THE CAT'S MAW

CHAPTER XVI (Part 2)

"That's it," Lynn said, bursting a gum bubble. "Game over."

"No," Billy squeezed the straps of his pack so hard his knuckles whitened. "It has to be here!" He charged ahead through the smoke, hobbling blind and swallowing the pain that exploded through his shin.

"Come on, Billy, you're hooped," Lynn crossed her arms. But Seamus sided with the boy and tried to follow him, pulling the leash taut in his wake. The girl stood her ground for a minute, waving at the smoke around her face. "Did you know that your crazy is contagious?" she yelled, unspooling the tether so the dog could give chase.

Billy heard Lynn's words, but didn't care. He heard Seamus barking and panting somewhere behind him, but that didn't matter either. As he stepped through the wall of smoke that hovered between the trucks, something claimed his absolute attention.

A stuffed white tiger.

It hung from the crossbeam of a lone game booth. A silk noose was around its neck, and it spun a little with each gust of wind that blew through the convoy. The tiger had blue-button eyes, a pink felt nose, and whiskers made of fishing line. The thing was at least two meters long, including the tail. It was a massive, intimidating toy, and still not life-sized. For the first time, it occurred to the boy that things might not be so simple when faced with the real thing.

"Hey," Lynn coughed as she burst through the smoke, catching up to her dog. Seamus was sitting by Billy's feet. He ignored her approach, and continued to sniff at the backpack dangling from the boy's right hand. "Wow. Well there ya go - we gotta be close now," she said, trying to pull Seamus away from the bag. "Should we risk asking someone? They're gonna start looking for you any minute, if they haven't already."

Billy didn't respond. He had noticed something else in the booth. It was past the rows of apple baskets and the stacks of softballs between them. It was beyond the mass of smaller toy tigers, pinned to the roof by their tails like striped, upside-down bouquets. It was a lone thing, hanging stark against a sheet of black cloth in the corner.

A mask. It was a chalk-white mask with a grinning mouth and thin black eyebrows. It bore the exact same face as something from Billy's dreams. Something impossible.

A magical clown, that asked him for a key.

"Wake up, zombie," Lynn snapped her fingers in front of his face. "We need a plan. Fast."

Billy unzipped his pack and reached into the main pocket. He rustled around and felt for the edge of a folded sheet of paper inside. The dog watched closely, its ears standing tall and stiff. Billy pulled the sheet free, and Seamus gave a loud, anxious bark.

"Quiet," Lynn yanked on the leash, looking to Billy. "What's that?"

He unfolded the paper, and Lynn saw it for the first time, just as he'd describe it. The symbol of the cat, rendered in charcoal and stamped with a bloody handprint. Billy's blood. The sight of it struck something deep within the girl. Her head went fuzzy, and her throat tightened, and her heart began to hammer in her chest.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"This is what it wants," Billy said, holding the page high for the mask to see. "The key."

Seamus growled low and guttural. He stood up on his hind legs, snapped the page from Billy's fingers, and bolted from the booth. The sudden dash jerked Lynn's arm aside, and the leash slipped free from her grasp.

"No!" Billy cried. "Come back!"

"Seamus," Lynn called after him, "Seamus, come!" She saw the colour drain from Billy's face, and his hands begin to shake. She saw his eyes go blank, and watched him struggle for a breath.