Gretchen, Dichall and I went under Jody Curator’s couch to hide and wait for the humans to arrive with our glasses. I glanced up at the chandelier and saw Jody’s husband, Gavin, perched up there. I waved. He nodded silently in greeting.
We got lucky. Within a few minutes, Josh and Morgan, shivering with cold, climbed the porch steps, and Jody showed them in.
“I didn’t know where else to go.” Morgan stepped inside the house, rubbing her arms to warm them. “What happened was just too crazy…”
Jody went to the kitchen to make some hot tea for them, and the brother and sister
followed, telling the story as far as they understood it. When they came back in and sat down, both were crying.
“What was that thing?” Josh leaned back in the chair and covered his eyes. “I thought it was my girlfriend…I kissed it. I—oh, my goodness.”
Jody spoke with soothing tones. “I don’t know what it was, specifically.”
Gretchen leaned to me and Dichall and whispered: “Soulseeker faerie…”
Jody blew on her tea. “But let’s hope it doesn’t come back, now that it’s been found out.”
“You don’t think she’ll come back, looking for Josh?” Morgan put a hand on Josh’s leg.
“She might,” Jody took a sip, “but I think it’s more likely she’ll move on.”
The siblings looked skeptical.
“… to uh, easier prey.”
I was listening to the conversation, but my eyes were fixed on the glasses that Morgan
wore around her neck. The arms were connected with a leather strap, and the frames rested on her upper chest. Give them back, already!
Morgan leaned forward. “I got a phone call. Someone called—a number I didn’t
recognize—and told me that Madison was something else, and to go over to Josh’s right away. He had a voice that was a little high-pitched, but I don’t know who it was.”
Dichall turned to me and Gretchen and smiled proudly. I returned the smile and patted him on the back. That’s my man.
Jody nodded. “You had help. I can’t tell you who it was, but I can tell you that they
helped you because they need the glasses for their own purposes. There are other nasty things in this world that need attending to.”
Morgan looked down at the glasses around her neck as though she’d forgotten about
them. “Oh, of course. Here they are.”
Jody took the glasses handed to her and placed them on the coffee table in front of her. “But they don’t have payment. They are not in a position of wealth, you might say. They wanted me to ask you if you would pay for their use of the glasses. You know, as a thank you.”
Josh and Madison looked at each other and shrugged.
“I’m just happy that Josh knows what’s going on and that she’s left his house.” Morgan reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet. “How much?”
They negotiated a price, and our rental of the glasses was paid for by the grateful humans.
Waffles, curled up quietly in the corner, unnoticed, wagged his tail slightly.
“The creature is gone from your house, Josh, you can return there.”
Josh nodded and turned to Morgan. “Can I stay at your place for a while?”
“Sure. We can even go pick up your cat if you want to.”
A chill went through my fur. His poor cat…
After they left, Jody helped us attach the glasses to Waffles’s collar. “Just bring these
back when you’re finished. Good luck.”
We climbed aboard, thanked Jody for her help, and went back out into the cold. It was
time to get back to Gatineau. If Vivian looked through the glasses and saw what she was facing, she’d want to leave with us.
Hopefully.
With the hard-won glasses with us, Waffles bounced through the snow with a renewed
energy.
Now all we had to do was sneak back on a truck going back to Ottawa.
By now, the streets of Stoneprior were busier. The day had started, and we had to be more careful. Waffles trotted on side-streets, winding his way back toward the shipping lot.
We’d gotten a few lucky breaks today, but you can’t catch them all the time, I guess. A
white truck slammed on its brakes near us, sliding half a metre in the snowy street before coming to a stop. Waffles turned and we all saw the sign on its side: ANIMAL CONTROL. Two humans jumped out of either side of the truck with catch poles in their hands.
Waffles yelped and sprinted down the street away from the humans. We folded our ears back and held on.
