Jack led Wolf as the rural highway elongated towards an elevated horizon, the neighboring forest replaced by open fields. He continued walking along the left shoulder, occasionally looking back. But Wolf had abandoned the road entirely, instead traveling along a parallel barbed-wire fence opposite a roadside ditch.

“You mean people are in those things?” Wolf asked.

Jack smiled at the panic in Wolf’s voice. “Of course. It’s how they get around. And they won’t bite you as long as you understand and play by their rules.”

Another car zipped past and Wolf turned to the fence-barrier that confined him. He looked back to watch it go. “So, what’s stopping me from taking off?” Wolf asked.

Jack shrugged and glanced back. “You’re not a prisoner, Wolf. Me neither. I think Mioko would actually prefer we weren’t here, so she’s not going to stop you from leaving.”

Wolf chuckled. “I don’t think a bear can be imprisoned by a rabbit.”

Jack stopped, his gaze tracking Wolf, who looked through the wired fence. “Is that what she appears to you?”

“Rabbit, deer, sheep…take your pick. The only difference being opportunity, really.”

Jack chuckled. “Oh, to be young and naive again. You’ve still got some growing up to do, pup.”

Wolf oriented and glared. “I’m not a pup.”

“And you’re no hunter either if you’ve yet to differentiate between predator and prey. In your scenario, you’re the rabbit. Not the other way around.”

“Yeah, okay. Sound logic coming from the guy who can’t ever seem to catch me.”

“And how’s your own hunt going? Have you managed to catch Little Red Riding Hood yet?”

“I could catch her if I wanted to. I’m just having fun with the chase.”

“There’s zero chance of you catching her.”

Wolf scoffed. “Someone doesn’t know me very well.”

“Think about it, Wolf. I joined her before she brought you over to her world, so I could have been there all the times she met with you. But I wasn’t and you only ever interacted with her alone. Why is that?”

“Because she underestimated me.”

“Because you weren’t a threat. But you can keep chasing her if you like. It’ll be fun to actually watch this time.”

Wolf scowled. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t even trying.”

“Sure, Wolf,” Jack replied, then pointed to the river and bridge ahead of them. “That’s going to be what she was referring to, so be on the lookout for a lockbridge. We’re only going to see it when facing the opening.”

The lockbridge was already open and waiting, which they found opposite the fence. They made their way into the field, Jack hesitating before translocking—crossing into the space beyond. “Listen, Wolf. This place we’re going, Innangard. This is some kind of magic world that’s part of her mind. You may see things that don’t seem quite right. Just know it’s normal.”

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“Sure, Boss. Whatever you say.”

They translocked, entering a grassy forest clearing. Wolf studied the ground, repeatedly placing and replacing his paw while observing the grass mat and stand up again. He looked at the dense woodland that formed the circular open space, then to the sky, where he sniffed at the air.

“Okay, Jack. I admit I didn’t know what to expect when you said magic. So, is that another word for ordinary?”

Jack stopped in the middle of the clearing and waited.

Wolf approached, then froze, seeing a red-metal door to each side of Jack, approximately seventy-feet apart and facing one another. He walked over and sniffed at its base before circling behind it. “What the hell? Why can’t you see it from the back?”

“We’re inside a railcar, so you can only see the inside of it,” Jack said, walking over and sliding the door open.

The clearing filled with the click-click sounds of a train moving along its tracks. Through the door was a space between railcars, another door across from the now open one.

Wolf looked and immediately shook his head. “Nope. I want no part of whatever that is.”

Jack nodded. “That’s fine. Just hang out here for a bit. I’ll track her down and we’ll meet you back here.”

“Super.”

Jack moved out between the cars, then climbed a ladder to the roof, where he was immediately assaulted by the wind. He saw her top half sticking out of a lockspace upwind, then made his way to her. She was completely drenched in blood, a long smear across the roof prior to her stop.

Jack scooped his hands under her arms, causing her to start, her single clear eye searching before fixating on him. On recognizing him, she grasped his forearm, allowing him to turn her and pull her through, where she slumped again.

Jack shook his head, sat and pulled her into his lap. “Open us a portal to the cabin,” he said against her temple, his beard matting with blood.

Mioko glared back at him, but a lockbridge opened before she closed her eyes again.

Jack scooped her up, cradling her as he hunkered into the wind, then ousted onto a gravel drive. He straightened and her head lulled against his shoulder. It was times like this he remembered just how small—how fragile she really was.

The new area was a simple hill with a cabin. Its walls were made of roughly hewn slabs of wood, each being eighteen inches wide and running the length of the wall they were set in. The front door and single window were in the only wall without full length beams, their framing requiring the beams to be cut in order to accommodate them.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Jack said as he approached the door.

Mioko groaned as he spoke and grumbled when he stood her up. She was lethargic, allowing Jack to take one of her hands as they stood outside the cabin’s front door. The back of her hand wraps had several cuts, some layers severed completely. He unwrapped each wrist and tossed the metal plates over in the grass. As the metal plate came away from her fingers, it revealed a cushioning layer against her brown and purple knuckles.

Jack glanced at her and shook his head. “I guess it’s a good thing you have this padding at least.”

“I have to get stronger, Jack,” she whispered.

Jack nodded, then finished undressing her, laying the various articles aside. What remained was her scarf-wrapped torso, a pair of black hipsters, and her sword—the latter, she refused to let him take.

Jack disappeared inside then returned with some clothes under his arm. “I set some clothes in the bathroom for you. I’ll get this stuff cleaned up out here, then head back. Need anything else before I go?”

Mioko shook her head, her arms crossed over her chest. “No. But thank you, Jack.”

Jack nodded. “Yeah. Just try to take it a little easier, alright? We’ll wait for you back at the clearing.”

Jack herded her inside and closed the door behind her, before rounding the cabin’s corner and ducking a chest-high wire to approach a deep sink with an antique washboard. A waist-high cabinet sat next to it with soaps, cleaners, and towels.

Jack placed his clean clothes on top of the cabinet, leaned his axe against it, then stripped down to a pair of white boxer-briefs. His physique was lean with a barrel chest and pronounced shoulders. He stuck his head under the tap before cleaning the dried blood from his dirty-blond beard and hair.

Jack bathed at the sink, then donned a pair of brown cargo pants before strapping his boots back on. He then retrieved and cleaned her gear, setting her boots outside the front door and fastening her clothes to the line. Afterwards, he cleaned and hung his own alongside hers.

Jack finished up, putting on a dark-gray flannel before putting everything away and setting her metal plates on the doorstep with her boots. He looked down the drive, but the lockspace was gone. Instead, he proceeded to an isolated red door that faced the side of the cabin. He opened it to the familiar click-click sounds and stepped through.