Raven and the Dancing Tiger (11 page)

They weren't supposed to just take off like that. There weren't any boxes for clothes or shoes out here, not like next to the front door.

Petie picked up Jesse's sneakers—they were really worn out. His shirt and pants weren't much better.

A pebble glanced off his shoulder. Jesse's raven soul wanted to play.

Petie grinned and waved, hurrying out of his own clothes, leaving both sets piled by the door before letting Cai free and leaping toward the air, the night winds and their secrets luring him on, his friend by his side.

Maybe it would all be okay.

* * *

The next class Petie had with Jesse was the following afternoon, a history class. When Petie had come the previous year with his parents, they'd gone to a history class together. It hadn't been like a class at all, but more like story hour at the library, with the prefect telling the most amazing tales about true raven warriors from the past:
Pedrek
,
Aderyn
, and others. Petie was looking forward to more stories, so he snagged two desks up front.

Jesse made a face at him, looking displeased, but still sat down beside him.

The room was similar to the recitations room, with a half-circle of tiered desks, but this room was smaller and it had wide windows showing the yard and the cliff.

While the other students shuffled in, Jesse bumped Petie's shoulder. "So, what do y'all
see?
"

Petie wasn't sure what Jesse meant. He looked around the room. What was he supposed to see?

"Anything special?" Jesse asked.

Now Petie understood. Jesse wanted to know if there were any charms in the room. Petie poked at Cai, asking him to help.

The color in the room slid away. Nearby objects grew fuzzy while things in the distance grew sharper.

When he looked around, small brown discs hanging in the center of every window caught his eye. "There," Petie croaked. He shook his head and came all the way back. "The windows."

With his human sight, Petie couldn't see anything there. Even when he tried looking at the windows, his eyes kept sliding off, going back toward the front of the room.

"Distraction charm," Petie whispered, trying to keep his eyes on the windows and failing. "We're not supposed to look out the windows, but to pay attention in the classroom."

When Petie looked back at Jesse, his eyes were all black. Then Jesse blinked, and his gray-green human eyes returned. "Can't see '
em
, but I suspect you're right." He held up his hand and Petie gave it a smacking high five.

"You just keep your eyes out for those charms and I'll keep watching your back," Jesse said.

Petie grinned, but before he could say anything, the prefect walked in and called for everyone's attention.

Maybe the next ten days away from home wouldn't be too bad if they could look out for each other this way.

* * *

Petie hung back in the hallway, trying to be interested in the long scroll hanging there. It looked Chinese or Japanese, a black-and-white watercolor painting of misty pine trees and ravens huddled together, lonely and cold.

But the hall was emptying fast. All the other kids had gone to their classes and Petie didn't want to be late. So, dragging his feet, he made his way to the solid, purple-red door of the Warrior Room.

Everyone except Prefect Kitridge was there and waiting, barefoot and ready. They all turned when Petie walked in, then turned away.

Except the two troublemakers. They continued to stare. They wore sport shirts in neon orange and blue that hung down almost to their knees and pants that buckled around their hips.

Petie quickly sat and then slowly started taking off his shoes, reasoning it was better if his back was against a wall so he couldn't be surrounded.

Cai disagreed. It felt too boxed in there.

Petie finished storing his shoes and socks before he did as Cai wanted. He tried to avoid the two and walked to the side, heading for the center of the room.

But as Petie passed the one with the shaved head, Chris, deliberately shoved Petie.

Petie remembered the lesson from the day before. He fell and rolled easily, shaking himself as he came back up, angry and ready to defend himself.

Some part of his brain was screaming at him, "No fighting!" But the rest of him, and Cai combined, were more than ready to battle.

"Come on, little man," Chris sneered. "Bring it."

Petie shook his head.

Cai cawed in frustration, but this part of Petie stayed in control. "You want to fight," he croaked out harshly, "you have to start it."

All he'd done so far was defend himself. And somehow, even in his enraged state, he knew that was essential.

Chris huffed up, bending over, his arms spread out. He looked terrifying, his face skeletal and sharp, his hands like claws, every muscle bulging and his body whip-ready.

Petie still stood his ground, ready to be bowled over and come up, again and again.

"No fighting."

The words drenched Petie like a bucket of cold water. He came all the way back to himself, shivering. He unclenched his hands and brought his arms down.

Had he been in the same position as Chris? A mirror image, without even realizing it?

Chris shook himself and straightened as well. "Later," he mouthed.

Prefect Kitridge was immediately in front of the older boy, her face inches from his, one hand clenched in his shirt, raising him off the ground. "There will be no later," she hissed.

An expression of fear crossed over Chris' face quickly, then passed, and all that was left was a mask of indifference.

"I know your type," Prefect Kitridge snarled. "Y'all think you can get your way bullying others. But here, you can't. Anyone you try to bully, even the littlest girl, will stand up and fight, harder and meaner than you're used to." She shoved Chris away.

He stumbled, but didn't fall, didn't roll.

Petie could see that Chris' raven soul had helped keep him on his feet.

"I almost let you fight," Prefect Kitridge said, ignoring Chris' glare. "Just to see the look on your face when he beat you but good."

Petie gulped and took a step back when everyone suddenly stared at him. She really thought he could beat Chris? But Chris was older, bigger, and could probably fight a lot better.

Cai cawed softly, sending him a feeling of flying strongly against rough winds.

It wasn't just Petie, was it, who'd be fighting?

Petie put his shoulders back and stood up straighter, as if to say, "Bring it."

"The reason I didn't let y'all fight is that
both
parties will be punished, regardless of who starts it," she added, glaring now at Petie. "So just make sure it's worth it."

She suddenly stretched out her left hand, then clenched it and rolled her wrist.

"All right. Let's do some actual training."

Petie found himself staring at the crooked first finger on Kitridge's hand, wondering why it made him so uneasy.

Why it made Cai long desperately to fly far, far away.

* * *

Petie floated, content and safe, at the back of Cai's mind. He didn't really have the sense of banking hard as they circled, there was no thrill involved. Just a general sense of where they were. Woods spread far beneath them, a prickly carpet with plenty of hiding spots if they should need them.

The branches got closer, the light gone as they dipped into the shade.

A scent rose, rotten and sweet.

It rolled Petie forward, dislodging him from his comfortable place and closer to the front. He didn't understand. This was Cai's time. Yet Cai was bringing him closer.

Why?

The caws of other ravens rang through the still afternoon, along with the rustling of birds in the layer of dead leaves under the trees.

Cai dropped farther down, bounding from one bush to the next, until they came to a clear spot.

Just beyond the dark trunks, a wide meadow spread out, full of sunshine. On the edge of the meadow, just under the trees, lay a mottled white-and-black rock. It looked strange there, dropped hastily by some giant hand.

Cai cawed softly to get Petie's attention.

No. It wasn't a rock.

Tasty ants lay trailed across the carcass, seeking tidbits to carry away. Fat, juicy maggots burrowed into the soft flesh. Delicious black flies buzzed around its head.

Cow
,
Petie said, giving a name to the dead thing before them.

Cai replied with a whine Petie had never heard before. It took him a few moments to put together all the feelings Cai was bombarding him with.

Cai was hungry. It was a dead thing, here, ready to be eaten.

But Cai stopped, because he knew Petie cared.

Petie gave Cai the image of blue skies and sunlight on his wings, how good it felt to fly. They could go back to Ravens' Hall, where it was warm and safe. Tonight, Petie would eat a lot. He promised the feeling of contentment and a full belly.

Cai nodded and hopped, once, twice, past the dead beast and back up into the air.

The ravens in the trees merely watched them leaving, a great chorus of sound rising behind them.

* * *

Petie set his tray down next to Jesse's and plopped into the hard plastic chair beside him. They were serving spaghetti that night, meat sauce over fat, worm-like noodles, with loads of cheese bread and some kind of pickled carrots and radishes that actually tasted good, plus ice cream later for dessert. Petie had loaded up with everything. He didn't want to be hungry, or for Cai to feel like they were hungry. Not now, not ever.

Cai had done the right thing.

Petie kept thinking about it.

The dead cow, that was Cai's natural food. Petie had seen enough
Animal Planet
to know. Cai was never going to feel bad about eating the dead things in the field.

But Cai cared about Petie. At least a little. Enough to stop.

Petie tore into his bread, inhaling about half of his spaghetti before he took a breath, intending to talk to Jesse.

Jesse's plate was barely half full. And he wasn't really eating, just pushing the food around.

"What's up?" Petie asked.

Jesse shrugged. "Nothing's up."

"You okay?" Petie insisted.

"Sure, everything's fine. Nothing to worry about."

Jesse's smile looked painted on, false and mask-like.

"Someone picking on you?" Petie asked, remember Chris and the almost-fight they'd had that morning.

"No, no, no one's picking on me," Jesse said. "Is someone picking on you?"

Petie bit his lips together, not wanting to blurt anything out. Was Chris still going to pick on him? He didn't know. He didn't want to fight, though he still thought it was cool Prefect Kitridge thought he'd win. "Maybe," Petie finally answered with a shrug. "But I got it," he added with a confidence he only kind of felt.

Jesse bumped his shoulder. "You got me at your back," he said, finally giving Petie a real smile, though it was small and still pale.

"And I got your back, too," Petie said.

"
Naw
," Jesse said, teasing. "You don't need to do that. You
jist
need to keep your eyes peeled for charms, you got that?"

Petie nodded, uncertain. Did Jesse think Petie couldn't protect him? That he wasn't good enough for a friend, or a fight?

Jesse must have seen something, because he dropped his voice and leaned closer to Petie, saying, "Don't you go worrying about me. I always land on my feet."

"Like a cat?" Petie teased.

Jesse made a face at him. "You know, my ma always said that our luck just went from bad to worse. That anyone watching our backs were just
gonna
see '
em
sliding downhill."

Petie wanted to reach out and pat Jesse's arm, or something. Anything. It all seemed so mean, what his mom said, what he was saying.

Jesse shook his head, then gave Petie a wink. "Maybe my luck can be changing, though. I'm here, right? And things can only get better," Jesse said with determination, turning back to his plate and starting to eat.

Petie bit back his frustrated sigh. He didn't understand what was wrong, why Jesse felt his luck was so bad.

But Jesse was also right. Raven warriors looked after their own. Dad was always harping on that, and it had been in the recitation that day as well.

They'd take care of Jesse, too.

At the first few notes of "Tuxedo Junction," Peter grabbed Sally's hand. "Come on!" He started walking toward the dance floor while a sea of dancers left, going the other way. A smaller group of dancers stayed in the middle of the wooden floor, arranging themselves in lines.

Sally pulled back, literally dragging her feet. "I don't know the line dance," she said.

Peter stopped. "It's called the Shim Sham. And I'll teach you."

Sally smiled and linked their fingers together, squeezing lightly. "All right."

Peter walked them to the back of the group of dancers already lined up. He counted off the steps for Sally as they went through the first iteration. She watched intently, trying a few of the steps herself, getting the easier parts like the Tacky
Annies
, which were mostly just step-tap, step-tap.

"See? You got it," Peter told her, though it was fast and complicated and she still flubbed a bunch of the steps. They danced it together the second time through, Peter calling out the steps for Sally, laughing with her through the shimmy forward and jumps and claps backward.

Just before the end, Cai bristled and called out a warning.

Peter didn't have to look to know Tamara now danced behind him. He moved closer to Sally, who didn't seem to notice.

When the line dancing part of the song was over, the group split up to dance the rest of the song in couples. Ideally, everyone was supposed to dance with the person next to them.

Peter turned eagerly to Sally, but before he could reach her, Tamara threw her arms around him from behind and purred in his ear, "Don't you want to dance with me?"

"No," Peter said, digging his hands into her white, fleshy arms and tugging up.