The Talisman

company, both of them. It was only later that there had been trouble . . . trouble with Orris. That had been after the partner of Jack’s father had ‘made himself a place in this world’, Wolf told Jack again and again – only now he seemed to mean Sloat, in the physical guise of Orris. Wolf said that Morgan had stolen one of his litter-sisters (‘My mother bit her hands and toes for a month after she knew for certain that he took her,’ Wolf told Jack matter-of-factly) and had taken other Wolfs from time to time. Wolf dropped his voice and, with an expression of fear and superstitious awe on his face, told Jack that the ‘limping man’ had taken some of these Wolfs into the other world, the Place of the Strangers, and had taught them to eat of the herd.
    ‘That’s very bad for guys like you, isn’t it?’ Jack asked.
    ‘They’re damned,’ Wolf replied simply.
    Jack had thought at first that Wolf was speaking of kidnapping – the verb Wolf had used in connection with his litter-sister, after all, was the Territories version of take . He began to see now that kidnapping wasn’t what was going on at all – unless Wolf, with unconscious poetry, had been trying to say that Morgan had kidnapped the minds of some of the Wolf family. Jack now thought that Wolf was really talking about werewolves who had thrown over their ancient allegiance to the Crown and the herd and had given it to Morgan instead . . . Morgan Sloat and Morgan of Orris.
    Which led naturally enough to thoughts of Elroy.
    A Wolf who eats of his herd must be put to death.
    To thoughts of the men in the green car who had stopped to ask him directions, and offered him a Tootsie Roll, and who had then tried to pull him into their car. The eyes. The eyes had changed.
    They’re damned.
    He made himself a place in this world.
    Until now he had felt both safe and delighted: delighted to be back in the Territories where there was a nip in the air but nothing like the dull, cold gray bite of western Ohio, safe with big, friendly Wolf beside him, way out in the country, miles from anything or anyone.
    Made himself a place in this world.
    He asked Wolf about his father – Philip Sawtelle in this world – but Wolf only shook his head. He had been a God-pounding good guy, and a Twinner – thus obviously a Stranger – but that was all Wolf seemed to know. Twinners, he said, was something that had something to do with litters of people , and about such business he could not presume to say. Nor could he describe Philip Sawtelle – he didn’t remember. He only remembered the smell. All he knew, he told Jack, was that, while both of the Strangers had seemed nice, only Phil Sawyer had really been nice. Once he had brought presents for Wolf and his litter-sisters and litter-brothers. One of the presents, unchanged from the world of the Strangers, had been a set of bib overalls for Wolf.
    ‘I wore em all the time,’ Wolf said. ‘My mother wanted to throw em away after I’d wore em for five years or so. Said they were worn out! Said I was too big for them! Wolf! Said they were only patches holding more patches together. I wouldn’t give em up, though. Finally, she bought some cloth from a drummer headed out toward the Outposts. I don’t know how much she paid, and Wolf! I’ll tell you the truth, Jack, I’m afraid to ask. She dyed it blue and made me six pairs. The ones your father brought me, I sleep on them now. Wolf! Wolf! It’s my God-pounding pillow, I guess.’ Wolf smiled so openly – and yet so wistfully – that Jack was moved to take his hand. It was something he never could have done in his old life, no matter what the circumstances, but that now seemed like his loss. He was glad to take Wolf’s warm, strong hand.
    ‘I’m glad you liked my dad, Wolf,’ he said.
    ‘I did! I did! Wolf! Wolf!’
    And then all hell broke loose.
    2
    Wolf stopped talking and looked around, startled.
    ‘Wolf? What’s wr—’
    ‘Shhhh!’
    Then Jack heard it. Wolf’s more sensitive ears had picked the sound up first, but it swelled quickly; before long, a deaf man would have heard it, Jack thought. The cattle looked around and then began to move away from the source of the sound in a rough, uneasy clot. It was like a radio sound-effect where someone is supposed to be ripping a bedsheet down the middle, very slowly. Only the volume kept going up and up and up until Jack thought he was going to go crazy.
    Wolf leaped to his feet, looking stunned and