Aru felt a rush of relief. If the shopgirl was still moving, it meant that the Sleeper hadn’t caught on to their path. Yet.
“Oh no!” said Mini.
“What’s wrong?” asked Aru.
Mini held up her hand. At the center of her palm, there was a symbol:
“It’s the number of days you have left until the new moon,” said Boo grimly.
“It is?” asked Aru, looking at her own palm sideways. “That’s a weird-looking nine.”
“It’s in the Sanskrit language,” said Boo.
Mini peered at her hand.“Ashta,”she said slowly. “The number eight.”
Goose bumps fluttered down Aru’s arm. They’d already lost a day!
“How do youknowthat?” she asked, feeling a little jealous.
“I taught myself how to count to ten in fifteen languages!” said Mini proudly.
“Sounds like a waste of time.”
Even Boo nodded.
Mini glared at both of them. “Well, it’s pretty useful right this minute, seeing as how we now know we only have eight days left until the world freezes over and Time stops.”
Aru straightened her shoulders. A cold wind tangled in her hair. She felt that sticky sense of beingwatched. “Boo…what happens if the Sleeper finds us before we find the weapons?”
Boo pecked at the sidewalk. “Oh. Well. He kills you.”
Mini whimpered.
Note to self, thought Aru.Never go on a quest again.
A Trip to the Beauty Salon
It took Mini a full five minutes before she could say another word. “Kill…us?” she squeaked.
“He’s a demon, Mini,” said Aru. “What do you think he’s going to do? Sit you down for tea?”
Boo hopped along the sidewalk, gathered a pebble in his beak, flew up, and dropped it on Mini’s head.
“Ow!”
“Good! You felt pain. Relish it, girl child. That’s how you know you’re not dead,” said Boo. “Not yet, anyway. And you”—he glowered at Aru—“careful with that sharp tongue.”
Aru rolled her eyes. She’d only been pointing out the obvious.
“Can’t he just find his own way into the Kingdom of Death?” asked Aru. “Why does he have to follow us around?”
This demon sounded lazy.
“He cannot see what you can,” said Boo.
“What if he tries to attack us in the meantime?” asked Mini. “We don’t have anything to defend ourselves with.”
That wasn’t exactly true. They each had a gift. Aru opened her hand where the golden Ping-Pong ball sat. It didn’t look like it would do anything remarkable. She threw it onto the ground. Instantly, it bounced back into her hand. Aru frowned. She threw it farther. Still it came back. Then she tossed it across the street, where it rolled straight into the gutter.
