“Oh no!” Zora cried. “That is just awful. All the wolves are out tonight, aren’t they?”

“We’re lucky that this blackout has been fairly peaceful,” Jack said. “But there are wolves out every night.”

“Maybe you should enlist the help of these two!” Leon joked, pointing to Wally and Arthur. “Look at what they did for us! And they weren’t even trying! Lord knows what they could do if they really put their minds to it!”

Wally and Arthur managed to fake a few hollow laughs.

“My apartment is being renovated, and Wally is on the team doing the work,” Jack explained. “That’s how he knew to call me tonight when this whole thing happened.” He tapped his desk. “By the way, Arthur, what kind of work do you do?”

“Computers,” Arthur said quickly. In a rush he added, “That’s why I recognized the glass sculptures right away. I’d read the story online…”

36

“T here’s a cab!” Chip shouted as he and Georgina reached Fifth Avenue. He staggered out into the darkened street, waved his arms, and the cab screeched to a halt, narrowly avoiding him. Oblivious to the near miss, Chip opened the back door and jumped in.

“Where are you going?” the driver leaned out the window and snapped at Georgina. She was standing there, slightly stunned, not having reacted quickly enough to Chip’s sudden actions. “This is my last ride of the night,” the driver continued. “It’s too dangerous out here. It’s pitch black and with crazy people like your boyfriend running out into the street, I could have a terrible accident. Tell me where you’re going, lady, and get in the car.”

In a split second Georgina made her decision. She spat out the address and got in. Chip was leaning back with his eyes closed. The driver took off just as she was shutting the door. Georgina was thankful that he didn’t appear to have any interest in more chitchat. The cab had a partition, and the radio was at a high volume, tuned to a news station. An announcer was reporting that city leaders were optimistic that the lights would be back on soon. In the middle of the report, the driver changed the channel to a station playing rock music.

The traffic was light. Most everyone was off the road by now, home roasting in their hot apartments. Tomorrow the city would be full of cranky, tired people, Georgina thought. It took less than ten minutes to reach their destination. The driver stopped and slid open the partition. “Which building?” he asked.

“We’ll just get out here at the corner,” Georgina answered, glancing at the meter to see what the fare was. She reached through the partition and handed the driver several bills. “That should do it.”

“Thanks,” the driver mumbled as he snapped the partition shut.

“Come on, Chip,” Georgina said, nudging him.

“What?” he asked, his eyes fluttering. “Where are we?”

Georgina opened the door and firmly grabbed hold of his arm. “We’re getting out.”