Creatures

Chapter Nine

Beth recovered well. I have to give her that. She didn’t scream or pull her hair out or run out through the portal into the estate grounds and the swirling snow. She did shove a lot of her fingers into her mouth. She chewed on them, without seeming to realize she was doing it.

“You okay, Beth?” I asked, leaning forward. She still sat on the floor, looking around at everyone as if we might turn into monsters and eat her or something.

She shook her head. She wasn’t okay. This wasn’t the first day at a new school she had been expecting.

“Let’s go somewhere,” I suggested. I reached out my hand to her. Sarah fluttered up to land on my shoulder and looked down at Beth.

“She’s lost it,” said Sarah.

“Hush, Sarah,” I said. “You aren’t helping.”

“Hmph,” said Sarah, and she fluttered away to land on a frosted-glass lamp. Her claws clicked on the glass. She left behind a single blue feather that floated down between Beth and I.

Beth took her hand out of her mouth and reached out. She caught the feather gently. She lifted it up on her finger. We both looked at it. By now, since nothing else interesting had happened, the other kids had gone back to their conversations.

“She’s a bird,” said Beth.

“That’s right,” I said encouragingly.

“She’s really a bird,” she said, still staring at the feather. Her pretty eyes lifted up and met mine. I was glad to see she was calm again.

I nodded, not knowing what else to do.

“What happens now? Am I the guest of honor at some cannibal feast?”

I laughed. “No, silly. What will probably happen is they will give us some job to do, like dusting the statues. That’s what usually happens when we are having the birthday party.”

“I hope they give us the basement to clean,” said Jake. “I hear there’s really weird stuff in the attic.”

“They say the same about the basement,” I said.

“What about her clothes?” asked Beth suddenly.

“Hmm?” I said.

“Her the clothes, Sarah’s clothes. What happens to them when she turns into a bird?”

“They drop on the floor, I guess,” I said.

“She has to wriggle out of them,” said Jake.

“So when she turns back, she’ll have nothing on?” asked Beth.

We grinned. “Yeah, usually we get a friend to hang onto our stuff. When we change back, we do it in a closet or bathroom. Just like changing into a swimsuit.”

She nodded. “So, Connor, you don’t know what you can change into yet?”

I looked down at my hands. “No.”

“It could be anything, right?” she asked. “Like a lion or a dolphin or a spider, even?”

I nodded. “Usually it is some kind of mammal. Birds and reptiles are less common.”

“So are amphibians,” said Jake gloomily.

“Are you worried about it?” she asked me.

“Of course,” I said. “Mostly, I’m worried about not changing into anything at all.”

“Then you would be a mundane like me, right?” asked Beth. “I’d like that, actually.”

I looked up at her we smiled at each other. I thought she still looked a bit sick. She hadn’t really gotten used to all this yet, but she was making a very good attempt to be cool.

A few minutes later Miss Urdo stalked back into the room. She didn’t shout for our attention. She didn’t have to. She just stopped in the middle of us and stood there. Soon, everyone quieted down and looked at her, knowing she would have something important to say.

“Time to prepare, children. This time, you will dust and organize the attic.”

Jake groaned. We’d all heard strange stories about the attic.

“Where are all the other kids?” asked Danny.

Urdo turned on him slowly. She didn’t really like questions. You could just tell.

“Few others are coming,” she said. “Your class has been requested. You are the youngest generation of new changelings, and Vater wants to meet you in person.”

There were a lot of gasps, but no more questions.