Three years and twelve seasons had passed since the time I left Belcoot, devastated. I kept a strong facade upon leaving the castle, telling myself repeatedly I shouldn't look back. I nearly ran back to Hugo that night, but Bowie carried me away to stop me.
He carried me while I cried my heart out and bawled my eyes until I could walk on my own. It took days, many days, for that.
Not all members of the Tarsa tribe went with me — only a few. Some left because they had to wait for the members of the tribe to cross the border. Bowie entrusted that to them. If they all left Belcoot, the Tarsa tribe from beyond the border would think werewolves betrayed them.
The main reason our group was small, consisting of nine people including me. We wandered without a particular destination. But what we had in mind was to get as far away as possible from Belcoot.
