A TAIL OF NINE

CHAPTER TWELVE: Why the Willows Weep

We move slowly, finding shelter wherever we can—under trees, in caves, even in a forgotten shack. During the night, we travel. After the sun comes up, we rest. Kon has me sing The Song of the Fox to her four more times. We forget to use the canopic jar two nights in a row! What's up with Kon? It's like she doesn't want me to use it anymore! She doesn't even put it back in one of her tails! She just tucks it into a fold of her kimono! What if she drops it???

The nightmares I've been having still gnaw at me.

Every night, the changing moon reminds me of how fast time is slipping by. The gashes that Wrinkles-wolf got saving me are pretty bad. Amarok heal fast, but she winces sometimes, even though she never complains. She doesn't blame me either.

Luc-wolf caught the scent of the Tengu from several different directions. They can split up and flank us. The more we zigzag through the woods, dart through fields, and skulk through abandoned properties, the more it feels like an invisible net is closing around us.

Sitting under a willow tree, a poem Kon and I haven't read in a long time pops into my head. It's one by somebody named Christina Rossetti, called In the Willow Shade. Reciting it, I say, "The weeping willow shook its head /And stretched its shadow long; / The west grew crimson, the sun smoldered red, / The birds forbore a song."

Kon uses a little of her remaining magic to change into human form before settling down next to me. She shouldn't waste it like that! It feels like forever since I've heard her voice in my head.

I finish with the poem's next stanza, "Slow wind sighed through the willow leaves, /
The ripple made a moan, / The world drooped murmuring like a thing that grieves;
/ And then I felt alone."

It'll be another day of running, of me slowing everybody down. The Amarok have widened their circle to give me a little privacy, but they're still there ... watching and listening. Except for Kirby. He stays pretty close to me, his eyes fixed on the oranges and yellows spreading across the sky.

"You'll like Canada," Kirby says.

"I guess."

"We're in this until the end." Then he adds, "Even if it's until death."

I think about the dream. It's like a lightning bolt went through my spine. That swirls in my head, along with the bones I found the other day, the ones that Kirby said was a good omen. What if those bones were from a group of creatures that refused to split up? Even with one dragging them down?

I've known it for a while even though I couldn't admit it. But as soon as Kirby said what he did, I know what I have to do. I just hope I'm strong enough to do it. I don't take time to think about this because if I do, I'll chicken out.

I'm not gonna be the reason the Amarok get taken by Mirabelle. And I'm definitely not going to be the reason she captures Kon.

The truth might be something that the rest of them aren't willing to face. But I am. Without me, they stand a chance.

"Mom, do you have something that'll hide someone from Mirabelle and the Tengu?"

"Nothing that will hide all of us."

"Not all of us. Just one." I look her in the eye. "Me."

"Do not ask this of me, Koto," she pleads.

"Kon, after it's all over, send someone back for me," I say. A lot softer, I add, "If you want me back."

"Do not ask me to leave you." Then she says, "If you leave the circle of the Amarok, then I will leave it."