Digger was silent during the drive home. Ali assumed he was angry she hadn’t told him about Gigi’s party. Should she broach the subject with him now, or wait until they got home? In the end, she decided to postpone the discussion, hopeful her mother would be enthusiastic and bring Digger around. But it was a miserable ride home, thanks to the fog that gnarled traffic so badly that what should have been a ten-minute drive took half an hour instead. To take her mind off her father, Ali passed the time daydreaming about the seals down at Tin Can Beach. Were they warm enough? How long would they stay? Would the sick seal be okay?
Her mother was in the kitchen making spaghetti when they arrived. “There you are! Why are you so late?”
“The traffic was a mess,” said Digger, dropping into a chair.
Ali’s mother gave Ali a fierce hug. “I’ve been worried about you all day. How did it go with Cassie?”
ALI’S RULES FOR NOT FREAKING OUT YOUR PARENTS
Digger started. It was clear that in all the commotion at Emily’s house, he’d forgotten about the situation with Cassie.
“Good, but she told a boy named Murray about me.”
Ali’s parents exchanged a panicked look. Her mother pointed to the kitchen table. “Sit. Tell us everything so we know what we’re dealing with.”
Ali left nothing out: Cassie’s apology, Murray’s excitement. Now and then her mother asked questions of clarification. Digger said nothing. When Ali got to the part where she turned into a mouse and couldn’t change back, he slipped into dog mode and crept under the table.
“But everything’s okay,” Ali called down to him. “They won’t tell anyone.”
Ali’s mother stuck her head under the table. “Come out, Digger. Ali’s right; if they were going to tell someone else, they already would have.”
Digger crawled out from under the table and became himself again. “We should have practiced changing into animals last night,” he muttered. “There’s so much you need to learn.”
“We can practice after supper,” Ali offered, but her suggestion didn’t improve his mood.
There was a splutter as the pasta pot began to boil over. Ali’s mother jumped up and raced to turn down the heat. “Did everything go okay with Emily?” she called over her shoulder.
“It was great. We did our organism inventory at King’s Square, and then we went down to Tin Can Beach and visited the stranded seals. There were some nice scientists there. They were impressed by how much Emily and I knew about classification systems. And guess what?”
“What?”
“Digger knows Emily’s mother.”
Ali’s mom crossed her arms and smiled at Digger. “Another old girlfriend?”
“A friend,” Digger corrected. “If she liked anyone, she liked Teddy. Like I said, all the girls liked Teddy.”
“So you keep telling me.”
Digger seemed anxious to change the subject. “Do you know what Ali’s done? She’s decided to throw a birthday party for Gigi. And she got Tina Arai to give her all kinds of party things.”
“She wasn’t using them!” Ali protested. “Besides, we should throw her a party! Turning one hundred is a big deal!”
Her mother was as enthusiastic as she’d hoped. “That’s a great idea!”
“It’ll be a movie-themed party. You know, because Gigi loves Walter Pidgeon so much.”
“That sounds fun. Her birthday is a week from this Saturday. Why don’t we do it then?” Ali could tell her mother was getting excited. “Who will we invite? Her neighbors, her—”
“Not too many people,” begged Digger.
“I invited Alfie,” said Ali.
The room went quiet. “What did he say?” asked Digger.
“He wants to come, but he won’t unless the rest of his family comes, and they won’t unless his grandfather does.”
“Then don’t expect Alfie” was Digger’s bitter reply.
Ali’s mother drained the pasta water through a colander and began to heap four plates with spaghetti and sauce. “We should invite them,” she said as she placed the plates on the table.
“Alfie’s going to ask him,” said Ali. Digger snorted.
Ali’s mother smiled. “Maya Angelou said, ‘And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.’ My money is on Alfie. Now enough moaning and groaning. Go get Gigi, Ali, and not another word about this birthday party. We can make it a wonderful surprise for her.”
Ali spent the evening learning how to change into animals. They practiced in the living room because Gigi was tired and had gone back to bed right after supper. Her mother knitted in the corner as Digger tried to coach Ali through three unsuccessful attempts to change into a chipmunk.
“Try to focus on its stripes,” he suggested.
Ali pictured one of the chipmunks she and Emily had photographed in the park. Which made her think of the beautiful red sweater she was still wearing. After two more tries, she managed to change into one. It was fun, sprinting under the couch, hopping from chair to chair, stuffing bits of cookie her mom held out to her into her mouth until her cheeks bulged to the size of fat acorns . . . but she was glad when Digger talked her through the steps to change back to herself. Chipmunks used a lot of energy.
“How did I do?”
“You did great,” said her mother. “Except you had a bright red stripe down your back.”
Whoops. “How do I make sure that I change perfectly?” Ali asked.
Digger bit his lip, perplexed. “Huh. That’s rarely happened to me. I think you need to concentrate harder.”
Concentrate harder? That’s all she seemed to do these days!
Digger seemed to sense her frustration. “You’ll get there. How did you feel when you were a mouse this morning?”
“I kind of panicked,” she confessed.
“A lot of Copycats panic in the beginning. They worry that if they don’t change back right away, they’ll never change back, which just makes things worse.”
“Did you ever have trouble changing back?”
“No, but I was encouraged to practice from when I was a baby. Practice makes perfect.”
“Maya once said, ‘Nothing will work unless you do,’” offered her mother.
Digger nodded. “Maya’s right; it’s going to take time for you to learn how to transform easily. I want you to practice at least two hours every day. Remember—you know you can change back, because you’ve changed back before and you’ve seen me and Gigi do it.”
Ali placed a hand on each cheek. They were still sore from being puffed out. “Gigi never changes.”
“I’ve never seen her change either,” Ali’s mother chimed in.
“You’re right. I forget that she hasn’t changed in years. I think she lost her abilities around the time she turned eighty. Most Copycats stop changing when they get very old. I think it’s too hard on our bodies.”
“Do you think it makes her sad that she can’t change anymore?”
Digger’s shoulders hunched a little and he took a deep breath before he responded. “I do. When the day comes that I can’t change, I don’t know what I’ll do. No matter where I am or what I’m doing, there’s always the urge to be something else.”
Ali didn’t like to think that Digger didn’t prefer to be his human self. “Has a Copycat ever been stuck as something else for a long time?”
Digger chuckled. “Gigi told me that her uncle Percy was once stuck as a rat for forty-two days, much to his wife’s distress. He chalked his inability to turn back into himself up to a bacterial infection he picked up as a rat wandering the Saint John docks.”
Ali was glad she’d spent her time as a mouse safe in Murray’s shirt pocket. Who knew what kind of disease she might have contracted if Murray had been forced to put her outside!
“Can we turn into any living thing? Like a tree?” Ali asked after spending ten minutes as an ant, which was super scary, because she was worried something bigger would gobble her up.
“I tried to turn into a tree once, but it didn’t work. As far as I know, Copycats can only turn into sentient creatures.” He smiled at the puzzled expression on Ali’s face. “Creatures that can feel or perceive things.”
“Huh. Does it scare you and Mom that Murray and Cassie know about me?”
The glance her parents exchanged answered her question.
Her mother put down her knitting and joined Ali and Digger on the floor. “We are a little worried,” she said, rubbing Ali’s shoulder. “I’m sure they’re nice kids, but—”
“People are lousy at keeping secrets,” Digger finished. “There’s been many times in history when persecution arose because someone saw a Copycat change. But lots of humans don’t see physical, intellectual, or spiritual differences as bad things. And to be fair, Copycats can be dangerous if they aren’t trained or aren’t good people.”
“Gigi said that too. Did you ever know a Copycat who wasn’t a good person?”
“Nope. Copycats guard their secrets well. Most of the time,” he added, raising an eyebrow at Ali. “But there are always risk-takers. Okay, enough talk. You need to practice. How about a lion this time?”