Once Upon a Haunted Moon (The Keeper Saga) by K.R. Thompson Read Free Book Online

actually going to eat a fairy, or if he had some other game in mind.
    The big, black wolf turned his yellow stare on me, and I was immediately rewarded with a picture of a deer running through the trees, its tail up like a white flag to follow.
    Ah, ok, I thought. I always wondered how wolves communicated to one another. Apparently, we send each other picture messages. I had just sent one of us eating a magical fairy and Adam corrected me by sending a rather strong message to say, “No, we are eating a deer!” My stomach revolted at the thought of raw meat and I was very glad I hadn’t eaten that sandwich, but it still growled loud enough for Adam to mistake it for hunger. I got another definite image of a deer, which made my stomach growl even louder.
    I had the insane urge to eat some grass.
    Ed, Erik, Tommy, and Michael materialized out of thin air behind us. The other wolves never made a sound, but I sounded like a thrashing machine as I stepped on dry branches and twigs that snapped with every step.
    Erik’s gray wolf came up beside me and placed a rather deliberate paw on the dead branch I had just stepped on and it cracked under his weight. Then he stepped on a patch of snow-covered moss, which spread out magically around him, then he took another step in a nearby cluster of green ivy, which flattened itself out as he put his weight on it, then sprung back afterwards as if it had a mind of it’s own and hadn’t minded in the least that he had just walked on it.
    He turned around and his brown eyes met mine as he sent me a picture of a television screen, with the words printed, “Second lesson — Where there is life, there is Magic. Every living thing has a Magic all its own. Respect nature, and in return, it will respect you.”
    Someone on the far side of us gave a sharp yelp. Standing behind Tommy, stood a smallish hairy monster who looked like a similar version of Cousin It, only it had a definite head, arms, and legs, and two beady little black eyes. It had a hold of Tommy’s tail and was playfully swinging it back and forth. Tommy’s gray ears were pinned back and he looked like he wanted to growl, but strained to remain silent.
    Erik sent another television screen, this time with a big smiley face on it, “Respect nature, and most of the time it will respect you.”
    The little monster was enjoying itself immensely now and tugged Tommy’s tail as if trying to engage him in a game of tug of war. It made a high clicking sound as if trying to sing. Tommy looked at us balefully, and then sent a message of thinking about biting a hairy little arm.
    A rather strong picture of an enormous version of the little hairy monster came across loud and clear from Adam, who was telling everyone in no uncertain terms was anyone to bite the little monster. It apparently had a parent or family member that would not appreciate such an action.
    I remembered Nikki telling me about the Bigfoot she had named “Chewy,” and the baby that she and Adam had saved from a poacher’s trap a couple of months back. I figured that I must be looking at the three-foot tall “baby” who was twirling Tommy’s tail now with such ecstatic glee; it looked like he was considering using it as a jump rope.
    Tommy whined and deliberately took a few steps back to bump into “Little It,” to try to loosen the hold on his tail, which only caused the little monster to lose his balance and fall, which jerked Tommy back a few feet and to the ground, as the hold on his tail hadn’t loosened in the least.
    “Little It” made scolding, clicking sounds at Tommy for making them both fall in the snow, and then scrambled back to its feet.
    Just as I figured we were going to have to pry those hairy fingers off of Tommy’s tail, a louder clicking sound came from the trees behind us, and the little monster turned loose and headed toward the trees, stopping just long enough to turn and make some kind of clicking sound to Tommy. It sounded like it was