crowded
behind her. “Did you see that?” she asked excitedly.
We all nodded. My eyes felt
like they might pop out of my head. Olivia pushed past Faith to
face the tiny owl perched in a nearby tree. “You’re my owl, aren’t
you?” she said and the owl hooted back to her.
She quickly turned back,
her face shining with excitement. “How cool is this!” she said.
“I love this
place.”
“ Me too.” But that
reminded me. “We should go back, we’ve been here awhile.” I folded
the map and slipped it into my backpack, taking a last look
around.
I scooped the cat up and
buried my face in its fur. “I’m so glad you belong to me,” I
whispered.
Note to self — Bring cat
treats!
I carried the purring cat
while we made our way back to the tree. I was only a few feet away
when I stopped. I looked at the cat in my arms while disappointment
welled up inside. “Oh no, you can’t go with me.”
The cat closed her eyes and
continued to purr. “My father’s allergic. I can’t take you.” The
cat continued to purr as it stretched and jumped gracefully from my
arms, rubbing its head against my ankles.
Doug asked the dog, “Can
you go home with me?” The dog whined and moved back a step. “I get
it. You have to stay here.” The dog barked twice and grinned at
Doug, tail wagging.
Faith waved toward the
meadow and called, “Bye Foxy.” Then she disappeared through the
tree.
“ Bye Pyg,” Olivia said,
and laughed as the little owl hooted at her, and she too
disappeared. I’d never get used to seeing that!
“ Bye, pretty kitty,” I
said, looking back as I took my turn going into the
tree.
I couldn’t wait for the
long, cold, suffocating darkness to end. I tried to hold still and
kept my eyes closed tight. It felt better somehow, choosing not to
see, rather than trying to see and feeling blind. It was easy to
tell when to open my eyes. Santa Ramona would have felt cold under
ordinary circumstances, but after the tree it felt almost
warm.
I jerked my phone out of my
pocket and glanced at the time. We’d been gone four hours. I told
the others, “I’m going to call Ronny.” I forgot to use the speaker,
and wondered what they could make of my side of the
conversation.
“ Hi. We’re back safe but
we really need to meet with you. … No, we still don’t have any news
about your mother. … No, Ghalynn wasn’t there. … No. … Ronny! We
have stuff to show you. Can we get together? …Okay. …Right. See you
in twenty minutes.”
I ended the call and said,
“She’ll meet us at Johnny’s in twenty minutes. Let’s stop by the
library. There’s a copy machine there — we can each get a copy of
the map.”
Chapter 16
You And What
Army!
Ronny’s smile was strained
when we got to Johnny’s. “Meeting like this is becoming a custom.
You must be getting tired of it. If we have to do this too often,
you will begin to think the grass is always cleaner on the other
side.”
It took a few seconds for
me to get that one — oh, always greener on the other side. That was
pretty close for Ronny, so I decided to ignore it. “I’m sorry we
don’t know anything more about your mom. We still haven’t seen
anyone in Chimera.”
Ronny made a choking sound.
“No!”
I said quickly, “It looked
like Ghalynn has been gone a long time,
maybe weeks. But we have a clue how to find him.”
Doug said, “He might be
dead. He ate a poison apple.”
A fleeting smile crossed
Ronny’s face. “Not all apples in Chimera are poison.” She was
silent a moment. “It might help me to understand if you tell what
happened from the beginning.”
We took turns describing
the weather, the road, the lack of sounds, the four animals. I
showed Ronny the drawing I’d made of the sign outside the
cabin.
She laughed and almost
sounded like her normal self. “I had forgotten that sign. I used to
tease Ghalynn about it. It is written in Standard and says ‘Keep
Out Or Else’.” She chuckled and pushed the
behind her. “Did you see that?” she asked excitedly.
We all nodded. My eyes felt
like they might pop out of my head. Olivia pushed past Faith to
face the tiny owl perched in a nearby tree. “You’re my owl, aren’t
you?” she said and the owl hooted back to her.
She quickly turned back,
her face shining with excitement. “How cool is this!” she said.
“I love this
place.”
“ Me too.” But that
reminded me. “We should go back, we’ve been here awhile.” I folded
the map and slipped it into my backpack, taking a last look
around.
I scooped the cat up and
buried my face in its fur. “I’m so glad you belong to me,” I
whispered.
Note to self — Bring cat
treats!
I carried the purring cat
while we made our way back to the tree. I was only a few feet away
when I stopped. I looked at the cat in my arms while disappointment
welled up inside. “Oh no, you can’t go with me.”
The cat closed her eyes and
continued to purr. “My father’s allergic. I can’t take you.” The
cat continued to purr as it stretched and jumped gracefully from my
arms, rubbing its head against my ankles.
Doug asked the dog, “Can
you go home with me?” The dog whined and moved back a step. “I get
it. You have to stay here.” The dog barked twice and grinned at
Doug, tail wagging.
Faith waved toward the
meadow and called, “Bye Foxy.” Then she disappeared through the
tree.
“ Bye Pyg,” Olivia said,
and laughed as the little owl hooted at her, and she too
disappeared. I’d never get used to seeing that!
“ Bye, pretty kitty,” I
said, looking back as I took my turn going into the
tree.
I couldn’t wait for the
long, cold, suffocating darkness to end. I tried to hold still and
kept my eyes closed tight. It felt better somehow, choosing not to
see, rather than trying to see and feeling blind. It was easy to
tell when to open my eyes. Santa Ramona would have felt cold under
ordinary circumstances, but after the tree it felt almost
warm.
I jerked my phone out of my
pocket and glanced at the time. We’d been gone four hours. I told
the others, “I’m going to call Ronny.” I forgot to use the speaker,
and wondered what they could make of my side of the
conversation.
“ Hi. We’re back safe but
we really need to meet with you. … No, we still don’t have any news
about your mother. … No, Ghalynn wasn’t there. … No. … Ronny! We
have stuff to show you. Can we get together? …Okay. …Right. See you
in twenty minutes.”
I ended the call and said,
“She’ll meet us at Johnny’s in twenty minutes. Let’s stop by the
library. There’s a copy machine there — we can each get a copy of
the map.”
Chapter 16
You And What
Army!
Ronny’s smile was strained
when we got to Johnny’s. “Meeting like this is becoming a custom.
You must be getting tired of it. If we have to do this too often,
you will begin to think the grass is always cleaner on the other
side.”
It took a few seconds for
me to get that one — oh, always greener on the other side. That was
pretty close for Ronny, so I decided to ignore it. “I’m sorry we
don’t know anything more about your mom. We still haven’t seen
anyone in Chimera.”
Ronny made a choking sound.
“No!”
I said quickly, “It looked
like Ghalynn has been gone a long time,
maybe weeks. But we have a clue how to find him.”
Doug said, “He might be
dead. He ate a poison apple.”
A fleeting smile crossed
Ronny’s face. “Not all apples in Chimera are poison.” She was
silent a moment. “It might help me to understand if you tell what
happened from the beginning.”
We took turns describing
the weather, the road, the lack of sounds, the four animals. I
showed Ronny the drawing I’d made of the sign outside the
cabin.
She laughed and almost
sounded like her normal self. “I had forgotten that sign. I used to
tease Ghalynn about it. It is written in Standard and says ‘Keep
Out Or Else’.” She chuckled and pushed the
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