Eritopia

Preparing an Army

'Oh yes, and what did they promise you in return?'

'Your safety. No number of tall strangers or animal armies is going to be able to fight against the King, the Guardia, an' that Melos. Face facts, son. Come with me, we can outrun these people. Get back to the Palace, fight on the right side.'

He saw Martin twitch. Then the grip on his arm tightened.

'Tom!' Martin shouted across to the other men.

***

It was morning in the hut and Not-Bear was restless. They all were. If this talk of him were true, and he wasn't convinced it was, he was responsible for the current situation.

'So,' he began. 'If, as you say, Gordon, your brothers, and who knows else is preparing to overthrow the king, when will this happen?'

The twins, Raff and Bowen were sitting by the door. Gordon was leaning on the wall by the stove, listening. Tom Tall and Martin had gone.

'Yes,' Map interjected. 'Because we want to help. That's what we came here for.'

'Exactly,' said Jod. ' I haven't left my home and the safety of the forest to be stuck here while all the action is taking place.'

'This is the safest place, at the moment,' Gordon said. 'The King is looking for you. They would have had you at the river if not for the quick thinking of Martin and Tom. No one knows you are here, yet, and we want to keep it that way.'

'Where are the others?' Not-Bear asked. 'They have been gone a long time.'

'They are busy, on Brotherhood business. We must wait here.'

Jod kicked the leg of the bed he had been sleeping on. Map moaned. Not-Bear looked long and hard at Gordon.

There was a knock on the door. The secret code. Raff got up, opened the door and let the others in. There were two strangers with them, one of them short and very dishevelled.

Tom introduced the group. Jano, he said, was a brother. Not-Bear now knew not to take this as truth – he was simply a member of their group. The short man, Beetle, was the unlikely father of Martin. There was little family resemblance, Not-Bear thought, and the man seemed restless. 

'You say he's a wolf?' Beetle declared. 'Like the Frampton wolf who stole babies from the midwives on Pit Edge? Or the packs that live on the southern side of Cramphorn Mountain? That eat travellers for fun and send their bones back in the river to taunt their families?' 

Not Bear said nothing as he absorbed these questions, but Gordon laughed. 

'All stories, Beetle,' he said. 'Fictions created out of misunderstanding. Or fear,' he added.

'Is he safe?'

'Depends whose side you are on,' Martin snapped.

'He don't look safe,' Beetle continued. 'Those teef...' 

Not-Bear sat and stared.

'He's safe,' Jod told Beetle, walking up and down between the wolf and the city man. 'I've been with him for days.' He paused. 'Although he did once try to bite a hyena's head off.'

'Jod!' Not Bear exclaimed.

Beetle moved back to the door, but at a look from Jano slid past it, and sat in a corner. There began a period of talk, led by Martin with interjections by Gordon and Tom. Martin told his father all he had learned of the history of the City, and the lies Barnabas had peddled. The truth about the One War and the Great Battle. Why the City was in disarray, why the economy was so stricken, why there was no commerce across the Outside anymore. Why, in short, Beetle needed to side with the brotherhood.

Beetle interrupted at one point. 'If what you say is right, where does this Melos fit into everything? The King has got a right thing for him.'

'Melos is not known to us,' Gordon said. 'He brought the story of an old prophecy to the King, an ancient tale. It must have come across the mountains, perhaps as far away as the Errant Plains.'

'Prophecy?'

'A prediction, if you like,' Tom added. 'Elements of truth woven into a riddle. Melos is using it to inspire the King to fight.'

'Why?'

'It's obvious. Barnabas wants to recreate the glory of former days. When his ancestor, the first Barnabas, ruled he used animals to make the city great. For transport, food, to farm, to work; all the things men couldn't do on their own. The current king craves that power again.'

'So what does Melos want from the regeneration of the city?' Martin asked.

'That we don't know,' Gordon said. 'But it will have something to do with the wolf here.'

Not-Bear heard the words with little satisfaction. He didn't want to be responsible for war.

They talked on, and at one point Gordon drew Martin and Beetle aside. After a while, Gordon announced, 'We have to go to a meeting,' and without further explanation they left, Raff and Bowen following them through the door.

'I don't trust that little man,' said Not-Bear when they had gone. 'I know he's Martin's father, but there's something bad in him.'

Map spoke. 'Don't be sorry. I don't trust him myself. And this story of the King and his lust for power takes a bit of absorbing.'

'Do you think it's true?' Jod asked.

'It rings true,' Map said, 'from what I have heard around. But I've listened to enough talking and debating. Seems to me the time for action is here. I know the Fox, the one that travels with Bear and his friends. He wouldn't be involved unless something big was happening. And I know the king is desperate. If a new war is coming we need to do all we can to win it. I wouldn't have come all this way otherwise. There are warm burrows to the north, on the edge of the forest, and carrot fields. I would be there if it wasn't for the trust I place in animals and the ancient writings.'

'The prophecy?'

'The truth,' Map concluded.

'Well, I am decided,' said Jod.

Not-Bear nodded. 'And I,' he said. 'There is only one thing to do. And I don't trust Beetle to help us do it.'

'Which is what?'

'To give the others time to prepare for battle we must distract Barnabas.'

'The King?'

'And Melos. And if we are going, we must go now, before the others get back. Before they can stop us.'

'That's a worthy plan, but I can't go with you,' said Map.

'Why not? We've come all this way together.'

'I helped you out, I know, but they way those city folk treat animals, I wouldn't be safe. I would only hinder you, and I besides, I am quite tired.'

Not-Bear looked at Jod. They knew what he said was true. 

'Then I'm sure when you are rested there'll be another part for you to play. We will see you again, Rabbit, when this sorry mess is sorted!'

'Yes indeed,' echoed Jod. Then he muttered something under his breath.

'What was that, Jod?' Not-Bear asked.

'If we survive, I said. If we survive.'