Page 64 of Search for the Lost

Leo wasn’t positive what a maw was, but he suspected it had something to do with all that slavering. “Could you just shoo them away? They’re probably an important part of the Black Forest ecosystem. Maybe even an endangered species.”

Now Aspin looked as if he might use his sword on Leo as well. Dietrich simply appeared confused. The WOLFs, meanwhile, continued growling and snarling, but now they’d backed up a little so they were crowded around Leo, as if they thought he might offer some protection. Or as if he’d make a good third course after they ate Aspin and Dietrich.

And Crispin…. Where was Crispin?

Leo looked around frantically—and then almost dislocated his neck when something tapped the back of his shoulder. To his enormous relief, the something turned out to be Crispin, who crowded in close despite the WOLFs. At the moment, the WOLFs were too distracted by the swordsmen to notice.

“You and Aspin protected me,” Crispin whispered in Leo’s ear.

“Did you expect us to let you become lunch and then continue merrily on our way?”

“Well, no. But it’s very brave of you.”

Mollified, Leo nodded. “Do you have any suggestions for how to extricate us from this?”

Crispin paused before speaking thoughtfully. “I had to collect a miniyote once. I wonder if⁠—”

“What’s a miniyote?” Leo tried to steer the two of them backward, away from the standoff, but one of the WOLFs had planted itself on Leo’s foot and wouldn’t budge. It hurt, but probably not as much as getting eaten.

Crispin made an impatient noise. “Like a coyote, but⁠—”

“Smaller.”

“Precisely. About the same size as Minkis. I collected the very last one. It wasn’t⁠—”

“Ha!” Leo elbowed Crispin triumphantly. “I knew these guys were an endangered species.”

“It wasn’t easy,” repeated Crispin, ignoring him. “She wanted to be collected even less than you did, and they’re much fiercer than you’d guess from their size. But I managed it. I simply had to figure out how to make her docile. If we could do that for the WOLFs, we could all be on our way.”

The WOLF on Leo’s foot shifted its stance and now had a paw on his other foot as well. He tried to shove it off, but it was immobile. “How did you make the miniyote docile?” His voice held more than a bit of an edge. How come his beasts had to be oversized instead of tiny?

“I started off with food, of course.”

“I’m out of cookies,” Leo said between clenched teeth.

“Well… yes. But I also used a calming voice, and when I got close to her, I petted her. Like this.”

Crispin reached over to touch the flank of the nearest WOLF. As soon as he made contact, though, the beast whipped around, snarling, its eyes ablaze. Leo wrenched himself out from under the other WOLF’s feet and placed his body between Crispin and the antagonist. Crispin squeaked a bit, but the WOLF lowered its hackles, and its eyes cooled a few degrees.

“I don’t think they like me,” Crispin said quietly. He sounded offended.

“Would you two stop playing about and let us dispatch the monsters?” That was Aspin, still waving his sword around in a menacing manner. Dietrich, on the other hand, had lowered his weapon and looked confused.

Leo decided to ignore them both. Instead he attempted to engage his brain, which wasn’t easy under the circumstances. His brain was like a 1950s pickup truck: sometimes it took a lot to get it started, and it rumbled and chugged along the way. On the other hand, once it got going, it was pretty damned reliable, and was capable of running over any small issues. And since the whole Freaky Friday thing with Crispin, it seemed to turn over just a little easier.

Tentatively, he put out a hand and gave the nearest WOLF butt a friendly scratch. Instead of snarling and snapping, the WOLF wagged its tail and did that back-leg kicking thing that dogs do when you scratch them just right. Encouraged, Leo tried it again—with the same result—and then rubbed the closest furry ear. Within moments, all four WOLFs were sprawled peacefully around him. One of them was on its back, all paws in the air, while the others simply crowded as close to Leo as possible. This was more than slightly gratifying.

“They certainly do like you,” Crispin observed. He carefully avoided touching any of the WOLFs. “It’s strange. Not that you aren’t totally lovable, of course, but it’s only….”

“Chaos,” said Leo because his brain finally slipped into third gear. “They like Chaos.” He felt kind of good about that because he’d learned that relatively few people or creatures felt that way. Reactions generally ranged from annoyed to terrified. But, as he and Crispin had discussed in the past, Chaos was actually pretty cool, at least in moderation. Without it, the world would be boring.

Leo petted a WOLF and grinned. He might also have shot a smug look in Dietrich’s direction, but he could hardly be blamed for that. “Here. You try. I bet they will like you too.” He guided Crispin’s hand to the neck fur of one of the fierce beasts.

Crispin’s hand was shaking.

“It’s all right.” They pet the WOLF together, and it turned and lapped Crispin’s forearm with a great pink tongue.

“See? She likes you!” Leo wasn’t sure why he’d decided this one was female. It just felt right.