“We have places to go, and things to do, and people to protect.”
He held out his hand. She took it, and they pulled each other to their feet. Joey gave her a boyish grin as he straightened his shirt and
combed his fingers through his hair. Her hands ached to do that for him. Not yet, she told herself. Or they might never get out of this room.
She twitched her linen jacket straight, aware of a pulse of pride that she’d put it on instead of her usual sweatshirt. She’d designed and made it herself, with the deep pockets that designers never seemed to put in women’s clothing.
He looked admiringly at her, and hand in hand they started down the stairs.
With Joey firmly in her corner, dazed with the knowledge that there were such things as nine-tailed foxes in this world and she had kissed one (and planned to kiss him again soon), Doris found it easier than usual to navigate the cheerful family chaos surrounding breakfast.
They prepared an enormous mound of pancakes, and Joey disappeared somewhere in the middle of the meal. It didn’t surprise her that Xi Yong wasn’t in sight either, nor were Vic and Vanessa. With the chaotic whirl of people preparing plates of pancakes and arguing over the distribution of chores, no one else had noticed.
But by the time the dishes were cleared away and the family was arguing over whether they needed to be ready to clear out of the house today or tomorrow (it all depended on when the snowplow got there; Mom insisted she could hear it on the hill, while Sylvia insisted it couldn’t possibly be here before tomorrow at the earliest) she was starting to wonder where he’d gone. Maybe Xi Yong would know.
She wandered through the house looking for him, with the chaotic whirl of typical last-day family business going on around here (stripping the beds! looking for missing socks and toys!) but she hardly noticed any of it. She could have hugged herself with sheer delight.
Joey . . . a fox.
Not just any fox. A nine-tail fox.
She was going to have to find out the stories behind them—all the while knowing that at least some of them might be real!
She blinked, startled out of her reverie as something short and fast-moving darted past her legs. She turned, and caught sight of Pink—bundled up in coat and pompom hat and knit mittens—nearly to the front door, hugging the entire plastic bottle of chocolate syrup to herself.
“Pink!” Doris exclaimed.
Pink jumped, the picture of guilt. Doris sighed. Nicola had let the kids put chocolate syrup on their pancakes that morning, disgusting as that had sounded to Doris.
She saw at once that Pink had formed a snatch plan, and had nearly gotten away with it. “Three years old and you’re already a chocoholic?” Doris said, taking the bottle from her hands. “I like chocolate, too, but too much of that stuff will make you sick!”
She retrieved the bottle and stuck it in her pocket to put back in the fridge later. No way was she venturing back into the kitchen and getting caught up in the family chaos. “Why are you all dressed up?”
“Snow,” Pink said.
“Oh, there you are!” Nicola descended on her stepdaughter, with her other hand firmly clasped on Lon’s. “Thank you for catching my escaped Alcatraz inmate, Doris. I’m going to go let these two run around in the snow for a while to make sure they work off some of that pancake-breakfast sugar in case I have to put them in the car later. Want to come?”
“Thanks for the invitation, but I’m trying to find Joey. Have you seen him? Or Xi Yong?”
“I can’t tell you about Joey, but Xi Yong is in the back bedroom.”
“Thank you!” Doris told her, and headed off that way. She didn’t realize until she reached the doorway—though in retrospect, considering all that had been going on with her and Joey, she should guessed—that Xi Yong wasn’t alone. Isidor was with him.
The two were stripping the beds, moving with comfortable teamwork, side by side. She heard Isidor repeating what she suspected was basic Chinese vocabulary.
The way they smiled at each other, their soft voices blending, caused another flowering of warmth inside Doris. Today . . . today the sun shone brightly, and Doris had kissed a man who turned into a fox. She was no longer Doris Lebowitz confined in her sensible box, she was Doris Lebowitz who believed six impossible things before breakfast.
She didn’t have the heart to interrupt Xi Yong and Isidor. Instead she decided to take a walk and see if she could find Joey on her own. She knew he was all right; he had been taking care of himself for ages. He was so good at everything he did, and don’t forget nine-tail fox, with tails that went into other dimensions.
But it was a gorgeous day, and she had no intention of going anywhere near the mansion. She would walk to the old playhouse and the road with the Jeep, to see if he was there, and if he wasn’t, she’d come straight back.
The walk was magical in the post-blizzard hush, with the sun shining on the fresh snow that decorated the trees as well as the ground. Doris breathed in the clear, pure air, and strode vigorously, kicking through snow just beginning to soften toward slush.
When she heard voices echoing from the general direction of the old road, she had to laugh, remembering her surprise when she discovered Joey and the other three back here.
She bent her head and walked fast, glad of the exercise.
Then more voices—a shout. It sounded . . . angry.