ignored Ben Nicholas just now. When she didn’t let me go, I pushed her away, suddenly afraid that she’d notice him and change her mind about sending him to the animal hospital.
“You don’t have to stay home from work tomorrow,” I added.
She held on a moment longer before standing up and going over to the fridge. She stood there for a few seconds without taking anything out, just staring at it with glistening eyes. “Dinner’s almost ready,” she said, her voice tight and sounding far away. “Go get washed up.”
“First things first,” Daddy said, getting up to set the table. “Go put Ben Nicholas away in his cage first.”
The terrible smell coming from my bed the next morning almost made me upchuck. It was the same smell as from Ben Nicholas yesterday, only a lot badder. But Ben Nicholas hadn’t been in bed with me last night; I’d left him in his cage after dinner. And I knew it wasn’t Shinji who smelled, because it stayed after Daddy got him up to go potty outside. It was me.
When I went out to check on Ben Nicholas after breakfast, I almost stopped. I wanted to run back into the house before I got halfway there. I didn’t want to see what I was afraid I’d find. But when I got to his cage, I saw that he was awake. He hopped over to me — maybe not as quickly as he usually did, but at least he wasn’t dead. I opened his door and scooped him up and the smell came off of him like the smell from a newly tarred driveway on a hot day. I knew then that it was serious, that something was terribly wrong with him, which meant something was wrong with me, too. I knew I’d have
rabies
to let my parents know. Even if it meant getting into trouble for not listening to Miss Ronica yesterday when I got bit. I didn’t want shots — for either of us — but I wanted even less to die like Remy did. I didn’t want to make Mama and Daddy sadder.
I tried to get their attention by knocking quietly on their bedroom door, but they were too busy yelling at each other about someone from work who wasn’t going to be there. Daddy was saying Mama would have to do his job, which made her even angrier because she had talked about staying home with me today, something I didn’t want then because she’d start asking about the animal hospital again. But now I changed my mind.
I knew better than to interrupt them when they were like this, so I went out to my swings to wait for them to finish. That’s when I noticed the blood around Ben Nicholas’s back foot. It was old and dried, and it was proof enough for me about how he’d gotten sick. He’d gotten bitten just like me. Of course, my own heel started throbbing something terrible all of a sudden.
With my heart beating a thousand million miles a second, I took Ben Nicholas inside to show Daddy. The house was quiet by then, so I knew they’d stopped arguing.
“It’s a torn claw, Cassie,” he told me, barely glancing down at us from the mirror where he was putting on his tie. He took a step away from us, clearly not wanting to touch — or be touched by — Ben Nicholas. He didn’t want to get his white shirt dirty. “I told you we should get them clipped. It’s okay, honey. He’ll survive. Just leave him alone and it’ll heal on its own.”
“But, Daddy—”
“If it’s not better when I get home tonight, we’ll take him to see the doctor, okay? See? It’s already stopped bleeding. Tomorrow, I promise. Or this weekend, honey. I can’t do it right now. I’m already going to be late.”
I tried to tell him that it didn’t look like the blood was coming from his claw. I wanted to say it looked like
a bat bite
something else. But all my words came out in a jumble. He hurried past me, muttering to himself about his car keys being lost.
So I took him to show Mama instead, except when she saw the blood, she thought it was mine instead of his. She pulled my arm in such a panic that I dropped Ben Nicholas by the leg and he cried out before hopping
“You don’t have to stay home from work tomorrow,” I added.
She held on a moment longer before standing up and going over to the fridge. She stood there for a few seconds without taking anything out, just staring at it with glistening eyes. “Dinner’s almost ready,” she said, her voice tight and sounding far away. “Go get washed up.”
“First things first,” Daddy said, getting up to set the table. “Go put Ben Nicholas away in his cage first.”
The terrible smell coming from my bed the next morning almost made me upchuck. It was the same smell as from Ben Nicholas yesterday, only a lot badder. But Ben Nicholas hadn’t been in bed with me last night; I’d left him in his cage after dinner. And I knew it wasn’t Shinji who smelled, because it stayed after Daddy got him up to go potty outside. It was me.
When I went out to check on Ben Nicholas after breakfast, I almost stopped. I wanted to run back into the house before I got halfway there. I didn’t want to see what I was afraid I’d find. But when I got to his cage, I saw that he was awake. He hopped over to me — maybe not as quickly as he usually did, but at least he wasn’t dead. I opened his door and scooped him up and the smell came off of him like the smell from a newly tarred driveway on a hot day. I knew then that it was serious, that something was terribly wrong with him, which meant something was wrong with me, too. I knew I’d have
rabies
to let my parents know. Even if it meant getting into trouble for not listening to Miss Ronica yesterday when I got bit. I didn’t want shots — for either of us — but I wanted even less to die like Remy did. I didn’t want to make Mama and Daddy sadder.
I tried to get their attention by knocking quietly on their bedroom door, but they were too busy yelling at each other about someone from work who wasn’t going to be there. Daddy was saying Mama would have to do his job, which made her even angrier because she had talked about staying home with me today, something I didn’t want then because she’d start asking about the animal hospital again. But now I changed my mind.
I knew better than to interrupt them when they were like this, so I went out to my swings to wait for them to finish. That’s when I noticed the blood around Ben Nicholas’s back foot. It was old and dried, and it was proof enough for me about how he’d gotten sick. He’d gotten bitten just like me. Of course, my own heel started throbbing something terrible all of a sudden.
With my heart beating a thousand million miles a second, I took Ben Nicholas inside to show Daddy. The house was quiet by then, so I knew they’d stopped arguing.
“It’s a torn claw, Cassie,” he told me, barely glancing down at us from the mirror where he was putting on his tie. He took a step away from us, clearly not wanting to touch — or be touched by — Ben Nicholas. He didn’t want to get his white shirt dirty. “I told you we should get them clipped. It’s okay, honey. He’ll survive. Just leave him alone and it’ll heal on its own.”
“But, Daddy—”
“If it’s not better when I get home tonight, we’ll take him to see the doctor, okay? See? It’s already stopped bleeding. Tomorrow, I promise. Or this weekend, honey. I can’t do it right now. I’m already going to be late.”
I tried to tell him that it didn’t look like the blood was coming from his claw. I wanted to say it looked like
a bat bite
something else. But all my words came out in a jumble. He hurried past me, muttering to himself about his car keys being lost.
So I took him to show Mama instead, except when she saw the blood, she thought it was mine instead of his. She pulled my arm in such a panic that I dropped Ben Nicholas by the leg and he cried out before hopping
Similar Books
The Safest Place in London
Maggie Joel
People Who Eat Darkness
Richard Lloyd Parry
Refracted Crystal: Diamonds and Desire
M. J. Lawless
Ghosts of Winters Past
Christy Graham Parker
Blind Pursuit
Michael Prescott
The Apocalypse Codex
Charles Stross
The Breath of Peace
Penelope Wilcock
The Lily Brand
Sandra Schwab
Perfect Crime
Jack Parker