Raven Stole the Moon by Garth Stein Read Free Book Online

town. Why shouldn’t she get on the boat, go on vacation to the place of her mother’s and grandmother’s birth? She could tell Robert she had to get away for a few days. He would understand. Well, he might not understand, but screw him.
    Jenna chewed on the inside of her lip for a minute, looking out to sea, watching the gulls circle menacingly overhead. Then she abruptly turned and marched back into the ferry terminal and up to the ticket counter.

Chapter 7
    “S O HOW DOES IT REALLY WORK? ” F ERGUSON CALLED OUT FROM his perch on the edge of the fire pit. The heat from the flames felt good on his back.
    David was wandering around the other side of the community house, occasionally giving his rattle a shake as he examined the walls, ceiling beams, and windows.
    “How does what work?”
    “The shaman stuff. The magic.”
    “Now you want a primer on shamanic technique?”
    Ferguson shrugged. ”I don’t know. What are you doing now, for example?”
    “Right now? I’m looking at the craftsmanship of the building. They did a nice job with these beam joints.”
    “I don’t get it. Aren’t you going to cast a spell?”
    David laughed and started toward Ferguson, weaving through a maze of dinner tables covered with upside-down chairs.
    “Not yet. There may be no need. We don’t know what’s out there.”
    David reached the fire pit. He took a chair off one of the tables and sat across from Ferguson.
    “I’ll try to explain. The world is full of people and spirits which all give off a certain energy, although most don’t give off very much and not many can feel it. As a shaman, I give off a lot of energy and I can feel others’ energy. So, what I’m doing now is giving off energy. I’m like a sonar. I’m sending out waves, and if my waves are detected by a spirit that feels I’m invading its space, it will let me know.
    “You, on the other hand, don’t have as much energy as I do, so that same spirit may not notice you. But when a lot of people like you get together, like a whole town’s worth, you will become noticeable, and that’s when there could be a problem. Am I making sense?”
    “Sure,” Ferguson said, even though he wasn’t that sure. “But how come you give off so much more energy?”
    “Because I’m a shaman. During my apprenticeship, I came into contact with a lot of spirits and I took their energy from them. They’re my spirit helpers, called yeks . And I keep their energy in my pouch.”
    David lifted the leather bag around his neck.
    “What’s in it?”
    “Tongues. Not whole tongues. Pieces of tongues. Enough to signify that I have their power. If I ever take off my pouch, I’ll lose my power.”
    “Can I try it on? I want the power.”
    David laughed.
    “If anyone other than a shaman wears his pouch, that man will go insane.”
    “Really? How insane?”
    “Stark, raving. You’d find yourself running through the woods naked with wild hair. You’d eat frogs for food. People in the village would tell stories about you at the campfire. Children would be afraid.”
    “Okay, forget it. I don’t want to scare the children. But then what? After the spirits feel your sonar, what happens? Then you cast a spell?”
    “It’s not really a spell thing,” David said, screwing up his face in an effort to figure out how to explain it to Ferguson. “There are spells, but they’re really for spirits of lower energy, spirits a shaman can dominate. This would be something different, most likely.
    “Let’s say a spirit inhabits this area and wants it for himself. He can make your life very difficult by scaring away animals so you can’t find food, haunting the place, things like that. If that happens, I’ll try to broker a peace. I’ll try to placate the spirit by offering homage. You know, every year the resort will make a sacrifice of such and such, like that.”
    “And if that doesn’t work?” Ferguson asked.
    “Well, then we make a choice. Call the whole thing off, or I go