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chest. “Jesus, someone should do something about that,” he shouted toward the offending house. Then he jumped down the three steps to the sidewalk and jogged back toward the Common. Johnny Parker would be waiting, and at this rate, he’d be half in the bag and half in bed with some young cutie by the time Henry even got downtown. Jesus wept.
    * * *

    Leah bolted awake. What was all the yelling? The neighbourhood was seriously going down hill all of a sudden. Ever since James and Emily had gone to England, whoever they had living in their house was sure doing a lot of loud swearing and slamming. It was driving Leah nuts. It was almost enough to make her leave the house, she thought.
    Neil stretched into the room, paused in the doorway and arched his back. Leah smiled at him and he looked back at her, his eyes glowing iridescent. He yawned hugely and let out a squeaky meow at the same time. Heart melting stuff, even if right after he looked like he would take her down and eat her.
    â€œYou might as well forget it,” Leah said. “Who would pull the fur on your back for you, hmmm?” She reached over and grabbed a nice handful of Neil’s ample back-flesh. She pulled it up, like taffy, and he purred appreciatively. “Or pour your crunchies? You need me, Neily Neilerson,” she chided. “Don’t forget it.”
    Above the purring of the orange cat, she heard the flapping from upstairs that signalled Sandy’s return. She swallowed the wave of fresh and immediate fear and revulsion that washed over her at the thought of a bird in the house, letting it be replaced by a mixture of relief and anticipation. Was tonight the night Nathan would send a message back? Had he, himself, somehow come back with Sandy? Leah stopped, cocked her head, listened. She didn’t hear anything but feathers and flapping, but then, Nathan had been silent, in the conventional way. She stood still and tried to feel him, but there was nothing. She breathed out. Still, maybe he’d sent a message. She took the stairs two at a time, got to her bedroom to find Sandy turning round and round in her cage, as if showing Harold that she was al-right, everything was okay, nothing to worry about now that she was home. And Harold did look relieved, with his little beady eyes and his snubbed beak, his greyish-brown feathers tousled on his head as if he’d just woken up, as if they’d been displaced by some avian pillow.
    Leah got up close, looked for a message on Sandy’s leg. Nothing. At least the blue frog was gone. Maybe it had simply fallen off, she thought, panicking. Maybe there was a trail of origami creatures strewn from here to Brunswick Street, lost in the snow, bleeding their vivid colours onto the ground. She snapped the overhead light on for a closer look at the bird. No clues there. She looked deep into Sandy’sdepthless eyes, for as long as she could stand it. The bird looked — trustworthy. Nervous, but ultimately true. Straight as an arrow. And the holster was secure; Leah had checked it and checked it. She knew she was just being foolish now, just looking for trouble where none existed, looking for explanations where none existed. She would simply have to be patient. She had fucked things up, and if she was going to unfuck things, she’d have to accept that it would take time, that her plan was sound, that Nathan was where he was for a reason, that he’d answer her when he was good and ready, that the bird was reliable. It was a lot of things to take on faith, but really, she didn’t see what other choice she had. Unless she was prepared to simply walk away, to not even try, to never know the outcome, but that was untenable. She’d already done that once, or practically anyhow. In fact, if you added it up, she’d betrayed Nathan twice already. She was not interested in doing it a third time. And she knew there was no point in freaking out. The bird had done what