Kate Bush's Arc

Chapter 10 of 21

The ring of oaks closed behind them with a soft sound like a door pushed shut. Kate stopped three steps inside. The glade was smaller than she expected, floored with pale grass. At the center stood a flat stone the height of her knee. Something waited beside it, turned toward her. She could not tell yet if it was one shape or two. Will sagged between her and Ollie. The cat stayed on his chest. The collie pressed against her leg and would go no farther. "Set him down," Ollie whispered. "Not yet close. See who it is first." They lowered Will to the grass. Kate straightened and put her hand on a salt pouch through her coat. The figure at the stone did not move. Kate took one step. The shape resolved into two. A tall rabbit man and a tall rabbit woman, both pale as frost, both watching her with steady eyes. Their outlines flickered at the edges like heat off a road. She had seen the swallow Will drew. Night flight. Bunnymen who moved between the dead and the living. Ollie's breath caught behind her. "They're the guides," he said. "Mr. Echo's guides." Kate did not lower her hand. "Where is he?" A fourth shape stepped out from behind the far side of the stone. Mr. Echo. His coat was wet to the knees. The brass box hung at his hip. He looked at Will on the grass, then at Kate. "You made it before dawn," he said. "Good. Bring him." Kate did not move. "Who are they." She meant the rabbit pair. "Dead," Mr. Echo said. "Two of them. Their voices are in the box now. They walked me the path the Fen can't erase." He watched her face. "They won't touch him. They're here for what comes after." He crouched by the stone and set his palm flat on it. "This is where the dead recover their names. Lay him here. The cat stays on his chest until I say." Kate and Ollie carried Will the last few steps and laid him on the stone. His weight had gone light. Kate could see the grass through his sleeve. She kept her hand on his shoulder so he would know she was there. The cat did not lift its paw. Mr. Echo opened the brass box. A long dry sound came out, older than any voice Kate had heard, and the ghost pair by the stone bent their heads to listen. The grass under Will steadied. His outline sharpened by a hair. "He'll hold now," Mr. Echo said. "Until dawn. No longer." He looked up at her. His voice went quieter. "The pale woman is coming. The moon showed her the way. We have what's left of the night to give him back his name." Kate closed her hand around her brother's and did not let go.