The Hollow Places

Kara realizes that the corpse-otter carving has been trying to get to the willow word. As silver willowlight floods the museum and animates the taxidermy, the possessed fisher carries the corpse-otter carving upstairs, where the carving moves into the giant Amazonian otter mount. Though blind, the otter manages to tear the metal sheet off the wall, reopening the portal. The museum cat, Beau, growls at the otter, drawing its attention long enough for Kara to grab him and run.

Kara flees to her bedroom and barricades the door, but the giant otter breaks it down. Prince, the mounted elk, animates and drives his antlers into the otter while Beau claws at its glass eye. The attack creates an opening for Kara to escape. Aided by other animated mounts, including the Feejee Mermaid, she leads the possessed otter downstairs and lures it through the reopened portal. In the willow world’s river, the otter attacks her injured leg. Bleeding, she flees into a flooded bunker. As the otter closes in, she hears the familiar “Gck! Gck! Gck!” (305) sound of Martin Sturdivant, the half-unraveled man she and Simon previously encountered.