Orin Wanderwood's Arc

Chapter 18 of 26

The cavern narrowed and then opened. Lady Moon walked ahead without a lamp. Orin followed with Lily in his arms. Kate came behind with the candle. The tapping above them had stopped. That was worse than hearing it. Without the ghost girl at the shutter, he had no way to know where the creature was. Marrow and Mr. Echo were still somewhere out in the trees, drawing it east. If it circled back to the house and found the cellar open, they would never hear it coming. Lady Moon stopped where the passage widened into a low room. A small tent stood against the far wall. Its cloth was patched and bright, made for a child. A lantern glowed inside it. "Put her here," Lady Moon said. Orin laid Lily on the blanket. Her eyes tracked the light. The pink butterfly stayed on her wrist. "You said a trade," Orin said. "Later," Lady Moon said. "First, your friends." She pointed to the wall behind the tent. A wooden rack stood there, carved with runes he could not read. A bow rested across it. Six arrows sat in the slots below, their fletching in colors he had never seen on a bird. "One shot carries a warning," she said. "Loose it above ground and the sound reaches whoever hears your name." "Marrow," he said. "And the man with the box." Orin looked at Lily. Her breath was thin. Kate knelt beside her and pressed a hand to her forehead. "Go," Kate said. "I have her." He took the bow. It was lighter than it looked. He chose a red arrow because red felt loud. Lady Moon led him back up a side passage that climbed. It came out under a slab of rock behind the house. Cold air hit his face. He crawled out into the ferns. The yard was empty. The tapping was gone from the walls. He could hear it now, far off to the east, working through the pines. Marrow and Mr. Echo were still leading it. He set the arrow to the string and drew. The bow pulled easy. He aimed at the sky above the tree line and let go. The arrow rose without a sound, then broke open at its peak. A clear note spread across the trees, not loud, but exact. It was Marrow's name spoken in his own voice, and Mr. Echo's after it. The tapping in the pines stopped. Then it started again, moving away from them, deeper east, chasing the false call north. Orin lowered the bow. He had bought Marrow and Mr. Echo time. He had also told the creature where he was. He slid back into the ferns and dropped into the passage. Behind him, at the tree line, something began to tap toward the sound he had made.