Around nine the next morning, Wuji got hungry and started nudging May to get her attention. She was slow to wake up, looking confused at the large bed and strange walls. May had been dreaming of strange things, the last two things were a three-pointed star and a huge black monster with forward facing horns.
Then the events of the last two days came rushing back and she burrowed under the covers to cry. Only when the sobbing abated did she get up, Wuji leaping off the bed and following her.
"Morning sweetie." Erica greeted, grabbing a plate and a cup from the cabinets. Placing them on the counter she turned and asked, "Are you hungry?"
She took one look and knew May had been crying, so she hugged her. Wuji stared at her, as though waiting for something.
"I miss Mommy and Daddy. They said they would come back, but they didn't say when." She sniffled. "Mommy said if something happened to her, I was supposed to take care of her ring. Do you know what happened to it?"
Erica stared at May's huge watery blue eyes, and thought, Ah what the heck.
She put May in a chair and headed upstairs, coming back down with something in her hand, which she showed to May.
"This is the only thing that wasn't destroyed in the fire." Erica explained. May took the ring with trembling fingers. Wuji sat up straighter in anticipation. For what, Erica wasn't sure, but it probably didn't matter. The girl stared at the ring, knowing somehow it was too big for her to wear, but if she had a chain, it could make a good necklace. She put the ring down and stared at her empty plate, asking if they had poptarts.
After writing down the address on the back of Wuji's tag, Erica put May in the front seat of the van. Wuji jumped into her lap, nuzzled her face, and started purring. Erica rolled her eyes and slid into the driver's seat. May couldn't see out the window so she watched the power lines, absently stroking the grey cat in her lap. The cat's owner lived in the Brooklyn area, in a modest two-story house. The front porch had a swing and the door was flanked by a pair of cat statues, one black and one white.
At least, Erica thought they were statues, until one yawned and the other blinked. As she parked the van in the driveway, the cats turned as one and stared. May was bouncing in her seat; this house was where the kitty lived! Wuji was getting annoyed by the movements and jumped into Erica's lap instead. If the van wasn't already parked, she would have rear ended the blue car already in the driveway.
Wuji stared out the window at his two companions. They stared back. Erica opened the door and was about two steps behind May as she ran up to the door and greeted the other two cats. Shaking her head at the little girl, she rang the doorbell, praying she wouldn't trip over one of the cats.
A young woman answered the door, glancing at May and the three cats.
"May I help you . . . ?"
"Agent Evans, FBI. Is this your cat?"
"I think you're home now Wuji." May whispered, scratching his ears. The grey cat purred, while the black cat stretched out in a patch of sunlight and the white cat nudged May's other hand.
"That's Wuji." The woman sighed, opening the door and inviting them inside. Two of the cats ran in immediately, while May picked up the black cat and carried him inside. He growled, but calmed down when he was plunked into another patch of sunlight. Purring loudly, he moved his head along the carpet and May saw the silver tag on his collar. Yin. The white cat was chasing a catnip toy around the room. There was a yellow ribbon tied to it. Her tag flashed in the light as she ran by. May thought it read Yang, but wasn't sure.
In the other room, Erica was in interrogation mode. After getting the name and occupation of the woman, the FBI Agent asked if she knew the family who had gone into hiding a few weeks prior.
"I did know them." She replied, "Such a young family. The wife was interested in Wicca, as was the father and daughter. They came to Elysian Fields one day a few weeks ago to look around. May was taken with my cats, who adored her in return. They followed her around the shop, meowing and purring and acting like kittens."
Erica looked confused, "Wicca?"
"A small nature-based Neo-Pagan religion. Elysian Fields is a shop that caters to us." She paused as the sound of footsteps came from upstairs.
"You have children?"
"Twins. Molly and Morgan. They've been sick for a couple days, and when I checked an hour ago Molly still had a fever and Morgan had the sniffles. Am I allowed to ask questions or am I under investigation?"
"Your cat was found near the burned-out safe house where the Lamonts were living. He was very friendly and I thought maybe he belonged to them. No you aren't under investigation." Erica replied, hoping she could remember all this. "Well, I'd better get May and head home."
What she found in the next room was the most adorable thing she'd ever seen. May was asleep in a square of sunlight streaming through the window, Yin on her left, Yang on the right, and Wuji sprawled out on top of her. The three felines opened their eyes and stared as one, daring her to come closer. Erica could almost hear them say, 'You want her? You go through us.'
After getting May off the floor and getting the address of Elysian Fields, Erica decided to see if the woman's story checked out. The store was open and they walked in, May rubbing her eyes before darting off to look at a few silver necklace chains. After asking the clerk, and later the manager, a few questions, she found May clutching a silver chain and a fat white pillar candle, and she was using the puppy dog eyes.
Erica caved, and the two walked out of the store with May's purchases and a few answers.
Three Years Later
A look in the Evans household three years later would find a small family just enjoying life. May's hair was a little longer, her eyes a brighter blue, and she tore after her brother fully intent on murdering him.
"Tyler you incompetent little slob! Give me my dragon!"
Erica's face was hidden behind her hands; Tyler had probably gone too far this time. Not two minutes later her adopted daughter tackled her son to the ground, yanked the silver figurine out of his hands, and stomped back to her room. Tyler just breathed loudly, thinking he was in the clear . . . until he saw his mom at the table.
"Aw man!"
"Tyler!"
Upstairs, May replaced the dragon next to its companion on top of her bookshelf. She had two at the moment, one silver, the other black. The two dragons flanked the white candle, which was shorter now but not burned out yet. She waited for the yelling downstairs to stop, glancing at her library. A dictionary, The Hobbit, The Chronicles of Narnia, and a couple of Calvin and Hobbes books occupied the shelves, she hoped to get the sequel to The Hobbit next time they were in a bookstore, but Erica insisted she wait a year or so, explaining it was a bit too violent and hard to follow. To which May shrugged and replaced it.
She grabbed The Magician's Nephew and began to read through it again, while Joe came home and rounded on Tyler after hearing what he'd done this time. May fiddled with her mother's ring, watching the light play off the aquamarine stone.
No. It's my ring now. I've got to remember that. She thought, heading downstairs. Tyler had been grounded (again), and glared at her from the couch. She'd tried to tell him that if he was going to try something stupid, not to get caught! She also heard low murmuring from her parents in the kitchen, but couldn't make out much.
"Been three years . . . Kendrick thinks . . ."
"She's happy here! Why the-"
"I don't like it either! But if they can't find her they might give up." Erica sighed. "We'll tell them in the morning."
May slipped up the stairs with the ease of a hunting cat and got ready for bed. What did her parents have to tell her? Why did it have to wait until morning? She decided to wait up until they went to bed, reading her books as the hours passed. Well, pretending to read them anyway. Eventually her parents walked upstairs and into their room. May kept to the shadows and crawled to their doorway, waiting.
"In the morning we'll start looking for relatives." Erica sighed, sounding miserable. "They've already started compiling a list, and a good number of them can't be easily reached."
"We'll do what we can. Maybe we could remind them we adopted her." Joe said, in a tone that would have smart people backing down.
The sound of crying was all that came out of the room after that. May went back to her room and grabbed a notebook. She had a letter to write.
Elysian Fields is a real store, located in Brooklyn. As for the letter May plans to write, you'll find out who it's for next chapter.
