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green willow had taken root and every hole the beast made filled with
new green growth.
Eva shuddered.
Among the animals in the baskets, she found a hedgehog, which had
curled into a small ball and huddled against the side of its basket. If
Giancarlo had just arrived, wouldn’t his animal self be more
traumatized than the rest of the animals here? Or would he be
fascinated? God. Did she know anything about him?
Think, Eva. She had seen Cennetig break into four animals. Nita had
said to put all of Giancarlo in the casket. The Cherokee believed that
people had four souls. When Nita said to put all of Giancarlo in the
casket, she was talking about the Askina. Eva needed to find four
animals if she wanted to save Giancarlo.
She went from cage to cage: possum, cat, rattlesnake, raven, field
mouse, cricket, bat, canary—
Canary. Those weren’t native to North America and the rest of the
animals had been. Could it be that simple? Did she just need to find the
European animals?
Thinking it through, the first soul of the Askina was the conscious life
and animated the other three. So… so that soul would know and
remember being Giancarlo. Probably the hedgehog, which seemed
traumatized.
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