Chapter 12
Tanuki had chosen the form of an elk so he could run swiftly, while David and Gullin rode on his back. America, however, proved to be trickier to find than one might think. Tanuki bounded through the smoky fog between the supernatural realm and the human ruled world for what seemed like hours. Eventually they crossed over into a dusty, dry land with tall trees bearing feathery fronds at the tops—they reminded David of feather dusters. There was a watering hole, where an extraordinarily huge animal was bathing. It had gray wrinkled skin, large tree-trunk legs, and it sprayed water on its back with its long hose of a nose.
“See? I told you I’d get you here. That must be a bison right there,” Tanuki said.
David shook his head. “I’ve seen pictures of that animal before. It’s no
