Chapter 13

To my infinite relief, I was still encased in clothing when I opened my eyes, with only a crack of light shining through what I assumed to be my collar. The squirrel mind was tameable, but I didn't know for how long.

((Kiani,)) I thought directly. ((Don't panic, but I've turned into a squirrel.))

I heard nothing in return. We knew that such a conversation could only go one way. Nevertheless, I still had to warn her.

((I'm just going to take a look in that changing room. Uh… okay, if you're in a changing room, could you cough or sneeze loudly?))

Cough-cough!

((Okay, you can hear me,)) I said. ((Cough again if you're in the first one?))

A few seconds… nothing.

((Second?))

Cough-cough!

Good. She wasn't having a panic attack. That was a positive start. Though, maybe she'd be more worried about me having such a problem.

((If things go a tits-up, I'll run through to your changing room. Maybe you could put me in your handbag and we can get out of here.))

A-choo!

I had an escape plan, and that gave me the reassurance I needed to go ahead. This thought-speech thing was really bloody useful!

I crawled tentatively forward, breaching the collar of my shirt. Golden light shone onto my head as I came out, and suddenly the squirrel became much more aware. I froze, and deliberately so. After the pigeon experience, I knew I would have to take it slow to keep control. For now, I still felt in-control.

Ahead of me I saw the black fabric that draped over the gap beneath the cubicle wall. I pounded forward in the galloping squirrel motion, revealing myself entirely from my crumpled clothing. I sniffed at the air and twitched my alert squirrel ears. I sensed nothing from that room, so I moved again, passing beneath the wall and pressing my head to the fabric.

I bumped into something soft. Peering further beneath the draping fabric, I realised that it was my new coat that I'd thrown over, just where I wanted it to be. I jumped in and dug under folds and creases, once again burying myself to be unseen.

My head popped up, but just barely. Now I could see through a slit of the clothing, and could inspect most of the changing room. Through weird squirrel eyes I saw nothing but the ordinary space. I saw two hooks on the wall, the still curtain, and a tiny bench.

As I continued to inspect, I could find no visual clues that something was amiss. However, there was the faintest scent that my squirrel brain couldn't place…

Then there was movement! My legs splayed outwards and I became still as a statue. The squirrel in me felt danger looming, and my muscles were tensing, getting ready to dash. The curtains wavered and bulged. Somebody was coming in!

Control it, Amy! Control that bloody squirrel!

Huge legs stomped in, a big pair of white trainers booming just inches from the edge of my coat. The Human closed the curtain behind her. When I looked directly upwards, I could see the flaring nostrils and the tips of eyebrows. I ducked back a little further, so that I could not see the person's face. If I could see her, she could see me.

I was just able, however, to see that she'd brought in a pair of jeans and a white shirt. She lifted them out of my sights, but I heard the clinking of hangars landing on hooks. This person didn't start removing items of clothing though, but instead turned to the far wall, facing away from the other changing rooms.

Seconds past of just her standing there, almost aimlessly…

But then a low rumble hit, barely noticeable but definitely there. I saw part of the wall turned to black, the mahogany becoming shadowed as it turned away from the light. It was a doorway!

The huge beast walked inside, and quickly disappeared into darkness. I was left gaping at this dreadful, secret hole in the wall. With the opening of the door, the smell I'd experienced earlier became stronger. I still couldn't think of what it was.

Cough-cough!

((I'm okay, Ki! Just a little longer.)) I assured her. She must have been getting worried.

From the darkness, another Human arrived. This one wore very little clothing, and was clearly not the same person. She stepped inside the changing room, and instantly the opening in the wall began to close up to become inconspicuous once again. I watched the woman's shoes before she turned to face the hooks and took them off one at a time. She started to put on the trousers that previous person had brought in.

((You were right,)) I told Kiani. ((This is it. I've just seen them open a secret door in the wall. One went in and somebody else came out. I couldn't see what was in the door…))

The shirt went on to a couple light grunts, which sounded like terrifying barks to my easily-startled ears. Then the woman started to put her shoes back on. Once she left, I would scurry back to demorph and get my own clothes back on.

Then the shoes turned. They faced directly at me! A moment of realisation hit me, and I didn't know whether to freeze or dash for safety.

Too late! The coat around me crumpled under the pressure of strong fingers! I gripped on with determined claws, managing to keep hold as the garment was hoisted carelessly from the floor.

I couldn't run, and I couldn't jump! The squirrel implored me to freeze, to stay hidden for as long as I could! Even as a huge, trunk-like arm swooped below me like a subway train clattering through a dark tunnel. I felt it brush my tail!

I clambered upwards, still entrenched in darkness as I felt the space tighten around me. I heard another swooping noise as arm number two dove into its respective sleeve.

Light! I saw it and it tumble over the collar of the coat just as it trapped the long hair of its holder. I rolled down, but only a few inches. It was dark again, but for a long strip of light above me, where I saw two giant hands rescue the hair from its collar dungeon and drape it over the hood I'd landed in.

She hadn't seen me. She hadn't felt me, somehow. And yet, all I could do was panic and urge the squirrel to remain entirely still.

((Kiani, follow the girl coming out of changing room five! Dozy cow's only gone and nicked my coat with me in it! I'm in the hood!)) I cried out, with intent for only Kiani to hear. I felt the hood around me bouncing, and above I saw the ceiling zoom by. She had left the changing rooms, and I could only hope that Kiani was following. There was no way that she could let me know.

Any movement could give me away, so I fought the squirrel brain whose instincts were now to flee to the nearest tree. What would be the consequences of being found out? Would the woman kill me, in the middle of a busy store? No. Would she chase me? She wouldn't have a chance in hell.

Would it make her suspicious? I didn't know… Did the Yeerks know about this technology? If so, maybe they would stop there activities at Primark, and our investigation would be for nothing.

What choice do I make? In the end, I chose option three: Keep thinking and doing nothing. Wait for rescue.

The ceiling, my only point of reference, changed. It became bright blue sky with the occasional cloud. The smell of the outdoors came to me, and it was a little more reassuring to the squirrel, though still it was racked with fear.

I had no idea where she was going or what she was going to do. She didn't go into another building as the minutes steadily passed. She may have been heading to the other end of town, or she may have been walking home. Those were my happy scenarios.

The scenario I ended up getting was surprising, and actually quite delightful.

I heard talking close-by, and the woman slowed to a stop. I listened in to the conversation.

The woman responded to something I couldn't decipher as he came closer. "Yes? Yes, I guess so."
The man replied, "I'm out here doing parts of my show. I'm preparing for a gig I've got down in Salisbury next week."

"Oh. Okay…" She replied with little interest.

"You see this coin I have in my hand?"

Genius. Oliver was a genius. I knew exactly where this was going.

"Yes."

"Okay, now it's a real coin, feel it for yourself… Back into my hand, and…!"

There was a click of fingers and a moment of hesistance.

She said, "That's impressive."

"Do you like animals?" Oliver asked her.

The hood around me shuffled. I imagined that she'd shrugged her shoulders. "They're fine, I suppose."

"I've always had a soft spot for squirrels," Oliver said. "I think they have one for me, too. You know how I know that? They always come to me, in all sorts of ways."

"Okay…" She giggled lightly, but awkwardly.

"In fact…"

A second past, and then the light from above was shattered by big hairy fingers. I managed to bypass the squirrel, calmed it with my own knowledge that this hand was friendly. This hand was my rescue. Those fingers fiddled, found me and wrapped around my torso. He lifted and swung me out of the hood, bringing me into sunlight. We were indeed at the other end of town.

"Here's one right now!"

Now the woman seemed more amazed. "Oh, wow! How did you…?"

"I thought the whole rabbit in a hat thing had become a bit cliché…." Oliver laughed. He opened his palm, and I stood two-legged on it like an obedient dog. "Did I impress?"

She grinned. "You did! Thanks."

Oliver bowed. "My pleasure, ma'am."

"Good luck at your show." She wished him, and she wandered back along her desired path.

I was on the verge of laughter, and I span to face Oliver, staring up at him with my beady eyes. His gargantuan ones stared back. ((Remember that time I said that you wouldn't need to learn magic tricks to be a good actor? I take that back.))

"I'll teach you sometime," He said quietly. "Let's get you back to… you."