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“Thank you,” I accepted the box. He turned away before I could fumble for a tip, and darted down the steps. Frowning, I carried the box over to the coffee table and sat down. “Sorry,” I said to Daisy. “Grams just got a delivery. Looks like fancy candy,” I added staring at the address. It was from some chocolatier.
“Sounds good,” Daisy said. “I’ll see you later.”
I pocketed my phone. Deciding I wanted another breath of fresh air, I pushed out the door, leaving the screen door closed. As I walked over to the porch swing, I heard a squeak and turned around. Fancypants was holding the screen door open as he watched me.
“Close that door! The kittens could get out!” I ran toward the door.
Fancypants gasped, letting the door swing shut, but as he did so, I caught a glimpse of two fuzzy butts running toward the herb garden.
“Oh no!” I raced breakneck down the stairs, towards the kittens. “Gem! Silver!”
“Oh dear!” Behind me, Fancypants struggled with the door again. He managed to get it open and came flying out like a drunken harpy, heading unsteadily toward the garden. He zoomed past me—dragonettes could fly faster than humanoids could run—and under his breath he was muttering “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!”
“Oh dear, is right! You’d better get them back!” I was pissed. There were eagles, hawks, dogs, coyotes, raccoons—all sorts of predators out here who would just love a juicy little kitten for a snack. “Damn it, I told you to be careful!”
Fancypants darted ahead, his wings catching the breeze as he rode the currents. He landed in front of Silver, who stopped short, as though he suddenly realized he didn’t know where he was. Fancypants pounced on him, holding him down, though he couldn’t pick up the kitten with his tiny arms. He held him fast to the ground as I ran over and scooped up the kitten.
“Here, let me take him. You go after Gem,” Grams said, catching up to us.
Without a word, I handed Silver to her and then scanned the yard. “Where is she? Where did she go?”
With Gem’s coloring, she could hide just about anywhere. Silver stuck out, but Gem blended into the grass and bushes. Even though it wasn’t summer, her coat blended in with the colorful leaves on the ground.
“I’m looking,” Fancypants said, and I caught the fear in his voice.
“Gem! Gem! Where are you, baby?” I tried to calm myself down. I didn’t want to scare her with my own fear, but truth was, I was terrified. In the short time they’d come to live with me, I’d fallen in love with the kittens, and now I couldn’t bear to think of her outside, alone, so young and vulnerable.
We hunted through the yard, stopping now and then to listen. A few moments later, Grams returned, a box of their dry food in hand. She shook it, then waited. “I put a bowl on the porch, so that if she smells it she might make her way back there,” Grams said.
At that moment, a flash overhead lit up the sky, white hot. Not five seconds later and a low rumble filled the air and the clouds broke open, sending a sheet of rain down to soak us to the skin. My stomach in knots, I struggled, trying to calm myself enough to see if I could sense her, but my panic was overriding just about everything else.
“I’m calling Bran,” I said. We need all hands on deck.”
Grams nodded. “Good idea. I’m going to get our rain jackets. I’ll be right back.” She spoke with a quiet certainty, and that alone helped me breathe through the fear.
Fancypants was darting around in the rain, beside himself. “I’m so sorry, Elphyra. I’m so sorry?—”
I tried to soothe my temper, although I wanted to read him the riot act. But I knew that wouldn’t help. He was young and—like all youngsters—he could be thoughtless without realizing what he was doing. He hadn’t intended to screw up, but the fact was, Gem was now out here, probably scared out of her fuzzy little wits, and it was his fault.
“Just keep looking,” I said, biting my tongue. I pulled out my phone and called Bran. “Hey,” I said the moment he came on the line, “I need you now. Gem and Silver got out. We caught Silver but we’re having trouble finding Gem. I can’t leave her out here—she’s?—”
Before I could finish my sentence, he cut me off.
“I’m on my way,” was all he said.
I tucked my phone back in my pocket and went back to looking. “Gem? Baby? Gemmy? Honey?” I knelt down, touching the earth. “Help me,” I whispered. “Help me find her.”
The soil beneath my fingers responded. There must be an elemental nearby. I waited and then, a vision took form in my mind. I could see Gem sitting beneath a fir tree that towered into the sky. It was in the midst of a thicket, so she must have ran into the trees, out of the main yard. But that was all I could see.
I scanned the treeline. “She’s in the woods somewhere.”
“I’m on my way,” Fancypants said, subdued.
I texted Bran to tell him that I was headed toward the treeline. He texted back that he was pulling into the driveway now. A few moments later, his truck rounded the curve and he cautiously parked in the parking lot for my shop, loping over, his long wheat colored hair loose against the windbreaker he was wearing. He stopped short as he neared me, pulling a hair tie out of his pocket to gather his hair back in a long ponytail.
I ran to him, tears on my cheeks. “I don’t want to lose her—I’d never forgive myself.”
“We’ll find her,” he whispered, kissing the top of my head.
