Page 67 of Wind Rider

“Fantastic. Incredible.Normal.”

“But, how can that be?” Mari asked.

Tears spilled down Sora’s cheeks as she answered. “I believe it’s Chloe. Something happened this morning when we greeted the sun. I—Ifeltit: the power of it—the beauty of it. I’ve never felt anything like it—not before Chloe—never until this morning.”

“And this morning was the first time you greeted the sun with her!” Mari was catching Sora’s excitement.

“Yes! Jaxom was there, too. And Jaxom is now a Companion. He’s not showing any sign of Moon Fever either. Mari, it’s our canines. They can keep us from getting Moon Fever!”

CHAPTER 12

“Still the drums, please!” Mari called to the drummers, and they fell silent, followed by the women playing the flutes and singing. As Mari strode to the center of her Pack, with Sora by her side, she noted how exhausted the Earth Walker women looked. Mason, the only Earth Walker male besides Jaxom, was sitting a little apart from the others, head bowed and shoulders slumped. Davis remained by his side, hand on his shoulder, talking soothingly to him.

The dancers were much more animated—jubilant even—but the only Earth Walker among them was Jaxom, who appeared like Sora—totally untouched by Moon Fever.

“Ready to Wash your Pack, Moon Women?” Nik’s face was shiny with sweat and he was smiling happily.

“Almost,” Mari said. “First, we need to understand something. Jaxom, could you please come here?”

Jaxom had been crouched by Fortina, petting his Companion, but he quickly approached the two Moon Women, Fortina by his side.

“How are you feeling?” Mari asked as the Pack watched with openly curious expressions.

“Great!” He grinned, then the smile slid from his face as he noted thesolemnity of the way she and Sora were studying him. “Is something wrong? The disease isn’t returning, is it? I haven’t felt it—not at all.” Fortina began to whine fretfully and press against his side, and Jaxom bent to comfort her.

“No! It’s nothing like that,” Mari said quickly. “I should have been more specific. Are you feeling any signs of Moon Fever?”

“Well, no, but as soon as the sun sets I’m sure I—” Jaxom’s words broke off as his gaze found the dark sky. Confused, he shook his head back and forth, back and forth. “I don’t understand.” He lifted his arm, pushing up the sleeves of his shirt to expose his skin—his brownish-colored skin that was completely absent of any of the signs of Moon Fever. “Wait, this doesn’t make any sense. Mason? Where’s Mason?”

Mari touched Jaxom’s arm gently. “Mason is with Davis. He’ll be fine as soon as we Wash him.”

“Why isn’t he getting angry?” Nik asked, moving closer to Jaxom to stare at him. Nik gestured to the Earth Walkers surrounding them. “I can see the tint of their skin changing. I can see sadness taking them over. Why isn’t it happening to Jaxom?” Nik’s gaze went to Sora, and his eyes widened. “And Sora, too?”

“Sora, too.” Then Mari raised her voice. “Earth Walkers, if any of you arenotfeeling the symptoms of Moon Fever, please step forward immediately.”

There was some shuffling around as people looked at one another, but no one stepped forward.

“Isabel, Danita, Jenna, all of you are feeling the effects of Moon Fever?” Sora asked.

“Yes, of course.” Danita was closest, as she had been dancing with Bast. She and the feline came to Mari.

“My skin is gray and I feel awful,” said Jenna.

“Me, too, as always,” answered Isabel as she and Jenna joined Danita.

“Do you know what’s happening?” Nik asked Mari.

“I think we do,” Mari answered, sharing a look with Sora.

“Jaxom, this morning when you were greeting the sun with Fortina, what did you feel?” asked Sora.

“I felt good! Really good. Fortina and I liked it a lot.” He paused and looked as if he would like to say more, but pressed his lips closed instead.

“No, don’t keep quiet about it. This is important. Tell us everything,” Sora encouraged.

“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything because I thought I was just imagining it, or maybe feeling what Fortina felt and not actually whatIfelt, but my body got warm in a strange way. Like the heat of the sun was actually pumping through me.”

“With your heartbeat!” Sora said, nodding in agreement. “Like your blood had turned into sunlight and was spreading that light all over your body!”