After a minute, through the window, I heard someone calling from downstairs, and Susan’s face went white. She scrambled to quickly put everything back the way it should be, and then quickly ran out the door, closing it before she went.
I wondered how on earth I was going to manage to get in there. The window was closed, after all. I doubted if my magic would work while I was in bird form, but I had to give it a try, didn’t I?
“Apertoa,” I tried, focusing hard on the window as I pointed my beak and one wing towards it. I felt the familiar pulse of energy coursing through me and out of my feather towards the window, and it opened about three inches. Not as far as it would have if I’d done the spell in human form, but good enough for a Stellar Jay to get through.
I glided over to the desk and landed carefully – I was finally getting the hang of things – and started looking over the papers. I ignored the ones on the top; whatever Susan was looking for obviously wasn’t right there. Using my beak I pushed some papers onto the floor, thinking that whoever came in here next would blame a gust of wind from the open window, and started looking through the papers.
There was really nothing exciting at all. Just some bank statements that I wished were my bank statements, going by the balance, a few old bill stubs, some tax forms, that sort of thing.
I looked at the drawers underneath. Jumping onto the handle, I began to pump my wings away from the desk, hoping to be able to open the drawer just enough to get inside. Luckily, on the third attempt, I managed to pry the drawer open far enough to be able to see what was inside.
On the very top of the drawer was a letter addressed to Caroline. I carefully pried it open with my feet and my mouth – or more accurately, my beak – dropped open as I read it.
Caroline,
I know you and I disagree about your daughter. I love Ellie, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. You’re her mother, not her owner. She’s an adult, and she can make her own decisions. Stop trying to keep her away from me, or I promise you, you’ll be sorry.
Corey
The letter was dated five days ago. I sat there, reading and re-reading the letter over and over, wondering if I could take it back with me, then realizing that no, I absolutely should leave it here. I supposed the cops hadn’t come around and looked at everything yet; they were bound to find it for sure.
Was this what Susan was looking for so frantically? And if so, why? Was she going to hide it from the police for Corey? What reason could she possibly have for doing so? It was obvious Corey loved Ellie.
Suddenly, a grandfather clock downstairs began to ring half past four, and I realized that the two hours were almost up. I had to get back home, and fast.
I dropped the letter back in the desk, pushed it closed by flying into the drawer, then quickly left out the window and flew back towards our home in Willow Bay.
Pumping my wings as fast as I could, I knew I was going to be cutting it close. I didn’t know exactly what time was two hours from the start of the spell, but it couldn’t be far. It had to be around a quarter to five. That much, I knew. The sense of pure relief I felt when I finally saw the house was palpable, I could see the open window we’d flown out from. With a final pump of my wings I flew towards it, when I realized in horror that my insides were starting to swirl again, that same feeling as when I’d been transformed into the bird. With the bright light around, I wasn’t sure if I’d made it into the house or not.
When the light finally disappeared, I saw Sophie laughing at me, just as Charlotte, still in crow form, began to shine brightly as she too turned human again. It took me a second to figure out why Sophie was laughing: I’d transformed right in the middle of the window, and I was stuck. My body was inside the house, but my legs were still sticking outside, flailing aimlessly at the nothingness below the window.
“Yeah, that’s a way better reaction than coming over to help,” I complained grumpily as Charlotte reappeared in front of me, like magic. Well, I supposed it was magic.
“Maybe you should consider a diet,” Sophie laughed as she got up off the couch and hoisted me through the rest of the window, then closed it behind me. I fell to the floor with an inelegant thud, and a minute later Sprinkles was on top of me, taking advantage to give me as many kisses as possible.
“Hi, Sprinkles! I missed you too,” I said, patting him as I laughed. I was always ticklish when dogs decided to give me kisses.
“You’re back! You’re back!” he exclaimed.
“Yes, we are back,” I said.
“You have to go find the cat!”
“The cat?” I asked.
“Yes, she left right after you did and she’s not back yet.”
I sighed and sat up. Of course Bee was going to make today even harder.
Chapter 10
“Ok, we wait until we find Bee to talk about what we found out,” Sophie said. She could understand Sprinkles, but only Sprinkles.
“Bee!” Charlotte called out, but I shook my head.
“Sprinkles said she left out the window when we left, she’s gone outside.”
“I didn’t even think of having to close it for the cat,” Charlotte replied, her eyes widening.
“I know, me neither. To be honest, I never really expected her to do anything like that. She’s usually so lazy!”
“It’s strange, isn’t it?” Sophie said as we headed to the front door. “Wanna go for a walk, Sprinkles? Come help find Bee?”
“Do I?” Sprinkles asked, bounding over the back of the couch to get to the front door as quickly as possible, his tail wagging at top speed as Sophie grabbed his leash.
The three of us went out, then decided to separate and meet back at the house in twenty minutes. I went towards downtown, calling out for my cat every few seconds.
“Bee! Bee!” I called, not caring about how foolish I felt. I had to admit, there was a tightness in my chest. I was definitely worried about my cat. I knew Bee was able to take care of herself, but at the same time, I also knew that the outdoors wasn’t necessarily a safe place for a cat.
I checked behind fences, asked the neighbors that I saw, but no one had seen any sign of Bee. Eventually, when the time was up, I headed back up to the house, dejected. I would put a piece of sushi out on the porch for her in the hopes that she’d smell it and come home, I thought to myself as I got back to the driveway. I met Charlotte about a hundred feet from home, and Sophie and Sprinkles were just walking up the driveway as we got there.
Suddenly, Sophie let out a yell. “Bee!”
I ran up past her, looking to what Sophie was looking at. Sure enough, sitting on the mat in front of the door was my little black cat, all curled up in a ball.
“Oh, Bee!” I said, running up and picking up the cat, and holding her close.
“What is it? What are you doing to me? Why are you holding me like that?” Bee asked grumpily.
“It’s called a hug, Bee. I’m so glad you’re ok!”
“Of course I’m ok. Why wouldn’t I be? Except you idiots closed the window so I couldn’t get inside.”
“Because the world is dangerous for a little kitty like you. Where were you, anyway?”
“What, a girl can’t go for a stroll without getting the third degree?”
“Not when that girl is a cat who’s never done it before!” My relief was turning into a motherly need to know exactly what my cat had snuck out to do.
“I wanted to just see the neighbourhood, since you wouldn’t take me for a walk earlier. Don’t worry, I didn’t kill anything. I just walked around.”
I narrowed my eyes at Bee, who jumped up onto the back of the couch as I opened the front door and started innocently licking her paw. Of course, the idea that she would sneak out just to get back at me for not taking her out earlier did in fact sound exactly like something Bee would do.