Chapter 7: Narrow escapes
Marco squeezed through the narrow opening in the window to find the magnolia tree waiting. He made note of this handy arrangement, glad he wouldn’t have to fall through the roof to get back into the library.
He trotted off down the street in good spirits. All he needed was a safe place to sleep until morning. A house where the owner kept cat food on the porch would be especially nice. Oh, and a cushioned chair. He nosed around porches and back yards in his quest for the perfect spot.
Sounds of soft rolling drums in the distance announced a coming storm. The smell of impending rain flavored the scent of dry food wafting between the cracks of a board fence, and his stomach growled a fierce reminder of his neglect. The fence was a lot trickier to climb than a tree, but hunger drove him to success, and he perched for a moment on the top rail to view the lightning flashes. Better hurry before the rain starts, he thought.
That’s when Marco discovered a creature more deadly than stray cats. Without warning, a beast of a dog, the size of twenty cats, smacked against the inside of the fence. The dog jumped up again and again, like his hind legs were made of springs, his fangs slathered with drool.
Marco had never been somebody’s prey. He dug his claws into the narrow rail, his destiny teetering in the imbalance of the wobbly fence. On one of his jumps, the dog’s teeth sank into Marco’s tail, and his fate seemed to edge towards a grisly death. The dog lost his grip on Marco’s slender tail and there was a moment of blessed silence.
Before Marco could start breathing again, however, the dog returned, with renewed vigor. When the dog’s razor-sharp teeth nipped at his hind leg, Marco’s survival instincts kicked in. His powerful hind legs pushed him off the fence, like a swimmer soaring off a diving board.
He flew into the air. Not high, but high enough. His body spiraled and arched into a perfect back flip achieved only by felines and practiced gymnasts, and he made a four-point landing on the safe side of the fence. The dog clawed and barked stupidly on the other side.
Marco didn’t stop running until he reached the safety of a tree. For a long time his heart pounded so hard, he barely heard the thunder. He only noticed when it stopped and the lightning made a brilliant show, turning night into day. Who would guess its delicate beauty masked its true purpose? How could he know beforehand that the lightning was a warning?
Then thunder cracked its whip, sounding like the world had split in two, and Marco almost fell off the wide branch. He scrambled back up and held on while the skies opened and let everything loose.
Even though Marco had seen rain before, it had been from inside a house, protected by windows. A thick cover of green foliage, which might have sheltered him during a light shower, was taking a beating too, and Marco finished out the night hunched on the branch, wet and shivering, trying to endure.
When dawn finally arrived, the storm lumbered off like a beast seeking the cover of darkness. Marco felt like a sailor, lost at sea. I’m shipwrecked, he thought, wishing he’d finished the book about the sailor so he knew how the story turned out.
The sun appeared and the sky cleared to a brilliant blue, but Marco was determined to stay gloomy. A gust of wind stirred the damp leaves and shook water droplets onto his already soggy fur, which helped justify his mood. That, and the flock of crows that landed in the tree.
Their raucous cawing was the final straw. Marco picked his way to the ground and found a sunny patch of sidewalk, where he started grooming his fur. When he was a little drier, he set off to look for something to eat, still feeling sorry for himself.
“I’m too young to die!”
Marco heard the cry for help, but saw no one.
“Help! Get me outa here!” At the corner of the house, a pipe ran top to bottom, out of which protruded a bushy wiggling tail. Marco pawed it.
“Cut that out!” The invisible creature squealed and struggled inside his enclosure.
Marco had all kinds of questions, but the biggest one involved helping. What could he possibly do? He tried poking his paw inside the pipe, but it agitated the creature more. He scratched at a loose section and got his claw wedged in between the metal strapping and pipe. Now he was stuck. He yanked and pulled until the metal band broke loose from its fastener, freeing Marco. He was licking his wounded paw when the whole pipe split open like a cotton pod and out spilled a creature like nothing he’d ever seen before.
Poor thing doesn’t have any ears, was his first thought. The long willowy creature dashed off like he was leaving, then ducked and rolled into a somersault and came hurtling back towards Marco. He screeched to a full stop and pressed his nose into Marco’s face.
“You saved my life! You’re my hero!”
“I didn’t really do…”
“Man, I thought I was going to die!” He took off running, then came back chattering nonsense and swooped over Marco, nuzzling him like they were old buddies.
“I’m freeeeee!”
Marco was stunned.
“Hey, you’re kind of fat for a ferret, aren’t you?”
“A ferret?” said Marco. “What’s a ferret?”
“I’m a ferret!” the creature declared, bobbing and arching across the lawn like something made of rubber and springs.
The ferret looped his way back. “Hey, you’re awfully quiet. What’s your name? I’m Polo. You wanna see my treasure chest?” He didn’t wait for an answer and disappeared into a hole under the house.
Marco peered inside, letting his eyes adjust to the dim light. The ferret was bounding around the small space.
“Stay close to me or you might get lost,” he said and disappeared again.
Marco followed, across wooden beams, around metal pipes and over cardboard boxes. When the ferret reached his destination, he stood upright with his arm pointing to a pile of rubbish. “Tada!” he announced in a grand voice.
Marco walked over to the pile and sniffed.
“Isn’t it great? Hey, I got something I want to show you. Where is it now?” He looked around and then dove into and out of the clothes, sometimes buried and sometimes emerging, just to disappear again seconds later. When his head finally popped up, he had a gold bracelet in his mouth.
“Cooo...huh?” Polo dropped the bracelet. “I shouldn’t talk with my mouth full. Me mum always told me that, but sometimes I forget.”
Marco moved among the piles of clothes and gadgets, mystified by the ferret’s enthusiasm. Some treasure. What kind of creature collects trash and calls it treasure?
Polo sprang to within an inch of his face. “Hey, I just had an idea. We could be a team. You and me. Wouldn’t that be fun! You’ll be the lookout.”
As strange as he was, Polo’s company cheered him immensely. He was, by a long shot, friendlier than anyone he’d met on the streets. Maybe things were looking up.
Then the little creature suddenly collapsed in a twisted heap and Marco dashed over, nudging the ferret to see if he was dead.
Chapter 8: Night watch
Cicero’s room was filled with books, old favorites like Shakespeare, biographies of great men, and the more challenging ones about quantum physics. Their presence filled him with peace, like old friends who read together, not needing to hold meaningless conversations.
Cicero arose and stretched his front legs out on the table where he was reading a book by a man named Einstein. It was time for his regular night watch of the library, not that there was much to lose sleep over in all the years he’d been here. No one would ever find him or the Book in this sleepy little town. But the stiffness in his old bones wouldn’t let him forget he was going to need a successor soon.
Out on the balcony, Cicero overlooked his domain. He had grown very fond of the Angel Springs library, even though circumstances for his transfer here were made under duress. Except for the ticking of the grandfather clock, all was quiet. In the darkened library there was only the soft glow of a large aquarium in the children’s area.