Witch and Wizard - James Patterson [32]
A dog broke free from the pack and bounded after him, baying like a hound released from hell.
The guard and the crazed dog were right on Wisty’s and Celia’s heels as they rushed toward the… well, whatever it was.
“Watch out!” I screamed. “Right behind you!”
Wisty closed her eyes and pitched herself through the portal, stumbling right into me. “Whit!” she screamed. “It actually worked!”
Celia was with her, and right behind Celia, the dog dived paws-first through the portal. It came at us in mid-air, hit the floor, and skidded to a stop. Suddenly it looked not so much fierce and deranged as totally confused.
We all glanced back just as the guard slammed into the wall face-first. Behind him, the Matron’s white-uniformed figure was still being attacked by the pack of ferocious animals. Her enormous arms flailed, her stun gun knocked from her hand, spinning away. Then she disappeared under the pile of snapping mouths. Bye-bye.
“There’s someone who’s working out some serious karma,” said Wisty, but instead of relishing the sight, I reached out to try to hug Celia in a moment of relief that we’d made it through to the other side.
It didn’t matter how awkward and ridiculous it was, trying to hug a ghost. That’s the cool thing about love. In my opinion anyway.
Just then a whimper made me jerk my head around.
“The dog,” said Wisty, staring at it, expecting the worst.
“No, it must be okay—it’s a Curve dog,” Celia marveled. “A Curve is anyone who has access to the Underworld, whether they know it or not. This dog didn’t know it. It must not have been fully brainwashed by the Straight and Narrows.”
Its lips curled up in an ingratiating grin as if to say, “Sorry I tried to eat you.” Then the dog lowered its head further and sort of slunk toward us, low to the ground.
“It looks deeply sorry,” Celia said. “I wish I could pet it. Go ahead, Wisty. Pet it.”
“Maybe some other time,” Wisty said reluctantly. “We have a lot of history to work out first.” But then the dog sat and gazed up at her longingly, with the saddest brown eyes, looking much less horrible and insane than it had in Hell’s Kennel.
Wisty looked at me, and I knew what she was going to ask.
“You’re crazy,” I said, sighing.
“I’m nothing if not forgiving,” she said earnestly.
“Well, okay,” I grumbled. “Maybe it’ll be a watchdog or something useful in the Shadowland.”
Wisty winked at me, then looked at the dog and patted one knee. The animal stood up cautiously.
“You can come,” she told it, then added, “It’s a she. I’m going to call her Feffer.”
“Okay. Feffer it is,” I conceded. “Now let’s go meet some Curves and Half-lights and locate some new portals.”
Then there was a terrible crash—and we looked and saw the Matron’s face smashed up against the wall to the portal.
“Not a Curve,” said Wisty with a broad smile. “Didn’t think so.”
BOOK THREE
BRAVE NEW WORLDS
Chapter 54
Wisty
WHIT GRABBED ME in a bear hug that felt extraordinarily reassuring. “We’re outta there! We’re safe from her now.”
Safe from the Matron, maybe. But in the grand scheme of things, I wasn’t so sure we hadn’t just leaped out of the frying pan and into someplace a lot worse.
As I tried to get my bearings, it became apparent that this “other side” wasn’t at all what I had expected. For one thing, it was cold. Not freezing cold, but a sort of damp, penetrating cold that hurt your lungs. For another, there wasn’t anything there.
“Um… Celia… where are we again?” I asked.
“This is the Shadowland.”
I looked around. It wasn’t quite right to call the Shadowland a “land” at all. There were no trees, grass, buildings, water, sun—or, for that matter, anything but fog and haze.
“This is your… home?” I whispered, hugging myself for warmth and turning completely around. The portal, which I thought had just been at my back, was gone now.
“I would never call the Shadowland home,” Celia said with a head shake.