Page 6 of The Curious Incident of the Great Cookie Snackcident of 979

“Fancy seeing you here,” Abi teased as she neared her friend.

“Ha! Imagine that,” Senka replied, opening their wholly unnecessary lunch.

Over the last few weeks, Senka and Abi had made a habit of talking about what they were eating each day, and knowing that they didn’t need to eat at all, Abi saw it in a new light.

“So have you been making food every day, different dishes, that you don’tactuallyneed to eat?” Abi tilted her head to the side, looking at her friend amusedly.

Senka’s wisps waved faster, and their face emitted a glow, something Abi had come to interpret as akin to a blush.

“Maybe? Yes ... all right yes, I don’t need to eat this often, we know that. So, I’ve been cooking just little recipes—for me. Now that I have my own place, I wanted to learn to cook anyway, but it also felt like it would be really uncomfortable if you were eating every day and I was just sitting here talking to you.”

“That’s why you didn’t have any food on that first day!” Abi gasped. “I’d just figured that you’d already eaten your lunch. Senka, that’s so sweet! Well, my mum loves having a new fan. I think she’s made your favorite again.”

Abi held up the package of treats, which felt distinctly like Senka’s favorite lemon-lavender shortbread cookies.

“You must’ve really wanted to be my friend,” Abi observed.

“I did ... I suppose I saw an opportunity and didn’t want to miss it because I made you feel self-conscious. So, I taught myself to cook,” they whispered.

Abi bumped her friend’s shoulder with her own. “You’re just learning? That’s amazing. In that case, what have you prepared today, Chef?” she asked.

Senka unwrapped their food to showcase little greenish puffs. “They’re called gougères, they are egg-based, small puffy choux pastries that I’ve put cheese and lunula in. Then you cut them in half and put some filling inside. In this case, it’s a mousse of salmon, chives and some other ingredients.”

Abi’s jaw dropped. “A salmon-mousse gougère? Senka, I don’t know if you realize that is not exactly easy to make. I assumed you were an experienced cook with the things you always make. Are you telling me youstartedcooking, for the first time ever, with these complicated dishes you’ve been bringing?”

Senka shrugged. “Yes? It’s a book I’ve had since I was little, and I have most of the recipes memorized.2 I—” they cut off on a gasp, eyes widening, sitting up at attention, their wisps frozen.

Abi followed their eyes out onto the surface of the lake. She launched herself to standing, tumbling her lunch onto the ground in front of her.

“Abi did you—did you see that?” they asked, eyes locked on where the Lady floated.

“No, what is it?” she hissed, eyes searching for the disturbance. She readied her lunula, prepared to shift into her owl at a moment’s notice.

“She—shemoved.” Senka breathed. “I don’t think there is anyone here, the Lady simply twitched—her whole right arm.”

When Abi looked at the surface of the lake, there were ripples extending from the Lady’s right arm, ripples that were just now lapping against the shore at their feet. She turned to meet Senka’s gaze, the awe on their face matching her own.

“Go get reinforcements! I’ll search the room,” Senka whispered.3

Abi nodded, barely able to process what was happening. In moments, tingles covered her body, signaling the lunula converting mass to energy. As it did so, she felt herself shrinking, not even consciously in control of the process. Her lips hardened into a wicked beak, her toes sprouted sharp talons, and soft feathers grew to cover her body. Her clothing crumpled away around her as she shrank, piling on the floor.

Seconds later, she was off like an arrow, her strong wings lifting her from the ground and propelling her across the caverntoward the nearest guard post. She zipped down corridors, her wingtips grazing the walls in her haste. When she reached the first guard station, Abi shifted her mouth just enough to speak.

“We need reinforcements! The Lady moved her arm!” she screeched.

The pair of guards, a shade and an otter shifter, frowned at her before sharing a look and nodding. The shade backed into a shadow and melded away. The otter shifter, Gufi, grabbed a jar from his belt and poured its contents on the ground before tossing it to Abi. She caught it in her talons and as he launched himself into the air, shifting mid-fall to land on his belly.

Abi took off back toward the chamber, pouring the viscous liquid on the ground to speed his way. Otters often slid along their bellies to travel at high speed, but because the cavern floors weren’t slippery by default, he kept jars of the specially designed lubricant for such occasions. Gufi slid along just behind her, paddling with his arms to keep up momentum.4

They arrived back in the Lady’s chamber not even two minutes after Abi left to fetch them. Abi shot out of the opening to the Lady’s Sepulcher and flew over the lake, her keen eyes cataloging first every inch of her Goddess. Next, she scanned the walls, honing in on the movement of her comrades as they searched the room.

In the water below, Gufi swam up next to the Lady. He, like other guards with an aquatic shifter form, was trained to monitor her vital signs against years of records. Abi shifted her attention back to the room, confident he would alert them if anything was amiss.

They searched for a half hour before the senior shade gave the all-clear. Abi landed on the shore, nestled herself into the pile of her clothing, and shifted back. Senka looked at her, their large eyes tight with worry and their chest heaving.

“Not a single sign?” their Shift-Captain asked.

“No, Captain,” they answered in unison, Gufi’s voice sounding discordant with Senka and Abi’s.