Chapters (38)
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Cover
“Henri?” she said. “Are you there?”
Silence.
“Henri?”
An eardrum-bursting shriek flew down through the crack, and Maren wobbled on her block.
“Hey,” she whispered. “You don’t have to scream.”
“TETE DE FROMAGE,” said Henri.
“Listen,” said Maren. “You need to go for help. Find a police officer or my parents. Say Maren is in the Starlight Theater. Say it, Henri. Maren is in the Starlight Theater.”
Henri whistled, and his hopping sounds moved away across the stage.
“Henri!” commanded Maren. “Say it. Maren is in the Starlight Theater.”
“MAREN IS,” croaked Henri.
“Yes! Yes! Good bird. Maren is in the Starlight Theater. Maren is—”
“MAREN IS PLUS LAIDE QU’UN PHACOCHERE.”
Maren let out a string of curses. “Maren is in the Starlight Theater, Henri. I swear, if you say this, I will buy you a lifetime supply of safety pins when I get out of here. Maren is in the Starlight Theater.”
“MAREN IS IN THE STAR WITH PETER.”
Maren felt sure Henri was laughing at her. “Star-light Theater. Star-light Theater.”
“STAR TIGHT NEATER. CHAR BITE TWEETER. MAREN IS A BAR FIGHT CHEATER.”
Even if he got it right, Maren realized, Henri had no idea what a police officer looked like or how to find her parents. He’d never been out of the shop before, let alone to her house. Maybe once word got out that she’d gone missing, though, if he flew around town saying it, somebody would hear and understand.
Henri screeched into the crack again, and Maren cringed.
“MAREN IS A STAR FART SKEETER.”
The sound of his flapping wings faded. Then, from a long way away, “MAREN IS IN THE STARLIGHT THEATER.”
It was a start. Now she had to get him out of the theater, but that wasn’t going to happen tonight. Maren dragged her block over to a corner, pulled her jacket over her head to keep out the spiders, and got ready to wait out the night. Henri had given her a tiny ember of hope, just enough of a glow to keep her warm. She might not be big or strong enough to escape, but maybe she was smart enough.
Twenty-Five
She woke to the taste of oily fabric on her lips and feathery feet on her chin. With a yelp, Maren sat up, swatting at her face and spitting. Her jacket had fallen off, and something fluttered around her head.
“Get away!” She flapped her jacket in the moth’s direction, but as soon as she stopped, it returned, brushing the back of her hair. She tumbled off the block and rolled away, hoping to evade the insect, but it could see better than she could in the dark, and within seconds it came back. Somewhere in the black depths to her left, Maren heard another quiet flitting sound. She strained for the sound of buzzing, but these seemed to be regular moths, rather than killer moth-bees, which was a small blessing at least.