a pair of framed 5x7" photos, hinged together and bound shut
with a rubber band. Oruulu
was not happy; she took one look at the box's contents and growled,
"Horrom meh aan!" [Roughly, 'More human things!']She
gave both Hippolyta and Samson accusing looks, as if to say they should
have known better that to even try to bring such items here.She
reminded them emphatically what 'human things' the tribe had agreed to
allow, strictly for Samson's emotional well-being: the thinner-than-a-leaf
stuff for Samson to make his special markings on, and human marking-twigs
like the one Hippolyta had showed them before.While
she didn't know exactly what those things were for, she was sure that they
were not for making those special markings on or with, and so they were
not allowed!Hippolyta could take
those human things away or Oruulu could drop them into the burial crevice,
but they would not remain in the People's home! Oruulu's
rant was so vehement that at first Samson couldn't get a word in edgewise,
but when the clan leader paused for breath, Luul surprisingly stepped in
first.While Oruulu had pointedly
distanced herself from the box and its contents, Luul had leaned in close
enough for a sniff, and now she snatched up the currycomb and waved it
in Oruulu's face, commanding her to smell it.Surprised
by Luul's sudden defiance, Oruulu automatically inhaled the scent of the
currycomb, while Luul made her own argument: these weren't human things;
they were their new male's things!Having
been used on a regular basis for the last several years, the currycomb
was well saturated with Samson's scent.He
demonstrated its use for them all, running it through the shaggy hair on
his arm; grooming it even more efficiently than the pinecones the tribe
regularly used to groom their fur.Oruulu
frowned, but finally conceded that the currycomb could stay. While
the adults argued over the currycomb, Aanuu had been poking a curious finger
at the bag of cookies.The double
seal and freezer-grade plastic had sealed in scent as well as freshness,
but one of Aanuu's tough fingernails pierced the plastic, and a second
later she said excitedly that there was some sort of food in there! Samson
opened the baggie so everyone could clearly smell the cookies, and another
argument ensued.Oruulu, Nuura and
Haeruu were all adamant that the cookies had to go; the People were not
bears, to sniff around human dwellings and eat their chemical-laced food
until they sickened, and make themselves easy prey for human traps and
humans' spit-metal!But there are
few things more enticing than the scent of "forbidden fruit"... particularly
when the raisins in the cookies had been rolled in brown sugar before being
added to the dough.Aanuu whined
and pleaded as only a preadolescent child can, while Samson very deliberately
ate one of the cookies right in front of them, silently daring them to
even try to stop him (he was a peaceful man by nature, but some things
are worth fighting for!)And Luul
quietly pointed out that before Samson had come to them, the tribe had
eaten the exotic fresh fruits that Hippolyta had brought to them as peace-offerings;
fruit that they knew had been picked and handled by humans, whether they
wanted to admit it or not. Finally,
Oruulu muttered the equivalent of "just this once wouldn't hurt," and the
cookies were distributed to all.Broadway
had sent them two dozen cookies, so everyone got a few, including one for
Hippolyta.Hippolyta said with a
sparkle in her eyes as she finished her cookie, "Cookies prepared for you
especially by the famous chef of 'Cooking Big'!A
delicious honor indeed... but I think perhaps you should tell your friends
that such 'care packages' should be avoided in the future, lest ill will
develop within the tribe over such 'human things.'" Samson
absently nodded agreement, but his attention was focused on the pair of
framed photos, as he carefully pulled of the rubber band that was binding
them together.The hinge opened,
and he saw the two photos, side by side: One
was of Delilah, perched on one of the battlements at the castle; she was
in a classic "cheesecake" pose, with a wistful smile on her face.She
was as lovely as ever, making his heartstrings tug as he looked at the
photo and wished with all his might that he could reach into it and actually
touch that smile or stroke her silken white hair.He
knew that slightly sad smile was for him, and he tried hard not to think
about who might have been taking the picture at the time. The
other photo was of Talon and his kids, Dee and Tom; all of them deliberately
clowning for the camera, as if in reminder of all the happy times they'd
had together over the last two decades.The
lighting in this photo didn't really show all the gray that had been accumulating
in Talon's fur lately, and his teeth glistened whitely in a wide mutate
grin.Tom, standing to Talon's left,
looked almost like his twin instead of his son.Tom
had the same pantherish features, the same height, and was growing into
the same broad shoulders; near fully adult... except for the mischievous
gleam in his eye, and the hand held up behind his sister's head.Dee,
dressed in a tunic that complimented her amber-and-black spotted fur, was
too busy grinning at the camera to notice, but Samson would have bet money,
if he'd had any, that after the photo had been taken she'd turned around
and gotten into a fight with her brother for his giving her "bunny ears." Dee
and Tom.... He'd been a part of their lives, and they a part of his, since
they were babies only a day old; now eighteen years of age, they were legally
adults, and chafing at living with their father in the same old Labyrinth
they'd grown up in.Come autumn,
they were both going up to the Sterling Academy to begin their college
education, though Tom was already grumbling that he didn't see what good
a college education was going to do for him (though he didn't say it when
his father was around, knowing how hard Talon tried to give his children
as normal a life as possible.)That
would leave Talon alone in the tunnels... and without his closest friends
or children around, he might well sink into a dangerous depression again. Samson
knew that after losing Maggie in that horrible way on Devil's Night, only
the fact that his kids needed him had kept Talon from completely losing
it and slitting his wrists.And despite
that being well over a decade ago, Talon had never really recovered from
the death of his wife; smiles and laughter were still rare indeed.But
in this photo he was being deliberately cheerful; a wordless message to
Samson to keep his spirits up.Samson
nodded at the smile, and silently hoped that Talon would do the same. Nuura
looked silently at the pictures cradled in Samson's hands for a few long
seconds, then asked him, "Oun hmuun?" [Your tribe?]At
Samson's confirmation, she turned to Oruulu and the others and said in
her quiet but absolutely firm way that those things, too, would stay.And
one by one, everyone else gestured agreement. Now
that his "care package" had been dealt with, Samson wanted to tear open
the first envelope and start reading Delilah's letter immediately, but
he held off long enough for some polite conversation with Hippolyta.She
told him that the Manhattan clan had indeed given her news of her missing
rookery kin: Cassius had found a mate in Egypt, and according to the updates
they occasionally received from the Vandemeres (adventuring archeologists
who were investigating the ancient city that Khepri and her ancestors had
faithfully guarded), the gargoyle couple's two eggs were due to hatch in
another three years.And they had
sent a message to London to see what Corwin knew of his rookery kin; the
reply had said that he'd not heard from any of them since 2005, but when
he'd last seen them, Icarus and Ezekiel were happily settled with their
mates in a clan in Alaska, and Tourmaline had fallen in with-gargoyle pirates?!-somewhere
in the Caribbean. Samson
expressed his relief that at least four of her long-lost kin had found
happiness, agreed with Hippolyta's grave doubts about Tourmaline's reported
home, and finally could stand it no longer, excused himself and went outside
to read the letters by the light of the stars.He
was thankful that it was a clear night for once and his night-adapted eyes
could read even by starlight, since there was no moon.He
read Delilah's letter first: Dear
Samson, I
am very happy to learn that you are alive and well.I
was so very worried that you were dead, and I would never see you again!I
am not happy about you staying in California, but I understand why, and
at least I have hope of seeing you again in years to come. When
I showed your letter to the clan, Alex said that the you-know-who people
knew that a tribe of Sasquatch still lived in that area, but they did not
know exactly where and they did not look for the Sasquatch, because of
some promise they made, and he would not say any more than that. (Goliath
and everyone else agree that Alex is becoming just as bad as his father
about that sort of thing.) Goliath
says that it would be terrible if the Sasquatch went extinct, just as it
would be terrible if the gargoyle race died out, and he urges you to breed
all the children the tribe can support.I
want you to do that too, and to hurry up about it, so after they have enough
we can be together again. In
the meantime, I will tell you all about what is happening here at the castle,
and Talon says he will tell you about what happens in the Labyrinth.Here
is the latest news from the castle: Just
after you left, Amber finally got Goliath to agree that she is old enough
to join the Guardians on patrol.He
still will not let her take any patrol routes besides the easiest one over
Central Park, and she is always accompanied by an adult, but last night
she was in her first battle, and Brooklyn says she did very well.She
caught two muggers armed with knives, and... The
letter continued on for three pages, with tales of the other hatchlings'
recent hijinks and accomplishments; Kenneth had finally created his first
magical shield, and Aiden and Lexington were proud as peacocks over it.Broadway
was now letting Malcolm help in the kitchen, and one night he had stood
on a stepstool to stir a saucepan of gravy, lost his balance and accidentally
burned his hand on the range burner, but the very next night after stone
sleep had healed his burns, he'd been in the kitchen asking his father
if he could help again.And D'Artagna
was still trying to boss around her brothers, but the Trio were having
none of it, and Delilah and Hudson frequently had to step in to break up
the squabbling... The
letter ended with, Everyone
misses you, and I miss you most of all.Please
ask the other Sasquatch if they will let me visit sometimes; I will promise
not to try to bring you back to Manhattan with me (as if I could carry
you all by myself, ha-ha!)Until
then, I promise to write to you every month, and hope you will do the same. Love, Your
true mate always, Delilah Samson
reread the letter twice, then held it to his face and breathed in deeply.Though
it was faint, the paper still carried her scent. After
just standing there for a while, lost in reverie, he opened Talon's letter. Dear
Samson, Hey,
'Little Brother'!Delilah brought
your letter down here last week, the night after she got it, and gave us
the address for writing to you. We're all glad to know you're okay; I have
to admit, the way you were looking when you left, I was pretty worried.I
always thought that innate self-healing stuff was New Age crap, but if
these other Sasquatch can do it and showed you how, then maybe our ancestors
did have the ability and lost it somehow.But
what's important is that you're doing okay now... even if you won't be
back for a long while. I
doubt Delilah will say this to you in her letters, but I think she's more
than a little jealous of these other Sasquatch females; not only because
you're staying with them, but because they're so sure they can have your
kids and she knows she can't.(BTW,
I still can't believe you guys kept that secret right up until the night
of the hatching!)But don't let
her jealousy stop you from doing your stud duties; she's a sensible girl,
and she knows what needs to be done.She
even put a halt to Dee and Tom's plans before I found out about them; believe
it or not, the kids were planning to hijack a private plane and fly it
out to where you are, and rescue you whether you wanted it or not.Never
mind the fact that the kids have never flown anything other than themselves
before, or even been anywhere further than the Sterling Academy upstate...
I swear I was never this headstrong and foolhardy when I was their age,
no matter what my parents say. Whenever
your stud duties are fulfilled, if you still want to come home to the Labyrinth
I promise you'll find your rooms here ready and waiting for you.Except
for your currycomb, which we gave to Delilah so she could mail it to you,
everything will be just as you left it.In
the meantime, expect a letter from me every month, and I hope to get the
same from you; our P.O. box address is at the bottom of the letter. The
kids are writing letters to you too, although to be frank, I wouldn't expect
those on such a regular basis.Amos
and Ruth wanted to write you a letter too, but you know how shaky Ruth's
hands are these days.And even though
he can read now, Amos' dyslexia still makes him freeze up whenever he tries
to write anything.So I told them
to just dictate to me, and I'd write their words into my letter.So
the next few paragraphs are from Ruth and Amos: Dear
Samson, We're
glad to know that you're okay now.If
you want anything sent to you to spruce up your new home, just say so and
we'll send it.We hope you have
a good time, helping out those lady Sasquatches (Amos said that with a
grin, and Ruth just elbowed him in the ribs for it.)We
hope that you'll come back here one day, and if any of your Sasquatch youngsters
want to come here to see what humans are like, we'll be happy to make room
for them too... Samson
paused for a moment after reading that, considering... wouldn't that be
something, to return to the Labyrinth with a few children of his own at
his side?They could play with the
gargoyle hatchlings on castle visits, and... He finally shook his head,
dispelling the fantasy; he knew the females would never allow it. He
continued reading; Amos and Ruth made sure that Samson was aware of the
latest goings-on in the Labyrinth, which residents had moved out of their
homeless shelter and into regular housing, and how many and what sort of
people had just moved in.And after
they had given him their love and signed off, Talon continued writing: I
agree with what Ruth and Amos said earlier; if any of your kids-to-be want
to see the big city, we'll be more than happy to set up rooms for them
down here.Now that gargoyles are
U.S. citizens, it ought to be fairly easy to get them declared full citizens
too (probably way easier; there's no equivalent of Quarrymen to argue against
them!)But then they'd be asked to
vote and participate in the electoral process and listen to politicians
spouting their crap, and become consumers and take part in surveys and
watch commercials and... Hey, can we join you out there instead?(Just
kidding... maybe) LeRoy
said pretty much the same stuff as Amos and Ruth, when I told him the news,
but he, Ruth, Amos and the kids are the only ones down here that really
know what happened to you.Alex Xanatos
came by just after Delilah's visit, and asked us to keep the news from
spreading if we could.Evidently
the Illuminati have been trying to make sure the public either never hears
about or quickly forgets about the existence of Sasquatch, because of some
pact they made years ago... Alex said even he doesn't have the whole story,
but he wouldn't tell me what little he does know.(That
kid's becoming more and more like his old man every year, and just as aggravating,
too.)I pointed out to him that
we've had a living, breathing mostly-Sasquatch right here in the Labyrinth
for the last two decades, so the secret's already been blown wide open,
but he said that over the years, every mention of you in the news has been
either quietly deleted from the world's databanks or changed to make it
sound like you're a bear-mutate.(Which
I guess explains why the last crack dealer we ran out of here kept calling
you "Bruno.")So now you've been
turned into an urban legend!Alex
said the whole thing was for the protection of the Sasquatch as a race
until they're ready to confront humanity on their own terms, and I guess
I can understand that, considering the shitstorm the gargoyles went through
right after they went public.But
it would've been polite to at least come down here and say, "By the way,
we're erasing all trace of your existence..."! One
other thing: Delilah said that Sevarius is staying in California too.Whatever
he--or she-says to you, do NOT let him/her get within five miles of your
kids-to-be, or the other adults either.I
know you've reached some sort of understanding with Sevarius, and you may
think he/she can be trusted to treat people right these days, but it would
be like inviting a nest of scorpions into your home; sooner or later you're
going to get stung.Elisa told me
that so long as he was at the castle, they always had safeguards in place
to make sure that he'd get caught the instant he tried anything, but you
don't have that sort of protection now.Don't
take ANY chances with him! That's
all I can think of to write about for this letter, so take care of yourself,
have fun (yes, I'm smirking; go for it, stud!) I'll write again next month. Talon Samson's
lip twitched in an almost-smile; he could just picture Talon smirking as
he wrote that last paragraph.But
he was still in a mild state of shock over what Talon had said about the
Illuminati... they'd been quietly erasing all traces of his existence?!He
had to admit that the tribe was nowhere near ready for being discovered
by humanity in general yet; if they were found, they'd be the center of
a huge storm of scientific and political controversy, like the one that
had engulfed the gargoyles for decades.If
not for Xanatos and his protection, the Manhattan clan would likely have
been wiped out entirely; if not by Quarrymen, then by rabid scientists
like his father wanting to study them, political leaders wanting to contain
them and control any possible influence on the population, etc.So
it was probably for the best that the Illuminati was trying to keep the
Sasquatch a secret... but still, it would have been nice for them to at
least let him know what they were doing!...And
how they were doing it, too; he knew darn well that he and Delilah had
once been on the cover of Time magazine, right after Jericho had caused
the Flood that had nearly destroyed the Labyrinth.What
had they done, bought or stole and shredded every copy of that issue they
could find?But other than that one
article, he'd always stayed shyly out of camera range if he could.He
wondered dazedly what they would've done if he'd been the type to really
ham it up for the cameras instead... He
finally shook his head and went on to the next letter, the one from Dee. Dear
Uncle Samson, Hi!Delilah
told us about how you're stuck in California with a bunch of female Bigfeet,
until after they have some kids for the next generation.She
was really unhappy about it, too, and we were ready to come out there and
rescue you, but she and Dad both said no, that you didn't want anyone fighting
over you even for your own good.If
you change your mind and they still won't let you leave, let us know and
we'll get you out of there fast.But
if you decide to stay there for a few years, we'll send you a camera later
so you can sneak pictures of the Bigfoot kids-to-be to send to us.I
bet they'll be cute little versions of you! The
letter went on for another few paragraphs, chatting about their mutual
friends among the Labyrinth residents, and about Dee's plans for when she
went to the Sterling Academy next fall; she had already been assured of
having a place on the Track & Field Team, and had ambitions of being
team captain before her freshman year was finished.She
signed off with a promise to write more letters later, when she had more
interesting stuff to write about. Tom's
letter resembled Dee's in one regard, promising Samson that if he ever
wanted to leave California fast, all he had to do was send word and they'd
take care of the rescue.Tom also
wrote about leaving for the Sterling Academy, but Samson could tell his
heart wasn't really in the idea of going to college, and in the next paragraph
he confided his speculations about the Maza family's were-panther acquaintances
in Africa, who hadn't been heard from since the first encounter 20 years
ago.He did not openly announce
his intentions to go looking for them, but Samson could read between the
lines easily enough; one way or another, whether after college or instead
of college, Tom wanted to go to Africa. The
last letter was from Sevarius, and sure enough, it was all about how Samson
owed it to his father to let her visit the cave and take samples from everyone
there, and give her blanket permission to visit in the future when the
children were born.Sevarius promised
not to experiment on any of them, just to take samples for study.She
pushed every possible guilt-button she could think of: filial duty, the
fact that he wouldn't have made it as far as the tribe's domain if not
for the constant medical care, and on and on ad nauseum.Samson
read it all, but thought of Talon's caution, and of all that Sevarius had
done in the past twenty years, and slowly shook his head. A
soft -ahem- came from behind him, and he turned to find Hippolyta walking
softly towards him."You are troubled,"
she observed quietly."Is all not
well with your mate and friends in New York?" "No,
they're fine; not happy I'm out here instead of back there, but they're
evidently more-or-less okay with it," he replied."It's
not them that's bothering me at the moment; it's Sevarius." Hippolyta
nodded with a rueful twist to her lips."No
doubt she was most eloquent about all the reasons why she deserves to come
out here to visit..." Samson
nodded."And I really do owe him-well,
her-a great deal... But I don't owe her that." Hippolyta's
smile became even more rueful."Considering
how she has vowed to stay in the area until she has seen your children
with her own eyes, I should be disagreeing with you, but I cannot.But
speaking of children," as her smile became warmer, "my congratulations
to you on siring your first!Oruulu
is very sure that the child growing inside her now is quite healthy, though
she could not tell me what sex it will be." Samson
smiled back, though it was a little unsteady; even though the females had
told him about the conception last week, and he'd been able to smell the
change for himself since yesterday, it hadn't completely sunk in yet...
and his heart still insisted that the baby, his first child, was in the
wrong mother.But he replied,"No,
there aren't any distinctive shell patterns for us mammals to use to tell
boys from girls... and no ultrasounds out here in the wilderness.Guess
we'll find out in another nine months..." *** January
17th, 2016 Samson
leaned back against a wall in the cave and sighed, before reaching for
the steel box that he kept other people's letters and his letter-writing
supplies in.Everything was peaceful
for the moment, and he was determined to take advantage of the brief respite
and reread the last letter from Delilah. Haeruu
came to sit down and lean against the opposite wall of the cavern, and
she just gave him a brief glance of acknowledgment before closing her eyes;
Samson wondered if the elder female was about to go to sleep still sitting
up.But if she did, who could blame
her?Everybody was running ragged
these days. Nuura
and Luul had become pregnant the month after Oruulu, and now all three
females were experiencing frequent hunger, back pains, and irritability;
full knowledge of a body's inner workings and advanced self-healing compensated
only so much for what pregnancy did to a female's body.Samson,
Aanuu and Haeruu were all exhausted from trying to keep all three pregnant
females fed and placated, and the squabbling to a minimum.Haeruu
had said more than once that this must be why the People had a tradition
of having only one child at a time in any tribe; so that the task of minding
the pregnant female or the child could be spread among many, instead of
all the burden being shouldered by a weary few!(Samson
privately agreed with her, but even more privately thought that this tradition
was one reason why there were so very few Sasquatch tribes in existence;
with only one child born in a tribe every ten or twelve years, even if
they weren't susceptible to a lot of diseases like humans and other animals,
the birth rate must have frequently dropped below the death rate.) But
that tradition had been broken when Samson had arrived; the females knew
that they couldn't keep him forever, and so they had resolved to let as
many get pregnant as were able, just this once.If
luck was with them and two out of the three of the new children were males,
then Samson would be allowed to leave whenever he liked.If
not... well, perhaps they'd let one female--just one, Haeruu insisted!--get
pregnant again in a few more years, after this batch was weaned.But
everyone agreed that this would be the first and last mass birthing for
the tribe; some experiences weren't worth repeating. Samson
thought about the letter he'd written to Delilah last month; among other
things, he'd asked her to relay to Alexander that Samson needed to know
what the Illuminati knew, about the locations of some other Sasquatch tribes.The
females were absolutely positive that other tribes were out there, but
the directions that had been handed down from generation to generation
were full of phrases like "seven night's walking north to a great river,
then nine night's walking northeast along the river to a cliff bluff, then
east-southeast for six nights to..." Samson was positive that sometime
in the last few hundred years, some human settlements had been built in
the way of those directions, and he wouldn't be a bit surprised to find
out that some of those rivers and other landmarks had been diverted, dammed
or blasted out of existence by road construction crews.But
they needed to find at least one other tribe, for Samson's children to
find mates from.It just wouldn't
do for half-sisters and half-brothers to mate... "[Pine
nuts!I must have pine nuts!]" "[Fine,
get your pine nuts!I want another
banana!]" Samson
sighed as he reluctantly got to his feet again.He
couldn't do a damn thing about Luul's craving until Hippolyta came by again,
but at least he could find some pine nuts for Oruulu... *** March
8th, 2016 Dear
Talon, Well,
I'm now officially a sire, and the tribe has its first child of the next
generation.A female; they've named
her Noola (it means "fresh water," to symbolize the new blood in the tribe.)She's
covered in such soft downy fur, as soft as the twins' fur was when they
were born, and her eyes are already open, a light gold like mine.Oruulu
is proud as can be, and declared that she's the most beautiful child to
be born in generations.(Nuura and
Luul don't say anything in response, but I can almost hear them thinking
to themselves, 'Just wait another month, until the next child is born!'(They're
both due next month, and joking that they'll go into labor at the same
time, just to drive me twice as frantic as I was when Oruulu went into
labor.At least, I think they're
joking, but considering how gargoyles lay their eggs...) I have to agree
with Oruulu, though; Noola's really beautiful. I
didn't put anything about the baby in this moon's letter to Delilah; I'm
a little worried about how she'll react... if she'll be even more jealous,
or hurt, or impatient for me to come home right now.But
I can't come home yet; the agreement was that I sire at least two males
before leaving, though the females are welcome too. March
25th, 2016 Dear
Samson, Well,
the cat's out of the bag (pardon the pun).Delilah
came down to visit last week, and overheard Dee and Tom talking about Noola.She
was hurt, but more over your not telling her than over the fact that the
kid was born and others are on the way.I
expect her letter to you, to be brought by Hippolyta at the same time as
this one, will be taking you to task for keeping secrets from her, but
she told me that the Sasquatch children change nothing between the two
of you; you and she are still true mates, and always will be. By
the time you're reading this, the other two kids should be born; which
are they, boys or girls or one of each?What
are they named?And do you think
it's possible by now to sneak a camera past Oruulu? *** April
5th, 2016 Dear
Talon, The
other two babies have been born now, and all three are females.Noola's
two half-sisters are named Maar and Ahllo.They
all have the same color eyes, but where Noola's fur is russet-colored,
Maar's is a very dark brown while Ahllo's is a much lighter brown, nearly
blonde.The tribe has a blonde,
a brunette and a redhead!And all
three are adorable... *** May
2nd, 2016 Sevarius, I've
written the name of each tribe member beneath the combings of fur taped
to the next page, so you'll be able to tell which is from whom.And
that's all you're going to get of them to study; Oruulu stomped on and
broke the hypodermic syringes you'd sent along via Hippolyta for getting
blood samples.And all the females
are agreed that if you ever come anywhere near the lair, as peaceful as
they normally are, they will kill you.They've
never forgiven you for capturing and experimenting on some of their tribe
members over 20 years ago. (You never told me you'd captured three
Sasquatches between 1990 and 1996, and only the last one survived long
enough to help me escape!Not that
I imagine you care, but I'll tell you anyway: their names were Aamaan,
Nuum and Hooroon...) The only reason you weren't killed upon arrival last
spring was that they'd made no connection between the 'metal-wrapped old
female' and the 'evil human male' from back then.But
now that they know the connection, they are very unhappy that you're
still alive at all... *** January
10th, 2017 Dear
Samson, Tom
left for Nigeria two days ago, to try to find the were-panthers that my
Mom and Elisa met back in 1996.I'm
still not happy that he's stopped going to college, but I have to admit
he wasn't happy up there like Dee is.Hopefully
after he finds the were-panthers and spends some time with them, he'll
come back and start working on a college degree again... *** June
17th, 2017 Dear
Samson, Before
I tell you what has been happening here lately, Alexander wanted me to
pass on some news to you.I fear
it is not good news... Samson
read the letter, twice through, then went back inside with a slow tread
and troubled features.Hippolyta
looked up from where she was visiting with Oruulu, and gave him a concerned
look."Is something wrong in Manhattan?" Samson
slowly shook his head."No, they're
all fine... but there's other bad news.Not
long after I came here, I asked Delilah to pass on a request to Alexander
Xanatos, to ask the Illuminati about other Sasquatch tribes.Alexander
said before that they've been looking, and he's been doing what he could
to ferret out the information, but... He says the Illuminati has searched
for five different tribes at their last known locations, and they're all
gone.Completely gone; they couldn't
find any traces more recent than twenty years ago.This
tribe may be the last one left in existence..." Hippolyta
expressed her dismay and sympathy, while the other females looked on in
concern; none of them knew English, but they knew the word "Sasquatch"
referred to them, and they knew expressions and facial features well enough.After
Hippolyta left, they cornered him and asked what exactly was wrong.And
he told them, before going over to the nursery corner to play with his
three little children... the last remnants of a dying race.Children
who would likely not have mates when they grew up... What was he going
to do?! As
he played with Noola, Maar and Ahllo, he was vaguely aware that the other
females had gone outside and were having a heated discussion in the glen.But
in his depression, he didn't much care what they said... Until
the next week, when Oruulu dragged him over to the bed of grasses, where
Noora and Luul were already waiting."[But...
but... what about future generations?I
told you of the hazards!The children
will become sickly, as the...um, hidden things inside...]" Dammit, how
could he explain inbreeding and recessive genes to people
when their language didn't have enough words to encompass such concepts? Oruulu
told him quite firmly that they would handle that problem when the children
were old enough to want mates; she was still sure there were other tribes
out there, just not in the old locations anymore.In
the meantime, Samson would supply them with enough children that they could
supply mates for every tribe that had ever been heard of, so get to work,
stud!And Samson had a hard time
arguing, especially with Luul licking his ear like that... Yes, a hard
time, indeed... *** October
25th, 2017 Dear
Samson, You'll
never believe who just showed up on our doorstep: Claw!And
his wife!Yes, Claw's back in the
Labyrinth and he's married!And it
turns out his real name is Beau Ellis, but his wife Raylene says he's okay
with us still calling him Claw. It
turns out that Claw/Beau is originally from the backwoods of the Appalachians,
and he never could talk, even as a regular human; it wasn't from the shock
of becoming a mutate after all.So
when he was still a kid they had him institutionalized in some backwater
mental hospital that was apparently more interested in experimenting on
people than actually helping them, which is where Sevarius found him.When
he left back in 2005, he went back to the hills he'd grown up in, where
his mother was still alive and well.Apparently
his mom had some psychic powers of her own (Raylene calls it her "witchy
gift"), and she could hear what her son was thinking, as well as have visions
of the future from time to time.Once
he returned home, he met Raylene, and they were married in 2007.And
don't ask me how it was done, but Raylene says that as a dowry, Claw's
mom gave Raylene some of her "witchy gift," so now she can mentally "hear"
whatever Claw is deliberately thinking at her (though not what anyone else
is thinking... or at least, so she says.) Raylene
says they were happy living up in the hills, and they'd still be there
now, but they want to have kids together and the only child they conceived
in the last ten years was stillborn.Frankly,
I'm amazed that they conceived at all, considering all the differences
in mutate genes; Raylene said her mother-in-law had a hand in it, but her
"witchy powers" weren't strong enough to ensure the child would survive
outside the womb.Claw's mother died
six months ago, and before she did she had a vision that said Claw and
Raylene would have kids someday, but not in the hills.They
finally decided that meant they should return here to New York, in hopes
that someone here could help them, and so they did.Elisa
and Goliath are down in New Mexico right now, chasing after the latest
rumor of Demona. (I don't want to believe that she's back all these years
after Devil's Night, but if anyone could claw her way out of Hell itself,
it would be that bitch!)Anyway,
once they get back I'll ask Elisa if Raylene can borrow her magical amber
pendant; if it worked once for conceiving a gargoyle hybrid, maybe it'll
work again for creating a mutate hybrid. *** March
4th, 2018 Delilah
sat at the kitchen table with her pen and paper, glad that Old-Mother was
minding the hatchlings at the moment; it gave her time to write her monthly
letter to Samson.And there was so
much to write about this time!The
clan's battle with Demona at Mount Rainier; Goliath's brush with death
by devastating illness; Amber taking a new Phoenix Gate on a trip through
time, to bring Goliath's own mother forward to their time in order to cure
her son; how much happier everyone has become since Old-Mother's arrival.Even
Angela had been heard to laugh at an antic that Porthos had done yesterday,
after nearly everyone had given up hope of ever hearing her laugh again!In
fact, the only one who didn't seem happier these days was Hudson; he'd
gone rather quiet and moody after her arrival.Delilah
wondered if it was because seeing Old-Mother reminded Hudson of all the
other dead clansmen, killed in that terrible massacre over a thousand years
ago.She'd tried to talk to him
about it last night, but he'd just brushed her gentle queries away, before
engaging the Four Musketeers in more mock-fighting to improve their skills.Delilah
had been a little hurt by that, but tried not to take it personally.After
all, while Hudson had sired her children, and they'd had a few more trysts
in the intervening years since Samson had gone to California, they weren't
true mates.No, Delilah's true mate
was in California... Delilah decided to remind Samson to ask again about
letting her come visit.Surely by
now, their honorable behavior in respecting the Sasquatch tribe's rules
had taught the females that the gargoyles were trustworthy... *** April
2nd, 2018 Dear
Samson, It
has been another very eventful month here in Manhattan!Old-Mother
has gone back to her own time now, and I will miss her, but Goliath has
assured us all that she had a long life back in her own time and died in
comfort, surrounded by family, and she would not want us to grieve. Amber
took Old-Mother back to her own time, using the Phoenix Gate.And
it was not until after she'd left that Hudson told us all why he'd been
so sad lately... Samson
read the letter through, and shook his head in amazement.The
things that clan got into!Never
a dull moment with them, not with traveling across dimensions, fighting
a war on Avalon, and bringing back far more people than they'd left with... Delilah
wrote that she was bothered by how cool Angela and Kathe behaved towards
the new youngster, named Jake, who had been fathered by Brooklyn--or rather,
another dimension's version of Brooklyn--with another female, instead of
that dimension's version of Angela."I
fear that they are not as great-hearted as you, who always treated my hatchlings
with much affection despite Hudson fathering them..." Samson
paused in his reading and looked off to the horizon, thinking about how
he'd always been affectionate towards Delilah's hatchlings... but his stepfather
would still have been disappointed in his going back to Labyrinth after
they had hatched, instead of staying in the castle and being a full-time
father.He'd tried to be their father
at first... but with the whole clan deferring to Hudson after the truth
was known, and after seeing the hatchlings go crawling to Hudson instead
of him two times out of three... he'd gone back to living in the Labyrinth
and just visiting once in a while.More
of a fond uncle instead of a father, despite still being their mother's
mate... Well, perhaps that had been for the best, since if he'd been a
true father figure to them, more than just Delilah and the mutates would
be missing him now. Delilah
ended the letter with another reminder that she wanted to visit, and Samson
resolved to ask Oruulu yet again for permission.After
all, he had provided them with a son now; newborn Haaroll (named after
his stepfather, Harold Blake, and hadn't that annoyed Sevarius to no end!)
was nursing at his mother Nuura's breast.He
was halfway towards fulfilling his end of the bargain, and surely they
could grant him this favor... *** May
30th, 2018 Dear
Delilah, I'm
sorry to report that Oruulu is still adamant about only Hippolyta visiting...
But I think she's beginning to wear down.Nuura,
Luul and Aanuu have actually expressed interest in meeting you, and Haeruu
seems to be softening as well.I
bring out the pictures you've sent of the clan at least once every moon,
and I'll keep it up until I can convince them that you can be trusted and
can come out here.I'm pretty sure
that once I can get Haeruu to agree to it too, all three of the adults
will be able to convince Oruulu... *** December
10th, 2018 Dear
Talon, It's
so great to know that Maggie is alive and well! Samson
paused in his writing, looking again at the letter from Talon that had
just arrived.His old friend had
been so excited when he'd written it, his sentences were missing words
and occasionally whole phrases, but the basic meaning had come through:
Maggie had been found, alive after all these years... and if she was missing
her wings now, well, there wasn't much use for wings in the Labyrinth anyway. There
were parts of the letter that were just a bit too incoherent, however...
what was this about a mutate named Feral?Another
mutate without wings, or so Samson gathered; where had he come from?In
addition to asking Talon for clarification, Samson decided to write to
Sevarius, and ask his father if there were any other little secrets that
he'd been keeping. *** April
23rd, 2019 Delilah
sat at the table, staring at a blank piece of paper and absently chewing
on the tip of her pen, wondering what she would put in her next letter
to Samson.A great deal had happened
around the castle lately... but not all of it was fit to be put into a
letter. Ten
days ago, a few days after Goliath and Elisa had left for Africa to find
Tom Reed Maza and let him know his mother was alive, Lexington's constantly-running
search engine had uncovered a news item about gargoyles... specifically,
about some recently-discovered gargoyle eggs.According
to the AP report, a janitor was "blowing the whistle" on a government laboratory
in Ohio, that was secretly holding a half-dozen gargoyle eggs.The
photo that the janitor had sneaked out of the lab showed the eggs in a
giant incubator, with a label reading "Mexico November 2018."And
the janitor reported a conversation he'd overheard between two scientists
at that laboratory; that the eggs were going to be dissected, one at a
time at one-year intervals, so the scientists could study the embryos at
various stages in their gestation. Brooklyn
had said at the time that this might be another hoax; there had certainly
been enough of them concerning gargoyles over the years.But
not all such reports were hoaxes, as Coldstone and his family could certainly
attest to; on the strength of just such a news report, they had gone north
to the Yukon back in 2005... And discovered a clan of human-hating, human-eating
gargoyles that had been living in the wilds for millennia, that probably
had been the source behind the Indian legends of the Wendigo.As
Gabriel had written to the clan later, this 'Wendigo Clan' was so primitive
that, even with Aiden's language-acquisition spell, Gabriel and Angus had
had trouble talking to them; their language simply didn't have the words
for far too many concepts.Primitive
in language, and absolutely barbaric in custom; the news report that had
attracted their attention had said that 'wild gargoyles' had killed the
pilot of a downed RCAF aircraft, while the copilot had barely escaped their
territory alive.And once the Cold
Clan had been warily admitted to the Wendigo Clan's inner territory, they
had seen the freshly-cleaned human skull mounted on a pole in front of
the largest cave, and the still-flesh-covered fingers strung on the clan
leader's gory necklace. After
all efforts to ameliorate their hostile attitudes had failed, the Cold
Clan had just barely escaped from the Wendigo Clan's territory with all
their hides intact.And Gabriel,
who had dared to challenge the clan leader to combat in a last-ditch attempt
to make the Wendigo Clan stop its perpetual war on humanity, was no doubt
still under sentence of death if he ever went there again.Angus
still hoped that the one gargoyle in that clan who had openly accepted
them, a sweet little half-grown female they'd named Yukoned Bea, might
eventually be able to change or at least soften her clan's attitudes towards
humans.But until then, the rest
of them decided that it would be best if the rest of the world didn't know
that particular 'hoax' wasn't a hoax at all; some rocks are simply better
left unturned. Moreover,
the Manhattan Clan knew all too well that there were scientists out there
who would indeed callously conduct lethal experiments on innocent gargoyle
young if they had the opportunity.Even
if Sevarius himself/herself was basically neutralized now, there were far
too many of his clones still running around loose, conducting experiments
on God knew what.And they weren't
the only ones who had proven to fit the "utterly amoral scientist" mold;
Dr. Irene Johnson had been expelled from the castle back in 2002, after
the clan had discovered that the xenologist had been secretly trying to
recreate the cloning chambers that Sevarius had used, solely in order to
provide herself with subjects for experiments.Despite
the U.S. government having finally and officially acknowledged gargoyles
as fellow sentient beings and citizens back in 2008, there were still too
many humans out there who regarded them as talking animals instead of people.This
might be a hoax, but they didn't dare just assume it was one. So
Brooklyn had put in a formal request via official channels, that the laboratory
stop all testing on the eggs and turn them over to the clan's custody...
but he'd also put together a "strike team," to get their tails over to
Ohio on the double and get those eggs away from the scientists immediately
and as secretly as possible.Considering
how long it took for the humans to officially acknowledge their existence,
Brooklyn had no faith in swift government action and didn't want to risk
the scientists cracking open even a single egg in the meantime.Lexington
was picked for his electronics wizardry, and loaded down with all the high-tech
gadgets he and Alexander thought he might need; Aiden was picked for her
real wizardry skills, as magic might be needed to circumvent what technology
couldn't.Matt Bluestone went along,
to be their human "front" if any human contact was needed.And
Delilah made the fourth and final member of the squad, because somebody
was needed for general fetch-n-carry, including carrying Matt if necessary;
the web-winged gargoyles couldn't carry items in flight as easily as she
could. The
team had gone to Ohio in a stealth-equipped jet, and set out for the laboratory
as soon as they were able.But when
they had approached the lab complex, and seen the bullet holes, burn marks
and other signs of battle, and heard the commotion coming from inside the
main building, they realized that someone else had gotten there first...
Demona. Delilah
still vividly remembered the sight that had greeted the strike team's eyes
when they had snuck in through the roof, and pulled aside a ceiling tile
over the largest lab room.No less
than four people were sprawled on the floor, bleeding, unconscious and
possibly dead... but another dozen people were upright and armed, with
various weapons.As Lexington had
discovered during his quick preliminary research on the facilities, this
lab complex was primarily devoted to weapons research... and some of those
experimental weapons had definitely been used on Demona.She
was encased in a giant glob of gray goo on the far side of the lab, with
only her head and one taloned hand sticking out, and it looked like at
least half the hair on her head had been burnt off as well. Lexington
had muttered that this was a good thing, in a way; Demona would keep the
humans busy, while the strike team covertly searched the lab complex.But
then Demona, encased and utterly helpless, had started pleading in a voice
loud enough for them to hear: "Please...
please, spare the eggs!I'll do anything...
look, look at this!" as she'd stretched her taloned hand up and back and
given herself a long scratch on the cheek."Look
at that... it heals almost instantly!This
isn't an ability that most gargoyles have; only I have it... I'm-I'm a
mutant!But think of how incredible
it would be if you could discover how this instant healing ability works,
and duplicate it in other animals, even humans; you could all win the Nobel
Prize, and become rich beyond your wildest dreams!And
I swear I'll let you experiment on me to discover how it works, if you'll
promise not to harm the eggs.As
soon as they're turned safely over to... to Angela, of the Manhattan Clan!I'll
let you do anything you like to me; vivisection, even organ removal!Just
please, please, spare the innocent eggs!" And
the head scientist had responded heatedly, "What eggs?!I'm
telling you again, we really don't have any gargoyle eggs here..." Matt
had taken that as his cue to enter, waving his Guardians ID; he announced
that he was there on behalf of the FBI and the ISCA ("Inter-Species Cooperation
Association", the official name for the Guardians), to investigate a report
that gargoyle eggs had been kidnapped and taken to this facility.In
utter exasperation, the head scientist had asserted that he would guide
Bluestone on a tour of the facility himself, even into the top-secret rooms,
until everyone was satisfied that there were no eggs here... just so long
as Bluestone behaved himself and didn't try to kill anybody. Bluestone
had gone on that guided tour with the scientist, while Lexington and Aiden
had double-checked and triple-checked that assertion of innocence; Aiden
with seeking spells, and Lexington by using some of Alexander's gadgetry
to hack into the facility's computers.And
by the time they were all convinced that there really weren't any gargoyle
eggs in the complex, Demona had managed to claw herself free of the gray
goo and escaped (thankfully, without killing anyone else in the process.)And
by the time the strike team had returned home, the AP headquarters had
issued an official statement that the article had been a hoax, which had
been planted into their system by hackers, persons unknown.The
clan had been both relieved and disappointed to discover it was all a hoax;
while it was good to know that no one was experimenting on their kind anymore,
more eggs in the rookery would have been greatly welcome. Demona
hadn't been seen since, though the clan wondered if she'd been the one
responsible for the mysterious deaths of two college students four days
later; those two Ohio State University students had been suspected of being
the ones to create the hoax, but nothing could be proven.Brooklyn
had just shaken his head at the news, and said, "Let the local authorities
handle it.If they want our help,
they'll ask for it." And that had been that. Sitting
at the table now, Delilah wondered if she should write about that in her
letter to Samson.Would he even believe
it... believe that the same evil creature who had kidnapped Angela's egg
and turned an innocent child into a demon, the same one who had tried to
kill every member of the clan at least once and Goliath who knew how many
times, would be willing to sacrifice herself-several times over-for the
sake of gargoyle eggs?Brooklyn had
scoffed when he'd heard the strike team's report, sure that Demona had
been lying through her teeth at the time.But
Matt Bluestone had worn a thoughtful expression all that night, and even
Delilah wondered if there might be some good in Demona after all... Delilah
finally shook her head and decided that the event wouldn't go into her
letter; after all, when all was said and done, everything was just as it
had been before, so really nothing of consequence had happened.Instead,
she would write about Amber's latest achievement, up at the Sterling Academy.Amber
had gotten straight A's for the semester, and was now on the honor roll... *** May
20th, 2019 Dear
Delilah, Wonderful
news!Oruulu has finally relented;
you can come out for a visit!But
there are a few conditions that she insists on... *** June
17th, 2019 "We're
almost there," Hippolyta called back to Delilah, who was hanging onto the
tip of her tail."When we reach the
clearing, we'll circle it once or twice, so they can look up if they wish
and see that you're wearing the blindfold.Then
you can take it off for landing..." Delilah
nodded, glad that she wouldn't be forced to land with the blindfold on.Gliding
for over an hour without the use of her eyes hadn't been all that bad;
she could still feel the wind currents on her wings and automatically adjust
for them, and so long as she held onto Hippolyta's tail, she hadn't worried
about gliding right into a mountain or whatever.But
trying to judge distance and best approach angles for landing on unfamiliar
terrain, while utterly blind... no, thank you!She
didn't know how Hudson's blinded rookery sister, the one that Amber had
met on her journey back in time, had possibly managed for all those years. She
felt them slowly banking to the left, turning in a wide circle... Then
Hippolyta said she could take the blindfold off, and she released her grip
on the other female's tail and did so.After
blinking once or twice, she saw five members of the Sasquatch race standing
in the clearing below her.Four of
them were grouped off to one side, but the tallest was standing in the
clearing's center... "Samson!"Forgetting
all decorum, with a joyous shriek she dove down and swooped straight into
his arms. *** She
glided straight into his arms, but Samson had been half-expecting that,
and indeed had rather been hoping she would; while even the largest human
would have been bowled right over by the impact, he braced himself and
caught her into a loving bear-hug."Delilah!" After
four long years of being apart, no embrace or kiss could possibly last
long enough... but they kept at it until Samson heard the unmistakable
sound of a throat being cleared expectantly.(Some
non-verbal signals meant the same thing no matter what the species.)After
another second or two, he reluctantly broke off and set Delilah on her
feet, and turned her to face the rest of the tribe."Delilah,
this is Oruulu... and that's Luul, Haeruu and Aanuu.Nuura's
still in the cave with the children..." *** Delilah
had promised, both Samson and herself, that she would be civil and even
kind to the other Sasquatch females... but it was hard.These
females had been holding her mate hostage for four long years!But
she kept her wings cloaked about her shoulders, kept her tail from lashing
and tried very hard to keep the fangs from showing in her smile.And
if her grip when shaking hands was a bit too strong, well, Oruulu had started
it... Samson gently put his huge hand over both of theirs, ending the impromptu
contest before Delilah could win it, then escorted her into the cave.Delilah
casually leaned into his arm as they walked--mine!--and didn't quite
smirk at somebody's suppressed growl behind them as Samson just as casually
hugged her close to his side. But
Delilah had no problem being kind towards the Sasquatch children, all waiting
inside the cave.They were so cute!Six
adorable little fuzzballs, three still unsteadily toddling about and the
other three climbing all over and getting into everything.She
reached behind to unhook and bring around the satchel of goodies she'd
brought with her, just for the children: grapes, cherries, apples, bananas,
kiwi fruits, carrots, cherry tomatoes and some of every other fruit and
vegetable that Hippolyta had recommended for suitable food gifts.Hippolyta
herself had brought similar goods for the adults, but Delilah's gifts were
for Samson's children.And once
all the food had been laid out, she reached into the bottom of the bag
and brought out a carefully wrapped bundle, that had been transported from
New York.She showed it to Samson
first, saying as she unwrapped it, "Do you remember these?" "The
gargoyle dolls!" Samson plucked up one of the six winged rag dolls in the
bundle, holding it close to inhale its scent.Maggie
and Talon had made those dolls nearly twenty years ago, for Delilah's children
before their eggs had even been laid. "They
were becoming worn out from play, so Maggie insisted on fixing them up,"
Delilah told him. "D'Artagna and the Trio want your children to have them
to play with, until the night that they can play with real gargoyle hatchlings,"
as she gently offered one of the dolls to the russet-haired Sasquatch child
at her feet. *** The
gargoyle dolls, passed from Delilah's children to his... If Samson could
have shed tears, he would have been wiping them away now, as he saw Noola
pluck the doll from Delilah's fingers, then curiously sniff it a few times
before looking at Delilah expectantly.Noola's
look said plainly, if this wasn't something to eat, what was it for? Delilah
smiled, then showed her how to rock the doll in her arms.Noola
caught on immediately, and began to rock the doll like it was one of her
baby sisters or brother.The other
five dolls were passed around, one to each child, and in short order Noola
and Maar were making their dolls play together, while Ahllo tried to feed
her doll a cherry tomato. Oruulu
was not happy when she came into the cave and saw the gargoyle dolls; more
human things!But Luul, Nuura and
even Haeruu ganged up on her, after seeing how happily the children were
playing with the dolls (which were more poseable and definitely more cuddly
than the old rough play-figures that had been carved for them out of bark
and twigs,) and she finally grudgingly agreed that the children could keep
them. And
after the first round of introductions was over and the gifts had been
given... Samson led Delilah out of the cave and out of the clearing, over
to a place he'd been preparing for her for the last two weeks.A
natural bower, canopied by tree branches and lined with dried sweet grasses.Delilah
looked at it, then looked up at him with tears in her eyes."You
made this for me?" "For
us," he corrected her gently."No
one else will come here; this is our place.My
sweet Delilah..." They
made love, with joyous abandon... then again, with loving tenderness...
and again, and again, and again until dawn.In
between bouts of lovemaking, they just lay together and talked of this
and that, of things that had been put into letters and of trivialities
that hadn't been put onto paper.Samson
was exhausted before dawn, but still felt that it came far too soon. They
had five nights together, before Hippolyta returned to take Delilah back
to civilization.In the clearing
outside the cave, they shared one last kiss and fervent embrace, promising
to keep continually in each other's thoughts until Delilah could return
for another visit, next summer.Then
he cupped his hands into a foothold that she stepped into, and gave one
great heave, tossing her high into the air.She
caught the air in her wings and glided up a ways, then made a great show
out of tying the blindfold over her eyes, rendering herself sightless,
then reaching blindly out for her guide.Hippolyta
swooped in and wheeled about to lay her tail within Delilah's grasp, then
led her out of the clearing.As they
left, her sweet voice rang out again, "Till next summer!" "Till
next summer!" Samson shouted back with all his might, and stood there
until his true love and her guide had glided out of sight.And
stood there a while longer, before returning to the cave where the other
Sasquatches, including his children, were waiting. *** July
15th, 2019 Dear
Samson, I
can understand about the females only allowing your mate to come out for
a visit, but if they ever get over their paranoia, let them know there
are some old friends who'd like to see you too, okay?Now
that Maggie's as recovered as she's ever going to be, she's back to being
Mom for the whole Labyrinth; she's fretting that the females out there
aren't treating you right and wants to see for herself.And
we'd both like to see your kids; Delilah's been telling us how incredibly
cute they are, little miniature versions of you, and how much they like
the dolls we made all those years ago. Speaking
of kids, I'm worried sick about Tom.Goliath
and Elisa came back from Africa two weeks ago, after going to find him
and let him know about Maggie's return.They've
told us that he's had a hard time, but they think he's going to be all
right now.But it's what they're
refusing to talk about that really worries me... *** September
10th, 2019 Sevarius, While
you're still not and probably never will be welcome to come out here, the
females have agreed to let you have these bite impressions; I've written
each child's name onto whichever slab of balsa wood that they bit into.Even
I can see that their bite impressions are decidedly different from any
of the females, and much closer to my own bite impression; looks like some
of my still-human genes have been passed on after all.I've
also wedged more bits of fur from each child into the cracks in the wood;
feel free to examine them and determine what you can.But
Hippolyta has promised that once you've done your tests, she'll personally
see to it that all the evidence is burned to ashes before she returns again. *** December
3rd, 2019 Dear
Samson, It
has been a very sad week here at the castle.Diane
Maza died of a heart attack, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.The
whole clan grieves for Elisa's loss, as well as her father's.We
have asked Peter Maza to move into the castle with us, so he will not be
living all alone. *** January
1st, 2020 Dear
Samson, Today
is the first day of a New Year, and I hope very much that we will be together
again forever before the year is over! In
the past month, Peter Maza has moved in with us, and he and Hudson are
becoming great friends; they talk all the time about past battles they
fought in, Peter while he was a police officer and Hudson while back in
old Scotland.And they talk about
how much alike it is to raise gargoyles hatchlings and human children;
how some children are nearly always sweet and easy to raise, but others
are born to make trouble, and somehow become even more loveable. (I am
sure that D'Artagna is of the second kind!) *** March
25th, 2021 Dear
Samson, It's
been a big week here at the Labyrinth.Angus
from the Vegas clan came here with his two mates, Sonya the gargoyle and
Jeannie Leister the human.Jeannie's
the one responsible for Gabriel being able to have a hybrid child with
his wife, and after putting Claw and Raylene through a battery of tests,
she said she's pretty sure she can give them a hybrid child too.Claw
and Raylene are so excited they're nearly bouncing off the tunnel walls,
and Raylene's already talking about what to put in the nursery.That's
putting the cart before the horse if you ask me, but even if Jeannie is
related to Sevarius in a particularly sicko way, I actually trust her to
do right by our friends. *** June
18th, 2021 During
her third visit to California, in between wild bouts of lovemaking, Delilah
told Samson that Raylene was pregnant now; the pregnancy had just been
confirmed by ultrasound two days before Delilah had gone west."And
Raylene said the ultrasound shows two babies," Delilah added with a smile. "Wow,
that's great!Did she know whether
or not they'd have wings, or fur?" Samson asked. She
shrugged."Too early to tell, I think." And
a while later, Samson asked Delilah, "So, what did you think of the older
girls' pronunciation?" That
had been a special treat for Delilah, upon her arrival; Noola, Maar and
Ahllo had greeted her with, "Heh-llo, Ahhn Deh-llih-llah!"Now
Delilah smiled in remembrance, and told him that they'd sounded fine." "They
still can't seem to manage an 'ee' vowel-sound, and there are some consonants
that give them problems," Samson confided, "but overall they can do a lot
better than their mothers.It's my
secret project, one I work on whenever I'm alone in the cave with the kids;
I'm trying to get them to the point where I can teach them English.Sooner
or later, this tribe is going to be discovered by humanity, no matter how
much the Illuminati try to put a damper on news reports.There's
only so much wilderness left, with more of it going to housing developments
every year, and campers and back-to-nature buffs hiking boldly into what's
left... But if my kids and their descendants can speak English to whoever's
discovering them, they're more apt to be treated like people, instead of
just big furry brutes to be stuck in zoos.And
if I can teach them to read and write, even a little..." Delilah
listened to Samson's plans, and kept an encouraging smile fixed firmly
on her face... but inside, she wanted to crumple into a ball and sob.She
knew all too well that plans like Samson was making now would take years
to see fruition, and likely several years for the youngest children, the
three newborns still suckling at their mothers' breasts.One
of those newborns, the one introduced to her as Maahnaa, was a male; Samson's
second son.Samson had fulfilled
his end of the bargain with the Sasquatch tribe, and was free to come home
now... But Delilah could no longer deny it: he was home already. But
she kept her thoughts to herself, and didn't let a single tear fall until
after the visit was over, and she had promised to come again next summer,
and Samson had given her another boost to send her up into the air.But
after she had put on that cursed blindfold, and grasped Hippolyta's tail,
and was out of Samson's earshot... the blindfold was soaked through with
tears before they reached Trinity Bay. Hippolyta
had let her cry it out without interference as they glided along, but once
she'd announced that they had reached the city limits and the blindfold
could be removed, she added, "But we're not going back to the town hall
to perch.Tonight, I'm taking you
to my friend Nyx's house.She has
hot cocoa and doughnuts, and she and I are ready to hear whatever is burdening
your heart." "I...
it... you can't help with this," Delilah choked out, as the tears threatened
to come again. "Perhaps
not, particularly if it's what I think it's about.But
we can still listen, and grief shared is often grief eased.Besides,
didn't you think I'd like to spend more time in your company?" Hippolyta
said plaintively."You're the only
other gargoyle I've seen in far too many years, and you're always gone
so soon..." *** The
nights spent at Hippolyta and Nyx's home comforted Delilah to some degree...
but she found fresh tears anew when she awoke in New York after the flight
back aboard Alexander's private jet.How
could she face Talon and the others in the Labyrinth, who still kept Samson's
chambers ready for him, and tell them that they might never see their friend
again? As
it happened, the rest of the clan had taken the hatchlings to a midsummer
celebration in Central Park when she returned to the castle; only Hudson
was present, for the arthritis in his wings sometimes pained him greatly,
and when they did he preferred to just stay and mind the castle.He
met her on the battlements with a broad smile, that changed to a look of
concern. "Och, lass, what brings tears to your eyes?Is
all not well with Samson and his children?" "Th-they
are all well... B-but s-s-Samson is still there," Delilah choked out, trying
to hold back the sobs."I-I still
love him, b-but Manhattan is no longer ho-ho-home to him..." "Och,
lass..." Hudson held out a hand to her."Come
inside.In truth, I've been expecting
this would happen... but that makes it no less hard to accept, when the
one you love must go another way.Come
inside, and find what comfort you can..." And
eventually, with Hudson's loving kindness and kind loving, Delilah was
comforted.She finally came to the
conclusion that, though Samson had more than one mate now--as did she,
really--it did not lessen their love for each other.They
were still true mates, and always would be, even if Life drove them in
other directions.At least they'd
always have a week together each summer... and in between, plenty of letters
from homes. *** September
28th, 2021 Dear
Samson, I
have bad news; Peter Maza suffered a very bad stroke three nights ago.He
is alive, but he can no longer walk, his left side is paralyzed, and his
speech is mumbled, very slow and not always right; Dr. Masters says it
is called aphasia.The doctors are
saying that lots of therapy should help him, but they are not sure if he
will fully recover. Two
weeks ago, Elisa and Goliath talked to the clan about going on another
around-the-world trip, like they did back in 1995; this time, instead of
letting Avalon guide them, they would use a modern boat and make lots of
deliberate stops to visit all the clans that we know of now.But
now Elisa says that they will not leave until after her father is better. *** February
17th, 2022 Dear
Samson, Guess
who arrived just in time for Valentine's Day?The
Labyrinth's two newest little sweethearts; Buddy and Ruby Ann Ellis!Claw
and Raylene are the proud parents of two kids, a boy and a girl; they both
have striped fur like their father, but no wings.(Not
that wings matter much down here anyway.)Everybody
loves them, and I have to admit, they're almost as cute as Dee and Tom
were when they were born.Maggie
especially adores them, and I don't think she's left their nursery for
more than a few hours since they were brought home; it's a good thing that
Raylene's appreciative of the extra help, instead of annoyed by it. Dee
and Feral came by yesterday when they heard the good news, but they didn't
stay too long.I've got a hunch that
Maggie said something to them about how much she'd like to see some grandchildren... *** March
12th, 2022 Dear
Talon, Congratulate
Claw and Raylene for me on the birth of their twins!My
own brood just reached ten, with little Aavuu (another female) born three
days ago, and it'll be twelve before another month is gone.After
this, I'm going to insist that we wait at least four more years before
having any more kids; it's hard enough now for us to take care of them
all! Aanuu
and Luul are now in on my secret project, to teach the children English,
though we're still trying to keep it secret a while longer from the other,
more xenophobic females.I've got
this idea now, to make "board-books" out of bark and leaves, to help teach
them the alphabet.But I'm getting
stuck on words for certain letters; for example, it's no good trying to
teach them " 'F' is for fire engine" when they're probably never going
to see a fire engine in their entire lives.F
is already taken care of ("forest", of course) but can you think of any
good words to illustrate Q, X and Z? *** June
15th, 2022 Delilah
had come to the forest again, and on this visit, she came bearing more
bad news: Matt Bluestone and his wife Edie were both dead, having been
murdered by the Hunter three weeks ago.Samson
was stunned by the loss... and even more stunned to learn that, according
to their surviving son Orpheus, Matt had died defending Demona!"He
really said that?Matt died defending
her, not trying to capture her himself?!" Delilah
nodded sadly."I know, it is hard
to believe... but Elisa told us all that sometimes it is a police officer's
hardest duty; to defend a criminal from those outside the law who want
to take justice into their own hands." "Well,
yeah, I can see that... but still, we're talking about Demona!She's
tried to kill off everybody, not just the whole clan but the whole human
race, how many times?!Not to mention,
she could be shot more full of holes than Swiss cheese and still survive!"Samson
shook his head."I know a policeman's
duty is his duty, but still, why did he even bother?" Delilah
could only shrug, before saying, "I think, maybe... Matt was there that
night when we heard Demona pleading to save the eggs, before we found out
it was all a hoax.Perhaps he thought
that meant there was some good in her after all..." "Wait
a minute, back up... there was a hoax?About
eggs?When did this happen, and what
did Demona have to do with it?" *** February
20th, 2023 Dear
Samson, Hi!Not
too much going on in the Labyrinth right now; everyone's just waiting for
winter to be over with already.Just
like my own twins did before their first birthday, Buddy and Ruby Ann have
gone from crawling to walking to running full-tilt and climbing all over
everything.At least they're not
trying to fly off of whatever they climb to the top of; instead, they just
get stuck up there and mewl until somebody comes to get them.They'd
be exasperating if they weren't so darn cute. There's
been a sighting of Tom in Nigeria, from roughly two weeks ago.The
report Lexington brought to us said that a tourist safari expedition had
accidentally surprised a pack of poachers, but after a few shots were fired,
and the safari guide and a tourist were killed, the remaining tourists
were saved by a "panther-gargoyle" working with a black panther.That
had to be Tom, and one of the were-panthers that Elisa and my mother encountered
way back in '95.So at least we know
he's alive... Talon
paused in his writing, his felinoid features carved in a worried frown.Should
he put into the letter everything else the news report had said?Including
the fact that four of the seven poachers had been killed, before the rest
surrendered and were taken captive by the safari driver; one by "lightning
blasts" and three by having their throats ripped out or head ripped clean
off... No.Samson
didn't need to know that.It was
bad enough that Talon himself knew about it, and even worse that Maggie
knew it; she had wept in his arms that night after they'd seen the report.Not
everyone needed to know that Thomas Reed Maza, who was once just an innocent
little cub bounding cheerfully through the Labyrinth, was now capable of
killing... Even if the killing had been done in defense of innocents, it
was still painful for a parent to think about. *** August
18th, 2024 Dear
Samson, The
clan is very excited; just yesterday, we received news of the existence
of another clan--this one the largest one yet!They
live on a cluster of islands in the Philippines that humans had previously
thought were uninhabited, and we have heard that they number seventy-nine
gargoyles in all!They are of the
type that turns to wood for sleeping, like the sea-going clan in the Caribbean
we have heard about. Lexington thinks they're different because of "survival
of the fittest;" since stone sinks in water, gargoyles like us who were
caught at sea at sunrise would sink and drown on the sea bottom at sunset,
but gargoyles who sleep in wood would just float along and be okay. Goliath
and Elisa have put this new clan on their list of clans to visit on their
World Tour, as soon as Elisa's father is well enough that Elisa will not
worry so about him while she is gone.(Though
I tell you secretly, I do not think he will ever be fully well again.Ever
since that last stroke in May, he does not even try to walk any more; he
just sits there in his wheelchair and watches the TV or the hatchlings
at play.) *** January
12th, 2025 Dear
Samson, Everyone
in the castle is very happy and excited for Broadway; he has been chosen
to compete in the Iron Chef International Championships!Since
it seems the ability to put on a good show is as important as the cooking,
Alex is working with Broadway on his "stage presence", and Lexington is
designing new gadgets that will work with what the show's producers provide
on stage already. And every night, we have a different gourmet meal!Which
we adults are certainly happy with, but most of the hatchlings are not.Kenneth
and Finella will try most of the new dishes, but the rest keep pushing
their plates away and asking for macaroni and cheese... *** April
20th, 2025 Dear
Delilah, Tell
Broadway that I'm very happy for his winning the third place trophy in
the Iron Chef International Championship, and I hope he enjoyed his trips
to Tokyo, Paris and Los Angeles.And
of course I don't blame him for not being able to get away from Los Angeles
and his entourage long enough to come up to Trinity Bay for a visit.It's
always hard for a media star to escape the public eye... *** June
28th, 2025 Dear
Delilah, I'm
writing this early, since you left only two days ago, and you won't see
it until after Hippolyta comes again to pick it up... but I just had to
write, to say I'm sorry that we parted without our argument being really
resolved.You were right, like you're
usually right; I'm just too stubborn sometimes to admit it. I
love you.I will always love you,
even though we are thousands of miles apart now.I
still hope we can be together forever someday, though it may take many
years more for that dream to come true.I
simply can not leave the tribe now, not when the children still have so
much more to learn, to prepare for that inevitable encounter with the modern
world of humanity. Samson
paused in his writing, thinking about all he was teaching his children,
and even the adults of the tribe who were willing to learn.Aanuu
and Luul, as well as his three oldest children Noola, Maar and Ahllo, had
finally mastered the alphabet and were now scratching words into bark strips.And
Haaroll, his firstborn son, was leaping ahead of his same-age sisters in
counting and doing simple sums.But
they needed to know so much more than that... And
there was another reason he couldn't leave the tribe, another bond holding
him here... love.He had never said
so to Delilah and probably never would, but while he'd become fond of all
the adults in the tribe, he had grown to truly love Luul, sweet Luul with
her gentle humor and accepting nature, almost as much as he loved Delilah.It
was unthinkable that he would simply leave and never see her again, almost
as unthinkable as leaving all his children behind.And
since they couldn't all come with him to New York, it was just better all
around if Delilah came to visit him instead... To
visit, and perhaps one day, to stay?Luul
had suggested it, last winter, and even Oruulu had somewhat reluctantly
agreed to it; the tribe was now so comfortable with Delilah that they would
accept her visiting just as often as Hippolyta, or even living somewhere
nearby in the great woods.Hippolyta
herself had mentioned more than once that she would be happy to have Delilah
become a permanent resident of Trinity Bay, and share her home in town
all the time instead of just once a year.And
while Poly had never made a secret of her impatience with children and
general desire to stay a healthy distance from them, she had also said
last month that there was an empty house not far from the police station
that might do well for a rookery for Delilah's hatchlings.Even
Hudson could come to live in Trinity Bay, to help care for the hatchlings
he’d sired and raised.Samson had
been planning to broach the idea to Delilah during her visit, but instead
they had gotten into that stupid, stupid argument... So he would have to
put the invitation into a letter instead. Which
was probably just as well, really; that gave Delilah the option of turning
him down, if either she or the hatchlings were utterly against the idea,
without having to do so to his face.Samson
took a deep breath, and began to write again. *** August
17th, 2025 Dear
Samson, I
love you and consider you always to be my true mate, and I was honored
and happy to receive your letter and learn about Hippolyta's and your tribe's
offer.But I am sorry to say that
this dream cannot come true, not yet; I cannot come to California to live.The
hatchlings absolutely refuse to leave the rest of their rookery kin, even
for the chance to visit your children regularly.But
perhaps one day, when they are grown to adulthood and no longer need me,
I will come myself to live closer to you.Some
day... but in the meantime, we will still have the visits every summer,
and these letters. Alexander
says there may be another clan in existence, in Newfoundland; another report
has come from that area, and unlike the first one that I told you about
years ago, this one does not seem to be another hoax.Someone
from the You-Know-Who, that owes Alexander some sort of favor, is going
to go up there to investigate.I
reminded Alexander to remind that person to look for Sasquatch tribes,
too, while she is up there... *** October
22nd, 2026 Dear
Samson, There
is more bad news; Peter Maza is dead.He
died six nights ago, after suffering a final stroke and spending a week
in a coma.All the clan mourns him,
and Elisa and Hudson mourn him most of all... ** * February
17th, 2027 Dear
Samson, It
has been a long and dreary winter, and everyone in the clan is more than
ready for Spring to come.The hatchlings
are particularly chafing at all the storms that keep them inside so much
of the time.And I must be honest,
there are times when I am very tempted to just jump off the battlements
even with thunder and lightning all around, just to get away from their
squabbling. Even
Elisa and Goliath are beginning to go "stir-crazy", as Elisa says.They
are now seriously planning that world tour that I wrote about years ago,
the one that had been postponed indefinitely while Peter was so sick.Alexander
says that he is going to make them some specially-equipped vehicles, for
traveling all over the world while they visit the newly discovered clans
and try to discover even more. *** March
14th, 2027 Dear
Delilah, I
can sympathize with the clan's stir-craziness, at being cooped up so much
this winter.We haven't had that
many bad storms over here, but when we do have one bad enough that everyone
comes inside, six adults and fifteen children make for a very crowded cavern!Even
the extra rooms that we dug into the back aren't enough to allow any real
elbowroom. Tell
Elisa and Goliath that I wish them the best of luck on their world tour.And
remind them to look for evidence of Sasquatch tribes in every wilderness!Haeruu
still doubts that any of 'the People' would want to live in such a constantly
cold climate, but Oruulu is increasingly convinced that the Yeti that reportedly
live in the Himalayas are more Sasquatch, driven so far above the snowline
by encroaching humanity. If they are, and Goliath can find them, then... *** May
7th, 2028 Delilah
sat at the kitchen table with paper and pen in hand, wondering absently
how many pages it would take to write down everything she had to write
about this month.So much had happened,
in only a few days at the end of April!The
hatchlings' camping trip had turned out to be so much more than anyone
had ever dreamed it would.Two gargoyles
long-since thought to be lost forever had returned: Ebon had been found
alive and well with his wife Julianna and adopted son Julian (to whom Amber
was now engaged to be married!), and Brooklyn and Angela had their lost
child Damien back as an innocent hatchling again... And
D'Artagna had killed a man.An evil
man, to be sure, one who had deserved killing from all reports, but still...
D'Artagna was just eighteen, still a hatchling, really; that was far too
young to be thinking about killing people!But
she and Jake had killed together, and now nothing would ever be quite the
same again. What
really bothered Delilah was how little D'Artagna herself seemed to be bothered
by what had happened.Jake, who had
sliced into one of the killer's arteries so that he bled to death even
while D'Artagna was beating his head into mush, had spent most of the past
few nights closeted with Hudson.Delilah's
other mate had been forced to deal death more than once, back in the days
of Old Wyvern when the castle had been a regular target of bandit bands
and Vikings, and he was able to pass on some comfort and wisdom to the
troubled youngster.But D'Artagna
didn't seem to be bothered at all by what she'd done; Delilah had even
overheard her bragging to one of her brothers about how quickly they had
caught up to the man who'd tried his best to kill Julian, and how quickly
they'd killed him!Was her darling
tomboy daughter on her way to becoming a cold-blooded killer?!That
was such a horrible thought, one that no parent should be forced to consider,
but it had been haunting Delilah's mind for nights. She
wished that Samson could come to the castle on regular visits, instead
of her going to visit him; if he did, then perhaps Samson could talk to
D'Artagna and make her realize that what she'd done, even if honorable,
was nothing to brag about.Samson
had killed, too, long ago when he'd first been mutated, but since that
horrible time he had never done more than deal out a few bruises to people
who had come to the Labyrinth with trouble in mind.Delilah
was sure that together, he and Hudson could help D'Artagna realize the
full impact of what she'd done without becoming crippled by guilt in the
process... Perhaps, when Delilah went to California on her annual visit
next month, she could take D'Artagna with her? No,
that wouldn't work.She couldn't
take D'Artagna alone, not without having to explain why, and there was
no way she could do so without making an awkward situation far worse.The
only way D'Artagna could come would be if all the older hatchlings went,
and she sincerely doubted that either Trinity Bay or the Sasquatch tribe
was ready to deal with nine rambunctious hatchlings descending on them
all at once.No, Delilah would go
alone to California, right after Amber and Julian's wedding.And
she would try to keep her worries to herself until then... *** Six
weeks later, Delilah came to visit the tribe, bearing with her some photos
from Amber and Julian's wedding.As
she showed them to Samson and the others, she mentioned that she'd had
company on her journey this year, for part of the way; Ebon and Julianna
had ridden in the plane with her, from New York to Las Vegas. As
soon as he'd heard about Ebon's reappearance, Gabriel had sent a packet
to them via the Manhattan Clan; vouchers good for round-trip tickets to
Las Vegas and accommodations at the Coventry. Along
the way, Ebon had brooded and sometimes fretted aloud about what sort of
reception he and Julianna would receive once they arrived in Las Vegas.When
he had taken Julian and the newly-revived Julianna into hiding in 2001,
he had basically abandoned Gabriel and the other psi-children.While
it had worked out well in the end for everyone, he knew what it felt like
for a gargoyle to be seemingly rejected by another--Goliath's own rejection
at first sight of his clone, though almost expected, had still hurt in
a way that the old Thailog would never have admitted to.And
Ebon worried that Gabriel still had unresolved issues with him, over that
abandonment; that their stay in Las Vegas as guests of the Coventry Clan
would not be a pleasant one after all. "But
when our plane arrived in Las Vegas," Delilah told Samson with a smile
as they walked together, "I saw Gabriel and his mate and child standing
there waiting, and they were all smiling.And
while I did not get off with Ebon and Julianna, for we had to hurry to
get to Trinity Bay before sunrise, I saw Gabriel embrace Ebon like they
were rookery kin.I think their visit
is going well after all." "That's
good," Samson said while squeezing her hand, as they approached their private
bower."I'm a big fan of happy reunions..." *** After
they spent five delightful nights together, Hippolyta came and escorted
Delilah back to civilization (Delilah was no longer required to be blindfolded
and guided back, but Poly had said she liked having company while gliding),
and Samson went back to teaching and helping to care for his children.He
didn't expect to see any gargoyles again until the dark of the next moon...
So when one of his children came running up eight nights later, and told
him that Hippolyta had come to the cavern in search of him, he knew something
was very wrong. He
handed the basket of berries he'd been picking over to Maar and ran back
to the cavern, to find Hippolyta waiting for him with a troubled expression
and an envelope in her hand."I don't
know what the news is," she told him, "but I doubt it's good.This
arrived today via Federal Express, with a note for me from Brooklyn asking
me to bring it to you immediately, and wait for a reply." His
heart hammering with trepidation, Samson tore open the envelope and looked
at the letter inside, covered with unfamiliar handwriting.It
read, Dear
Samson, If
you've gotten worried by the time you read this, don't panic; Delilah is
alive.But Hudson is dead now; he
died three nights after Delilah returned from visiting you.He
died peacefully, but Delilah was the one to find his death-gravel, and
she's hardly stopped crying since. Goliath
left yesterday with Elisa, to begin that big World Tour that Delilah told
you about, so this is basically my first official act as full leader of
the clan; sending out death notices.And,
in your case, a request and invitation.Everyone's
grieving, but Delilah is inconsolable; she's hardly eaten anything in the
last three nights, and nothing that any of us can say comforts her.We
need you here, Samson, for at least a week or so.I'm
still working out the details with Alexander, but I'm pretty sure that
there's a way to sneak you onto a plane and get you here and back again
without the general public finding out.The
question is, can and will you come?I'm
asking Hippolyta to not only bring this message to you early, but to wait
for your reply. Sincerely, Brooklyn Samson
read the letter through twice, then looked up to where Hippolyta was still
waiting and said softly, "Hudson's dead.And
I'm needed back in New York..." Hippolyta
nodded sadly as she accepted the sorrowful news, then asked, "And will
you go?" "Of
course.Give me a day to explain
it to the tribe, and then I'll be ready to travel, in whatever way Alexander
comes up with." *** Alexander's
method of transport involved a helicopter, a cargo jet, a truck and an
oversized wristwatch that, once it was put on, magically disguised a Sasquatch
as a Goliath-sized gargoyle with a bandaged right wing.(Remembering
the illusion-spells that Aiden had crafted for the clan nearly three decades
ago, disguising gargoyles as humans, Samson had to smile at the irony.)Samson
was inside the castle less than 72 hours after hearing the news, less than
a day after leaving his tribe... and realized even before arriving in New
York how much he missed them already. Alexander
himself welcomed him into the castle, two hours before sunset, and Samson
was struck by how much like his father he looked; if Alexander's skin was
a shade or two darker and his hair dyed black, he'd be the very image of
David Xanatos.Alexander showed him
the changes that had been made in the castle in the last thirteen years,
and brought him up to date on current events while they waited for the
rest of the clan to wake up.Amber
and Julian were still away in Maine on their honeymoon, and Goliath and
Elisa were now in Boston, meeting with the clan that lived there; Patricia
was up at the Sterling Academy, dealing with some Illuminati business."Fact
is, it's just been too quiet during the day lately, and I'm glad you're
here a little early so I have someone to talk to," Alexander said with
a smile."So, what have you and your
kids been up to lately?How many
do you have now? Ten daughters and five sons, if I recall Delilah's reports
correctly..." "Fifteen
total... and one more on the way, due next spring," Samson told him."Luul
wanted just one more... but that'll be the last one, I guarantee; fifteen
children are hard enough to handle!But
now that Noola, Maar and Ahllo are old enough to help take care of and
teach the younger children, it has become a bit easier... But we still
need to find another tribe.It's
not just my own children that will be needing mates outside the tribe someday,
when they're fully grown; Aaanuu is full-grown and wanting a mate now,
and I just can't be that for her, not after all these years of being a
father-figure to her.Have the Illuminati
found anything yet?" Alexander
shook his head with regret."Not
yet... but I can assure you, we're still looking." When
sunset approached, Samson went out on the battlements with Alexander to
wait for the clan to awaken.Only
about half the clan were posed in the traditional fierce postures; the
rest were just standing there, with heads bent or wings drooping.From
all the pictures she'd mailed or brought with her, Samson recognized D'Artagna,
Athos, Porthos and Aramis; they were clustered together like chicks, with
sad, forlorn and somewhat lost expressions, no doubt still painfully missing
their father.D'Artagna's statue
was facing towards her mother; Delilah was on a perch nearby, but was sitting
down with her head resting on her knee spurs, and Samson could tell from
the marks on her cheeks that she'd been weeping as she'd turned to stone. Samson
turned to Alexander and asked, "Can you give me a few minutes alone?I...
I just need to think a little, before sunset." Alexander
nodded, and went back inside.Samson
walked slowly around the clan, observing the many small or great ways they
had changed in the last thirteen years, before coming to a conspicuously
empty perch.He knew without asking
that this was where Hudson had perched to greet the day, until just a week
ago. Samson
sighed, and spoke."Hudson... I didn't
talk to you much, ever.I guess you
probably knew that I was jealous of you for years...jealous
of you for siring the children with Delilah that she and I couldn't have
together, and then jealous of how the kids bonded with you instead of me,
even though it was pretty much to be expected.But...
now, looking back, it's good that you were here for Delilah and the children,
when I had to leave.She never flat-out
told me, but I caught your scent on her once, so I know that you and she...
were mates, too.And that's all right.I
figured out a long time ago that her loving you and the hatchlings, and
my loving Luul and my children, didn't stop our loving each other.So,
I'm glad that you and Delilah had each other all these years, and I'm sorry
you died before I could tell you so in person.From
what Alexander told me, you died basically content, so I hope you find
happiness in whatever afterlife awaits you..." He
stopped, then, having run out of words to say... and felt a breeze ruffle
his fur.And for just a moment, he
thought he almost heard a soft, contented chuckle... Then
it was sunset, and Alexander came back out just as the first of the gargoyles
cracked his stone shell. Delilah
was one of the last to wake up, and her roar and flex as she shook free
of her stone skin were so lackluster that she still had stone in her hair
as she slowly stood up and turned around, to see... "Samson!" He
had stepped back to what he remembered as the safety zone, to avoid the
flying stone shards as she awoke, but now he stepped forward and spread
his arms wide."Delilah, I can't
stay here, but I had to come," he said as she threw herself into his arms.“I
had to come…” She
hugged him tight, and began to cry into his shoulder... but their embrace
was interrupted by an angry voice."What
is he doing here?" Samson
turned in astonishment, to find Aramis and Athos staring up at him with
unmistakably hostile glares and their wings flared in anger.Beside
her brothers and looking just as furious, D'Artagnademanded,
"Who invited you?!" "Yeah;
we didn't ask for you here!" Athos chimed in angrily. "Children!"
Delilah gasped, shocked and appalled."What
are-why are you--" "I
invited Samson," Brooklyn said in a hard voice, as he strode over
and interposed himself between Samson and the hatchlings, flaring his own
wings."So if you have a problem
with that, you take it up with me, not him.Got
it?" as his eyes briefly flashed white.When
the hatchlings glared at him but caped their wings in submission, Brooklyn
continued, "So what's your problem?" "He
shouldn't be here!" D'Artagna said hotly."He's
supposed to be in California!That's
where he belongs!" Samson
stared over Brooklyn's wings at the hatchlings, then said quietly and sorrowfully,
"You don't remember me at all, do you?" No,
of course they didn't remember him; he'd moved back down to the Labyrinth
when they'd been only two years old, when he'd finally admitted to himself
that the hatchlings were far more Hudson's children than his; that they
responded to Hudson in a way that they never responded to him, Delilah's
mate.He hadn't seen them more than
once a month in the intervening years between 2012 and 2015, when he'd
gotten so sick and had to leave for California in hopes of finding a cure
again. But still, he hadn't thought... Brooklyn
glanced over his shoulder and said in a quiet tone that still brooked no
argument, "Delilah, why don't you take Samson down to your quarters?The
rest of us will take care of your kids for a while." Tears
not just of grief but of shame in her children's behavior spilled from
Delilah's cheeks as she led Samson away, but not before D'Artagna flung
one last barb at their backs: "He'd better not touch our stuff!" "Tanny,
that was uncalled for!" Samson heard Broadway say angrily, just before
the doors shut behind them. Delilah
stopped dead in the hallway and wrapped her wings around herself, crying
into her fisted hands.Her grammar
lessons had always left her in times of stress, and it was evident that
they'd gone right out the window as she sobbed, "Samson, I sorry!They
not supposed--I not know--oh, it all wrong!No
right, all bad!Want Hudson!Love
you, love, but need Hudson..." "Sshhh...sshhh..."
Samson wrapped his furry arms around her and gently stoked her wings, wishing
that he could cry as well, that the mutation hadn't robbed him forever
of tears."I know, Delilah; I understand.I
can't be Hudson for you.I can't
replace him.All I can do is help
you cry..." He
gently led her, still sobbing, down to her quarters... what had been their
quarters, long ago.They were in
the same location, but it was evident that there had been many changes
in the intervening years.And not
just the lack of a playpen, and the addition of toys and belongings for
older children; there was an easy chair sitting under that light that bore
the unmistakable impression of a hefty gargoyle's body, from innumerable
uses over the years... He
sat her down in another chair nearby, then fumbled around for tissues.He'd
just found the tissue box when he heard a timid knock on the doorframe,
and turned around to see Porthos in the open doorway.Porthos
said hesitantly, "Can I come in?" "It's
your home," Samson said quietly. "Okay..."
Porthos took a step forward, then looked up at Samson and said earnestly,
"I'm not mad at you." Samson
half-smiled."I'm glad someone's
not." "Yeah.I'm
sorry for what the others said..." Delilah
sniffed back her tears, and held open her arms for her son.Porthos
took the invitation and scrambled into his mother's arms, and she gave
him a big hug before asking tearfully, "Why your brothers and sister so
mean to Samson?He ever only nice
to them, to all of you..." Porthos
squirmed."Well... I think they're
mad because he's here now.Now that
Hudson's..." Hudson's
own children called him 'Hudson' instead of 'Dad' or 'Pop'?! Of course
they did, Samson realized a moment later; Hudson had always been a staunch
supporter of 'the old ways', when no gargoyle claimed his or her own children
and they were raised by all the clan together.Even
after he'd come to treat Delilah's children as his own and be a father
to them, the stubborn old gargoyle would have insisted that at least one
aspect of the old ways remain in place. Samson
knelt next to Delilah's chair and said to Porthos, "I think I understand
why..." He thought he'd figured it out, after replaying to himself some
of what Delilah had been sobbing out in the hall."As
I said out on the roof earlier, I can't stay here.And
even if I could, I wouldn't try to replace Hudson in your hearts.He
was your father, and it's right of you to miss him, and even right for
you to not want someone to try to replace him, because he was unique.He
was Hudson." Porthos
sniffed back tears of his own as he said, "Yeah....But
if you can make Mom a little bit happy again, that would be good..." Delilah
burst into tears and hugged Porthos again, and Samson told him quietly,
"Hudson would be proud of you."Samson
himself was very proud of him, whether or not he had any right to be… ** * Sometime
later, Porthos went back out to see if he could change his siblings' attitudes,
even a little.And barely a minute
after he'd left, Alexander came in."I
am sorry to intrude," he said apologetically, "But I've printed out the
photos, and while I'd be happy to show them to everyone else in your stead,
it would help if I had names to go with the faces." "Photos?"
Delilah asked in confusion. "The
disguise-spell watch that Alexander sent to me, had a digital camera built
into it too," Samson explained."He
figured that since I myself was coming out here, pictures of other Sasquatch
wouldn't be violating the Illuminati's 'no-contact' rule any worse."He
smiled briefly."Aanuu figured out
that I was doing something odd, that night before I left, and once I explained
it to her, she actually helped me take pictures of the others without their
knowing it.Not that most of the
kids would probably have minded having their picture taken, but Oruulu
would have pitched the watch straight into the burial crevice if she'd
found out," as he accepted the sheaf of 8x10 photos from Alexander, and
began leafing through them."This
first one is of Maar and Ahllo, grooming each other's fur.Maar's
the one holding the pinecone that most of them use for combing..." *** Later
on, Samson himself went out into the common room to show the photos to
everyone gathered there, and talk a little about what life was like in
the Sasquatch tribe; tidbits of information that Delilah had surely shared
with them before, but they asked about anyway, probably to catch the hatchlings'
interest.But as diversions went,
this one was not a raging success.In
the time that Samson and Delilah had been down in her quarters, the disagreement
between “the Four Musketeers’ had spread to the other hatchlings as well,
and many of them had clearly taken sides.In
addition to D'Artagna, Athos and Aramis glaring at him, Kathe and Finella
were favoring him with haughty stares.Porthos,
Kenneth, Malcolm and another hatchling, one who looked quite a bit like
Brooklyn, alternated between giving him too-rapt attention and either glaring
or looking pleadingly at their hostile rookery kin.There
was almost palpable relief in the air when Broadway broke up the gathering
by calling everyone to dinner. They
were serving lasagna that night, but Samson decided he'd just have a salad.After
eating a raw vegetarian diet for so many years, he didn't want to upset
his digestion; not after all the upsets he'd had already today. "If
I may say so," Sebastian quietly interjected (startling the hell out of
Samson, he wasn't used to being snuck up on anymore), "This is actually
going far smoother than I'd feared it would." Samson
stared at him."You have to
be joking." "Not
at all.It is a pity that Goliath
and Elisa are not present.Elisa
could tell you horror stories about her own family reunions..." *** The
next afternoon, hours before the gargoyles awakened, the castle had visitors
from the Labyrinth. "Samson!"
Talon greeted him with a brotherly hug."Good
to see you, 'little brother'!"Then
Talon leaned back and took a good long look at him."Good
grief, have you actually grown taller?!" "Uhh...
probably," Samson said."I did notice
that I seem to be stooping more to get through doorways around here..." But
Samson privately thought it was more likely that Talon had shrunk slightly,
as the aged sometimes do.The winged
panther-mutate's fur had gone entirely grey now, with his muzzle gone nearly
white, and he was moving a lot slower than he used to, due to arthritis
in his joints; Delilah had mentioned it in one of her letters a couple
of years ago. Then
Talon stepped aside, and Maggie came forward to give him a hug."Oh,
Samson, it's so good to see you!"In
contrast to her husband, Maggie hadn't seemed to age nearly as much since
her disappearance in 2001; Samson supposed her 'demonic possession' for
nearly two decades had stopped or drastically slowed the aging process.She
had a few flecks of grey at her muzzle, but otherwise was unchanged...
unless, of course, you counted the missing wings.Samson
was careful, when they hugged, to keep his hands off of where the wing-joints
had been. Claw's
striped fur was also faded and dull with age, but in general he looked
much better than Samson had ever seen him before... and the reason why
became apparent a few moments later, when Claw gestured to the woman standing
beside him.A matronly figure with
a heart-shaped face and long brown hair tucked into a bun, she extended
a hand with a smile and said, "Howdy; I'm Raylene.Claw's
told me a bit about you, and I reckon Talon's mentioned me in his letters
once or twice... "He's
told me about you... and about your children," Samson said as he cordially
shook her hand, then looked past her with a smile to where two children
with tiger-striped fur stood shyly by the door."Buddy
and Ruby Ann, right?" "Yep,
that's them.C'mon, kids, get over
here and say hi to your Uncle Samson!" Ruby turned and called to them.She
suddenly turned her head to take a swift look at her husband, then added,
"Your Pa says there's no need to be fraidy-cats; Samson only eats veggies!" The
tiger-child dressed in boy's clothing muttered under his breath, "Veggies,
yuck!" and the other one wrinkled her nose as if she smelled something
bad.But they both came forward
to shake hands with Samson and be properly introduced.They
had the same sort of 'digitigrade' legs and feet that their father had,
padding about on a tiger's hind paws, but their hands were almost human
except for the fine covering of fur and hard nails that were halfway to
claws.Their faces were almost human,
too, if one discounted the fine dusting of fur, the feline eyes, the cleft
upper lips... and the fangs that showed when they smiled at him.But
they were just as cute as Talon had always said they were, and Samson told
them so.(And of course the girl
Ruby-Ann smiled at the compliment, while the boy Buddy scowled and insisted
he was not cute...) Just
after the Ellis children were introduced, the elevator opened again and
two more mutates spilled out.Dee
said in a breathless rush, "We're here!Sorry
we're late, got stuck in traffic; would have gotten here faster if we'd
just run instead!Hi, Uncle Samson;
long time no see!And meet Feral!Feral,
this is my Uncle Samson..." The
mutates sat together in the living room and talked for hours; everyone
admired the photos of the Sasquatch children, and expressed their hopes
that another tribe could be found some day."We
finally gave your old quarters to a family of five that needed the space,"
Talon told Samson apologetically, "but we have another spare room right
now that we could get ready in a hurry, if you'd like to come down for
a visit." "I
would like to, but we'd have to be very careful," Samson said slowly."The
disguise spell Alexander whipped up for my trip here disguises me as a
gargoyle, complete with tail and wings, and one of those wings heavily
bandaged so no one would expect me to fly.But
it's all illusion, and all it would take is one curious child reaching
for a wing or tail that isn't there, and... so much for all the Illuminati's
careful existence erasure.And they
were right to do so; even with all the instruction I'm giving my kids,
just in case, they are simply not ready to handle all of humanity and modern
civilization." Talon
nodded slowly."I can understand
that.And really, other than us,
the only one from the old crowd who's left and might still remember you
is Amos... and honestly, I'm not sure he would.His
Alzheimer's is getting worse; we would have brought him with us now, but
today is a really bad day for him, and he barely remembered me this morning." "Didn't
they develop a treatment and near-cure for Alzheimer's a few years ago?"
Samson asked."Hippolyta mentioned
something about that, when her friend Nyx's mother started being affected
by it." "They
did, and it works for one type of Alzheimer's... but not the other type,
which is what Amos has got," Talon said with a grimace. The grimace turned
wry as he said, "Stubborn to the end, just like the man himself." "Well...
I'll be here for another five days," Samson said."If
he... has a good day while I'm here, give the castle a call and I'll come
down.If one or two of you stick
close by me to ward off the curious, the disguise should hold up..." *** But
Amos didn't have any good days for the rest of the week, so Samson stayed
up in the castle.While none of the
succeeding nights were as bad as the first had been, they were never entirely
pleasant.He generally stayed in
Delilah's company, which meant staying with her children when they came
into their quarters, but only Porthos would treat him with any civility
no matter how what he said to them. And then the rest of the 'Four Musketeers'
would gang up on Porthos, for daring to 'take his side'... Around
midnight on the second night, he walked out to the ramparts just to get
away from the hostility in the air while Delilah tried to get the children
to finish their dinner.He stood
there and stared out onto the city, that forest of steel and other man-made
things, that shone with so many lights that they drowned out the stars
in the sky overhead.So very, very
different from the place he called home now... After
a few minutes, he became aware that he had company.He
turned to find the young gargoyle who looked like a small brown version
of Brooklyn looking up at him.He
searched his memory for information that Delilah had given him, and asked,
"Jake?" "That's
me," Jake nodded."Dad probably would
have introduced me yesterday, but... things sorta got ugly." "That's
a good word for it," Samson agreed."Delilah
wrote to me about your arrival here... and about how difficult it was for
you to fit in at first." "It
still is, kind-of," Jake said with a sigh, as he came up to stand beside
Samson and look out at the city."Dad...
Brooklyn lets me call him Dad, but really, he acts more like an uncle to
me; like my own Uncle Broadway and Lexington were before they died.And
I keep remembering things that we did together that he never did at all,
and even now it hurts a little.And
then... this is a better world than the one I grew up in, no doubt about
it; no one's hunting me, no one's trying to enslave or kill any of us.But
sometimes, it still feels wrong... usually when I come up against something
else that was different in my old world.Just
last year, when I was delivering a package to Aunt Elisa while she was
at work, I had a real bad 'flashback'; I'd been hatched in the clocktower
over that precinct, but it was... Anyway.I
guess that's why I think I sort-of understand what you're probably going
through.People who are supposed
to know you, don't know you at all... and some of them don't even like
you.And a lot of this is familiar,
but it isn't home anymore..." Samson
looked down at him in silence, then nodded."That's
it, exactly." Jake
nodded in return, then said half-apologetically, "If you stuck around for
a while, the others would probably get to like you eventually; I can tell
already that you're a really nice guy." "Probably...
but I can't stay.My own children
need me back in California.That's
where my home is now." Which, he promised himself on the spot, would become
Jake's home-away-from-home if he ever wanted to get away for a while.He
had no doubt that the tribe would welcome Jake with open arms, since they'd
been ready to welcome Delilah's children before this. He
said as much to Jake, and got a half-smile in reply."That
sounds like it might be fun, sometime." *** On
the night of the sixth day, just before midnight, Samson stood in the center
of a farewell gathering in the castle's Great Hall, accepting hugs from
everyone who cared to give them, and promising that he would write again
at the dark of the next full moon. "And
when I return safe and sound, with all these photos," Samson said as he
patted the small packet they had given him, "I'll try again to persuade
the others to let more than just one lone gargoyle come visit."He
hoped that just his returning safe and healthy, when Haeruu had been so
convinced he'd sicken and die upon contact with "all human things" again,
would be enough to sway their opinion at last. "It
sure would be nice to come see you there, if you can persuade your ladies
to let one creaky old cat and his pretty young lady to come visit," Talon
said as he hugged Maggie close, and she snuggled into his shoulder. Raylene
glanced at her husband Claw, then said for him, "Just say the word, and
we'll be on our way there!Me and
Beau want our kids to get some woods-learning anyway, the kind they would've
gotten if we'd stayed up in the hills.And
if'n your wives are just too persnickety, I c'n stay back in that town
nearby, but our kids should oughta meet your kids at least." The
other adults of the clan, and Jake, all gave their farewells and hopes
that he could visit again someday.Delilah
looked at her children, but only Porthos was giving Samson a sympathetic
wave goodbye; the rest were either still studiously ignoring his existence
or giving him unmistakable glares of "Get going, already!"She
could only give him a sad look of apology for their behavior as she stepped
into his arms for a final embrace. With
one last hug and kiss, Samson reluctantly turned on the disguise-watch,
and a giant gray gargoyle stepped out onto the helipad and climbed inside
the waiting helicopter. *** Twenty
hours later, Samson hiked into the clearing next to his tribe's cave.Noola
was the first to see him, and her glad shout brought the others swarming
out to greet him.In short order
Samson was buried under an avalanche of furry bodies, as his Luul and his
children all assured him repeatedly how glad they were to see him, to know
that he had returned safe and unharmed. "[I
am happy to see all of you, too,]" he assured them with a lump in his throat."[I've
missed all of you, so much... Ahllo, what's that in your hand?A
chew-carving, for me?Thank you;
that's a lovely carving of a squirrel!You
must have worked very hard on it...]" *** October
28th, 2028 Dear
Samson, The
other females in the castle are planning to have another breeding season;
they say it's been too long since the rookery had eggs in it.Now
that all the children except little Damien are grown enough to be responsible
and careful around the eggs, they want to breed more.And
they want me to breed with them.All
of them--yes, even Aiden!--have said they will share their mates with me
if I wish to join in.And I do wish
to have more eggs, and more hatchlings to cuddle.But
if I do, then it will be decades longer before I can come to live you always
again.The others urge me to think
about our whole species, which needs as many gargoyles as we can breed.
Despite all the clans that have come forward since Goliath and Elisa began
organizing the World Tour, and all the clans that may still be hiding out
in the wilds, Lexington estimates there are less than 1500 gargoyles worldwide.
But I will wait until I read your reply before telling them yes or no. *** Dear
Delilah, I
understand perfectly your desire to have more children... and I approve.Go
ahead and tell the others that you will breed with them, and if the males
there don't treat you right they'll have me to answer to!All
I ask is that, if you lay a female egg this time, you consider naming her
Ivana, after my mother.The females
her were all right with my naming my firstborn son Haaroll, which is as
close to "Harold" as they could pronounce, but "ivana" in the Sasquatch
tongue sounds a lot like... well, it's just not a suitable name for a female
Sasquatch, but it would be a fine name for a female gargoyle. *** March
16th, 2029 Dear
Samson, Goliath
and Elisa just sent me a letter and photos from Nigeria.They
found Tom-and his family!He has
a mate now, and no less than five children.I'm
looking at their photos as I write this... Talon
paused in his writing to look again at the photographs lined up at the
top of his desk.The first one featured
Tom, battle-scarred but smiling, with his arms around a smiling dark-skinned
woman; the next showed Tom curled up on a rug next to a full-grown black
panther.Elisa's notes said that
the woman and panther were both Namir, the daughter of the were-panthers
that Elisa had met, in her two natural forms. The
next few photos showed Tom's five children, all of them mutates and shape-changers.In
one form, a child would be mostly human, but with a light coat of black
fur all over, clawed fingers and toes and a slight felinoid cast to their
facial features.In their other
forms, they looked to be pure panthers.None
of them had wings like their father, but Elisa reported that the older
kids could move through the trees so fast, switching from one form to the
other with ease and swinging or leaping from branch to branch, that they
were darn near flying anyway. And the three oldest children were already
throwing sparks around, too; another gift from their mutate father… Elisa
listed the children's names in each picture: the boy Jideofo (Jide for
short) was the oldest, and the girl Nkiru was the next oldest.Then
came Kainda, another girl, and Daren, another boy.The
youngest child, Gamba, had been born only six weeks before Goliath and
Elisa had arrived; the infant boy nursed at his mother's human breast in
one picture, and at her panther teat in another. Maggie
had been even more delighted than he was, if that was possible, to see
pictures of Tom and his family at long last.She'd
sent an email via Goliath and Elisa to their son, letting him know how
proud they were of him and his family, gently scolding them for not getting
in touch sooner, and saying that she really hoped that they would at least
try to stay in touch from now on. Talon
wasn't that happy either about not having had contact with their son for
so long, and was determined to maintain contact one way or another now
that it had been reestablished, but he thought he could understand why
Tom had been silent for all these years. From that one sighting that had
been reported years ago, and from what G&E carefully didn't say in
their letter, he was pretty sure that Tom and his family, in their self-imposed
mission of protecting their territory from poachers, drug smugglers and
tinpot militia, were using lethal methods of dissuasion.In
a jungle where the only law is survival of the fittest, mere capture and
imposing stiff fines or jail time just isn't realistic... But Tom was still
ashamed of or at least uncomfortable with some of the choices he'd made,
and that's likely what had kept him from writing all these years.Sitting
there at his desk, Talon nostalgically recalled the little black mutate-cub
Tom had been decades ago, cute as could be and still relatively innocent
despite living among the homeless in the Labyrinth.He
mourned the loss of that innocent child, but accepted that his son had
become a man and has to live his own life now; harsh though that chosen
life may be, it was still his own. Talon
put some of those thoughts into words in his letter, but not all of them.He'd
save some of it for when he saw Samson again, next month... *** April
17th, 2029 "Welcome
to Trinity Bay; watch your step when you get off!" the pilot announced
as the plane taxied up to the town airport's small terminal and shuddered
to a stop. Buddy
and Ruby Ann cheered, and Talon couldn't help smiling at their enthusiasm.Not
that he wasn't pretty excited himself; he and his mutate family-clan were
going to see Samson's family!Samson's
letter last December had told them that Oruulu and Haeruu had finally agreed
that the mutates could come out for a visit in the spring.But
only the mutates, those who were no longer human or had never been human-normal
at all; they would not allow Raylene, even though she was married to a
mutate.But she'd come with them
anyway, saying that she'd be perfectly fine staying in Trinity Bay during
the few days of the mutates' visit in the woods, seeing more civilized
sights and indulging in souvenir-shopping.As
they waited for the airport's crew to wheel a mobile staircase up to their
airplane, Talon glanced over and saw Raylene whispering something to Dee
and Feral; probably quietly urging them to keep a close eye on the twins.At
seven years old, Buddy and Ruby Ann were full of the reckless energy of
youth, and if they got it into their heads to scamper off the second the
adults' backs were turned, probably only the 'speed demons' of the family
would be able to catch up with them. Just
after the staircase was rolled into place and they disembarked, a female
gargoyle came gliding out of the night to land in front of them."Welcome
to Trinity Bay; I am Hippolyta!" "Thanks;
glad to be here!" Talon said with a felinoid smile."I'm
Talon, and this is my wife--Maggie?!" Maggie
had pulled back from her husband's arm and was now backing slowly towards
the airplane, hyperventilating, her fur standing out and her eyes locked
on Hippolyta.Raylene reached towards
her, saying with concern, "Maggie, you all right?What's--yowch!"
as a huge static spark from Maggie's fur leaped off her and struck Raylene's
hand. "Maggie!"
Talon went to her and encircled her in a loving bear-hug, willing his body
to absorb Maggie's building electrical charge."It's
okay, Maggie, I'm here, you're safe now..." "Is
she well?...I thought you were all...
used to gargoyles?" Hippolyta said carefully. "We
sure are; shoot, we're practic'ly neighbors with 'em," Raylene said as
she leaned back against Claw and rubbed at her spark-bitten hand, while
still eyeing Maggie with concern. "Ma,
is Aunt Maggie okay?" Ruby Ann asked while clinging to Claw's left leg;
her brother Buddy was hanging onto the right.They'd
started to scamper off the second they'd hit the ground, but scurried back
to their parents when they'd sensed the tension in the air. Maggie
didn't answer any of them, just ground her face into Talon's shoulder with
a shudder... then began quietly weeping.The
only words she said that he could understand were "...sorry, so sorry...
so sorry..." "Sorry
for what, Maggie-my-love?" he asked her gently."Nothing's
wrong; everyone's okay..."What on
Earth had gotten into her?She hadn't
been like this in years, not since soon after... Oh. Shit. "Maggie,
that was all over and done with a long time ago... And you were never to
blame.You hear me?None
of that was your fault, not one bit.You
know that!You couldn't help what
happened while you were possessed..." Yep,
gargoyle ears were as sharp as ever... and their sense of tact was as dull
as always.Hippolyta overheard and
echoed aloud, "Possessed?" "Yeah."Talon
looked at her, knew his ears had twitched back and his gaze had sharpened,
and didn't care.Dammit, they had
not needed this... "Hippolyta, what did you have to do with the
Coalition?" Hippolyta
reflexively reached for her bow, then visibly restrained herself.But
her voice was no longer friendly and her eyes were narrowed as she said,
"They held me captive and forced me to work for them, for far too many
long and painful months, back in 2003.Why
did you wish to know?" "Figures.Dammit."
Talon sighed, while still holding his trembling, quietly sobbing wife in
his arms."Back in Devil's Night--I'm
assuming you know what I mean by that?" "Aye;
I had not arrived in the mortal world yet, but I heard of it afterwards.For
the span of a night and day back in 2001, all of Manhattan vanished from
the face of the earth, transported straight to Hell by a Satanic spell
of some sort.And only the bravery
and sacrifice of the Manhattan Clan brought it back..." "Yeah,
close enough.Maggie... was one of
the casualties of that night.She
was burned alive by Hellfire, and for years we thought she was dead.But
instead, she was possessed by a demonic spirit, and transformed into--" "Hellcat!"
Hippolyta gasped, her eyes wide with shocked recognition. "Yeah.We
finally found her and broke her free of the Coalition and that damn fire-demon
back in late 2018.For over 17
years, that demon and those Coalition bastards held her and used her,
and forced her to do God knows what sort of nastiness..." They knew Maggie
remembered at least a little of what had been done to her-and what she
had done-during that time, but she never, ever talked about it if she could
possibly help it.And she hadn't
had a flashback this bad in years... this was one helluva way to start
a vacation. "I
see."Hippolyta's face softened."If
I may..."She stepped closer, moving
to where Maggie could see her if she ever lifted her head from Talon's
shoulder, and said softly, "Maggie... when I knew you, back then... you
saved my life, by sparing me.I
know you were under orders to either kill me or recapture me--likely to
simply kill me, that horrible night in December. But instead, you deliberately
missed.No doubt the Coalition was
mightily displeased, and I shudder to think of what form their retribution
took... but you could have killed me, were surely ordered to kill me, and
you chose not to.Whatever demon
possessed you, was not able to prevent you from doing what was right when
it mattered most to your former comrade.And
yes, when we worked together, Hellcat was my closest comrade... my clan-sister.I
have often wondered what became of you... and now that you are your true
self again, I would like for us to be friends." While
Hippolyta had been speaking, Maggie had lifted her head a little, to stare
at the gargoyle with wide eyes and tear-stained cheeks.After
Hippolyta finished, there was a brief pause... and then she started crying
again, even harder, but Talon gave Hippolyta a half-smile and just continued
stroking her back.The crying was
different now; these were tears of release. *** After
Maggie had finally dried her tears, they had gone into town, found a hotel
room for Raylene, and picked up the two Jeeps that had been rented for
their "camping trip."They told the
Forestry Service people that they were going up to camp at a hot springs
site that Hippolyta had found years ago; one that was not accessible to
normal hikers, but would be for those with wings and those who could be
carried in flight.They willingly
showed the officials the traveling route they'd chosen, assured everyone
that they'd keep the place pristine and haul all their garbage back with
them, then set out... and deviated from that route as soon as they were
well away from all possible prying eyes.Twenty
miles away from the closest trailhead to the hot springs, they parked the
Jeeps, gathered their gear and set out on the wing.Dee
carried Feral, Claw carried his kids and Talon would have carried Maggie,
but Hippolyta had begged for the opportunity to do so herself.She
said it was so she and Maggie could get better acquainted or reacquainted,
but Talon suspected that it was also to spare his arthritic joints, and
he would have protested if he could have thought of a way to do it without
looking like a jerk. They
cleared a stand of trees, and saw Samson waving up to them from the middle
of a clearing.They landed together,
and Claw's kids ran straight for Samson, shouting delightedly, "Uncle Samson!""Uncle
Samson, we're here!" "We flew in an airplane!""Where
are your kids?" "Welcome
to Uoohwhaaall-that's 'the Great Forest' in the Sasquatch language-and
it's good to see you all!" Samson said with a smile."The
children are back at our lair, which is a ways from here; this is the better
place to pitch your tents, a nice flat spot closer to the river.I'll
be bringing the others over here while you get your tents set up.So
help your daddy and the others set up the tents, because the sooner that's
done, the sooner you can meet the children and start playing with them!" The
kids cheered and began helping the others unload their minimal supplies
and set them up. Hippolyta helped as well, while Samson disappeared into
the trees at the edge of the clearing.Talon
muttered to Hippolyta, "Didn't trust us enough to let us see their cave-home,
huh?" "Their
overcautious nature has helped them to survive for thousands of years,
where other Sasquatch tribes have not," Hippolyta said quietly."I
will not fault them for it." Duly
chastened, Talon got busy with setting up his and Maggie's tent and other
supplies.He had to admit, camping
these days was easier than it had been when he and Elisa and Beth were
kids together.The tents back in
the 70's had been awkward, fairly heavy and a pain to put up with poles
and stakes, even though their parents swore up and down that they were
a vast improvement over the huge and really heavy canvas tents that they'd
used as kids.But these top-of-the-line
tents that Alexander had given them were pretty slick; they weighed less
than five pounds including the internal framework, and to set them up,
all you had to do was set them down in a big enough clear spot, press a
button and stand back.The only
real nuisance was putting in the tent stakes, to anchor them down afterwards;
Alexander had said they had stake-setting devices too, but had advised
against them because the noise of their operation would probably sound
a bit too much like gunshots to the Sasquatch tribe. They'd
set up the tents and the camping table, and had just finished gathering
small rocks to make the protective ring for a small campfire when Samson
came back, with six Sasquatch children and two adults accompanying him."This
is Oruulu, the tribe leader, and this is Haeruu, the tribe elder," he introduced
them."And these are my six oldest
children; Nuura, Luul and Aanuu are back at home with the other nine.We
didn't want to overwhelm the campsite with all the kids at once!So
meet Noola, Ahllo and Maar, and this is Haaroll, Muur and Vahroo..." *** While
the kids were getting acquainted, and once all the adults were satisfied
that a fight wasn't going to break out at any second, Samson came over
to Talon and made the usual small talk about the trip and et cetera.Then
he asked, "Have you been by the castle lately?" Talon
smiled wryly; he'd been expecting that for at least the last five minutes.He
said, "Yes, I have; Maggie and I made a point of visiting the castle a
couple times in the week before we left, and staying for most of the night
both times.All the ladies there
are getting pretty big, and once again, Delilah's the biggest of the lot.But
I'm pretty sure she's not as big as she was last time, so she's probably
not carrying four this time around.Lex,
Brooklyn and Broadway give her a hand with heavy lifting and stuff just
like they do with their mates, and they try to keep her company too, though
near as I could tell they spend most of their time with their real mates,
so Delilah spends most of her time just with her children.And
to be honest, while the other hatchlings are pretty excited about being
big brothers and sisters to little hatchlings eventually, Delilah's kids
just didn't seem that enthusiastic to me.But
they're not hostile either, and hopefully they will come around before
the eggs are laid in May.And if
not by then, well, no doubt they'll be as ready and willing as the others
are by the time the eggs hatch in 2039.In
the meantime, Delilah's doing great, Samson; really." Samson
stared off into the distance."Is
anyone massaging her ankles and feet for her?Last
time, they got so swollen and sore..." *** The
mutates spent four wonderful days and nights in the woods together with
the Sasquatch tribe.The language
barrier wasn't as much of a problem as Talon had thought it might be; the
oldest Sasquatch children could speak a garbled form of English (always
pronouncing 'ee' as 'eh') and willingly translated for the others when
necessary.Even Luul and Aanuu spoke
a few words of English, or tried to; being full-blooded Sasquatch instead
of partly-human, even more sounds were beyond their ability to reproduce.But
they all 'spoke' in sign language too, thanks to the books that Samson
had brought back to California with him. Back
when they had known Claw as simply 'Claw' and not as 'Beau Ellis', the
Labyrinth folk had made desultory attempts to learn sign language so they
could communicate with him, but never really made a concerted effort to
learn it and use it.Part of that
could be attributed to the presence of gargoyles in the Labyrinth at the
time; Delilah and her brothers just had too few fingers to successfully
duplicate even all the letters of the ASL alphabet.But
Talon had to admit that the rest of it had been just pure laziness on their
part; since Claw could hear them just fine and never seemed to have much
he wanted to say anyway, why bother?But
that had changed once Claw had returned to the Labyrinth with his wife
Raylene.She could speak for him,
but had made it known in pretty forceful terms that everyone had better
learn how to talk to and understand him on their own; she and her Beau
might be utterly in love, but they weren't glued at the hip!So
American Sign Language had become a second language to the labyrinth's
permanent residents, and to Claw and Raylene's children after they were
born.And when Samson had come to
Manhattan for a visit last fall, on their second visit to the castle Raylene
had brought along an ASL dictionary and teaching guide and pressed them
onto Samson.As she'd explained
at the time, it was both in hopes of a visit someday and as another way
for "those Sasquatch kids" to get their point across.If
they couldn't say 'me', 'tree' and 'honeybee', so long as they had
two arms and five working fingers on each hand they could by God learn
the signs for them, and that would be one more way to communicate if they
were ever forced into an encounter with Humanity. Samson
must have been pretty busy with those books over the winter, because not
only did he and his 13-year-old and 11-year-old children know basic sign
language, but so did some of the younger kids.When
the Sasquatch females finally trusted them enough to bring even the youngest
child to the campsite, the 8-year-old and even the 4-year-old children
knew enough of the signs to make themselves understood at least half the
time.So did all the adults; Samson
told them later that while it had been harder for the adults to learn,
the kids had caught on so fast that the adults had been driven to learn
it in self-defense.Particularly
after Muur, the Sasquatch family's resident prankster, had started telling
jokes in sign language that would leave the other children laughing
and the adults staring at them in consternation. On
the evening of their third night out in the woods, Talon sat on the ground
next to Maggie, resting from a vigorous game of 'tag' with the youngsters
and watching Dee and Luul, who was nursing the tribe's baby, little Lahloo.Dee
was cautiously stroking Lahloo's fur and saying it was so soft and such
a pretty shade of brown, and what a beautiful baby Laahloo was."Buhyoo'iful
babeh," Luul agreed with a warm smile.And
when Lahloo had finished nursing and been properly burped, Luul gently
but insistently handed her over to Dee. Dee
was hesitant at first, but then began cuddling little Lahloo like she was
the most precious thing in the world, rocking her and humming a lullaby.And
after fussing a little, then curiously poking and grabbing at Dee's muzzle
a few times, Lahloo yawned and fell asleep in her arms.Dee
kept rocking her with a tender smile, and after a while murmured, "Y'know,
maybe being a mother wouldn't be so bad after all." Beside
him, Maggie gave a small, barely audible gasp of delight; she'd been hinting
for years that it was time Dee and Feral had children and provided them
with grandchildren, but Dee had always steadfastly refused to consider
the idea, even after Feral had agreed that maybe some kids would be in
order. Other
than that one gasp, Maggie kept silent; she probably didn't want to ruin
the magic of the moment... so of course Talon had to.Some
wee devil inside him made him say aloud, "What did I just hear?Is
our resident Speed Dee-mon thinking of slowing down at last?!" That
earned him a hot glare and an elbow in the ribs from Maggie, but Dee only
looked at him and said with a peculiar smile, "Maybe..." *** May
29th, 2029 Dear
Samson, No
doubt Delilah will tell you the news in her next letter, but as the clan
leader I figure it's my official duty to make the announcement: we have
a rookery full of eggs again, all laid three nights ago.Nine
eggs in all; two each to Angela, Elektra and Aiden, and three to Delilah! Delilah's
three eggs are a female and two males, and on the night of the laying she
named them "Ivana", "Samson" and "Hudson." And last night, the rest of
us decided to formally name the other eggs too, partly in self-defense;
the hatchlings were already labeling them with names like "Eggbert," "Egglantina"
and "Ommeletta." Angela
and I named our male egg Matthew, after our dearly departed Matt Bluestone,
and our female Maria after Maria Chavez.(I
don't know if Delilah told you or not, but she died last winter of stomach
cancer.) Broadway
and Elektra decided to name their two females Petra (feminine form of Peter,
they told me, and their way of honoring Peter Maza) and Danielle after
Daniel Harmond.Daniel couldn't be
here for the laying; too busy doing all his work for the Gargoyles Rights
Commission and Elektra's too, once she got too big with eggs to handle
the long commute.But he's flying
up here tomorrow from DC, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out he packed
the plane full of toys and baby stuff for the rookery. Lex
and Aiden chose to name their male and female Charles and Roberta after
Chas and Birdie, who are both still alive and kicking and here for the
big event, not to mention tickled pink to have gargoyle eggs named after
them.Birdie insists that she's
going to stick around long enough to ensure that her namesake picks up
all her bad habits--as if Finella's not bad enough already! It's
a shame that Goliath and Elisa couldn't be here for the laying too, but
there was some kind of bureaucratic meltdown just as they were getting
ready to leave Nigeria.The officials
there dressed it up in all the usual fifty-dollar words and week-long sentences,
but Goliath wrote that he's pretty sure it all boiled down to "We're pissed
off at those mutates that live in the jungle and ruin the illegal arms
trading and drug running that we're not supposed to be doing, but we can't
admit it and you won't tell us where to find them, so we're taking it out
on you instead."Long story short,
by the time all the red tape was hacked through they'd been delayed by
an entire week, and missed out on the laying.So
instead of detouring here, they're going straight to Egypt instead, to
visit the gargoyle family there.We
all kinda wish they'd gone ahead and detoured here, since it's been nearly
a year since they left, but hey, it's their vacation, and everyone knows
they've earned it. The
Vandemere family left New York last night to go meet Goliath and Elisa
at Cairo and show them the way to the lost city of Akhetsu, where Cassius
and Khepri and their two hatchlings live.Before
they left the castle, I overheard Kathe and Finella ask them to bring back
a vial of sand from the 'sand-script' area that we're told Cassius and
Khepri write in to leave messages and love-notes for each other, for those
six days out of eight that Khepri and her daughter put on their amulets
and switch to sleeping at night and guarding during the day.When
I asked them why they wanted it, they hemmed and hawed and changed the
subject, but I have a hunch that it's got something to do with a love spell,
heaven help us all.I've already
advised Aiden and Alex to be on the alert for funny stuff. And
something else that Delilah would probably tell you about in her letter,
but it's so good that I'm telling it myself instead.During
the day before the eggs were laid, Alex and Patricia's baby 'kicked her
mommy' in a big way; she let off a burst of pure magical energy while still
in the womb.Nothing happened, but
the parents understandably freaked out about it, and so did we to some
degree; an unborn baby wielding magical power but with absolutely no concept
of control yet, is not a good thing.Alex
and Aiden tried to come up with some spells that would keep the baby from
using magic without harming her or the mother, but couldn't come up with
anything on short notice, so in the end we called in Orpheus. Orpheus
came to the castle tonight just after we woke up, and while Patricia wore
soundproof earmuffs over her ears and an amplifying 'tummyphone' on her
belly, he sang a lullaby to the baby, telling her to go to sleep and not
wake up until after she' born.Even
if she can't understand the words yet, Orpheus is dead certain that his
magical lyre did the trick and sent her to sleep, so the problem is apparently
solved (we hope.)But guess what
happened when Orpheus came out of the bedroom?He
stumbled over--literally stumbled over--D'Artagna and Kenneth.Those
two just had to crack the door open and spy on Orpheus while he did his
stuff, and the lyre put them to sleep, too; they dropped right in their
tracks.Orpheus is sticking around
tonight, and he said he'll wake them up exactly five minutes before dawn;
that should teach them a little respect for privacy and people at work. *** October
16th, 2030 Dear
Delilah, The
cavern feels a little empty tonight, and has felt that way for the last
week.Haeruu is dead.She
started saying two weeks ago that the end of her life was near, and even
when the other adults started giving her more reverence and saying how
much she'd contributed to the tribe, I didn't want to believe it.But
seven days ago she just walked out of the cave, lay down under a tree about
200 yards away, and was dead and cold by the time I found her an hour later. Oruulu
and Nuura wrapped Haeruu up in a shroud or cocoon of bark and leaves, while
Luul and Aanuu taught the children the traditional songs to sing farewell
to her spirit.Then we carried her
body to the burial crevice and dropped it in, to lie with the bones of
her ancestors. I
guess I'm still feeling a little numb.Haeruu
wasn't exactly a mother-figure to me, but she was close; more like an aunt,
I guess.An aunt with an earthy
sense of humor, too; she could always make me blush.And
I could never catch her at it, but I just know she actually helped Muur
plan some of the pranks that have been played on us and some of the other
kids.Muur is definitely missing
her the most; she hasn't told a single joke or even tried to play a prank
since Haeruu died, and Luul and I have to keep reminding her to eat, groom
her fur and take care of herself.But
playing with little Lahloo seems to help her, so hopefully she'll feel
better soon. From
what she and the others told me, Haeruu lived to nearly a hundred years
old, and I wonder if everyone here is expected to live that long... *** July
16th, 2031 Dear
Samson, Not
too much news in the Labyrinth this month, except that Dee and Feral have
finally admitted what the castle docs have been telling them for months;
that their genes are just not naturally compatible for making kids like
their folks' were.Actually, I'm
pretty sure that the were-jaguar curse on Corinne St. John's father somehow
left enough residual magic trickling down the generations to let Corinne
conceive Feral, in the same way that Elisa had magical assistance to conceive
Amber, but not enough to work for Feral in the same way.But
that's just between you and me; Feral's parentage is a definite sore subject
down here, ever since we found out what had really happened to Fang and
Wolf back in 2000, and just what has really been going on behind the scenes
in that circus.These days, Feral
would just as soon pretend he's always been in the Labyrinth, and was never
unwittingly part of a front for the Coalition. Anyway,
Dee finally took Claw and Raylene's advice and called Las Vegas, and Angus
and his mates said they'll be out here next month.If
Jeannie can make babies for gargoyle-human couples, and for mutate-human
couples, mixed mutate couples should be easy. Samson
read those words, and wished once more that Jeannie had been around back
in 1999, when he and Delilah had been trying and failing to have children
together.If only... Well,
'if onlies' never did anyone any good.And
didn't he have plenty of children now?Didn't
they both?He looked down at Lahloo,
who was gently tugging on his leg fur, and promised her that he'd be back
inside soon.In the meantime, why
didn't she go ask her Aunt Hippolyta if there were any grapes left from
what she'd brought with her? *** September
7th, 2031 Hippolyta
glided down to the local airport, more nervous tonight than she'd been
in years, even after telling herself--and being told by just about everyone
else--that there was absolutely no reason at all for her to be nervous.Nyx
even went so far as to say that the incoming visitors were just another
retired couple, touring during their golden years.To
which Hippolyta had simply had to retort that would be like declaring to
their fellow police officer Scott James, a practicing Catholic, that the
Pope was just another old geezer in a funny hat. Goliath
and Elisa Maza were coming to visit!Mighty
Goliath, he who had led the clan in Scotland over a thousand years ago,
and proceeded to lead again in the modern world--and not only led his own
clan, but advised virtually all the other known clans in existence!And
Elisa Maza, the policewoman who had risked her life again and again for
the clan, protecting them against all odds and all enemies, proving that
she was gargoyle at heart and winning Goliath's own heart in return.There
were no two nobler, finer people in all existence! And
they were coming here to visit!Hippolyta
would meet them!Well, it
was true that Goliath and Elisa had expressed their desire to visit every
known clan in the world, and that this was but one of many places they'd
been to on their world tour.But
still, Hippolyta was the only gargoyle in town, and she would have thought
that a clan with only one gargoyle in it would have been beneath their
notice.But they were coming here,
to meet her! Well,
and to meet Samson, of course.In
truth, that was probably the main reason why they had come; Samson had
once lived with Goliath and Elisa in Manhattan, and they wanted to renew
their acquaintance with him, but the only way to do that without giving
away the secret of the Sasquatch tribe would be to publicly announce that
they were here to meet Hippolyta instead.Then
after the first few days, after the initial fanfare and local media attention
had died down, they would sneak off into the woods and Hippolyta would
guide them to where Samson lived.Though
they'd said nothing directly in the one phone conversation Hippolyta had
had with Elisa herself (Goliath had been asleep at the time, for in Polynesia
it had been a few hours till sunset), there had been plenty of indirect
hints.And Delilah had advised Samson
of their intentions in one of her letters, for during her last visit to
the tribe, Samson had said the tribe was ready and willing for Goliath
to visit-and even Elisa, wonder of wonders!Elisa
would be the first human to lay eyes on the tribe in who knew how many
years, decades, even centuries; Hippolyta hoped she would be properly appreciative
of the honor.And in the process,
Hippolyta would finally meet the gargoyle leader that she and her brothers
and sisters had been told all those wonderful tales of, so long ago... But
would he approve of her?Goliath
had said in more than one interview that gargoyles normally lived in clans,
and that a gargoyle like Demona living on her own was usually a sign that
something was seriously wrong.And
Hippolyta had been the lone gargoyle in this town, except for Delilah's
annual visits, for decades now... But she had a clan; all her figurative
brothers and sisters in the police force!She
had plenty of companionship, particularly in Nyx... And wasn't Goliath
himself mated to a human, and didn't he count a few other humans as members
of his own clan?So surely he would
approve, or at least accept... wouldn't he? Her
head buzzing with thoughts and sheer nervousness as she glided over the
road to the airport, Hippolyta almost didn't notice the vehicle below her,
driving in the same direction.Then
she did, and her eyes narrowed... and she reached into what Nyx had dubbed
her 'utility belt' and activated her miniature police siren.(She
didn't use it often to persuade vehicles to pull over; for one thing, she
hated the noise it made.But Nyx
had pointed out that it was better than simply slamming her talons down
into the car's hood or trunk and riding it till it stopped, as she had
done once or twice before; better an awful noise than an awful mess of
paperwork.) The
specially-modified van eventually, reluctantly pulled over, and Hippolyta
landed beside the van and glared into the window on the driver's side."And
just where do you think you're going?" "To
the airport, to meet the Titania, of course," a metallic-sounding
voice rasped from inside the vehicle.The
old crone who might be in the body of Sabra Indrani but called herself
Sevarius glared back at her as the implanted vocoder that spoke for her
squawked, "It's a free country, isn't it?" "In
theory, yes.In practice, particularly
tonight, you are not going there.You
are not going to bother Goliath and Elisa with your presence; not
on their first night here," Hippolyta said with utter determination. "The
hell I'm not," the vocoder rasped, while Sevarius' lips remained pinched
in an equally determined glare."Maybe
you still refuse to let me see my son and grandchildren, but I know I can
manipulate those two noble idiots into giving me what I want.And
if I approach them now, while the media is all around, they won't dare
simply refuse to see me; can't be seen showing prejudice and disrespect
to a crippled old lady..." "You
are as disgusting a creature as ever," Hippolyta assured him."Regardless,
I promise you now that you will see Goliath and Elisa sometime during their
stay here.You have my word on that.You
also have my word that if you do not turn this vehicle around and go home
right this minute, I will arrest you and have you hauled off to jail." "On
what charges?" "On
the basis of all those parking tickets you've refused to pay, you arrogant
old crone.Nyx had the judge sign
a warrant against you a long time ago; we've simply been waiting for the
right time to use it!" "So
throw me in jail.What does that
matter to me?I'm already imprisoned
in this weak and failing shell of a body; what worse can you do?" "Oh,
did I forget to tell you?Our cable
hookup to the jail cell stopped working a few days ago.You'll
miss your soaps..." Sevarius
shut up, turned the van around and went home.Hippolyta
climbed a nearby tree to gain height, leaped out and spread her wings to
continue gliding to the airport. *** The
guests arrived, were greeted with suitable ceremony, made the obligatory
speeches, and were driven into town with a police escort... both of Trinity
Bay's police cars, one before the motorcade and one behind, with Hippolyta
gliding overhead. There
had been more than one embarrassing moment in the process of getting acquainted.Every
last member of the police force had made a point of saying how much Hippolyta
was needed here, singing her praises in front of Goliath and Elisa until
Hippolyta was blushing and wanting to hide her face in her wings.She
was seriously worried that the visitors would think she'd put the
officers up to this, when no doubt it had been Nyx or her mother; the ones
to whom she'd confided her worries about being rejected due to her lone-gargoyle
status.Thankfully, Elisa had stopped
the officers before they could launch into a chorus of "For She's a Jolly
Good Fellow" or something similarly over-the-top. Goliath
and Elisa together had explained that they'd already had some idea of what
they would find here; not only had their clan members Delilah and Angela
and the former President Daniel Harmond spoken very well of her, but after
their first visit out here in 2029, Talon and Maggie had made a point of
writing to the travelers and giving them the mutates' impressions of Hippolyta
and her human clan.What they'd seen
so far had only reinforced what had already been told to them by several
people; that Hippolyta and Trinity Bay's police department were perfectly
suited to each other, and made an excellent clan by nearly all gargoyle
standards. All
standards except one, and then (while Elisa had closed her eyes and quietly
groaned) Goliath had handed over a list of names, locations and possible
means of contact for nearly every unmated male that they had found so far
in their travels, just in case Hippolyta ever felt the desire to breed
eggs for a rookery... After
most of the police department had departed for their beds or their nightly
duties, and after Goliath and Elisa's human entourage had departed for
their quarters at the local motel, the travelers had brought out the albums
of photos and souvenirs from all the clans they had visited so far in their
trip.Hippolyta had been given to
understand that to most humans, this was the most deadly dull part of having
guests over; enduring their vacation photos.(And
that the only thing she could do to defend herself would be to whip out
her own vacation photos first.)But
how could looking at these pictures bore anyone?Hippolyta
had heard of other clans announcing themselves here and there around the
world, but she'd never dreamed that her kind came in so many varieties! "...And
here are the pictures from our last stop, the Ketchikan Clan," Elisa said
as she pushed a button and moved on to the next pair of pictures in their
electronic photo album."I'm told
you should recognize a couple of these fellows..." "Icarus!And
Ezekiel!" Hippolyta said with excitement as she pointed to their pictures."...Icarus
is smiling!In all our time together
on Avalon, I can scarcely ever remember him smiling..." "Well,
being happily mated and with two kids might have something to do with that,"
Elisa pointed out, as she pushed the button again and advanced through
the album."There's his mate Nadia...
and their eggs; the two on the left in the rookery.And
guess what happened the night after we arrived?" "They
hatched!" Hippolyta actually found herself cooing with delight at the pictures
of the tiny hatchlings emerging from their shells. "Yep. There're
your brothers and Nadia again, at the hatching, and the other female is
Piltdown; she's Ezekiel's mate.That
hefty male over in the corner is Sergei; technically, he leads the clan,
but in truth it's Icarus who's mostly in charge.Oh,
and those two are Fuzz and Fluff." Hippolyta
stared."Is this Sergei a... a dwarf
among gargoyles?Because next to
him..." "Nope,
Sergei's about average-sized, except for the obesity. Fuzz really is that
big.He and Fluff are Piltdown's
kids from her first mate, back on whatever island she originally came from.According
to your brothers, all the males there are literally over twice the size
of the females, and they've all got enough horns and spikes and whatnot
covering those massive bodies to outfit an entire zoo." "Fuzz
actually stands a full foot taller than I do, and his wingspan is a full
eight feet wider," Goliath put in with a rumble."And
at roughly only thirty years old, he might have some growing to do yet!And
furthermore, Ezekiel confided to me that if Fuzz had been left to grow
up on that hidden island, he would likely have been killed off for proving
'the runt of the litter'!" Hippolyta
could only shake her head in amazement, while Elisa added, "Good thing
he's a runt by their standards, too. Otherwise,
he'd be literally too big to glide.All
the adult males on that hidden island were apparently ground-bound from
their sheer size, and their wings were spread only for dominance shows
and mating displays, like peacocks.As
it is, Fuzz can get in the air, but his sister Fluff can glide rings around
him.Everyone's really hoping that
he's finished growing now." "You
said that the males of Piltdown's former clan are all like this?Then...
this little one, here in Ezekiel's arms..." "They
named him Isaac.Cute little guy,
isn't he?He has his mother's downy
fur." "Has
he inherited more than that?Including
such massive size when grown?" Elisa
shrugged."Hard to say yet.From
what laughingly little I know of genetics, he might not, because that size
difference might well be tied to the 'Hidden Island breed's version of
a Y chromosome.But really, only
time will tell." *** "You
can not deny me this!" Sevarius' vocoder screeched in outrage. "Sure
I can.Read my lips: N-O, NO," Elisa
said slowly and with emphasis. "He
is my son!And those children are
my grandchildren!" "Hate
to break this to you, but biologically speaking, that's just not true anymore.And
even if it was, you're not welcome out there.As
I understand it, you destroyed any possible chance of a welcome back in
the twentieth century, when you captured and killed some members of that
tribe in your experiments." "But
that was back then; since then, I've changed!" "No
kidding, ma'am." "You
bi- I mean, I've stopped doing such experiments!You
can confirm this with Hippolyta; I've not experimented on a single human
or gargoyle in the sixteen years I've been here!" She
already told us that.She also told
us that you've built a secret lab into the basement of your home..." "H-how
did--That is used strictly for maintaining my own health, and improving
this exoskeleton and its cybernetic features!" "Uh-huh.And
you had absolutely nothing to do with the significant reduction in Trinity
Bay's squirrel population for a year back in 2023...Once
again, Sevarius: NO.You are not
coming with us.Even if I agreed
to it, which I'm not about to do, Goliath would probably drop you into
a ravine before taking you out there.And
even if, by some miracle you absolutely don't deserve, he agreed to take
you out there... you'd never come back alive.The
adult females of that tribe would peel you out of that exosuit like a banana,
then bury you alive like the filth they consider you to be... and I really
don't think Samson would lift a hand to stop them; not his mates and the
mothers of his children." Sevarius
stared at her in silent frustration for a few moments, then slowly turned
to a nearby table.His/her vocoder
said, "If you won't take me out there, which I can tell is purely out of
spite and your misguided ideas of revenge for past encounters, then at
least do this much for me; collect samples of the adults and children's
blood and tissues," as those clawlike hands grasped a prepared kit of empty
hypodermic syringes, swabs and vials."Just
to see how many of Samson's human genes were passed on..." Elisa
held out her hand for the kit... and just as Sevarius let go of the kit,
jerked her hand away.The kit crashed
to the floor and burst open, and the floor became littered with bits of
glass from the broken syringes and vials.Sevarius'
vocoder began spewing out insults and obscenities, but Elisa only gave
a nasty grin and said, "Just so you know, that was revenge for past
encounters.Just my revenge, that
is.Next time you try to see us,
it'll be Goliath's turn..." *** "We're
almost at the clearing now, but remember to keep the blindfold on until
after I tell you they've seen you wearing it," Elisa heard Hippolyta call
over her shoulder to Goliath, while Elisa herself lay blindfolded in Hippolyta's
arms.She had willingly donned the
blindfold right after leaving Trinity Bay, understanding completely the
tribe's paranoia about being found by humans; as a cop and a Guardian,
she'd seen plenty of examples of humanity's darker side, and her ancestors
on her father's side had seen ample evidence of how even well-meaning people
could completely swamp or erase a primitive people's culture until there
was virtually nothing left.She wasn't
too thrilled about being carried by Hippolyta instead of the familiar arms
of her husband, but it would be too risky for Goliath to carry her in one
arm while hanging onto Hippolyta's guiding tail with the other.And
Elisa had to admit, Hippolyta certainly had the muscles to carry her; she
hadn't seen muscles like that on a female since the last televised female
bodybuilding contest, and even the winner of that contest would have come
in second place to the copper-skinned gargoyle. A
few minutes later, after they'd slowed and banked to the right for a brief
while, Hippolyta called out, "They've seen us!Blindfolds
may be removed now."Elisa reached
up and tugged hers off, then craned her neck to look at the ground below
them.By the light of the brilliant
stars overhead, she spotted a cluster of shaggy shapes in the middle of
a clearing, and waved to them while Hippolyta spiraled down to a landing
with Goliath following close behind. The
shapes turned out to be Samson, one of the adult females of the tribe and
his three oldest children, and once they were sure that Elisa wasn't going
to attack and start slaughtering indiscriminately, the rest of them came
out for a look at the newcomers.Usually
Goliath was the center of attention wherever they went, but it came as
no surprise to Elisa that this time she was the subject of most of their
curiosity.Between Hippolyta, Delilah
and even some of the mutates, people with wings were old news to the clan,
but here was one of those dangerous hairless apes that their mommies had
warned them about!Determined to
keep a good humor about it all, she sat down and very patiently let them
look her over and poke her here and there, even obligingly opening her
mouth when a little one touched her lips.The
little boy, or at least Elisa assumed it was a boy, leaned in and sniffed,
then drew back hastily while muttering something in his own language."Sorry,"
she told him, "that's probably the cheeseburger I ate before coming out
here.I should have had the salad
instead..." "It's
just as well that you had the meat," Samson reassured her."I
want my children to get to know you as a friend, but stay wary and far
away from humans in general, and a scent that we associate with predators
and scavengers can only help to reinforce... er, no offense." "None
taken."Elisa let them examine her
for a few more minutes, then announced, "I'm going to get up now."Samson
murmured something to the children still poking at her, and they backed
off and let her get to her feet."So,
how about tell us who's who?" Samson
introduced all the children to her, and the adults as well.One
adult actually stepped up to shake Elisa's hand, said carefully, "Hello,
Eh-leh-sha," then looked apologetic that she hadn't been able to pronounce
it better. "I
understood you just fine," Elisa assured her."And
I hope you are patient with me, when I mispronounce your names... Lull,
right?" The
female smiled."Gah-lozhe eh-nuvv." "...Close
enough, eh?" Elisa had to smile. A
few feet away, another adult with russet fur stepped up to Goliath.After
Samson made introductions on both sides, Oruulu said something in her own
tongue, then looked expectantly at Goliath while Samson translated for
her."She wants to know if, in all
your travels, you've seen any other Sasquatch tribes... have you?" and
the desperate hope in his voice was audible to all. Elisa
knew it hurt Goliath inside, to have to shake his head and say, "No, we
have not.We thought we had found
evidence once, in Russia, but it came to nothing.But
we have not given up hope," he added as Samson's face fell."We
still have several more stops planned in our trip, to visit known clans,
and after that we shall begin wandering to investigate unconfirmed sightings
of gargoyles.It may well be that
someone mistook one of your kind for one of mine in the dead of night.I
promise you, we will continue to look..." *** March
18th, 2032 Dear
Samson, Hi!People
here are looking forward to the camping trip next month, but this year
a few of us are definitely going to miss it.Last
week Dee gave birth, and not just to three kids as we'd thought from the
ultrasound; seems there was a fourth one hiding behind the others!Four
kids, two boys and two girls, and all of them furry as can be.The
boys are named Keith and Dylan, and the girls are Sarah and Ruth.In
case it's not clear from the pictures enclosed with this letter, Sarah
and Dylan have wings, but Keith and Ruth do not.But
as you used to say all the time, wings don't matter much down here in the
Labyrinth. Claw's
kids Ruby Ann and Buddy have already volunteered to baby-sit, bless their
hearts, but Grandma Maggie has first dibs.After
having only pictures of our other grandchildren in Nigeria, now that she's
got kids to cuddle and sing to she's become the ultimate doting grandmother.In
fact, Dee has already muttered to me about her being a little too doting...
but she has to admit that with four kids at once, she needs the extra help.And
Feral's only too happy to hand the kids over to Grandma and step out for
a while... but I think he's just a little overwhelmed at the moment, and
he'll come around and start being a good father once he gets used to the
mewling.At least, I hope so.Anyway,
Dee and Feral and Maggie are going to miss the camping trip this year,
but the rest of us are still planning to come... *** June
18th, 2033 It
was the first night of the full moon, and Delilah was due in tonight for
her annual visit.Samson waited alone
for her out in the clearing, as had become their tradition.And
soon enough, he saw her silhouette come soaring over the treetops, accompanied
by Hippolyta, and heard Delilah's shriek of delight as she saw him and
dove straight into his waiting arms.But
instead of snuggling into his embrace, she held back to look up into his
face as she said excitedly, "I have news; we may have found another tribe!" The
entire tribe had gathered by the time Delilah finished relating what she
knew.The last time Gabriel and Liz
had taken their son Lysander up to Montana to visit the dinosaur-gargoyles,
Ptera had told Lysander about having seen "a strange human-thing with fur,
nearly as big as Stego" while out gliding at the western edge of their
territory.Lysander hadn't told his
parents about that until they'd returned home to Las Vegas, but once he
had, Gabriel had hotfooted it back to Montana and gone searching with Ptera
for the creature she'd seen that one time.They
hadn't seen it, but Gabriel had discovered a partial footprint of a creature
that was far bigger than the average man and definitely hadn't smelled
like a human. Once
the news had reached Manhattan, some of the gargoyles there had volunteered
to go to Montana to begin searching for the Sasquatch, but Claw and Raylene
had convinced them that they and their kids should be the ones to go.The
mutates all had plenty of experience with the scent of a Sasquatch, after
the last few camping trips to California.And
having grown up in the Appalachian Mountains, and having regularly hunted
for his family's dinners after returning there between 2005 and 2017, Claw
was undoubtedly the most experienced of the Manhattan folk at tracking.He
and Raylene took their kids to Montana on the first flight Alexander could
arrange, the day before Delilah herself traveled to California, and they
were even now exploring the wilderness of Montana with Gabriel and the
dino-gargs.They promised they would
contact the Manhattan clans and Trinity Bay, the moment they found further
evidence of Sasquatch in the area. Samson
tried to tell himself not to get too excited; Delilah had told him a long
time ago that there had been a couple other false leads over the years,
tips that had been investigated but had not panned out, in areas of Idaho
and Oregon.But this was such fantastic
news; the most solid lead they'd had in decades... [I
may have to leave you again for a short while,] he announced to the rest
of the tribe.[In order to search
this different place, for signs of another tribe.] Luul
and the other adults nodded reluctant agreement... except for Aanuu.[You
must not go,] she said with determination.[You
are needed here, to teach more of the human things.] [Aanuu...
Our winged friends are great hunters and trackers, but the best person
to find one of the People might well be another one of the People.] [This
is true,] she agreed.[That is why
I will go.] [You?!]
That was chorused by every last adult in the tribe and a few of the children,
and both Hippolyta and Delilah looked at her askance. Aanuu
made her argument for going; she had no mate and, as prospects went right
now, no mate or children in the future either.And
the oldest children were all capable of doing her tribal duties now; therefore
she was the most expendable.Hippolyta
tried to explain to her that no one had made provisions for her to go to
Montana, which is a long, long ways away; too far to walk to before the
winter snows set in, or even before next summer.But
Aanuu stubbornly insisted that if no gargoyle or mutate or friend-human
would help her get there faster, she would just start walking, and keep
walking until either she reached Montana or she dropped dead from old age. Hippolyta
finally agreed that she would glide back to town and contact the Manhattan
clan, to see about arranging transport for Aanuu to Montana."And
in the meantime," she suggested to Samson, "Have everyone's fur combed,
and collect the fur combings together.Since
it would be terribly difficult for just a few people to cover all the wilderness
in Montana, perhaps it could be arranged that someone could take fur-combings
out to the farthest areas, leave them as 'bait' in suitable spots with
offerings of fruit, and see if anyone comes to collect or investigate them.It
couldn't hurt..." The
tribe agreed that it might help and certainly couldn't hurt, so they spent
the next few days combing each other, as well as making claw-scrapes on
bark strips that could be sent to Montana and other suitable artifacts;
items that the average day-packing hiker would likely pass by without noticing
but another Sasquatch would immediately notice. A
few days later, Aaanuu collected all the tribe's artifacts into a carry-sack,
then donned the same disguise-spell wristwatch that Samson had worn for
his trip to Manhattan.A tall and
comely grey female gargoyle with a bandaged wing said goodbye to her tribe,
then started hiking off in the direction of Trinity Bay, while Hippolyta
glided overhead; Alexander's promised transport was waiting for them about
five miles outside of town.Once
she was in Montana, Aanuu would join the search for other Sasquatch, using
sign language to communicate with Claw and Raylene in order to coordinate
their efforts. Aanuu
might be doing the searching, but Samson swore that once solid evidence
of a tribe was found by either Aaanuu, Claw or Gabriel, Samson would go
up there himself, to negotiate with the new Sasquatch tribe on behalf of
his children.Until then... "Same
time, next year?" Delilah asked with a wry smile, as she prepared to leave
again. Samson
agreed with a final kiss: "Same time, next year." FINI