Then he raised his head, trying to follow the crosscurrents of air up here. He also flicked his ears around. There was some sort of low, machine-made noise ahead and off to the left.
Shadow padded along gingerly, letting the sound get louder until he came to the source, a boxy metal construction that stretched off on either side into the darkness. When he extended a paw, Shadow found it was warm to the touch and let off a low, droning vibration. When he climbed on top, it felt a little bit like the refrigerator back in Sunny’s house.
For a second, he felt so low, he wanted to yowl.
But then he roused himself. This was no time to give in to feelings. If he wanted to get back to Sunny, he had to get out of here first. This metal was much steadier underfoot than the squares. He’d follow this pathway and see where it led.
The first place it led was to a wall—a very solid wall. But a hole had been roughly cut through it to accommodate the metal path, and by pressing himself almost flat against the metal, Shadow managed to squeeze through the jagged opening. It was dirty work, and when Shadow reached the other side, he paused for a moment to try and clean himself. That tasted terrible. He quickly gave up the attempt. Who knew what other unpleasant things he’d have to crawl through to get out of here?
Shadow closed his eyes, trying to get a sense of this new space. There must be a bigger room below. He heard music, muffled by the squares of the ceiling, and a stronger sense of the stink coming off the One Who Reeks. Either she spent a lot of time in the room under his feet, or she was there now.
Taking care to be silent, he continued along the path.
It was many more steps before he came to another wall, this one flimsier. He was able to claw himself a bigger opening to get through. But a short journey after that, he came to a dead end. The metal path he’d been following didn’t go through this wall, it went into it. Tapping and scratching showed this was a formidable wall, indeed. And when Shadow crouched to examine where the metal went into the wall, he smelled clean air, sweet, fresh . . . and chilly. Beyond this wall was the outside world. The problem was, there was no way he could get through.
He shook himself philosophically. This was only one end of the path. Where did the other go?
Turning around, he retraced his steps until he reached the room where he’d been incarcerated. He heard a voice below, calling his name, getting louder and angrier. He recognized that screech. It was the One Who Reeks. He lay silent as he heard the voice again, calling to him, making kissing noises. From the sound of it, the One Who Reeks was moving among several rooms. So she realized that, somehow, he’d gotten out of the room. He heard the sound of full bowls tapping together and suffered a moment of temptation that was easily fought off. It was better to crouch up here in the dark, dusty and hungry, than to put up with that one below.
*
Sunny came home to find Mike and Mrs. Martinson sitting on the couch, a bit of space between them. But from the self-satisfied look on Mike’s face, they’d probably been a lot closer before Sunny’s key rattled in the lock. Mrs. M. just ran a hand through her hair, looking prim and proper.
Still, she tried to look cheerful, engaging in a little chitchat.
“George Welling is debating putting an addition on his house,” Mike announced. “Between his son who’s finished college and can’t afford to move out, and a mother-in-law who had to move in, he’s running out of space.”
Helena Martinson nodded. “A lot of people who thought they’d be facing empty nests are finding them filling up again nowadays.”
Sunny didn’t say anything to that, painfully aware that she was one of those birdies who’d been forced home to roost.
Maybe Mike realized that, too, because he quickly shifted the topic. “Anyhow, George was talking about Allerton Contractors—”
“More likely he was hearing about them from Carolyn Dowdey.” Mrs. Martinson pursed her lips in disapproval. “She tells everyone that Joe Allerton is a wonderful builder. I’m afraid he’s more of a wonderful actor, always very deferential when Carolyn is around.”
