Dancing Days by Val St. Crowe
* * *
Nora scratched Catling under her chin. “Thanks for bringing her back to me,” she said to Agler. They were in the tweens and rebels enclave, sitting in the tree house. The danger of the portal had passed, and now everyone was regrouping. She slouched in one of the comfy bean-bag like chairs, while Agler leaned against the back of the platform. Maddie was there too, sitting cross-legged in front of Nora. Sawyer was working on May Day dresses. He said he didn’t care how many portals ripped through Helicon, he was determined to finish sewing them all.
“No problem,” said Agler. “Like I said, she just wandered right into the philosophy enclave right before the portal went off. I might not have noticed her, but she was meowing like crazy.”
“So, that’s weird,” said Maddie. “Catling’s only gone missing two times, and both times were right before a portal happened.”
“That is weird,” said Nora. She was so glad to have Catling back safe that she hadn’t realized it until now.
“Actually,” said Agler, “I don’t think that’s how it works. You remember when Nora and Owen left a portal open, right? It took hours before the Influence came through. If there’s a hole in Helicon, it can sit open until the Influence finds it. The Influence causes the damage, not the portal itself.”
Nora nodded. That made sense. “We’re lucky no one was hurt this time.”
“We’re extremely lucky,” said Agler. “These things are happening way too frequently.”
“So,” said Maddie, “maybe Catling can sense when a portal’s open, and she goes to it.”
“Maybe,” said Nora. “That could be useful, too, because if we could find the portals before the Influence does, we could seal them up before it gets through.”
Agler reached over to pet Catling. “She’s a portal alarm.”
“Right,” said Nora, “but I don’t watch her enough. I need something that could track her.”
Below them, someone was walking up the spiral stairs of the tree house. Nora could see that it was Dirk.
“Maybe the engineering enclave could rig something up,” said Maddie. “Like a collar that will tell you where she is.”
“You think they could?” said Nora.
Agler nodded. “Probably.”
“Dirk spends a lot of time in the engineering enclave,” said Maddie. “Maybe he could help.”
Dirk paused at the sound of his name. He ducked his head inside the platform they were sitting on. “Help with what?”
“Help make a tracker for my cat-duck,” said Nora. “She can sense portals.”
“That’s stupid,” said Dirk. “No animal can do that.”
“Maybe it’s because she’s a chimera,” said Nora. “She was created from Helicon magic. Maybe that’s why she knows when something’s wrong with it.”
“How do you figure she can sense holes in Helicon?” asked Dirk.
“She’s gone missing every time that we’ve had one,” said Nora. “And she always gets found right next to the portal.”
“Coincidence,” said Dirk. He ducked out of the platform.
“Wait,” said Maddie. “Couldn’t you help us make a tracker for her? Then we’d know for sure.”
Dirk didn’t stop climbing. “I’m busy.”
“He’s not a particularly pleasant person, is he?” muttered Maddie.
Agler shrugged. “He’s like fourteen years old. It’s a tough age. He’ll grow out of it.”
“We’re only fifteen,” Nora said, rolling her eyes.
Agler raised his eyebrows. “You’re only fifteen?”
Maddie and Nora both nodded.
“I didn’t know that,” said Agler. “But I guess you were young when you left Helicon... Anyway, you’re girls. And girls are always more mature.” But he got up and started out of the platform. “I should probably go back and check on the people in the philosophy enclave. Just make sure everyone’s okay.”
Nora and Maddie watched him go.
“What scared him off?” said Nora.
“He obviously likes you,” said Maddie. “But now he knows how young you are, and I think it freaked him out.”
“He doesn’t like me,” said Nora. “Besides, he’s eighteen, right? That’s only three years.”
Maddie shrugged. “What do you care? You’re hopelessly devoted to Owen, aren’t you?”
Nora hugged Catling tight. “Yeah. Of course.”