“Mewmewmew,” said Kitten, sticking her head in the crack. Her voice sounded muffled.

“Good job, Kitten,” Fifer said encouragingly. “But maybe you should come back out. Mr. Today left you a secret message on this door somewhere that will unlock it for us. Isn’t this exciting? If you find it, we might be able to rescue Fox.”

“Mewmewmew,” said Kitten. She emerged from under the door and jumped at it, sinking her claws into the wood. Then she began climbing, holding her face close to the surface, looking for clues.

They could hear Simber coming. The big cat flew up over the mansion wall and straight to the second floor, not wanting to add his weight to the staircase for fear it would come crumbling down. He frightened the children on the balcony in the process, which made him frown and wish for the invisibility paintbrushes again. Luckily the people of Grimere recovered more quickly than in the past, so that was an improvement at least. Though they still kept their eyes on him.

He landed and went into the head mage’s hallway. “Tiny eyes,” he said approvingly. “Of courrrse Marrrcus would have left something herrre forrr Kitten—she was grrranted nine lives, afterrr all, so she’s got the best surrrvival odds of all of us. We should have known. I’m sorrry I didn’t think of you immediately, Kitten.”

“Mewmewmew,” said Kitten, sounding very put out again.

“I know, I know,” said Simber, abashed. “I want to be a betterrr frrriend too.”

The girls exchanged a rare glance but didn’t dare ask for an explanation from Simber. Besides, they wanted Kitten to focus on the job and Simber not to growl at them for getting too personal with him, especially when he was being reprimanded.

Kitten seemed satisfied with Simber’s answer, and she went back to work, claws out, scooting around on the face of the door as if gravity had no pull on her. Back and forth she went until she reached a point about a foot below the doorknob and came to a stop. She put her eye to the wood and was quiet.

Fifer and Thisbe knelt, being quiet too, even though they could see nothing. Simber waited, his eyes narrowed to slits as if he were wishing them to be tiny too.

Kitten scrambled around and turned upside down. She studied the same spot while the twins held their breath. The sounds of the outdoors coming inside seemed strangely pleasant.

Before Kitten could speak about what she’d found, Simber turned his head sharply, hearing something none of the others could hear. His eyes darted, his nostrils flared, and he stood up. A low growl reverberated in his chest. Fifer and Thisbe looked wildly all around, expecting to see an intruder and grabbing for their components. But they saw nothing. Simber looked up and growled louder.

“What is it?” Fifer whispered. “Is it Frieda?”

Kitten turned too, then jumped down to stand by Simber and sniff the air.