Clove & Moose 23: The Strenuous Stroll

Clove and Moose is a serial fiction story. If you want to get caught up on what came before, 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. She's picked up three companions: Marissa, Jasper, and his trusty horse Miss Delilah. They've spent the past few months at Bone Gorge, where Jasper's old friend Nickel started a cult that tried to bring about a second Cataclysm.

In the aftermath of the cult incident, Clove was whisked away to a spare tent at Jen and Jon’s camp. After several weeks of the best care available–medical treatment from a paramedic named Helga, with essential snuggle services provided by Moose–her hands appeared to be healing well. Helga said it had been a close thing, but the burns had stopped just shy of requiring skin grafts.

Within a few days, Marissa and Jasper had moved down to be near her. Clove liked it here, away from the hustle and bustle of the main camp where they’d been staying previously. She also didn’t mind the seemingly endless supply of apple pie that appeared at every meal.

It was a quieter life here, aside from Marissa constantly checking if she was okay and whether she needed more blankets and if Moose had been fed and did she want a cup of tea? Although it was nice to have her back to something resembling her former chipper self. She seemed to be processing her grief that her parents weren’t at the Gorge. 

Jasper was a silent but steady presence, not checking in with so many words but sitting nearby reading when she woke up in pain, silently bringing her a slice of pie, or telling her the latest updates from the Gorge.

Initially there had been quite the hunt for Nickel and the rest of his cult, but by the time the citizens of the Gorge were able to put together a search crew, the cult members were long gone.

Clove had spent her recovery time poring through the now-permanent version of her magical book, looking for any other hints at what Nickel’s gang may have wanted to accomplish with bringing about a second Cataclysm, or if they’d actually had a plan for so much corrupted magic. She tried to be optimistic that maybe they hadn’t realized just how bad things would be, but the more she read the book the harder that was to believe. This was clearly a tome of some dark sorcerer from ages past. There were spells in here that made Clove’s toes curl with their destructive power.

They could only hope that there were no other repositories of magic artifacts like Bone Gorge out there that Nickel and his gang could use to make a second attempt. Another thought tickled the back of Clove’s mind, which was to wonder if something like this had been the cause of the original Cataclysm.

But there was nothing she could do about it right now. All she could do was rest and eat and try to get her strength back. When Helga gave her the all-clear to go for a short walk, she was quick to get Moose into his harness and less quick to get herself into her boots. The bulky bandages on her fingers still got in the way of her fine motor skills.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Marissa asked, running over. “Let me do that.” 

“Just for a walk. Helga said I could.”

“By yourself?” Marissa finished lacing up the first boot. “I don’t think so. What if something happens to you?”

“Like what?”

“Like maybe you’re still weaker than you realized and instead of going for a walk around the campsite like a reasonable person you get halfway across the gorge and pass out and get robbed or murdered.”

“That does sound like something you would do,” Jasper agreed. 

“What? I would never. I’m not an idiot.”

“No no, you’re just very stubborn.” 

“I’m going for a walk whether you like it or not,” Clove insisted as Marissa finished with the second boot. “I’ll have Moose with me.”

“This little dummy?” Marissa scratched Moose’s head. “He’s not going to protect you from anything.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Then you won’t mind if I come with you.”

“Me too.”

“I’m not a baby,” Clove said. 

“It’s just three friends going for a walk. Do you hate our company that much?”

“No,” Clove admitted. Going for a walk together didn’t actually sound bad. She was just tired of feeling weak and useless. “You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right,” Marissa said. “I always am.”

Clove let the remark pass without comment as they left the tent, Moose’s rope tied firmly around her arm. After a brief pause to say hello to Miss Delilah, they started on a slow walk down the path toward the main camp.

“Now we’re not going too far today,” Marissa said. “This is your first walk and we don’t want to overdo it.”

“Yes, mom,” Clove grumbled. The fresh air was nice, and it felt good to move her limbs after so long tucked up in bed. Right now she felt like she could stay out forever, but she knew Marissa was probably right. 

They talked little as they followed the dirt path, a few fallen leaves crunching softly under their feet. There was no sound but the singing of birds and the chittering of squirrels, until there was a BANG from somewhere at the top of the ridge. 

Moose leaped straight in the air, then started to run. His rope pulled taut when he reached the end of it, and Clove kept her arm close to her chest so the rope couldn’t slide off. “It’s okay boy,” she said, cooing softly to him, but he kept pulling. 

Suddenly the rope went slack and Clove stumbled back a step. The point where the rope joined Moose’s harness had snapped, and he was running down the path ahead of them. 

Moose was loose. 

“Moose!” Clove started to run after him. “Moosey boy, come here!”

“Clove!” Marissa scolded. “You shouldn’t be running. Let us go get him.”

“Never.” Losing Moose was her worst nightmare. She couldn’t let anything happen to him. As much as she trusted Marissa and Jasper, there was no way she was sitting this out.

The three of them ran down the path, Moose always staying just ahead no matter how hard they tried. Clove knew he would tire himself out eventually, but she wasn’t sure she could keep up with him right now. 

When they joined up to the main path, there were a few other people around, making their way from one end of camp to another. 

“Catch that cat!” Clove yelled, but by the time they figured out what she was saying, Moose was already gone again.

A wagon rounded the corner up ahead, directly in Moose’s path. Clove tensed, afraid he would run under a horse’s hooves or the wagon’s wheels, but he startled and changed direction, heading off the path.

She followed behind him. Her legs were starting to tire. After weeks in bed, she had already lost her usual stamina. But she couldn’t stop now. She crashed through the woods behind Moose, always keeping her eyes on him. Marissa and Jasper ran on either side of her, ducking under branches or leaping over fallen logs.

They emerged from the thicket after only a few minutes, into the open area of the gorge. Clove realized that Moose was heading straight for the stream. 

“This is our chance!” she said. “Fan out!”

While she ran straight for Moose, Marissa and Jasper each took a diagonal path to intersect the stream a little farther down in either direction. If Moose bolted and changed direction, one of them would be in place to catch him.

Moose reached the water, came to a stop, and hesitated for one moment. It was all Clove needed. She closed the last few steps, scooped him up, and dropped to sit on the ground. She wasn’t sure her legs could have carried her much farther.

“It’s okay boy,” she murmured. “It’s okay. You scared me.”

When he had calmed a little and settled into her lap, she looked up at her friends. “Thanks for your help.”

“Of course,” Marissa said. “We love this little guy too.”

“How are you feeling?” Jasper asked.

Clove grimaced. “Tired. I might need to rest here for a little while.”

Only then did she look around her and realize just where they were. Across the stream was the cliffside. Where once the rock had held enormous bones, the cliffside had been hollowed out into a series of skeleton shaped caves. Some of the lower ones were already home to tents and structures.

Marissa followed her gaze. “Looks pretty different, doesn’t it?”

“No kidding,” Clove said. She looked around them, taking in the rest of the site. There were still gouges in the ground and tree stumps where there once had been trees, but folks had clearly been cleaning the place up since she’d last seen it. The fallen trees and branches were gone, displaced rocks had been taken away, and new saplings had been planted next to the stumps. “I’m glad someone’s been trying to fix the damage.”

“Everyone has,” Marissa said. “We all take a shift here whenever we can.”

“Not many people around, though,” Clove remarked. Aside from the tents where the toe bones used to be and a cluster of people working on one edge, the gorge was empty. The place used to be packed every day with people trying to get close to the bones. “I guess the appeal has worn off.”

“Yeah,” Marissa confirmed. “A lot of people have left already. The place has really cleared out.”

“Soon time for us to do the same,” Jasper said. “Once you’re better.”

“Oh,” Clove said. She hadn’t wanted to think about saying their goodbyes just yet. “You don’t have to wait for me if you’re ready to leave.”

Jasper and Marissa exchanged a glance she couldn’t quite read. 

“What?”

“You don’t want to come with us?” Marissa asked. 

“I have to keep going,” Clove said. “To the west coast. I can’t turn back.”

“Who said anything about turning back?” Jasper said.

“I thought–” Clove tried to remember what he had told her about his route. “I thought you were going back home?”

“Yes,” he said. “I’m from the west originally. Only been living out this way a few years.”

“Oh!” Clove almost laughed, then turned to Marissa. “And you? You were only planning to come this far.”

Marissa shrugged. “Because I thought my family would be here. I’ll have to keep looking.”

“Sorry you didn’t find them,” Clove said. “But selfishly, I’m glad you’re sticking with us for a while longer.”

“Yeah, well, I’m only staying around for this guy.” Marissa rubbed Moose’s head. “Our little escape artist.”

“I’ll take a look at that harness back at the camp,” Jasper said. “I bet we can fix him up.”

“Thank you.” Clove’s heart felt like it might burst at the joy of keeping her friends. Or maybe that was just from the physical exertion. Either way, she was feeling very, very happy.

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