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Squawk!

Polaris swooped over her shoulder as she ran the last twenty yards to thetree The bird held back, still led squawks that hurt both of Eureka’s ears It wasn’t until she reached the tree that she realized the reason for his noise She leaned against the smooth white tree trunk and rested her hands on her knees to catch her breath Madary undertone to Polaris’s chirping He moved in wide circles over the tree Eureka looked up at him, bewildered, exhausted--and then she understood "You didn’t want me to come here in the first place"

Squawk!

"Well, how am I supposed to knohere she is?"

Squawk!

He flew in the direction Eureka had just co back once in as clearly, if absurdly, a glare Chest heaving, sta, Eureka followed

The sky was still dark when she parked Magda in the potholed parking lot outside Blavatsky’s office Wind scattered shadowed oak leaves across the uneven paveht lit the intersection but left the stripshe was going to school early for science lab and left it on the counter in the kitchen She knew it must have looked absurd when she opened the car door for Polaris to fly in, but so did ator once Eureka realized that two hops to one side or the other on the dashboard indicated which way she was supposed to turn Heat on, s and sunroof rolled down, they’d sped toward the translator’s storefront on the other side of Lafayette

Only one other car was in the lot It looked like it had been parked in front of the tanning salon next door for a decade, which ot around

Polaris soared out the openand up the exterior flight of stairs before Eureka had turned off the car When she caught up to him, her hand hovered anxiously over the antique lion’s-head knocker

"She said not to bother her at home," Eureka told Polaris "You were there, remember?"

The pitch of Polaris’s squawk ht to knock so early, so instead Eureka gave the door a light shove with her hip It swung open to Blavatsky’s low-ceilinged foyer Eureka and Polaris moved inside The entry was quiet and hu chairs were still there, as were the red la felt different The door to Madame Blavatsky’s atelier was ajar

Eureka looked at Polaris He was silent, wings close to his body, as he flew through the doorway After a moment, Eureka followed

Every inch of Mada breakable had been broken All four birdcages were; the rest had been tossed to the floor A few birds chattered nervously on the sill of the openThe rest must have floay--or worse Green feathers were everywhere

The frowning portraits lay s The pillows on the couch had been slashed Stuffing spilled from them like pus fro, which Eureka knew froies meant it was almost out of water A bookcase lay in splinters on the floor One of the turtles explored the jaggedcarefully over the books and shattered picture fra with bejeweled rings The scene did not look typical of a robbery

Where was Blavatsky? And where was Eureka’s book?

She started to sift through soo through Madas, even if someone else already had Behind the desk, she noticed the ashtray where the translator put out her cigarettes Four cigarette butts were kissed with Blavatsky’s unmistakable red lipstick Tere as pale as the paper

Eureka touched the pendants around her neck, hardly realizing she was developing a habit of calling on them for help She closed her eyes and lowered herself onto Blavatsky’s desk chair The black walls and ceiling felt like they were closing in

Pale cigarettes h to s, the destruction of Blavatsky’s office What had the intruders been looking for?