Shadow Wrack by Kim Thompson Page A

remember?”
    Baz looked at her blankly.
    â€œThe big black stain in the wall!” exclaimed Willa. “The one the spiders came out of … and the big snake-worm -thing!”
    Baz made a face. “I hate spiders,” she announced and began licking her hand. Willa lost it.
    â€œJust be careful up here, and watch out! If you see Horace as a lion, he might not know who you are, and I think something else, something very, very bad is on its way.”
    Willa was a little embarrassed at how vague this sounded. Baz shrugged and sidled off. The other cats followed her, smirking all the way.
    â€œIf you can’t act like a human, at least try to stay out of sight!” Willa called. “Please?”
    Baz didn’t look back but simply dropped back down on all fours. Willa watched her enormous backside disappear into the bushes.
    Okay. Time to get back and check on things at the house, she thought . But the prospect of dealing with Robert and Mab and Tengu and all their weapons exhausted her. And the dwarves — were they really dangerous?
    Willa stood there in the sunshine, staring into space, unable to will herself to move. Things were getting out of hand, out of control. She felt like she couldn’t keep everything straight in her head. Why did she have to handle everything and keep everyone in line? How did she end up with so much responsibility, anyway? Her thoughts swirled around like this for a few moments before they settled on one figure: Miss Trang .
    She’s the one who’s supposed to be in charge of these crazies, not me. Willa’s eyes stung. She shut them tightly, trying not to cry, and funnelled all her energy into just one thought: Come back, Miss Trang! Come back!
    For a brief, weird moment everything went very still. It was like she’d hit a pause button for the whole world. Willa concentrated harder.
    Miss Trang! Come back! Come back right now!
    As she thought the last word, there was a loud snap , and she felt a strong electrical shock, just like before. She opened her eyes. It was still quiet, but strange, dark clouds were swirling around the top of Hanlan’s Hill. As Willa stared, surrounding wisps of clouds were sucked into the large cloud at the centre, which spun slowly. It reminded her of cotton candy, the way they were spinning and joining together until the dark shape grew darker and more solid, finally settling just out of sight behind the peak of Hanlan’s Hill. It all happened so quietly it felt like a dream … until something very large curled around the edge of the hill. A long, scaly tail. At the same moment a dark shape rose up from behind the hill, the sparkling steel-grey shape of … a dragon.
    Her heart was in her throat, but Willa knew this dragon. It was Miss Trang in her other form. She looked around, but there was no one in sight, thankfully. The massive lizard crawled over the top of the hill and down toward her, its eyes glittering.
    What if it isn’t Miss Trang? Willa thought briefly, but then the dragon began to shrink as it moved closer. With every step it contracted in upon itself. It was very odd, for as it walked toward her its shrinking size made it look like it was getting farther and farther away. It made Willa quite dizzy, but at last the tail flicked up and over her head, and Miss Trang stood before her in her sensible shoes and plain skirt and cardigan. She crossed her arms and looked expectantly at Willa.
    â€œWell?”
    Willa was taken aback. “What?”
    â€œYou called me. Here I am. What’s the matter?”
    Willa felt relief wash over her, and the story just spilled out of her — the black stains and the Stork Man and Horace living out here as a lion and Hacker and Baz and the phoenix and Tengu’s ninja stars and Mab and the dwarves …
    Miss Trang listened without moving a muscle or betraying any emotion. She listened until Willa finally wound down and fell silent.
    â€œWhat