The Shadow Gate

Chapter 5

As she ran, the pastries she'd fetched for Auntie bounced relentlessly in her basket. Even though she knew Madame Cavaleur had wrapped them carefully in the pink cloth, Madeline hoped the jostling wouldn't reduce them to chocolaty crumbs.When the stars began twinkling to life, Madeline ran even faster. She didn't know why she had to be home before darkness cloaked the island. It was a rule that was never broken, by anyone. What would Auntie say if Madeline was the first to break it? She pushed her speed to a sprint.Madeline's lungs burned, as if she'd swallowed a habanera pepper whole. She was close. So very close. A thread-thin streak of orange clung to the horizon. And then, finally, Madeline spotted a familiar roof line. The rearranging houses and the lack of maps never kept the citizens of Eclipse Island from finding their way home.One second before complete darkness fell, Madeline crossed the boundary of her yard. She slumped against the weathered planks of the familiar picket fence and steadied her breath. She didn't want Auntie to ask why she'd had to run so fast to beat the sunset. She didn't want Auntie to ask any questions at all, because she didn't want to sift through her own mind for truthful answers. Auntie wouldn't ask her directly about the Shadow Gate, or the cemetery. She wouldn't know about the rock in Madeline's pocket, or what O'day, the man with the white hair and bright eyes, had claimed it could do. But not telling Auntie everything was still a secret, and secrets were just as bad as lies.Madeline had never lied to Auntie.Just then, a silhouette threw a mighty shadow across the porch.Back lit by the open front door, Auntie stood, paws on hips, staring. Her shadow ears loomed like ancient pyramids, and the lines of her shadow whiskers resembled helicopter propellers.Madeline couldn't make out Auntie's expression. This was probably a good thing."In the house," Auntie said. "Now."Madeline scurried inside. Auntie followed, her formidable shadow swallowed up by lamplight and the closed door. In a feeble attempt to circumnavigate the trouble she expected, Madeline held out the basket of pastries and smiled winningly.Auntie's mouth, which usually formed a grin, was a ruler straight line."Madeline! Mercier!" Auntie extended a paw to take the basket. "Where have you been? I've called every number on the Shell Network. Every single one. Twice!"A conch shell rested beside a lamp on a small table. Madeline half-expected it to glow with heat from fevered use. Every home on the island had one, though they were most often used to attain recipes, or to spread good news."I didn't mean to worry you," Madeline said, in a small voice, dropping her red canvas school bag onto a tufted velvet chair. "I was with Madame –""I called Madame Cavaleur, several times, the last of which was no more than two minutes ago." Auntie's whiskers twitched in agitation. "She didn't answer."Madeline thought of the wolf's eyes, the way they'd dilated and yellowed. She remembered the way her breathing had increased, her strange shadow, and the raspy voice that had warned Madeline to run."Maybe she had another delivery." It wasn't a lie, but it was a diversion. Something told her that the wolf was running wild among the pines and magnolias that populated the island's maritime forest. The thought tugged at Madeline's tummy.Auntie kept up the questions, and they were relentless. "Did you stop somewhere to play? Did you see a friend and talk too long? Did you fall into a daydream? Is that what held you up?""The houses mixed themselves up again." Still not a lie, but not the whole truth. The rock O'day had given her pulsed in her pocket."If you'd paid attention and counted the gates, you would've been back on time. I sent you on the errand when I should've gone myself. What if something had happened?" At this, Auntie's voice gave out, and she focused on the tip of one claw, blinking furiously.What could upset Auntie this much? Nothing ever happened on the island. Even so, Madeline said, "I'm sorry. I am truly sorry."The tips of Auntie's fangs glittered from the glow of the lamp on the teak side table. Auntie was a Chesmira – half Cheshire, known for their mysterious grins and occasional disappearances, and half chimera, known for ... less pleasant things. Auntie's form remained distinctly feline, with no hint of goat or dragon-like features. She was five feet tall, solid, and had the common coat of a domestic grey tabby, but the fierce eyes of a lioness.But, Madeline believed, if the need arose, that Auntie could breathe fire."I've loved you since the second I saw you." She wrapped Madeline up, squeezed her tightly, and then lowered her head to rub it against Madeline's hair. The deep purr in Auntie's chest was the best comfort Madeline knew. "You're the most precious gift I've ever been given. You know this?"Madeline nodded, and Auntie let her go. Their eyes met in an unspoken understanding. Madeline looked away first."Something feels off tonight. The air is too close. Maybe we're about to have a storm." Auntie absentmindedly checked the front door to make sure the latch had caught. "Now. Skedaddle. Wash your face, brush your teeth, put on your nightgown, and climb into bed. I'll bring you some tea and toast and we'll read."Madeline dutifully followed Auntie's directions. She chose a nightgown handwoven from glowworm silk, climbed into her yellow canopied bed, and awaited her lemon balm tea. When Auntie finally left her room after a chapter of Alice in Wonderland — their combined favorite — her smile was the last thing to fade. Just like a Cheshire cat.Once she was certain her door was closed, Madeline put the rock O'day had given her in the cemetery on top of her mostly blank dream journal. She wondered at the rock's possibilities. Could it help her locate her parents? What was on the other side of the Shadow Gate? What mysteries did it hold?She stared at the rock until she drifted off to sleep.When she awoke, she could remember her dreams.