Free May Bird and the Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson Page A

skeletons stared after the boat for a moment, then one of them shrugged its bones, and the other patted him on the spinal column. They turned and drifted back along the sand.
    Pumpkin and May drifted far and fast, until all of the figures on the beach became small. May could just make out the darkopening of the alley they’d hidden in and a tiny, black speck standing in its shadow, moving its tail. It made a tingling start at the base of her neck. She shook it off and turned to look over her shoulder.
    The boat indeed seemed to be steering itself. Up ahead, May could make out several places where the river branched off. Their boat slowly made its way into one of the branches, which looked like it went on forever, though it was no wider than two of the boats put together. A strip of beach lined it on either side, and poking out of the sand just by the mouth was a sign that read: SOUTHERN TERRITORIES.
    â€œOh, thank goodness.” Pumpkin breathed. Looking back, they could see other boats heading in the same direction, drifting lazily behind them.
    Back on the beach the spirits outside the southeastern portal, Spectroplex, weren’t paying much attention to much of anything but themselves. If they had been, they may have noticed the tiny, black nose that occasionally peeped out from a certain alley. They may have even heard the tiny, plaintive sound of a meow or two, drifting out on the breeze. But most of the specters were busy coming to terms with their recent deaths.
    Somber Kitty’s slitted green eyes scanned the beach, but May was nowhere to be seen. He had curled up around her freshest footprint just at the edge of the alley, sniffing it thoughtfully several times. He longed to follow her tracks, where they led across the sand, but his instincts told him to beware. His gaze kept drifting to the bony fellows in robes.
    Finally he couldn’t wait any longer. He pressed his ears back,watched a lady drift close by, and darted forward into the folds of her dress.
    Keeping his paws tightly in rhythm with her movements and ignoring the bewildering cold zaps of her clothes, he scurried from spirit to spirit, following May’s scent like a checker zigzagging its way to kinghood. At the water just beside a newly beached boat, he froze. Here the scent disappeared.
    Somber Kitty’s eyes rolled, and he let out a low, plaintive mew, which drew a few stares. Spirits began tugging one another’s sleeves and pointing at him until a loud howl erupted from one of the robed creatures several yards away. And then the crowd flew apart as several of the creatures began zipping toward him, all howling.
    Somber Kitty arched his back and hissed, leaping sideways and waggling in the air toward the boat. In a maneuver of amazing skill he teetered on his two side paws as they hit the bow, then shifted his weight into the boat, setting the craft in motion.
    The cat trembled under the frontmost bench seat for several minutes. Eventually his desire to look for May overcame him. He snuck his eyes and nose up over the rim to gaze at the shore as it drifted away. Several robed creatures now stood there, pointing and waving toward him. He darted under the seat again, his tremble becoming a shake.
    If he had remained aft, he would have seen the sign marking the path his boat drifted into, though he could not have read it.
    The sign, crooked and glowing, leaning as if it might fall into the water, announced Somber Kitty’s destination in bright green letters: PIT OF DESPAIR AMUSEMENT PARK.

    All had gone quiet now. Pumpkin and May stayed quiet too for a few moments, May gazing at the zooming stars above, still not quite believing them.
    â€œAm I dead?” she finally croaked.
    â€œOh, I really don’t think so.”
    â€œThen what am I doing here? What is this place?”
    Pumpkin turned his sad, droopy eyes to her and grimaced, his mouth stretching extra wide. “I’m not the best spirit to ask. Arista is.