Chapter 3

“Janie, are you sure we should do this?” Eric hissed at his sister.

“Of course we do!  If it will help Bem find his parents, we have to,” Jane said forcefully.

Eric sighed.  “Let’s just hope they let Bem on the plane.  Cats aren’t usually allowed to on planes that often.”

“But we told them that Aunt Susan just moved to Alaska and wants her cat,” Jane argued.  “What could be wrong with that?”

“Well, Aunt Susan did just move, and she does like cats, but we told them that this is her cat, but it’s really ours.  Someone might figure it out eventually,” her brother pointed out.  He was always the more detailed thinker of the two.

Jane put her hands on her hips and asked, “And how are these people going to know that?”

“Well. . . .”

Just then their parents came back with their snacks from the vending machine, and Jane and Eric had to stop talking about it.  Bem meowed in protest that he couldn’t eat, and Jane said to him, “Don’t worry.  You’ll eat soon enough.”

Mr. Harrows laughed.  “Now Jane, don’t you start talking to cats now.  People think it’s strange.”

Jane smiled up at her father innocently.  “But he understands me, so why wouldn’t I talk to him?”

Mr. Harrows just shook his head and replied, “Eat your snack.  It takes a long time to get from Minnesota to Alaska.”

“Yes, Dad,” she said in a sing-song voice as she popped a potato chip into her mouth.

He smiled at her.  “Good girl.”

“Flight 187 to Seattle has arrived.  Flight 187 to Seattle has arrived,” a voice on the intercom said.

Mrs. Harrows smiled.  “That’s us.”

Eric looked at her questioningly.  “I thought we’re going to Alaska.”

“We are, but it’s too far from here to Alaska to make it on one plane.  We’re getting on another plane to get from Seattle to Juneau, and then Susan will pick us up at the airport,” Mrs. Harrows explained.

“Dad, will there be any fairies on the plane?” Jane asked hopefully.

“Well, I’m not  sure.  Why would there be any fairies on the plane?” he laughed.

She pouted, angry at him for laughing at her.  “To protect us.  Besides, they can fly and they like high places anyway.”

Mr. Harrows didn’t reply, because they had to get on the plane then.  It was  a large plane, and Jane and Eric got to sit next to each other with their parents sitting in the row in front of them.

When they were passing over Montana, Jane starting having second thoughts.  “Oh Eric, what are we doing?  We should go home and just forget about the whole thing.  We can raise Bem by ourselves.”

“Isn’t it too late to be saying that?  Besides, if we tried to raise him by ourselves then Mom and Dad might find out about him, and they’d take him somewhere so he wouldn’t ever get to see his mom.  Do you want that to happen?” he asked firmly.

She leaned back in her chair, pouting.  “No.”

“Then we have to do this.”

“I hate it when you’re always right!” she complained.

He smiled at her.  “That’s because I think before I act.  Now, when we get to Aunt Susan’s house we’re going to ask if we can explore a bit.  If she doesn’t let us, we’ll just say that we aren’t going far.”

Jane frowned.  “So we’re doing to have to lie to them?  It isn’t nice to lie, Eric.”

“I know, but if we want to get Bem back to his mom, then we’re going to have to lie a little bit.”

“It’s still not nice.”

Eric decided it would be best if he dropped the topic, so he asked Jane, “Why were you asking Dad about fairies?”

“Because I met some.”

Her brother sat up straight in his chair.  “What?  When?  What did they say?”

She shrugged.  “It was a little bit before we left.  They said that it was a dangerous to be seen with a dragon because of some war and they’re all in hiding or something like that, but I think I read that later.  I don’t know, it was all very boring.”

Eric gave her a pained look.  “Janie, that could have been important.”

“You know as well as I do that it probably wasn’t.  Really, Eric, I don’t see what your problem is.  It happened over a thousand years ago, and not even in our world.  It was in that other one that Bem is from,” she explained.

“I still wish you would have told me about it sooner,” he mumbled, staring out the window.

She scoffed at him.  “Stop pouting.  It’s not a big deal.”  Then she thought for a minute.  “But they did say not to talk about dragons in front of people.  I think it was because some people are still afraid of them or something like that.  I really can’t remember.  Stop asking for details.”

Eric was about to point out that he had never asked for details, but he decided against it.

When the plane landed, Eric and Jane insisted on seeing if their “cat” was doing okay, even though their parents and the flight attendants told them that he was fine.

“Don’t get too attached to it, now,” Mrs. Harrows warned.  “We’re going to have to give him to Susan eventually.”

“But Mom, we’re just making sure he hasn’t died of a heart attack,” Jane said.

Eric added quickly, “And that he’s not too lonely all by himself.”

Mrs. Harrows looked at her children and sighed.  “Fine.  But be quick.  The plane leaves in an hour, and we don’t want you two to be stuck in Seattle.”

That was all the permission Jane needed.  She walked off so fast that Eric had to jog to catch up to her.

When they found the pet carrier, the first thing they did was check to see if he was okay.  He was, though he was shivering a bit.

“Bem doesn’t really like the cold, does he?” Eric asked his sister.

“Well, he is a dragon after all,” Jane said.

Eric looked at her in horror and hissed, “Didn’t those fairies say not to talk about dragons when people can hear you?”

Jane laughed at him and whispered, “If anyone heard, they would think that it would just be two little kids with active imaginations.  Now come on.  Bem is fine, and Mom and Dad will want to know where we are.”

As the two children walked away, another little boy walked up to Bem’s cage.  He had light brown hair that almost looked sort of green in the light, and pale, sickly skin.  When he talked his voice was quiet and raspy.  “So, you’re a dragon now, aren’t you?” he said to the cage.  Bem was asleep again.  He smiled at the “cat,” showing small, shark-like teeth.

“Excellent.”

The plane from Seattle to Juneau landed late in the afternoon.  When they got the pet carrier, Jane and Eric were surprised to see that Bem was curled up in a ball, sleeping, happy and content.

Mr. Harrows walked up and said, “I guess he just got used to the plane, huh.”

“Looks like it,” Eric replied, confused.  Bem had been nervous before.  Why was he fine now?

Jane whispered, “Maybe he can sense that his mom is near.”

“Maybe,” Eric replied.

They didn’t have time to think about it because just then a voice called, “It’s so good to see you!”

“Susan!  Oh my, you look fantastic!”

The two kids looked up to see their mother and a plump woman with short red hair hugging tightly.  Then the woman saw them and nearly screeched, “Janie!  Eric!  Come and give your Aunt Susan a hug!”

They walked up, a little scared, and just stood there when she hugged them even tighter than her sister.  “Look how big you got?  How old are you?  Five?”

Jane and Eric looked at each other.  Susan had never had kids.  Eric replied as politely as he could, “We’re eight, Aunt Susan.”

Jane decided to go into “super sweet mode,” as she liked to call it.  She opened her eyes wide and said, “Auntie Susie, the food they had on the plane wasn’t very yummy.  Did you make any cookies today?”

Aunt Susan gasped and said, “I completely forgot!  We’ll have to make some when we get home, okay?”

Jane smiled her sweetest little girl smile she could manage.  “That sounds great!”

Eric rolled his eyes and Mrs Harrows said, “I think you’ve had enough sweet stuff today, Janie.”

Aunt Susan replied, “No she hasn’t.  There’s no such thing as too much sweet stuff.  Is there, Janie?”  Jane shook her head.  “See?  Now, we’re making cookies tonight and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Mrs. Harrows sighed, and Mrs. Harrows reminded everyone that they had gotten up early and needed to get to bed soon.  So they hopped into Aunt Susan’s car and drove to her large cabin.

When they got there, Aunt Susan said, “Now let’s see that kitty.”

Eric put the pet carrier on the ground and opened it.  Bem yawned and padded out, only the curl up on the rug again.  Jane explained, “He’s a baby, so he needs to sleep a lot.”

“Of course, of course,” Aunt Susan said.  “We’ll wake him up in the morning.  But for now, let’s go make those cookies!”

Mrs. Harrows cleared her throat.  “Actually, Susan, I was hoping we could make those in the morning.  We’ve been up for a long time, and the kids need to get to bed.”

Aunt Susan sighed.  “Very well.  We’ll make the cookies first thing when we get up.  Is that okay with you, Janie?”

Jane nodded and yawned slightly.  Mrs. Harrows shoed her and Eric to bed and in a few minutes they were tucked in and asleep.

In the morning Jane and Eric were woken by the doorbell ringing.

“Aunt Susan just moved here.  Who could be visiting her?” Jane asked Eric sleepily.

He shrugged as he got out of bed.  They went down the stairs to see who it was.  They were surprised to see that it was a boy about their own age.  He was small and had light brown hair, and he looked pale and sick.  He had a small package in his and and he was smiling up at Aunt Susan.

The boy was saying, “I’m Chris.  I live a few houses down the road.  My mom wanted me to give you these cookies, as a welcome present.  She hopes we’ll be very good neighbors.”

“Why thank you, young man!” Aunt Susan said enthusiastically.  She took the cookies and asked, “Do you want to join us for breakfast?”

He shook his head.  “No, I want to get back home.  Mom got me a new video game.”

“What game?” Eric asked casually.

“Wii Sport,” the boy replied, smiling.

Eric’s eyes went wide.  He asked his mom, “Can I go over to his house for a while and play?  I’ll be back in a few hours?”

She took a cookie and ate it.  “I don’t see why not.  It’s only for a few hours.  And Jane can go with you.  Do you think your mom would be okay with it?” she asked the boy.

“She’d be very happy to have guests,” he replied.

“I don’t want to go,” Jane said.  “I don’t like video games.  They’re too boyish.”

“You’ll go anyway.  Maybe he has a sister,” Mr. Harrows said as he, too, ate a cookie.

“Yes,” the boy smiled.  “I have two sisters.  They love having tea parties.”

“Well. . . .”  Jane considered it.  Then she declared, “I’ll go to his house.  But only for the tea parties.”

“Then go get dressed so you can go,” Aunt Susan said.  “Make sure you have a good breakfast.  A day without breakfast is never a good day.”

After they had brushed they’re teeth and gotten dressed, Jane and Eric followed the boy outside.  He said, “I live past that little strip of woods.  It’ll only take a few minutes to get there.”

“Is your house big?” Eric asked.

“It’s very big.  I think you’ll like it.”

Jane had other things on her mind.  “How many sisters do you have?”

“I have lots of sister.  And lots of brothers, too.”  The boy smiled.  “But you won’t get to meet them.”

Eric and Jane stopped walking.  “Why not?”

There was a small yelp behind them.  They turned around to see Bem as a cat.  He was being captured by a big creature.  They couldn’t tell what he was.  The creature was tall and had a large, bald head with big flappy ears.  His skin was a strange color, like green and brown mixed together.

“Ew,” Jane whispered.  “He’s so ugly.”

“Jane,” Eric said patiently.  “I don’t think we have to worry about him being ugly.”

“Why not?”

“I think he’s strong, too.”  Eric was about to tell her to run, but he wasn’t able to.  The boy who had been so kind to them hit them on the back of the head and made them go unconscious.

The last thing Eric heard before he fell asleep again was Jane saying, “And we never got any breakfast.”