18
It wasn’t right. Rooms were supposed to keep still. That’s the way it had been for all of Shadow’s life up to this point. If rooms could suddenly start slowly jumping up, what next? Would houses decide to roam around? The whole idea wasn’t good. In fact, it was deeply disturbing.
That was why Shadow lay low, trying to dig his claws into the floor of this moving room, desperate to hold on, especially when it gave a little leap upward and then settled back.
He was so focused on holding tight that he almost missed it when the room stopped moving. Then the door opened and everyone began to leave, including the wheeled chair he’d sheltered under. Shadow had to scramble to keep up.
The chair made a right turn and then went straight for a while. That made it easy to travel along beneath the seat, but Shadow had a hard time getting an idea of where they were going. A pair of legs blocked most of his view to the front. Then the chair made another turn, and Shadow was struck by loud noise—and by the overpowering scent of dozens of Old Ones. It was enough to make him stagger, and when he recovered, he found himself back in the open again. His moving hiding place had rolled on without him.
He found himself standing in a large open area, surrounded by all those Old Ones he’d smelled seated on chairs or those weird rolling chairs. They had all been watching a gigantic picture box where the noise came from. But now the older humans nearby noticed him and began to coo and reach toward him, just like in the other room. Shadow had to dash around as all those hands, bony or plump, crooked or odd-smelling, thrust themselves at him.
As he tried to avoid those clutching fingers, he felt trapped in a nightmare, like the dream he’d had where big angry dogs appeared whichever way he turned. Shadow could feel his heart thudding in his chest as he ducked, darted, and squirmed.
If this keeps up, there’s going to be blood, he thought.
To make it worse, he suddenly got a whiff of the She he sought. But it was just the memory of her presence, coming from a blanket on one of the Old Ones’ laps.
He finally got away from the hands and ran in terror, not even watching where he was going, just making his legs move as fast as they possibly could. Shadow finally stopped, panting, beside a big metal box with wheels.
It almost seems as it everything in this place has wheels on it, he thought. When he went to explore this new thing, he found that it wasn’t solid. One side stood open, and shelves rose up above him. No, actually, they were trays that slid along metal supports along the sides. As he peered in the dimness, he could see all sorts of shapes piled on the trays. He also got a strong whiff of many-many different kinds of food, old food, food that had once been hot and now had cooled.
Shadow heard feet coming toward him and scrambled onto the bottommost tray. It wasn’t easy, because the tray had a plate, and cups, and other things on it. But he managed, holding still as the feet appeared in front of him and scraping noises came from above—another tray going onto another shelf. Then the whole big box began to move.
Better to ride than run around with all those old two-legs grabbing for you, Shadow decided. He kept still even as the box rolled into another room that started to move. This time it started falling down very slowly. Shadow wasn’t sure he liked this any better than flying, but he tried to be philosophical about it. The last time things had turned out all right. Nothing bad had actually happened.
But as soon as the door opened and they were out of that room, Shadow jumped out of the box. He’d had enough of being trapped in places and forced to go one way or another. Even if more ancient hands came after him, he’d face them on his own four feet.
Maybe the smell of all that food rising around him had clogged his nose, because he wasn’t even aware of the other cat nearby until his gaze was filled with the sight of a pair of beautiful green eyes surrounded by patches of brown and black fur. They were nose to nose. He inhaled. It was She!
For a brief, wonderful moment, she rubbed her face along the side of his. Then she romped past him, running down the long hallway. Shadow turned to follow, racing in pursuit.
*
After finishing their meal, Sunny and Will came out of the coffee shop and walked down the side corridor until they were almost to the nurses’ station.
Sunny heard her name called, and turned to see her dad coming down the main hallway, waving. “How did everything turn out?” Mike asked as he reached them.
“Luke’s in the sheriff’s office, telling them everything that happened,” Will reported. “They’ve already sent the bottle of tonic to the state police lab in Augusta.”
Sunny filled in the details of their meetings with Ollie and Dr. Reese. “So now we’re waiting on Sheriff Nesbit,” she concluded. “Will was told to wait here and report to the sheriff when he arrives. I guess Nesbit wants to powwow with Dr. Reese and probably with Ollie as well.”
Mike nodded. “Probably trying to figure how to manage the news—and keep your name out of it,” he told Will.
“What else is new?” Sunny asked. “So we had ourselves some lunch and thought we’d visit with Ollie awhile more.”
“That was my plan,” Mike said. “You know, Ollie’s not all bad when you spend some time with him. Maybe he grows on you.”
Sunny resisted making a crack about any of the long list of things that grew on people. “Maybe it helps that he’s not paying your salary,” she suggested to her dad.
Mike chuckled and allowed as how that might be so. Ahead of them, they saw Camille the aide stepping into Room 114 carrying a bedpan.
“Might as well wait here for a few minutes,” Will said. “My police instincts say it’s going to be pretty unpleasant in there for a little while.”
They were all so busy glancing down the hall and joking that they didn’t see the disturbance approaching behind them down the hallway until a white, black, and ginger streak zipped past their shins, heading in the direction Ollie’s room.
“Portia?” Sunny said, doing a double take. Then came a gray streak that was all too familiar. “Shadow!” She broke into run after them, thinking, What are you doing here, you crazy cat? To make matters worse, up ahead she spotted Dr. Gavrik stomping down the hall. The doctor disliked the official therapy animals. How would she react to a strange cat on the premises?
Gavrik turned into Room 114, and to Sunny’s horror, so did Portia, hotly pursued by Shadow. A second later, all hell broke loose.
*
Shadow dashed after the She as she led him a merry chase, zigzagging down long expanses of corridor, using pieces of furniture and even people as obstacles for him. Sometimes he nearly pounced on her, but she always managed to evade him. Other times, he held himself back, just so he could admire her running form and drink in the fragrance wafting back from her. When he did that, the She would glance back over her shoulder with challenging eyes and slow her own pace so that he’d come closer, closer . . . and then she’d take off running again, leaving that intoxicating scent in her wake.
He didn’t know how long the game went on. The corridors seemed to pass in a golden glow. Then the She charged into one of the rooms. Shadow followed, detecting familiar smells. Was that Sunny he scented?
He almost stopped to investigate, but the thrill of the chase urged him onward. The She was in a small room now. Surely he could catch her in there!
She vanished behind a curtain, and suddenly Shadow heard harsh words, the sound of a thud, and a cry of pain from the She. The golden glow evaporated as Shadow ducked under the curtain. The She lay crumpled on the floor, whimpering. Over her stood a human female with hate radiating from her like a choking, black stink. On the bed lay a familiar two-leg, one who came around the house sometimes. Shadow had named him the One Who Hollers from the way he acted around Sunny.