What door? Sam had seen that sign before. So it couldn’t have anything to do with Oriane. But he didn’t understand what it meant. The word “door” could mean so many things in English. What could it mean in their language?
All he knew was, if they went away, or hibernated, he couldn’t play hide and seek with them, or draw them. He’d missed them very much, as he always did when they went away. He’d had to put them into his story while he waited for them to come back.
“I’ll get my drawings,” he said as he made the signs for drawing.
Ratty and Bandit both hopped about. Sam knew that they loved it when he drew pictures of them. Even though he wasn’t very good at drawing yet—not nearly as good as Bandit, who made such detail—though he was trying to learn, they could tell which one was Ratty, and which one Squeak, and so on.
Once Squeak brought out a tiny figure, made out of something like bark, or maybe acorns mashed down. It was a tiny statue—of Sam! There were even two round things on the figure’s nose that looked just like the lenses of his glasses. He’d been proud and happy when he saw that. He didn’t know the words for how that made him feel, but when he smiled and said, “Me?” and “It’s good!” they hopped and popped. He knew that meant they were pleased.
But this time they didn’t bring out his figurine. Instead, when they looked at the new pages in his manga, Ratty made a chittering noise, and Squeak waved his paws in a circle. That meant bad, no, don’t do that.
Sam looked at his drawing. Had he made a mistake? Or did he hurt their feelings? But his Squeak and Ratty were the heroes, fighting the—
Oh! They didn’t like the dragon? Sam was pretty proud of that dragon. He’d copied it from a book about dragons. It was a fire-breathing dragon, with fiery eyes and long teeth. These kinds of dragons had big bat wings, and they looked like big serpents. Some dragons looked cool, like the cloud dragons and sky dragons, though those ones didn’t have wings.
“Dragons are bad?” Sam asked. He remembered what Alejo had told him, about that nice Professor Hu, who was a shifter fox with nine tails, and his friend, a silver dragon.
Ratty and Squeak both chittered, too softly to hurt his ears, but it wasn’t a happy sound. Then Bandit held up one talon. Squeak waved a paw in a line, like making a “one” in the air.
“There’sabad dragon?” Sam asked.
This time they hopped and popped so fast that Sam knew he’d got it. Then came a new idea. “You went away because of a bad dragon?”
But that was too many words. And anyway, some of the others appeared along the higher tree branches. Sometimes, Sam had learned, that meant Squeak and Ratty would go away. He didn’t know any of the ones high in the trees, but he suspected those might be parents or teachers. He wondered if Squeak and Ratty and Bandit had chores, or homework.
He picked up his drawing pad, and did the wave that meant “See you later!” They waved back, then both popped, and didn’t come back. Yup. It had to be homework time, or maybe dinner time, as it was getting late.
At least they were here again. Even better, Alejo was right. Alejo had not made even a tiny lie, a nice one, the kind you make if it’s your kid. Sam knew about those lies. It’s when a parent says you are a good artist even when you messed up. But Alejo hadn’t told Samanylies. He told the truth about Oriane not making Squeak and Ratty and Bandit go away!
When Sam went back inside, he smelled dinner. Tacos again! Oriane loved tacos as much as Sam did, so Mom had said that since they were favorites of two people, they could have them twice as often. That made Sam glad Oriane was here. Also, he liked how happy Alejo was. And he really liked how having Alejo here made Mom happy. He never remembered her humming when she cooked, but she hummed a lot. And she smiled a lot. It was her real smile, the one that crinkled her eyes. And she never got that line between her eyebrows anymore, the one that always was there when Pater made Sam take letters to her. Sam was secretly glad that Pater had so many business things on his weekends. Especially after Alejo came to the barnyard fundraiser.
He put his drawings away and ran out past the rose garden, to the edge of the palisade that overlooked their house. Before Alejo came, he hated that house, because nothing worked right, and Mom had cried a lot when she didn’t know Sam could hear her, and he kind of remembered the windows rattling when Pater yelled. And rain dripped on Sam’s bed in the night, but he didn’t want to tell anybody because Mom would cry and Pater would yell. But since Alejo came, Sam liked the house more and more each day. He wanted to live in it, now! It looked cozy and fun.
How could a house made to be bigger be cozy? Maybe it was because the porch didn’t sag, and the paint wasn’t peeling. Everything was new and strong and bright, and he had even painted some of it himself. And Alejo and Mom said he could paint anything he wanted on the walls in his room! He still hadn’t decided what he was going to paint yet. Except his closet door was going to be disguised like it was a door to a secret lair.
He looked out over the beach. He saw Lisi swooping around and diving, and though he couldn’t see Oriane, he could hear the whoosh of her wings in the air. She had promised to stealth when she flew with her friends, and Alejo wasn’t flying with her. And she was keeping her promise.
Oh, how he wished he could be a shifter! But he wouldn’t do somersaults in the air because they upset his stomach. Maybe he wouldn’t want to be a flying shifter. He wasn’t sure which kind would be the best. Maybe it was better to draw shifters because then he could draw any kind he wanted to. Like a squid shifter. And a tarantula shifter. What would he be able to see witheighteyes? He could also give his story shifters as many powers as he wanted to.
“Sam!”
Sam turned back at the house. Alejo had come out of the door with some tools under his arm. He smiled and waved, and Sam waved back. How he liked Alejo! Oriane was so lucky to have him as a dad. Maybe he could be Sam’s stepdad?
If Alejo ever came to school again—and maybe he would for Open House in a couple of weeks—Sam already knew what he was going to say, if anyone asked, “Alejo islikemy dad.”
“Can I do something?” Sam called.
“How about tomorrow? I’m almost done here, and isn’t it almost time to wash up for dinner?”
“We’re having tacos,” Sam yelled.
Alejo smiled back at Sam and said, “Woo hoo! Better save at least ten for me!”
Sam laughed at the idea of anyone eating ten tacos. He was so happy he wanted to skip, and so he did, even if it made his glasses bounce on his nose. He started back, and cut into the garden, just to make sure they were still there—and to check the food stations, now that they were back.
Nobody was out, but he knew they were back. He started up the path, and almost ran into Oriane, who was alone—Lisi must have flown back to her house, for it would be dinner time there, too.
“Eh, petit gars,” Oriane said.
