Page 47 of Sky Song
A small rabbity-lizard face slowly appeared on a craned neck. The round, eerily human eyes were wide and terrified. Fluffy fur undulated as his body tensed and released, prepared, no doubt, to flee.
“Here, baby. Don’t be scared.” She smiled reassuringly, no matter that Hipper wasn’t human.
The round eyes blinked, and Hipper’s repulsive face slowly transformed into an answering smile. It was tremulous and uncertain, and curiously heart wrenching.
Acting on impulse, Cricket dropped the ham and snatched him by his fur, prepared for the pain of a bite. But he made no attempt to defend himself. He was smaller than she anticipated, the fluff making him appear more substantial. The body that she held fast to her chest was skinny and warm and shaking uncontrollably.
Instead of showing aggression, Hipper stuck his head under her arm as if hiding from the world and went still.
Cricket jumped to her feet and ran back, her feet churning the soft sand that tried to suck her feet in. At least the darkness had fallen, concealing her exploits from the eagle-eyed neighbors.
She came to a stand in front of Paloma’s door, finding only Paloma there.
“Where is Sulys?”
“I’m over here!” he called to her… from behind his own partially closed door, waving at her to come over.
“He wants me to deliver Hipper to his house?”
“Apparently,” Paloma was gazing in the direction of the Zen garden pensively. “Better haul ass, friend. Someone’s coming.”
A flashlight switched on on the opposite side, and voices grew louder as people walked their way.
Cricket dashed to Mr. Sulys’ house on tiptoes, silent as a shadow. Hipper kept still against her chest, but as she passed her own home, he suddenly jerked, emitted a haunting yowl, and thrashed in her arms.
People’s voices abruptly stopped, and the beam of flashlight arched in her direction.
Heart thundering, she gave her home a wide-eyed glance. Hipper was acting as if he could sense something… someone. Inside.
Her legs kept on tip-toeing like sewing machine needles, arms full of struggling Hipper.
“You brought him home to me!” Mr. Sulys exclaimed. Cricket had no doubt that if the good people with the flashlight came near, he’d shut the door on her and let her take the blame for Hipper and the whole Zen garden fiasco.
“Open the door,” she hissed like an angry snake at Mr. Sulys who peered at her from the crack.
“Just slide him in. He’s smaller than he looks.”
Thankfully, Hipper had stopped struggling. She lowered him down and pushed him inside the door. Sulys promptly closed it, narrowly missing her hands.
“You’re welcome, pissant,” Cricket muttered and had a strong urge to kick his door. Only the voices and the flashlight stopped her.
Rounding the building in the same mincing, tiptoeing run, she got home from the front and quietly closed the door.
“Excellent job,” Lyle said from behind.
Her temper spiked.
Turning slowly, she faced him across the darkened room. “I’m so happy you liked my performance. Are you an expert on animal rescue?” she said silkily.
“Far from it. I’ve never captured an animal alive.” He sounded reflective. “In all the times I’ve hunted - and I hunted a lot - I only killed them.”
He hunted? Truth or not, his words meant to distract her. Cricket didn’t buy into his tactics. Finger pointing, she advanced on the alien who outmatched her in every sense.
“Where. The hell. Have you. Been?” She raised her voice.
“At the hospital, mostly. Shh, my hearts, don’t make a scene now.”
Cricket wanted to jump up and down and flap her arms from pent-up vexation. The stress of the day had finally caught up with her. “I’ll make every scene I wantin my own house!” she screamed. “How the fuck did you get in?”
