Page 93 of Tamiko and the Two Janitors
“Because,” the boy answered solemnly. “He is a wolf.”
“So are you,” she pointed out.
Torloo’s gaze slid to the side. “I am many years fromreaching my attainment.”
Melissa hadn’t meant to embarrass him, so she kept her tonelight. “Time will tell. Maybe my granddaughter or great-granddaughter will loveyou.”
His eyes widened, and he showed a dimple. Casting aside allformality, he flung his arms around her shoulders and kissed her cheek. “I willbe waiting.”
“Melissa.” Doon-wen sat with legs crossed, fingers drumminghis thigh. “My brother is outside. He is prepared to grovel.”
She glanced Jiminy’s way in time to see him press a palmtoward the ceiling. The crystals brightened at his command. Catching her look,he said, “I may have had a few words with him. Entrapment was never hisintention. Apparently, it never occurred to Rook that you’d willingly enter myden, let alone willingly remain.”
His words bit. Was he angry with Rook?
Doon-wen growled softly, and Jiminy averted his face.
What could she say? Melissa knew Doon-wen and Torloo couldread her mood, but Jiminy needed words. She kept it short. “Rook would neverwillingly hurt the people he loves. He only underestimated my weariness … andthis den’s appeal.”
Jiminy covered his eyes with his hand and called, “Get inhere, Rook. We can’t do this without you.”
He crawled through, tail tucked, and he kept right oncrawling until he reached Melissa. Pulling Jiminy down beside her, Rookmournfully kissed both their foreheads.
“She likes my den,” said Jiminy.
Rook’s shoulders relaxed. “I know no finer compliment. A denand its founder are likened to a heart and its beat.”
Melissa threaded her fingers into the fur that covered thefloor and yawned.
Doon-wen immediately took charge, gesturing to the othersand saying, “Thank you for inviting us to guard your rest.”
Her battler instincts reared up. “Stand guard? Againstwhat?”
Rook and Torloo pulled furs into a central pile, leavingDoon-wen to answer. “Against solitude and its coldness. Against fear and itsdoubts. Against time and its passing.”
“You can stop time?”
“I can diminish its importance,” Doon-wen asserted. “Alltime spent here is ours. It belongs to no other, just as we belong to eachother. Now … enough words.”
With that, he transformed into a large, black wolf. Melissawondered how much power he kept in check in order to fit the available space.
“Sleep sweet,” urged Rook, who also took truest form.
The brothers arranged themselves along either side of theroom, their muzzles—and formidable jaws—nearest the door. Intruders beware.
Torloo simply kissed his fingertips, held them out to her,and vanished into his own swirl of light, becoming a lean, leggy wolf, nobigger than his two Kith companions. He, Risk, and Dare curled up betweenDoon-wen’s and Rook’s forepaws, leaving a narrow patch for her and Jiminy.
Melissa pulled at the blankets and wriggled down among them.
A few moments later, Jiminy stretched out next to her. Hesaid nothing. Only watched her with a seriousness that she was too tired todeal with.
“Can you turn down the stars?” she asked.
He flashed a quick smile, tapped his nose, and pointed tothe ceiling. The crystals slowly dimmed. But Melissa could tell he was showingoff, because every so often, individual stars would twinkle. It was pretty.
Jiminy asked, “Will you let me hold your hand?”
For an answer, she poked one out of the blanket, letting itflop limply between them.
