River of Secrets by Erin Hunter

Author:Erin Hunter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-03-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

“APPROACH, FRIENDS,” SAID SUNSET. He was sitting on a rock at the edge of the feast clearing, and Ghost was sitting on the ground right beside him, feeling prouder and more at home than he had since the night that the Snow Cat had shown him its footprints and led the leopards to catch that deer. Sunset himself had asked if Ghost would sit at his left paw, while Blossom and Ginseng sat on his right. This was how he’d chosen to receive the questions of the creatures of the Bamboo Kingdom.

They’d been sending out word for a couple of days. Every time they met a squirrel or a monkey or a takin, the pandas told them to tell their friends that the Dragon Speaker would meet them and hear them on this day, at High Sun. Now there were a number of animals climbing the hill to the feast clearing. Three golden takins lumbered up the path, their long fur gleaming in the bright sunshine. A solitary manul cat about half the size of Shiver sat at the edge of the clearing, grooming its fluffy gray-and-brown fur and casting suspicious glances at the assembled pandas.

Sunset held the blue Dragon Speaker stone in his paw as one by one they approached him. Some of them bowed before they spoke, like the small family of pikas—mouse-like creatures with fluffy round bodies—that scurried right up to the rock where he sat. The pikas pressed their noses to the ground, and two of them left them there even when the third began to speak.

“Oh, great Dragon Speaker!” she squeaked. “It is an honor and a privilege to be able to speak with you! Please ask the Dragon to bless our humble family!”

The others trembled as if in agreement.

“Bless you all,” Sunset said. “The Dragon itself is blessed to have such followers as you. Do you have a question for your Dragon Speaker?”

The pika who had spoken nudged her companion, who lifted his head nervously.

“We lost our burrow in the flood,” he said. “Now the waters have gone down, but the burrow was washed away. Should we return to the bank? Or should we stay up on higher ground?”

Sunset nodded, and held out his blue stone for all to see. He closed his eyes, and his head fell back. For a moment there was perfect silence in the crowded clearing. All eyes were on him, including Ghost’s.

Then he opened his eyes with a small gasp. He looked down at the pikas and smiled.

“The Dragon wants you to know that your choices are your own,” he said. “But if you return to the riverbank, you will be safe there. The flood is over. The water will not rise again.”

A chittering and sighing of relief ran around the feast clearing, pandas nodding solemnly as monkeys whooped and takins turned and lowed to each other in soft, happy voices. The pikas backed away, still bowing, their small noses practically dragging on the floor.

The next to approach was the group of takins, and they had a similar set of questions.

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