Enchantment (134 page)

Catz
w
a
s
now
breathing
as
Meeka
gasped
and
coughed
water
out
of
her
lungs.

It
was
w
orking!
The
orb
was
half
full
of
air,
and
th
e
y
continued
through
the
water.
Ever
s
o sl
o
w
l
y
,
the
orb
began
to
rise.
Meeka
looked
up.
Bit
b
y bit,
the
water
around
th
e
m
was
beco
m
ing brighter.

It
m
u
st be
the sky
.

At
last,
th
e
y
reached
the
s
urface.

The
orb
disappeared
at
Meeka’s
co
m
mand,
and
th
e
y
struggled
to
s
wim
to
the
shore
beside the
beaver
da
m
—
the
sa
m
e
place
where
this
whole
thing
had
started.
Meeka
pulled
herself
out and
reached
for
Catz.

Panting
loud
l
y
,
the
two
of
them
lay
on
the
ground
and
stared
out
at
the
rushing
water.
A
s
harp
slap
on
the
s
urface
of
the
w
ater
drew
her
atten
t
ion.
The
pale
circle
of
the
m
oon
s
hone
on the
water,
rippling
with
the
disturbance,
but
there
was
no
other
sign
of
life.
Cl
i
m
bing
to
her
feet, her
bo
d
y
aching,
her
heart
broken,
she
bent
to
pick
up
Catz
and
start
for
the
trail leading
to
w
here
s
he’d
left
her
truck.

“Are
y
o
u oka
y
?
” Meeka
hugged
her
friend,
her
e
y
e
s burning. Catz
w
a
s
alrea
d
y
licking her
wet
fur.
“
I
’m
just
wet,”
Catz
growled. Meeka
s
m
i
l
ed
and
hugged
her
tighter.

“Meeka,
I
don’t
think
y
o
u
’re going
to
be
oka
y
,” Catz
said.

“I’ll
be
fine,
Catz.
We
had
better
get
going.
We’ve
got
a
long
walk
ahead
of
us.”
She
s
ounded
certain,
but
Meeka
knew
her
world
would
never
be
the
sa
m
e. The
m
oon see
m
ed
s
o
plain hanging
in
the
black
sk
y
.
No
m
o
r
e
pinks,
purples,
y
e
l
l
ows,
or
oranges.
The
s
k
y
on
Earth
would be
forever
boring.
So
w
ould
the
waterfalls.
She
blushed
at
the
m
emo
r
y
.
Then
she
laughed
to herself,
and
looked
at
Catz.

“Catz,
I
thought
I
w
as
losing
my
m
ind
when
I
believed
this
place
to
be
m
agi
c
al.”
She
s
hook her
head.
“I
w
a
s
so
right!”

“You
were
right,
M
eeka.
You
could
sense
the
difference.
It
is
part
of
who
y
o
u
are
now.
Y
our
senses
will
alwa
y
s
help
lead
y
o
u
r
w
a
y
. Never
doubt the
m
.”

“Oh
bo
y
,
don’t I know it! If I had
listened
to my
senses, I wouldn’t have followed the Paddy i
m
poster.”

“Even
the
plot
had
so
m
e
benefits,
and
y
o
u
’re s
m
arter n
o
w.”
Catz
shook
her
fur,
puffing
up.

Meeka
was
grateful
for
the
full
m
oon
s
hining
above
th
e
m
to
provide
light.
It
w
as
also
a
good thing
th
e
y
were
walking,
or
s
he’d
be
terrib
l
y
cold.
It
was
a
long
walk
back
to
where
her
truck w
a
s.
She
was
sure
she
could
do
so
m
et
h
ing
to
m
ake
their
walk
s
horter
by
using
her
powers,
but decided
against
it.
The
walk
would
do
her
good,
even
though
she
was
co
m
pl
e
te
l
y
exhausted.

Careful
l
y
,
Meeka
m
a
d
e
her
w
a
y
over
fallen
trees
and
m
ars
h
y
s
pots.
With
sadness,
she thought
about
what
she
m
ig
h
t
find
w
hen
she
returned
ho
m
e. What
w
ould
have
happened
with
her parents?

Final
l
y
,
she
realized
she’d
tru
l
y
had
enough.
No
m
ore
would
s
he
spend
her
life
w
or
r
y
i
ng about
th
e
m
. Th
e
y
needed to
fix
th
e
m
selves. She
couldn’t do
it
for
the
m
.
She
w
a
sn’t
scared
of
her father
a
n
y
m
o
re.
When
she
got
back
ho
m
e,
s
he
would
go
see
them
one
last
t
i
m
e,
and
then
it
w
ould
be
up
to
th
e
m
.

The
s
k
y
was
getting
brighter
as
the
hours
went
on.
Meeka
w
ondered
w
hat
d
a
y
it
was.
H
ow
m
uch t
i
m
e
had
pa
s
sed since
she’d
been gon
e
? She
hoped
her truck
was still
w
here she
had
left it. Would
the
police
be
looking
for
her?
But
m
ore
than
a
n
y
of
those
w
orries,
she
wondered
w
hat Kerrigan
w
ould
be
doing.
He’d
be
relieved,
she
supposed.
His
life
could
get
back
to
nor
m
al. Would
her
life
ever
be nor
m
a
l
again?
No,
she
knew
it
wouldn’t.
There
w
ould
be
others
out
there just
like
her
who
had
powers.
Would
th
e
y
co
m
e looking
for
her?
Could
she
protect
herself?