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“Holmes?”
He ignored me, utterly consumed with digging through his bag of today’s purchases. Impatient frustration shoved a pipette into my hand, then a small beaker, but refusing to take the two empty vials finally paused his search to scowl at me. As if he did not understand why I could not hold anything else. I could hardly drop my cane to carry his purchases on top of my own.
Though I would use his attention to repeat my question. “What are you missing?”
He muttered something about “that rare reactant” but refused to answer when I tried again. I finally halted against the nearest building.
“You are going to run into someone.”
He started at the words, then another frown tried to scold me for stopping. Two long strides joined me beside the building without comment, however, where a few seconds let him spread bits of glassware, reactants, tobacco, and a few other things over the low wall.
“Ha!”
And found the small bottle he had evidently believed forgotten. Holding the glass toward the sun confirmed a lack of damage, then it disappeared into a secure pocket. He started refilling his bags as I noted the quiet ticking of overly long claws in the nearest alley. Two-toned eyes stalked from the shadows. Why was—
“Mrow!”
Holmes shoved the last item into his bag as the loud yowl of an irritated feline sounded not five feet behind him, and I struggled to breathe when he violently startled, then spun to look at the rare calico tomcat sitting in the alley’s entrance. Amber and violet eyes glittered in feline mischief despite the small tongue casually licking one paw, and I had to lean against the wall to stay upright. Even Doris had not managed to sneak up on Holmes that completely. For Brian to do so that easily—
Despite Holmes’ clear irritation, I needed several seconds to manage words. Doris would have begged him for lessons if she had seen that.
“Well done,” I told the animal around continued laughter. “Come on, Holmes. I believe we have been summoned.”
Or I had, by the disdain the tom cast toward my friend. He made no complaint, however. Multicolored fur tried to blend into the shadows, but I easily followed him well out of range of eavesdroppers. Only when his keen nose ensured no one nearby did the animal sit in the middle of the alley. Several moments met my gaze, then directed a pointed question toward Holmes. Right. He may not have heard about that yet.
“It’s alright, Brian. He discovered a rabbit in my wardrobe a couple of years ago.”
Ears perked up in clear curiosity, but he needed no further prompting. Fur rippled and receded until I stood before the young man that had arrived at the courtyard so long ago. My grin matched his when Holmes choked behind me.
“Glad London’s foremost observer finally learned how to look,” Brian quipped. “One might think you’d never seen a changeling before.”
I doubted Holmes had seen one change, though I knew he had seen several in their root form. I enjoyed Holmes’ shock for a long moment before turning back toward Brian. He would not have tracked us down simply to say hello—or to render Holmes speechless, no matter how amusing.
“Couple o’ dwarves are needin’ help in the park,” he answered. “Sinkhole opened under their youngling, but I can’t reach him as a human and can’t pull him out as an animal. Even a dog just widens the hole. Do you have time?”
“Certainly.” I purposely replied before Holmes had time to ask, though he did not try to stop me. Brian led us out the other end of the alley and straight into the next, and we had nearly reached the next street before Holmes found the words for a question.
“A changeling can shift into an animal?”
“Any animal we’ve seen,” Brian nodded. “I changed into a kitten first, not long before I joined the Irregulars. I was about eight at the time, but I lost my Da that day and Mam soon after. A chance meeting with a lutin north of London provided the information I needed.” He paused to detour around a blocked alley. “Da told me once that I got my grandma’s eyes, so I probably got the ability from her.”
Probably, but we reached the park before I needed to reply. Brian led us toward the nearest thick copse that hid a portal, where his magic flared to let us pass into the magical realm. A low whistle prevented us from startling the family.
“Here!”
The father’s answering call made Brian change our route, but we soon ducked beneath low hanging branches to find a familiar face trying to hide worry behind a coarse, black beard. The unfamiliar posture announced this Kukrin’s twin, rather than Kukrin himself, and his clipped gesture drew our attention to where his wife leaned over the large hole behind them, clearly keeping their son calm. The amulet in my pocket made him skip half the introductions.
“Doctor,” he nodded shortly. “Detective. Name’s Kukrik. Wife’s Brudhilda. Brian described tha problem?”
“He did.” I ignored the amulet’s confirmation to set down my bag and note nearby trees. “Does your twin know you’re finding trouble in Regent’s?”
Barked laughter appreciated the moment’s diversion. “Aye. S’posed to meet us here later but got hisself sidetracked. Not that he’d be able ta help, either. Thrak’s too big ta take as passenger ‘n too young to take hisself. S’why Brian went fer help.”
“We’ll get him out of there.” I addressed Kukrik but smiled at the worried youngling. “My cane may even reach. Are you hurt?”
No, by the instant head shake. Finding himself trapped and surrounded by crumbling earth had terrified him, though. Only his mother’s constant stream of reassurance kept him from digging at the walls in a panic. Calm movements tried to ease that worry though I kept my attention on the soft dirt of the hole’s edge. I would not be able to stand or even kneel within several inches of the opening.
“Holmes, can you counterbalance me?”
Holmes set his bags next to mine to work his fingers around my belt, but even the extra reach still fell well short. If only we had a rope.
We did not, however. Brian hooked his feet in the roots of the nearest tree, then grabbed Holmes to make a human chain. Putting Kukrik between them still lacked nearly three inches, but adding Brudhilda risked sending me over the edge. I quickly moved back when dirt crumbled beneath my weight.
“Is there a longer branch nearby?”
Rustling carried behind me, then Holmes released his hold on one ankle to warn that someone had broken the chain. The grip returned in only a few seconds.
Simultaneous to a surprised yelp, though Holmes would never admit as much. I suddenly found myself with nearly six inches to spare.
Considering Brian’s ability and the Irregulars’ habit of sneaking into the zoological center, I knew better than to ask what Brian had changed into. Tiny hands tightly gripped the end of my stick, which I leveraged against my other hand to lift as high as I could. Kukrik barely reached my hip, so his son weighed almost nothing. I easily pulled him close enough to lunge for my jacket.
“I can’t crawl backwards,” I told him when he waited for me to keep pulling. “You’ll have to climb. Grab my arm, then step on the cane to pull yourself up my back.”
Wide eyes grew slightly wider at the concept, but a hard swallow forced a facsimile of bravery. A swinging lunge missed his first grab but found my arm on the second, then tiny leather boots scrambled for purchase against my stick. I helped as much as I could, and he finally managed to grab my collar. From there, he simply climbed me like he undoubtedly did the playset on the other side of this park. Only a few minutes removed the small feet from my back, and I pushed away from the hole when Brudhilda started fussing over him.
“Alright?”
“Aye,” Kukrik answered, never loosening the hold sandwiching their son between them. “Thankee.”
“Not a problem. Can you put up a barrier to keep the others away from the edge? It’s not done collapsing.”
“I will,” Brudhilda promised. Dark brown eyes glittered with leftover fear as she caught my gaze over her son’s head. “Thank you, Doctor, Mr. Holmes. The park is emptier than usual today, and Thrak can’t yet take the fast route.”
Holmes nodded an acknowledgement, but a few more pleasantries let us slip away. Holmes remained silent only until the world shimmered to put us back on the non-magical side of the portal.
“Is that a common problem?”
“In general?” I specified, though I kept my eyes on my feet. My leg did not appreciate the pressure required to counterbalance that reach. “No. While not the first time that has happened, the problem is more a factor of size and age. Brian or even a nymph would have been able to jump clear when the ground grew soft, and any adult could use the fast route to reappear a few feet away, but Thrak is a few years away from either of those methods.”
Several seconds processed that and worked the logic. “How many of those rescue missions did you hide from me?”
I gave a half shrug. I had met Torsten one of those times, when Holmes’ barbed desire for an empty flat had sent me wandering Regent’s at the same time the nisse had happened on another trapped youngling, but the incident hardly mattered now.
“Actively? Not many, but every magical in London can sense my amulet. More than a few have come to me over the years asking for help, though they also knew to catch my attention without alerting anyone else nearby. Any that signaled with you within range would have avoided your notice, and I probably either disappeared into the crowd or claimed a forgotten appointment to send you home. They never take very long.”
Something about that made him frown, though another few seconds pointedly changed the topic. I let him think. If this had sparked more questions about the magical realm, he would ask once he found the right words.
Or when Brian staged another prank. The small furball of a dog howled with laughter when a perfectly timed yip made Holmes stumble over a loose cobblestone, and I made no effort to hide my grin at the familiar pair watching from a nearby alley.
A few Irregulars would try the same soon enough.