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Chapter 38 Katrina groaned and turned away from the soft nipping pain in her nose. The feeling continued and she brushed at it, refusing to give up her hold on sleep. Something growled by her ear as tiny feet moved across her stomach. Confused, she called for lights and gave herself a moment to adjust to them before opening her eyes. Four red eyes blinked up at her as one peach-fuzz covered little pink creature slid off her belly and plopped onto the comforter. Another, identical, creature jumped at Katrina’s face and bit her cheek. She batted it away with the palm of her hand and sent it skittering to the bed’s edge where it sat and looked at her wearily. Its companion had found the comforter’s edge and burrowed under it to begin fighting with the cloth of Katrina’s shirt. “What are you two doing?” Katrina asked the two Olvecks as she tossed the energetic animal next to its companion. She still felt hazy with sleep and her mind was functioning slowly. The box on the dresser still appeared closed and locked, yet the small beings were obviously loose. All four eyes blinked at her. When she said and did nothing more the two Olvecks began sniffing one another. They became so absorbed by their curiosity that they didn’t notice when the fourteen-year-old got out of bed and went to examine the Olvecks’ box. All of the slats of wood making the top of the box had been knocked loose and two had actually been broken in two. “You vicious little rodents,” she exclaimed, getting their attention once more. When the Olvecks saw that she had left them they both jumped off the bed, tumbling and squealing as they hit the floor. After taking several seconds to right themselves, both scurried to her and began nipping at her ankles. She pushed them away with her big toe only to have them leap back with a vengeance. Katrina scooped them up and deposited one in each pant pocket and went in search of something and somewhere to house them. She hadn’t given them much thought in the last couple of months and knew what a mistake that had been. She had nowhere to keep them and nothing to feed them with. “Chalee-Siri,” she called into the entrance of the blue wing. She knew that her friend would have an idea of what to do with the critters. “What are you shouting for?” Siri demanded from the open door of the blue chamber. “Sorry, Siri,” Katrina called back, wincing at having to deal with the woman. She couldn’t see the Caminee but knew she wasn’t happy. “I need Chalee-Siri’s help with something.” “You can wait until after the first meal. After that I will tell her that you wish to speak with her.” “Meet me at the fountain,” Chalee-Siri called as soon as her mother had finished speaking. “Okay,” Katrina called back. Katrina went back to the red wing and outside. She knew a pile of rocks at the tree line might be home to something edible to Olvecks. She overturned three large stones and revealed worms, beetles, spiders, and other bugs and insects. One Olveck leapt out of her pocket to the feast on the squirming things. The other Olveck tried to follow the first but got caught in the fabric of the pocket. As Katrina set the second down a bird screeched and began to dive. She looked up in alarm, trying to grab both fuzzy creatures as they squirmed away from her. Katrina sent a sense of warning and danger to the bird as she moved to shield the Olvecks from its sight. The winged creature pulled up and soared off. Katrina sat back on her heels, sighing with relief. The Olvecks slurped up multi-legged and no-legged creatures without so much as looking up. They showed no fear of the bird or the hovering girl. When they had slurped up and crunched on all that moved in the area four eyes turned expectantly to Katrina. She shook her head and scooped up the Olvecks, knowing that the first meal would soon be over. Xenritha was just leaving the dinning area as Katrina entered the common area. He patted her on the head and turned back to his green wing. Chalee-Siri hurried out of the dinning area just as the old Zanespot disappeared. She started to ask what was going on but stopped before the first word was out of her mouth. Both Olvecks had pushed their heads out of Katrina’s pockets and were examining the room. “Olvecks,” Chalee-Siri said with a giggle as she reached out to pet one. “You know about them?” Chalee-Siri pulled her hand back quickly when the Olveck tried to bite her hand. “The natives of this world swear that they’re very tasty when prepared correctly.” Katrina’s jaw dropped in horror. She knew they weren’t the friendliest creatures but to kill one was beyond her comprehension. She tucked her hands into her pockets, reassuring herself that the creatures remained there. She was rewarded with one scratch and two nips. “Do you know how to take care of them?” “Yes and no. I helped with them at the school, but everything was right there. I don’t even know where to begin.” “First things first, what do they eat?” “Tapki always fed them maggots but I took these two outside and they ate every bug they could get.” “Live maggots?” Chalee-Siri paled drastically at the thought. “What are you going to do?” “I guess I have to find some way of keeping a supply of bugs.” “A bug farm?” Chalee-Siri laughed then considered it. “We could collect all the bugs we can find and make a box or something to keep them in. One of the bedrooms on the red wing would work well enough, you don’t want them in your room,” she shuddered. “We have to build a pen for them too.” “We?” “Please,” the younger girl pleaded. “Let’s see what’s in the shed,” Chalee-Siri relented quickly. She led Katrina outside and along one wall of the Tri. Stopping suddenly she began feeling the stones. Katrina watched, confused until she heard a soft click and two very large stones moved out of the wall. She gasped as she realized that they formed a rough staircase to the Tri’s roof. Chalee-Siri jumped nimbly onto each stone then to the building’s roof. Katrina watched in amazement then hurried to follow. It wasn’t as easy for the smaller girl to reach the top but she made it with a sense of triumph and a grin that made Chalee-Siri burst into laughter. When she had clamed down and composed herself, she led Katrina to a rickety-looking building occupying one corner of the roof. The doorway was extra tall, able to easily accommodate and upright, full-grown Caminee. The door was reinforced metal but the walls were made of rotting wood. It was moved up here to keep locals from robbing it. It looks pretty bad, I know, but it was built long ago by a very early group of Zanespots. I don’t think they were the first, but they were pretty early in the history. The door, obviously, was added years later.” Chalee-Siri ignored the keypad above the door’s handle and pushed it in. Lights flickered on instantly and Katrina felt disappointed in the scraps of old wood and rusting tools they found. A very large spider sat proudly on a web in one corner and both Olvecks squealed in pleasure at the sight. “I think we can use most of it. It’s not pretty but it’s solid. The wire fencing in the corner is pretty new and looks to be in good shape. If we built the pen against one wall of the Tri we should have no problem,” Chalee-Siri grew more excited with each word. “We just have to be careful to keep my mother from them for as long as possible. She hates everything she even imagines to be a rodent.” |
