The Wolfe's Claw

Chapter 15 "Bonfire Tonight"

             “Waneta!” The little one cried and ran to him. He let go of my hand to catch her. He lifted her up high then hugged her to him.

             “Hello Wyanet. Are you enjoying yourself?” Wyanet nodded and snuggled in closer. Waneta turned to me.

             “Wyanet, this is Lalasa.” He introduced her to me and me to her. Wyanet smiled at me and waved. She held out her hands and I took it to mean that she wanted me to hold her. I held her under her arms and brought her close. Wyanet smiled and nuzzled my neck for a second and stayed there. I kept my arm under her and on my hip. Most people, teenagers mostly, wouldn’t know how to hold a baby or toddler unless they had one or they had a sibling that young.

             I used to babysit the toddlers in my neighborhood so I learned how to hold a baby. I stood next to Waneta for a few minutes, just rocking back and forth for Wyanet, turns out she fell asleep. I tuned to find the man and woman staring at me. I raised a questionable brow at them and they smiled. The woman stepped forward and held out her hand. I put my free hand in hers and shook.

             “Hi, my name is Lalasa.” She smiled at me.

             “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Sarah and this is my husband, Rafael. We’re his parents.” She pointed at Waneta and I turned to him and raised my eyebrows. He turned a nice shade of pink under his tan skin. His mom laughed and his dad chuckled.

             “Sorry I didn’t tell you. I thought you’d panic if I’d told you.” I smiled at him and went back to his side and snuggled in without jarring Wyanet. His arm snaked around my waist. Rafael kissed Sarah on the head before going to the stump of a really old, maybe 500 year old tree.

             “Attention everyone! Welcome to our annual Bonfire. I hope you enjoy, let the party begin.” He stepped off the stump and came back to us. Music came on over the radio and the party built up. I gave Wyanet back to Sarah and Rafael and dragged Waneta back over to the cars. There must have been at least 30 different cars and all from the 1920’s to the 1970’s. I was taking pictures, one of the car’s left side, one for the right side, one for the front, one for the back and one for the inside. I swear, when I was done, I had at least 150 pictures in all.

             I smiled, proud of myself. Waneta smiled at my expression and I gave him a hug. I kept my arm around his waist when I pulled away. We walked around some and got some food. I chowed down while we walked back to the fire pit. We sat on a log close to the pit and waited. Angus and Sora came by and sat next to us. Angus was talking about the cars and I quickly got caught up in that discussion. I was in the middle of telling Angus about my favorite car, the old bugs and how the engine and frame was exquisite and about its perfectness when Waneta’s dad stood up and everyone got quiet.

             “Again, welcome to the annual bonfire, we gather here each year to tell stories of our past. Enjoy and think about what you learn here. Amun, you may begin.” He said nodding to a handsome older man with a few grey hairs. Amun didn’t waste any time and got right to it.

             “Long ago, in a village not far from here there were the Spirit Wolves. The Spirit Wolves were a peaceful race, strong, proud, and arrogant in some ways. They were the guardians of human kind. Be it land fae or tree nymph, they protected them. No one could see the wolves but they were there. One day the Jokester got jealous of the pure power of the Spirit Wolves. The Jokester decided that he wanted their power and so he set out to get it. The Spirit Wolves found out and tried to stop him by praying to the moon for help,” two teenagers started howling eerily like wolves and Amun chuckled and continued.