B. Larson - Creatures

We tramped into the entryway and knocked snow off our boots. The carpet was thick and red and your feet sank into it as if you were walking on cushions. Along the walls were more carvings, mostly of animals. One was a wooden carving of a beaver that leaned on a cane. The beaver looked old and tired, but strained to stand up straight.

Beth giggled. She pointed at the beaver. “One of your uncles, I presume?”

“A grand aunt, actually,” I said.

“Oh Connor, you’re too much.”

I pointed at the plaque at the bottom of the statue. It read: In loving memory of Aunt Ethel.

Beth’s mouth sagged open. “Oh, come on!” she said. She stared at it for a few more moments. “Okay, so somebody had an aunt that loved beavers, right?”

“Yeah, she had a thing for beavers that walked with canes,” said Jake.

Beth just laughed and shook her head.

Jake and I exchanged glances. I knew what he was thinking. She still didn’t believe us. This was going to be a rough landing for Miss Elizabeth Hatter.

The entry led into the Great Hall. The hall was two stories high and all around the upper level were dusty portraits of people in old-fashioned clothes. Down on our level there were doors and corridors that led off deeper into the mansion. The middle of the hall was full of more plush, red carpet and a lot of overstuffed chairs and sofas. There were tables and old-fashioned frosted-glass lamps everywhere. Miss Urdo let us all relax here.

“This has got to be the best room,” said Jake, stretching out on a sofa.

Beth made me tell her things about the people in the portraits up on the walls, but I couldn’t remember most of their names.

While we talked, something fluttered down to land on the arm of my chair. It was Sarah. She was in the shape of a blue jay.

“Hello, Sarah,” I said.

She pecked at my hand. I reached out a single finger and she hopped on. I lifted her gently. Her tail wobbled as she balanced on my finger.

Beth, for the first time maybe, looked astounded. “How did that bird get in here? It’s trained? I didn’t know people had pet blue jays.”

She walked over and knelt to get a closer look. Sarah and I looked at her. Sarah cocked her head curiously.

“Sarah, meet Beth,” I said, introducing them as gracefully as I could. “Beth, Sarah.”

“Oh geez, another animal friend of yours, huh? Is she your auntie too?” laughed Beth.

“Beth,” I whispered, “I told you to play along with things until you understood.”

“But this is too much,” she said. Beth laughed hard and loud, she was so loud that all the other kids noticed. Soon everyone in the Great Hall stopped talking and looked over at us to see what was so funny.

“Beth,” I whispered.

She had the giggles now, and shook her head at me. She couldn’t talk.

“How rude,” said Sarah.

Beth’s laugh cut off with a gasp. “Someone taught it to talk?”

“Sarah,” I said to the bird, “You know she’s new.”

Sarah turned her beak toward me and said, “Your new girlfriend isn’t too smart, is she?”

“Sarah!” I said, shocked at her rudeness.

“Hmph,” huffed Sarah, turning around so her tail feathers faced me.

Beth’s face froze and her eyes flashed from my face to Sarah’s. In that instant, she got it. I was talking to a bird and it was talking back in a snooty fashion. One moment, everything was a big joke. Funny and interesting, but not real. Then the next moment, she got it all. All at once. Everything was real, and the joke was on her.

It was too much surprise all at once for one person. Beth was still kneeling in front of my chair. She rocked backward, lost her balance and sat down hard. Fortunately, the carpet was cushy. She stared at Sarah and me in shock. Her mouth made a perfect “O” of surprise, matching her wide, staring eyes.

Everyone in the place hooted with laughter.

I felt bad for Beth, but it could have been worse. She was only embarrassed and shocked. Not scared.

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.