Anima's Ghost: The Summer Before (Song Line Echoes, book 2)

Chapter 10: Calliwell Blood

"Alright boys," Gatsby explodes into the warehouse, throwing the small door open ahead of him, his voice big and grand and filled with excitement. Once he's inside though, he stops, looking around. "Where are the boys?"

"I think Spyro's spending the day with his parents. Borden was here earlier, but left on his motorcycle a while ago. I don't know if he's coming back."

Gatsby takes a quick glance around, then nods at the shotgun that I left propped up against a wall. "He's coming back. That's his gun."

I blink, surprised, almost sure I heard Gatsby wrong. "It's Borden's gun?" I ask. He nods, then notices Ghastly trying to make a break for it. Impressively, Gatsby manages to cut off Ghastly and shut the door behind him before my cat can get out.

"Ha!" he grins triumphantly, earning a glare from Ghastly, whose ears are back in annoyance now. "You should warn people about that when they first come in," he adds to me, gesturing to the cat as he comes inside. "Ah, the camera came. Excellent! Now if only everyone else would." He throws himself down on the couch. "What happened to you and Spyro yesterday? You left early."

I don't answer right away, anxiety spiking for reasons I can't quite identify. There's no real danger in telling Gatsby the truth, but still the thought terrifies me. Thankfully I'm spared from having to make myself answer by the door opening again.

"Watch the cat!" Gatsby calls before I can. I glance around and spot Ghastly just as he shoots out from under a chair towards the door. But Borden's fast, inside with the door closed again behind him before Ghastly even reaches them. My cat skids to a stop and ends up bumping his head lightly on the door. I struggle not to laugh as I get up and go over to pick him up.

"Well you shouldn't be trying to escape like that anyway, silly boy," I tell him, rubbing his head. His ears lay flat in annoyance, but he stays calm.

"Why isn't he an outdoor cat?" Gatsby asks. Borden goes over to sit on the other couch.

"He used to be, when we were on a ranch. He grew up in the barn, actually, but he'd usually follow me around the place and to the house and stuff. When I moved to my dad's though, it's the city, I didn't want him to get hit by a car or something, so I kept him inside since."

"You're not in the city anymore," Gatsby points out. I look down at Ghastly thoughtfully, knowing he's right. There isn't a barn here for him to watch over, but there were always other barn cats to do that anyway, and he was never the kind of cat to stay in the barn all the time. I stroke his head, and his eyes close contently.

I set him down on the floor again, but before I can go to open the door, Rune opens it first. He pauses in the doorway, surprised to find me so close, and Ghastly uses the split-second hesitation to dart between Rune's legs and outside before Rune can even figure out what's happening. Once he does, Rune looks at me apologetically, "Sorry. I'll help you catch him."

"It's okay," I smile a little bit. "I was about to let him outside anyway. He's an outdoor cat." I turn and walk away from the door so that Rune can come in properly and close the door behind him.

"It's too stale in here, open up the big door, sport," Gatsby says.

"It's too hot out there," Rune complains, going to sit down without opening the door. Gatsby rolls his eyes, but doesn't argue. "Where's Spyro?"

"His parents'," Gatsby says. "Why are we always one man down? I'm ready to get to work! And it's always Spyro too!"

"Relax, it's only been one week," Rune says reasonably. "There's still plenty of time."

"Huntington didn't take a week off," Gatsby points out. "How many ghosts do you think he's found by now?"

"None," Borden says. "Or he wouldn't have shut up about them yesterday."