"No, no," Punchy's voice murmured into the phone. "Ruto wouldn't like that. You know, ever since the accident she's been..."

Who was he talking to? I lingered in the stairwell, unsure of whether I should go downstairs or stay put and listen some more. The sneaky side of me won the battle, though, and I craned my neck to hear better.

"I mean, I dunno." He shrugged. "Will that get us there in time?"

In time? What?

"If you really want to. I would appreciate it. Hold on." He covered the phone's mouthpiece. "Ruto! Stop spying on me!"

Darn!

"Sorry," I muttered, but smiling to myself in spite. I descended the stairs."Where are we going?"

"Go upstairs."

"What?"

Punchy could sense my suspicion, so he played cool and put on a relaxed smile. "It's a surprise. Go!"

Ah, but I knew better. This wasn't for the benefit of me. By the sound of his voice before, I could tell he was being serious-and I didn't like it.

"Fine," I said. "But you're lucky cats have nine lives."

A couple minutes later, Punchy appeared in my bedroom door. "Pack your bags," he said.

"Where are we going?" I asked again stupidly.

He smiled. "You'll see. You'll like it."

I didn't ask any more questions. Instead I just threw some clothes into a duffel bag, packed a few granola bars, and stuffed a comb and toothbrush into one of the pockets. Before I turned to leave, I examined my small room. My bed still wasn't made yet, though it was already ten in the AM, my window was closed, which is strange because I usually leave it open, and lastly – my paper sailboats seemed to fly lonesomely across my ceiling. My paper sailboats! Surely I couldn't leave them behind. But...I couldn't take all of them, either. Disappointed, I picked a few of my favorites from the ceiling, the one hanging over the door, and the blue one by the window. It was the only colored one in the whole room, and I couldn't leave without it. Though there were others more attractive, I had to admit this tattered blue boat was most special to me. I also grabbed a thick packet of white paper to make new ones.

By the time I went downstairs, Punchy was already standing by the door, studying his watch.

"You know, Punch, you're being vague and I don't like it," I said to him. "What's going on?"

"You talk too much, you know that, Ruto?" Punchy laughed. "It's someplace real special. Don't worry, we'll have a great time."

I slung the duffel bag across my shoulder. "How long will we be staying there?"

He frowned. "A while."

I actually considered going back up to get the rest of my boats, but I could tell Punchy was in a hurry to leave and I didn't want to seem annoying. I nodded like I understood (though I hadn't a clue what was going on) and let Punchy lead the way to the mystery place.

I noticed the town was empty. "Where is everyone?" I asked. I hadn't noticed we were running until I had to catch my breath. Punchy didn't slow down, though. In fact, it seemed like his pace quickened.

"Punchy," I said again, "where is everyone? Are they meeting us at the place?"

"No," he answered, "there's a birthday party going on for the mayor."

"And we weren't invited?" I asked angrily.

"No, we just didn't go."

"I'm confused, Punchy! And can't we slow down?"

"I'll explain everything once we're there."

"Who was that person on the phone?"

Silence.

"You keep saying something about an accident, punchy! What accident?"

He turned away.

My teeth clenched. "Are you hiding something from me?"

"No, Ruto, not at all." Punchy looked at me. "I promise I can explain it."

I was about to say, "You'd better," but we came across a lake and a small paddle boat.

I gestured towards the boat. "Is this where we were running to?"

He nodded. "Yes. Get in."

"Why are we in such a hurr-"

"I said get in, Ruto!"

"Jeez, fine."

I folded my arms across my chest and glared at him. "What's your problem? Why are you being so nasty?"

"Ruto, we can't talk about this here. Once we're there, okay? I promise, everything will make perfect sense later on, okay?"

"Okay," I said angrily. "Fine. But I'm scared to death."

"Don't be. I'm just trying to prote-" he stopped.

My eyes focused on him. "What are you trying to do?"

His triangular ears twitched."N-nothing. Um, I'm trying to protect us, is all."

"Protect us from what?"

"Patience. Things will make sense. I promise."

I yawned. Punchy began rowing the boat, and suddenly, I felt extremely sleepy.

Sleep, Ruto, I heard something in my voice coo. Sleep.

So I did sleep.