her own willfulness. Because she had saved one human, her family were all running scattered to the four directions and at the mercy of strangers.
She had to find Bess Suncatcher, and she was not certain that Alon was really the Skinwalker raven’s son.
“If you are a bear like your father then can you also heal wounds?” asked Alon.
Samantha hesitated and then inclined her chin. One corner of his mouth turned upward as if this pleased him.
“I am also a twin.”
“Identical?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I have a sister.”
“Older or younger?”
His mouth went grim and he did not answer, but instead turned away. “Follow me.”
She didn’t, so he stopped and turned back, his face now somber and his eyes troubled.
“Samantha, don’t be so frightened.”
She straightened. “I’m not.”
His eyes rolled skyward at the lie. “I can hear your heartbeat.”
She glared but did not deny her disquiet again.
“I will see you safely to our home. You have my word.”
She believed him. But why did she believe him?
“You are a Halfling?”
He glanced back and then blew out a long breath. “Yes.”
“What are your gifts?” she asked.
His eyes shifted to the undergrowth and then flicked to the branches.
“I do not consider them gifts.”
She waited but he said no more. He cocked his head. She listened, scented the air and found no threat.
“Best be off.” He set them in motion again.
Samantha thought back to her mother’s teaching. Niyanoka could be born with any gift, not just the ones of their parents, and there were so many. Some were born with more than one. She strode beside him as she tried to recall them all. Clairvoyants, Truth Seekers, Dream Walkers, Memory Walkers, Peacemakers... And then she recalled something else. He had said she was born of the first two Halfling races. She stared at this man, heeded the warning that prickled over her skin and dropped back a few more steps.
“Why did the Thunderbirds carry you?” he asked. “What threatened your life?”
“Ghosts,” she said. “Ghosts and the enemy of my mother, the Spirit Nagi, Ruler of all Ghosts.”
This time it was Alon who lost his footing. He drew up short and turned to scrutinize her.
“Nagi?” he asked as if for confirmation.
She nodded, studying his drawn face. He was right to look so concerned. The ruler of the Circle of Ghosts was a dangerous foe. Merely helping her placed him and his entire family at risk.
“I understand if you do not want me near you, Alon.”
“You are worried about my safety?” His voice rang with incredulity. He closed his eyes for a moment and braced his hand across his forehead as if suddenly struck with a terrible headache. “He is not near. That much I know.” He remained where he was, motionless, his head bowed as if in deep thought. “And there are no ghosts about.”
She gaped. “How...how? Do you see them, too?”
Only Seers and Skinwalker owls could see ghosts. And only Seers could send disembodied spirits to the Ghost Road, though her father said that an owl could sometimes trick a ghost into leaving a human host. Terrible possibilities emerged in her mind.
“I can see them.” His hand dropped to his side. “And I can feel them on my skin.”
Tingling fingers of terror danced like ice water down her spine. He could feel the presence of ghosts?
“What are you?” she asked, unable to keep the panic from creeping into her voice.
He did not answer, only jerked his head to scan the open meadow beyond the line of trees, catching the movement an instant before she did.
Something flashed before them, diving into the open space. Samantha stifled a scream until she recognized the brown and white feathers of a swooping harrier hawk. This was no threat, at least, not to her.
She crouched, still looking for ghosts. They appeared to her as wisps of smoke of various colors, usually at the periphery of her vision. The sunlight that streamed down on the grassy field made spotting them much more difficult than in the darkness and clear cold air of the north. It was another reason her father kept them so far north—so they could see the ghosts before the ghosts saw them.
Before them, the sun streamed down on an open field. At the center of the meadow the snow had receded completely, and lush green shoots sprang up amid the bowed yellow grass. The lush landscape reminded Samantha again of how far the Thunderbirds had carried her.
It took only an instant for the raptor to snatch up a