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“Wee bit of passionflower to keep yer mind from racing, and a touch of mugwort tae boost yer intuition. I added a bit of lemon verbena because it feels like sunshine tae me.” She flashed me a smile that did nothing to mask the worry in her eyes.

I drank the tea as quickly as I could without burning myself, and then I set the cup down on the table without looking at it.

“I still don’t think this is going to work,” I said, steeling myself for disappointment. “But here goes nothing.”

I took a deep breath and looked down at the cup. Please show me where he is, I begged, but the only thing that came to mind was blue softness.

“I don’t see anything. Just the sky,” I said, opening my eyes. “Blue sky on a nice day. Though it feels weirdly soft. Fuzzy.” It was no clearer than the swirling, black vortex of my last vision, but at least it was warm and cozy instead of wet, cold, and terrifying.

“Can ye smell anything?”

I closed my eyes again and frowned. “It’s faint. Floral. Though that could be the tea.”

“Citrusy?” Fiona asked.

“No, lavender,” I said.

She shook her head. “Then it isna the tea.”

“It still doesn’t help!” I cried, burying my hands in my hair with a frustrated groan. “It’s pouring outside. How is a vision of a nice sunny day supposed to help us find Merry right now? What good is any of this if it’s impossible to interpret half the time?”

“Wait a minute,” Viv said, sitting up suddenly. “Maybe it’s not the sky. You said blue and fuzzy? Solid blue? Or is there a pattern to it?”

“Like clouds?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No, a pattern. More regular than clouds.”

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes again and tried to recall what I’d glimpsed. “It’s super faded, but I think I see something. Like bumpy little white circles maybe.”

“Like tiny daisies?” she gasped.

“Could be. Why?” I asked, my eyes snapping open just in time to see her smack her forehead as she jumped to her feet.

“I know where he is. We are such idiots!” Viv cried, running to the little door by the fridge.

“We are such idiots,” I echoed, getting to my feet so fast that my chair crashed to the ground. “We forgot the laundry room.”

Viv yanked the door open and started down the stairs.

“Careful!” I called down to her just as her foot slipped on one of the treacherous steps. My heart jumped into my throat as she caught the railing and steadied herself.

“I know!” she replied testily. “You tell me every time.”

Slowing down almost imperceptibly, she ran down the rest of the way. Ignoring my own advice, I hurried down after her.

“The pattern isn’t faded,” she said, skidding to a stop in front of the large basket of clean laundry next to the dryer and lifting a navy-blue towel off the top. “You were seeing the wrong side of it.” She pointed to the sky-blue fleece blanket with tiny white daisies that had been hidden by the towel.

My heart swelled as the blanket moved. Viv gently lifted it, and we both sighed with relief as Merry appeared, eyes tightly closed and mouth slack with sleep, his little body curled around Pipsqueak’s much smaller one.

She woke up before he did, stretching first one paw, then the other, resting them on Merry’s cheek, flexing her claws just enough to wake him up. She yawned, her mouth stretching as wide as it could go as he opened his eyes and looked around blearily.

“Are you done fighting?” he asked when he saw Viv looking down at him with an ear-to-ear grin. “You look happier.”

She chuckled and reached into the basket to tousle his hair. “All done fighting. Though it wasn’t even a fight. Just a conversation.”

Merry frowned slightly. “It sounded like it was going to be a fight. And there was thunder. Then Pipsqueak showed me the way to her favorite hidey spot.” He looked over at me and very seriously added, “I was very careful on the stairs, Meg. Just like you said.”

“I’m really glad, buddy. I’m happy you’re safe.”