Ola paddled skillfully through some of the most tangled parts of the Drownlands swamps. Weaving his canoe in and out among the enormous trees, following an endless maze of bayous, Ola confused his pursuers and soon felt certain that King Stuppy’s thugs were hopelessly lost somewhere to his rear. Despite feeling safe, Ola paddled on and on, at last heading into the Everlost region of the Drownlands—a trackless area of thick reed forests. Thin, resiliant reeds towered eight to twelve feet above the surface of the water. Flexible and light, the grasslike reeds moved in the breeze like waves. Ola loved the Everlost because of the great enigma it represented. “Now, if yorn be’in Ever Lost, the creature must o’known he’s not lost at least once, or he wouldn’t know he be’in lost!”
But Ola also knew the Everlost was a dangerous place. With no solid ground or trees to be found, a creature had to stay in a boat. But in the boat, nothing could be seen except gently waving reeds on all sides. In places, the reeds were so tall and dense that they obscured most of the sky, leaving the traveler to ‘burrow’ through the reeds in a canoe. Ola freely went in and out of the Everlost, relying on the power of Enigma: “If yor be’in in the Everlost, follow the way of those that not be’in lost! Follow those on the way to somewhere!”
Ola listened and observed the signs of flocks of birds overhead. The patterns of flight that he could glimpse through the reeds and the sound of the bird calls gave him a direction to follow. “The birds know where they be go’in,” Ola thought, “so I can go the same place they be go’in.” By such a method Ola always successfully traversed the Everlost, although he never knew exactly where he would come out! But, being a Gateless Wolf, Ola typically did not care where he ended up. It was an adventure to explore new places. Living in his canoe for as long as it took to leave the Everlost behind, Ola did not mind the slowness of this progress through the reeds. There were plenty of fish and fresh water to sustain him until he found his way.
When he at last did emerge from the Everlost, he was in unfamiliar terrain. He saw rolling grassy hills before him, mottled here and there with small fields of corn and vegetables. Pulling his canoe up on dry land for the first time in several days, Ola slowly worked the cramps of the long confinement in his canoe out of his legs, arms, and back. Spying a tall oak tree nearby, he took his flute pouch and headed off to hang by his feet and play his flute for a while. It was that time of the day when the sun is just beginning to set. Ola planned to hang and play his flute until just before dark and then make a simple camp for the night.
He had just climbed the tree and was stepping out on a branch to get settled into position, when he saw something off in the distance that startled him. A large male Wood Cow was working in a corn field! Could it be Breister? Ola was so overjoyed at the possibility that he dropped from the tree clumsily and ran off to investigate.
As he approached the muscular creature busily hoeing weeds, he could see that he was definitely dressed in a manner and style similar to Helga. Clearly, he was of the same clan. Grinning widely, Ola called out, “Yor be’in Breister? Yor know’in a Wood Cow named Helgy?”
Dropping his hoe, the beast ran to meet Ola. “Breister? Helga? Do you know such creatures, friend? Have you seen them?”
Disappointed that the Wood Cow obviously was not Helga’s lost father, Ola still retained his happy smile. At least the stranger seemed to know who Breister and Helga were.
“Who yor be’in?” Ola asked. “Yor be’in a friend of Breister and Helgy?”
“Aye, my friend,” his new acquaintance answered. “My name is Emil. If you are talking about Helga of the Hedgelands, then that is a Wood Cow I know. She is my sister.”
“Breister’s son!” Another member of Helga’s family! Perhaps he might know how to locate Breister.
Unfortunately, however, Emil had no news about Breister. In fact, Ola knew more about Breister and Helga than Emil did. Emil had not heard the news of the expulsion of the Wood Cows. After he had escaped from Maev Astuté, he had been completely unable to steer the balloon and traveled far beyond the Hedgelands.