The Shelterlings Chapter 1-22.pdf

Chapter One As the only squirrel at the Shelter for Rejected Familiars, Holly always volunteered for the chores that required an exceptionally fluffy tail, such as sweeping the porch. She hummed to herself as she brushed her tail back and forth. Just a few more strokes and the porch would be spotles...

Chapter One As the only squirrel at the Shelter for Rejected Familiars, Holly always volunteered for the chores that required an exceptionally fluffy tail, such as sweeping the porch. She hummed to herself as she brushed her tail back and forth. Just a few more strokes and the porch would be spotless. She wanted everything to look as perfect as possible for their new arrival. Today's arrival would be their first new shelterling since Charlie had left. He used to be the one who greeted the new residents and helped them adjust to their lives at the shelter-he'd been so kind, gentle, and patient with Holly herself when she'd arrived and Holly wasn't sure she could fill his paws. But she was certainly going to try! "Gus, can you take the tablecloth off the clothesline before it begins to rain?" she called. "Clover says no one's coming, and it will be sunny all day." Gus, a barn owl and Holly's best friend, flew out of the upstairs window. He glided on golden-brown wings over the yard. "Whoa, she actually made a useful prediction? She's making progress!" "I think you were right about the rhyming," Holly said. "It helps her focus." Clover had the power of prophecy, sort of. Her predictions were seldom relevant and always wrong. Holly and Gus had been trying to help her figure out ways to make her prophecies less random. "Is she getting any better at it?" "Well, not really, no. The mangled verse that had resulted from their encouraging her to speak in rhyme had made Holly's whiskers twitch, actually. "But she's trying." Gus landed on the clothesline, and it sagged beneath him. With his beak, he snapped at the clothespins, unhooking them and tossing them onto the lawn. "She was stumped for thirty minutes the other day on a prophecy about an orange. Holly finished sweeping the porch and shook the dust out of her tail onto the grass. She then scurried around the yard, zigzagging as she gathered up the pins, as well as the few stray leaves and twigs that had fallen since her last cleanup. "Relax, Holly," Gus said. "It all looks fine. Besides, the new arrival won't care if there's a twig or two out of place. She'li just care that she's coming to a place that is happy to have her. You remember what it was like arriving here after well, after Stopping, Holly surveyed the yard. It looked better than fine. Lovely, even. The peonies were in full bloom, with plush pink flowers that were twice as big as her head. The house itself-a unique mix of sprawling old farmhouse, barn, and warren had a fresh coat of white paint with blue trim, and the oversize nest on the porch looked cozy with its pink pillows. And of course she remembered exactly what it had been like to arrive at a place she'd never wanted to be. But once you were judged by the wizards as unsuitable to be a familiar, this was where you came and this was where you stayed. The only shelterling to ever leave, so far as Holly knew, had been Charlie, and she still harbored hope that one day he'd come back to stay. Shelterlings lived in the shelter. That was the way it was, and the shelter itself was beautiful. "She's going to love it here," Holly declared. "Yes, she will." Shaking out her tail again, Holly trotted back toward the house. The grass tickled her furry stomach. "Did you tell Clover how to rhyme 'orange'?" "There is no rhyme for 'orange' Anyway, it came out as a prediction about a fruit salad. She rhymed it with 'a mute ballad, which was brilliant." Holly hopped up the steps. "She could have used 'door hinge." "That's not Huh, maybe, if you say it fast enough." He flew underneath the tablecloth, lifted it off the line with his head, and carried it draped over his body with his wings sticking out on either side. As he flew into the house beneath the cloth, she heard him muttering, "Orange, door hinge, orange, door hinge," over and over. She called after him. "Watch out for " Thump "the wall," she finished. "Oops!" She swallowed a giggle. "Don't laugh!" "Of course I wouldn't." She put her tail over her mouth and laughed into the fur as she went inside. She heard a second feathery thump as he bumped into another wall. "You try flying with your eyes blocked." "You're doing great," she said encouragingly. Gus reached the dining room at last, settled on the edge of a livestock trough, and shook off the tablecloth. Tugging it with her front teeth, Holly helped him position it over the trough. It wasn't the traditional use of a tablecloth, but she liked how it neatened up the room. Just because this was a place that no one ever wanted to come didn't mean it couldn't be nice-that was what Charlie used to say, only he'd say "tidy" instead of "nice." Holly had changed it in her head. She checked the dining room, the front hall, and the living room with its various chairs, couches, and perches for all sizes. Everything felt ready, and her heart thrummed with a little burst of pride. "Do you think the new arrival will like-" Before she could finish, Zephyr the turtle careened past her. Holly jumped back to keep her paws from being squished. Clinging to Zephyr's shell with all twenty of his sticky toes, Leaf, the gecko who was Zephyr's inseparable best friend, screeched, "Watch out, Holly!" "Sorry!" Zephyr called. Holly scooted under a table. Zephyr skidded as he turned left, bashed into a door frame, and then zoomed on. From the hallway, Leaf squeaked, "Stairs!" And then there was the unmistakable thump-thump-thump of a turtle going down a set of stairs very rapidly, followed by a muffled thud as they reached the sublevel of the shelter, where the shelterlings who preferred to live underground had their rooms. "Are you all right?" Holly called after them. Zephyr whooped. "That was awesome!" "That was not awesome," Leaf said. "Look at me! Do I look like a gecko who just experienced awesomeness? This is not the face of a happy gecko!" "But, counterpoint: we only hit half the stairs." Leaving them to debate the awesomeness or non-awesomeness of their crash, Holly emerged from beneath the table. She examined the doorway where the turtle had hit it. Just a bit of a scuff mark. I can fix that, she thought, rubbing it with her tail. "Holly" Gus said behind her. "I know it doesn't have to be perfect," she said. "I just want it to be nice." "Holly- "It's hard enough to summon up the courage to leave your home, only to suffer a huge disappointment," she said. All shelterlings had once dreamed of becoming familiars, bonded to a wizard and dedicated to a life of making the world a better place. Each of them had left their home, trekked to the very top of Cloud Mountain, and drunk from the Moon Mirror-a pool as perfectly round as the moon, which bestowed a magic power on all who drank its waters-and each had then been told by the wizards that the magic the water had given them was small and useless. She scrubbed the doorway harder, as if she could scrub out the memory of that terrible day. "The place you end up should at least be pleasant." "Holly She stopped. "She's almost here." "Eeks!" Excited, Holly ran in a circle. "Oh my, oh my" She scurried out the door and down the front walk while Gus glided over her head. He perched on top of the trellis while she peered at the arrival circle, a ring of stones covered in markings known as spell glyphs. The circle had been created by the original residents of the shelter-the very first shelterlings with the help of some wizards familiars. It magically connected the Wizards Tower and the shelter. Like all the shelterlings, Holly had used it when she'd been sent here. A few of the other shelterlings came outside too, hopping, slithering, and flying to join her and Gus. They all gathered around the arrival circle. Holly watched as purple sparkles twinkled in the center of the circle. She bounced from paw to paw. It was happening! A new shelterling! Maybe she'd be from a place that Holly had never seen, like an ocean or a desert or a snow- capped mountain... Holly used to dream about traveling to new places with her very own wizard, just like Calla, the famous familiar who, in one legend, journeyed with her wizard to a mountain where they saved countless animals from an avalanche with a spell that turned the snow into soap bubbles. In another legend, they trekked deep into a desert to cast a water-summoning spell that created a new oasis. "I hope she'll be a flamingo," Pepper, a pink flamingo, said. The shelter boasted several birds, but only one flamingo. "Or a pelican. Or a duck. Or a goose. Or a woodpecker. Or-" One of the resident snakes slithered around the circle of stones. "I hope she'll be a snake. The shelter could use more slithering." "My heart is set on another mammal," Bluebell said. A lanky, long-eared rabbit, he was wearing his beloved hat, which currently looked like a fedora with holes for his ears. He was the only shelterling who ever wore an accessory-and the only one whose magic worked solely on hats. "Herbivore preferred, please." The fox next to him bristled. "Carnivores are nice too!" Within the arrival circle, the sparkles swirled clockwise into a purple cloud. The glyphs on the stones were glowing with a white light that blazed so brightly Holly had to shield her eyes with her tail. Flying down to land beside her, Gus said to Holly, "Remember my arrival day?" "I'll never forget it." Holly said. That was the day they'd met. And the day Gus had accidentally crashed through the porch roof while demonstrating his special power. She'd helped him repair it over the next week, and that was how they'd become friends. Well, that and the incident with the acorns. Her first winter at the shelter, she'd been so very worried all the time unsettled to be in a new and unexpected place, unsure of her magic, unable to imagine herself in a role other than that of the familiar she'd dreamed of being and had filled the hall closet with acorns, after she'd finished stuffing her own. No matter how many times Charlie had told her that no rejected familiars were ever sent away from the shelter, she still worried she'd fail here, too. Gus had discovered her extra cache one day while he was exploring, the acorns had tumbled out all over the floor, and Zephyr, practicing his superfast speed, had skidded over them into the dining room, where he'd hit the trough and knocked it over. Unfortunately, it had been full of soup. Parsnip soup, everywhere. Gus was the one who had understood. He'd offered up his nest for Holly to store her extra acorns in, no questions asked, until she felt secure enough in her life at the shelter that she didn't need to save quite so many. She'd never forget that kindness. The act of giving up acorn space was the act of a forever friend. "You're thinking about the parsnip soup, aren't you?" Gus said. "It went everywhere. Even the ceiling." "I made the first mess, though, with the porch roof. Of the two disasters, I'd say mine was the more disastrous." "That all depends on how you feel about parsnip soup, Holly said. She rather liked it. In the forest where she'd grown up, no squirrel ever ate soup. But here, at a place filled with creatures from all over with a variety of different tastes, she'd been able to try soups and breads and cheeses. "We should have made soup for the new arrival" "We don't even know what kind of animal she is, much less what she'd like to eat. Maybe she doesn't like soup." "She doesn't like soup?" Bluebell the rabbit said, outraged. "We don't know," Gus said. "That's my point. We don't know anything about her. We have to wait and see." They'd been contacted by of one the familiars of Wizards Tower, specifically a badger, who'd said they had a failed applicant. He'd said her name was Periwinkle, but he hadn't mentioned what kind of animal she was, where she was from, or what she was like. Holly thought it was a nice name. She hoped it meant that Periwinkle would be nice herself. Soon they'd find out! "Deep breath, Holly." Gus demonstrated, inhaling, and his feathers ruffled as he puffed out his chest. "I'm calm." "You're vibrating." Her tail was, in fact, shaking with excitement. She caught it in her forepaws and held it still as the purple sparkles swirled faster and faster. She held her breath. And then she exhaled, because it was too long to keep holding her breath. She squeezed her tail tighter with both paws. This is so exciting! she thought. Whoever this Periwinkle was, she was one of them now: a shelterling. At last Holly spotted a shape within the purple cloud. "There she is!" the flamingo cried. The shape shrieked, and the shelter animals scattered. The rabbit darted behind the hedge, the flamingo flew into the air, the snake slithered into the deeper grass, and the fox jumped away, her ears swept back and her muscles tense. "I think we're scaring her," Holly said. "We're scaring her?" Bluebell said from his hiding place. Gus flapped his broad wings at the others. "Everyone into the house! Give her some space. Holly will welcome her, and you can all greet her once she's settled in. Shoo, shoo!" The fox, flamingo, and snake retreated. "What about you?" Bluebell asked as he hopped toward the porch. His long ears were flattened against his hat. "Me? I'm just a harmless statue, Gus said, and he held his breath and turned to stone. That was his special power-transforming himself into stone. Granite, to be specific. He looked like and was identical to a lawn ornament, except that he could turn back into flesh-and-blood-and-feathers whenever he liked. As soon as the others were inside, Holly released her tail and inched closer to the circle of stones. "It's okay," she said gently. "It's just me. My name's Holly" The purple cloud began to clear, and she saw two huge-as-teacups yellow eyes staring at her. What are you? Holly wondered. She'd never seen eyes like that. She saw herself, the Gus statue, the yard, and the house reflected in them. "Your name is Periwinkle, isn't it?” On all four paws, Periwinkle darted out of the purple sparkles. "You'll never catch meeeeee!" she cried, spurting past Holly. She ducked behind one of the peony bushes. As Periwinkle ran by, Holly got a much better look at her: a tiny monkey with enormous eyes, framed in triangular black patches, and a black-and-white- ringed tail that was at least two feet long. A lemur! She'd never met a lemur before. Lemurs lived in the southeast, very far away, in tropical rainforests that were unlike the meadows, pastures, and oak and pine forests around the shelter. Everything from the temperature to the plants was different. Ooh, she's going to have so much to tell and so many stories to share, once she settles in, Holly thought. Rejected familiars didn't travel to faraway lands like familiars did, but hearing about new places was nearly as good as seeing them. She hoped Periwinkle would turn out to be chatty. Holly had dozens of questions. The last of the sparkles vanished with a pop-pop-pop. At the sound, the lemur shrieked and bolted to hide behind the Gus statue. Gus transformed from a stone statue back into a living owl. "Welcome to the Shelter for Rejected Familiars! So happy to meet you!" The little lemur shouted, "You can't prove anything! Ha!" and ran under the porch. "Um, what?" Gus said. This, Holly thought, may take a while. Soothingly, she said, "That's Asparagus, but we all call him Gus. He's friendly. We're all friendly. Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine." She heard hoofsteps come around the side of the house and glanced over to see that Clover the cow had wandered into the front yard. She nibbled on the grass and then said, while chewing her cud, "You are absolutely right, Holly I have foreseen it. Absolutely nothing new will happen. There will be no danger or excitement of any sort. Now that Periwinkle has joined us, everything will be fine. I have so divined." "Hey, that rhymes!" Gus said. "Fine and divine! Nice job!" Clover looked delighted. "You're right! I did it!" She repeated her prediction: "Everything will be fine; I have so divined!" Holly felt her fur stand on end. "That's wonderful, Clover." Pleased with herself, the cow sauntered off, still chewing.. "You heard Clover," Holly said brightly to the lemur under the porch. "She's gifted with the power of prophecy, and she said everything will be fine." Behind her, Gus said, "But Holly” Don't say it, she thought. Please, Gus, don't say it. “you know Clover is always wrong." Chapter Two Holly sorted through her stash of last fall's acorns-one pile for those with caps and one for those without while she waited for the lemur. She wanted to be nearby when Periwinkle felt ready to emerge from beneath the porch, but she couldn't just sit still and wait. Poor thing must be shy, she thought. When Holly had first arrived, she'd felt as skittish as a baby squirrel. Gathering acorns had been the only thing that made her feel calmer at least until she became friends with Gus. Charlie had tried to reassure her that it had been similar for the other shelterlings before her. The gecko, Leaf, he'd said, had been so silent and withdrawn when he'd arrived, and it was only when Zephyr joined the shelter that he'd... well, not "come out of his shell," since Zephyr was the one with the shell. Pepper had been the opposite. She'd been so wound up when she'd arrived that she'd barely stopped talking for three days. Everyone needed a little help in the beginning, and Holly was determined to be just as patient as Charlie had been with her, even though squirrels weren't typically known for their patience. She'd often wondered if all beavers were as patient as Charlie, or whether he was just special. Gus amused himself by posing in various positions and then solidifying as a statue: first with both wings outstretched, then one wing up to the sky and the other down, then one leg in the air with his feathers hiked up to show off his knees. Before she'd met Gus, Holly hadn't known that owls even had knees or how surprisingly long their legs were, beneath their feathers. "Hey, Holly, watch this!" He twisted his head 180 degrees, touched the ground with both wings, and hopped-then petrified himself in midair. He stayed like that for three seconds before transforming back into flesh. "Ta-da!" Holly clapped enthusiastically. "I'm calling that last move a 'wingstand." "Ooh, try it with acorns," she suggested. He borrowed two acorns, lifted himself up on his wing tips on top of them, and changed to stone. The acorns cracked beneath his weight. When he turned back to soft feathers, Holly cheered again and claimed the delicious acorn mush. "Perfectly done," she told him as she nibbled on it. "You're a brilliant talent." He bowed. After finishing her snack, Holly lowered her voice and asked, "What do you think Clover's prophecy means? What's going to happen?" Gus shrugged, which ruffled his feathers. He stuck his beak in between the feathers on his shoulder, neatening them, as he said, "I wouldn't worry too much. Clover's idea of excitement is when someone makes cheese out of her milk." "Yum. We should make cheese again." It had been a while since they'd had a cheese-making party. Everyone would love it. They'd need to order some of the ingredients from Crescent City, but if they placed an order soon, it would be delivered by train in a few days. "Mozzarella," Gus said dreamily. "Or ricotta." "I was thinking cheddar." "Gorgonzola" "Definitely not." She gave a little shudder. The smell the one time they'd tried to make gorgonzola cheese had driven half the shelterlings to camp outside for days. She did not want to repeat that. "Manchego. Roquefort. Pepper Jack." "You just like saying cheese names," Holly teased, "You have no idea what they mean. Singing the words, Gus said, "Camembert. Gouda. Asiago!" She sang back, "Cheddar! Brie!" "Blue cheese! Goat cheese!" And together: "Feta!" In a friendly voice, Holly asked, "Periwinkle, what do you like to eat? Fruit? Nuts? You're a prosimian, correct? Primarily plants? Have you ever tried cheese? She'd never eaten it before she drank from the Moon Mirror and came to the shelter. She knew the same was true for Gus. He was from the Northern Forest, and cheese didn't grow on pine trees. She was from farther west, and they didn't have cheese in their trees either. From beneath the porch, the lemur shouted, "You can't trick me with all your cheese talk!" Maybe not shy, Holly thought. But definitely confused, "No tricks here," Gus said cheerfully. "Just food." "Do you like fruit?" Holly asked. "Strawberries are in season, and we have an excellent strawberry patch, Would you like to see it?" "Absolutely not," Periwinkle said. "I am staying right here until you promise that I won't be punished in any way." Holly glanced at Gus, and he shrugged his feathery shoulders. "What would we punish you for?" Holly asked. "Uh nothing. Her voice was muffled, as if she'd crawled even farther back beneath the porch. Peering under, Holly couldn't even see the reflection of the lemur's eyes. "Why would you think we'd want to?" Gus asked. "No reason, came the reply. Why would she think Oh! Holly thought. I understand. At least I think I do Gently, she said, "You weren't sent here as a punishment." Gus chimed in. "The familiars and their wizards should have made that clear before they did their purple smoke trick." He glared back at the arrival circle, as if it had been rude. "This isn't a prison. It's a haven for animals like us." "That's not what they say when they think no one's listening." Periwinkle's voice was slightly less muffled, as if she'd crept closer to the yard. "This is a place they send animals they want to forget about. And yes, I eavesdropped, and I'm not sorry." "The shelter is not a punishment," Holly said as firmly as she could. "You didn't do anything wrong. You just Failed, she thought, but she didn't want to say that out loud. "The wizards didn't have a place for you." "They called me useless," Periwinkle said. "They said I was a mistake." Holly winced. They'd said that about her, too. She wished they'd be kinder when they leveled their judgment. It wasn't as if any of the shelterlings had chosen to only be able to do silly parlor tricks. All of them had expected to be gifted with the kind of magic that would have made them the next Ash, the familiar who'd helped his wizard transform a rampaging basilisk into a friendly kitten, or Emerald, the familiar who'd used an ice spell with her wizard to stop a forest fire. Now that was real magic. "You're in good company, Gus said cheerfully. "We've all been called mistakes here." He tilted his head to peer under the porch. "But we're also friendly, and we have delicious soup. So there's no need to be shy. Why don't you come on out, and we'll show you around?" Holly waited, thinking that Periwinkle would finally emerge, but she didn't. "You must be hungry from your ordeal, Holly said. "I'll get you some strawberries." She scurried around the house to the back, where the berries grew. She loved the shelter's gardens. They had a vegetable garden where they grew carrots, radishes, lettuce, and corn, as well as a strawberry patch and a pumpkin patch. On the other side of the vegetables, closer to the pasture, they also had an orchard with peach trees, apple trees, and pecan trees. Everyone took turns. planting and harvesting-unless you chose to forage for your own food beyond the shelter grounds. Those were the rules, and they made life at the shelter both fair and pleasant. Really, it was wonderfully pleasant, for a place that no one wanted to be. No one ever dreamed of becoming a shelterling. Most never even knew it was possible to drink from the Moon Mirror and fail to become a familiar-Holly certainly hadn't known. It wasn't common. Not many creatures made the trek to the top of Cloud Mountain in the first place. Really, only a few a year. Some years one or two became shelterlings; some years none did. Holly was the only squirrel she knew who had left her tree and her acorn caches and journeyed to the Moon Mirror. She'd wanted to be a familiar so badly. Being a familiar... it meant a life of adventure. And of purpose. If you didn't want to live the same life as your parents, siblings, cousins, and neighbors, then becoming a familiar was the best option for changing things. You could leave your forest or field or prairie and be welcomed with open arms into a brand-new, exciting life as a wizard's sidekick, traveling from place to place, wherever magical help was needed...or at least that was the way it was supposed to happen. She'd journeyed to the top of Cloud Mountain and drunk from the Moon Mirror. Like all the others who'd done the same, she'd gained her own unique power, and she'd presented herself to the wizards. And then.... Holly didn't like to think about what had happened next. As she picked the plumpest strawberries, she made a mental list of who she should introduce Periwinkle to first, if the lemur ever emerged from beneath the porch. She could start with the smaller shelterlings, then work her way up to larger animals. She'd save the carnivores for last, even though they all had very nice manners. There was no reason for any herbivore to fear any carnivore at the shelter. Everyone was well-fed, either with produce from the garden or kibble shipped in by train from the cities, depending on their palate. It wasn't like being out in the wild. We're all friends here, Holly thought. No shelterling would ever do anything to hurt another shelterling. But it might take a while for her to convince their new arrival of that. I'll need to be patient With her arms full of strawberries, she waddled back to the front of the house. It wasn't easy to walk on her hind legs like a human-squirrels weren't designed for it-but she'd had practice, using her tail for balance. She felt a bit ridiculous, but if the strawberries helped make Periwinkle feel welcome, it would be worth it. Holly deposited them in front of the porch. "Are you hungry?" A little handlike paw shot out, snagged a strawberry, and then disappeared back underneath. That's a start, Holly thought. She glanced around, looking for Gus, but she didn't see him. Sitting on the grass near the porch, Holly tried to think of what to say that would coax their new arrival out. In a friendly tone, she asked, "Where are you from?" "Rainforest." "Did you like it there?" "No." Of course the answer was no. The lemur wouldn't have left her rainforest home and gone to all the effort to drink from the Moon Mirror if she'd been happy with her life. Holly swatted herself with her tail for asking such a silly question. "You might like it here, if you give it a chance. It's a nice place." "I don't want to be here." "Maybe you could try? You might grow to like it here." Muffled again, the lemur said, "You might not like me." Aw, that was sweet! Holly had never met anyone who worried about whether she'd like them. She liked everyone. Or at least she tried to. "Of course we'll like you! Why wouldn't we?" Holly inched closer and tried to make her voice as warm and reassuring as possible. "The other lemurs, they used to call me a pest. An annoying bother that no one wanted, they said. I wasn't obedient enough, they said. I wouldn't just do as I was told. I was always asking questions. I was always in the way. I just wanted to know why I was supposed to obey. Things were supposed to be better after I drank the magic water-but it turned out the wizards didn't want me either. They said that I'm 'unsuitable. And that I steal stuff." Poor Periwinkle, Holly thought. She knew what rejection felt like. She'd been so excited at first after she'd gained her power, but the wizards... they'd judged her unsuitable too. "Well, that wasn't very nice of them to say. You don't steal. Do you?" In a tiny voice, Periwinkle said, "Yes." For an instant, Holly was speechless. She thought maybe she'd heard her wrong. "You... you do? Um, maybe you could just... not do that?" "I won't." "Good." Holly felt her fur settle. "Wait-when you say 'I won't, do you mean you won't steal or you won't not steal?" She hid her acorn stash under her tail. She wouldn't like anyone touching her cache, and she knew several of the other animals, especially the rodents, felt the same about their winter hoards. "See? You aren't going to like me. No one ever likes me. I'm a pest and a thief" She wondered what exactly the lemur had done-or what the wizards thought she'd done. "Did you steal from the wizards?" "No." And then: "Yes. Maybe. I took their dumb test. When they asked me to demonstrate my power, I showed them all their lost stuff that I'd found. And they said I stole it. But I didn't. I found it." Holly wasn't sure what Periwinkle meant by "found," but at the very least the lemur could have a fresh start at the shelter. "Well, um, have you stolen anything here yet?" A paw stuck out from under the porch. It was holding a clothespin. Holly took it. She must have missed this one when Gus had plucked them off the line. It had probably rolled under the porch. "Thank you. I don't think it counts as stealing if you're finding and returning an item I lost." Periwinkle poked her head out from under the porch. Her black nose was wet like a dog's, and her eyes were bright yellow. "It doesn't?" Firmly, Holly said, "It doesn't. So long as you don't keep what doesn't belong to you, you're helping, not hurting anyone." She held herself still so that the lemur wouldn't disappear again. "I'm glad you found it. I hadn't even known I'd lost it计” "I... that's what I can do now, my special power that the water gave me." The lemur crept out farther onto the lawn. "I can find things. Little things that someone lost, or that aren't where they're supposed to be. It's like I see this shimmery glow out of the corner of my eye, and if I follow it, it gets brighter and brighter until I pick up whatever it is. And then it shines like the sun. I can't resist it. It's so pretty that I have to have it! And why shouldn't I? Its owner didn't want it. Its owner lost it. But I found it. I rescued it! Like the clothespin." She stretched out her paws, and Holly passed it back to her. The lemur cradled it in her arms lovingly. "I saw its glow, and I found it and treasured it and saw how beautiful and special it was. Somebody made this, and you didn't even know it was missing. You didn't care! I did!" By the end of her speech-her longest one yetshe was glaring at Holly as if she expected the squirrel to scold her. "I think that's a lovely power to have, Holly said. The lemur was right-she hadn't missed the clothespin or ever thought of it as beautiful. It was rather charming that Periwinkle saw it that way, as treasure. That didn't make her a thief. "Your power is much better than mine." The lemur continued to glare, but she asked, "What's yours?" "I'll show you, but please don't laugh." Holly squeezed her eyes and concentrated. Her fur tingled from the top of her head all the way down her tail. Her ears began to itch. And then she heard a popping sound. In her paws, Holly held a moon-shaped roll of flaky dough. "Um, what's that?" "It's called a croissant, Holly said. She scooted closer so the lemur could sniff it. It smelled as fresh as if it had come from an oven. The pads of her paws felt warm as she held it, and she knew she'd have to lick off the excess butter. "I can conjure pastries." "But... you're a squirrel. Shouldn't you conjure acorns?" Periwinkle gestured at Holly's piles of capped acorns and capless acorns. "Yes, that would be useful power, Holly said, "but this is all I can do. Croissants, muffins, buns, cinnamon rolls, donuts I can vary the kind of pastry, but it's always only a pastry." Every time she talked about it, she wanted to curl into a ball of embarrassment and hide inside a tree for an entire season. It was an utterly ridiculous power. Even if the pastries were delicious. "You said the wizards didn't want you. Well, they laughed at me." The test to become a familiar was a three-day ordeal. On the first day, the wizards taught the applicant how to pronounce the basic glyphs, the symbols in the ancient language of wizardry that they used to write out their spells, and the applicant would try to cast several simple spells-any animal who had drunk from the Moon Mirror usually succeeded at that task, she'd heard. Holly remembered how proud she'd been at the beginning. But then, on the second day, the applicant was asked to demonstrate their own special power. They were given a series of challenges and told to solve them using only their magic. She'd had to open a puzzle box, navigate a maze in the dark, and retrieve a key from the roof of the Wizards Tower. Croissants and muffins had been no help at all. On the third day, she'd faced the wizards, and they'd delivered their judgment: You have a useless power, they'd told her. None of them had wanted her as their familiar. She'd tried and failed to conjure anything but baked goods, and they'd laughed so hard that some of them had cried. But that was the past. Right now, she'd rather concentrate on helping a new arrival who clearly needed some cheering up. That was something she could do without any special power. "Come inside, Holly coaxed. "I promise you're going to like it here, and everyone is going to like you." She continued to hold out the croissant. "You can't promise that," Periwinkle said. "I can promise we'll all try, Holly said. Warily, Periwinkle took it and, nibbling on the pastry, followed Holly inside. Chapter Three "No one likes her, Holly," Gus said. Holly flopped her tail over her head. "I know" It had been three days since the lemur had arrived, and every day was worse than the one before. She'd managed to alienate or irritate nearly everyone "What did she do now?" Holly asked, muffled by fluff. "Wait, don't tell me. Let me enjoy not knowing. Half a minute later, she began to feel silly. She lowered her tail, summoned her courage, and said, "Okay, tell me." "She took Bluebell's hat," Gus said. Holly winced. While it was admittedly unusual for a rabbit to have a hat, Bluebell was very attached to his. That may have been the very worst item in the whole shelter for Periwinkle to rescue. Not that Periwinkle would know that, Holly thought. It could be an innocent mistake. Or not. She sighed. Maybe Charlie would have known what to do with a new shelterling like Periwinkle, but she didn't. She wasn't a natural leader like Charlie, or a familiar with a wizard who always knew the right spell to cast in any situation. She was just a little squirrel who conjured croissants and muffins. But she couldn't just turn away if there was a chance she could help. I have to try, she thought. Periwinkle was here for good, and they were all just going to have to find a way to get along. "I'll talk to her. And him." "You might want to start with him," Gus suggested. "He's in the kitchen, and he's gotten into the blueberry jam. He'll listen to you." Under his breath, he added, "Certainly didn't listen to me." She heard him and stopped, halfway to the kitchen. "Asparagus, was he mean to you?" Gus was the nicest owl in the entire world, and if Bluebell had lashed out- "Of course not. He's just melodramatic. You know how he gets." She studied his heart-shaped face to make sure he wasn't upset, but Gus seemed fine. He was his usual unflappable self. "I'll try, but I don't know if he'll listen to me any better than he did to you." With that, she headed into the kitchen. Sprawled across the top of the table, his long ears hanging over the edge, was Bluebell the rabbit. He was singing to himself in a doleful voice, "Oh, glorious hats! Glorious, glorious hats! Bowlers and beanies, caps and fedoras, berets and bonnets, boaters and turbans... Oh, glorious hats for me." His voice hitched. "No hat for me." She climbed up the table leg to reach him. Jam was smeared all over the rabbit's mouth, whiskers, and belly fur. He even had a dab of blueberries on his cotton tail. "Bluebell? Are you all right?" He draped his front paw dramatically over his face. "I most emphatically am not. I'm miserable, Holly. No, that word doesn't go far enough. I am despondent. I am forlorn! I am bereft of joy!" "Bluebell..." "And bereft of my hat." "Bluebell, where's your hat?" He let out a sob. It was pointless to talk to him when he got like this. No wonder Gus had had no luck. The wonder was that Gus had thought she'd fare any better. She tried a more specific question. "Does Periwinkle have your hat?" He began to moan. "I'll ask Periwinkle about your hat. You wait here, and please don't eat any more jam. You're going to make yourself sick." She hurried down the table leg and out of the kitchen. On her way up the stairs, she spotted the shelter's resident porcupine, Tangerine, trying to hide. Again. His special gift was camouflage-or at least he said it was. Holly had only ever seen him turn the opposite color of whatever he stood near purple against a yellow door, red against blue sky, polka dots against plaid. He kept trying, though She politely pretended she didn't see him, despite the fact that his quills and fur were a brilliant orange against the green wallpaper. As she passed, she heard him whisper to himself, "Yay!" Pepper the flamingo waltzed out of her room. "Hi, Holly. Hi, Tangerine. And the porcupine whispered to himself, "Boo." "Good morning, Pepper," Holly said. In as cheerful a voice as she could, she said, "Tangerine, I nearly didn't see you!" "Humph," the porcupine said before waddling into his room. Well, it was worth a try, she thought. Pepper twisted her neck, pretzel-like. "Oh! I didn't mean Tangerine, I'm sorry!" To Holly she said, "I didn't mean to hurt his feelings. I didn't know he was practicing." It was admittedly hard to tell, since the porcupine never actually succeeded in blending in. "It's good that he tries." "Is it?" Pepper asked. "I'm not sure. The harder he tries, the more he contrasts. He looked more orange than I am pink. She fluttered her pink wings as evidence. "He'd be happier if he stopped trying so hard. I mean, it's not like he needs to be able to camouflage. He's already got quills." Loudly, from his room, Tangerine said, "Ordinary porcupines use their quills. I don't want to be ordinary. That was the whole point of going to Cloud Mountain in the first place." Pepper winced. "Oops. I didn't think he was still listening." Before the flamingo could stick her foot in her mouth-or, more accurately, beak -again, Holly conjured a muffin and held it up to her. "Brine shrimp-flavored." "Aw, thanks, Holly. And sorry again, Tangerine!" Pepper took the muffin with her curved beak and then flew downstairs and out the window. Calling through Tangerine's doorway, Holly said, "If you'd like to practice with me later, just let me know." She'd try to think of more exercises that could get him closer to blending in. Maybe Gus would have some new ideas. When Tangerine didn't reply, she left his favorite kind of éclair outside his door, in hopes it would cheer him up, and continued on to the end of the hall. Every shelterling had his or her own space the shelter was sprawling enough for that. Some lived in tunnels beneath the house, some lived in stalls in the attached barn, and some had rooms within the former farmhouse. Years ago, before Holly's time, the shelter had been started by a group of rejected familiars, the first shelterlings, who had taken over an abandoned farm. Through the years, they'd fixed the house up and added onto it, making it much more suited to birds, reptiles, and mammals of all sizes. Periwinkle's room had been a nursery before it was converted to a chicken roost and then a substitute rainforest. Outside the door, Holly called, "Periwinkle? It's me, Holly. Are you in there?" "No," she heard. Holly went inside. Periwinkle's room was draped in ribbons. Mimicking vines, they hung from the ceiling, from the top of the window, from the lamps, and from the bed frame. Marveling at the sight, Holly ducked under a strip of white linen. She wondered where the little lemur had found so many ribbons but that wasn't what she was here to ask. She peered around, looking for the lemur. In one corner she found a pile of broken bits of glass. In another were sunflower seeds. In another were screws, nails, and bolts. She's been busy, Holly thought, rescuing her treasures. And in the fourth corner was Periwinkle, with what looked like a fedora in her paws "Periwinkle?" The lemur jumped "Is that Bluebell's hat?" She clutched it tighter. "No." Holly tried again, making an effort to channel Charlie's patience. "Do you own a hat?" "Now I do" Why was Periwinkle like this? It was one thing to keep bits of glass that no one wanted, but she had to see there was a difference between unwanted items and Bluebell's hat. Holly reminded herself to speak calmly. "Where did you find it?" "Under the stairs," Periwinkle said. "It was lost. It had the glow." It was entirely possible that Bluebell had hidden it and lost track of where, which did make it technically a lost item. She supposed she could understand how Periwinkle had made such a mistake. It wasn't that she meant to steal. "He hides it to keep it safe whenever he isn't wearing it. Why didn't you return it when you learned who it belonged to?" "Because he didn't appreciate it. He wouldn't have lost it if he did." "You can't keep it," Holly said. "Why not? I'll take better care of it than he did." She was certain that Periwinkle knew perfectly well why she couldn't keep it. Yesterday she'd "found" a cache of dried berries that belonged to the skunk, Strawberry, who'd misplaced them beneath couch cushion. She'd told Strawberry that if she didn't value them enough, then she shouldn't get to eat them. And the lemur had popped them into her mouth right in front of the skunk, as if daring her to spray. Strawberry, who hadn't sprayed once since coming to the shelter, had demonstrated exactly what her power was. She'd looked straight at Periwinkle, and the lemur's nose had wrinkled. "They taste like mud," the lemur had said, around her mouthful. "Then spit them out, Strawberry had said. Periwinkle hadn't. A second later she'd wrinkled her nose again and said, "Ugh, swamp-flavored" "I can change the smell of anything," Strawberry said. "And smell and taste are linked." As Periwinkle moved to leave the room, the skunk called after her, "It's not too late you can still spit them out." Periwinkle had swallowed. Later, Holly had asked Periwinkle why she had done it. The lemur had shrugged and said, "She didn't like me anyway." This time, since it didn't look likely that Periwinkle was going to eat Bluebell's hat, Holly said, "You know, it's possible you'd make friends faster if you'd stop. taking everyone's stuff." Periwinkle said, "I told you. I found it." "You'll make friends faster if you return the stuff you find." "Doubt it," Periwinkle said. "The wizards were very certain. I'm a thief" Holly considered the lemur's words. "You aren't a thief," Holly said staunchly. "You're you're a new collector who sometimes, because of your lack of experience as a collector, makes mistakes." Wide-eyed, Periwinkle stared at her, and Holly could tell she was thinking about that. "I'm a collector" She said the word slowly, as if trying it out. "A collector who sometimes makes mistakes and can fix them, if she wants to." Holly held out her paw. Come on, Periwinkle, she thought. Be reasonable. "We all have to live together, so it's important we all try to be nice to one another." Periwinkle hugged the hat again, and the brim bent in her paws. "They're not nice to me, she said in a low voice. Holly wished the other shelterlings could see Periwinkle like this. She wasn't malicious or even mischievous. She was scared. She'd been misunderstood by everyone she met for a very long time-first the other lemurs calling her a pest just for using her brain, and then the wizards calling her a thief just for using her power. It must be hard to believe you were good when so many told you over and over that you weren't. "I've been nice to you, haven't 17" Certainly she'd been trying. Reluctantly, Periwinkle said, "Yes" "Then, as a way of being nice to me, come with me to the kitchen, return. Bluebell's hat, and apologize. Will you do that for me? Please?" The lemur's eyes seemed even larger than they'd been the other day, but she inched forward, with the hat. "Why are you still nice to me?" "Because I want you to be happy here, Holly said. "You do?" "Please, Periwinkle, come with me, apologize to Bluebell, and set things right." The lemur followed her down to the kitchen, and Holly coaxed her through her apology. Several times Periwinkle darted off mid-sentence and returned with an item that had undoubtedly been lost at some point-a piece of string, a cap to a jar, a sponge, a sliver of soap-but at last she got through the words, and the hat was restored to Bluebell's head. "Oh, glorious hat for me!" Bluebell sang as he patted the fedora, and in a puff of sparkly smoke it transformed into a wide-brimmed hat with a fake flower on its ribbon. Periwinkle gasped and whispered, "I should have kept that hat." "It's not a magic hat, Holly told her. "It's just a hat. Bluebell is the one with magic. He can change any hat into any other kind of hat. That's his gift from the Moon Mirror" Lovingly, Bluebell curled the ribbon into a bow. Holly continued. "But, magic or not, he really does love his hat, even if he misplaced it." Suddenly, Bluebell let out a high-pitched yelp, and Periwinkle-saying "uh- oh-bolted out of the kitchen. Holly asked Bluebell, "What's wrong now?" "There's jam on the ribbon! And it's all her fault! If she hadn't taken my hat..." "It's not all her fault. You ate the jam. Messily. Let me see. She peered at the ribbon, which had blueberry jam smeared across the silk. She didn't know anything about stains, except that you were supposed to soak the fabric in either cold or hot water, and From the other room, she heard a crash, and she jumped. "Eeks! Is everyone okay?" As Bluebell launched into another mournful song, she hurried into the living room. Zephyr was upside down, spinning in a circle on his shell with his stubby legs flailing in the air. Leaf was bouncing around the room, literally. He'd puffed up like a balloon and was ricocheting off the walls and ceiling. That was his power- to inflate in a floating sphere but he hated floating, so it usually only happened by accident, when he was startled. Like now. The turtle must have crashed again, but why- She spotted the cause: All over the floor were dozens of acorns. "My acorns!" Holly cried. Zigzagging through the room, she gathered up as many acorns as she could in her front paws. She'd thought she'd hidden these! She chittered, hugging an armful to her chest, before asking, "What happened?" Spinning, Zephyr pointed with his front leg. Unfortunately, since he was spinning, that meant he was pointing everywhere. "Yes, I see the acorns." He must have careened into the living room at his usual top speed, with Leaf on his back, and slipped on them. Leaf must have gotten scared and swelled into a floating ball, and that must have been what led to the sight before her, with all her beautiful acorns sprawled everywhere. "They must have..." She trailed off, not knowing how the acorns could have gotten out of the closet under the stairs where she'd stashed them. She'd latched the door, or at least she thought she had. Was this her fault? "Not the acorns," Zephyr said. "Her." She finally saw what he was trying to point at, or more accurately who. Tucked underneath an armchair was a little lemur. "Periwinkle?" Laughing, the lemur rolled onto her back and kicked her paws in the air. "Did you see he just spun and spun-and-ha!" "At least no one was hurt, Holly said, trying to find any bit of good in this mess. She began loading the acorns back into the closet, sweeping them inside with her tail. She didn't remember how many she'd had in this particular cache. She hoped none had rolled outside. It had taken weeks of work to gather this many, and while she didn't truly need a cache anymore, it was still hers. Out in the woods, other squirrels raided caches all the time, but she'd never imagined that here- From upstairs, she heard Pepper shout, "Anyone seen my mollusk?" All of them-Holly, Zephyr, and Leaf-looked at Periwinkle. The lemur fled up the staircase, shouting, "You see, everyone blames me even when it isn't my fault! Even you, Holly! You think I'm trouble too! But I didn't take it! You can't prove it! And you can't catch meeeeeee!" Holly was about to follow her when Gus called from outside, "Holly!" Now what? she thought. "Holly! Come to the front yard! Come see who's here!" Another emergency? she worried. But Gus sounded excited, not alarmed. Maybe this was a good interruption, not a third disaster in a row. Please? Hoping for the best, she left Zephyr, Leaf, and her beloved acorns and hurried out the door onto the porch. Gus was gliding above a beaver-a very familiar beaver, with white whiskers and a thick paddle-like tail that dragged behind him as he strolled up the front walk. He was carrying a leather satchel with a diagonal strap across his furry chest. Could it be? Really? Holly stared for a moment longer, and then she ran, picking up speed, before launching herself at the beaver and landing in the soft fuzz of his belly. "Charlie!" Laughing, he cradled her in a hug before setting her back down. He waved one of his front paws, and a bouquet of lilacs popped into existence. Bending down to her level, he presented them to her. "A thank you for the warm welcome, to the loveliest squirrel of all." "It's wonderful to see you, Charlie!" She had a thousand questions: Where had he gone, why had he returned, and was he here to stay? He'd come back! This was amazing! It was as if a wish she hadn't even thought to make had been miraculously granted. "You too, my friend," he replied. Hugging the flowers, she inhaled the sweet smell of lilacs. After everything with Periwinkle... Charlie coming back was the best thing that could have possibly happened. She felt as if a hundred worries had been lifted off her shoulders. How had he known to come, just when she needed him? He's exactly the animal to set things right, she thought. He could help Periwinkle settle in, convince her to leave everyone's personal property alone, and coax the others into forgiving their new arrival's quirks. After all, every one of them had quirks. That was, in truth, why they were here. "Please say you're back for good!" Charlie laughed his jovial belly laugh. "I missed you, too." Gus flew to the upper windows of the house. "Hey, everyone! Charlie's back!" Hearing him, Zephyr, with Leaf on his back, zipped out of the house and across the lawn. "Charlie! Yay! Welcome home!" the turtle cried before he crashed into a bush. Leaf scolded his friend for not slowing down. Watching them fondly, Charlie said, "Ah, delightful how little changes." She wanted to tell him there had been changes. Holly had been helping Breeze the bat practice turning invisible when Charlie had left, he could only turn half of himself invisible, but now he could vary which half. Clover had been adding rhymes to her prophecies and was showing signs of improvement. Sparkles the duck, who exuded sparkles whenever she flapped her wings, had laid her first egg, and it had had a sparkly shell. One of the mice, Marble, had "accidentally" eaten a hole in the living room carpet and used the fibers to help the robin Ivy finish building her nest. Two of the snakes had molted. But Charlie had switched his attention to Bluebell. "Ho, Bluebell!" Charlie said. "Still with the hat, I see." On the porch, Bluebell swept his hat in a dramatic circle. "Indeed! Welcome home, dear friend! We feared the worst. A treacherous journey. A terrible storm. Unfriendly foes." Actually, we didn't know what to think, Holly thought. None of them had known where he'd gone or when he'd planned to return. Charlie had only said he'd had "questions that needed answering." He hadn't said anything more, and no one had been able to convince him to stay. But he's back now, she thought, and that means everything's going to be all right Pepper flapped her wings as she settled onto the lawn. "Charlie, where have you been? Beavers aren't supposed to migrate. But since you did travel... where did you go? What did you see? Did you meet any interesting birds? Don't spare any details. We want to know what you saw, heard, smelled" "Did you find yourself in danger?" Bluebell chimed in. "Are you hurt? An unseen wound? Why have you returned? Have you come to warn us of some unforeseen disaster?" He posed dramatically, with his hat obscuring his face. Charlie held out his paws and made a calming gesture. "All is well. And I promise I'll tell you everything where I've been, what I've done, and why I've returned. But what I have to say needs to be heard by all shelterlings, most especially your newest arrival." "Periwinkle?" Holly asked, surprised. "Watch your stuff around her, Leaf warned, with a meaningful look at Charlie's satchel. The beaver laid his paw over the clasp. Bluebell held up his hat, which was now a top hat with a blueberry smear on the brim. "She took my most prized possession!" "She just... hasn't fully settled in yet," Holly said. "Charlie, do you mean to say you know about her?" It wasn't a secret when animals failed to become familiars, but it wasn't shouted from the rooftops, either. "Know about her? She's the reason I came back!" Charlie said. "I need her help." "Periwinkle?" Bluebell said, aghast. Charlie nodded. "I believe she may be the key to changing our lives." Chapter Four With his satchel next to him, Charlie had claimed his old seat in the living room, a beat-up comfy chair with patches and a leg-rest, and was waiting patiently for the other shelterlings to assemble. Every inch of carpet in front of him was occupied by someone furry, feathered, or scaled. The shelter had twenty residents -twenty-two now that Periwinkle had arrived and Charlie had come back-but they rarely gathered all together like this, due to their different habits. Holly fidgeted with her tail fluff while the other shelterlings shifted and scooted until everyone had found a spot to sit, coil, or perch. The fox let one of the mice sit on her head for a better view. The other mouse crawled up onto the light fixture to keep the bat company. The skunk and the porcupine were sharing a couch pillow, The snakes occupied one corner of the carpet, in an interwoven coil. The flamingo stood behind them, her wings folded and one leg tucked underneath her. Everyone was here. Even the cow, Clover, who never liked to come inside, had stuck her head in through an open window. Their newest shelterling poked her pointy face around the door frame. "Ah, you must be Periwinkle!" Charlie boomed. Periwinkle shrieked, "I didn't do it!" and withdrew her nose from view. Holly sighed inwardly. "Don't be scared, little one, Charlie called after her. "I've traveled a long way to meet you. My name is Charlie." He paused, as if expecting her to reply, but she didn't answer and didn't reappear. He continued as if she had. "I like to keep an ear open for what's happening, and when a friend of mine told me about your experience with the wizards and their lack of appreciation for your talent... well, let's say I appreciate you." "She's... Holly began. She wanted to use the word "shy," but it was more like "prickly." The lemur was so convinced that everyone would dislike her that she pushed them away before they even had a chance to try. Picking her words carefully, Holly said, "She's still getting used to being here." "But she's listening" Charlie winked at her. He didn't seem at all upset by Periwinkle's behavior. That was Holly's favorite thing about Charlie: his unfailing patience. He'd been patient with her when she'd been an anxious new arrival-she'd scurry through the shelter at all hours, gathering and storing her acorns, but each night when she finished, she'd find him in the kitchen, brewing tea for her. He'd made Holly feel welcome, and she knew he'd do the same for Periwinkle. Very lucky he heard about her, Holly thought, though she still wanted to know why that had prompted him to return. "You said she was the key to changing our lives. What did you mean by that?" "Is everyone here?" Charlie said. "What I have to say affects all shelterlings." Gus counted from his perch on the back of one of the chairs. "All here." "Very well, then," Charlie said. "My explanation begins, as all important things do, with a story, specifically "The Tale of the Moon Mirror." "Ooh, I love this story," one of the mice cheered. Others chimed in too. The fox hushed the mouse, who hushed the bat, who hushed the flamingo and the toad... and so on. As they all settled down, Holly saw movement out of the corner of her eye. The lemur was creeping along the wall of the living room. Her eyes were fixed on Charlie's chair. No one else was paying any attention to her, but Holly watched without moving, the way she used to watch predators in the woods from up in her tree. She was capable of holding still when she wanted to. Not as still as Gus when he turned to stone, but fairly still Periwinkle darted under Charlie's chair. She wondered if Charlie knew Periwinkle was there. She suspected he did. When he'd been resident at the shelter, he'd been aware of everything happening under the roof and had excelled at soothing rattled nerves and solving disputes. No one had been able to fill his paws after he'd left. Who could? This was Charlie He began. "Long, long ago, so long that our trees were mere acorns and our rivers were undammed, there was a group of animals-" "At least one of them was a bird," Pepper the flamingo said. "I heard one version that said it was an osprey and another that said it was a wren." "There was definitely a cow," Clover said from the window. "I have seen it in my dreams: a cow, or so it seems. Ooh, Gus, how was that one?" "Very nice," Gus said. "Or you could go with 'a cow made it supreme." "I have seen it in my dreams: a cow made it supreme!" Charlie held up his paw. "History has been lost to myth. We don't know which animals were present, but we do know that these animals wanted different lives from the ones they had. They wanted magic and adventure. But in those days, there was no magic within animal-kind." "Or bird-kind," Pepper said. Others hushed her. Charlie continued. "You have heard how these creatures climbed to the top of the highest peak of our land, within the clouds, and cast a spell to create the magic pool known as the Moon Mirror. Anyone who chooses to drink from this water is gifted with a unique power. But what you have not heard is how ancestors achieved such a feat." Holly crept closer, between the marmot and the robin. "You discovered this?" "I did." He smiled at her. "During my travels, I have been chasing the truth. Bits of stories, of myths, of memories, all to discover the true source of our magic. And at last, after much painstaking research, I know how it all began." It was quiet in the living room. "Those long-ago animals gathered seven special magical ingredients for their spell and carried them to the top of Cloud Mountain. There, close to the sun, the moon, and the stars, they cast a spell, all of them speaking together as one." "What ingredients?" Zephyr asked, transfixed. "Was one a hat? A glorious hat?" Bluebell asked. Charlie beamed at them as he opened his satchel and withdrew a notebook. With his claws, he flipped pages. "What ingredients that is the key, isn't it? And that, my dear friends, is the heart of the secret I have uncovered." Finding the page he wanted, he dropped his voice conspiratorially low and continued. "Our ancestors used seven items that were all rich in magic: an enchanted flower that must be plucked at a certain time of day from a certain cliff, a magic herb that only grows in the wake of a lightning strike, a desert fruit that only ripens beneath the full moon, a pearl that formed in the saddest part of the sea, a heart-shaped rock buried in volcanic ash, a crystal hidden in a forgotten cave, and a piece of a fallen star." With one paw, he etched the path of a comet through the sky, and he conjured a lily at the end of it. Pollen shot out like a firework. The fox sneezed as pollen landed on her nose, and candy sprayed around the room her gift was to conjure candy, sometimes accidentally. There was a scramble to gather the candy. Charlie waited patiently for everyone to settle back down with their loot before he continued. But Holly kept her attention fixed on Charlie He held his notebook in the air. "Through my research, I have also learned the exact words to the spell that was cast on these items, the spell that created the magic water that changed the course of all our lives." "Whoa!" Gus said. "Brilliant!" Bluebell cried. "But why?" Holly asked Charlie. She understood that it made a lovely story-it was nice to know more about their history-but that didn't explain why Charlie was making such a fuss. Or what any of this had to do with their new arrival. He pressed the notebook to his heart. "Because I believe the spell must be recast. The magic water is failing, and that is the reason we are as we are. The Moon Mirror failed us when we drank from it." That got everyone's attention. Startled, the porcupine rattled his quills. He scooted away from the skunk to avoid sticking her. Gawking at Charlie, the skunk didn't even notice the close call. "You.. you mean... Leaf couldn't finish his sentence. Grandly, Charlie said, "We weren't meant to have these powers! We were meant to have the kind of magic that true familiars have. Useful magic, that can be harnessed in many ways. It was a mistake that turned us into mistakes. And I aim to fix it." "To fix uz?" Holly asked. Like Leaf, she could barely say the words. It was an unimaginable idea. "What do you mean?" Bluebell asked. "Do you suggest you plan to change our destinies?" In a puff of pink, his hat transformed into a fedora. He tilted it at an angle between his ears, as if that made him look more dramatic. "Indeed I do," Charlie said. "That is why I left to determine how to reset our fates. And that is why I have returned because I can't do it alone. I need a team to help me retrieve the seven magic ingredients and come with me to the top of Cloud Mountain, with the ingredients, to recast the spell." All of them stared at Charlie. And then they erupted into questions: One of the shelterlings called out, "How do you know the Moon Mirror was broken?" Another asked, "How do you know it can be fixed?" A third asked, "Why do you need our help?" Louder, the flamingo chimed in, "Yeah, how can we help? The wizards made it clear we're not good for much." "And do we even want to help?" the toad asked. "Last time I went to the Moon Mirror on fool's errand, I ended up here. He looked around quickly, "No offense." "But, oh," the marmot said with a sigh, "to have real, useful magic! Wouldn't it be phenomenal?" Some of the animals began to argue among themselves, while others peppered Charlie with questions. Holly tried to wrap her mind around what he was proposing. It was huge. Monumentally huge. It was impossible. Recast the spell? Fix the Moon Mirror? Fix them? Zephyr zipped around the room. "How can the Moon Mirror be broken? Look at me! I'm fast! I have strength! I have endurance! The water worked on me!" He smacked into Charlie's chair. "Did it?" Leaf said. "It made you fast, but it left you with the reaction speed of a turtle." Embarrassed, Zephyr pulled his head back into his shell. "I try." "You crash," Leaf said. "All of us have broken magic." Holly jumped in. "He's getting better!" Unlike Leaf, who never used his power on purpose, Zephyr practiced all the time. "Last week, he only knocked the kitchen table over twice." "Clover has been practicing too," Gus added. "As has Strawberry," Holly said. She'd been working with the skunk on extending the duration of her scents. After their last practice session, the barn had smelled like strawberries for a whole week. "Tangerine, show them what you've learned about extending your camouflage to things in your quills." Demonstrating, Tangerine stuck a piece of candy onto his quills and shifted colors. The candy changed colors with him, blending in with his quills so that it was nearly invisible. But both he and the candy were bright orange against the blue carpet, not at all camouflaged. As if they'd proved his point, Charlie said, "None of you would need to try so hard if the magic hadn't malfunctioned. Instead, we're stuck in between-neither ordinary nor familiars. That's why none of us can be truly happy. But we can fix that if we fix the Moon Mirror!" Everyone chattered at once again, so loud it was hard to think. From under the chair, in a loud, belligerent voice that cut through the rest, Periwinkle asked, "What does any of this have to do with me? I like my magic just fine as it is." "You, my dear, are the key!" Charlie said. "I have determined the exact location. of five of the ingredients which will require volunteers to claim-but the final two I will need you, sweet Periwinkle, and your special gift to help me find them." He waved in the air, and a bouquet of daisies appeared in his paw. Bending over, he laid the flowers next to the chair, where Periwinkle could see his gift. "Please, my dear. Will you help me? Will you help your fellow shelterlings?" Holly peered under the chair at Periwinkle. A paw darted out, grabbed the daisies, and then retreated beneath the chair. Sullenly, Periwinkle said, "Maybe I will, and maybe I won't. Not going to do it just 'cause you want me to. I make my own decisions." Charlie blinked but recovered quickly. He conjured another flower bouquet, this time tulips and daffodils, and presented them to Holly. "If we work together, we can do this, but I will need several brave volunteers to help me. With seven items to find, I cannot do this alone. Help me, and I will fix you. You will not be mistakes anymore" Fix me. Holly hadn't imagined that was possible. After all, she was just an ordinary squirrel who had once had delusions of grandeur. She'd accepted that. She'd accepted the fact that she'd never be the next Savannah, who, with her wizard, had established a new home for a flock of winged ponies, or the next Quill, who, with his wizard, had saved hundreds of baby sea turtles by making them invisible until the tide turned. She wasn't going to go on any quests or have any adventures, unless you counted cleaning up the yard, harvesting tomatoes, or welcoming new arrivals. Charlie kept talking, animatedly, describing exactly how to find each of the seven magic ingredients-east to the sea for the pearl, south toward the swamps for the herb... Holly couldn't focus on his words, though. She was caught in a crystal-clear memory of the day she'd climbed Cloud Mountain how excited she'd been as she followed the trail up to the peak and drank from the Moon Mirror. She remembered the ticklish tingle that had spread across her as the magic flowed through her body. She'd felt it in every bit of fur. In that moment, she was certain that everything was going to become better. She would be better. She'd have a new purpose, a new place in the world. She'd be able to do important things, see other places, and make a difference in the lives of animals throughout the land. She was going to be a hero, working alongside her wizard, like the familiars of legend. What if that dream wasn't over? "Charlie," she asked, "is this really possible?" "More than possible; it's necessary!" Charlie thumped his broad tail on the back of the chair for emphasis. "I have been patient for far too long-but now the time has come." Holly had never heard him sound so passionate. She marveled at this new Charlie. "We will right the wrong done to us!" "All of us?" Pepper asked. "Me too?" "Remind us all, my dear: What power did the Moon Mirror give you?" "I'd rather not think about it," Pepper said. Gently, Charlie said, "You can tell us." The flamingo dropped her head down, her beak hanging between her long legs. "My left leg stretches," she mumbled. Holly made a sympathetic chittering sound. "Go ahead," Charlie said to Pepper. "Show us." Pepper stood on one leg and concentrated. Her standing leg-and only that leg -stretched longer and longer. Tucked under her body, her other leg stayed short. She bumped into the ceiling and then shrank back down. Encouraging as always, Gus said, "Look at how high you can get when you do that! You touched the ceiling! You should practice more." "But I'm a bird. I don't need to become taller. I can fly. If she'd been human, Pepper's face would have been pink from embarrassment. As it was, she was already pink. "It's a useless power." "Not as useless as mine has made me," Leaf said. "You're not useless!" Zephyr said stoutly. "You're my friend!" Bluebell said, "I did dream I would be more than a rabbit with hats." In a puff of pink, his hat transformed into a black pillbox hat with a mourning veil. "I can move the entire universe two feet to the left," the garter snake, Dandelion, said. "That's a true power. But no one can tell, which is terribly disappointing." He coiled his body tightly and tucked his head within the coils. "I just wanted a power that can be recognized." Others spoke up too: the bat who could only turn half invisible, the mouse who could turn all the way invisible but only when no one was watching, the duck who sparkled when she flapped, the toad who could make other animals yawn. whenever he wanted (but why would he want to? he asked). Charlie nodded at all the shelterlings who had spoken. "We're failures. Each and every one of us. But we don't have to stay that way. We can change ourselves. It won't be easy, though. All my research agrees that in order for the spell to work, we need to place the seven ingredients at the edge of the Moon Mirror. It is absolutely essential we have all seven of them. Do you understand? If we don't have seven, we have nothing." Holly nodded. She saw others around her looking solemn. "And that is why I need help. I cannot do this alone. The items we need are in difficult-to-reach places, and retrieving them will require bravery, ingenuity, and strength of spirit." All of them had that, Holly believed. It had required bravery to leave their homes and climb Cloud Mountain in the first place. If they could call on that again... "You're certain the spell will work?" she asked. "If we do this? If we can find all seven?" "I've studied and researched it," he assured her. "If we go to Cloud Mountain with all the ingredients, my spell will work, and your lives will change. I promise that. You won't need to be shelterlings anymore." She stared at him, and he waited for her, as patient as always. If she didn't try, how would she feel? He was offering them something that she'd never thought they'd have. A second chance to be a familiar, to be the kind of animal who could make a difference in the world. Wasn't that reason enough to try? "Well, what do you say?" Charlie asked. "Are you ready for an adventure?" Holly looked at her friends. Some looked uncertain, some anxious, but others. looked hopeful, even excited. "Yay, adventure!" Zephyr cried, and zipped across the living room. He crashed into a couch and spun around. "We can't do it," Leaf objected, clinging to Zephyr's shell. "We aren't cut out for adventures. That's exactly what being a rejected familiar means! The wizards said we aren't good enough for quests. None of us. Not even you, Charlie" True, the wizards had said that, in between laughing at her croissants and muffins. No matter how many bowls of parsnip soup she ate or how much she helped other shelterlings improve their powers, she was still just a little squirrel who wasn't made for adventures. But what if this kind of adventure was different? Gus leaned over and said, "Well, Holly? What do you think?" She looked at Charlie, on his favorite chair, waiting for volunteers to help him change all their lives. She looked at the other shelterlings, all together in one room. "I think we have to try." Holly drew herself up, with her tail fluffed behind her. "Charlie, I'd like to volunteer." Chapter Five By nightfall, Charlie had all his volunteers, and Holly was having second thoughts. She'd tried adventuring once, when she'd climbed Cloud Mountain to drink from the Moon Mirror, and it had gone poorly. She wasn't cut out for quests or heroics. Squirrels usually weren't. There was a reason that most familiars were cats, owls, wolves, or other animals who didn't scamper up trees to hide at the first sign of danger. Except that she would like to see someplace new, A cliff with a magic flower, for instance. Holly looked up at the sky from the front porch. It was dusk, and the first few stars were poking through. The crickets had begun their song out in the fields, and she saw the shadow of a bat, swooping through the air to scoop up a delicious dinner of insects. Absently, she conjured up a muffin and nibbled on it. Holly the Adventurer. It had a nice ring to it. Behind her, she heard the familiar rustle of soft feathers, Gus glided across the porch to settle on the bench. He folded his wings. "Nice night," he said. Sharing the muffin with Gus, Holly climbed onto the oversize nest and sat in the center of one of the pillows. "It is." She could hear the chatter from inside. With so many creatures talking at once, the words blurred into one another. They sounded like crickets chirping at different pitches. "I know what you're thinking," Gus said, after he'd swallowed his half of the muffin. "You do?" Holly asked. She hadn't thought she was so easy to read. As Charlie had distributed the various quests, she didn't think anyone could tell she'd been imagining herself as the next Calla, working with her wizard to create a growth spell to build a bridge that united two islands. It wasn't a thing that squirrels generally dreamed of doing. Or at least that was what her neighbor in her old forest had told her, when she'd announced she was going to Cloud Mountain: Holly, really, now, that's not a thing a squirrel does! Traipsing off after magic! Mixing with strange animals! Stay in your forest. Tend to your acorns. Winter will be coming soon enough, and you should be here, preparing, hiding your hoard and defending your territory. You go wandering off... well, there's just no telling what will happen. She'd been right about that. "You're thinking about who ate the rest of the strawberries, Gus said. "Yes. That's it. Exactly what I was thinking." She wondered if Gus would want to come on a quest with her. She really couldn't imagine adventuring on her own. But she wasn't quite sure how to ask. "It couldn't have been Periwinkle," Gus said. "She's still avoiding talking to Charlie. Or anyone, really. She's holed up in her ribbon room again. Ooh, maybe we could set a trap. Paint rocks to look like strawberries." "That's a terrible idea," Holly said. "Someone could eat them and get sick. Also a terrible idea: coming with me on a quest to find the magic flower. But will you do it anyway?" "Huh?" It was not a resounding yes. She considered pretending she'd said something completely different. Wrapping her tail around her belly, she plucked at a tuft of fur. "It's a silly idea. Never mind. I don't even remember which way Charlie said to go." "Five miles southwest, then follow the river to the Gray Hills. Go into the Crescent Forest until you reach the cliffs. When the sun hits the crack in the cliff, that's when you have to pick the flower. It only grows in one place in the world, and it has to be picked at a specific time on a day when the sun shines right on the blossom. Can't be any other flower. I, uh, memorized it when Charlie said it. Just in case" "Gus, you're amazing!" Holly said. Gus flew toward the door. "I'll tell the others we're both going so they can cheer us on!" Scurrying ahead of him, Holly blocked the door-or at least a small portion of the bottom of the doorway. Tiny paws out, she said, "Wait, maybe don't?" He fluttered to land on the porch. "Why not?" "I just don't want all the fuss, that's all. It's not... I'm not.... "Are you afraid we're going to fail? Is that it?" She nodded. "Holly, you can't start an adventure expecting failure, Gus said. "Everyone knows that. You have to start with full confidence and possibly a parade Bluebell leaped over Holly's head and landed on the nest with the pink pillows. The twigs crackled beneath him, but the rabbit stood on his hind legs, posed with one arm raised, and said, "Indeed, dear friends, the owl speaks the truth! Be certain of your purpose, resolute of spirit, and proud of your flatulence!" Both Holly and Gus stared at him. "I'm not sure that last one was quite what you meant to say," Holly said. "Oh, I meant every word." Holly decided she didn't want to know any more details. "Bluebell, Gus and I are heading out to find the flower. If you could let the others know" Bluebell leaped from the nest onto the porch railing. "I will sing it from the rooftops. Brave Holly and brave Asparagus, embarking on their very first adventure together! It is the evolution of a beautiful friendship, founded on mutual respect and admiration. Together, they will achieve greatness." Holly finished her request: "If you could let the others know after we leave?" He transformed his headwear into a floppy, wide-brimmed hat with an ostrich feather that drooped over his eyes. He blew the feather backwards. "If that's what you wish, then I shall witness your departure and your grand return and report it to the others, like a bard of old!" "Thank you, Bluebell, Holly said. "You'll be an excellent bard." She wasn't sure what a bard was, but if it made him happy, that was good. He struck a pose. "I shall begin with a song." Gus leaned closer to Holly. "I think that's our cue to leave. Before he starts singing" Holly hadn't really planned on leaving instantly, but there wasn't much point in dithering. Gus was right-she'd heard Bluebell sing before, and she didn't need to hear it again. He had very little regard for pitch. And so they began their quest, right then and there, as simply as that, with Holly walking and Gus flying along the path to the trellis, away from the Shelter for Rejected Familiars and out into the great wide world. Five miles southwest, Gus had said. That was the first direction. I can do that, Holly thought. Average range for a squirrel was five miles. She could travel that in a day or a night, in this case-and then, after a rest, they'd tackle the next leg of the journey. She guessed the cliffs were about five or six days away at squirrel speed. Of course, it would be nice to cross the distance a little quicker, but one could only scurry fast for so long. Besides, it was a nice night for a stroll. As it grew darker, the sky boasted more stars, and she loved to admire them in all their splendor. Humming to herself, she kept her eyes on the sky as she trotted across the field. "Um, Holly?" "Yes, Gus?" "Are we really going to travel at this speed the whole time?" he asked. She swished her tail at him. "This is a perfectly reasonable speed. If I run full tilt, I'll be exhausted too quickly. It's smarter to conserve energy. She sniffed at a flower as they passed. In the moonlight, it was as blue-gray as everything else, but it still smelled sweet. "Yes, but wouldn't flying be faster?" Holly laughed. "I'm not a flying squirrel." She knew he always thought the best of her, but really, "Gray squirrels leap from branch to branch, but unfortunately, we aren't in a forest." "You could fly on wings." "I'm not likely to sprout wings." Landing, he waddled beside her. Owls have an awkward gait that made him sway side to side as if he were about to topple over. "I meant you could fly on my wings. You could climb on my back and ride on me. If we fly, we could reach the cliffs in half the time." Holly halted and stared at him. She couldn't tell if he was being serious. That was... She'd never heard of such a thing. "You'd look ridiculous with a squirrel on your back." "Why should I care about that?" he asked. "I..." She supposed he shouldn't care. He lowered himself, then held still as she scrambled onto his back. She sank into his plush feathers and grasped the roots of a handful of them. Squirrels didn't fly on owls, of course, and she spared a moment to contemplate what her neighbor would say about this. She'd probably faint at the very thought of it, Holly thought. She imagined flying past her old trees just to witness that reaction. Gus bent his knees, and she felt his muscles tense beneath her. He stretched out his wings, and then, with a powerful but silent flap, he launched into the air. Holly felt wind rush against her face, and she held on tight. With every flap, he rose higher, and the flower fields dropped away beneath them. Holly peered over his shoulder and saw the ground below them shrink into shadows. She looked forward and saw the horizon with the last glow leftover from sunset. The moon was already bright, nearly full. She supposed this was more practical. Owls could see better in the dark than squirrels he was nocturnal by nature. She wasn't meant to be out wandering through fields in the night. A more practical option, yes, she thought. And a more amazing one. Holly had never supposed she would love flying. She was meant to be a paws-on- the-ground, head-in-the-trees kind of rodent. But the air up here tasted as sweetly clear as a stream after the snow melted, and the song of the wind filled her ears. She closed her eyes, listening to it and to the very soft, near-silent whoosh of Gus's rare wing beats. He could glide a long time on outspread wings, and it made their flight feel even more wondrous.. When she opened her eyes, the moon shone in front of them, bright and glorious. It bathed the fields below in a gentle gray. "It's beautiful," she said. "I've been wanting to show you this." "Show me what?" "The world." He tilted, and they soared toward what looked like a black ribbon, the kind that Periwinkle had used to decorate her room. A river, she realized. She remembered that the directions said to follow a river. "If I were you, I'd never stop flying." Holly said, "Watch this," Gus said, and he dived down. Skimming over the surface of the river, he touched the water with his wing tips. She felt spray in her face and laughed in delight. Holding on tight with her hind legs, Holly let go of his feathers and spread her front paws wide to feel the full wind and river spray. For two days, they followed the river to the Gray Hills and then aimed for the Crescent Forest. By the time dawn sneaked over the eastern horizon and spilled its light across the land on the third day, Holly and Gus could see the cliffs, rising up out of the trees. "Charlie said that when the sun hits the cliffs, that's when we pluck the flower," Gus called "We should have a little time to rest before the sun is in the right position. It has to be the flower that grows in a crack on the cliff, and it has to be the moment the angle of the sun hits the open petals. According to Charlie's research, there's only one spot where the cliff isn't too sheer for the flower to grow. It should be easy to spot, but we have to get the timing exactly right." "Great!" Holly said. "Let's get as close as we can so we're ready-what is that?" Ahead of them, stretched across the cliffs, was a shimmering web. It looked like a spiderweb, except for its golden glow. In the center, caught in the strands, was a cat. Chapter Six Holly held tight to Gus's feathers as he flew closer to the golden web. She'd never seen anything like it: it looked like wisps of sun had been woven together. The strands sparkled in the early light, flashing like thousands of tiny jewels as they twisted in the wind. The cat, suspended in the center, called to them, "Hey! Hello there! Over here!" "Are you all right?" Holly called to the cat. "Sure, just hanging out," he said. "Enjoying the breeze." Okay, it was a curious choice, but she didn't want to criticize another animal, especially one she didn't know. "Glad to hear it," Holly said politely. "We're looking for The cat cut her off. "Of course I'm not all right! Do I look like I'm all right?" He tried to swat with his paw, but the webbing held him tight. "I'm stuck! Please, help me get free! Argh!" As he squirmed, he got himself even more tied up in the strands. Gus flew closer. "Not too close!" the cat shouted. "You'll get caught too!" Gus veered away from the golden web. Flying near but not too near, the owl rose and fell with the wind that swirled around the cliffs. The strands stretched from rock to rock, crisscrossing in an interwoven pattern, blocking the cliff. The web was thickest over a triangular crack in the stone. It was the only break in the sheer rock face of the cliff that she could see. And it was completely inaccessible. She wondered if that was where the magic flower was growing. She guessed it was.. "How can we help?" Holly asked the cat. "Normally, my wizard would- Gus flapped excitedly, "You're a familiar?" "Yes, and my wizard- "We have magic too!" Gus said. Holly winced. Now the cat was going to think- "This is fantastic!" the cat said. "I'm saved! Get your wizards and spell me out of here!" Still holding on to Gus's feathers, she wrapped her tail around her and hid behind the fluff. She did not want to explain she could only conjure pastries. It was one thing to admit that to Periwinkle, but to tell an actual familiar The cat was waiting for a response. "Oh, we don't have wizards, Gus said cheerfully. "They didn't want us. We're shelterlings." Sighing, the cat sagged against the strands. "I should have known it was too good to be true. I'm doomed. And my poor wizard she's down in the forest, caught in a sleep spell. Without me, she'll sleep forever. And without her, I'll be stuck forever." "That's horrible!" Gus said, "If she'd just listened to me, like a true partner would-" He cut himself off. "Never mind." "You must have been on a very exciting quest to have been caught in a web and have your wizard trapped in a spell," Gus said, "We're on a quest for a magic flower. Unfortunately, I think it might be growing behind your web" "Inside the dragon's cave? Ha! Good luck with that," the cat said. "The...what?" Holly squeaked. She gawked at the cliff in horror. She'd thought the crack was a ledge, not a cave, and it was supposed to hold a flower, not a dragon. "We were hired by the townsfolk to rid them of the dragon who lives in these cliffs," the cat said. "They discovered the dragon roaming the forest near where they were building new homes, and we were sent to vanquish it. Yay. If I never have to face another-Anyway, what no one told us was that this dragon can work magic. It caught my wizard in a sleep spell before we could speak a single spell of our own, and then, when I tried to escape, it cast this web spell and trapped me." An actual dragon lived here? A spell-casting dragon who could trap both a wizard and a familiar? This was more adventure than Holly had bargained for. She'd loved the journey here-flight was amazing and wonderful and all the superlative words she could think of but this was too much. She wasn't ready for this. It required a proper hero, a familiar like Calla or Quill, not a squirrel who could only conjure pastries. Croissants couldn't defeat a dragon. "Can't you use your own magic to free yourself?" "Obviously not. Don't you know the downside to being a familiar? It's one of those fun details that everyone glosses over until it's too late. A familiar is tied to their wizard. Our bond makes it possible for us to cast the highest-level spells, but I can't work any magic without her, except my own personal kind, which isn't so useful in this situation." "What can you do?" Holly asked. It had to be more useful than pastries He closed his eyes and concentrated. A second later he opened his eyes, and two beams of light blazed out and across the forest. "Generate light. During my test to become a familiar, I had to navigate a maze in the dark. Once my wizard saw that, she knew she'd have a use for me. My power has enabled her to accept nighttime quests, but it's not much help now." He blinked, and the light vanished. "And now that she's gotten herself stuck under a sleep spell in the forest... It's humiliating to be this helpless. But I suppose you wouldn't understand that" Holly knew all about being humiliated, and it wasn't anything she'd wish on another creature. "I do understand." The cat let out a plaintive yowl, like an off-key song. "My wizard and I are supposed to be heroes! That's what I was promised when I bonded with her. We were supposed to go on adventures together, taking on quests to protect the land from whatever threatened it. Instead, look at us! We're pathetic!" He yowled louder, and below, birds took flight, cawing to one another. Holly knew what that was like too, to feel disappointment. "We'll find you a wizard and familiar who aren't caught in a spell, they'll can come and rescue you, and you'll be back to adventuring in no time." "There are no wizards nearby for miles," the cat said. "That's why the village hired us. We were the only ones close enough to answer their call. By the time you find anyone with the skill to unravel these spells, the dragon will have returned to finish me off!" "Oh my," Holly said. "I'm sure the dragon won't actually eat you. That would be rude." Glumly, the cat said, "He said he'd always wanted to try cat." Or maybe the dragon would eat him. You could never tell with unknown carnivores they might see you as a friend, or they might see you as lunch. Holly poked her nose over Gus's shoulder to look down at the forest below. She hoped dragons weren't interested in the taste of squirrel or owl. Regardless, they certainly couldn't allow the cat to become a dragon's latest taste treat. The poor creature looked miserable. His whiskers drooped, and his tail dangled between the strands. There had to be a way to help. Holly whispered to Gus, "We can't just leave him like this." Still flapping, Gus did another swooping pass by the cat. "I know. I've met you. You can't stand it when any animal is unhappy. You always try to help. That's one of the things I like best about you, Holly. So what's our plan?" Holly called to the cat, "How strong is the web?" "Strong enough to hold me." Demonstrating, the cat squirmed. As he twisted and flailed, Holly saw the strands that were anchored to the rocks strain. If the cat were stronger or heavier. Oh dear. She had an idea, but it was likely to be terrifying and dangerous, and she should probably just forget she'd ever had it. "You know what to do," Gus said. It wasn't even a question. Just a statement. "What makes you say that?" she asked him. "You always know what to do," he said with confidence. "You always fix everything." "Sure, if you mean cleaning up parsnip soup or repairing a porch roof," Holly said. "Not rescuing a familiar from a dragon's trap! It's not in my skill set" "But you have an idea how to do it," Gus said. "Admit it." "I do." "Am I going to like it?" Gus asked I'm going to hate it, she thought. But Gus... "You're going to love it." And before she could talk herself out of it, she told him her idea: "Remember the day we met, your arrival day? How you broke the roof of the porch?" "Sure. I got so excited that I flew up high and...oh. You want me to do that?" The cat called, "What are you two whispering about?" He twisted, and the golden webbing shifted with him. Every time he moved, he cocooned himself tighter. Holly called to him, "Just stay where you are, okay?" "Ha! Very funny," the cat said. "Never met a squirrel with a sense of humor before." She tightened her grip on the owl's feathers. "Fly, Gus. Fly high." Gus flapped his wings hard, and air whooshed behind him. "Woo-hoo!" he called, with the joy of someone who has just been asked to do the very thing he's always dreamed of doing. Holly tried not to look down as he climbed higher and higher Above, the clouds looked as if they were touchable. She felt the sun warming her fur, and the wind rushing around them. After a few minutes, she peeked down- the cliffs were below them, and the cat was a speck within an array of sparkles. This is a really bad idea, Holly thought. But it might work "Do it!" she called to Gus. She buried her paws as deep into his feathers as she could. "Now!" Tucking his wings against his body, he solidified beneath her. She felt the feathers transform around her paws, hardening into granite that held her snugly, and as he shifted, he plummeted. She screamed and felt as if the air were being ripped from her throat. Her stomach was left behind in the clouds, and her skin and fur fluttered over her bones. Securely anchored to the stone owl, she fell and fell, hurtling toward the web. She saw the glittering mesh rising toward them, and she caught a glimpse of the cat's face, horrified, as they slammed into the webbing. It tore away from the cliff. Yes! she thought And then she looked down again. The forest was coming fast. "Gus, you did it! Change back!" He didn't answer. She swatted his stone back with her tail. "Gus! Gus!" The trees rushed toward her, the tops of the pine trees like spears. She screamed again and heard the cat screaming too he was falling as well, within the webbing. "Gus!" His stone body softened. She felt feathers beneath her. Stretching out his wings, he glided over the tops of the trees. She heard the leaves rustle as his stomach brushed against the canopy. He landed on a branch. The golden webbing drifted down around them like a shimmering snowfall. "Ahhh!" The cat fell beside them, and then the web caught on the branches. His fall abruptly stopped. He dangled, cocooned in the web, from the tree. He stopped screaming. Holly called to him, "Are you all right?" In a stunned and amazed voice, the cat said, "Yes. I actually am. You saved me." Chapter Seven "My name is Saffron," the cat said. "I'm Holly," Holly said politely, "and this is Gus." With her paws and teeth, she tore at the webbing that was wrapped around Saffron. Once his claws were free, he began to cut through the strands himself. That went faster. "Thank you for rescuing me," he said, spitting out the webbing. "That was... an unusual technique. But it worked. How can I repay you? Without my wizard, I can't do much, but I'll do what I can. You said you were looking for a magic flower?" Gus nodded. "Yes, it's supposed to grow in a crack in the cliff. Guess that's the one-the dragon's cave. I don't see any other possibilities." He squinted up at the sky, and so did Holly. The sun was far higher than it had been when they'd reached the cliffs. The yellow light was already creeping across the rock. "How about a different flower?" Saffron asked. "There are lots of nice ones in the forest. Or you could try a garden in town." "Sorry, but that's the only one that will work," Gus said. "And we have to pick it when the sun touches its petals, which will be... in a little while. We should have plenty of time." The cat bit through more strands and then spat them out. "Yeah, see, about that cave? That's where the dragon keeps his hoard. If you go near it, he'll think you're trying to steal from him." "I would never steal, Holly said primly. Saffron snorted. "You can try explaining that to the dragon." "Perhaps I should." "Ha. The only way you'll be able to reach that flower is if my wizard and I defeat the dragon," Saffron said, "and the only way that will happen is if I rescue my wizard." Well then, the solution seemed simple. "Okay, so we'll help you rescue your wizard." After all, they'd successfully saved the cat. How much harder could it be to wake a wizard? Of course, there was a dragon involved... The cat seemed surprised. "You will?" Glancing at Gus to make sure he agreed with her, Holly said, "Of course we will." They'd already come this far. Besides, it was the right thing to do, though she wasn't sure exactly how she and Gus could help against a dragon. Dragons were rumored to be quite large, fire-breathing, and foul-tempered. She'd never actually met one before. I like helping creatures, she reminded herself. And Saffron needs help. "You know, I always thought rejected familiars were Saffron trailed off, as if he couldn't think of an adjective that wasn't insulting. Holly appreciated that he didn't finish that sentence.. "Do rejected familiars often go on their own quests?" Saffron asked instead. "This is our first," Gus said proudly. Saffron shook his head in amazement. "Wow. I'm very glad your first quest took you this way. I don't know how long I would have been stuck there if you hadn't come along." Our first quest. Holly liked those words. She wondered if Flint, the familiar who, with his wizard, had levitated a train to save a lizard who was about to be flattened, would have called this a quest. Maybe he would have "Happy to help," Holly said to Saffron. "Where is your wizard? And the dragon?" "Follow me!" He bounded into the underbrush. She scampered up the trunk of a tree into the branches. It felt delightful to be back in a forest again. As the cat padded through the ferns, vines, and bushes, Holly ran along the branches, leaping from tree to tree. It was nearly as good as flying. She thought she should visit forests more often. The shelter's orchard just wasn't the same as a forest that was thick with so many trees that the branches blocked the sky, Gus flew between the trees, weaving around the trunks. This forest didn't feel so different from her old home. It had the same mix of oaks, maples, birches, and pines. She recognized blueberry and blackberry bushes, as well as the lily of the valley that grew in the shade near them. The smells were the same-earthy and pine-scented, heavy with the rich tang of old leaves and so were the sounds of birds calling to one another from distant perches She would've thought that a forest with a dragon in it would feel different. More ominous. But the birds still sang, the flowers still bloomed, and the breeze still blew through thick, lush leaves. Maybe no one told them there's a dragon here, Holly thought. Or maybe the dragon was nicer than Saffron had implied. Of course, the dragon had captured both the cat and his wizard, plus threatened to eat Saffron, which was beyond rude, though not unexpected for a carnivore in the wild. She really hoped the familiar had a plan for rescuing his wizard. Dropping down onto his belly, the cat crawled through the grass. Holly took that as her cue to move more carefully, disturbing as few leaves as possible. Her nose twitched as she smelled some other squirrel's nut stash, but she left it alone. In a few minutes, they came upon a clearing. And in the center of the clearing lay the dragon, curled up like a cat. A very, very large cat. Holly had known the dragon would be big. What she hadn't grasped was precisely how big. To say he was the size of a house would not have been an exaggeration. The ridges on his scaly back were even with the tops of the trees. His thick tail was wrapped around his body and sported spikes that were as tall as Holly. His mouth was so full of teeth that several fangs stuck out beyond his lips. Smoke drifted up from his nostrils. Okay, now I've seen a dragon, she thought. Maybe we should go? She didn't know what s