A glow in the living room caught her attention. It was that thing again—the globe on the coffee table that was apt to glimmer at odd times. She tried to ignore it—thinking it quite impertinent that it thought it could summon her so easily.

Her eyes kept sliding over to the living room as she ate. So once she was done, she licked her paws, washed her face and then made her way over to see what the thing wanted.

Pandora slinked over to the coffee table, approaching it from the side, her gaze intent on the orb. It sparked with color, drawing her closer. She stood on her hind legs, reaching her front paw out tentatively to bat at the sphere. 

Now that she was eye level, she could see what she thought were things moving inside. Movement like that was something no cat could resist and she leapt onto the coffee table—something Willa would not approve of—to get a better look.

She looked down into the orb, her eyes growing large, the pupils turning to thin slits as she stared inside. 

There was something in here … it looked like the inside of Elspeth’s barn. Pandora could see the other cats gathered around. They looked up at her from inside the ball and she had an irresistible urge to go join them at the barn … she knew something was very wrong. 

***

It took only a few minutes for Pandora to run through the woods to the barn. The other cats were inside, just as she’d seen in the paperweight.

“What took you so long?” Otis admonished.

“I was sleeping.” Pandora sat down and flicked her tongue over her back, washing herself as if she hadn’t a care in the world. “Did you want something?”

“Things are coming to a head and we must keep the evil ones from getting what they seek.” Inkspot’s baritone rumbled from atop a hay bale.

Pandora wondered why he had to always be so vague. What evil ones and what were they seeking? “And…?”

Pandora didn’t like the way the other cats were all looking at each other, as if they knew something she didn’t and were afraid to tell her.

Snowball trotted over and sat beside her. “We think your human may be in danger.”

Pandora’s stomach twisted. “What do you mean?”

“Willa has the key … they will try to take it from her,” Truffles purred.

“What key?” Pandora wracked her memory … had she seen Willa with a key?

“That’s not important now. They’re coming for it and we must come up with a plan to protect her,” Otis cut in.

Pandora shot to her feet. Willa was in trouble and she had to help her. “What do you mean? Where?”

“I’ve got intel that leads me to believe they are going to Willa’s house tonight,” Tigger spoke up from the back of the barn.