The Collar of the Two Skies Chapter 15

 Chapter 15

As soon as the door of the house of winds closed behind the distinguished Daisy Queen and her little Lady Bell, Anemo collapsed onto the sofa and let out a long sigh, as if he had just escaped a siege. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling the fake smile he had put on for his guest finally melt away.

"There was no FaceTime call with your dad, was there?" Aeolus asked, popping out from under the silk fringes of Mistral’s pillow with a complicit grin.

"Not at all," Anemo admitted, turning the phone screen toward the fur balls. "The video call excuse was the only way to get the distinguished lady to pack up her silk parachute and leave. But the real message from my dad is of major importance. Don’t panic, Remi, it’s not necessarily bad news. Look at what he wrote to me."

Anemo reached out from the sofa and placed his right hand on Remi-Bise's neck to reactivate the connection. The writer, her eyes wide with astonishment, read the text on the screen out loud:

"Anemo, I’ve checked the travel and transport regulations from Dublin to Cairo. In order for us to take the white cat with us in September, she urgently needs an international pet passport, a rabies vaccine, and a microchip. It would be best if you started the paperwork tomorrow."

"A microchip?!" Remi-Bise meowed, instantly standing up on the coffee table, the fur on her back completely standing on end. "Do you guys have one too?"

"Of course we do, ma belle, it’s nothing to be scared of."

"But I’ll be marked like a consumer good! Me, the author who tells the world that women cannot be tamed!"

"Ah, quelle catastrophe!" Mistral commented from the windowsill, flattening his ears with a dramatic air. "Just imagine, mademoiselle, what if that chip glitche your literary talent and you start meowing only in rhymes because of the technology!"

"Don’t joke about that, Mistral! I’m actually terrified!"

"Don’t be ridiculous," Aeolus intervened in a calm tone, tactfully grooming his whiskers. "Without those documents and without that chip, you won't get past security at Dublin Airport, no matter how famous you are in the human world. Before you know it, the Autumn Equinox will be here, and you must be present in Cairo, along with the Collar of the Two Skies."

"It’s still Sunday evening, though!" Remi protested, pacing nervously around the phone. "No clinic in Clonee is open right now. We have time to think... there must be another way! I don’t want to be chipped!"

Sirocco, who until then had been playing with the ball of pink mohair yarn left behind by Bise, stopped and looked at them with his big, innocent eyes.

"Miss Bise, don’t be scared! It doesn’t hurt at all, and it’s much safer. Anemo can find us right away if we get lost or if someone steals us. Noel’s pigeons have chips too, and they fly in competitions... they never get lost."

Anemo leaned his head back against the pillow, staring at the ceiling. Outside, over the quiet neighborhood, a summer evening was finally settling in.

"I say we get some rest because a busy week is waiting for us!" he managed to say, just as the doorbell buzzed—this time without being accompanied by the metal knocker.

"Who could it be at this hour?" Mistral grumbled. "I think we’ve had enough for today."

Daniel Frost, alias Trench, alias Columbo, was standing at the door with a crooked smile, holding a phone charger raised up to eye level. He was holding it by the cable, exactly the way he would hold a freshly caught mouse.

"Good evening, Mr. Frost!" Anemo greeted him, leaning against the doorframe as if he wanted to block the entrance. "What brings you here?"

"Hi hi, Mr. Wind, you are very witty!" Trench giggled. "I’m just passing by, I noticed my aunt who lives two steps away and... I thought I’d bring you the charger. Maybe the young lady needs it... Please excuse me for not coming earlier. Someone found it dropped under my desk."

Trench shifted from side to side as he spoke, even standing up a bit on his tiptoes to see past Anemo, but Anemo didn't budge from the doorway. He was better than the toughest football goalkeeper.

"Thank you very much, you shouldn't have gone to the trouble!" the writer said, stepping back two paces, ready to close the door.

"Just a second, if you don't mind!" Trench interrupted. "I’m just curious. Have you seen Miss Storm lately?"

"Yes, but only on FaceTime. Remi is in Egypt right now. She’s living the adventure of her life... Good night, Mr. Tre... Frost!"

The door slammed shut loudly behind Trench, and Anemo took only a few steps—just enough to reach the living room—and let himself fall onto the fluffy carpet.

"We are not opening the door for anyone else! Good night!"