The storekeeper took off his boater and threw it in the air. Many hats were raised up, but I couldn’t share their carousing. The station’s men started towards my father with cheers but I carried my heart in a stone cask, sealed to the world outside.
“Myko,” said Tilly, “your father has killed a tiger.”
“He has killed my tiger.” I longed to leave this place, to be far from the island.
The blood pounded in my temples, blurring the edges of my vision. I couldn’t stay any longer. I hurled myself back toward the forest.
“Myko,” Tilly called behind me, but I was running hard. I was already beyond the distance where she could catch me.
Smoke still lingered like thick fog in the forest, a grey-white mist creeping around me. I ran on, spitting out the sooty air as it gathered in my throat, the
