Page 84 of Shadow Beasts

“Here we are,” he said, pressing it onto Paige’s forehead. “N28352.635BR”

Paige squashed her lips together as she ripped the paper from her head. “That’s exactly where I went. And there is no N28352.635BR. There is an N28352.635RR but not BR.”

Dewey flitted through the shelves with Paige following closely behind him. He led her to the same aisle she’d been in earlier. Paige winced as she peered around the corner, checking for lions.

“There are no lions! I told you before, they were conjured by the Lion Tamer.”

Her discarded sticky note lay halfway down between the shelves where it had fallen during her wild adventure. Dewey flew down toward it and hovered over top of it as he waited for Paige to catch up.

“Now,” he said, jabbing a finger at the box containing the lion-conjuring whip, “that is N28352.635RR.”

“Yes, I can read, thank you,” Paige snapped.

“And where else did you look?”

“All over! Look, it goes from 627 something here to like 637 there. There is no 635–“

Dewey turned his attention to her, his narrowed eyes focusing on her face as his chubby paw connected with a container then shoved it aside. He arched a thick eyebrow at her and waved behind the box he’d moved.

Paige peered into the dark hole behind the box, squinting into the darkness. A small gold box sat at the rear of the shelf.

“Well, go on,” Dewey said. “My arms are too short.”

Paige rolled her eyes as she turned sideways to reach toward the box. “I didn’t know things were hidden.”

“Of course things are hidden. There’s only so much frontage on these shelves, you know.”

With a huff, she shook her head at him as her fingers touched cool metal. Her lips formed a grimace while she struggled to tug it forward. “Ugh, how heavy is this stuff?”

“It’s not heavy. The container is heavy.”

“No kidding,” Paige said between clenched teeth as her muscles stretched to grasp the container and pull it forward.

“Well, we can’t have the Seepy Sap seeping out, now can we?”

After a bit of work, Paige managed to tug the heavy object forward and lift it from the shelf. Encased in a solid, square golden container, the sap remained a mystery to her.

“Should I try it?” she questioned, her hand hovering over the clasp that kept the box closed.

Dewey waved a paw in the air and darted down the aisle. “No time. We should get going. Did you call ahead for the plane?”

Paige’s features squashed with confusion as she hurried to follow him. “Huh?”

“The plane, Paige. Did you call to put the plane on standby?”

“No. I don’t even know who to call.”

A puff of smoke wafted from Dewey’s nostrils, and he rolled his eyes. “Must I do everything?”

He shot across the space and over toward the BookTron and Locartifact. His chubby teal paw snatched up the receiver of a red phone, and he pressed the number nine.

He drummed his claws against the table as he waited, a grumpy frown on his face. “Yes, hello, this is Dewey Decimael from Shadow Harbor Library… Yes, I’ll need the plane on standby immediately. Destination is Moscow. Uh-huh. Yes, that’s correct.” His nose wrinkled, and his horns wiggled. Another puff of smoke popped out of his nose. “Well, of course Veronica okayed it! Just see that it’s ready. We’re on our way.”

Dewey slammed the receiver down onto the cradle.

“Idiots,” he hissed.

“That didn’t sound good.”