"Aren't you going to put any food in the trap, Wanderer?" Lichen asked, attempting to ignore his embarrassment.
"No, no. We won't need any." He began stepping this way and that, trying to extricate himself from the tangles of hemp.
Lichen glanced back at the trap. It didn't make any sense. Why would an animal go into the box if there was no bait inside to lure it? But after the "flying" episode two days ago and the "slithering" yesterday, she was not so sure that she wanted to press Wanderer about the trap. Her belly still stung from the cactus she had accidentally slithered over when Wanderer had been showing her how to "snake" through the brush in the moonlight.
Lichen sighed.
"There!" Wanderer had finally unraveled the mess. He quickly tied one end of the rope to the stick and seized the other in his left hand. "Hurry! We haven't much time."
He took two long bounds, grabbed Lichen by the arm, and raced down the rocky slope, trailing the long rope behind. She ran to keep up. When they reached the bottom, they were both breathing hard.
"Hide behind that blackberry bramble," Wanderer panted, pointing to a bristly hedge. "Quickly!"
Lichen leaped over a bush and ducked down. Her heart had started to patter at her ribs. Thousands of tiny thorns poked out of the brier, warning her not to get too close to the handfuls of white blossoms that covered the vines. Wanderer scooted in beside her and swiftly began taking up the slack of the rope.
Lichen stretched her neck to peer through the tapestry of leaves. The rope was trailing down the slope, the curls unwinding with each of Wanderer's tugs. The damp scents of night pervaded the air. What could they possibly trap this late in the evening? What prowled the rocks at dusk? Sister Cougar? No, their trap was too small.
"Lichen, get down! We don't want him to see us!"
"Who?" she cried as she dodged behind the highest arc of the bramble.
Wanderer's mouth dropped open expectantly. "Shh. Here he comes."
She searched the rocky parapet, trying to see something moving out there, but all she spied was Father Sun's glowing face as it disappeared into a thick layer of clouds that lay like a lumpy blanket over the horizon. The clouds blazed, changing from pale pink to a lurid violet.
"Wanderer? What did you see? It'll be dark soon. Don't you think we ought—"
"Hush!"
She lowered her voice and leaned over to cup a hand to his ear. "Well . . . are we trying to catch a bat?"
"No." His gaze fixed on the trap as his fingers tightened around the rope—like he was almost ready to jerk the stick out. A wild gleam had entered his eyes. "We're trying to catch Father Sun."
"Father . . . Sun?" She gave him a sidelong look.
"Yes."
"Won't he get mad?"
"Oh, don't worry. By the time we've let him loose in the morning, he'll have forgotten all about it."
Lichen nodded shortly. Her gaze slid back to the gray hump where their trap sat silhouetted against a luminous wash of lavender. A thin strip of clear sky spread between the clouds and the rock. When the first sliver of molten gold edged beneath the clouds, Wanderer tensed, and Lichen found herself holding her breath.
"Just a little more," Wanderer whispered hoarsely. "A little more ..."
Father Sun descended until his face shone full and round in the gaping mouth of the trap. In a flash, Wanderer tugged the rope and the box slammed closed. He let out a shrill cry of triumph as he flopped on his back, kicking his long legs in joy. "We got him! We got him!"
Lichen lunged to her feet to run and see, but Wanderer caught her arm. "No, wait! He has to thrash around for a while trying to get out. See? Look at the sky. When he quiets down, then we'll go."
Lichen frowned at the horizon. Clouds roiled, twisting madly as they changed from gold and pink to an angry crimson. A low roar started in her ears, but she didn't know whether it was just the hush of twilight settling over the land or Father Sun's rage. When a family of frogs in the meadows burst into song, she grabbed Wanderer's shoulder hard. He jumped at her touch, but his mouth quirked knowingly when the croaking chorus continued, its throaty tones floating skyward on the cool draft that eddied up the bluff.
Lichen's face flushed. "Sorry."
"Oh, it's all right. It happens to everyone their first time. Here, hold this," he said and thrust the end of the rope at her. Startled, Lichen grasped it. "Good girl. I'll be right back." He vaulted to his feet and ran headlong up the slope.
When Lichen realized she held a rope that no longer had a purpose, she threw it down and ran after him. "Wanderer, wait! I want to see, too!"