Chapter 23
It had been a busy summer for the residents of Ether Drive.
1. Daisy Queen had been a top-notch host for the community book club, where they had discovered a brilliant new author, as well as the poetry of their dear Remi Storm—who, unfortunately, couldn't be there as she had left for Egypt. Anemo promised to keep everyone posted on the progress of the Chronicles, and he even promised to host the book club himself in the... not-too-distant future.
2. Fleur had fewer scraped knees now, but she had ended up negotiating over something almost every single day with Archibald Peter Stone. She had even managed to sweet-talk him into publishing two stories written by her, alongside other tales written by local children. The truth was, Fleur was a bit of a mini-celebrity now, and she was absolutely delighted that school was starting.
3. Noel had been swamped with his champion pigeons and with Skye. Gogo had finally apologised to the little dog and promised never to touch any dodgy, fermenting fruit again.
4. A certain taxi driver in the neighbourhood had gone viral on the internet thanks to the trips he made with a greyhound sitting right next to him in the front passenger seat. The greyhound even had a special seatbelt, and a fan had gifted him a very stylish cap.
5. Gill, the vet who was friends with Anemo and Remi (Noel's daughter), didn't have a single moment's peace because her colleague, Aisling, had gone on indefinite leave, claiming that she was hearing voices due to burnout...
The summer had simply flown by!
The House of the Winds was making its final preparations before the big departure to Egypt.
The glass table was buried under ancient maps of Cairo, sketches of the Antiquities Museum, and thick books about the pharaonic dynasties, the goddess Bastet, and so much more.
Even though September was knocking at the door, the sunshine was still like golden honey, promising an Indian summer. You could smell adventure in the air.
*
Professor Simoon adjusted his glasses on his nose and tapped his finger on a large sketch.
"I’ve calculated everything down to the very last detail," he explained, looking at Anemo, Fleur, and Remi, who was sitting quietly on a corner of a map. "We leave on the eighth of September. That leaves us exactly fourteen days in Cairo before the Equinox."
"Why so early, Professor?" Fleur asked, resting her chin in her hands. "The portal only opens for twenty-four hours, right on the day of the equinox."
"It's much better to be prepared, my dear! The Cairo Museum is massive, but we don't want to commit any illegal acts, do we? I made an official request which has been approved, so we will have the chance to be near the twin collar at the right moment. Two of my colleagues will be joining us."
Anemo stroked Remi-Bise’s neck, feeling the magic collar vibrate gently under his fingers. Remi was anxious.
"What if I'm not allowed inside the museum? What if they confiscate the collar before the transformation? Oh... I wish it was already the day after the equinox and I was a woman."
Everything will be fine, snowy!" Fleur whispered. "I'll come over every day to feed the furry friends, and I'll call you. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!"
"Let’s be optimistic!"
The Professor pulled a silver chain from his breast pocket with a tiny pendant shaped like a monogram and fitted it around the white cat's neck.
"This pendant has a GPS tracker. That way, we can make sure we don't lose you..." he said.
"But don't I already have that microchip? Isn't that enough?"
"Not in case you get kidnapped," the Professor thought, but out loud he said, "This is just to make you feel a bit safer!"
Mistral had come to read the white cat perfectly over these months of living together. Despite his usual wariness around females—whom he considered, by definition, the enemies of the bohemian lifestyle in the House of the Winds—he felt the need to cheer her up:
"Ma belle, everything will be fine! Though honestly, I rather regret that you didn't choose to stay a feline for another three months so we could sort everything out right here, at the Cat Cave in Roscommon."
Wanting to clear the growing tension in the room, Anemo cleared his throat and turned to the Professor:
"Tell us about the flight details again!"
"Of course, listen carefully, everyone! We will be flying on Tuesday, 8th September 2026, exactly two weeks before the Autumn Equinox on the 22nd of September. The airline we're flying with is called EgyptAir. It will be a direct flight... let me just check, direct flight MS776 from Dublin to Cairo."
Simoon gave a mischievous smile and added:
"The head of Horus, the Egyptian falcon god, is printed on the tail of the plane. We take off from Dublin at 14:20 (Irish time) and land in Cairo at 21:45 (Egyptian time)."
"The flight duration: exactly 5 hours and 25 minutes."
"Will I be in the hold of the plane all that time?" Remi asked in a trembling voice, and Anemo, who was in contact with her fur, passed the question on to the Professor.
"Not at all, you'll be with us in the cabinit's just that you'll have to stay in the pet carrier and we aren't allowed to take you out of there..."
"Just imagine the headline," Remi sighed. "'Famous author of the manifesto novel, *Women Can't Be Trained*, ends up flying in a pet carrier under Anemo Gale's seat.'"
"Ahem," the Professor coughed. "The time difference: Egypt is 2 hours ahead of Ireland. When the clock shows 19:45 in Dublin, it's already 21:45 in Cairo. There will be temperature differences, of course, but that is completely normal for anyone leaving the island."
"As you already know, we will go through metal detector scanners. We might have to take the collar off there, or we might not. The chain I gave you is silver, so that's safe. I'll look into the collar, but we know there's no danger in taking it off, as long as you put it right back on after the scan."
The front doorbell began to ring insistently.
"I'll go get that, let's take a break," Anemo said, heading into the house to reach the front door.
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