6: Field Trips and Nature Walks

Thursday was spent visiting one of the resorts and safari companies. Alex had missed the field trip held on Tuesday. Derek told him all about it as they were having dinner Wednesday night.

"They take you to one of the resorts and give you a tour and show you what your responsibilities may be if you’re hired by them and then after lunch, which is catered by the resort, we visit one of the safari companies. Tuesday we were given a demonstration of how traditional igloos are constructed because some of the resorts build them for their customers. They get to sleep outside and experience the full effect of living above the Arctic Circle."

"Sounds like fun."

"You should see the plexiglass ones. Too unreal, but you can look straight up through the roof and see the stars."

"Now that would be something," Alex said and Derek went on to describe other things he’d learned on the trip.

Today it appeared they were going to visit the Rainbow Lake Holiday Resort and the Lightfoot Reindeer Farm. Alex was actually glad for the chance to get away from the college for a while, for he was still feeling unsettled by the events of the previous day. The fencing lesson went well enough but he’d still been feeling a bit shaky from his near encounter with Ambrose. He couldn’t get over the fact that the man hadn’t aged in the fifteen years since his supposed death. He had always appeared young to Alex, until you happened to look into his eyes. Even as a raw recruit barely out of college, Alex had sensed something old about the man that belied his youthful features. Yet, he should not be looking as young as he did now. Not after fifteen years.

Alex couldn’t get his mind around it and the odd thing that Darren Harper had said... it was almost as if he knew who he really was, but that was patently impossible. ‘Alex Grant’ was an airtight persona with a history as ironclad as any. If anyone were to do a background check on one Alex Grant he would have a whole world of information about him, everything from the name of his first-grade teacher to the girl who dumped him for the football star in tenth grade. He made sure of it. The man he knew as Ambrose Elwood had taught him everything he needed to know about creating a believable persona and he learned his lessons well.

Giving himself a mental shake, he concentrated on the here and now. He had no intention of actually becoming a Christmas elf whatever the formidable Maddy said. As far as he was concerned, his job was to find out what Ambrose Elwood was doing alive when he should be safely dead and what was actually going on here at Elf Academy. That someone like Elwood would end up in a place like this made no sense and he was here to find out why. Once that was accomplished, his mission was over and he could go back to D.C. In the meantime, though, he had a role to play and he would play it to the hilt.

So, he paid attention to the spiel given by the welcoming manager of the resort, admired its setting beside the lake and even asked one or two intelligent questions concerning the duties that would be expected of an Elf Guide hired by the resort and the type of clientele to which they catered. After lunch, they made their way to the reindeer farm.

"I wonder if any of them are named Rudolph?" Derek asked irreverently as they were exiting the bus.

Alex gave him a sour grin. "If you start singing that stupid song, I will personally escort you to the gates of Hell and kick you inside."

Derek just laughed as they joined the rest of the group. Alex saw a man with Inuit features coming towards them, followed by a blond-haired woman carrying a toddler. They smiled at the group and the man introduced himself.

"I’m Max Lightfoot, owner of Lightfoot Reindeer Farms. This is my wife, Lucy, and the little tyke is Petey. Today you will be introduced to the reindeer who will be used to pull the sleighs. We will teach you how to team-hitch the reindeer and how to handle the sleigh. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right away. You’ll be coming here again or to one of the other farms to practice. By the time you’re working as a guide you’ll be an old hand at it. Now, if you will follow us, we’ll introduce you to some of our reindeer."

Max and Lucy led the way to the corral where Alex saw a number of reindeer milling about. "They’re not as large as I thought they might be," he said quietly to Derek. "Certainly they’re not as large as horses."

Derek shrugged. "They must be pretty strong though if they can pull a sleigh."

"So is anyone familiar with handling horses?" Max asked.

A couple of people raised their hands, including Derek. And for the second time in as many days, Alex felt surprise. He was tempted to raise his hand as well, for he was quite familiar with horses, having learned to ride during an assignment in Saudi Arabia, but he decided to play dumb in this case, wishing to see how things went. Max was instructing those who had raised their hands about how to put the halters on the reindeer and then once they had a number of them haltered, the rest of the class took turns practicing putting the halters on and taking them off.

Alex found himself in front of a reindeer whose name apparently was Gandalf. He knew next to nothing about Icelandic or Scandinavian mythology and the name meant nothing to him. He took the halter and slipped it over the reindeer’s head and quickly cinched it, gave the animal a pat and then took the halter off, handing it to the next student in line.

Once they all had a turn, Max and Lucy, with the help of a couple of the students, brought the reindeer into a large arena covered with artificial snow where everyone spent the next couple of hours learning how to hitch the reindeer to the sleigh and then drive it. Alex wasn’t too happy about that part of the lesson. He couldn’t seem to get the reindeer to go in the direction he desired. Instead, they would go so far and then stop. He glanced around to see if he was the only one having trouble and watched in dismay as Derek and a girl named Michelle appeared to be racing one another’s sleigh around the arena, whooping and hollering and obviously enjoying themselves. He tried not to feel jealous, but his ego was taking a bruising and it was embarrassing.

"Need a hand?"

Alex tore his gaze away from the racers and looked down to see Max staring up at him.

"They don’t seem to like me," he said with a sour look.

Max smiled as he climbed next to Alex on the driver’s bench. "Reindeer are like horses," he said as he took the reins. "You have to show them who’s boss at all times." He flicked the reins, making a snicking sound and they were on their way. "Have you ever been on a horse?" he asked.

"Once or twice," Alex replied, "but I can’t say I’m an expert rider."

Max nodded. "Well, there are similarities but it’s the differences that can make or break you. The trick is to hold the reins just so. It’s not quite like when you are on a horse." He showed Alex how he was holding the reins and then continued showing him the way to change direction, slow down and speed up. Then he had Alex try. At first, it was awkward but eventually he became more comfortable with it and while he was not in the mood to race, he felt more confident about handling a sleigh than when he first started.

"I think I can almost get to like it," he admitted to Max as they were unhitching the team.

Max smiled. "You’ll do well enough."

Later, as they were on the bus back to Wiseman, Derek asked him how he was doing. "I saw you were having a bit of trouble for a while. Did Max help you out?"

"Yes. I noticed you were racing with Michelle. Did she let you win?"

"Hey! I’ll have you know I let her win."

Alex couldn’t help smiling. "You sure took to it like a duck to water. How does a city boy know how to handle a sleigh?"

"My dad’s parents live on a farm in Oregon. I used to spend a couple of weeks there during the winter and Gramps has a horse-drawn sleigh to haul wood and such. I learned to handle the sleigh just fine."

Alex nodded but did not comment, occupying the time back to Wiseman staring out the bus window watching the scenery go by. Derek wisely remained silent. Alex tried to analyze what he was feeling. Jealousy? Why would he feel jealous? Did he think he was the only person on earth with skills that might not be considered normal? He was an intelligence officer, a government agent, not Superman. He had had many assignments where those around him were more knowledgeable about things than he. So why did he feel he was in competition with Derek? His roommate was a personable young man who spent six years in the Navy, garnering experiences no less valid than Alex’s own experiences as an agent. It made no sense, and so he thrust the thoughts away and forced himself to think about Ambrose Elwood or Ryan McKinley as he was calling himself these days. He needed to concentrate on the mission and forget about anything else.

Unfortunately, he had no clue as to what he should be doing. What did Maddy expect from him anyway? A direct confrontation with his former mentor would not be appropriate at this time and how was he supposed to learn what was really going on at the Academy when so far it appeared completely legit and there was no feeling of wrongness. Weirdness, maybe, like learning a made-up language and having to choose a supposedly elvish name, but that was obviously part of the whole elf guide thing. He wished he’d been here from the beginning. He thought that he might have a better handle on things had he been here for orientation. It was just miserable bad luck that found him stranded in Fairbanks for three days until the car could be fixed.

His thoughts were interrupted with their arrival at the Academy. As they were leaving the bus, Derek gave him a troubled look."Did I do something wrong? I think you’re mad at me but I don’t know why."

Alex felt himself reddening with chagrin. "No, you’ve done nothing wrong and no, I’m not mad at you. Sorry if I gave you that impression. I’ve had a lot on my mind lately."

"Okay. I just didn’t want our friendship going sour before it even got started."

Alex smiled. "I don’t think you need worry about that. I am and always will be your friend."

Derek raised an eyebrow at the quote. "Thank you, Mr. Spock."

Alex laughed and then, deciding to change the subject, gave the young man a sly look. "So, if you let the fair Michelle win the race, does that mean you’re sweet on her?"

Derek’s answer was rude and to the point but then they were both laughing and the earlier tension between them faded away.

****

Friday there were two classes in the morning. One was a class called ‘Dealing with Children of All Ages’, taught by Deirdre Clannach, a vivacious redhead with sparkling green eyes. Alex found the class amusing as he joined the other students in learning some simple holiday songs and games that could be used to keep the little ones entertained during their tour. He left the class in a good frame of mind. He wasn’t musically inclined and was glad to see that he wasn’t the only one, but Deirdre had assured them that those who could not sing could sign up for pennywhistle lessons. He and Derek both signed up for the lessons which were scheduled for Tuesday evenings after dinner.

The second class was the language class. While all the other classes, with the exception of the cooking class, met for ninety minutes once a week, the ‘How to Speak Elvish’ class met twice a week and Derek assured him that it was the one class that was held throughout the term. For that reason, there were several classes being held simultaneously. Derek told Alex that their teacher was someone named Gil.

Alex simply nodded, but silently he was calling to his mind what little information he had on one Gil Winters: last known address somewhere in Tennessee, worked in construction building log homes, now living in Alaska, apparently as a language teacher teaching a language that did not exist. That alone made no sense. What qualifications would a construction worker have to teach languages, unless he was a native speaker, and since this Sindarin was obviously an invented language, he couldn’t possibly be a native speaker.

That supposition, sound as it was from Alex’s point of view, was seriously questioned when Gil Winters walked into the classroom. He was tall and willowy, his brown hair long, his eyes a curious green-grey. When he spoke his voice was soft and musical.

"Mae govannen a haur vaer," he said to the class. "Sír parithal o phrestennith e-lemthîw. Heriathanc na phrestennith vae." He paused, giving them an amused smile. Alex just sat there blinking, his mouth hanging open. "Of course, I don’t expect you to know what I just said," Gil continued in English. "Eventually, though, you will. For the moment, we will look at a peculiarity of Sindarin which is shared with some other languages, for example, Welsh, where consonants change before articles and prepositions, or as the second element of compound words. Today we are going to concentrate solely on lenition or soft mutations. If you turn to page four of your workbook you will see a chart with all the different mutations. The first column is the unmutated consonant and the second column shows how they are lenited. These mutations must be memorized. Lenition is caused primarily by the definite article ‘i’ as you can see on the chart...."

By the time the class ended, Alex’s head was whirling and he was glad to see that others in the class also had bemused expressions on their faces as they shuffled out the door. One or two could be heard muttering a litany of consonants — "Bee to vee, bee-el to vee-el, bee-ar to vee-ar, cee to gee...." — as they made their way down the hall. Alex held back, wishing to speak with Gil Winters. Derek lingered by the door. Winters was erasing the whiteboard.

"And what can I do for you, Mr. Grant?" he said without stopping what he was doing or even looking at Alex.

Alex blinked, wondering how the man knew who he was. He did not speak immediately but waited for Winters to finish cleaning the board. The man gave him an amused look. "Did you have something to say, Mr. Grant?"

"How do you do it?"

Gil tilted his head slightly to his left as if contemplating the question. "I’m not sure I understand what...."

"How do you rattle off this nonsense so easily and make it sound like it’s for real?" Alex asked accusingly. "You never once stuttered or stumbled over a word or anything. It’s as if you actually knew this language but that’s not possible. It doesn’t exist. It’s made up."

For a long moment, Gil did not reply. Alex could sense Derek fidgeting but ignored him for the moment, concentrating solely on Winters, who did not appear upset or angered by his outburst. "Is it made up?" he finally asked in a mild tone. "Well, that’s news to me." He paused and his expression became somewhat cooler. "Good day, Mr. Grant. Have a nice weekend."

It was a dismissal and Alex sensed he would get nothing more out of the man. He nodded and turned to leave, then stopped. "How did you know my name?"

Winters merely shrugged. "When I came in I saw that I had one student more than I had on Monday and as you were the only one missing from class that day, it was easy enough to guess who you were. And now, if you are finished with your interrogation, I have other duties to attend to and you and your friend are missing lunch."

"C’mon, Alex," Derek pleaded then and after a moment’s hesitation, Alex nodded again to Winters and followed his roommate out, feeling both embarrassed and frustrated. He hadn’t expected the man to come out and admit that he was making everything up on the fly. A cursory glance at the workbook they were using for the class told him that whoever had designed the language had taken great care to make it look and sound plausible. He just couldn’t figure it. Maybe if it had been something like Esperanto, he could have accepted it, but not this, not this supposed language of the elves.

"What’s with you?" Derek demanded as they reached their room to drop off their books before heading for the cafeteria. "You applied to this Academy. You wouldn’t have done so if you didn’t like what you saw about it. Yet, you’re acting, I don’t know, angry or insulted or something."

"It doesn’t strike you as odd that we’re learning a language that doesn’t exist and that we will never use?"

"Oh, I don’t know. I can see greeting clients with a phrase or two just for the sake of adding to the mystique."

"And if they wanted to do just that, they would have simply given us some phrases, told us they mean 'Hello' or whatever and have us memorize them, but we’re actually learning about mutations and verb tenses and the whole lot. Why? We’re tour guides or we will be, so what gives with this Sindarin?"

Derek shrugged. "I can’t help you mate. All I can say is that I’m actually enjoying it. It’s a challenge and I love challenges. Invented or not, it’s a beautiful language and I don’t mind learning it if that’s what it takes to be an Elf Guide. It beats pushing a broom or bagging groceries, which is what I was doing before coming here. Now, I’m for lunch. We still have that nature walk this afternoon and I want to do it on a full stomach. You in or out, mate?"

Alex forced himself to calmness and simply nodded, deciding to let it go. As Derek so rightly pointed out, he was here because he wanted to be here. That, of course, was the rub. He did not apply to be an Elf Guide. He was simply given the assignment. ‘Alex Grant’ applied, and while he could be Alex Grant, it was Artemus Gordon Meriwether who was looking for answers. If he allowed himself to be totally Alex Grant, he could easily endanger the mission. He’d heard of agents under deep cover becoming their alter persona to such an extent that they began to sympathize with those around them, forgetting and forsaking the original mission, and essentially defecting to the other side. It was rare, but it happened and one thing Ambrose had taught him was never to go so deep as to forget who you truly were.

But then the converse was equally true, he realized with some chagrin. He should never let his true feelings interfere with the mission and he was in danger of doing that here and now.

"Sorry," he finally said. "You’re right. I’m not sure what I’m feeling about all this right now. Maybe my expectations don’t match up with reality and I...." He gave Derek a helpless shrug.

"Hey! It’s okay," Derek said in a conciliatory voice. "Let’s go get lunch and forget about it."

"Sounds good."

****

The nature walk was conducted at the Mount Horace Holiday Resort. The students were accompanied by a number of the Academy staff who handed out maps showing the trails. Alex and Derek poured over their copy trying to decide which trail to take, having been assured that all trails were accessible.

"Hmm... Snowflake trail, Aurora Borealis trail, Snow Queen trail... Hey! what about this one? Winterdark Tarn.... Sounds like a title of a Stephen King novel." Derek gave Alex a wicked grin.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge I hear?"

Derek shrugged. "Not really, but it does sound a bit intriguing, don’t you think? And from the looks of it, it goes further into the mountains. These other trails stay pretty close to home."

"Fine. We’ll take that trail. It’s all one to me. Besides, I’m not sure I’m ready for a trail named ‘Snowflake’." He gave his friend a suggestive look and Derek laughed.

Surprisingly, a number of students had decided to take the Winterdark Tarn trail. Accompanying them was a golden-haired man whom Derek identified to Alex as the head of the Academy, speaking in a whisper as they waited to board the funicular that would take them to the head of the trail. "That’s Loren DelaFiore, but he also goes by the name of Glorfindel."

"Glor-what?"

"Glorfindel."

Alex and Derek looked up guiltily to see the object of their discussion giving them an amused look. It had been he who had spoken. "Glorfindel, Lord of the House of the Golden Flower." The man gave them a short yet dignified bow.

"Ah... um... Alex Grant, lord of nothing in particular," Alex replied, feeling rather stupid for some reason.

"Ah... Darren told me you had finally arrived. Settling in all right?"

"Yeah,.. I mean... fine... er... sir." He wasn’t sure why he was feeling so tongue-tied. Loren DelaFiore had that same aura of exotic beauty that Darren Harper and Gil Winters and the others exuded, some indefinable essence that seemed to set them apart from the rest of the people at the Academy.

"Good," Glorfindel said with a satisfied nod. He turned to Derek. "You must be Mr. Grant's roommate?"

"Yes, sir. Derek Lowell."

"Ah... looks as if it’s our turn. You two are going on the Winterdark Tarn trail?"

Both Alex and Derek nodded. Glorfindel gestured for them to climb into their seats and then followed them so he was seated next to Alex. For some inexplicable reason Alex felt suddenly trapped and had to force himself not to climb over DelaFiore to escape.

"It’s an interesting trail," he heard the man say even as he attempted to calm himself. "Many people come away... changed."

Alex wasn’t sure what to make of that statement, but had no time to comment as they were now at the top and he and the others got out. Glorfindel pointed to the left. "That’s our trail there." Then he raised his voice. "Alright people, listen up. Anyone going on the Winterdark Tarn trail find a partner. This trail is a bit tricky in parts and I want each of you to help your partner if needed. Everyone set? Right then, I’ll lead the way. Take your time and enjoy the scenery. We’ll be back in plenty of time to catch the buses back to Wiseman."

With that, they set off. Alex and Derek joined the other students so that they comprised a group of about a dozen or so. He noticed that DelaFiore was the only one who did not have a partner. Alex maneuvered himself in the group so he could easily keep an eye on the man and spent more time watching him than the scenery. He wasn’t sure but once they were walking under the shadows of the pine trees away from direct sunlight Loren DelaFiore seemed to glow with a light of his own. Alex was sure that was just his imagination. He did notice though how smoothly the man walked along the trail where others, even himself, had to struggle around obstacles. Once, he could’ve sworn a tree branch moved out of the man’s way but that was patently impossible and when he reached the same spot the tree branch certainly didn’t move for him so he put it down to a trick of the light. Derek called his attention to a particular scene which some had stopped to admire and Alex’s concentration was broken. By the time they set off again, DelaFiore was further ahead and now Alex and Derek were more towards the back of the group.

Alex thought to push himself further up the line but then decided it wasn’t worth it. DelaFiore wasn’t going to disappear and once they reached the tarn he would have the opportunity to get closer to him again. Something about the man unnerved him even more than Harper or Winters had. So, it took a few more minutes for the beauty of his surroundings to impinge upon his soul and he stopped thinking of the golden-haired man who called himself Glorfindel and allowed himself to relax and enjoy the walk. He and Derek ended up helping some of the women to climb over a fallen tree and then up a jumble of rocks and boulders, quietly conversing with them as they walked. Then they rounded a spur of the mountain and saw the tarn.

Alex slowed to a halt, allowing Derek and the others to move ahead. Sometime during their walk clouds had built up and were now blocking the sun. A wind rose, forcing many to huddle further into their coats, some muttering crossly to themselves for not bringing hats and gloves as had been advised. In spite of the wind, though, he noticed that the surface of the tarn remained smooth.

The dark, still waters reflected nothing, giving the tarn and its setting an ominous feel. Alex suddenly felt... threatened and wondered why. It was just a mountain lake after all. Yet he couldn’t get the image of the Creature from the Black Lagoon rising out of the waters from his mind. He tore his eyes from the tarn to look about him. DelaFiore was standing near the shore staring into the waters in deep contemplation. He was the only one who didn’t seem affected by the sudden change in the weather, for he wore nothing more than a light parka. Other students clustered in groups of three or four, some of them whispering, looking upset or nervous as they huddled against the wind, while still others were busy looking for flat rocks to skip across the tarn’s surface. He noticed Derek was one of them and a feeling of panic or terror rose within him as he watched his roommate pull back his arm to throw his rock and without thought he raced to him, grabbing the stone out of his hand.

"No!" he nearly shouted, startling more than one person. Derek looked more surprised than angry.

"Hey, mate, what’s with you?"

"Don’t," Alex said pleadingly, dropping the stone. "Don’t disturb...."

"Alex."

He turned to find himself gazing into blue-grey eyes that seemed as fathomless as the tarn behind him and he had the feeling that he could fall into them forever. Glorfindel held his gaze for a long moment, his expression one of concern, then he reached out and took him by the elbow, gently leading him away. "It’s alright, Alex. Why don’t you come with me and let your friend enjoy his game."

"But...."

"Shhh.... There’s nothing to fear," Glorfindel said. "Derek is safe. I promise you."

And somehow those words were like a blanket, covering his terror, subduing it, and he let himself be drawn away, now feeling embarrassed. "I don’t know what came over me," he started explaining. "All I could think of was they shouldn’t disturb the waters. Why would I think that?"

He gave Glorfindel a pleading look even as they moved away from the rest of the group to the other side of the tarn where the trail continued. Glorfindel gave him a considering look. "Perhaps it’s because you are right. The waters shouldn’t be disturbed."

"Yet you don’t tell them to stop skipping stones," Alex retorted.

Glorfindel gave him an elegant shrug. "I’m not their minder. I’m here to see what effect the tarn has on those who come here."

Even as he was speaking, several students came over to them, their expressions troubled. "Mr. DelaFiore, is it alright if we go on?" one of them asked. "This place is getting creepy."

Glorfindel gave them all a considering look, then nodded. "Yes, by all means, my children. Continue on. I’ll give the others another five minutes before we follow. Alex, perhaps you would like to go with them?"

"No. I’ll stay."

There was a flash of approval in the man’s eyes that warmed Alex and he did not know why he felt that he needed the man’s approval for anything. The other students gave them relieved looks and then they were heading down the trail, leaving him and Glorfindel alone. Neither spoke and Alex was disinclined to move about, standing tense and uncertain. He found he could not look at the tarn without shuddering so he concentrated on the mountains rising behind it. After a few minutes, Glorfindel called out for the other students that it was time to leave. Alex gave a sigh of relief and without waiting for Derek or anyone else, turned away from the tarn and headed for the trail.

Derek finally caught up with him. "Hey, you okay, mate?"

Alex nodded. "Sorry about that. I’m not sure what happened. That place just freaked me out for some reason."

Derek shrugged. "Seemed okay to me."

Alex glanced back to where DelaFiore was walking among some of the other students, quietly talking. The man caught his eye and nodded. Alex looked away and concentrated on the path, wishing he’d never taken this trail. "I should’ve taken the Snowflake trail instead," he muttered to himself.

"You say something?" Derek asked.

Alex just shook his head.

****

Words are Sindarin:

Mae govannen a haur vaer: ‘Well met and good morning.’

Sír parithal o phrestennith e-lemthîw. Heriathanc na phrestennith vae: ‘Today you will learn about mutations of consonants. We (inclusive) will begin with soft mutations.’