Shadow lay hidden in a small garden opposite Violette’s apartment and watched the thickened glass door of the apartment building; he expected to see Elina at any second. He spotted her walking slowly across the marble-floored foyer. She seemed subdued to him and deep in thought. As she crossed the road towards him, he noticed a mark on her head and smelled a trace of blood. A low growl vibrated in his throat; he was instantly alert. He saw her raise her right hand, Shadow stood and watched. Elina pointed away from the apartment.
Shadow realised he was staying out for longer and was pleased. He was not keen on their new home and longed for the variety of smells and colours of the forest. Elina quietly signalled for him to turn off the main road. He found this strange as they did not usually go in this direction, especially when it would be dark soon - he hoped they were heading to the city park.
He felt Elina’s hand stroke his head. He knew that whatever bothered her was nothing to do with him. This was her way of telling him that everything was fine and he raised his head against her hand in acknowledgement. They continued on together along the quiet residential road in a comfortable silence. The path would lead to an ornate iron gateway, the entrance to the park.
Elina sat down on a bench under a tree, out of sight of the road and just inside the park.
‘I need to think for a while, Shadow. Feel free to explore, but don’t go too far,’ she said, speaking softly.
For a moment Elina watched a large bat glide and swoop oddly along the edge of the trees. She felt sorry for it, as it seemed to have something wrong with one of its wings. She noticed that on some of its turns it had a tendency to jerk slightly. She felt odd too, sort of broken like the bat, so much had happened since her mother had died.
Shadow watched Elina for a while and although he could sense she was troubled, he was also sure that she was in need of some quiet reflection. He left her side, but was determined to keep her in sight, feeling sure Violette was the reason behind Elina’s uneasiness. He too had noticed the bat and thought it odd, he also noticed a fox slink off into the bushes nearby. The fox was no threat to him and he did not give chase, but he was pleased to see the bat disappear, something was not quite right with it.
Scratching vigorously at his healing wounds, Shadow had some of his own quiet reflections concerning his first encounter with the neighbourhood dog pack. They had assumed that they could take advantage of his youth and inexperience and had tried to run him off their patch, believing him to be an easy target.
Six dogs had surrounded him on his first solo foray; they thought he should be taught a lesson. At the beginning it was an uneven fight, but Shadow had been underestimated. He had learnt some valuable lessons the day Elina had discovered she had magic. Living wild in the forest had given him strength, stamina and speed. His play fights with Dilly and Junior had also taught him many defensive skills. These skills had come in handy during that fight. Even Victor would have been proud of the height of some of his jumps.
Shadow remembered how he had perfected his hunting and stalking skills to track down each of those dogs. He had used darkness as a cover and the element of surprise, each of them received an unpleasant one-to-one encounter. Now they gave him a wide berth, always wary and scared. Shadow had become a silent, invisible presence and at times he still enjoyed making them jump by testing his stealth skills. Shadow was no longer the bumbling cub he once used to be.
Elina stood up and wrapped her coat round herself more tightly; she had become chilled by sitting still for so long. Shadow was at her side immediately and rubbed himself up against her legs. She bent down, placed her head alongside his and hugged him tightly for a moment.
‘Tonight, Shadow, we go home,’ she stated quietly.
Shadow could not contain his excitement, he jumped up and placed his paws on Elina’s shoulders and licked her face madly with his rough tongue, and Elina laughed.
‘I hadn’t realised how big you’ve grown, steady boy or you’ll knock me over. Do you think you can find the way back to the cottage? I’m not telling Violette. We’ll leave as soon as she falls asleep.’
‘I know the way even with my eyes closed,’ Shadow replied happily.
‘That won’t be necessary,’ Elina grinned, ‘but you could use that excellent nose of yours to show us the way.’
‘What happened?’ Shadow asked with concern.
‘That doesn’t matter now, but my aunt’s behaviour is weird, she’s acting too oddly for my liking. I don’t trust her.’
‘Let’s go now then,’ Shadow suggested eagerly.
‘There’s something I need to do first and she will be waiting for me tonight. Once she’s asleep and I have reassured her, we’ll go. Come let’s go back, it’s getting dark. Shadow, I need you to stay by my side tonight, especially if she’s in the room with me. Something’s not right and I know between the pair of us we’ll sense if something strange is going to happen.’