Chapter 7

Paige shrank back behind one of the shelving units. Her heart pounded as she peeked around the corner.

The massive cat still lay in wait for her to step out into the aisle. With his ears flattened against his head, he prepared for the attack.

"Great," Paige murmured as she pressed her back against the shelves again. "Now what?"

She glanced down the aisle, wondering if she could circle behind Dickens and reach the shelf.

"Worth a try," she told herself.

She pushed away from the shelf and hurried down the aisle, peering around at the dimly lit corridor beyond it. Clear. With an encouraging nod, she bolted past several more shelving units until she reached the back wall.

Her chest heaved as she sucked in breaths before swallowing hard and peering into the last aisle. Dickens's tail swished back and forth in front of the pantry shelf. During her frantic sprint to the back wall, the cat had inched up the main aisle in search of her.

With him hopefully distracted while he searched for her near the entrance, she could slip to the shelf, retrieve the items, and hurry to the passage. She'd just have to be careful of his flailing tail. At its current size, it could knock her down faster than a set of dominos.

Paige bit her lower lip as she pressed herself against the shelf and began to inch forward. She neared the end, staring at the pantry shelf loaded with colorful containers.

Not only would she need to scan each shelf carefully to find the several items on her list, but she'd need to avoid the cat's tail while searching.

Paige licked her lips as she peered around the corner at the cat lying in wait. With his ears pressed against his head, he peered around another shelf in search of his victim.

Paige tiptoed from behind the shelf, gnawing on her lower lip as she closed the gap to the pantry shelf. Dickens's tail flicked toward her, and she leapt over it like a swinging jump rope, flailing her arms to stay balanced as she anticipated the next swish.

After successfully dodging the tail, she continued her journey, step by painful step until she reached the shelf. It rose far above her head. She scanned the list and then the shelves she could reach, hoping the ingredients she needed were on her level.

She side-eyed the rolling ladder at the end of the large unit, praying she wouldn't need it. With a finger stuck out, she used it to scan the bottles, tins, and plastic containers.

She found the Eye of Newt and the Wool of Bat before the cat's tail swished again. A wobbly leap saved her from being knocked over by the tree-trunk-sized appendage, but with two containers clutched in her arms, the task became more difficult.

She blew out a long breath as she steadied herself, her eyes flicking around the shelf in search of the three additional items she needed. She found one and added it to her armload before searching for the others. After two more passes of the shelves on her level, she did not locate the final two items.

A curse escaped her lips as she tiptoed to the rolling ladder and set the ingredients she'd collected on one of the steps. She grabbed the yellow metal poles and pushed the ladder toward the pantry's center.

The wheels squealed and screeched as she shoved it.

Paige froze, wincing as the sound echoed throughout the archive. She shot a glance toward Dickens.

His head whipped back to stare in her direction. She wrinkled her nose as she hurried to push the rolling ladder farther toward the pantry and scurry up the steps.

If she found the ingredients quickly enough, she could make a run for it. She located a tin marked Powdered Snake Tooth and continued her search for the last item.

As she leaned forward to scan the shelf, the ladder jolted under her. She clutched at the side rail to stay upright, twisting to identify the source of the movement.

The ladder screeched along again, rolling a bit before stopping as an oversized furry paw batted at it.

"Dickens! Get away! Shoo!" Paige shouted, waving her arms in the air at the massive cat.

The cat curled his paw, tilting his head at her as she flung her hands at him. He cocked his head the other way and reached for the yellow metal ladder again. He bopped it again, sending the ladder screeching across the concrete floor.

Paige sank down, grasping at the railings with both hands to hang on as she swiveled across the space. The ladder rolled to a stop near the end of the shelf. Paige gasped a few breaths while she tried to steady her nerves.

A large yellow canister in front of her eyes sported the label Pixie Dust. Paige reached for it, her fingertips catching the corner.

Behind her, Dickens wound up for another swat. With a grimace, Paige lunged for the container, grabbing hold of it and hugging it toward her chest before the ladder careened wildly across the floor again.

One of the ingredients on the lower step toppled off and rolled across the concrete until it hit a shelf. Paige sank to sit, squeezing her eyes shut as the ladder trundled recklessly around, bumping off shelves and spinning on its wheels in a haphazard fashion.

"Dewey!" Paige screamed. "Help!"

The ladder slowed to a stop, and Paige snapped her eyes open. She scanned the area around her. No cat.

Maybe she could make a run for it. She rose to stand and stumbled down the steps. Her knees wobbled beneath her as she struggled to focus, dizzy after the intense amusement park-like ride.

She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, trying to remove any of the lingering wooziness. With a deep breath, she loaded her arms with the other ingredients. Before she could step to the floor to retrieve the final wayward ingredient, a fuzzy paw grasped the railing and tugged.

The ladder barreled toward the cat as his claws wrapped around the metal railing. Paige leapt from the moving object and sprawled onto the floor below, smacking her chin off the cold concrete. Her glasses flew off her face and skittered away.

"Great," she groaned as she tried to push herself up to her hands and knees.

She felt blindly around for the plastic-rimmed spectacles. As she squinted at the floor in search of them, her world turned upside down.

A hard shove smacked her side, and she tumbled across the floor, rolling until she hit a shelf. She shook her head as she tried to sit up. A massive object waved over her.

She shrieked, her mouth wide, as she pushed off the shelf and rolled in the opposite direction away from the large object that she assumed to be Dickens's paw.

"Stop it, Dickens! Bad kitty! Bad kitty!" she shouted as she kicked her feet, scrambling to shelter behind a shelf.

"Hey, Paige!" Dewey called. "Did you find everything?"

"I did, but it won't matter if you don't help me! Dickens has me trapped and has been playing with me like a bug!"

Dewey darted into the space from the main archive and stared at the scene. Paige waved a hand in the air as she huddled near a shelf. Dewey flew toward her, passing two shelves before he came to a halt.

A paw larger than him swiped in the air.

Dewey danced backward, taking cover behind a nearby shelving unit. "Whoa!"

With the cat distracted, Paige crawled out from behind the shelf, tapping around on the floor in search of her glasses. She stumbled upon them, swiped them from the smooth surface, and shoved them back on her face before darting back into the aisle.

"I told you. He's in a real mood," Paige shouted.

"Control your cat, Paige! He nearly shredded me!"

"I can't help it. He's nearly shredded me, too. We can't make this Tacloosa stuff soon enough."

Dewey rounded the corner on the opposite end from the main aisle and swished up toward Paige. "Give me the stuff."

Paige unloaded her arms of the materials as Dewey scanned them. "Wait, the Wool of Bat is missing."

"I know, I know. It fell off the ladder and rolled over there." Paige poked a finger across the main aisle at the round container lying next to the shelf.

"Well, go get it!"

Paige let her shoulders slump as she stared at Dewey. "Seriously?"

"I can't go! One swipe of his paw could kill me!"

"Well, it could seriously maim me."

"Maimed is better than killed. Now hurry!"

Paige peered around the corner of the shelf, searching the space in all directions.

"Okay," she breathed. "I'm going to make a run for it. Alert me if you see Dickens."

Paige crouched at the end of the shelf, her eyes on the green container lying on its side across the wide aisle. She blew out a long breath before she launched toward it, sprinting across the aisle and skidding to a halt as she reached for the tin box.

Her fingers grazed it, and she wiggled them to roll it closer before snatching it up. She darted back to Dewey and passed it off.

"Look out!" Dewey shouted, flying backward as a large paw swiped through the air, smacking Paige and knocking her forward.

She sprawled onto the concrete with her glasses knocked askew.

"Here he comes again!" Dewey warned, waving a teal finger in the air behind her.

Paige righted her spectacles and tried to scramble to her feet. The paw swished through the air again, clipping the top of her head and flipping her over. She somersaulted through the air and landed on her back. The air rushed from her lungs, leaving her breathless for a moment.

Dewey fluttered over her. "You stay here and keep Dickens busy. I'll go back and whip up the cure. I won't be long!"

"Dewey," Paige wheezed as he flitted away.

"Good luck!" Dewey called over his shoulder as he darted away, disappearing around the corner into the back aisle.

"You've got to be kidding me," Paige grumbled as she shoved herself up.

The raucous noise of a cat trilling echoed off the walls.

Paige clamped her hands over her ears as she searched the air for any sign of the large animal.

Her eyes grew wide, and she froze as she glanced up at the top of the shelf, spotting two pointed ears and a pair of narrowed cat eyes peeking over the top.

"Dickens," she called, waving her hands in front of her as she backed away slowly. "Stop this at once! This is a very bad kitty!"

A paw popped over the top and dangled down toward her.

Paige danced backward, scrambling away from it and into the main aisle. "Dicky, that is quite enough! Settle down!"

The cat licked his chops, stalking toward her, his tail swishing in the air. Paige pressed her lips together into a thin line as she searched for a hiding spot.

She glanced up at the furry creature again and arched an eyebrow. "I bet you'd stop chasing me for your dish."

The cat cocked his head at the word.

"Yes, that's right," Paige said, nodding as she backed away from him. "A nice big bowl of ocean white fish and tuna pate. Maybe even a few treats thrown in. But not if you keep scratching me and knocking me down!"

Paige wagged a finger in the air at the large cat while it stalked toward her. The cat offered a small meow. Paige winced at the deafening noise.

Dickens strode to the middle of the aisle and sat on his haunches, wrapping his tail around his front feet.

"Good boy, Dickens," Paige said, adjusting her glasses as she smiled up at the enormous cat. "Dewey is going to have a lovely treat for you very soon."

Paige's heart rate began to return to normal as the cat licked his paw and raked it over his ear. With any luck, Dewey would be back with the countermeasure any minute, and this nightmare would be over.

Paige lifted her eyes to the cat while she waited before glancing over her shoulder in search of Dewey. As she returned her gaze to the front, something caught her eye.

The cat pounced, scooping her up in his cupped paw.

"AHHHHHHH!" Paige screamed as she rose in the air.

She clamped down on the large paw, hanging on to it for dear life.

"DEWEY!" she screeched. "HURRY!"

The distance between Paige and the floor grew as the cat raised his paw to his face. Her hair blew wildly when the cat sniffed at her.

"Dickens, put me down. Put me down!" Paige cried.

Dickens twisted his paw, dangling her over the floor. Paige clutched at his fur, desperately trying to hold on so she didn't fall.

The world tumbled in front of her when the cat swiveled his paw upward again.

"Ohhhhh," she said, her voice breaking as she struggled to cling to him.

Dickens lifted her to his face again, staring down at her with his eyes almost crossed.

She glanced over her shoulder at him as he opened his mouth. "No! Dickens, no! Do not bite me!"

The cat's jaw unhinged farther. Two large fangs loomed over Paige. She squeezed her eyes closed as he lowered them toward her.

"Dickens!" Dewey called.

The cat froze, flicking his gaze at the main archive entrance.

"That's right, Dickens," Dewey said as he fluttered through the air. "I've got a nice juicy steak for you, buddy."

Paige glanced at the teal dragon buzzing through the air.

He waved a raw slab of meat in the air. "Now, be a good boy and put Paige down and come get your steak."

Dickens flicked his paw a few times to toss Paige aside. She somersaulted through the air, smacking into a shelf and sliding to the floor.

Dewey tossed the steak onto the floor and sailed around the approaching cat toward Paige.

"Paige," he shouted as she shook her head and adjusted her glasses.

"I'm okay," she said in a shaky voice as Dewey offered her a hand.

He pulled her to stand, and she brushed off her clothes.

"Whew, that was a close one. Thank goodness you were quick. I wouldn't have made it much longer."

"Let's hope it works," Dewey said, raking a paw over his forehead. "I went as fast as I could."

"You didn't mess anything up, did you? You were careful, right?" Paige asked, her eyes wide.

"Yes, of course!"

"You didn't do anything crazy like estimate his weight at ten pounds or something, did you?"

"No, Paige, this has nothing to do with weight anyway. Will you stop bringing up the time I mistakenly estimated your weight at 250 pounds?"

"Sorry, I just want this solved before Dickens destroys the library archives. How long should this take?"

"It should be almost immediate upon ingestion," Dewey said.

They both glanced toward the spot where Dewey had tossed the meat earlier. A wet stain marred the gray floor where the meat had sat. No sign of the steak or the cat existed.

Paige adjusted her glasses as she scanned the area. "Dickens? Are you cured, buddy?"

She craned her neck as she searched for the cat.

"Well," Dewey said while they inched forward, checking the aisles as they passed them, "it may have worked. You couldn't miss him before."

"Unless he slinked his huge butt into the main archive," Paige said.

"Let's hope not."

They continued toward the exit, searching for the cat. When they reached the aisle near where the meat had landed, Paige froze.

Her jaw dropped open, and she wrinkled her nose. "OMG," she whispered.

"What is it? Did you find him? Is he okay?" Dewey asked as he buzzed across from the opposite side of the aisle.

Paige reached down and scooped up the newest form of Dickens. Now pint-sized, he fit into the palm of her hand. "Dickens! You're tiny!"

Dewey pulled his teal lips back into a wince, his purple tongue sticking out between his fangs. "Oops."

Paige used a single finger to stroke the tiny cat's head. "Well, I guess at least he can't kill us. And he probably can't reach anything else to eat it and turn into something scary."

"Very true, Paige. Way to look on the bright side."

They started their trek back to Dewey's nest.

"You know," Dewey said, as they wandered into the main archive, "this could be one of the side effects mentioned. It also could stem from the substitution of pixie dust and a normal rock."

"Is it permanent?"

"No idea," Dewey answered with a shrug. "As soon as we get back upstairs, I'll research it."

"Well, I suppose he's less of a threat now, but I don't know how I'll explain this to my vet."

"You could always–" Dewey stopped when red lights began to flash.

A loud klaxon blared overhead. Across the space, a communication device sprang to life. A ticker tape spit from it.

Dewey glanced at Paige, his eyes wide and his lips pressed together. "Another case."