The Moon Worshippers Read Free Page B

quickly time had passed. Soon he would be a man and she would lose him. She shuddered a little at the thought.

Chapter Two

    The Gathering Storm

    By midsummer, Inaki had his boots and cloak and left the village to look for the animal man. He travelled into the high mountains for four days. Then on the sixth day he reached the crest of the first range of mountains. Before him he saw two further ranges. Between each range were deep-wooded misty valleys and beyond the second range, somewhere there he should find the man he sought. The work had gone well. There had been no shortage of folk who had wanted the services of his wolf-dog. On his feet was a fine pair of deer skin boots; about his shoulders a heavy woollen cloak that his mother had traded for and in his belt a fine long knife of iron and the two-headed axe. He had done well, but it had taken longer than he bargained for.
    On the tenth day, in a high valley, between two great mountains he found a hut of stone. Outside and on the slopes some sheep and goats grazed. As he approached, two enormous dogs came barking towards him. He stopped, sat down and waited. The dogs rushed towards him. He made the wolf-dog sit. The dogs came on. The wolf-dog soon flattened himself on the ground with head forward and eyes fixed firmly on the approaching dogs. His whole body coiled, ready to attack.
    “Steady, stay!” whispered, Inaki.
    The wolf-dog relaxed at his master’s voice and his head rested between his paws.
    At four paces from him, the dogs stopped but were still barking. Then they began growling and showing their teeth. Inaki could see that they weren’t at all friendly. They were a fearsome sight and both boy and wolf-dog remained very still so as not to antagonise them further. For some time the situation remained the same. Eventually the dogs stopped barking and growling and just sat watching him. If he made to move they growled and stood up. This situation seemed unresolvable and remained the same for what seemed like an age.
    In essence, the time that had passed was shorter than he thought. It just felt longer. Suddenly the wolf-dog stood up and rapidly turned round growling. The boy looked behind him. There, some twenty paces away, stood a mountain of a man. He gave a long, low whistle and the two dogs ran to his side and sat. He gave the boy a long, hard and unpleasant look. His azure eyes were as cold as the pebbles in a mountain stream and his piercing gaze seemed to go through Inaki to his very bones.
    Then he spoke, “What are you doing here?” There was no sound of welcome in the voice.
    It took Inaki a while to compose himself. Then he said. “I’ve come to see you, if you are who I think you are.”
    “I am known as Aguirre Aguirre. Am I the one you seek?” said the man.
    “Yes. They say you know about animals and dogs in particular.” Inaki said.
    “Come to my hut!” the man said sharply.
    The boy did not move.
    “Are you afraid?” the man said roughly.
    “No.” He paused. “Not for me, but I fear for your dogs.”
    The man laughed hard with mockery in his voice.
    “They’re bitches. Your animal is a dog. No dog will ever attack a bitch. Bitches rule in the world of the dog and the wolf. No harm will befall them. It is your animal that may not escape injury from them. I can see you have a lot to learn.”
    The man turned and walked towards the hut with Inaki following meekly. As he entered the hut he could smell food and he realised for the first time how hungry he was. The man went to an iron pot by the fire, took a wooden bowl and poured out the largest portion of lamb stew he had ever seen. He gave it to the boy and then served himself.
    “What are you called?” the man asked.
    “Inaki of the iron people.”
    “You’re a long way from home for a boy your age,” said Aguirre.
    “Yes, but I had to come,” the boy said in a low voice.
    “How did you come by that dog?” the man said.
    “He’s no dog, but a wolf.”
    “You’re