Page 69 of Moon Chosen

“I told you if you followed me I would kill you.”

“I know very well what you told me, and that’s why I didn’t follow you—though that was a very mean thing to say to me. But I forgive you because you were carrying your dead mother.”

“I don’t want your forgiveness. I don’t want anything from you,” Mari said.

“Well, I want something from you!” Sora paused, obviously trying to compose herself. When she began again the frantic edge in her voice had calmed, and she spoke slowly and rationally. “What I meant to say waswewant something from you.”

“No,” Mari said. She pushed by Sora, glancing surreptitiously at the place in the underbrush where Rigel was hidden. Mari could just see the glint of his amber eyes.

Sora stepped in front of her, blocking her way and grabbing her wrist. Mari heard the warning growl that began deep in Rigel’s throat. She shook off Sora’s touch, speaking quickly and loudly, trying not to sound as frantic as she felt. “Good-bye, Sora. I’m not helping anyone. I’m mourning my mother.”

“It’s because of your mother that you have to help.”

“No, I don’t.”

“The Clan needs you. They’re going mad, Mari, especially the men. Without a Moon Woman to Wash them, the Night Fever stays with them, just like it stays with the women of the Clan, making them sadder and sadder every day.”

“You don’t seem too sad,” Mari said. Studying Sora she added, “But I have seen you look much better.”

“This,” Sora pointed at herself, making a sweeping gesture that took in her dirty clothing and disheveled hair, “is how I look because I’ve been living in this Goddess be damned tree for the past five nights.”

“Well, then, I suggest you go home.”

“I can’t! I don’t have a home anymore!” The words exploded from Sora, followed by sobs that shook her shoulders. “The men know where I live. They destroyed my burrow during their madness. I—I have nowhere to go.”

“Sora, I’m sorry about your burrow, but I can’t—”

“Yes, you can! Only you can fix things—make them the way they used to be.”

“I’m not a Moon Woman,” Mari said.

“You’re the closest thing we have to one.”

“Then I’m sorry for you.” Mari moved past Sora, sending Rigel a mental image of him following her off the trail, silently and hidden. But instead of staying by the maple tree, Sora fell into stride beside her. “Where are you going?”

“That’s not your business. And you can’t go with me. Stay here, Sora. Or don’t. Go anywhere, just not with me.” Mari stopped and looked back at the tree. “Why did you pick this place anyway?”

“I already told you. I was hiding and waiting for you.”

“But why here?”

“This is the last place I saw you. You were carrying Leda’s body. I assumed that this isn’t far from your burrow, so when the men destroyed my home I made my way back here and I waited for you.”

“Sora, make a new burrow like Leda told you to do. Someplace hidden. Keep it secret. And practice drawing down the moon. Mama believed in you. She saw your power, and since you don’t seem mad—or at least not more so than usual—and you’re obviously not depressed, Mama was right. Only Moon Women don’t need to be washed of Night Fever. It’s you the Clan needs, not me.”

“I don’t know how to do it! I’ve tried. I’ve tried every night. I can feel the energy of the moon. It’s cold. It scares me. I can’t make it do what I want it to do.”

Mari sighed. “You have to focus, and that takes practice. Lots of practice.”

“But how? I think I am focusing, and then that coldness fills me, and it’s like I’ve broken through the ice in a frozen pond and there’s no way out. I feel like I’m drowning. It’s terrifying.”

Mari nodded. “Yeah, I know. I’ve felt it, too. You just have to ignore the cold. Okay, you say it’s like a frozen pond, then imagine the pond unfreezing and washing through you.”

“All right, I’ll try that. Then what?”

“Then you channel that energy into someone or something else,” Mari said.

“Will you meet me tonight? Will you show me what you mean? Please, Mari.”