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Birdie grasped onto the doorway, her head spinning.  Her breath jumped out of her nose in silent spurts and her tongue felt like lead between her teeth.  She couldn’t tear her eyes off Mr. Pemberely’s face.  She had expected an old man, a thin man, a fat man–anything but this.

“What is it?” Frankie hissed.  “What’s he look like?”

Birdie’s mouth opened and closed.  She shook her head, raising a trembling finger into the back room.  Frankie rolled her eyes.

“And you tell me I’m dramatic,” she whispered, crawling forward carefully so she wouldn’t disturb the cat curled on her lap. Angling her shoulders between two hamster cages, she used her fingertips to pull her forward.  Twisting her head at just the precise angle, she peered around the doorway.  A whimper escaped from her lips and Birdie clamped a hand over her mouth, sealing the scream.  She dragged her back, tightening her fingers as Frankie’s wide eyes darted back and forth.

“I know, I know,” Birdie whispered, petting her hair like you would a fretting child.  “It’s ok, it’s ok.”

Her own words failed to convince her, though they calmed Frankie.  Her eyes quit bulging and the color returned to her cheeks.  Sucking in a deep breath through her nose, she nodded and Birdie removed her hand.  “Birdie, what happened?” she whispered, shuddering.  “What happened to him?”

Birdie shook her head and raised her shoulders.  Bracing herself, she turned back around and peered through the doorway at Mr. Pemberely’s face.  It was less of a shock the second time around, but it was still a shock.

Curls of grey and black hair shrouded a face covered in silky orange fur.  Black and white and brown splotches peppered the cheeks and chin, like a calico cat wearing an old man’s wig.  His nose began as a human’s but ended in a pink and black speckled cat nose complete with long white whiskers and feline fangs.  His yellow eyes peered around the room, and a long orange and black tail peeked out from his shirtwaist.  The hands grasping the monkey had human fingers, but were covered in orange fur with long claws that could contract and extend.

Mr. Pemberely had turned himself into a cat man.

Sassy straightened in her lap, the guard hair on her neck rising.  A growl rumbled in her throat and Birdie shook her head.  “Sassy, shh!” she whispered.

Mr. Pemberely’s head snapped up.  His tail straightened like an exclaimation point as he swiveled his gaze around the back room.  “Who’s there?”  he called.  “Who’s there?”

Frankie and Birdie clasped hands, their fingers squeezing tightly so neither of them would scream.  Sassy growled louder, baring her teeth.

Mr. Pemberely put the monkey down and peered into the back room.   Frankie and Birdie plastered themselves to the wall, praying he wouldn’t see the top of their heads over the window.

“Someone’s here,” he muttered.  “I know someone’s here.”  He stepped out of the back room into the main part of the shop, pausing in the doorway.  Birdie held her breath, her slick fingers squeezing Frankie’s until her joints were white and aching.  Her ears back, Sassy growled again.  Mr. Pemberely glanced down at her and frowned.

“Strange,” he murmured, “Very strange.”

Birdie stared as he stepped forward a few feet, glancing around the shop.  She was so close to him that she could see the pattern on his socks, the laces on his shoes.  Sassy was only a few inches from her toes, yet he acted as though he had noticed them at all.  Biting her lip to quell the hysterics rising in her throat, she watched as he silently walked from the main shop, through the back room and opened the steel door he had come out of.  Disappearing inside, she heard a metallic click as the lock slid into place.

After a moment of excruiating silence, both girls exhaled and slid down onto the floor.

“Sassy!” Birdie hissed.  “Were you trying to get us in trouble?  What were you growling like that for?  He almost saw us!”

“He didn’t see you.”

Birdie and Frankie whirled around to see Percy lurking over them.  With his curved back and hunched shoulders, he looked more miserable than ominous.

“What are you doing here?” Birdie hissed as Frankie ducked, looking guilty.  “We saw you go home.”

Percy shrugged sheepishly.  “I came back to get a goldfish.  I was lonely.”

“I don’t believe you,” Birdie snarled.

Percy shrugged a second time.  “Believe what you want.  You should be glad I came back.  You almost got in a lot of trouble.”

“What’s wrong with his face?”  The whisper exploded behind Birdie’s shoulder.  Frankie trembled, closing her eyes as if to erase the image.  “What happened to him?  What did he do?”

Percy gave them a bitter smile.  “One of his experiments gone wrong, I’m afraid.”

“Is that what he does?” Birdie growled, her blood boiling.  “He experiments on animals?”  She leaped to her feet, clenching her fists.  “I’ll show him an experiment!”

“Calm down,” Percy hissed, grabbing her arm.  “He doesn’t experiment on them.  Only on himself.  The tiny animals you see were born tiny.  He rescued them from a zoo in New Orleans.”

“A zoo of tiny animals?”  Not even Frankie believed that one.

“It was a voodoo zoo,” Percy began, then shook his head.  “Never mind.  It’s not important.  All you need to know is that the animals here are safe.  Most of them came to him.  Others, he rescued.  They don’t live in cages, they are free to come and go whenever they please.  The only science they receive is typical medical care–shots and vaccinations and things.  But there are no experiments done–on them.”

Birdie crossed her arms.  “Who is experimented on?  What are his expierements?  Why is he running this pet shop?  Why couldn’t he see us?  I want to know what’s going on.”

“He couldn’t see you because of the same reasons you couldn’t see the animals when you first came in,” Percy answered, his voice weary.  “As for the rest– that’s a long story.”

Birdie leaned against the wall.  Sassy mimicked her behavior.  “I got all night,” she said, shooting a warning look at Frankie.

Percy sighed and shook his head.  “Well, it started right after vet school….”

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends!  Tomorrow we have a delicious recipe and Friday, a birthday tribute!  Then Saturday, a new Dallas Jean!  Stay tuned!