* * *
When Nora returned from the enclave with a bundle of snow clothes for Sawyer, he was standing right in the opening to his tent, wrapped in a blanket. Maddie was at the edge of the circle of tents.
“I found Catling prints,” said Maddie.
“You did?” Nora handed all of the stuff over to Sawyer and hurried to where Maddie was standing. Sure enough, there were tiny webbed footprints headed off into the snow. It was so deep now that Nora was nearly sure that Catling would be buried in it. Why would she wander off like this? And the prints were leading in the direction away from the main fire pit, further away from the enclaves of Helicon. Nora peered through the trees into the distance. “What’s out there?”
“Nothing,” said Maddie. She pointed to her left. “Wine and spirits is that way, and the clothing enclave is that way.” She pointed to her right. “The tweens and rebels enclave is right on the edge.”
“Nothing?” said Nora. She felt cold suddenly, even though the clothes that Maddie had given her this morning were keeping her quite warm.
Sawyer appeared behind them, shrugging into his new coat. “Sometimes, people go out hunting there for feast days, I think. There’s probably animals and stuff. Maybe your pet wanted to return to the wild.”
“She’s a chimera,” said Nora. “She’s not wild. Mack made her.”
“Besides,” said Maddie. “It’s all cold and snowy. Why would she want to go out into it?”
“Does Helicon go on forever?” Nora asked. Was it another planet, like earth?
“No,” said Sawyer. “There’s an edge. I’ve never been there, but it doesn’t go on indefinitely.”
Maddie shivered. “I used to think my mother only told me that as a little girl to scare me. She used to say, ‘Don’t go too far, or you might fall off the edge of Helicon.’ But then one day we wandered out far enough to find it. It’s real.”
“Then Catling could...” Nora gulped.
“I’m sure she can’t have gone that far,” said Sawyer. “These tracks aren’t covered over yet, and it’s still snowing. If we follow them, I bet we’ll catch up to her right away.”
The three took off into the snow, flanking the tiny footprints. The dark shapes of the woods surrounded them, and they wound through the trunks, following the path that Catling had taken.
“I didn’t even know you had one of the chimeras,” said Sawyer. “Which is weird, because usually everybody knows everything about people around here.”
Nora, who was leading them as they walked, shot a glance over her shoulder at Sawyer. “Well, she stays in my tent mostly. And I haven’t been here that long. There’s no way you could know everything about me.”
“You’d be surprised.” Sawyer hopped over the tracks in the snow so that he was on the side opposite Nora, just behind Maddie. “You’re the buzz of the tweens and rebels enclave. Everyone knows that you and that Owen guy are a couple, for one thing, even though you apparently grew up like brother and sister in the mundane world.”
Nora halted, turning on Sawyer. “We did not grow up like brother and sister.” That made the whole thing sound disgusting. They were together a lot, and Owen had always looked after her and taken care of her, but she had never thought of him as a brother. It had always been quite clear that they weren’t related.
Sawyer made a hands-off gesture. “It’s only what people are saying. I didn’t say I thought it was true. You’ll realize that people around here talk behind each other’s backs a lot.”
Nora started walking again, focusing on the tracks. “No one around here seems to like Owen.”
“They don’t really mean it in a nasty way,” said Maddie. “Not exactly. Sometimes it feels nasty, but it’s just the way people are.”
“Do you talk about me behind my back?” Nora asked Maddie pointedly.
“Of course not,” said Maddie.
“I think it’s nasty,” said Sawyer.
“That’s only because people think you’re transgendered or something,” said Maddie.
“Well, it’s not like they do sex-change operations in Helicon is it, anyway?” said Sawyer. “So whether I am or I’m not, it barely makes any difference. And besides, how is that not nasty to say stuff like that about someone?”
Maddie shrugged. “I think people do it because they care, in a weird way. You know, they worry about someone, so they ask other people if there’s anything to be worried about. Overall, I think it’s done from a good place.”
“Whatever,” said Sawyer. “I don’t see why wearing skirts is such a big worrying issue.”
Nora chewed on her lip, unsure of how to put what she was thinking of saying. “Are there many, um, gay muses?”
“Sure,” said Sawyer. “Tons. Well, maybe not tons. There are more straight people, I guess. But Helicon’s really accepting of that stuff.”
“And are you...?” Nora didn’t finish.
“Am I gay?” asked Sawyer. “Yeah, totally.”
“So you don’t think you’re actually a girl trapped in a boy’s body?” asked Maddie.
“See, that’s what I’m talking about,” said Sawyer. “People talk behind your back. You make an offhand comment once when you’re like thirteen years old, and no one lets it go.”
“So it’s not true?” said Maddie.
“I’m a guy,” said Sawyer. “I’m always going to be a guy. There’s no point in thinking anything else, is there?”
Sawyer seemed to be getting a little bit touchy. Nora decided it was best to let the thing go. “I promise not to talk about you behind your back, Sawyer,” she said. “Or you, Maddie.” The wooded area they were walking through was beginning to thin out. The trees had more and more space between them. Ahead, Nora could see nothing but a huge snow-covered field, tall stalks of grass poking through it. It stretched as far as she could see. Was the edge of Helicon at the end? She looked back in the direction of the tween and rebels enclave, but it was obscured by trees at this point and impossible to see. “Why did Catling walk out this far? And shouldn’t we be able to see her by now?”
“I don’t know,” said Maddie.
“How big is she?” said Sawyer. “Maybe the snow’s so deep that it covers her up.”
“Maybe,” said Nora. She looked at the tracks stretching in front of her. It looked like Catling had simply walked on the top layer of snow, because it wasn’t as if she’d plowed a little path through it. Still, maybe she’d fallen in somewhere and was stuck. She raised her voice. “Catling! Where are you, little one?”
Maddie and Sawyer began calling for Catling as well, making little clicking noises with their tongues, as the three kept following the tracks.
“Nora?” called a voice.
They all turned in the direction of it. Owen was walking up over the field, from the direction that Catling’s tracks were headed. He waved.
“Owen?” said Nora.
“What are you doing out here?” Owen asked as he approached.
“I lost Catling,” said Nora. “She wandered out of my tent out here. We’ve been following her tracks.”
“She walked all the way out here by herself?” said Owen.
It was strange, wasn’t it? Was something wrong with Catling? Maybe the fact that she was a chimera had made her go completely insane. Maybe you couldn’t really mix up two different animals like that without completely ruining them.
“What are you doing out here?” asked Sawyer, eyeing Owen.
“Going on a walk in the snow,” said Owen. He stopped right in front of Sawyer. “I don’t think we’ve met.”
“Sawyer.” Sawyer stuck out his hand. Owen shook it. But they were both glaring at each other. “I already know your name. Everyone does.”
“Right,” said Owen. “My fame precedes me.”
“Sawyer’s helping us look for Catling,” said Nora, feeling compelled to explain to Owen exactly why Sawyer was there in the first place.
“Right,” said Owen. He snapped his gaz
e away from Sawyer to Nora. He smiled. “You like the snow? Feels like we just got away from it, right?”
Nora had to smile back. It was nice to be with Owen, given their shared experiences. “Well, it’s pretty. And the snow clothes they have here are completely awesome. Maddie and I were going to make a snow sculpture.”
“I went looking for you earlier,” Owen said. “I thought maybe you’d want to walk with me. But I guess you and Maddie had already left your tents.”
“You were in my tent?” said Nora. “Was Catling in there then?”
Owen thought about it. “I don’t remember.”
“When was this?”
“I don’t know,” said Owen. “Before I started walking. An hour ago? How long ago did you leave your tent?”
“Where is she?” Nora was starting to get worried. “Catling!”
“Let’s keep following the tracks,” said Sawyer.
Nora nodded. She called for the cat-duck again.
And there was an answering mewling squawk.
“Did you hear that?” said Maddie.
They all started yelling for Catling, taking off into the snow after her tracks. Catling quacked back at them. They fanned out, calling the chimera.
“There she is!” yelled Sawyer.
Nora stopped and turned to look at Sawyer, who was scooping a little black furball up out of the snow. “Catling!”
Catling was twisting in Sawyer’s arms hissing and wailing. If she’d actually been a cat, she probably would have been digging her claws into him. It was strange, because Nora had never seen her act that way before. Usually Catling was very sweet tempered. She started across the snow to take the animal from Sawyer. Maybe once she was back with Nora, Catling would calm down.
Behind Sawyer, Nora noticed something else strange. The snow was glowing. There was a definite purple light emanating up through the white crust. She faltered. “Sawyer, behind you.” She pointed.
Sawyer half-turned. “Holy shit!” He leapt forward, at the same moment as a gigantic purple fork of lightning ripped up through the snow, crackling and sparking. Sawyer screamed in pain and landed face down in the snow. He didn’t move.