Chapter 7: The Switched Days

The two dragons had decided that Esther would do double watch over Charlie at the iron forge and the Elder would watch over Avery at the animal farm. The rogue dragons had shown no interest in the girls and they would be with Ms. Carol who knew enough about dragons to protect them anyway. Lexi was carrying her bird with her everywhere too.

Right before Charlie could enter the iron forge, he heard his familiar shadow friend hissing. Another shadow appeared out of the darkness and loomed towards his friend. He could see his friend clearly now as a large white cat. The cat clawed at the shadow and the hissing noises were so loud. The dark shadow reached out to Charlie's foot. The white cat pounced on it.

Charlie couldn't make out what creature the cat was fighting. Was it a dark colored cat or a dog? It kept reaching out to hurt him, but the cat was always on top of it. He reached for the door to enter the iron forge, but the cat stood in his way. He pet the cat and heard in his mind "You're safe now. I'll always be around to protect you."

"Thank you." Charlie said. The cat purred in response. The door flung open and Mr. Matthew looked mad.

"You're late." Mr. Matthew said. Charlie pointed at the cat, but it was gone. "I know today's going to be a long day, but I need you to work as hard as you can. Avery won't be here, but we still need to make things. Ms. Patricia needs a piece for her oven. We can't let them down." He ushered in Charlie to the forge to begin the day's work.

Meanwhile, Avery was being instructed by Mr. Arnold on how to care for goats. "You have to brush their fur occasionally. It will also do good for you to build a relationship with the goats, so they do not fear you. That's your first task of today. Find Freddy, a white and brown goat that is usually by the far end of the pen. He's usually the friendliest so after him find the other two goats and brush them too. That shouldn't take longer than a few hours. I'll tend to the cows while you do that. Call out if you need me."

Avery looked around for an hour just to find Freddy. He reached out to Freddy when a shadow appeared behind the goat. He went to scream, but another shadow appeared right beside him. The shadow on the side of him was a large dark cat. It growled loudly at the other shadow. The goat was stuck. Avery reached out to touch the goat and the goat jumped on top of Avery. Shock hit Avery as the goat's horns hit his stomach.

"Sorry about that." A voice came into Avery's mind. "Just stay there with Freddy." Avery watched the dark cat jump on top of the shadow. "Don't call out for help. I got this." The shadow and cat merged into one.

No, the cat had jumped on top of the shadow. It tore in its claws into the shadow. There was a horrible shrieking sound. The shadow twisted and was on top of the cat. The cat looked so defenseless.

Avery started panicking. The cat started biting the shadow. Avery started brushing the goat to calm himself down and to get the goat to stop putting so much weight on his stomach. "There's no need to worry. Esther or I will always be around to protect you."

Avery was spooked the rest of the day, but he still managed to brush the goats. He found Mr. Arnold hunched over milking a cow. "Mr. Arnold. I finished the goats." Avery saw Mr. Arnold's tears. "What's wrong?"

"We lost a calf. This is the mother. Touch her." Mr. Arnold instructed Avery. "It's like you can feel her sadness."

"Is there a wolf here?" Avery asked, but he had already known the shadow that was responsible.

"I guess so. Let's go set up traps to catch that blasted wolf before he takes any other creature. Be sure to get the eggs before leaving tonight." Mr. Arnold pet the cow. "It's okay sweetie, we'll figure out what took your baby and we'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

On the other end of the village, Ms. Carol was sitting at the front desk figuring out what she could do with Ericka and Lexi today. The nursing home was a small building with a few rooms. No one had serious problems here, but they stayed here to teach the younger generation how to take care of the elderly. Most of the patients were never married and didn't have children of their own. It was a bonus that they got the chance to play with the kids.

They were much too young to be of any use, but they did play with the patients. It was a good break from their pottery work Ms. Carol guessed. "Ericka and Lexi, how do you feel about dancing and singing today?"

The girls both started smiling, but Ericka then looked down. What song could she sing that Lexi would know the words? Maybe she should just tell Ms. Carol that this wouldn't be a good idea. Lexi was just too young. All the work would fall on her again, but it would be nice to sing.

"The song doesn't have to be right. Just sing whatever you both want and dance. The people here would enjoy the concert." Ms. Carol got her basket and went into the first room and began taking temperatures and blood pressure. The girls were talking to each other about what song they would sing. Lexi just wanted to dance. Ericka said she'd be fine singing by herself.

"Twinkle, twinkle little star." Ericka began singing and Lexi just danced. Ericka sang a few more songs before Lexi started to get sleepy. Great, Ericka thought the baby needs to nap. Why was Lexi getting such special treatment?

"Okay" Ms. Carol called from the next room. It was Ms. Nancy's room where Lexi frequently napped. There was a shadow in the corner of the room. How strange. "We'll have to get you to nap somewhere else. Ms. Nancy isn't feeling too well."

"Too late Ms. Carol." Ericka said. Lexi had fall asleep on the floor near the front desk.

"You can nap too if you want Ericka." Ms. Carol said. "I don't want you to feel forced to work more while Lexi naps." Ericka grabbed them a blanket and laid down beside Lexi and fell asleep. They would nap for a hour before waking up.

Ms. Carol had them sing and dance for the day which gave her a much-needed boost. She just told them to avoid Ms. Nancy's room. After a few hours she saw the shadow was gone and let the girls go visit with Ms. Nancy. That concluded their day at the nursing home.