Orin Wanderwood's Arc

Chapter 17 of 26

The tapping had gone into the trees, but the house was still full of listening. Orin crouched at the shutter and watched the yard. The ghost girl had not come back. She had drawn the pale creature off, and every minute since had made him more certain she would not return. Without her, he would not know when the creature circled back until its hand was on the wood again. Kate sat on the floor with Lily's head in her lap. Lily's eyes were open but slow. "We can't stay," Orin said. Kate shook her head. "She can't walk." "Then I carry her." "To where?" He did not have an answer. The black cat jumped from the mantel and crossed the room. It stopped at a low door under the stairs he had not seen open in his life. The cat scratched the base once and looked back at him. Orin pulled the door. Inside, a set of stone steps went down into cold air. He remembered the smell before he remembered the steps. His mother had kept jars down there. He took a candle from the table and went down first. The cellar was small. At the far wall, the stone had been cut through. A rough opening led into a wider dark. The candle showed damp rock and a low ceiling. He knew what it was without being told. A shadow cavern ran under the house, older than the house. Something moved in the dark ahead. Orin lifted the candle. A woman stood in the passage. Her hair was pale and long. Her dress was gray. She was barefoot on the wet stone. She was not the creature from the yard. Her ears were round. Her eyes held the candle without flinching. "Come," she said. "Who are you." "Lady Moon." "The girl who led it away. Where is she." "Kept." He understood. The pale creature had her now. The ghost girl was not coming back because she could not. "Bring your sister," Lady Moon said. "The cave goes under the hill. It cannot follow here." "Why help us." "A trade. Later." He did not like the sound of it. He heard the tapping start again at the front of the house, closer now, working back along the wall. He climbed the steps two at a time. "Kate. Down. Now." Kate carried Lily's shoulders. Orin took her feet. They moved her through the low door and down the stone steps. The tapping reached the kitchen window as the cellar door swung shut behind them. Orin dropped the bar. Lady Moon was already walking into the cavern. The black cat followed. The pink butterfly came down the steps last and settled on Lily's hand. Orin lifted his sister and went after the gray woman into the dark. He had traded one watcher for another, and he did not know yet what she would ask.