A TAIL OF NINE

CHAPTER NINE: That Which Shines and Dies

As soon as Kon can walk, we get the heck out of there. We need a place to hide! Whoever has Kon's kitsunebi could be hunting us right now! At least they can't use Kon's link or mine to track us down.

Even though mom has a fur coat, I don't like how pale she looks. While I'm unzipping my coat, so I can scoop her up in it and carry her, she sneezes her disapproval and makes me bundle up even more. My shoulder isn't healed all the way yet, so she inspects it first.

After a bit, we come to a place that the Amarok consider safe. It's a dry riverbed. From the looks of it, no hint of water has been here for a long time. The river that used to carve its way through here must have changed course for some reason. Maybe somebody built a dam or had some human reason for not wanting it to run through here. We come to an ash tree. A good chunk of its roots are out of the ground now. I guess they were under water about a decade ago, probably sheltering some pretty big trout or maybe a carp or two. Anyway, the exposed roots snake out, forming a cage of sorts. Not that I want to think about cages right now. Pine needles and dry leaves for a carpet on the ground, while some downed branches that have been trapped in the tangle of roots, make a roof. It's a big enough space that all of us can cram underneath.

When I see a pile of small bones in one corner, I want to leave. Kirby shifts to his human form.

"No, it's a good omen for predators," he assures me.

But right now we aren't predators. We're the prey.

After I push the bones out of the way, I say, "We have to be smart about this. We HAVE to get her kitsunebi back. To do that, we need to find out who took it."

The rest of the Amarok take human form.

"Whoever it is has something against all kitsune," Wrinkles says. "Why else would they be killing them?"

"Or maybe whoever it is collects kitsunebi," I offer. But we won't know for sure until we find them.

Kon's tails appear. At first, I don't know what she's doing. She untethers my fiddle from her, which releases a little bit of the magic she still has. Then she turns human, like everybody else. I'd give her any magic left in me, but I don't have any.

"What do we do now?" I'm the only one talking. Why isn't anybody else coming up with suggestions? Luc is the leader of his pack. He should already have a plan! He should know what to do! He definitely isn't as great as Kon thinks he is.

Kon touches my shoulder, as if she can tell I'm getting ready to lose it. Then she says to the Amarok, "The war has been some time ago. Why did you decide to hunt me now?"

Luc replies, "I hunt alone and was away from the pack. When I returned, the decision was made. The one you refer to as Kirby seemed to need this."

With everybody's eyes glued to him, Kirby whines and sinks to the ground. "I don't want anybody thinking I'm a seann bhodach lag."

Wrinkles glares at Kirby.

Reluctant, Kirby continues, "Before we came after you, I had wandered away from my pack. I needed time to think. That's when I saw a man. He was a hunter that called himself the Junk Man."

"And?" Luc prods him.

"He said that in exchange for his life, he'd tell me of a kitsune coward, one that refused to fight in the war." Kirby absently scratches at the back of his neck. Then he looks over at me. "I don't think she's a coward. Not anymore."

"Damn, Kirby! You listened to a random human?" Skinny pipes up. "I'm the one that's supposed to be the idiot!"

"Go on," I urge Kirby.