Eritopia

A Good Leader

The plan was detailed to everyone, and they agreed how sensible it was. Martin had been nervous and undecided when asked, but Van soon persuaded him. He had the best interests of the people at heart, and that was what they needed. The encouragement of the others helped too. It was agreed they would rest, and on the next day a contingent of Riders and animals would go with Martin to the City. They would detain the King and install the Council as his replacement. Bear would go, with Not-Bear, Map, and Jod as interpreter. Anya and Calypso remained unsure; they missed their homes and wanted to return to the Inside. Van was to follow on when he felt better.

With the next day already planned, everyone wanted to sleep. As weary heads drooped and bodies curled in repose, Bear and Not-Bear were alone together, as they had been at the start of their adventure.

'It's been a long day, Bear,' the wolf said, staring into the fire.

'It certainly has,' his friend said. 'I still have a lot to tell you, though, especially about Anya and Calypso. Did you know they were once spies? Oh, and the Elder I met, with that badger; you know he really told him off!'

'That old stripe-head?' Not-Bear exclaimed. 'I told you he would be trouble.'

'But he wasn't, in the end. Somehow it all seemed to work out,' Bear told him. 'They were expecting it, you know.'

'Expecting what?'

'You leaving,' Bear said. 'The Elder told me.'

'It was the lack of food that annoyed me,' Not-Bear said. 'At the Occasion.'

'They could have planned that too.'

'Jod said they always had food,' Not-Bear added.

'Anya and Calypso encouraged me not to look for you,' Bear told him.

'I wouldn't have wanted you to find me, then,' Not-Bear said. 'There were all these questions in my head you couldn't answer.

'No one could answer them,' Bear stressed and then asked. 'Have you gained anything from all that questioning?'

'I have learnt a lot of things Bear, and forgotten some others,' the wolf replied. He thought for a moment. 'I have learnt that home is a particularly important place, but I don't yet know where mine is. And that having a name is not as important as knowing who you are. And there is a difference between real friends and friendly faces.' He thought of that slimy King, with his false promises.

'I know it's important to have a past as well as a future. And that the present,' here he smiled at his old friend, 'is only temporary. Also,' he continued, 'that not everything is as it seems. There is a good deal of mystery in life, if only we knew where to find it.'

'Do you think that's important?' Bear asked.

'Yes, I do,' was the reply, 'otherwise there would be nothing to look forward to.'

Bear felt a bit like that too.

'Now who would want that?' Not-Bear teased.

'What have you forgotten then?' Bear wanted to sleep. His paws were beginning to ache.

'Sorry?'

'You said you had learnt a lot of things, and forgotten some others.'

'How can I tell you that?' Not-Bear replied, 'if I've forgotten them!'

They both laughed at the joke. The wolf who sat there now, beside the flickering fire, was very different to the one who left the Circle.

'Bear?' he asked.

'Yes?' Bear replied, and a shiver of expectation passed through him.

'I can't go back, you know.'

'Where, to the Inside?'

'Yes. Not yet anyway.'

'Oh,' Bear said. He had been expecting this. 'Where will you go then?' he asked.

'I was hoping, that we could perhaps...'

'Go together?'

'Yes.'

'Of course,' Bear spluttered, before he could change his mind. Someone would have to look after this impetuous wolf, he thought. He also felt there was a lot more to learn and that, having come this far, they should continue. They hugged in silent joy, the bear and the wolf, relieved.

'Where will we go?' Bear asked.

'I think you know,' Not-Bear replied. 'There was something that Jod told me, many days ago. It was about a prophecy, and circles, and two friends meeting in it.'

'You and me?'

'Similar in shape and form, it said.' Not-Bear nuzzled Bear in the stomach. 'That definitely isn't us. Van also said there are other wolves that live beyond the mountains. That's where I want to go. And I have unfinished business with Melos.'

'Then we should go back with the Riders. It may take a day or so to sort out the business with the King,' Bear said, 'and see the City.' He still wanted to do that.

'It could be a good place,' Not-Bear said, remembering its decaying streets and crumbling Palace. Most of all he recalled the honest faces that peered at him as he was led along their streets. 'With a good leader,' he added.

Bear was thoughtful. 'Let's hope we've found one then.'