"I keep thinking I hear Mother," Renko said. Her face drooped with her expression. She tossed more little stones onto the growing pile of excess they were removing from the area where they thought they might find a tunnel.

"Seriously?" Otohime looked sharply at her sister. "Rizantona doesn't have one of those Wishing Rocks, does she?"

"No," Renko said, "but I have always been able to reach her without it because of our family tie, just as I can reach you. She claims to ...