A Dangerous Friendship E-Book

Katja Brandis

• Herausgeber: Arctis US
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Serie: The Woodwalkers
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Seitenzahl: 314

Beschreibung

It's New Year and a new term is beginning at Clearwater High. The young shape-shifter Carag is excited to go on his first study expeditions into the human world with his friends. But his former mentor, Andrew Milling, is out for revenge and suddenly Carag feels like he's being watched at every turn. Is he still being spied on at the school for woodwalkers? As things take a turn for the worse, Carag is surprised when Tikaani, the Arctic wolf, takes his side and offers her help. But surely a wolf will always stay true to her pack. Can he really trust her?

Leseprobe

Katja Brandis

Woodwalkers

A Dangerous Friendship

W1-Media, Inc.

Imprint Arctis

Stamford, CT, USA

Copyright © 2023 by W1-Media Inc. for this edition

Author: Katja Brandis

Original title: Woodwalkers. Gefährliche Freundschaft

Cover and illustrations by Claudia Carls

© 2017 by Arena Verlag GmbH, Würzburg, Germany.

www.arena-verlag.de

First English-language edition published by W1-Media Inc./Arctis, 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,

electronoic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without

the prior permission of the publisher and copyright owner.

The Library of Congress Control Number is available.

English translation copyright © Rachel Ward, 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright owner.

ISBN978-1-64690-621-5

www.arctis-books.com

For Lina

I’ve been at Clearwater High for a few months now, learning how to live as a shape-shifter and a human, and to be at peace with myself. In a few days, we’ll celebrate New Year’s at the school. I used to call it the “Night of Colorful Stars.” As a puma, I had no idea how or why the humans made all those exploding lights. My sister and I were determined to find out. Not one of our best ideas ...

Colorful Stars

My paws sank into the snow. I felt jittery as I gulped down the icy, clear mountain air, stopping on a small hill to look down over the human town. It looks so beautiful at night, I whispered to Mia, the thought passing directly from my head to hers. All those lights ...

My sister, Mia, glanced briefly down into the valley and scratched her ear with her hind paw.

Can we go to the supermarket after we’ve found out where the colorful stars come from? she asked hopefully.

Forget it! Don’t you remember what happened last time? I leaped down the valley in large bounds. How could Mia be thinking of food right now? My stomach was a crampy knot. I hadn’t even managed to scarf down half my hare. My whole body was tingling with the thought of being among the humans again. If we were lucky, we’d figure out one of their many mysteries tonight. I’d kept a close eye on the town and I was sure that I’d correctly interpreted the preparations underway. Tonight was the night for the explosions in the sky!

What d’you think all those colored stars are for? I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

I bet they use them to scare up prey. Mia sniffed the air to her right and left as she ran. We were almost always hungry during the winter.

I twitched my whiskers doubtfully. Well, I think the townspeople use them to mark their territory. You can see the stars for miles—it’s really smart.

We’d reached the valley and now we were being careful to stay out of sight. Silently, we slipped through the night until we could make out the first houses in the distance. But we’re not going any closer, are we? We can see enough from here. Mia was just as nervous as I was.

No, come on, just a bit farther. I nuzzled her furry shoulder as her steps grew ever slower.

There was something she didn’t know, something I’d preferred not to tell her. I’d been here a month ago and got a few things ready for today.

My sensitive nose alerted me when we got to the spot, and I began to scrape away snow and earth beneath a boulder.

What are you doing, Carag? Mia’s voice rang shrilly in my head.

I’ve got some clothes stored here. Now I’d have to tell her. I’ll go on as a human from here.

Mia snarled at me. Jumping jackrabbits! You’re not serious, are you?

Sure. If I want to find out exactly what the humans are up to, I have to change, I tried to explain. They mustn’t see us as pumas, or they’ll panic. You remember last time—they’re scared of us.

If Mom and Dad find out ... Mia cowered down, burying her head in her paws and completely missing my transformation. The winter air was so cold; it burned my bare skin.

How are they going to find out? We’re hunting, that’s all. I quickly pulled on my pants, T-shirt, and shoes. But I was still cold. How on earth did the humans manage without fur?

Awkwardly, I stamped through the snow in my human shoes, and after just ten breaths, I had cold feet. But I didn’t let on, because Mia was already walking beside me, hackles raised to show what a bad idea she thought this was.

By now we’d reached the houses, which stood in a neat row on a street, watched over by a couple of trees. Their windows shone brightly out into the darkness.

What’s this place called, anyway? Mia asked. She kept low to the ground, her tail twitching.

Finally, I could show off what I’d found out. The area is called Jackson Hole—that’s the valley. And they call the town Jackson.

Our ears picked up the roar of a car, and we scurried to hide behind a garage so that the headlights wouldn’t catch us. There was nobody in sight yet, but after a long wait, we heard a front door slam, and humans appeared outside, laughing and chatting. You could barely see them for all the cloth they were wrapped up in—on their hands, heads, and necks, too. When I looked down at myself, I realized why I was cold and they probably weren’t.

Cautiously, we peeked out from behind the garage—a boy and a mountain lioness.

What are those see-through things in their hands? Mia murmured, intimidated.

They’re drinking glasses. I was practically an expert; after all, I’d been in the town once more than she had. In secret, of course.

But the people were carrying more things, too: some kind of small packets and longish sticks that were fatter on one end. Was this the secret of the colorful stars? I still hardly dared to go any closer. What if they noticed that I wasn’t one of them?

Now the people were hugging, knocking their glasses together, and smiling. Like gods satisfied with their deeds. Then the first stars bloomed over the town, glittering and shimmering in every color of the rainbow. Oh! They’re so close! Mia was staring up at the sky, half terrified and half fascinated.

I shook myself and stood up. See you soon, I said to Mia, walking away.

Her cry of Carag, don’t! rang in my head.

I strolled as casually as I could toward the cheerful people, keeping one or two body’s lengths away from them, watching what they were doing. Now I could finally see how they made the stars. They set fire to the stick things, which whooshed up in the air, made a loud bang, and dissolved into colorful showers of light.

“Hey, kid, aren’t you cold? Left your coat at home?”

I jumped when I realized that I was being addressed. A man was looking curiously at me.

Yes, they’d noticed I didn’t belong. My whole body tensed. “I’m not cold,” I lied, staring upward like the others. Just don’t stand out—they mustn’t notice that I’m not a human! Or they’ll get their weapons.

“That’s all right, then,” said the man in a friendly voice. “Happy New Year!”

“Dad, give me a rocket, it’s my turn!” the wrapped-up child beside him whined, hopping up and down like a snowshoe hare. She was given a rocket and allowed to set fire to the bottom of it.

The rocket spat loudly and sparked like it was swearing at me in the puma language. All the same, I wished I could light one. But how could I get one? Did I just have to wait my turn?

I waited and waited. Hopefully I could wait it out here until I got a rocket. The noise was terrible and the smell of smoke and gunpowder made me really nervous. My body was tensing up even more; I could feel fur sprouting on my arms and my teeth starting to grow. Moments later, they were so long that they were stabbing into my lips. Darn it, no, not now! Not here!

I pressed my hand to my mouth and desperately pictured myself as a boy—sandy hair and green-gold eyes and—please, please!—tiny human teeth. It didn’t help much. Step-by-step, I retreated back to the garage where Mia was waiting. How much time did I have before my body changed back without me asking?

From the corner of my eye, I saw two teenagers ripping open a fat red package. They held a flame to it ... Something dropped to the floor right beside me, spraying sparks ... and then there was a bang that almost burst my eardrums.

I almost jumped out of my clothes with shock. Before I could even think, I was already halfway up the nearest tree. Lots of humans were looking curiously over at me, probably wondering what I was doing up there in the branches. How much could they see in the half-light? Could they make out my fangs? My fingers which now had claws, digging into the bark? I shut my eyes tight and felt my body tremble. If only I’d never had the dumb idea of coming here!

Carag, get down from there! A familiar voice—Mia’s—slightly shaky. You shot up there like a squirrel. I don’t think humans do that. If you come down, they’ll stop staring. Open your eyes and go!

I could see a familiar furry ear sticking out from behind the garage, and my fear subsided a bit. Amazingly, Mia hadn’t run away from all the noise. She had stayed and was waiting for me! Mia. My wonderful big sister, Mia.

As I climbed down the tree, she was singing Keep calm, keep calm in my head, which helped. When I reached the ground, I was still a human, and barely anyone was paying any attention to me. Everyone was whooping, busily exploding things.

It was about a tree’s length to the garage. I was longing to make a dash for it, but Mia warned me not to. Slowly now, Carag. If you run, they’ll notice that something isn’t right.

Okay, fine, I replied, dully. I set one stiff foot in front of the other and didn’t even jump aside when an object on the ground beside me sprayed out fire.

I got to Mia not a moment too soon. By the time I sank to my knees beside her, my hands were already paws. A few breaths later, I was back in my puma shape, pants and T-shirt crumpling into the snow. My sister rapidly licked my shoulder.

Let’s get out of here, she said, and then we ran.

* * *

Oh, Mia. It was so long since I’d seen her. Where could she be? Would I ever meet her again, be able to tell her how much I loved her? Sometimes, I felt sick with longing for my family. Like now, with memories coursing through my head.

After I’d decided to live as a human, I’d just skipped New Year’s celebrations, curled up in my room, and turned up the radio. But now I was at Clearwater High, a boarding school just for shape-shifters, and my friends were really trying hard to change my mind. My best friend, Holly, was in her pine squirrel form, hopping about like crazy on the snowy railing around our tree house; Dorian was crouched beside me, staring at me through green cat eyes. Brandon, my bison friend, was standing in the meadow beneath us like a large brown tree stump.

You’ll really miss out, honest! he was assuring me earnestly with his mind.

I grumpily twitched an ear. Forget it, I swore never to go into town on New Year’s Eve again!

So? I break three or four promises a day on a good day. Maybe even five, boasted Holly as she climbed up my muzzle. Seriously, it’ll be so much fun!

I shook her off with a rapid movement and trapped her under my paw. It tickled to feel her squirming beneath it.

Lemme go right now, you fleabag cat! she scolded.

You snapped one of my whiskers just then, did you know that? I replied, unimpressed. Say “sorry” first!

Holly squirmed even more. I hope someone ties a rocket to your tail!

That wasn’t exactly an apology, but I lifted my paw. You have to be nice sometimes. She shot out like a bolt of red-brown lightning, climbed back onto my head, and tugged at my ear. Jokingly, I snarled a bit.

Everyone’s going, Carag, said Dorian. You don’t want the wolves saying you were chicken, do you?

No, definitely not. Fine, I gave in reluctantly.

I was hoping this wouldn’t be a total disaster!

Flying Sparks

At least I wasn’t the only woodwalker to find this New Year’s Eve holiday freaky. Once we’d squeezed into the rented minibuses—in our human forms and thick jackets—I smelled a lot of fear. Cookie, who’d spent most of her life until now living as a possum, looked like she’d prefer to be playing dead. And Leroy, whose second shape was a skunk, was sitting there as if he were on his way to his own funeral.

As it turned out, the whole business was mandatory and our principal, Ms. Lissa Clearwater, stood firm. “Everyone has to go,” she said in a friendly tone. “Humans love New Year’s. If you always spend the turn of the year hiding in the cellar, it’ll look suspicious. So, try to get used to it.”

“But it’s so loud ... it sounds like someone’s shooting at the herd.” Lou looked pale and was nervously wrapping her long dark hair around her finger. I peeked at her out of the corner of my eye, trying to act like I didn’t care one way or the other about this wapiti-walker, and not like she was the most wonderful girl I’d ever met.

“I know.” Ms. Clearwater smiled at her. “Try to hold out for as long as you can, and then you may go back to the bus. Okay?”

The wolf-walkers—Jeff, Bo, Cliff, and Tikaani—smirked. They’d gotten their hands on a large bag of fireworks and I was sure they’d try to scare a few prey animals with them. They better not try that on Lou, or I’d rake my claws down their backsides!

“I don’t know what all the fuss is about, New Year’s is cool,” gushed Berta, a grizzly-walker who’d lived mainly as a human until recently. “Can we have champagne, too, Ms. Clearwater?”

“There’s sparkling apple juice,” said Mr. Ellwood, who was our metamorphosis teacher and Lou’s father.

“Leroy’s coming, too? Did Ms. Clearwater really think this through?” Brandon whispered in my ear before nervously chewing on one corn kernel after another. “What if he gets scared and ... you know?”

“We’d better stay as far away from him as we can,” I replied. “I heard it took days for Cliff to get rid of the stink after he got sprayed at the party.”

Holly leaned across the aisle. “You harebrains, he can’t spray anyone while he’s human.”

“We’ll see,” I said, thinking back to when I’d transformed before I was exactly ready. And that was with Mia soothing me.

The buses stopped in the parking lot for the pool and fitness club on the edge of Jackson. There were already a few regular people there waiting for midnight, but not many. Most of the humans had probably gathered a few hundred yards farther away at the Town Square. We’d have a great view of the Town Square fireworks from here—if we dared to look.

It was a cold, clear night, and in the moonlight, I could make out the outlines of the snowy mountain peaks around us. Snow crunched under our boots as we got out and gathered at the parking lot. Mr. Ellwood walked around, handing out paper cups of apple cider. Meanwhile, Mr. James Bridger, our Handling Difficult Situations teacher, was putting firecrackers and lighters into a few students’ hands.

“No, thanks,” I said while Holly exclaimed, “Oh, thank you!”

Mr. Bridger smiled, handing us both a handful of firecrackers. “Just relax and have fun, okay, Carag?”

Yeah, yeah, right. Just relax. Nothing easier. I liked Mr. Bridger, but right now, I could happily have fired him off to the moon. I might even have been able to—he was carrying a huge packet of rockets under his arm.

“Okay, everyone, if you notice yourselves starting to panic, take some deep breaths and, if necessary, duck into the bus for a moment,” he suggested to me and a few others who didn’t look thrilled. “By the way, this counts as a Difficult Situation, but there’s no need to worry—I won’t be grading you tonight.”

“Well, that’s something, anyway,” I muttered, looking around for someone to give the firecrackers to. But almost everyone already had some, and most of us were acting as if Mr. Bridger had entrusted us with hand grenades. So I dropped the things unobtrusively.

“Still five minutes to midnight,” Dorian said cheerfully. He was one of the few of us who wore a watch. It was a big, old-fashioned thing that didn’t normally work, but he’d wound it up in honor of the occasion.

“How do the humans even know when a new year starts?” Cookie asked, tilting her head. In the moonlight, I could see the freckles on her fine-boned face.

“They don’t know. They just pick a day to celebrate,” I explained. “Personally, I’d prefer the new year to start in summer because—”

Something hit me on the head and bounced off. I realized that it was a lit firecracker when it exploded right by my feet. The wolves—who must have thrown the thing—half killed themselves laughing when I leaped aside in shock.

“Hey! Cut that crap out!” I yelled at them, annoyed at how shaken up I sounded.

“Aw, look, the kitty’s real nervous today,” giggled Bo, the omega wolf. He was the lowest ranked in the pack but made up for it with a vicious mouth.

“You lousy wieners, that’s out of order!” Holly yelled at the wolves.

“Who’s a wiener? I want one, I’m hungry,” Jeff, the alpha wolf, retorted. “Hey, I know, you are! Come over here, you smell so appetizing ...”

Tikaani, the only girl in the wolf pack, grinned and fiddled with a lighter. The next firecracker was already between her fingers.

I knew this New Year’s Eve was going to be just as bad as that other time!

“That’s enough, now.” Ms. Clearwater stepped between us. “We are all celebrating together—peacefully. That includes you, Jeffrey. So kindly call your pack to order. And if I ever see you throwing fireworks at anybody again ...”

“All right, got it.” Jeff smiled at her as if she’d praised him. “Won’t happen again, Ms. Clearwater.”

“Come on, let’s move someplace else,” said Brandon, and we wandered away to the other side of the bunch of students. Fortunately, the wolves didn’t follow; they were arguing over who got to light the next firecracker.

“Two minutes,” announced Dorian, his breath a large cloud in front of his face.

The first rockets were already soaring up into the sky from the Town Square. I watched them—the blue, purple, and red stars, the fiery trails across the sky—and suddenly the amazement was back: the human world was full of wonders, and I wanted to get to know them all. Okay, the loud bangs were hard to deal with; that’d take a bit more practice. But at that moment, I was happy to be here with my woodwalker friends, able to take part in this celebration with the humans.

“Three ... Two ... One ... It’s exactly midnight—Happy New Year, everyone!” Ms. Clearwater called out, and my schoolmates started to cheer. Holly, Brandon, Dorian, and I hugged each other, accidentally spilling juice on our shoes, which made us laugh.

“Soggy New Year, Carag!” Holly laughed.

“Nutty New Year!” I wished her in return. Then I hugged Wing, Shadow, Nell, and everyone else I met.

Lou was also going around hugging everyone. Suddenly, we came face-to-face, and that really made me jump. We’d spoken a few words to each other last year, and she’d visited me in the nurse’s office, but could I put my arms around her? And the worst of it was that she was hesitating, too. I knew why. No one in her family liked predatory cats, least of all pumas, since Lou’s mother got hurt by one.

Someone pushed past us in the crowd, knocking us together. And then suddenly we did hug, as if we’d been intending to all along. “Happy New Year, Carag!” Lou said with an embarrassed smile, and I mumbled something in return. Then she let go and turned to someone else.

Phew. I took a deep breath. Holy mountaintops, I’d just hugged Lou! Maybe the new year wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“Did everyone get a rocket? Anyone want another?” Mr. Bridger was coming around again with more fireworks.

“I do!” I heard myself say, and suddenly I was holding one of the things. There was a wooden stick almost as long as my arm, with a round container attached to it. A picture of red and green dots of light was printed on it.

Suddenly, my heart was hammering like crazy. I got a lighter from Brandon, who was setting off fireworks everywhere, and stuck the rocket in the deep snow, the way I’d seen the others doing. Then I fumbled with the wick to loosen it and held the lighter to it until the cord started to spray sparks. That thing was about to explode!No boy has ever run away faster than I did right at that moment.

I stopped at a safe distance, pressed my hands to my ears, and waited. A few breathless moments went by when nothing happened. Then the rocket went spitting off and burst into red and green glowing stars above us. Wow!

Holly, Brandon, and I beamed at each other and high-fived all around. Then I ran over to Mr. Bridger to get another firework.

I must not have stuck my fourth rocket in the snow properly, because it whizzed off at an angle—and headed right toward the wolves! Jeff, Cliff, and Bo scattered, squealing. Tikaani dived full-length into the snow. The rocket whooshed just over her head.

“Quit it, you idiot!” Jeff yelled, pulling up his hood because the fur on the back of his neck was standing on end.

A few students cackled with laughter and I called out, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to!”

An hour later, we were all climbing back into the buses to be driven back to Clearwater High.

None of the humans on the parking lot had noticed anything different about us. Cookie hadn’t played possum, Leroy hadn’t stink-bombed anyone, and nobody had blown themselves up.

It had been a really nice New Year’s Eve.

Expeditions into the Unknown

New Year’s Eve hadn’t been truly dangerous. Danger was lurking elsewhere, for me, at least. During the winter break, I kept remembering how I’d told Andrew Milling that I wouldn’t support him. My fellow puma-walker’s furious words were still ringing in my ears: “You’ll regret this, Carag. You’ll regret this bitterly, you little runt.”

How would he pay me back for my refusal? Was I in danger?

It didn’t help that I was reminded almost every day of how rich and powerful he was.

“I don’t think reading the newspaper does you any good,” Holly remarked over breakfast as I dropped the school copy of The New York Times onto the table with a grimace. “Too many words?” She wasn’t so good at reading and writing.

“No, just the wrong ones,” I said bitterly, digging my teeth into a ham sandwich. Most people would probably just have skipped the news that Montanus Trust had just bought two other big firms. But I knew that Milling was behind Montanus Trust. Milling, who’d been my mentor but was now my enemy. Milling, who was gaining more and more power.

“Let’s see if there’s any funny celeb gossip to cheer you up.” Brandon snatched the paper and opened it. But he couldn’t have found anything good; he was looking concerned, not amused.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Um, assorted A-listers, movie stars, and so on, have just announced that they’re backing a big new contest,” he said reluctantly. “Which Andrew Milling just launched. For people with a special affinity with nature. There are great prizes.”

I totally lost my appetite and pushed the half-eaten bread aside. “He’s looking for more woodwalkers to win them over to his side,” I said, wishing I could claw the newspaper into shreds. “Mainly predators, I bet. He needs them for his plan—whatever it is—for revenge on the humans.”

The holidays were fun, but I was looking forward to when classes would start again in a few days. That would take my mind off my gloomy thoughts.

***

I’d been particularly looking forward to Handling Difficult Situations with Mr. Bridger, who also taught us math, physics, and chemistry. He was my favorite teacher: he’d secretly helped me out last fall, and his classes were fun. But I could sense that today was going to be different. Not just because Mr. Bridger was wearing one of his nicest checked shirts with his jeans and cowboy boots. Nor because he’d actually managed to shave his hairy face moderately successfully—no mean feat for a coyote-walker. It was more that Mr. Bridger looked so serious. Instead of telling us a story from his life, he glanced around thoughtfully then suddenly asked, “Nice and cozy here at Clearwater High, huh?”

Murmurs of slightly hesitant agreement went up from the class.

Holly and I exchanged glances. If a teacher said a thing like that, there was usually a big, fat but coming ...

And, indeed, there was. “But there’s one problem with that,” my favorite teacher went on with relish, perched on the edge of his desk. “You can’t spend the rest of your lives in a comfortable high school with people just like you. You’ll have to survive in real life, in the human world. So, to help you do that, you’ll now be applying what you learned from last semester.” He let his eyes rest on each of us in turn. “And you’ll be learning about teamwork, too, because most of you don’t have a lot of experience in working with other people. Teamwork is important, because you’re stronger together than alone.”

I pricked up my ears. Yes, that was true. I’d need allies against Milling. And I didn’t have much of a clue about teamwork; pumas are solitary animals.

“Do you know what a study expedition is?” Mr. Bridger asked.

Most of us shrugged, but Shadow’s and Wing’s faces lit up like the dawn. The raven siblings’ arms shot up almost simultaneously. “You solve problems or do assignments in a team,” Shadow declared. He and his sister had already been on a few trips—with special permission, of course.

“Outside,” added Frankie, the otter-walker. He was new in our class because he’d been held back after he flunked Combat and Survival. But if that bothered him, he wasn’t showing it. He was on the small side but had bright eyes and smooth brown hair.

“How many people are on a team?” I asked curiously.

“Three,” explained Mr. Bridger. “You’ll get an envelope every week with your assignment. It will also tell you how much time you have to complete it. Usually you’ll get a few hours, but it might be half a day, or even a whole day.”

“Are the assignments dangerous?” asked Nell, the mouse-walker from New York, crossing her arms. She’d just dyed her hair neon green, and I could hardly wait to see her in her animal form. Would she have green fur as a mouse?

“Sometimes they’re risky,” Frankie replied, looking quite cheerful about it.

“You look thrilled,” Nell couldn’t help remarking.

“Sure, why not?” Frankie’s brown eyes shone. I wondered how on earth he’d managed to fail Combat if he was that big a fan of danger.

Nell made a face. “Uh, Mr. Bridger—my parents wouldn’t be over the moon if I never came back from some assignment.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be in threes, which means that you can, and indeed should, help each other out of difficulties,” Mr. Bridger said soothingly. “And if it all goes wrong, then you can always drop the assignment and come right back. But I must warn you that you won’t get good grades that way.”

“Do we all get our own grade? Or is it one grade for the whole team?” asked Jeff, and his pack pricked up their ears. Cliff and Tikaani nudged each other playfully.

“They think they invented teamwork,” Holly whispered. “But what a pity, there’s four of them and, oh yeah, there’s only three people to a team, so one of them will have to stay behind ...”

“Holly, do you have anything interesting to say?” Most of us had very sharp hearing, and Mr. Bridger was no exception.

Holly jumped and even though she was normally really on top of her transformations, her ears sprouted fur from the shock. “Uh, yeah, I, uh, just wanted to say how cool it is that we can go out and ...”

Mr. Bridger raised his eyebrows and turned back to Jeff. “Back to your question: there is one grade for the whole team. If one of you messes up, you’re all in trouble.”

“We won’t screw up,” Jeff declared confidently, running his hand through his perfectly styled brown hair and resting his eyes briefly on Cliff, Bo, and Tikaani. “We’re wolves, man, we’re stronger than coyotes and—”

“Thank you, Jeffrey, that will do,” replied Mr. Bridger, sweetly. “Well, I think the time has come to hand out your assignments. We teachers have worked them out between us so that they’re adapted to your learning goals.

He walked down the rows and handed everyone a sealed envelope. Dorian and Berta were in the front row, so of course they ripped theirs open right away; I heard Berta gasp with surprise. More and more students were getting their assignments, and not everyone looked very pleased. Trudy the owl was staring at her paper as if she wanted to burn a hole in it with her eyes. Bo clutched at his shoulder-length street-dog-colored hair and made a face as if he’d just bitten a hedgehog. And Leroy dropped his assignment out of sheer shock.

I was almost bursting with curiosity. “What did you get?” I whispered to him.

“I-I ... have to go with Berta and Wing to find a wild grizzly that’s just emerging from hibernation and say hello to it,” stuttered Leroy.

“Exactly, and I have to do it in my bear form!” Berta didn’t even bother dropping her voice. “But, Mr. Bridger, I’ve never met a wild grizzly before! What if it notices that I’m a woodwalker? What if it doesn’t like me?”

Mr. Bridger gave her a friendly look. “Where’s the problem? You don’t like every person you ever meet, do you?”

“Yes, but ...”

Meanwhile, the wolves had ripped open their envelopes. Jeff and the pack were looking at one another in horror. What did that mean? I squinted over curiously but couldn’t read their papers. Ms. Clearwater might have been able to see what it said, but pumas don’t have eyes as sharp as an eagle’s.

“Mr. Bridger, Mr. Bridger, this won’t work!” Jeff had flushed bright red and was brandishing his envelope. He looked like he was about to throw up. “It says I’ve got to go with Nell and Juanita and stick a piece of paper with the word Howl! on the noticeboard in Jackson Fitness Club ...”

“So?” James Bridger didn’t seem to see anything unusual with this assignment.

My eyes wandered up to Juanita. There she was, a small black spider, hanging from the lampshade just below the ceiling. As usual. Being in her human shape really wasn’t her thing.

“. . . and we’ve got to do it in our second shapes!”

“Well, then, I recommend writing the note in advance—spiders, mice, and wolves aren’t known for their beautiful handwriting,” said Mr. Bridger dryly.

“Please, please, sir, can we at least choose a less silly word?”

“The assignments can’t be changed retroactively, I’m afraid.”

Jeff groaned, slumped over his desk, and buried his face in his arms. For a moment, I almost felt sorry for him. But only almost.

Mr. Bridger and his envelopes had now reached the middle of the classroom, where I was sitting. I was so nervous; I could hardly keep still. The others had pretty intense assignments. What would I get?

Finally, there was a white envelope lying in front of me, firmly sealed.

I let one finger grow a claw and used it to slit open the envelope. Impatiently, I pulled out the paper and scanned it.

Participants: Carag, Brandon, Holly

Task: Attend the weekly Wild West Shoot-Out in Jackson and show that you can hold your nerve under fire. Speak to at least three tourists while you’re there.

Time: This evening

An expedition with my friends. That was amazing! But the task sounded puzzling. I looked over to Brandon, who was sitting a row over, and we exchanged mystified glances. Holly was still deciphering her paper, her lips moving as she read. When she looked up, she seemed kind of fascinated. “Seriously? We have to go to a shoot-out?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not real,” I explained. “Nobody gets shot. This used to be the Wild West (around here) in the old days, but now they just pretend. So holding our nerve shouldn’t be a problem.”

“At least they don’t make a show out of Buffalo Bill’s great bison slaughter,” sighed Brandon. As a bison-walker, he found it bad enough that every steak house in town served buffalo steak.

Mr. Bridger showed us a blank assessment form so that we could see how the expeditions were graded. There were points for all kinds of things, from completing the assignment and problem-solving to metamorphosis, secrecy, and cooperation.

The school bell sounded for recess. We hurried onto the snowy meadow outside the school—not for a snowball fight this time, but to find out what everyone else had to do. We were allowed to shape-shift at recess if we wanted. Holly had pulled on her wool hat but was transforming into her pine squirrel form even as she ran, so for a moment all you could see was a pom-pom hat tearing across the ground before she shook it away. Lou galloped past, an elegant wapiti. Dorian, the cat, lounged on her back as if she were a particularly comfortable cushion. A hot streak of jealousy shot through me. Sadly, as a puma, I was a little too large to imitate him. Besides, Lou would think I was trying to hunt her.

Should I just come right out and ask her what her assignment was?

I was trying to gather up the courage when Holly yelled out to Lou: How about you guys? Do you have to lap up compost in the town park?

Nearly as bad, Lou answered. Dorian, Bo, and I have to climb a nearby mountain, and then Bo has to give cookies to human hikers. What’s the point of that?

Dorian sighed deeply and stretched. I know why they picked it for me. They know perfectly well that I’m happiest lounging on a sofa, so they wanted to give me a physical challenge. Make me sweat—yuk!

Maybe Bo has to learn how to be nice. Holly laughed gloatingly. But if he’s as mouthy as normal when he’s handing out cookies, people will think he’s trying to poison them.

Lou snorted in farewell and strode on through the snow.

“Jeff’s challenge is obviously to learn to work with people who aren’t in his pack,” I mused. “None of those three could stick up a notice on their own. They’ll have to help each other out.”

I’d love to see how Jeff even gets in there, Holly scoffed. There’s a No Dogs sign on the fitness club door, if I remember correctly. That tiny-brained idiot really will be howling at this job!

“Okay, people, back to our task—how do we do it, and what does it all mean?” I puzzled, bending down and picking up a handful of snow, which I absentmindedly shaped into a ball.

Maybe all we have to do is stay calm, said Holly. You don’t like loud noises or things that go bang, do you, so clearly that part’s for you. But what about me?

“Maybe the part about talking to tourists is meant for you,” I answered. “Because we’re not meant to be rude to them, just talk nicely.”

Holly grimaced, which looked really funny on her squirrel face.

Nicely? What’s that? Can you eat it?

“No, I think that part is for me,” contradicted Brandon, pulling a corn kernel from his pocket and chewing on it. He didn’t go anywhere without his favorite snacks. “Talking to people is ... Well, I dunno if I dare.”

I stared at him. “D’you really mean that? You grew up as a human! If anyone, it ought to be me who finds that hard, because until two years ago I was a puma roaming the mountains.”

You were a Roman puma? Holly joked. Where’s your toga, then? I thought you were from around here!

Good thing I had a snowball ready. It knocked her right off the branch she was sitting on. Vengeaaaaaance! she roared, rolling one of her own in her tiny paws, not that it impressed me much. Moments later, white missiles were crisscrossing the meadow. We almost missed the school bell, but eventually we realized that we were alone out there and hurried inside.