Both girls were looking around on every side, but Eve didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Pretending to be calm, they walked down the middle of the empty street. Behind them, Prince was quiet now, though Eve could feel his eyes still watching them through the fence gap.
When they reached the end of the cul-de-sac, Eve began to breathe easier. She nodded to the left. “I think Logan and the kids were at Maddie’s today. We could head there first.”
Before Alex could answer, though, something moved in the hedges of the house right next to them. Eve only caught the motion out of the corner of her eye, but it was enough to spin her around, heart pounding, hands gripping handlebars until the knuckles were white.
“It’s right there,” whispered Alex. “I saw its head for just a second, and then it pulled back into the bushes.”
“What was it?”
“I don’t know,” Alex said. “The face was furry, but I only saw it for a second.”
Eve laughed nervously. “If this just turns out to be a stray cat, I’m going to scream.”
“It wasn’t a stray cat,” said Alex. “It wasn’t any kind of animal I’ve ever seen.” She was walking toward the bushes now.
“Don’t you think we should go get the others before we start investigating strange creatures?” Eve asked.
“I just want to see…” Alex laid her bike down on the sidewalk. “I don’t think it’s…”
The bushes rustled again, and the creature appeared for just a moment. Eve got a quick impression, an animal about two feet tall, standing on two legs, covered in brown fur, intelligent eyes. Then the thing waved them forward with a quick gesture and disappeared into the shrubs again.
“Come on,” said Alex.
“What if it’s dangerous?” hissed Eve.
“I don’t think it is.”
Eve considered for a moment. Alex was usually right about things like this. She was also usually the cautious one. Here she was now, though, already walking toward the thick bushes. Eve followed her. It wasn’t like she was going to get left behind just standing there.
The shrubs stretched around the side of the house, and the girls pushed their way through to find themselves in a small space between the dense branches and the tan siding of the neighbor’s garage. The creature, whatever it was, stood right in front of them. It immediately began talking in a severe voice.
“I am glad to have this chance to speak to you unseen by others, but it was very foolish of you to follow me, unknown as I am, into a place so sheltered.”
“You are not being careful enough.”
The second voice, slightly deeper than the first, was right behind them and nearly made Eve jump out of her skin. She crashed into the bushes in an attempt to look both directions at once. The creature behind them was a mirror image of the first one, except that its fur was a lighter shade of brown.
Eve’s pounding heart settled enough for defensiveness to take over. “Hey, you waved us in here. And it’s not like we’re in the middle of nowhere. This is my neighbor’s house. Plus, we’re bigger than you.” The last argument felt lame even to Eve.
The two creatures looked back at her with identical bland expressions.
“Your neighbor is not home,” said the tan one. “There is no one to help you.”
“And it is clear on your face that you know nothing of us, what we are capable of, what dangers we represent,” chimed in the dark one.
Eve tensed up, ready for anything, but the creatures just stood still and shook their heads like disappointed parents.
“You have much to learn. You have seen many things, but there are many things you still need to see.”
“You would not have noticed us at all if that animal down there had not alerted you.”
The two creatures looked at each other then, and the first spoke softly, “Strange, that. We have not been seen by any wordless creature while attempting to be unseen since we were bonded. We must look into this…”
“Another time, Chala,” said the second creature. “Our task here cannot wait.”
“Who are you?” asked Alex, interrupting their private conversation.
Both creatures turned their heads and looked the girls seriously in the eyes.
“I am Senla,” said the tan one.
“And I am Chala,” said the dark one.
“We are of the Clairi,” they said together. “We have come to instruct you in what you must know, and there is very little time."
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The Broken Circle (The Book of Sight 2) Page 26