The Real Boy by Ursu Anne

Author:Ursu, Anne [Ursu, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2013-09-24T00:00:00+00:00

It was the first time Oscar had ever brought anyone below stairs—it was the first time he knew of anyone going down there at all besides the magician, the apprentice, and the hand, and when he opened the door to the cellar, he half expected some force to push them back.

“It’s very dark in here,” Oscar said, taking a step down. “Be careful.”

In fact, the cellar had never looked so dark before. It was like the City had blinded him. He looked back to Callie to make sure she was all right. His heart fluttered like he was handing her a secret with each step—what if Caleb came back and found them? What if Wolf had never died at all and was just lurking in wait to catch Oscar doing something wrong? Or what if he had died and was still lurking in wait?

When they stepped into the cellar, something hurled itself at Callie—though it was not Wolf, unless Wolf had become small and fuzzy and orange after his death.

“Pebble!” Oscar said as the cat crashed into her legs. The kitten flopped on her back and rolled around in front of Callie as if Callie were catnip.

Callie’s face broke out into a smile as bright as all the lanterns up and down the hallway. She squatted down and rubbed Pebble’s belly. “Good kitty,” she whispered.

The cats multiplied around Callie—now Crow, and Bear, and even Cat. Callie’s smile broadened as they presented themselves to her, one belly at a time. Oscar had never seen them all like this; one person made them all come out of the shadows.

“Did you name them all?” Callie asked.

“Well, in a way,” he said. The cats had really named themselves.

He glanced over at his pantry. Someday, he would like to show it to her. But instead he motioned her forward into the hallway, shooting a look at Cat. Master Caleb’s not back, is he?

Cat blinked back, unperturbed.

“This is incredible,” Callie said, as they walked down the long hallway. “There’s a whole world down here!”

When they got to the library Callie just stood in the doorway, mouth open. It was not Oscar’s. He had not conceived of it or built it; he was not even supposed to be in it. But still, Callie was marveling at it, and pride tickled his chest.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” she breathed. “It’s like a library in a book!”

A book in a library. A library in a book. Oscar let out a little laugh, and then coughed to cover it up.

Map yowled from his position on the chair, and Callie hurried over and gave him his due. The rest of them would come slowly, one at a time, and casually settle into different places in the library as if they had planned on being there anyway—except for Pebble, who didn’t do anything casually.

Oscar went over to the shelves. He was no good for Callie up there in the sunshine, blinking at some senseless jumble of bits. But down in the cellar, he could help.

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