Tom Quartz isn’t sure that this is his best idea. There are usually reasons that animals get put into cages. They are mean, violent, destructive, or dogs. And this one here, it’s certainly not a dog.
Still, the building looks very large and Tom Quartz has no idea where to start looking for Ada. And so, in the end, the tom cat has no choice but to jump up onto a wooden stool. From there, he clambers up onto the counter and weaves past stacks of papers, loose pens, and little plastic containers. The counter butts up against the wall of cages.
It’s easy to jump up onto those, too. Tom Quartz is a tree dweller. He loves to climb! He loves to be up high! Where Slippers prefers to be in the bushes, he can’t stand being down on the ground for too long. It takes virtually no effort to climb, hop, and jump across the various cages and over to where the sugar glider is kept.
Tom Quartz pauses outside of the cage. He asks, “why are you in here?”
“You magic cats have it good,” says the sugar glider. “You can come and go whenever you want. Us normal animals, we’re stuck here. And sure, it’s a nice place but I was bored! Just because I wanted to go see Barlow for a little bit, they tossed me in here! Unfair, I say, it’s unfair!”
Tom Quartz isn’t sure what a Barlow is, but he can’t really blame the animal for sneaking out. That would be hypocritical, considering how often he slips out of the White House and into the Room; considering the fact that he’s stepped out of his own time stream and into a different one.
Instead, he decides to content himself with the fact that the creature is evidently not violent. The latch is a pretty simple one. Tom Quartz rears up onto his back legs and bats at the bobble of the lock with his front paw; it just needs to be flipped down and slid to the left.
The door opens with an ominous creak, and then the sugar glider is out. The little marsupial lands on the cage top next to Tom Quartz. “I guess you do have some use, magic cat. Not much, but some! Now, who did you say you were looking for?”
“The tiger.”
“Well, they’re usually kept in their exhibit. Locked up tight, those one’s. The humans take a lot of pride in how they keep their meat-eaters.”
“I’m looking for Ada. She’s been brought in here. You said that you could show me where she was,” says Tom Quartz, tail flicking impatiently.
The sugar glider nods. “Right, right, right. The one that’s in here. Yes, I can take you to her. I’m Calla, by the way. Do you have a name magic cat?” Tom Quartz opens his mouth to answer, but the sugar glider waves him off. “Never mind, don’t waste your breath. I’m awful with names, so I’ll just forget it later. Come on, now, it’s this way.”
Katelynn E Koontz – Author
