Page 24 of Grave Expectations
"Wear it, but don't let it out." He shrugged. "I don't see no harm in that. Your mama wouldn't give it to you if it be dangerous."
"No-o, I suppose not." I took the necklace and placed it around my neck, leaving the pendant exposed against my dress so that Lincoln could see it when he returned. I wasn't going to try and hide my actions from him. "He probably won't like it."
"If anyone can convince him it ain't a problem, it be you."
I smiled. "Thank you, Cook."
"Just don't tell him it were me who suggested it."
"I suppose there's no way of releasing it accidentally. I don't speak French, and I'm hardly about to say 'I release you' in a foreign language when I don't—Oh!"
The pendant glowed a bright orange and its warmth seeped through my dress above my breast. I fumbled with the clasp and threw the necklace on the table as if it were a spider that had fallen in my lap.
"What have I done?" I whispered.
"You weren't to know it be bilingual." Cook picked up his knife and raised it to strike at whatever came out of the amber.
A sudden blast of yellow light blinded me. When my vision returned, a small creature blinked back at me from the table. My rapidly beating heart calmed a little when the creature didn't move, and I was able to get a good look at it. It resembled a hairless cat, with long pointy ears and slanted green eyes that followed me as I edged around the table toward Cook.
"Do you understand me?" I said, speaking slowly.
It tilted its head to the side and the catlike mouth opened. A small mewling sound escaped as if it were trying to talk to me.
"I see why my mother called it a pet."
"It looks like a plucked chicken."
"I think it's rather adorable, with those eyes and the way the skin wrinkles above its nose like it's frowning at us."
"Touch it," Cook said.
"No! You touch it."
"I ain't going near that thing."
"Big baby." I shifted closer, smiled at the creature and made cooing sounds. I'd befriended alley cats when I lived on the streets. They were good at keeping the mice away. Perhaps the imp would respond to my soothing voice. "Come here, little one. Go back into your amber."
"It ain't moving."
I reached across the table, but it shifted back, out of my reach. Those large green eyes didn't leave mine the entire time. "Perhaps we should feed it." The alley cats had become more friendly if we spared them some of our food. "Pass me some beef."
"That be dinner!"
"This is an emergency, Cook. If Lincoln finds out I released it, he'll be furious with you."
"Me? Why me?"
"Because you didn't allow me any beef to coax it back into the amber."
He wiped his shiny brow and bald head with the back of his sleeve. "It can have some meat, but I ain't feeding it. It be your pet, you do it."
"Very well."
He chopped a slice of beef into small pieces and handed three to me. I put them down on the table and stood back. The imp crept on all fours to the beef, sniffed it, but didn't eat. It tilted its head and looked at me as if it were waiting for something.
"Go back into your amber," I urged. When nothing happened, I tried a different command. "Return, imp. I send you back."
It mewled again.
