And the people. All standing. Watching. Waiting. Like they knew we were coming. Like they’d heard us from far away.
Two were younger. One guy was my age. The other guy maybe a little younger. They were blond and smaller than me, but not by much. Blue eyes and curious expressions. They looked like the tornado on my back.
There was a woman. Older. The same coloring as the others. She held herself regally, and I wondered if I’d ever seen anyone more beautiful. Her eyes were kind but cautious. She was tense, like she was ready to move at any moment.
A man stood next to her. He was darker than the rest, more like me than the others. He was fierce and foreboding and all I could think was respect, respect, respect, though I’d never seen him before. His hand was on the woman’s back.
And next to them was… oh.
“Mark?” I said. He looked exactly the same.
Mark grinned. “Ox. How lovely to see you again. I see you’ve made a new friend.” He looked pleased.
The boy on my back wriggled his way down. I let his legs go and he dropped behind me. He grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward the beautiful people like I had a right to be there.
He started spinning his storm again, voice rising up and down, words forcefully punctuated without pattern. “Mom! Mom. You have to smell him! It’s like… like… I don’t even know what it’s like! I was walking in the woods to scope out our territory so I could be like Dad and then it was like… whoa. And then he was all standing there and he didn’t see me at first because I’m getting so good at hunting. I was all like rawr and grr but then I smelled it again and it was him and it was all kaboom! I don’t even know! I don’t even know! You gotta smell him and then tell me why it’s all candy canes and pinecones and epic and awesome.”
They all stared at him as if they’d come across something unexpected. Mark had a secret smile on his face, hidden by his hand.
“Is that so?” the woman finally said. Her voice wavered like it was a fragile thing. “Rawr and grr and kaboom?”
“And the smells!” he cried.
“Can’t forget about those,” the man next to her said faintly. “Candy canes and pinecones and epic and awesome.”
“Didn’t I tell you?” Mark said to them. “Ox is… different.”
I had no idea what was going on. But that wasn’t anything new. I wondered if I’d done something wrong. I felt bad.
I tried to pull my hand away, but the kid wouldn’t let go. “Hey,” I said to him.
He looked back at me, blue eyes wide. “Ox,” he said. “Ox, I have got to show you stuff!”
“What stuff?”
“Like… I don’t….” He was sputtering. “Like everything.”
“You just got here,” I said. I felt out of place. “Don’t you need to…?” I didn’t know what I was trying to say. My words were failing me. This is why I didn’t talk. It was easier.
“Joe,” the man said. “Give Ox a moment, okay?”
“But Dad—”
“Joseph.” It almost sounded like a growl.
The boy (Joe, I thought, Joseph) sighed and dropped my hand. I took a step back. “I’m sorry,” I said. “He was just there and I didn’t mean anything.”
“It’s okay, Ox,” Mark said, taking a step down from the porch. “These things can be a bit… much.”
“What things?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Life.”
“You said we could be friends.”
“I did. It took us a bit longer to come back than I thought it would.” Behind him, the woman bowed her head and the man looked away. Joe’s hand slowly slid back into mine, and it was then I knew they’d lost something, though I didn’t know what. Or even how I knew.
“That’s Joe,” Mark said, pushing through. “But I think you know that already.”