Page 111 of Moon Chosen

“Maybe you can do that. Who knows what Companions can do?”

“I’m not a Companion,” Mari said.

“Well, you sure don’t look like an Earth Walker anymore.”

Mari bit her lip. She didn’t know what to say—she didn’t know who, or what, she was becoming. Mari dressed silently, wishing she had answers to the questions that flooded her mind.

As the sun climbed in the clear sky, she and Sora got to work washing the clothes and laying them out on the sun-drenched rocks that surrounded the pool. When they’d finally finished, Sora yawned hugely, and Mari was just going to suggest they nap while they waited for the clothes to dry when Rigel, who had been napping lazily all morning, suddenly bounded over to her. He was whining and yipping as he paced restlessly back and forth, back and forth. Mari didn’t need their bond to know that something had the young canine seriously agitated.

“What is it? Are there males coming? Or Companions? What?” Sora was scanning the forest around them, looking as if she was ready to sprint back to the burrow.

“It’s not danger. He’s not warning me. He’s anxious, like it’s hard for him to sit still.”

Sora snorted and relaxed a little. “Well, maybe that’s because he slept the morning away. I think he’s actually a little lazy.”

“He’s young. Young canines sleep a lot,” Mari said, though she had no idea whether it was true or not. Mari crouched in front of her pup. “What’s wrong? What’s bothering you?”

Rigel barked twice and sprinted several feet away, as if he was heading up the rocky climb to the top of the waterfall. He stopped there, looked back at Mari, whining pitifully.

“Looks like he wants you to go with him. Does he do this a lot?”

“No. I usually understand exactly what he’s trying to tell me.” Mari walked to Rigel, but the pup sprinted off again, this time actually climbing partway up the steep bank. There he stopped again, and barked at her. “All right, I’ll follow you.” Mari turned to Sora. “You can stay here, but I’d better see what he’s trying to show me.”

“I’m not staying here by myself. If I lose you there’s no way I’ll find that path back through those poison, sticking things—not to mention back to the burrow. Nope, where you go—I go.”

“All right, well, the clothes need to dry anyway.” Mari made an encouraging motion to Rigel. “Go on! I’ll follow you.”

Rigel scampered up the rocks easily. When he reached the top he stood near the edge, looking down at Mari and barking encouragement.

“Sssh! Not so much noise!” Mari told him, and the pup instantly stopped barking, though he did keep up a steady, plaintive whine.

“This better be good. Climbing up here is no easy thing,” Sora said, panting behind Mari.

“He’s never done this before. I don’t know what he could want to show me,” Mari said. Then, with a groan, she hefted herself over the top edge of the ridge. Offering Sora a hand, she helped her up.

They’d only taken a few breaths when Rigel dashed off again, whining and looking back at them. The girls followed, which set up a tedious pattern. The pup would wait for them to catch up with him, and almost catch their breaths, then he’d rush off, leaving them to come after him.

“How far do you think he’s going to go?” Sora wiped sweat from her face and lifted her thick hair to fan her neck.

“I can’t tell,” Mari said, picking her way around rocks, careful to stay clear of the edge of the gorge and its slick sides. “But I can feel that his anxiousness is getting worse. I hope that means we’re almost to whatever it is he wanted me to see.”

“I hope so, too,” Sora said. “At least the bank isn’t so terrifying here. It’s more like Crawfish Creek, except the current is wilder.”

“Yeah, it’s not hard to get down to the water along here. This is where Mama and I come to see what’s washed up from the city.”

“The city? Is that where this stream comes from?” Sora said.

“Yeah, this is one of the rapids that broke from the river that flows through it.”

“You and Leda followed this to the city?”

“No! Mama never let me anywhere near that awful place. We only know it comes from there because things have washed downriver to us that had to come from the city—things like the iron cauldron we make the stew in. Mama and I found that a few winters ago, not far from here. And one time we—”

A flurry of barking cut off Mari’s words. Rigel was out of sight, and she sprinted to catch up with him. When she got to the young pup he’d made his way down to the water and was barking riotously at a clump of debris that had gotten snagged on the skeleton of a felled tree.

“Rigel, shush! You’re making too much noise, and I’m right here. What did you want to show me?”

The young canine shifted his body, giving Mari a better view of the pile of debris, and her breath caught in her throat. Snagged with the logs and vines and the usual spring run-off river junk was the body of a man.