Chapter 14 Hangover #2
“Creatures that act as reality’s immune system, you might say.
Like the orbital kingfisher that hunts the West Coast or the omni-crab down in the Florida Keys.
These are organisms that live on the borders of what is real and are very protective of those borders.
The simple fact of the guardian’s interest supports Valentina’s theory. ”
Green looked to Valentina for clarification.
“That the fawn is an invasive species, not just to this area, but to this reality, and the Hole in Nothing is the creature’s link to the outside,” she said.
He nodded. He didn’t need to suppose things about Catskill’s viewpoint. He knew.
“Alright. Yeah. It fits with Catskill’s understanding, that the fawn is an invader,” Green said.
“There is also the fact that, based on the pattern of attacks, the fawn seems place-bound to the area surrounding the hole,” Valentina said. “That suggests that the rift is more than just the fawn’s point of entry.”
“Right, you told me that hypothesis before, but we’re still left with the important question. How do we make it leave? I know Catskill’s mother defeated and banished it in the past, but I don’t know how. He doesn’t know. And if Catskill can’t catch it or chase it away, then neither can we.”
“Note, Clara. Green has shifted from ‘it’ to ‘he’ as his pronoun of choice for the horned wolf since his encounter last night.”
Clara tapped her chin.
“ ’Scuse me. Kindly don’t talk about me like I’m not here. Also, what about my point? If Catskill can’t catch it or force it out, what hope do we have? There’s nothing we can do to it that Catskill couldn’t have managed.”
“You’re thinking too simply, Mr. Green,” Valentina said.
“You’re thinking of physicality, of strength and speed.
Yet, the fawn isn’t a rogue mountain lion.
It is not a part of our reality. It is operating under a different set of rules.
As such, we may not need to force the fawn to do anything, nor physically catch it in order to remove the threat.
As we discussed, the fawn and the hole may well be codependent phenomena.
That is our current working theory. The fawn’s continued existence here is likely reliant on the hole’s presence and, unlike the fawn, the hole cannot evade us. ”
Green ran fingers through his hair and shut his eyes, trying to digest the information.
“Look, kid,” Clara said. “Think of that fawn’s enduring existence in our world like a string of unearthly, paradoxical Christmas lights.
That Hole in Nothing is the extension cord connecting those lethal lights to some sort of unfathomable power outlet beyond the bounds of our universe.
You close the hole, the cord is cut. Pop. Out go the lights.”
Green sighed.
“I wonder how hard it would be to get my old job back,” he said.
Clara chuckled.
“It gets easier,” she said. “The point is, that thing only gets to remain here because it is maintaining some kind of unbroken connection with an elsewhere place where its existence makes sense. Otherwise, our reality would have spit it back out through a variety of methods. Your wolf is one of those methods.”
“Hang on, this is all well and good, but if I’m remembering correctly, the one reliable tactic we know of for closing these rifts involves a suicidal trip through that doorway, right?
Did Valentina tell you what that thing did to the stuff we tossed through?
The slime? The sparks? All the times nothing at all came back? ”
Valentina frowned. She huddled down into her coat, despite the thrumming heaters.
“Ms. Rodriguez is well aware,” Valentina said. “Again, we have not quite exhausted all our options.”
“Just for a lark, let’s start with the ideal-case scenario,” Clara said. “How is this solved if everything goes just exactly how we would like?”
“The fawn chooses to leave and the rift closes behind it,” Valentina said.
“I’m guessing that is what happened with Catskill’s mother,” Green said. “Catskill is terrifying and his mother was, apparently, an order of magnitude more terrifying. I bet she gave it plenty of good reasons to leave.”
“And your new friend hasn’t been able to do the same?”
A strange, bitter indignance ran through him and he had to shake off a rising anger.
“No. Not yet. He thinks of it as a stalemate.”
“Do you know how long ago the mother forced it out?”
“Not really. I saw the memory. But Catskill thinks of saber-toothed tigers as recent residents, so it’s hard for me to get a sense of timescale while in his head.”
“Hmm. Well, Valentina has tried flowing water and matter stitching to close the hole,” Clara said. “She tried willing it shut, too, but I’ve suggested some ways to make another attempt more efficacious.”
Valentina nodded, but looked doubtful.
“That will be our best bet at present,” Clara added.
“She can attempt to employ willpower from much nearer the doorway. I’m guessing proximity is a factor.
And, Val, try that poultice recipe I sent.
It smells like low tide but the Kelleys swore by it for enhancing their intention focus while doing metaphysical work. ”
Green looked to his teacher. She looked paler than usual and her tired eyes made him wonder if she had stayed awake while the spore-log toxin ran its course.
“Not our best bet,” Valentina said. “Though certainly our preferred method.”
Clara furrowed her brow.
“This isn’t the Lake Itasca Mist-Arch, Val. I don’t think closing this one from within is a real option. Not with any expectation of survival, even for you.”
“You wouldn’t actually consider going into that thing, right?” Green asked.
“I’m going to remind the two of you that this isn’t an academic question. Lives are at stake. Perhaps more. We have a responsibility to solve this. Remember, despite the popular modern self-deception, we are not separate from nature. We are also part of this world’s defenses.”
“We know, Teacher,” Clara said. “Let’s just put potentially deadly plans a little further down our list of strategies for now, eh?”
Green imagined stepping into the coroner’s van and lifting the white sheet.
He imagined a different reality in which a group of college kids were driving away from Kinkaid Cabins, a little hungover and smelling of campfire smoke.
He imagined Kyle Cartwright, at home with his family, cooking dinner and daydreaming of his next fishing trip.
He imagined the day he fell in front of the bus, but this time he left work and, on a whim, took a taxi home.
We don’t always know when our plans are potentially deadly.
“Hell, if it comes to going inside, I could go,” Clara said. “I have fewer years to sacrifice, after all. I am getting awfully tired of endless doctor visits and feeling mule kicked every time the weather changes.”
“And you suspect an unknowable void outside reality will be a more comfortable place to spend your remaining time? Ridiculous,” Valentina said.
“The value of a life is not measured in potential longevity. Also, if you will recall, I taught both of your sons and I won’t be telling the twins that I used their mother’s life to plug up a cosmic rathole. ”
Clara snorted a laugh.
“Hear that, Green? Valentina doesn’t need to curse because you can hear the implied curses whenever she wants you to. It’s an art form.”
“Yes, well, Ms. Rodriguez.” Valentina emphasized the formality. “Thank you so much for lending us your expertise.”
Clara clapped her bent brown hands together.
“There it is again! Hear it?”
“I can,” Green said. “And thank you for the journal. It…has been more than helpful.”
“Aw. You’re welcome. Don’t you forget to do the same for up-and-comers when you get on your feet. Record it all. Herkimer got that part right at least. It’s lonely, isn’t it? Being one of us strange animals. Gotta let each other know that there are kindred spirits out there.”
Green smiled.
“Goodbye, Clara,” Valentina said. “We’ll be in touch.”
Clara winked again and the screen went dark.
Valentina lifted a trembling hand and closed the laptop. Green wondered if the effects of the spore-log were holding on longer for his teacher.
“I didn’t think we had internet access here,” he said.
“We don’t.”
“Ah…Right.”
Valentina stared past Green, her expression grim and distant.
“Seriously, you aren’t actually considering stepping through that hole, are you?”
Of course she is.
“As I said, it may well come to that. Such an act may be survivable. Human choice is a powerful force. I am rather willful and may fare better than a stone or scrap of firewood.”
“We’ll find a solution. We have an ally in Catskill now. That could change things.”
“It could, but observe.”
Valentina pointed to her lips and blew out a long breath.
Green saw pale condensation even in the warm room.
“I am afraid the fawn did to me what it failed to do to you.”
Fear slid a knife between Green’s ribs.
His teacher’s trembling and her tired eyes were not the work of the spore-log. He studied her face more closely. There was a slight blue tinge to her lips that made him think of a visit to Mr. Reynard’s hospice room.
“The cold has taken root in me and, like the birds we collected, it is not subsiding. I believe it is intensifying. I am struggling to form a rationale for how I am still alive. It’s interesting.”
“That’s…terrible. Does Clara know?”
“Not yet.”
“Don’t I remember a speech or two about transparency and community?”
Valentina glared.
“I will follow up with Ms. Rodriguez once our plan of action solidifies. I didn’t want to worry her before it was necessary.”
“How do we fix this?”
She studied her own trembling fingers.
“This cold is the glass fawn’s influence. When the fawn goes, I expect its influence will go with it.”
Green stood and walked to the window. It was as if he had just noticed the ticking of a time bomb tucked beneath the floorboards.
He looked out across the camp, desperate to think of something Valentina could have missed, knowing it was impossible.
She had been a cryptonaturalist since before his great-great-grandfather was born.
He didn’t even know the word “cryptonaturalist” a month earlier.
“How long do we have?”
Valentina laughed without mirth.
“I don’t know, Mr. Green. This has never happened before. Based on pure intuition, I would guess I can endure a day or two. Perhaps less. I feel as though I am underwater and am looking about wondering why I have yet to drown, with no compelling explanations coming to mind.”
“A day or two! What do we do?”
“We stay calm. We think. We research. We do the best we can with what we have.”
Green paced back and forth.
“I’m more sure of it than ever. I’m bad luck.”
“Nonsense. You have been a help already. I consider myself fortunate to be alive after such an encounter. More fortunate still that I have some time to undo what has been done. Others on this mountain have not enjoyed such second chances.”
“And if the strategies Clara suggested don’t work?”
“Then, Mr. Green, you will wish me luck, we will say our goodbyes, and I will step through the doorway between the pines.”