Watch your shadow. As Akachi bowed her head and contemplated the verse, her mind followed the panels of the stained glass window. She could no longer follow them with eyes open, for something had cracked the window—a hairline crack that webbed the icons of the Shining Prince with a crisp white line. Elderlich Nyal said this meant the vandal stood in Holy Foyer.
Clean your paws; wash your soul. Akachi loved that window. She had used it to rehearse the life of the Shining Prince who had blessed her with the faith of the Elderliches.
Without that visible image of her faith, she could only check herself against her memory of The Unending Scroll, the secret scripture which the Elderliches said could only be heard when an Animalyte did right and spoke true. When she begged for a glimpse of the holy writ, they said it was beastly ignorance, and she would open the book herself when the Shining Prince stood revealed.
Love not the light in the darkness;it is the brightness of your eyes. Michel echoed the holy verses as they were read. The blind girl knelt beside her and their arms were linked.
Though Akachi thanked the Shining Prince for Michel, she was often like a conjoined twin.
Though Akachi did not resent Michel's trust, the worrywart should trust the worrying to Akachi as well. If she really trusted Akachi, she would be more confident.
A beast's tail has its own soul. As if reading Akachi's thoughts, Michel prayed, "Shining One, thank you for my sister Akachi." Though the Elderliches preached all Animalytes were from the same litter, Akachi prayed the Shining One would not judge her lack of faith in this one instance. It was not that Akachi was strong and Michel dependent; nor that Akachi could see, and Michel was blind; nor that Akachi was black, and Michel was white—and moreover, having never seen colors, was more baffled by the concept than by that of the equally unseen Shining Prince—but only that Akachi wanted a flesh and blood family before the Elderliches dropped a dozen brothers and sisters like anchors.
Hamund stopped reciting the creed, unclenched his praying hands, crossed them in his robe's roomy sleeves, then walked down the flagstones of the Holy Foyer.
"Akachi." The blind girl murmured her name.
"Speak up, Michel. There's no one here."
"Do you believe them?"
"You know I do."
"Not the Elderliches."
"Do I think our teachers have tails, or a talking deer smashed the window? Are our brothers and sisters always truthful?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do they never exaggerate or instigate?"
"Sometimes, especially about Conrad. But he doesn't make it easy. We don't either."
"How so?"
"No one likes to feel wrong, Akachi. Because we make them feel wrong, they class us with that bully—and perhaps they're right to do so. Does The Shining Prince tell us to hold ourselves above?"
"Yes," said Akachi emphatically. "Ignore their wild tales. While there may be a grain of truth in Lucien's if he threw something into the window by accident, Loren pins tails on teachers to be the center of attention."
Splat.
"What was that?" said Michel.
Splat. When a gust of wind whistled through the stained glass window, Akachi looked toward the altar, expecting to see the webbed cracks widening, and instead saw bright red dripping down the painted icons. She turned, looking for Lucien or Conrad. Seeing no one behind them, she led Michel up the altar stairs and around the alltar, where two falcons lay cut in half in a spreading pool of blood.
Splat. As blood gushed over Michel's vestments, Akachi pulled her back. Now there were six pieces of falcon.
Splat.
When the white sliver flitted through skies painted on glass, then flickered and grew to a stained glass bird, Akachi stared, flabbergasted, as the elegance of its materialization burst the moment it achieved existence in the Holy Foyer, when the webbed crack in the window cleaved it into meat and blood.
Ding-dong.
"What's happening, Akachi? What's that smell?" Splat. Another bird flew through in chunks.
Though Akachi didn't smell anything, the blind girl's sense of smell was stronger.
She led Michel down the flagstones. "You don't want to know, Michel."
"Tell me, Akachi!"
Ding-dong. Akachi groaned. This was the worst possible time; anyone might take one look and run screaming from the strange cult with dead animals behind their altar.
Splat. It happened again.
"Some birds flew through the window." Ding-dong.
"Did they break the window?"
"Ir was already broken." Ding-dong.
"Why isn't an Elderlich answering that?"
Splat.
"I don't know. We should answer that."
Splat. Ding-dong.
"Are the birds still coming?"
As halves of falcons piled up, feathers floated, and down drifted, Akachi was dumbstruck for thirty seconds. Then she tugged the other girl through the Holy Foyer doors, closed them, and led Michel to the stairs facing the front door, where two tall silhouettes fidgeted through the white-curtained window.
Akachi opened the door. Though both were indeed very tall, the woman was a foot taller than the man, and her gleaming white smile had a filed-off look that made Akachi think she was ready to bite. Akachi took a step back. "Yes?"
"Are you Lucien?" The man did not lift his eyes up from his clipboard.
"Yes. I mean, no, but he lives here." Akach wondered if she should be giving out this much information. "He's not available."
"Is this The Mansion of the Shining Prince?"
"No."
"No?" The man frowned, but still did not look up from his clipboard.
"Maybe. Why?"
"Is there an adult home?"
"Yes," said Akachi, though she didn't know if the Elderliches were home. "They're also not available."
"Did anyone call an exterminator?" Akachi now saw that the pockets of their white shirts were embroidered with large brown patches shaped like rats with 'RATZAPPERS,' stiched in gold.
This only made Akachi more anxious, for on learning Lucien called the exterminators,
the angered Elderliches imposed an early bedtime, and the next morning told the Animalytes
they canceled the exterminators' appointment and stated emphatically and indignantly that there were no vermin in The Mansion of the Shining Prince. That was yesterday. Why had the Elderliches changed their mind?
"That was canceled," said Akachi.
"Re-opened," the man said. "By a, um, Piano?"
"Vieno," Akachi corrected.
"Vieno." The man nodded. "Is she here?"
"Akachi. Who is it?" Vieno stood on the stairs, just above Michel's step.
"Ratzappers," said Akachi.
"Why didn't you let them in?" said Vieno. "Never mind. Go to your room, and take Michel with you."
"Yes, Elderlich." But when Akachi led Michel upstairs, they lingered on the landing.
When Vieno opened the door, the exterminators entered. Though he lowered his clipboard, the man's eyes still scanned back and forth, as if they followed the scurrying of vermin over the carpet and along the baseboards and molding. The enormous woman stooped under the arch of the doorway.
"I'm sorry about that," said Vieno. "One minute everything was under control,
and in the next, the vermin got underfoot." At her sneering laugh, the exterminators tipped their heads back in a hideous giggle, as if trying to outdo her performance.
Akachi didn't know why her ears burned. She leaned over the rail. "Elderlich?"
"What is it?" snapped Vieno.
"You might want to show them the Holy Foyer. Something happened."
"Just go to your room, you beast. We'll fix everything."
Akachi led Michel around the hallway corner, drew them flat against the wall and laid her finger on Michel's lips.
"Shh!"
"What did she mean?" asked the man. "We're the only ones dispatched."
"I know," said Vieno. "It must be an actual outbreak."
"Have you located it?"
"Only Hamund knows," said Vieno. "Though I have opinions."
"Then we'll make a clean sweep," said the giant woman. "It's a shame, but we must be certain."
Akachi did not know why killing the vermin should be a shame; their talk seemed to skirt another subject entirely.
"Michel," she hissed. "Can you get back to our room?" Though she could walk and see for both of them, shadowing and eavesdropping were hard enough for one.
"Not on your life. I'm coming with you."
Akachi growled, but took her arm and forced a glad thought. Outside the litter, there is only the world.
"Still, we should see what's trying to come through," grumbled the man.
"There's no need," said Vieno. "Nothing can come through. I saw to that myself."
"Why would the beast lie?" asked the giant woman.
"If it will bring you peace, I'm happy to open the foyer."
"I'm no peacemaker, fox. "
"We're here to start a war," said the man.
While Akachi did not know what to think, the exterminators had not come for the rats or birds. Perhaps Lucien told the truth—that the deer Hanne struck cursed the 'doe-eyed baby humans' as 'witches in a witch-world.' Perhaps Loren did glimpse a tail on Vieno--now called a fox in her presence. Perhaps the parables and fables of other Worlds were likewise true, and an elephant rolled a rock up to heaven; a beaver dammed the river of forgetfulness until animals saw their words in the foaming churn; a mynah echoed the hymn of creation in a song that brought the magic of names and the science of shapes to the animals; the eagle Zekran defeated the human Thulsor to turn the tide at the Battle of Katarda; and, the bear witch Ramedra was tricked by Iliea the human thief, who then taught naming and shaping to her own apprentices.
When the Holy Foyer doors closed, Akachi led Michel slowly downstairs. As they approached the doors, Aito and Chiyo ran towards them from the kitchen. <
When Akachi held up her hand and shook her head, Chiyo slowed down immediately, but Aito trotted the rest of the way.
"What are..." he began, but Akachi's palm covered his mouth, After their eyes met, she pointed through the cracked doors to Vieno and the exterminators standing over the gory floor behind the altar.
"This would be funny," said the man, "if it didn't show how serious they are."
"I'm laughing," said the giant woman, though she neither laughed nor smiled.
"They don't know they're sending this unit to their deaths."
"I'm not laughing. They've found our doorway," said Vieno.
Not only were Chiyo and Aito not shocked to see the dead birds, but their sad faces troubled Akachi. She had not pondered it long when The Shining Prince's stained glass deeds shattered in a many-colored shower and an animal swarm flooded the Holy Foyer. No, not a swarm, Akachi told herself, for a swarm was verminous, and these were deer, bears, wildcats, horses, wolves, and beavers; a swarm was disorganized, and these thirty beasts composed stern, noble faces and formed ranks like a small army.
"Run!" screamed Vieno, but the exterminators were already bowling past the children.
Vieno ran pell-mell after them.
When the beasts scampered and clattered down the flagstone aisle, Akachi closed the doors, but as she reached for the lock, Aito pulled her away, Chiyo took Michel's arm, and the four cowered against the wall as the animal army roared through the crumpling doors
The woman barked, "above all else, find the prince!"
"Yes, milady." When the man trailed Vieno to the kitchen, the giant woman ran upstairs, and the animals split in two packs to pursue them. Though the four Animalytes were left alone in the hall outside the Holy Foyer, the aftershock of the noise still seemed to shiver in the wood and plaster.
"Did they say prince?" asked Akachi.
"Maybe they meant prints, as in animal prints?" said Aito.
"That's stupid, Aito," said Chiyo. "You can do better."
"You know something, don't you?" said Akachi.
"No," said Chiyo and Aito, as one.
Michel said, "what was that noise, Akachi?"
"Animals. Lots of animals, chasing the exterminators and Vieno."
"Could it be a sign?"
"Definitely. A sign that we should find the Elderliches."
"No," said Aito. "We have to find Oji."
"The cat? Is everyone crazy?"
"They might kill Oji."
"Isn't this at all strange to you? Bears and deer in Draden?
"I don't know what's strange. I'm only twelve. You're only eleven. Tell you what—find the Elderliches. We'll find Oji." Aito and Chiyo went upstairs.
Michel said, "Though I didn't see anything, I know it was strange, Akachi."
"No kidding. What do we do?"
"You're asking me?"
"Yes, I'm asking you. Who else can I ask?" Akachi thought, who else can I trust, but did not say that.
"Aren't we still outside the Holy Foyer? Ask The Shining Prince."
"You wouldn't say that if you saw what I did."
"Why? Why fear seeing signs and following miracles? Where will they lead but to the presence of the one calling you?"
Akachi growled. "You're right. Pray with me, Michel. Show me how to follow without seeing." Though the two girls held hands and bowed their heads, neither was willing to begin the prayer.
Akachi was also loath to lead Michel into the Holy Foyer, which might soon become a battlefield of crazy animals and sinister exterminators.
"It's okay if we pray here, Akachi."
"Is it? What if no one's listening?"
"What do you mean?"
"If the window was a portal to Alsantia, is the prince a real prince?"
"Akachi, though you think to keep me innocent of danger, I cannot turn a blind eye to your peril."
"My peril is yours, Michel."
"No, Akachi. My peril is in this world, yours is in the next."
"To trust my eyes is not atheism, Michel."
"You just said our prayers do not reach the Prince, but only a place in the window.
Are our hopes mapped in Alsantia?"
"Forgive me, Michel. I shouldn't trouble you with my doubts."
"Psst." Conrad leaned over the second floor railing. "Have you seen Chiyo?"
After leading Michel halfway up the steps, Akachi answered: "they're looking for Oji."
Conrad frowned. "They?"
"Chiyo and Aito."
Conrad scowled. "Fine. Follow me."
Suddenly, Akachi had an anxious presentiment of tall, ungainly Conrad springing whole from the giant woman, whom he otherwise resembled not in the slightest, from his ruddy, freckled face to his blunt, perfect teeth.
"Come on," hissed Conrad, then started upstairs without a backward glance. "I called the cops."
"Why?"
"Are you crazy? Look around you."
"We're on a stairwell. There's not much to see."
"I know you saw them!" When Conrad's voice rose to a teakettle pitch, then faltered into a seething hiss, Akachi backpedaled, clinging to Michel's arm. "Bears!...and wolves!"
"I saw them," said Akachi. "If you're worried about your own skin, you should know that some of them ran up here after the giant woman."
"Giant? That was an albino, Akachi." Conrad's eye roll had a quieting effect, rolling away his hysterics and rolling out his smug smile.
"Albinos don't have shark teeth, Conrad. Do you want to help? Find the Elderliches."
"They're not here!"
"Where did they go?"
"Who cares! I don't want to get shot when the police arrive."
"Why would they shoot you, Conrad?"
"Accidents happen! I read Yahoo News. We're locking ourselves in."
"There he is!"
After jumping half a foot, Conrad looked where Akachi pointed, at the ginger cat rubbing against the balcony rails. Oji glared back, darted in for a swipe at Conrad' legs, then
stopped, arched his back, and flattened his ears. As the cat looked down the hallway, his hair stood on end, and his eyes flickered as wide as flashlights.
"Is that Oji?" Michel stooped, then groped indiscriminately at wall, fur, and the folds of Conrad's pants before finally clasping the ginger cat and rubbing her face in Oji's.
At a horrendous splintering, Akachi whirled to see a huge bear squeeze through the ruins of the stairwell door.
Sniff, sniff, grumble. The floor creaked as the bear ambled down the hallway, its fur brushing the dull plaster walls. "There you are." Its voice was crisp, bold and stern, as if its words were highlighted in an imaginary word balloon.
Akachi pulled Michel in the library and shut the door so rapidly, that only in sliding a table to the door did she uncover the snarling and the yellow eyes. In fleeing the bear, she missed three wolves crouching under the library tables.
"What luck. It comes right to us." When the beast stood on its hind legs and shoved Michel with its front paws, Akachi backpedaled to keep her upright, and both girls collided with a wobbly shelf. When books rained down, Akachi swept them on the wolf, and one volume stuck straight up in its jaws.
As the library door burst inward, the bear moseyed in front of the children, and the wolves' tails crept between their legs, but when their heads hunkered down in reverent fear, their smiles climbed like grotesque cliffs--travesties of mirth--and one padded behind the bear. Through the remains of the splintered library door, Akachi glimpsed Conrad gawk at the standoff, duck into the boys' bedroom, then quietly close the door.
"Will you winter in this ogre cave?" said the bear.
"It's no cave," said one wolf, his tone high and yapping, as if squeezing back a belly-laugh, "but a mass grave for ogres past and dead, as well as some living who bury their spirits in words."
"You run in graves because your paws are idle," said the bear.
"He sounds jealous," said another wolf.
"Escort us to the World Cave," said the bear. "Say no more of ogres and their strange appetites for the unreal."
"What if we have a taste for bear?" When its sneer fanned wide into bared teeth, they pounced as one, chomping the bear's neck and hindlegs. Animal blood spattered on Runaway Ralph, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, and other book spines, then seeped into the faded carpet. Though the bear swept a paw through a skull—flinging wolf brains on The Jungle Book, Animal Farm, and The Call of the Wild—and bit the face buried in its throat, the wolves had savaged him so quickly that Akachi had no time to gasp. When she was yanked through the tattered doorway, she almost let go of Michel, and they stumbled over each other as Conrad led them down the steps.
Sirens and strobing blue and red lights flooded the first floor as they rounded the stairs, opened the front door, and stepped into the blaring brightness. Having parked behind the exterminators' van, the police opened the trunks of their cars, armed themselves with shotguns, then turned to the children.
"Come into the parking lot and stand by the fence," The tall and spindly officer had sunken cheeks, a dark brown complexion, and whitening temples below a coarse, black buzz cut.
"Who's Conrad? Are you Conrad?" said a tall and beefy, red-faced officer. The other two seemed like inferior copies of this one, as if he broke the mold, but the police officer factory either hadn't noticed, or didn't have quality controllers, and kept pumping them out. They were also tall, but more chicken than beef, and more orange in the cheek than red.
"That's me."
"Are there really bears in there?" Though growls, roars, and howls spilled from the open door to echo in the parking lot, the officer's next question was, "have you seen a bear, kid?"
"Less than two minutes ago. Up those steps."
"How did it get in there?" Though the skinny officer smiled, it was an inoffensive smile,
like a crash test dummy that saw crashing headlights. "Never mind," he said, shaking his head. "Johnny, even if it isn't a bear, that doesn't sound good."
"What's your call, Josephus? Do we wait for animal control?"
"Is this it?" asked Conrad in disbelief. "Where are the others?"
"What you see is what you get," said Josephus, then turned to Johnny. "We can either make PETA happy or save this tax-paying cult of crazies. Not an ideal choice."
"Nuts," said another officer. "Churches don't pay taxes."
"Is this a church now? Let's donate some lead." Johnny laughed.
"Bring it down a little, Johnny" snapped Josephus. "The kids' culty friends and culty den-mothers might be getting mauled in there. Don't shoot anything in one of those dresses—or anything like an exterminator." Akachi couldn't believe her ears. They were nothing like cops on television.
The fourth officer pointed. "What about raccoons?" Its diamond eyes looked quizzically through the crack, then shouldered open the door. On all fours, the huge raccoon was still waist high.
"That's no raccoon!" gasped Josephus. "It's a St. Bernard!"
"If that's a St. Bernard, where's the booze?" snorted Johnny.
"It doesn't look violent," said the fourth officer.
"It's a lucky critter, then. Here's the cattle prod," said Johnny, taking the electric cudgel from his belt, then turning it on.
"Move it out of our way, Johnny" said Josephus.
"What strange heraldry," quipped the raccoon in a smooth, urbane voice, like an actor that had read for a hundred roles, "and what strange arms you bear."
"Gahh!" said Johnny, staggering back on the step and nearly twisting his ankle as he crashed into the officer behind him. "That's a kid! I almost stunned a kid!" Johnny grasped the metal porch rails, pulled himself up, then limped back on the porch.
"Kid, that's an amazing costume," said Josephus.
"Is there a goat behind me? I'm no kid." The racoon's seething growl left little doubt that this was no cosplay, but an animal, and Johnny backpedaled and raised the cattleprod. "Are you bent on doing me harm? I thought you were this world's peacekeepers." The raccoon's eyes narrowed. When he slammed the door, they heard his receding scamper.
"Akachi..." Though the hiss was barely audible, its echo in the alley leading to the parking lot sent a shudder down her spine. She resisted the impulse to turn. Her eyes were on the officers. When they battered the door and went inside, she tread silently towards the voice, leaving Michel with Conrad.
Though it was the twilight moment before street lights turn on, the squad cars' strobing lights lit the alley but lengthened Akachi's shadow to darken the details.
When a hand closed on her wrist, she yanked back by instinct, and dragged Aito into the light.
"It's only me." With him were Chiyo, Loren, Berangere, and Lucien. Their faces were wrinkled by drowsiness, and Loren's half-lidded, dreamy eyes were so sunken that they looked fox-like.
"Why are you hiding?"
"Why do you think?" said Berangere acerbically.
Aito said, "have you seen Oji?"
"Michel has the cat."
On receiving this intelligence, Aito sprinted to the front, then led Conrad and Michel, who still carried Oji, back to the group.
"We're leaving," Aito said.
"Where are we going?"
"Does it matter? Animals broke our window, police broke our door, and then there are the exterminators."
"I don't think they are exterminators."
"Who cares," said Conrad. "We're going."
"You don't speak for me!" said Michel, before Akachi could say anything.
Akachi said, "where would we go, Aito?"
"There's a Mansion in Pelhurst," he said.
"We should wait for the Elderliches."
"We not only won't be allowed back in," said Lucien, "but the wolves, deer, and rats prove that we're a cult, and from there they'll assume we sacrifice animals. If we don't leave, we'll be separated in different homes."
"Listen to Lucien," Aito said.
"Why?" sneered Conrad. "You'd back up any of his lies."
When bloodcurdling screams joined the menagerie of animal cries, the retort of shotgun blasts roared, the beastly shrieks rioted back, and Josephus, his arm dripping blood, escaped the front door, trailing one officer. There was no sign of Johnny or the other policeman. Tamping down on his wounded arm with his other hand, Josephus bellowed, "kids, get in the car! It's not safe here."
"Now or never," said Chiyo.
When Michel said, "now!" her friend's terror echoed in her own quickened heartbeat. Lucien's gloomy prediction was so reasonable that if it came half true, they might never see each other again. Akachi did not want to lose her best friend.
"We're going," said Akachi. "You'd better be right, Aito."
As they entered the shadowed alley, the car doors slammed, its headlights lit half their bodies, and their faces were half light, half dark dominoes. Conrad broke into his fastest gait, and they followed.
Though Michel ran with purpose once Akachi pulled her in the right direction, they brought up the rear, and Officer Josephus soon drove beside them, lowered his window, and said, "This is not a request. Get in."
Akachi shook her head. Though Michel panted in her efforts, Akachi continued to set a tough pace.
When the alley ran behind the QwikKafe to a wide street with traffic speeding both ways, Officer Josephus whooped the siren, strobed the light, and stopped the squad car.
"You kids!" Josephus shouted. "Get in the car!" When Akachi ran past, he grabbed Michel with his wounded arm, winced, and stumbled against the car.
"Michel," said Akachi, now panting herself, "we're running across the street. Whatever you do, don't stop!"
When Michel's breath was too labored to reply, Akachi was glad not to elaborate on the insanity of a plunge into the bustling street, though when they dodged the first car, that motorist laid into their horn, and Michel screamed. While the blind girl did not stop, her panting became twice as strained. Though they dashed through the second and third lane a good distance ahead of approaching vehicles, they were still nearly clipped by the speeding night drivers.
"Is this the sidewalk? Let's stop here," said Michel. Though they had three more lanes to cross, Akachi let Michel catch her breath on the traffic island dividing eastbound from westbound traffic. Behind them, Officer Josephus shouted himself hoarse, while on the other side of the six lane throughfare was the tree line of Longview Park.
Michel's panting had become deeper and calmer when Akachi said, "I know you're not ready, but the policeman is crossing, and this is our best shot to cross." When Michel nodded, the blaring, braking traffic gave way as they raced through the lanes, crashed through the tree line, then dashed over the grass to a dusty park sidewalk with grass spreading through the cracks.
"Come on, Michel, can't you outrun an old man?"
"That's not fair," puffed Michel.
"So you have bad eyes. He probably has bad knees and a heart three times your size from too much fast food, while you pray six times a day and eat granola."
"You watch too many cop shows," said Michel.
"You do too." While Michel couldn't see, as a skilled listener, she got more out of "watching" television than Akachi, who would come to regret introducing her friend to Monsters of Crime.Though Michel was insensible to the gore, she was so taken aback by the bloodcurdling dialogue that she once asked Njall if Elderliches were from another planet, that they would allow kids to watch that show.
The cool September breeze swirled the fallen leaves; leaves as dark as coffee grounds between park lights, then blazing bright as the tips of crayons under the lamps, their stems tracing light green handprints through the dry browns, oranges, and autumn reds. As they crossed a playground, lamp light fell on dark red trails over asphalt and grass.
"Michel, what are we doing?"
"I thought you knew."
"I don't know anything."
"I don't either."
"We might have lived our whole lives in The Mansion."
"They had plans for us, Akachi."
"If they did, they never talked about them."
"Yes they did. They taught us about worlds."
"Those were parables...allegories!"
"Obviously not," interrupted Loren. "Though our lives in The Mansion and The Elderliches themselves were unreal, the parables were very real."
"They were more real than the Shining Prince," said Berangere.
"You're guessing," said Akachi. "You don't know anything." Her throat hurt and her eyes were wet.
"What do you know, Akachi?" asked Conrad. If Officer Josephus was in the park, he was nowhere near the children, who saw and heard nothing but the wind twitching dry, bright leaves.
The street that bordered the other side of the park was so backed up that they were able to thread their way through the sluggish cars.
"Hey, you little crazies!" Having tapped on her brakes to avoid bumping Aito, the jolt had whipped her shouting head towards the dashboard. "I thought you were ghosts in that get-up!"
The rider behind her also crunched his brakes, then shouted, "Keep that Harry Potter cosplay at home, you weirdoes!"
When the shouting and derision inspired the other bored commuters, the kids' ears were blistered by profanity, while some half-understood remarks reddened their faces. Even if they had not passed under a white sign reading Draden College of The Humanities, they might have guessed it was a campus from the young drivers, all wearing the red and gray of the Draden Barnmice,and some seeming too petite to drive.
"How do you go to college?" mused Akachi.
"Get down!" hissed Chiyo. Akachi pulled Michel down behind a hedge so low
that they had to crawl on hands and knees. Between the needled branches of the hedge,
Akachi saw the white Ratzappers van circling in the parking lot of a building with a granite sign that dubbed it The Socratic Institute of Graduate Studies.
When the van creeped away, the children stood.
Lucien said, "if we go parking lot to parking lot, we can stay off the street."
Four whooping bare chested young men, painted with red numbers and gray mice, crested the hill. Their cheer of "Go Barnmice!" gradually slurred, until Barnmice sounded like Barmice.
"Hey Barnmice!" shouted a deep, ugly voice. "White mice!" When he pointed, there could be no doubt the children were the mice.
"This way," hissed Chiyo. They followed along the hedge bordering a large building that seemed more window than concrete. Despite the late hour, the parking lot was packed with
young adults drinking from red plastic cups, and with lighted cars, each with open doors or trunks, and tuned to different radio stations.
Chiyo led them in a winding route to the edge of campus, where they stood in the shadow of a building named Oswin Hall that faced the Draden Public Library, a boxy Italian restaurant called Santi's, and the Grayhound station. While she was not disappointed with the library's cozy collection of books, having once tagged along when Hanne took Berangere to get Wuthering Heights, Akachi had fond memories of Santi's, which were powerfully evoked by the strong scent of garlic bread and tomato sauce. "Berangere," she asked, "do you remember?"
"Of course I do. I dream of Santi's."
"What's Santi's?" asked Michel.
"It's good?" asked Aito.
"We don't have time," said Chiyo.
"If we're going all the way to Pelhurst," said Conrad, "we should eat first."
"Just how are we going to Pelhurst, anyhow?" asked Akachi.
"I have this," said Aito. The small black wallet was stuffed with green bills.
"Where did you get that?" asked Conrad.
"Was I sick when the Elderliches gave those out?" said Berangere.
"How I got it is a long story. Let's save it for the trip to Pelhurst." Turning to Chiyo, Aito said, "Conrad's right. We have to eat, and stopping might confuse those looking for us."
"Who are they, anyway?" asked Michel. "And won't Santi's think it's weird to serve eight kids in, as they see it, 'cosplay'?"
"Who cares? Running on a full stomach can't be as bad as running on an empty stomach."
Santi's was packed with college kids in red and gray. Aito leaned in to whisper to the greeter and gave him a bill, and the older boy led them to a dirty table strewn with finger-stained napkins, chicken wing bones, shelled peanuts, and wet drinking glasses. The greeter took the dirty glasses with him through the kitchen door, and another boy emerged, thumped a plastic bin on their table, leaned over the exhausted children for the dirty dishes, then carried the rattling bin back to the kitchen.
When their waiter arrived bearing a tray with glasses of ice and a pitcher of water,
his smile likewise propped up his arched eyebrow, so exaggerated was the look of condescension he served his young table. As Akachi was avoiding ugly looks from neighboring tables, she couldn't help looking right into the waiter's sarcastic face, and when she couldn't hold her glance, she noticed the others staring at him as well.
Aito said, "I hear the food's good."
"Yeah," sighed the waiter, "it's really good. Grilled cheese all around?"
"No, bring us spaghetti and garlic bread."
"I'll take grilled cheese," said Conrad.
"No spaghetti?" asked the waiter.
"No, I want spaghetti too. But grilled cheese sounds great. I'm really hungry."
"Can I have a white sauce? And a salad?" asked Michel in a tiny little voice.
"Make that two salads," said Akachi.
"Hey, I like salad," said Lucien.
"Bring us all a salad," said Aito.
"Don't expect me to eat it," muttered Conrad.
"I'm sorry for asking," the waiter drawled languidly, "but who's paying for all this?"
"I've got you," said Aito, flashing the wallet again. "And I'll take care of you too."
The waiter's smile became less lopsided, and his arched eyebrow relaxed into a unibrow, as if he had dropped off his icy attitude along with the ice water. "Okay, then. Spaghetti all around."
Though a tray of cokes soon doubled the icy glasses wetting the table, their food took so long that Akachi, preoccupied by nervousness, barely heard her stomach grumble, and the others' chatter sunk into a gloomy mutter. It didn't help that Santi's smelled good; like a savory cloud, the aroma of roasting garlic, oven-toasted bread, and tomato sauce made their faces sweat and their mouths water in anticipation.
When their waiter returned with a tray so large it could have served as a table, Aito, Chiyo, Michel, and Berangere were served first. In the two minutes that passed before he returned with the other tray, the served kids, without looking up at their plateless friends, tucked in, twirled and scooped noddles with gusto, and shoveled in the thick sauce with planks of garlic bread. When her heavy plate finally clanked under her chin, she was so drained and reduced by hunger that she barely felt up to the challenge of the heaped spaghetti, but when the thick steam moistened her wavering eyes and the tip of her nose, she took a small bite, then turned into a pasta-eating machine, barely pausing for air.
Though she had a faint idea that her chews were not unpleasant, at first the sauce was more of a lubricant for cramming food down the hatch, and it wasn't until her belly was half packed that she noticed the piquant herbal aroma and began to savor the garlicky marinara flowing on spongy noodles and chunky vegetables. It was better than she remembered, for the passage of time had dimmed the flavors until the memory was only vaguely yummy, and when the deliciousness gripped her, she regretted her numb inhalation of the first third of the plate.
"This is good," she said.
"It's not bad," said Conrad.
"You've had better? You live in the same place we do."
"I'm allowed to want better things," he said. "There's too much garlic."
"That's what makes it good," said Loren.
Michel spoke softly. "There might be a little too much garlic, but I wasn't going to say anything. Thanks for the meal, Aito." Oji was not critical of the garlic. His forelegs were on the table, and he lapped Michel's alfredo sauce.
"Sure," said the boy.
Because their booth was recessed into a niche in the wall, and only Akachi and Michel, at the end of the table, were in the line of sight of the door, only Akachi saw the tall man and gigantic woman enter. After grabbing Michel's arm and squeezing them both further in the booth, she turned to shush the table, then mouthed silently who arrived. When they shook their head bewilderedly—as if more than a handful of people chased them—she rolled her eyes and said in as low a tone as she dared, "Exterminators!"
Aito laid three crisp fifty dollar bills on the table, then peeked around the pillar blocking the door. "The police officer just came in. They're talking. Follow me."
When Aito walked with a light step past the kitchen door, Akachi followed, pulling Michel down the hallway and past the restrooms to a large security door. When Aito couldn't budge the handle, Loren, Berangere, and Conrad pushed hard and the door unjimmied with a loud buzzing. Conrad held the door as they passed into the alley.
"I can't believe they didn't see us," said Lucien. "That was good luck."
"Don't talk," said Berangere. "Run."
After they jumped into the alley, Akachi pulled Michel into a run—not waiting for the others, as she was tired of being the last in the group. When they reached the Draden Public Library parking lot, they heard shouts, and Akachi turned. The gigantic woman had Conrad by the arm, and the man ran towards the children.
"Leave him," he shouted. "Get the prince!"
After sprinting to Akachi, Aito thrusted out a wad of bills. "10:15 to Rockham."
"You said Pelhurst."
"No! Rockham. Don't let anyone see you."
"Where are you going?"
"On the Pelhurst. If we don't transfer at Morwin Station, wait for us in Rockham." The tall man was nearly upon them. "Run, Akachi."
When Akachi dashed, Michel faltered, and though they soon worked out a careening gait, in which the blind girl copied Akachi's steps at a split second lag, Akachi was so certain it was not fast enough that at the shouts, the bloodcurdling screams, and the patter of sneakers, she did not turn, but swept forward.
The flickering dimness of the Greyhound station seemed painfully bright after their night run. In the vendor window, the aged teller turned glossy pages of celebrity photos underscored with garish red letters like a comic book. She did not look up. "Destination?"
"Rockham."
"There's a 10:15 in ten minutes if you hurry."
"Yes, please."
"Four?"
Akachi looked behind her. Loren and Lucien had caught up to them.
Though uncertain if she had enough, she nodded.
"Two hundred dollars and twelve cents."
Akachi unrolled the wad to find five fifty dollar bills. While the aged woman counted out change at a glacial speed, Akachi glanced at the door. She started to worry about the others.
"No pets." She scowled. "Is anyone coming for him?"
"Yes," Akachi lied.
"They have five minutes if you don't want to miss your bus. Luggage?"
"No."
"Board through the B door."
After Michel stuffed Oji in her capacious sleeves, Akachi led them through the B gate to climb into the Rockham bus. Though the lights were on and the engine was idling, the seats were cold.
Lucien said, "Akachi, this is the wrong bus."
"Aito said Rockham. You're supposed to be going to Pelhurst."
Loren said, "Berangere is going to Pelhurst? No way." She had half-turned when Akachi caught her by the wrist.
"We're meeting at Morwin Station. If you do something dumb, we'll get caught."
"Why would Aito do that?" asked Lucien.
"I don't know. Sit down, and keep your head low. You too, Loren." They hunkered down in two facing seats, so as to be unseen except from the aisle.
"And why are exterminators chasing us? That's creepy."
"Not as creepy as wolves," said Michel.
"Wolves?"
Though Akachi was a fast storyteller, she was only halfway through the wolf and bear battle when Vieno sat between Loren and Lucien.
"Are you hungry?" When Vieno reached into a plastic QwiKafe bag, it set off warning bells; not only did she act as if running away was completely normal, but two kinds of potato chips, beef jerky, pork rinds, and chocolate bars were a junk food feast uncharacteristic of the Elderlich attitude to diet and body. Akachi's gut twisted remembering Vieno cozying to the Exterminators, and she felt like she couldn't exhale without shouting to run, but when she noticed that the Elderlich vestments were grainy with dirt, leaf fragments, and burrs, as if she crawled on her belly to the Greyhound station, she held her tongue with the ultimate of efforts. If there was a tail under Vieno's vestments, a warning might get her friends clawed.
Akachi was still debating what to do when the bus pulled away.