smoke and shadows
“Icarus, Simeon, sit.” Gwen croaked at the smoke and shadows, ignoring the unease riding deep in her chest as she rubbed the crusty junk out of the corners of her eyes.
Icarus took form, pulling away from the wisps of smoke from last night’s fire, snapping at the grey curls, his foxlike shape still semi-translucent as he chased both of his tails around the ashy thread. He yipped in surprise at the sharpness of his own bite, tumbling onto the ground beside her.
“It is way too early for you to be so chipper,” Gwen mumbled, poking at the coals under her pot of water. She needed coffee. She had tea.
Gwen leaned back, snagging the strap of her rucksack and dragging it closer, reaching in for the map folded up somewhere inside, her Stetson tipping off and landing upside down in the leaf debris. The hat’s shadow spread, gliding into the folds of her skirt and taking weight as Simeon materialized in her lap. She scratched him behind the ears without looking, digging deeper, finally feeling the thick paper at the bottom of the bag and drawing it out.
“Correction. What I need is to find a way off this dang mountain before he catches up to us.”
Simeon’s dark tails flicked in disdain.
“Yes, I know you feel he is beneath you. But we still barely slipped his grasp last time.” She unfolded the small square on the ground to her right to keep it clear of Icarus’ playful antics, tracing the faint lines of rivers and gorges with her fingertip.
A smoky tongue lapped at her cheek, light paws pressing into her shoulder.
“Stop,” she grumbled, but a giggle slipped out. She turned to the grey form floating beside her, pinching her lips in mock scorn even as she scratched him under the chin. “We’ll have plenty of time to play once we’re in the clear.”
Simeon and Icarus’s heads jerked in unison, ears aimed at the same spot. Gwen held her breath, straining to hear what they did, peering into the early morning haze between the trees.
Simeon’s head sank as his hackles rose.
A song bird chirped.
The wind turned, pushing the campfire smoke away and pulling green scents toward her.
Icarus’ nose twitched, searching the air.
A prism of color began to flicker fifty yards out, condensing into a ball.
“Icarus! Simeon! Hide!” The pair dove into her as she grabbing her bag and hat, scrambling clear as the campfire exploded.
Her skirts turned dark, hands hazy and tingling as she shoved into the trees, feet lighter with each maddening dash she took as the pair did their work. She just had to keep off the paths, slip between the evergreens, keep her thundering heart and wispy steps from giving them away, find a way down the mountain that no one would predict her to take.
She could do this, she told herself firmly as her insides sobbed and trembled, skin prickling from Icarus and Simeon’s presence.
He might be the best tracker in all the Rockies. But even the best couldn’t track smoke and shadows.
