Chapter 22

            Baz sat me down and went to chat, almost silently, to Charlie who obviously was sat by Ashley. I sat there, thinking to myself about how I had told him and the way he had taken it; to be honest, he had taken it much better than I thought he would have done. The one thing that was still confusing me was that he said we were visiting some relatives on this camping trip. Now, he either meant his relatives or he meant his and the other’s relatives, which to me did not make any sense whatsoever. Oh well, I thought to myself, I would just have to wait and find out exactly what he was on about. I only had to wait another two and a half weeks.

*****

            As I didn’t know where we were going or what we would be doing, I had Baz help me with packing. He said that I should bring trainers and older clothes that I probably didn’t mind getting a bit muddy or dirty. But just to be on the safe side, I packed a few nice tops and my best set of jeans.

            ‘Are you two packed yet?!’ called up Derek from downstairs.

            Baz shouted down to him similarly. ‘Yeh, just making sure I haven’t forgotten anything. You don’t mind the drive do you, Kez?’ he added to me.

            ‘No, but I can always let you drive for a bit if my feet start hurting.’

            We then carted our suitcases down the stairs and locking our doors behind us.

            In the car, travelling on some random country narrow road in the countryside after about four hours of driving, I was sat dazing away in my own passenger seat wondering when we will stop. With Baz driving, I felt comfortable enough to play some music to relax me more.

            ‘Nearly there, Kerry. I know you’re tired, so am I. But we also need to put the tents up, in the middle of the field.’

            ‘Why the middle again?’ I asked for about the third time.

            ‘Because there’s a line of territory that we can’t cross which covers a certain section of the field. We could camp on it but... well it’s just not a good idea.’

            ‘Right, I still don’t get what’s going on but I’ll be patient and wait.’

            We pulled up into the small car park outside what looked like a farm house, and we stepped out of the car with some well needed stretches. Letting the boys unpack the tents and unfold them, I went for a little wander up to the field.

            ‘Kerry, I wouldn’t go nearer to the trees if I were you,’ he warned.

            Looking down at my feet, I saw a fainter green line running parallel to where I had been walking, I took a few paces away from it and saw that it extended from one end of the field (near the gate) to the other end at the top. Looking up, I saw the beginning of a large forest (or I imagined that it was a large forest).

            Dragging the tents up carefully, we all chipped in to erecting all three of them. Derek, Kev, Toby and Charlie were all sharing a double podded tent between them, while Baz and I had a single podded tent for us. The third tent was for Sharlene and Ashley, who insisted they didn’t share with any of the boys; exactly why they had come along I didn’t know, but I knew better than to ask questions and sound like I was jealous or annoyed. I was very happy when I found out I wasn’t the only female on this mysterious trip.

            One other thing I did notice was that we were the only people that were in the field; what that meant I couldn’t quite figure out but it had to mean something.

            ‘Ahhh!’ I screamed as someone’s arms shot around me and their cold hands touched mine. ‘Ooooh, Barry!’ I shouted as I turned around and flailed my hands about so he couldn’t grab them.

            ‘Kerry, Kerry, shut up. Please, you’ll attract unwanted attention. I’m just going to sign us in at the house.’

            Letting him go, I watched the house itself; I saw that one of the top window’s blinds was flapping but then thought it might be a leaking breeze through the old wooden frames. Baz stepped into the front porch and disappeared for about twenty minutes. Meanwhile I went to help the girls put up their tent, the boys had their hands full with theirs and mine and Baz’s was already up.

            Once Baz had returned and all the tents were successfully propped up and pegged down, we sat in a rather wide circle around a camp fire (Baz was given some firewood from the house’s owner). I was sat in front of him between his legs, as was Ashley with Charlie, the others were randomly sat in between us all and remaining in the fire’s light. Every now and then we would all look up at the sky or at the forest as there was howling and yelping flowing on the air towards our ears; it might have well been coming from the forest but due to us being in a valley with mountains on either side, the howls seemed to come from all directions.

            This happened around twenty or so times, I lost count after nine and eventually all the others around me changed forms and began a harmony of howling themselves; I only guessed it was in return to the ones we had been hearing. It all became too much for me after so long and I got up and hid myself in my tent and put some music on through my earphones.

            I was now settling down in my sleeping bag for the night, when Baz stepped through the fabric door, still as a wolf. Stepping his right forepaw over me, he dipped his head down so I could once again wrap my arms around him. Lifting up he changed and then spoke to me.

            ‘Sorry about all that, I could tell you were becoming uncomfortable. That will happen for a few nights, I should have told you about that part,’ he admitted, mostly to himself. ‘That’s why I’ve charged both our Ipods and also brought the chargers along to recharge them in the house, we have permission don’t worry.’ All this time, he was changing into his night clothes and shuffling into his own sleeping bag.

            ‘I’ll get through it but maybe I should listen to your howling,’ I explained. ‘It might help me get used to it quicker, especially as there’s a lot of you. It’s secretly very wonderful that you can do that, I’d push the boundaries a bit and say it was spectacular and beautiful. Do you actually say anything behind all that yapping and yelping and howling?’ I asked, careful to keep my voice intrigued so as not to offend him or the others (I knew they could probably hear through the thin night air and the tents’ fabric).

            ‘I hope it does help.’ He reached his arm across to feel for mine, I gladly placed my fingers in his palm, he continued. ‘To be totally honest with you, Kerry, some of it is just howling as you hear it; but even just noises like that can tell another wolf or pack a few certain things. Like whether you’re male, female, lone or pack; injured, healthy, friend or foe. But the stuff that, to you, might sound like howling is talking or asking questions and answering them. But it’s never anything complicated, that comes from more close proximity stuff like ears, eyes, and barking, yapping, yelping, and other things besides. But I cannot tell you or teach you, for only as a wolf can I understand what another wolf is saying to me.’

            ‘Ok, well, in a dream world can I only understand all that. But for now we should sleep. Good night, Barry.’

            ‘Good night, Kez.’ And we both let the night conceal our thoughts.

*****

            The next five nights went by the same way; only the day times were spent with us all going into the nearest town to find ways of amusing ourselves and taking up our time.

            It all started from around a week into our trip, when the howling became more prominent and lower pitched, the echoes resonated through the trees around us and bounced off the mountain sides to return to us and adding to the sounds that flowed from that other elusive pack that dwelled among the trees and stony ridges. After the amount of howling hours, I had gotten slightly used to what I heard at night whether I was expecting it or not.

            This night, Baz left the howling and so on to the others, he said he felt like he had been ignoring me a little too much, more than he should at night with his girlfriend. When he told me this little itching of his, I giggled and then slipped into my tent to read a little of my book. In quick succession, he followed me in and lay on his side next to me. Still reading, I reached my hand over and rubbed his shoulder.

            ‘Mmmm, that’s nice. You couldn’t give me a back rub could you? All this lifting my head up to the sky each night and howling hurts my back a little.’

            I smiled, marked my page and turned to him. ‘Of course, if it will make you feel better.’ He chuckled and positioned himself so his back was facing up. Shifting myself, I kneeled beside his hips and leaned over his back, and then started massaging his shoulder muscles, pressing down into them but without hurting him. Making my way down his spine, I could feel some of the knots and tighter parts of his tendons, this worried me and I tried harder to make him relax and enjoy this moment we shared.

            As swiftly as a bird flies away from a predator, he rolled onto his side, pulled me down by my upper arms and kissed me passionately before I could even utter a sound.

            ‘Baz, what are you doing?’ I managed to whisper between his kisses.

            ‘Ssshhh, I won’t do anything but kiss and caress,’ he answered to my weariness. To that, I shakily put my arms around his shoulders and he leant down again and we continued his previous passionate affections.

            Even though he said that he would just caress me, I decided to do more to him than I would otherwise stop at. The thrill of being caught or heard was a sensation I had never felt before, and I found myself acting a bit wilder than my usual subtle, controlled self.