Artemis Awakening by Lindskold Jane

Author:Lindskold, Jane [Lindskold, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2014-05-27T00:00:00+00:00

Interlude: Cat’s Play

Velvet darkness, soft as sound.

My other self, my shadow,

Can you hear me?

My shadow, my other self,

I can hear you.

Shadow self try, so I can

Hear what you hear,

See what you …

Feel what …

Taste

Smell

Velvet darkness, soft as sound.

12

Spirit Bay

“Bruin?” the man repeated, holding tightly to the collar of a large brown dog that had stopped barking long enough to strain forward for a good, slobbery sniff.

Adara held her breath. She was sure she’d come to the right place, but the town’s nesting lines of buildings left her feeling more lost than ever the forest did.

“Bruin the Hunter,” she repeated. “Benjamin Hunter. He told us we’d find friends of his here.”

The man’s face lit up. As if reading his master’s emotions, the dog’s long tail started tocking back and forth in quick strokes and he settled onto his haunches.

“Oh, Benji Bear! That Bruin! Of course! We haven’t seen him for years, but he often visited us when he came to see the Old One. You must be Adara. He’s mentioned you in his letters. Of course you can stay here. I’m sorry. I couldn’t make out what you were saying over Roughneck’s yammering.”

“I have two friends with me,” Adara ventured, “and a puma. She knows how to mind her manners.”

“If she’s anything like Bruin’s Honeychild, then of course she does. I’m Cedric Trainer. This badly behaved boy is Roughneck. He’ll be a fine guard dog someday, but now he’s just a pup.”

Cedric Trainer was a bluff and hearty sort, the greying whiskers that framed his ruddy jowls cut so that he rather resembled one of the larger terrier breeds.

“Let me tell my wife, Elaine,” he continued. “You go get your friends. If you came all the way from Shepherd’s Call, you must have horses with you. We’ve room for them, too.”

“Three horses and a mule,” Adara said. “We could stable them elsewhere if they’d take up too much room.”

“No problem. We’ve plenty of space. Now, go fetch your friends.”

If Cedric reminded Adara of a terrier, then Elaine was a greyhound, long and lean, with a very pointed nose and silky, straight hair. She joined her husband in expressing delight at giving room to “Benji Bear’s Adara” and her companions. The horses and Sam the Mule were to be stabled in one of the many long kennels set haphazardly about the property.

“There’s room for you with the rest of us in the main house,” Elaine said, “if you don’t mind children underfoot.”

“Not at all,” Adara assured her. “Are you certain Sand Shadow will be no problem? Her scent won’t bother your dogs?”

“As long as she doesn’t harass them,” Cedric said, “they can be as bothered by the smell of a great cat as much as they like. We train hunting dogs among the rest. The better trained shouldn’t even take note of her—obedience is essential, don’t you know. The pups, well, let them get a good whiff. Won’t harm them and might teach them something.”

Evening was coming on by the time the

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