Clove & Moose 14: The Rainy Refuge

Clove and Moose is a serial fiction story. While there is an overarching plot, each episode can be enjoyed on its own without reading what came before. However, if you want to get caught up, click one of the buttons below.

Previously, on Clove & Moose: After the mysterious Cataclysm dried up the earth and its magic, Clove and her cat Moose travelled to find and repair pools of corrupted magic left behind in the Cataclysm’s wake. Along the way, she has picked up three travelling companions: Marissa, Jasper, and his trusty horse Miss Delilah.

“I can’t believe it’s still raining.” Marissa turned away from the window. “I’m so tired of this place.”

“We’ve only been here for three days,” Clove reminded her. “It’s kind of nice to take a break from travelling.”

They’d only meant to spend one night in the abandoned cottage, but then the skies had opened up and it had been pouring rain for three days straight. The cottage was small and they were taking it in turns to sleep on the bed, the couch, and the floor. But it was dry, and there was a fireplace to keep them warm and cozy, and a little garage where Jasper had settled Miss Delilah.

They were going to have to move on eventually, but Clove didn’t mind the down time. She’d been spending her days leafing through the book she’d found at the library. She’d poked at it occasionally while they were travelling, but she’d never had time to study it seriously.

It was a different book every time she opened it, but all of them were perfectly ordinary books. Today it had been a collection of French poetry, then a novel about a spy, and now a history of malaria. None of them seemed to have any connection to each other, or to the illustration she’d first seen, but she was skimming through each of them and taking notes in the hope that a pattern would become apparent.

She sat at the table with it now, Moose curled up on her lap, while Marissa was stationed in the cottage’s cozy window seat and Jasper sat on the couch. 

He’d spent the days patching some old clothes, maintaining the wagon and Miss Delilah’s tack, and tidying up the cabin. He said he wanted to leave it in better condition than they found it, in case the owners did come back.

Marissa had mostly spent the time complaining. The first day she’d been content to nap, play with Moose, and whip up a box of brownie mix she’d found in the cottage’s pantry, but she’d been restless yesterday and today she was downright whiny.

“Haven’t you been looking at that book long enough?” she said. “Let’s do something.”

“Like what?” Clove asked. She didn’t close the book–she wanted to come back to this version of it–but she did turn away from it. Marissa wasn’t completely wrong; her eyes could use a break.

“I don’t know, let’s play a game or something.”

“What kind of game? I haven’t stumbled across a cupboard full of board games in here.”

“You must have something in the wagon, right Jasper?” Marissa asked. “A deck of cards perhaps?” 

The wagon did seem to be full of surprises; in addition to feed for Miss Delilah, food for the humans, and his own gear, Clove had seen him produce a first aid kit, a rubik’s cube, and a box of scented candles. 

“Afraid not,” Jasper said, not looking up from the bridle in his hands. “Good idea though. If we come across any I’ll be sure to stash them away.”

“Alright, so… truth or dare?” Marissa suggests.

Clove snorts. “What are we, high schoolers?”

“Never have I ever?”

“That’s hardly better.”

“Would you rather?”

“Rather what?”

“Ugh, the game!” Marissa tossed a cushion at Clove. “You make up two scenarios and the other players have to tell you which one they’d rather.”

Clove caught the cushion, but the movement was enough to startle Moose away. “Would you rather pet Moose’s belly or eat another brownie?” 

“Pet the belly, obvs.” Marissa rose from her spot and settled on the floor next to Moose. He didn’t offer his belly, so she settled for petting his head. “But they’re supposed to be bad things. Or like, weird things.”

“Would you rather get clawed by Moose, or have to eat a rotten brownie?” Clove tried.

“I still pick Moose,” said Marissa. “Wouldn’t be the first time, would it, you little terror?”

“Would you rather pet the belly of an actual moose,” Jasper asked, “or eat a frog?”

“Now that’s more like it!” Marissa said. “See Clove, he gets it. And I would absolutely pet an actual moose.”

“No way,” Clove answered, crossing the room to take a seat on the opposite end of the couch from Jasper, “a moose would gouge you open with its horns. I’d take the frog.”

“Gross!” Marissa declared. “Would you rather stay in this dreary cabin for the rest of your life or stay on the road forever?”

“Cottage, one hundred percent.” Clove didn’t plan to settle down until she’d completed what she set out to do, but she didn’t plan to stay on the road any longer than she had to.

“Boring,” Marissa judged. “Road for me. Jasper?”

“Cottage.”

“Really?” Clove was surprised. She’d taken him for the wandering type.

“Miss Delilah and I will be retiring from the travelling life as soon as we reach our destination. We’re homebodies at heart.”

“What’s your destination?” Marissa asked. 

“Deliveries to make,” Jasper answered. He finally set down the bridle he’d been repairing. “Any of those brownies left?”

“Don’t think I don’t see you squirrelling out of that conversation.” Marissa wagged a finger at him. “But yes, there are brownies left and yes I would like one too. I will forgive your lack of answer if you bring me one and ask the next question.”

“It’s Clove’s turn,” Jasper said as he walked to the small kitchen.

Clove made a face at his back. “Only if you bring me a brownie too.”

“I was going to bring the whole tray.”

“Fine. Then… would you rather things go back to how they were before but you never find out what caused the Cataclysm, or things stay how they are now but we get all the answers?”

“One track mind today, huh?” Marissa snatched a brownie from the tray as Jasper walked by her. “That’s an easy one. I want things back to normal. I do not care about the answers if I can get in touch with my friends and family.”

Jasper set the brownies on the coffee table and Moose immediately jumped up to see what they were. 

“No boy, chocolate’s not for kitties.” Clove scooped him off the table and into her lap, but he quickly wriggled away and went to sniff Jasper instead. 

Jasper petted him with one hand and picked up a brownie with the other. “My life hasn’t changed so much. I’d rather have the answers.”

“And we all know that Clove wants answers,” Marissa said.

“No, actually, I would choose normal life too. As much as I want to know everything, I want my family back.”

“What?” Marissa threw another cushion at her. “You’ve never talked about your family like ever. Who are they? What’s their deal?”

“They’re gone now. Not much to say.” Clove grabbed a brownie and shoved it in her mouth before that conversation could go any farther. “Jasper’s turn.”

He considered for a moment. “Would you rather never speak again or never see again?”

“Oooh, that’s a tough one.” Marissa settled in to think about it.

Clove munched on her brownie and watched as Moose hopped into the window seat to chase raindrops across the window. 

“Never speak,” she decided. “I’ve got to keep an eye on Moose, after all.”

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Katie Conrad is a speculative fiction writer living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. You can find her on bluesky, instagram, and tumblr.