FOUR DAYS LATER
I wake up when the carriage jolts to a halt. I let out a "mrrp?"
"We can't go any further," Kaline exclaims, rubbing my ears. "And Lightning stays in the carriage. You and Lobo and Demos go. And Gussie."
Lightning gives a disgruntled "mrrrp." Although her belly has ballooned out, she still wants to find out what the Old Man of the Mushroom Forest knows.
I nudge her. [You can't come. What if something happened to the cubs?]
[Ugh, fine. But I want a report.]
I rub my nose against hers and climb out of the carriage. WHOOSH. Gussie is a feathered blur zipping by, and Peridot a scaly blur. Both have joined the quest. They approach the road to the Mushroom Forest. If you can call it a road.
