Page 61 of Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes

“That’s out of line,” said Aiden.

Kara’s eyes went wide and she turned and fled across the courtyard. Aru felt torn. Part of her wanted to follow, but Brynne’s comment was fresh in her mind:She could be a spy. If Aru went to Kara, would Brynne thinkshewas the untrue sister from the prophecy?It doesn’t matter what Brynne thinks, Aru told herself, but when she moved to go, she realized Kara wasn’t alone.

Aiden was with her. He patted Kara’s back and took the box of food, murmuring, “We just got some bad news, and Brynne is working through it…. She didn’t mean that.”

On the one hand, Aru was glad someone was comforting Kara. On the other hand, Aru felt a hot twinge of envy. It’s not like Aiden had rushed toherwhen she’d returned from being kidnapped. He hadn’t tried to pull her out of the pit of golden coins, either.

Aru, Brynne, and Mini stared silently at one another.

Dude, that was not a good look, said Aru through the mind link.

Neither is getting betrayed, said Brynne.

Brynne, maybe we should talk?pressed Mini.

But Brynne just held her hand out to the golden eye. “I don’t want to waste any more time,” she said. “Let’s go—”

“Go where?” repeated Mini. “We should talk about what Kubera said.”

“He said the first trial has to do with land:To start, the land shall test your heart. Seems clear enough to me,” said Brynne, grabbing hold of the eye.

Through the gaps between Brynne’s fingers, light streamed from the eye, forming a glowing portal.

“Whoa!” yelled Aiden. “We really need to talk about—”

Just then, golden light washed over Aru’s vision. She felt her hair lifting off her back and the world whipping around her as if someone had stuck them all in a giant blender. Trees and buildings flashed through her mind, followed by a snippet of great crashing waves, and then…

Darkness.

Aru tumbled through the air, straight onto a field. She quickly tucked herself into a ball and rolled before she knocked against something soft and warm. The air had a weird funk to it, like sweet hay, wet dirt, and…

“HOLY COW!”

Amilk-white cow with huge eyes stared down at Aru.

She scrambled to sit up.

“Easy now,” said the cow, taking a step back. “You took quite a fall! Come for some shopping, eh?”

Shopping?

They had ended up outside a little white barn. Over the door hung a large sign with big letters proclaimingTHE BOUTIQUE AND BOUNTY OF KAMADHENU.The logo was a cow that had the face of a woman.

Aru recognized the name. Kamadhenu was the cow goddess of abundance. On the sign, a speech bubble next to her mouth declared:AH, THE SOUND OF MILKING. IT’S MOO-SIC TO MY EARS!

It appeared they were on the outskirts of dozens of meadows all knit together like a patchwork quilt, as if every cow pasture in the world met up here. One was red and dusty, and the cows in it had large bumps behind their necks and curving horns. Another field was tucked between rocky hills, and the shaggy cows had so much fur you could barely see their eyes.

Aiden, Brynne, Mini, and Kara looked just as confused as Aru felt.

“I’m sorry, where…Where are we?” Aru asked the cow.

“Goloka!” she announced. “The realm of cows! Inside the constellation you humans call Capricorn. This little boutique—or, as we like to call it,moo-tique—is a slice of heaven. Why don’cha come with and have a look-see? Haven’t had too many visitors, what with the emergency state in the Otherworld realms.” The cow shook her head, sighing with pity.

Normally, Aru would be a bit concerned. How, exactly, had they ended up in the middle of a constellation? But there were other things to consider, such as, how did this cow end up with a Midwestern accent?

Aru looked over her shoulder to where Mini, Aiden, Kara, and Brynne were crowded together. Kubera’s eye was nowhere to be seen, but his voice floated back to her:In each trial I give you, you must find and take my eye. So where had it gone? On Aru’s wrist, Vajra gave off a faint spark of electricity.

Brynne stomped over to the cow. “We want to see what’s inside the barn,” she demanded.