InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The River ❯ The Tempest, part 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or any related titles, characters, etc., etc., you know the drill.

 

Chapter one: The Tempest, part one

 

Kagome was literally holding on for her life.

 

She had never, ever seen such a storm. Her hand put the railing in a death grip so hard that it turned her knuckles white, her wide mahogany-brown eyes warily cast themselves up at the angry, steel gray sky that seemed to stretch to infinity and back. As she watched, an angry tongue of lightning lashed sharply across the sky, reveling everything on the deck into sharp relief, bathing every living thing for miles around in a terrible white light. The bolt seemed to span the horizons, covering the land and river below it in an intricate web of white fire. Kagome had never seen anything so beautiful - or terrible - in her entire life. In the white light of the lightning, life seemed to pause, like something was holding its breath, waiting for the lightning to retreat. The men that had, moments ago, been rushing about the deck or fumbling with their duties in a panicked manner, were now still as a tomb, their eyes staring fixedly at the lightning above them. The women, who were previously screaming as though the Judgment Day had arrived and clutching their small, shrieking children to their bosoms, stopped their activities and stared, jaws wide open in amazement, at the lightning, just as transfixed with the display as the weathered sailors - if not more so. Then, just as soon as the net of fulguration had spread itself out across the sky, it withdrew like a snake pulling back into its burrow, leaving no sign of it having ever existed. And just like that, everything was one again plunged into an ebony darkness, as though everything had been suddenly encased in the blackest of onyx. A split second later, an explosion of thunder fell from the sky, like rocks colliding. It shook the trees on the bank, sending ripples across the water that was gathering on the deck and dangerously jarring the tall flagstaff that loomed over the deck. The thunder that emanated from the sky seemed to break the spell. The sailors scrambled back into action, and the women started shrieking and running around like chickens with their heads cut off again. Kagome screamed and ducked, fearing that the flagstaff would fall on her and wondering how it was even possible for a storm to grow to this size.

 

Sure enough, moments later, the wind weakened flagstaff started bowing towards the deck with a heavy groan. With a heavy crack, the flagstaff snapped cleanly in half and came crashing down to the deck, crunching and splintering the wood that made up the deck. Kagome dove away from the iron pole, narrowly missing being crushed by it. She gripped the rail, breathing hard. The rain pelted her skin like thousands of daggers, causing her dress to cling to her and her hair to plaster itself to her head. Her nails dug into her skin as she put the railing into a death grip, making her bleed slightly. She jerked her head up suddenly, causing water to literally fly from the ends of her hair, as she was hit with a sudden realization that had escaped her when her adrenaline kicked in and her main focus became staying alive. But now that the thought entered her head, it haunted her, sending her into a panic.

 

Where is my brother? Where is Souta?!

 

“SOUTA!” She cried over the shrieking of the storm. Her voice was lost in the wind. Oh, where was he? She hadn't seen him since the storm hit. She squinted into the rain, desperately trying to pick out the head of her child brother. Oh, Souta, where are you? This is why I didn't want you to come along!

 

She thought back to how she had gotten into this predicament. It was about a week or two ago, now, if that. It was then that her life had inevitably changed, no matter which path she would have decided to take…

 

Kagome walked lightly down the stairs, stretching her arms above her head and causing her clean white nightdress to rise up a few inches. She wound her way to the kitchen where her family was waiting and smiled cheerfully.

 

“Good morning, everyone!” She said brightly. It was early summer, barley out of spring, and the weather couldn't have been finer. Bright sunlight streamed in through the windows, spilling it's gold light on the floor and table and causing it to glare off of the river that flowed lazily about twenty-eight paces from their back porch (which was quite an inconvenience when the big storms came up; when that happened, Kagome could step outside her door, and there the river would be). The sun also started to burn up the heavy mist that hung over the river, for which the area was named for. Kagome's family, along with the few surrounding families that lay suspended between the towns of Tara and Star, lived at the base of a mountain called Foggy Mountain. It was the only home that Kagome had ever known, and she loved it dearly, although sometimes she wanted to just escape - to take to the river and ride it as far as it would flow. She wanted to experience adventure, and get away from the everyday life of Foggy Mountain.

 

Seated around the familiar solid oak table was her family; her sisters Rin and Tama, her brothers Souta, Tomo and Toyo (the latter two being twins), their dog Uba waiting hopefully under the table for someone to drop a bit of food, and finally, her father. As Kagome pulled out her chair and sat down, it occurred to her that something didn't feel right. Tomo and Toyo weren't laughing and trying to sneak insects into Rins breakfast (“Oh, look how big this one is, that'll scare `er for sure!”), Rin wasn't arguing with Tama over the benefits of wearing corsets (“I don't care how thin they make you look, there ain't no point in `em if I can't even breathe!”), Souta wasn't trying to feed Uba the more undesirable of foods under the table (“Come on, boy, it's just spinach! At least, I think that's what it is…”), and her father wasn't smiling and trying to keep the peace. Everyone was just sitting there in a rare state of silence, staring at their food with the air of people who were previously having a conversation until she entered. What's more, no one - not even her father - met her gaze. It was then that Kagome realized the most out-of-place thing of all:

 

“Wait, where's Mother?”

 

An eerie silence descended. Her father cleared his throat and muttered, “She…stepped out. Now eat your breakfast, Kagome.”

 

Now Kagome was quite convinced that something had happened. Her family was hiding something, which was an incredible feat in itself; they were not what one would call “wealthy,” and the house had a grand total of four rooms. There would only be three, but the upstairs was divided into two parts by a heavy curtain. Plus, her family consisted of eight people and two dogs. If you manage to keep a secret in her house, you should be enlisted to work for the government. But somehow that's exactly what her family was managing to do. But what really got her worried was that they were keeping whatever secret they had from her. Trying not to let her nerves show, the plucked up her spoon and went to eat her oatmeal…until she got a good look at the oatmeal. She grimaced and glanced at her father, saying, “You tried cooking again, didn't you?”

 

Still avoiding her gaze, he grumbled, “Your mother left early. Now eat.”

 

Silenced, Kagome returned to her food. The only two people in her family who were not avoiding her gaze like it would give them the plague were her favorite siblings, Souta and Tama.

 

There was not a sound in the room for what seemed like hours as everybody slowly picked at their breakfast. Kagome was only pretending to eat, partly due to nerves about whatever the heck her family was hiding and partly because her fathers cooking should be legally classified as a lethal weapon. It seemed like ages before the silence was shattered by the opening of the door, the barking of their dogs Uba and Gora (the latter had been outside, sleeping), and the high, tinny laughter of Kagome's mother. Kagome heaved a sigh of relief; if anyone could shed some light on the situation, her mother could.

 

Turns out she was right, although she may have liked it better if she wasn't.

 

“…best cook in the entire family, she is, never burned a meal in her life…and an absolute master with a needle, that child could embroider anything you name - oh, Kagome, dear, you're up!” Her mother beamed, walking briskly into the bright room and giving Kagome a peck on top of the head. Kagome noticed for the first time that a boy had followed her mother into the house. He looked to be about Kagome's age, or perhaps a year older, and dressed in finery that implied that he came from a family of great wealth. Despite his age, Kagome could not help but think of him as a “boy” because the blunt immaturity in the manner that he held himself, mingling with the lazy fatuity that resided in his dull gray eyes, made him seem like more of a child then a man.

 

She quickly pulled herself out of her scrutiny of the boy and reverted her attention to her mother, whom she had just realized was speaking. “…all worked out, so now we just have to pick the date and all of the rest of the little details. Isn't that lovely, dear?” she said, smiling down at Kagome.

 

Kagome blinked. “Oh…I'm sorry, Mother, I wasn't…what did you say?”

 

Her mother sighed heavily. “I said that all of the arrangements have been finalized. Isn't that wonderful?”

 

“What arrangements?”

 

“Why, for your marriage, of course!”

 

Freeze. “Uh…I…uh, I - I'm afraid I don't…I - I'm not sure I quite…what?!”

 

Her mother frowned before turning to glare at her father. “You did tell her, of course?”

 

His remorseful silence and determination not to meet either of the women's eyes was all the answer she needed. She sighed heavily, glaring angrily at her husband, before turning to Kagome. “We have arranged to your marriage to young Hojo here, Kagome.”

 

Kagome leapt from her seat, sending her chair toppling back to the floor. Arranged marriages happened, but they were admittedly rare; Kagome had never suspected she would fall victim to one. Kagome stared at her mother, confusion temporarily enveloping whatever anger she felt. “Wh-what…why - how come-?”

 

“Oh, Kagome, I know you must be confused, but Hojo's family is considerably wealthy, and we have been friends with them for a long time-”

 

“Then why have I never heard of them before?” Kagome snarled, anger at her parents starting to claim control of where her train of thought was going. How could they just take control of my life like this?!

 

“It was never necessary; don't interrupt. As I was saying, we have known Hojo's family for some time now, and we decided it was time that the two families were finally united. He is quite a nice young man, Kagome, I heard he is planning on going back East to complete his education in that one Northern collage - you know which one I'm talking about, don't you, Keir? - in a year or two.”

 

Now Kagome was really mad. “Back East?! What do you mean, back East?!”

 

“Well, they live in that city - oh, blast, where do you live again, Hojo, dear?”

 

“New York,” he said. Kagome noticed his voice was almost as dull as his blank gray eyes. Almost.

 

“Ah, yes. Yes, they live in New York, Kagome, and it's a very nice city from what I've heard, very nice, I'm sure you'll enjoy it-”

 

By this point, the camel was buried in a straw stack the size of an oak. Kagome was overwhelmed, simply put, by all of the new information being heaped on her; first she was going to get married to some idiot that she didn't know, now she was going to move to a city? She had never even seen a city! The biggest town she had ever been to was Tara, the town that rested up the river, and that had a grand total of one hundred and fifty people. How did her mother expect her to handle all of this? She couldn't just smile sweetly and nod and pretend that none of this was new or frightening, because it was. She was quite prepared to open her mouth and tell her mother just what she thought (in a way that would most certainly get her grounded in an instant), but her sister Tama beat her to the punch.

 

“So you're just going to send your daughter away like she's nothing? What is that, huh? Have you even considered the fact that perhaps she doesn't want to do this? You're just piling all of this information on her and expecting her to take it like it's just nothing! For God's sake, she doesn't even know this kid! You're probably just doing this to get a hand in his family's freaking money! You don't care about her, or her happiness! You just want to satisfy your own selfish wants! I mean, what kind of parent sells their own daughter out for a bit of money?!”

 

With that, Tama pushed her chair back and stormed out of the door, slamming it behind her. A deafening silence followed that action before seven pairs of wary eyes turned to Kagome. She cleared her throat and said calmly as she could, “Well, if you all will excuse me, I think I would like to go work some on my sketches now.”

 

She glanced at her mother, whose face was still and pallid with shock from her sister's words, to her father who was still avoiding her gaze like a coward, to the boy, whose expression showed no sign of having processed what had just happened. With that, she made the slow procession across the dusty floor of her tomb of a kitchen. When she finally reached the stairs, she willed herself not to shout at her mother and father about how much she hated them for doing this to her, not to scream at the remaining siblings there for not saying anything to her, not to thunder up the stairs in a desperate attempt to get away from them all, and most of all, not to let a single tear fall until she was safe in the sanctuary of her own room.

 

Once in her room, Kagome allowed the tears to come forth like the rains of Noah's flood. She sat down on her bed, head bowed, ebony shaded hair graciously curtaining her face from any prying eyes, and sobbed. No sound escaped her, just crystalline tears slipping from her eyes. Her shoulders shook silently, her hands clutching desperately at her soft white nightdress. But Kagome hated crying; she hated it when she did it and acted like some whiney little child, and she hated it when others did it. So after a few more moments, she forced herself to stop, pushed the last few tears away with her sleeve, and assessed her surroundings. It occurred to her what a lovely day it was going to be today. There were two windows on this side of the room, one facing West, the other South. There were large maple trees outside of each window, and the cheerful morning sunlight filtered in through the leaves, casting a greenish hue over the room. It was warm, but not uncomfortably so, partly due to the light, pleasant breeze that drifted past the half-open partition that their father made from some heavy, pale blue cloth from Tara and had hung up there to separate the girls and boys sides of the room. A light green maple leaf drifted into the girl's side of the room on the summer breeze as Kagome watched, dancing elaborately in the air in front of her before settling down on her lap. She smiled and plucked it up, resting it on a copy of Walden on her wooden nightstand. She sighed heavily, suddenly bored. Going back downstairs was not and option, so she simply pulled out her sketchbook and began to work in that instead. A few minutes into the drawing, she had become so absorbed that she didn't notice a quiet rustling in the maple tree behind her. Then, abruptly, she heard her sisters voice come from the tree directly outside of the window: “I like that. What made you think of it?”

 

Kagome jumped up off of the bed, heart racing, causing the picture and pencil to fall to the floor. Tama was sitting in the maple branches outside of the window, smirking at having startled Kagome, the soft wind catching her hair and picking it up off of her shoulders. Kagome scooped her sketch up off of the floor, smoothing it out silently. It consisted of three young boys in a small boat, the biggest attempting to pull in a fish that had latched onto his lure while the other two watched in rapt fascination. She smiled and answered, “Watching the boys going fishing yesterday.”

 

“Oh.” Tama shifted in her seat in the tree, studying the picture from her post there. An outsider might have guessed that she was simply admiring the picture, but Kagome knew her sister better then that. Whenever she gets that distant expression on her face, she's thinking about something that was bothering her. A moment later, she lifted her gaze to look at Kagome. “So,” she said in a subdued tone, “what're you goin' to do about-”

 

She was swiftly cut off by a pair of footsteps on the stairs that led to the bedrooms. Tama's eyes hardened as she silently slipped into the shadows of the great maple, the leaves and limbs of said tree graciously shielding her from sight so that it looked like she wasn't even there. Kagome blinked as her sister disappeared from view; she has been doing that since she came here when she was three, and Kagome still hasn't figured out just how she did it. Must be something she learned before…her train of thought trailed off as she directed her attention to the landing of the staircase where her mother stood a pace or two in front of Hojo.

 

Her mother watched Kagome nervously. “Kagome,” she said softly, “I know that this is…well, sudden…but try to understand. We really are just doing this for y-”

 

An abrupt cracking sound, a crash, and a jumble of words that Kagome couldn't make out. Kagome and her mother swiftly ran over to the window and stared out of it at the ground, where Tama was snarling angrily in her native language and kicking the tree, a large branch resting next to her. She froze and looked up at them. “What?” she snapped. “Don't look at me, the branch broke!”

 

Kagome's mother sighed heavily and pulled her head back into the room. “Just talk to him a bit, alright, dear?” she said pleadingly to Kagome. “I'm sure that once you get to know him, you'll like him.”

 

Silence. Kagome looked absolutely homicidal, while Hojo just stood there with the same old blank look spread across his visage. Kagome started to protest, but it was too late. Her mother had already left the room in a rush, leaving the two vaguely confused teenagers by themselves with equally confused expressions - well, Hojo always looked like that, but that was beside the point.

 

Kagome glanced at him warily, and decided to try to make conversation. Maybe her mother was right. Maybe once she got to know him a bit better, she would like him more. Maybe he was just shy. With that in mind, she smiled cheerfully at him and asked in a sunny voice, “So, Hojo! What are your hobbies?”

 

He blinked. “Huh?”

 

“That is, what do you like to do for fun?”

 

“Oh…I don't know. Whatever my parents tell me to do.”

 

Kagome did not take this for a good sign.

 

“Uh…okay…well, then, what are you studying?”

 

“For what?”

 

“…for school. My mother said that you were going to that big Yan - uh, Eastern college.”

 

“Oh. I don't know yet. My parents didn't tell me before I came.”

 

Kagome nearly had another fit; she probably would have if it were not for her mother calling up the stairs: “Hooo-jooo! Come on down, now, dear, Mr. Higurashi is taking you back to Tara to catch the boat upriver!”

 

Without another word to Kagome, Hojo turned around silently and walked back down the stairs, leaving Kagome standing there in the middle of her room, fuming silently. There was silence for a few moments, before Tama's voice drifted in through the window:

 

“…wow, what an idiot.”

 

Kagome groaned, throwing herself face-first on the bed like a child having a tantrum. “You're right. I can't marry him! He's completely clueless! What kind of moron lets their parents choose their career for them?!”

 

Tama shrugged. “Maybe it's some kind of Yankee custom. You don't know.”

 

“Well, I don't care if it is one of their weird traditions, I ain't marrying a sissy like that!”

 

“Well, you don't have much of a choice, do you?”

 

Kagome stared at her and moaned. “Oh, Tama,” she sighed heavily, sitting down on the window ledge and sulking. “What will I do? I can't marry him!”

 

“Well, what do you plan on doing about it?”

 

“Oh, I don't know...what would you do, Tama?”

 

Tama sat back on her new perch in the tree, thinking for several minutes. After an age of silence, she muttered, “You alone?”

 

Kagome paused, puzzled, and stood. She warily pulled back the partition; no one. She checked down the stairs; not a soul in the kitchen, either. She returned. “No one,” she reported. “Not a body in the house.”

 

“Good, because we would both be in a load of trouble if anyone overheard this.” She came forward on the branch, sitting on the window ledge and dangling her legs in the room, swinging them slowly back and forth. “The way I see it is, you got yourself three options. One: you can sit back and accept your fate-”

 

“I will die first…”

 

“Two: you can try and reason with Mom and Dad-”

 

“Please, they couldn't reason if they tried.”

 

“Then you are left with one option: run.”

 

Kagome blinked. “Run…away?”

 

“Yeah, nice call there, Captain Obvious.” Tama jumped into the room, studying Kagome carefully. “Unless you have a better idea?”

 

“Obviously not…do you really think that's the only way?”

 

“Well, you can't reason with Mom and Dad, you won't marry him, so, yes, to answer your question, this is your only option. Sorry.”

 

Kagome groaned, resting her head in her hands. “I guess I don't really have a choice…”

 

“Then it's settled,” Tama proclaimed. She walked over to a trunk, kicked it open, and pulled out a medium-sized travel bag.

 

Kagome panicked. “Wait!

 

“What?”

 

“W-we can't just go in without a plan.”

 

Tama sighed. “You're right…but…” She trailed off, rummaging silently through the bag as she continued. “You don't really…have another option…and we can just make it up…as we…go…” Her voice trailed into nothing as she became absorbed in what she was doing, searching silently through the bag, a light frown creasing her face.

 

“Well, where shall I run to? Tara?”

“Tara? No, no, not Tara…it's too close. You'll be found for sure.” She found what she was looking for, lifting it up with a triumphant grin. “No, my dear Kagome, you are going to take a river boat.”

 

She silently held out whatever she had found to Kagome, who took it. It was a small, deep blue drawstring bag, and was heavier then it looked. She opened it, and out fell ten gold coins.

 

Tama grinned at her surprised expression. “Enough for a ticket as far west on the river as you could get - and still with enough left to get as far as the Gulf once it joins up with the Mississippi, with some left over, even.”

 

Kagome shook her head. “Wh-where did you get this?”

 

“Weeding for crazy ol' Missus Stiles up in Star,” she replied with a smirk, jerking her head north where the small spit of a town of Star lay. “She overpays everyone, and you know that as well as I do.”

 

Kagome set the bag on top of her nightstand, thinking. “Where will I go? Up the river?”

 

“Naw, you crazy? That's where that kid's going; didn't you hear Mom? There's a chance that you'd run into him. `Sides, you don't know no one up the river. That's Yank territory, and you don't got no family up there. You go there, and you're on your own. If you get in trouble, there ain't no one around to bail you out of it. You'd be better off going down the river.”

 

“Well, even if I do have more family down river, I can't exactly go to them. They'll just bring me back here, and you know it!”

 

Tama paused, stumped. She sat down on the bed and shut her eyes for several minutes. Kagome was half-convinced that she had gone to sleep when she said abruptly, without opening up her eyes, “New Orleans.”

 

Kagome started; she hadn't expected her to speak. “New…Orleans?”

 

“Mm-hmm. Shoot, child, what's with you today? You get hard on hearing all of a sudden?”

 

Kagome couldn't help but smile at Tama's reply. “No, no, I heard you, although I thought I had misheard you. Tama, why New Orleans? I sure don't have any family there, and you know how I feel about those big cities.”

 

“New Orleans is a nice city, not like those trashy Yankee places…” but after that she dropped the topic. “Now, start packing.”

 

“Now?! Why? I…you ain't sending me off today, are you?”

 

“If I can get you out of here, I will.”

 

“But why?”

 

“Listen to reason, Kagome!” Tama snapped, glaring at her sister. “After the reaction given, Mom and Dad might try to ship you off to New York before the end of the week, to ensure that you don't try anything. That's my first reason. The second reason is it's going to storm soon.”

 

Now Kagome was thoroughly convinced that Tama was insane. Just to make sure that nothing had changed since he last time she looked, she stood, straightened her dress, and walked over to the West-facing window to look at the sky. It was clear as a bell, and the sky was one of the most perfect blues Kagome had ever seen. Kagome looked at Tama, then back at the sky, then back at Tama again. “Did you hit your head when you fell from the tree? The clouds are as scarce as hen's teeth out there.”

 

“Don't matter.” She waked over and stood next to Kagome, gazing silently out of the window. “Mind the wind, Kagome; it's coming from the north.” As if to confirm Tama's words, a big gust of wind swept up, fluttering the leaves on the maple tree. “I smell rain on it. And can't you feel how humid it is?”

 

“Tama, it's the South. It's summer. It's going to be humid!”

 

“Well, you know what, my ankle's bothering me, and it smells like rain. Interpret that for me, please.”

 

Kagome bit her lip. She really couldn't argue with that. When Tama was just a child - no older then five - she, Kagome, and Rin were out swimming in the river. A strong current had caught Tama up and swept her down the river, pulling her under. While Rin ran screaming for their father, Kagome stood, frozen and horrified, not certain what to do. Even the wind, which had been graciously easing the heat of the day prior to that moment, stood still as Tama was pulled beneath the raging surface. As she watched, Tama struggled over to a place where a tree had fallen in the river. Her outstretched hand had just fallen short of catching onto its branches, but her foot latched onto it. Kagome remembered hearing a sickening crack as the current tugged at Tama while the tree held on. When their father got there, he pulled her out. Tama's ankle was at an odd angle that made Kagome's skin crawl. She winced, attempting to stand. “I think it's broken…” she let out a yelp, falling back to the earth. “Yep. Broken.” Aside form the ankle injury, however, Tama got off unscathed. Their father took her to Tara as fast as their best horse, Traveler, would take them so that Tama could get her leg splinted. Ever since then, Tama could tell when a storm was coming if her ankle started to hurt - and she hasn't been wrong since.

 

Tama smirked at her agitated face. “See, you know I'm right.”

 

“Well, I don't see what that has to do with me leaving today.”

 

“Simple, Kagome. It storms, river boat trips are postponed. Best to get on the river while you have a chance then needing to and not being able to.”

 

“But if river boat trips are cancelled, I won't be able to go to-”

 

“You'd get to New York over land.”

 

Kagome blinked, surprised. Here, everything revolved around the river, from travel to trade to commerce. The farthest anyone traveled over land around here was between towns, and sometimes they did that on the river, too. She had barley considered the fact of having to go to New York over land. “Oh.”

 

“Exactly. See my point, now?”

 

“Yes…but I still don't see how I'm going to manage to get to Tara without Mom and Dad stopping me first. I can't easily sneak off on a horse, or even on a raft, and it's too far to walk.”

 

“Yeah…I hadn't thought of that…plus, even if you did take a boat, you'd be going against the current, and the Lord only knows how long it'd take you then…”

 

She scowled at the tree outside, thinking. Again. She seemed to be doing a lot of that today. Finally, she said to Kagome in a short voice, “Get dressed and finish packing up. I'll be back in a few minutes.”

 

Then, quite suddenly, she left. Kagome stood silently, perplexed, shook her head, and started getting ready. She pulled off her nightdress and donned a long, loose skirt that was shaded a dull blue and a gray button-up shirt. After rolling up the sleeves, she silently started packing. She looked around her room, knowing she would have to ration what she was taking. She went over to the trunk and opened it up, searching through it until she came across a sturdy canvas bag that had a strap that allowed her to sling said bag over her shoulder and a flap to cover the opening that tied shot using thin strips of leather. She set the bag on her bed and looked around. She first walked over to her nightstand and picked up the copy of Walden that was laying there. The leaf that had been laying there drifted to the floor. Kagome had forgotten about it. After a moment of thought, she opened up the book to a random page near the middle, placed the leaf there, and snapped the book shut. There, she thought. Now I'll always have part of home with me…She paused again and sighed heavily. She knew that she did not have much of an option but to run away, but that didn't console her much. She would still miss her home. Shaking these unpleasant thoughts from her hear, she found a loose piece of canvas in the trunk, wrapped the book in it, and laid it in the bag. Next, she folded her nightdress and set that in there as well. She then folded and added another skirt, her sketchbook, pencils, her hairbrush (but only after running it briefly through her hair), two shirts, and her Sunday dress. She paused, considering leaving that, but decided that she wanted to look presentable when she got…wherever she was going. Finally, she tied her tiny money bag from Tama onto a long leather cord, knotted the ends, and hung it around her neck. Almost as an afterthought, she stuffed a pair of stockings into the bag and tied her boots to the strap. No sooner had she finished all of this up when Tama returned, carrying with her a piece of paper and a quill.

 

Tama paused in the middle of the room, looking at Kagome's packed canvas bag. She then walked over to where the trunk was resting, kicked the lid open, and started rummaging in there for something. She then produced a few things that Kagome didn't think of: a spool of thread inserted with a thin silver needle, which she wrapped in a clean white handkerchief. Also in this miniature bundle was a long piece of rolled up ribbon that was the shade of flawless robins eggs and a small, shining knife which she first wrapped in a separate piece of cloth. She added this and a rolled up bandage to the canvas bag before turning around to face Kagome.

 

“Where did you go?” asked Kagome, not able to contain her curiosity.

 

Tama smirked. “Taking care of a few last little details.”

 

“Did you figure out how to get me to Tara?”

 

Tama nodded. “Yes, and we got lucky, too. Do you remember that last big storm we had, the one that knocked that big oak down?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Well, apparently Mom got sick of looking at that old tree just laying there in the yard, because she's making Dad cut it down today. But he also has a bunch of orders from Tara that he needs to drop off today - three chairs, a small table, and a bed, I checked - and he won't have enough time to chop up that old tree and drop off the stuff. So I'm taking the furniture to Tara for him. I'm obviously going to have to use the cart, and since I have a feeling it'll rain later, it would probably be best if I threw an old tarp over top of the furniture so that it didn't get wet.”

 

Kagome caught on and grinned. “Alright, so that's one problem solved. Now, where am I going?”

 

Tama unfolded the piece of paper that was in her grasp and started to write on it. “You'll take this river line to the town of Oak Ridge, Kentucky. That's as far as it goes, anyway. That's where the Tennessee converges onto the Ohio. Buy a ticket down the Ohio - it won't cost you too much, I wouldn't reckon - to it's convergence onto the Mississippi, in the town of Driftwood. Get another ticket that'll take you the rest of the way down the Mississippi. Get off at the nearest stop to New Orleans.”

 

Kagome sighed heavily. “Tama, I keep telling you, I don't know a soul down in New Orleans. What'll I do when I get down there?”

 

“You don't know no one is New Orleans.” She finished what she was writing, added a brief signature, folded up the paper, and jotted an address down on the outside of the note before handing it to Kagome. “That's the address of a man in New Orleans named Sloane. Don't worry, you can trust him. Simply say that you are a close friend of Saoirse and give him this note, and he will give you a place to stay.”

 

“Who is Saorise?”

 

“Me. I am Saorise.” She paused studying Kagome's startled expression. “It was my name before the fire.” She heaved a sigh and sat down on the bed, lost in thought. “I wasn't called `Tama' until your parents took me in after the house burned. The name my parents gave me was Saoirse.”

 

“I have never heard that name before.”

 

“Well, Kagome, that's because my native country has a different native language,” she snapped, an annoyed look painted on her face. “So obviously, the names there would be slightly different.”

 

“What does it mean?”

Tama paused, staring out the window in thought. “Freedom,” she said finally. “It means freedom.” There was several moments of silence as Tama simply stood there, gazing out the window at something that Kagome couldn't see.

 

“Tama?” Kagome asked quietly.

 

Tama jerked her head sharply in Kagome's direction as if only just now realizing she was in the room. She remained still for a split second longer before giving her head a slight shake and saying, “I'm sorry, Kagome, did you say something?”

 

Kagome nodded. “Yeah…um, how do you know that this `Sloane' character is still here, anyway? He could have moved.”

 

“One, you would be kind to remember that `that Sloane character' is my brother, and the only relative that I've had any contact with since my parents died,” she almost snarled. Kagome had to resist the urge to draw back from her sister. “And two, he came up this way for business on the river when I was just ten and he gave me his address. I got a letter from him two weeks ago, in fact, so I know that that address is still good.”

 

Kagome hesitated. “If you saw him in person when you were ten, then, why didn't any of us see him, too? And for that matter, why didn't you go to stay with him if he is your family?”

 

Tama sighed in an exasperated voice. “I ran into him in Tara, alright? He stopped me, by chance, and asked if I knew where the Sealgaire family was - that was my surname, by the way - and that he was a relation. I told him that my parents had died years before in a big fire, and I was the last living Sealgaire in the area. He hugged me - which kind of freaked me out - and took me to the Silent Wolf to get me some food. I only went with him when he called me by the name Saoirse. He explained that he was my brother and had come here searching for me and my parents. He was devastated that they had died, and, yes, Sloane did offer to take me back to New Orleans with him. But I refused. I told him that I had a family here that I loved, and that I wanted to stay with them. He was sad, but he understood, and he gave me his address and told me that if I was ever in trouble and needed his help, all I had to do was come and find him. We have corresponded on a regular basis since, and, as I said, my last letter from him was two weeks ago, so I know for a fact that that is still his address and that you can trust him.”

 

She finished her rant, watching Kagome carefully as though daring her to challenge her. She didn't. Tama cleared her throat and continued. “So you will go on down to New Orleans, hunt down my brother, and give him this note. He'll watch over you, I'm sure.”

 

Kagome stuck the note into her little money pouch. She looked up and asked, “But what if Sloane doesn't believe me? What if he just thinks I'm making it up and sends me away?”

 

Kagome waited for Tama to dismiss the theory, saying that Kagome was being overly paranoid, but she didn't. “That's a possibility,” she said in a serious voice. She shut her eyes again, her hand moving on its own accord to a wooden pendant hanging from a thick leather cord on her neck. It was worn, and carved into the shape of an owl. She opened her eyes and looked down at the small owl, eyes calm. She then removed the cord from around her neck and handed the small carving and cord to Kagome. “Show him this,” she said softly. “He has seen it before, for it was a gift from my parents when I was just a child. If you show it to him, he will know that you speak the truth.”

 

Kagome gazed at the tiny owl before lifting her gaze to Tama. “I can't-”

 

“Oh, yes you can,” Tama interrupted. “You having that dumb pendant could save you from a life wandering around, a beggar on the streets. Take it and don't argue.”

 

Kagome swallowed a protest and nodded, slipping the owl in the money bag. Tama returned to the trunk and knelt, searching for something. “One more thing.”

 

Kagome raised her eyebrows, curious. Tama straightened, fist closed over something. “I found it near the riverbank last January. I was going to wait up and give it to you on your birthday, but now seems as good of a time as ever. `Sides, you might need it later on. Perhaps you could sell it if you get tight on money or something.”

 

She opened her fist, and with all of the buildup, Kagome had been expecting some spectacular or priceless jewel or a chunk of gold or silver. Proving

 

What she saw was a small bundle of dirty rags.