The Gargoyle Overhead

by Philippa Dowding

  Near the end of their week together, however, Gargoth was lying on his cushion, not paying much attention to the shop below, when he heard the sound of angry voices. He sat up and listened carefully.

  A man’s voice was raised loudly. “I know that you have something of mine. You ought to give it back. You are stealing from me! It’s my property!”

  Cassandra’s voice shot back, “I have no idea what you are talking about. We don’t have any here, can’t you see? Now you should really leave, or I’ll phone the police!” Gargoth couldn’t see her, but he felt sure that Cassandra was standing at her full height, over six feet, and looking very fierce.

  For a moment Gargoth was filled with gratitude for Cassandra. He had no idea what was going on, but he was very happy that she was courageous and strong. He heard the bell over the door tinkle furiously, and a second later the door slammed hard. The man had left. He heard Cassandra walk across the store and lock the door.

  Gargoth descended a few steps and peered over the edge of the stairway to the shop below. Cassandra was standing beneath him, clutching the store counter with one hand, pushing her curly red hair back from her face with the other. She looked very flustered.

  “Cassandra?” Gargoth said.

  Cassandra looked up at the sound of his whispery voice. “Oh, Gargoth. Did you hear that?” She waved her hand toward the door.

  He nodded.

  “Oh.” She thought for a minute. “Gargoth, you can understand me, correct?”

  He nodded again, more slowly this time.

  “Okay. Can you nod or shake your head for me, yes or no?”

  Another nod.

  “Is someone looking for you?”

  A shrug.

  “Okay, then, let me be more exact. Is it possible that someone is looking for you?”

  Gargoth looked at his scaly feet for a moment and shrugged again. But he also slowly nodded.

  “Would it be an old man?”

  A faint nod.

  “Does he wear a white straw hat, a big baggy brown jacket and thick glasses?” Cassandra said this with a chill in her voice, but she was silenced by Gargoth’s response.

  The little gargoyle started making a terrible noise, which could not be mistaken as anything but a heart-broken howl. Cassandra ran up the stairs and stood over him, unsure what to do.

  Gargoth was shrieking and sobbing with terror, his entire body curled in fear. Cassandra sat on the stair beside him with a very worried look on her face. Gargoth turned and suddenly buried his little face in her shoulder, scalding her with hot gargoyle tears. She held him tightly while he wept.

  It didn’t matter whether they understood each other or not; anyone watching would have seen one friend deeply upset, and the other friend doing her best to comfort him.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Ambergine:

  Goldfish and Crabapples

  Ambergine rested for three days.

  She had gotten over her fright at seeing the man in the white straw hat in the yard with the calico cat. But she had not recovered from flying across the entire city in one night.

  In a bit of luck (the only real luck she had had so far), the library rooftop had a garden, with a small goldfish pond in it, and a row of tiny potted trees. She would have plenty of water to drink. There was an ornamental crabapple tree in a container, so she had apples to eat, too (although they were small and awfully sour). She thought this would be a perfect place to rest from her long flight for a few days.

  And she didn’t see anyone on the roof except one time when a librarian ate her lunch on the bench beside the goldfish pond. Ambergine stayed still as a statue in the garden, and although she was in plain sight, the librarian never noticed her. All in all, it was a perfect spot to hide out, high above the streets.

  But she wasn’t idle. While she rested between the goldfish pond and the crabapple tree, she was trying to remember what she knew of the man with the white straw hat.

  She was trying to remember everything that Gargoth had told her about his greatest enemy. For that is who he was: the man with the white straw hat was Gargoth’s last owner, the one who had kept him prisoner for years and years in New York City.

  The worst one of all.

  She had to concentrate.

  What had Gargoth said about him? He was “invin-cible”, that was the word he had used. And he would never give up trying to find Gargoth. He had said that too. He desperately wanted Gargoth back, for some reason.

  She couldn’t quite remember why. Oh yes. It was because the man knew that Gargoth was alive.

  “Because I am alive, he wants me back. I am a curiosity to him, and he will never stop until he finds me. He thinks I am his property. He is very rich, spoiled, and alone. Except for me.”

  That’s what Gargoth had said.

  Ambergine took a bite of crabapple and winced. They really were sour. Sometimes she wished she enjoyed eating something else, like night bugs. She had watched many bats over the years, and there were always plenty of bugs for them to eat. She shuddered. She had tried bugs now and then, but they were much too crunchy for her taste. And wriggly.

  She sighed and looked out toward the glowing city. Toronto was very pretty, she had to admit, but she could never like the city, unless of course she found what she was looking for.

  She shook her head and sighed. She had found him in New York, eventually, even though both she and Gargoth had almost been killed for her efforts.

  Toronto is smaller and quieter than New York; it won’t be that hard to find him, will it? she wondered, unconvinced. She was growing tired, very tired, of searching.

  Chapter Eighteen

  This Store is CLOSED

  As the evening drew near, Ambergine was ready to try again to find the backyard with the calico cat.

  She had rested for several days, so she was no longer too tired to fly. The water and the crabapples, such as they were, had given her strength.

  Each night she had noticed a warm glow from a few rooftops over. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she liked the look of it. It was as though many lamps, or perhaps candles, were flickering gently in the night breeze. There was something familiar about it too, although she wasn’t entirely sure what it was. She decided if she had the energy, she might fly over to see what was there.

  Either way, she would fly again that night, after she took one final long drink and filled her pouch with crab-apples.

  Meanwhile, inside Candles by Daye, Cassandra had hung a “CLOSED” sign on the front door and was talking on the phone. She was very excited and talking quickly.

  “Yes, yes, I don’t know. He just came in here in his baggy coat and white straw hat and started demanding that I give him what ‘belonged to him’.” Here Cassandra dropped her voice and looked toward the back corner of the store. Gargoth was slumped beside a large Buddha statue, idly playing with coloured sets of healing crystals.

  “I think you’d better come quickly. Can you leave soccer camp now? He seems really…sad. I mean sadder than normal. And I can’t find out anything more from him, because I can’t understand him, so it’s been really frustrating for both of us.” Cassandra was whispering now. “And the man said something about Gargoth being his property, or some nonsense. We have to get to the bottom of it, Katherine. I’m really worried…” Cassandra trailed off.

  Gargoth stood and waddled over to her. He raised his claw, as though to ask for the telephone. Surprised, Cassandra bent down and handed it to him.

  Gargoth looked at it suspiciously, but slowly put it to his ear. When he heard nothing, he looked up at Cassandra.

  “You have to speak, Gargoth,” she said.

  “Katherine?” Gargoth uttered slowly.

  “Gargoth?” came Katherine’s surprised voice.

  Gargoth quickly moved the phone away from his ear, but then slowly moved it back, holding it gingerly in his claw. “Yes, Katherine, it is me. I do not want to use this ridiculous talking machine, but I have no choice. List
en carefully. We were just visited by my greatest enemy. Your kind friend showed him the door, but he will be back.” Gargoth was hissing now. “He will try to steal me, Katherine. I must go away, now. I am endangering you, and your tall friend here…”

  Katherine heard Gargoth sob, and she felt a jolt of anger. Who would dare hurt Gargoth? She would do whatever she could to protect him, and she knew Cassandra and her parents would, too.

  She said very calmly into her cell phone, “Don’t worry, Gargoth. I’m coming to get you. Cassandra and I will always keep you safe, no matter what.” She wanted to add, “My mom and dad will, too,” but it seemed pointless, since they were so far away.

  But the line was dead. Gargoth had said all he had to say.

  Katherine clicked her phone shut and ran over to her coach. “I’m sorry, I’ve got to go, there’s an emergency at home,” she said, flinging her soccer equipment into her bag and throwing it over her shoulder.

  “Everyone okay?” the coach asked, sounding worried.

  “Uh, yes, it’s my little…brother…he’s…uh… running with scissors!” she said, flustered.

  Running with scissors? Is that the best I can do?

  “I mean, he’s hurt. He’s okay, but I’ve got to go. I’ll see you on Monday! Thanks!” And she ran to catch the streetcar, which had just rattled into view.

  As she sat, Katherine thought about everything that Cassandra and Gargoth had said. It was urgent. It was terrible. Gargoth was in danger! A man in a white straw hat was a terrible enemy, and he knew where Gargoth was! He was looking for him! He wanted him back!

  Katherine wasn’t sure what she could tell her parents if they came home and found Gargoth gone forever.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Two at Once

  After Gargoth hung up, he returned to the corner beside the Buddha, quiet and sullen. Cassandra put out some water and apples for him and told him she’d be in the back room, sorting a new shipment of tarot cards and Toronto keychains.

  She also told him that Katherine would be there really soon. “You’ll be safe if you just stay here, okay? I’m right there,” she said, pointing to the room behind the hanging beads. “Just call me if you need me.” She disappeared behind the beads with a swish of her long skirt.

  Gargoth started pacing back and forth between the door and the Buddha statue. He had a scowl on his face.

  When a deliveryman banged on the door ten minutes later, he stood very quietly, still as a statue. Cassandra said through the glass, “Sorry, we’re closed,” as she pointed at the “CLOSED” sign hanging there.

  “Lady, I gotta deliver these necklaces now, or you’re not gonna get them any time soon. They go back to the wholesaler if I don’t drop them off right now.” Cassandra sighed and unlocked the door. She had been waiting for months for the necklaces—they were steel blue with skulls and crossbones on them, and for some reason, every teenager in town wanted one.

  Cassandra opened the door. The man trundled in with the heavy boxes, which immediately fell and knocked over a large display of essential oils. For a few minutes, Cassandra and the man ran wildly around the store with rags and mops, cleaning up the mess. It seems she had met someone more clumsy than herself.

  When they had cleaned up the broken vials of oil, and the man had left, Cassandra looked around for Gargoth.

  But there was no sign of him. He was gone.

  She ran to the door, frantic, looking up and down the empty street. In one direction, she saw the delivery man putting a few boxes into the back of his van.

  In the other direction, she saw the man in the white straw hat running away as fast as he could! A suspicious bulge was wiggling under his baggy brown jacket. She saw something fall from under his jacket, and she dashed to the spot where it had fallen on the sidewalk.

  It was Gargoth’s pipe, broken in two.

  Cassandra shouted, “STOP! Come back!” She ran along the sidewalk to the corner as fast as her long legs could carry her. A lady coming out of a grocery store had to jump out of the way of the careening giantess. A mother pushing a stroller yelped and dashed out of her way, too.

  Cassandra ran to the corner, gasping and trying to catch her breath.

  But she was too late. The man with the white straw hat hailed a taxi and jumped into the back seat with the struggling lump under his jacket. The last Cassandra saw of him was the taxi whizzing west along Queen Street.

  “NO!” shrieked Cassandra. “Come back!” she yelled.

  It was no use. The man in the white straw hat was gone. And so was Gargoth.

  Cassandra ran back into her store, about to phone the police. If she had been thinking clearly though, she might have rethought that. What was she going to say?

  A thief stole my gargoyle, he’s about this high, and oh yes, he’s alive.

  She didn’t have a chance to call the police anyway, since just as she sped back into her store, she heard a loud crash from the rooftop. She dashed upstairs.

  By this time, Katherine was getting close to the store. Her streetcar rolled along Queen Street at such a snail’s pace that she wanted to scream at the driver to step on it. At one point, it was nearly hit by a taxi speeding past them in the other direction.

  When Katherine finally got to her stop, she stumbled onto the sidewalk in her haste. Frantic, she ran to the ancient storefront door and pulled out the key around her neck to open it. But there was no need, because the door was hanging open.

  If she hadn’t been in such a hurry, she might have noticed that was a little odd. Instead she just roared inside, calling “Cassandra, Cassandra!” at the top of her lungs.

  “Up here! Up here Katherine!” shouted the familiar voice from the roof.

  Katherine ran up the stairs, two at a time. She skidded onto the roof, saying, ‘Where is he? Where’s Gar…” but stopped mid-sentence.

  A gargoyle was sitting on Gargoth’s cushion facing Cassandra, but it wasn’t Gargoth.

  It was Ambergine. And she was weeping.

  Chapter Twenty

  What Ambergine Knows

  Katherine screeched to a halt in front of Cassandra and the little gargoyle. Kind Cassandra was holding one of the creature’s claws and making soothing sounds. Katherine had a look of amazement on her face as she looked at them both. “What’s going on, Cassandra? Where’s Gargoth?” she asked.

  “It’s terrible, Katherine! Gargoth snuck off when I had a deliveryman here, and the…and the…and the man in the white straw hat STOLE HIM!” Cassandra was wailing at this point.

  Katherine sat down abruptly, tears welling up in her eyes. She turned toward the little weeping gargoyle.

  “And of course you’re Ambergine. A few moments too late…” Katherine trailed off. The little gargoyle nodded slowly, too overcome to speak. For several moments the three gathered on the rooftop said nothing. Katherine dug in her soccer bag for tissue and passed some to Cassandra.

  Then Katherine spoke again. “Welcome, Ambergine. We’ve waited for months for you, but we never doubted you would come. I’m Katherine Newberry. I guess you’ve already met Cassandra. We both know Gargoth well. We’re his friends.”

  Ambergine looked up at her. “He is lucky to have friends such as you…thank you,” she said quietly in gargoyle. She placed her head in her claws and didn’t speak again. Katherine was intrigued by her raspy voice, a slightly higher, sweeter version of Gargoth’s. His voice sounded like the wind rustling in the winter leaves, but she sounded more like a breeze through long grass in summer.

  The three sat for a few moments, quiet except for the occasional sniffle. The whole city seemed stilled, almost as though it was holding its breath. It was just too unfair. How could Ambergine find this very rooftop, Gargoth’s very cushion, at the exact moment that he was stolen away by his greatest enemy?

  Katherine felt a kind of helplessness: where was he? But she felt a sudden anger too—how dare anyone hurt him! She suddenly knew what she had to do.

  She paced across the
rooftop and knelt before Ambergine.

  “We have to do something quickly. Ambergine, do you know this man in the white straw hat? Can we follow him? Do you have any idea where he might be taking Gargoth?”

  Ambergine stood up and started waddling around the rooftop. She was lighter and more graceful than Gargoth and was weaving in and out of the candles. She had a frown on her face and was thinking very hard.

  “He must be going back to New York City. Where else would he go? Gargoth said that in all the years he was imprisoned in the dark mansion, the man hardly ever left the property.”

  “Could you find this dark mansion again, Amber-gine?” Katherine asked.

  The little gargoyle hesitated then slowly nodded. “I think so. It’s a big place…but …yes…”

  “Are you sure? You seem a little doubtful,” Katherine asked.

  Slowly Ambergine’s eyes filled with tears. “I can find it. I know New York City so well… I could fly over it blindfolded. But…”

  “But…what is it?” Katherine asked. Ambergine was clearly very reluctant about something.

  “Well, I have always searched alone,” she finally whispered.

  “You’re not alone any more, Ambergine,” Katherine said. She gently placed her hand on the little gargoyle’s leathery shoulder and kept it there.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The Long Night

  It didn’t take long for the two humans and the gargoyle to prepare a plan.

  Katherine, Cassandra and Ambergine were going to New York City to find Gargoth.

  Cassandra had an old but very dependable van. She used it to drive to suppliers and warehouses, so it was filled with boxes of leftover candles, knick-knacks, scarves and other odd things (like a giant box of Hawaiian shirts and brightly coloured felt hats).