The Warming Lodge was made of dark, unpainted wood and covered with weathered shingles. Several bales of hay were stacked on a covered porch that faced the lagoon. Gathering the children around the porch, Nolan motioned for quiet. He produced a small silver bell, ringing it three times. The porch's planks began to creak as something large moved inside.

"Kids, I'd like you to meet YaYa. She looks after all the animals in the Sanctuary. She is the Great Matriarch of Rowan and has been here since it was established."

The children stepped back as the head of a ma.s.sive jet-black lioness emerged from the doorway. Bigger than a rhino and crowned with a single broken horn of speckled ivory, she stepped heavily out onto the porch. Her black fur gave off a faint white shimmer. The great creature lowered herself slowly onto the porch, folding her black glossy legs beneath her. Her eyes were clouded with milky cataracts, and her sides rose and fell with her labored breathing. Trotting out the door, Lucy snuggled beneath the whiskers on YaYa's great chin.

Max thought the piglet looked like an appetizer.

"She's beautiful, Mr. Nolan," said a girl in front. "What is she?"

"I'm sure she'd prefer to answer that herself."

Max stood riveted as the creature raised her head. Her voice sounded like several women speaking simultaneously.

"Thank you for your kindness. I am a ki-rin. Greetings and welcome to Rowan." Breathing deeply, she lowered her head once more, covering Lucy.

"YaYa is very old," Mr. Nolan said. "Seven hundred years is a long life, even for one of her kind. Today we ensure that YaYa can spend her days resting and tending to the injured. As the Great Matriarch of Rowan, however, she's the one you'll have to answer to if she hears you're shirking your tasks."

YaYa spoke, her voices soft as the subsiding drizzle.

"Do not frighten them, Nolan. I'm sure the charges will be in very good hands. Lucy already speaks highly of them."

The cloudy eyes turned toward Max.

"YaYa," said Nolan, "with your permission, we'd like to introduce your charges to the cla.s.s."

"Of course," she replied. "With the exception of Tweedy, they're very excited."

Nolan led the students behind the building, s.p.a.cing them well apart in rows. Ms. Richter, YaYa, and Lucy settled onto a large woolly blanket the Director had spread on the gra.s.s. The sky was threatening and Max was very nervous.

Several minutes later, Nolan reappeared along with a dozen other adults. A motley a.s.sortment of creatures followed in a strange procession behind them. They came in all shapes and sizes, peering anxiously at the students. Some towered above the adults leading them, but most were smaller and huddled around them, murmuring or purring or chattering in their own tongues. A nametag hung from each neck.

"All right," said Nolan. "There's really nothing to this. All you have to do is stand in your places and let our lovelies take a look at you. Most are quite young, so don't be insulted if some are less polite than they should be. Part of your job will be to teach them proper manners. Okay, then-let's get started."

Max tried to calm his breathing as the creatures stepped, crawled, and hopped among them. An enormous winged bull with the head and face of a young man stopped to loom over him. It gazed at him impa.s.sively as Max read ORION, SYRIAN SHEDU on its nametag. The shedu did not move. It merely stared at Max, a small frown on its face. Max was at a loss.

"h.e.l.lo, Orion. My name's Max."

Nodding stonily, the shedu lifted its head and walked down the line toward Lucia. Max heard a jingle and looked down to see a small striped dog sniffing at his ankles. It sat on its haunches and looked up at him, its nametag indicating that its name was Moby, a Somerset bray.

"Hi, Moby."

The dog wagged its tail and gave an earnest little yelp that sounded like bra.s.s horns. Max clapped his hands to his ears and the dog trotted away. Poked from behind, Max turned to see two Normandy fauns eyeing him suspiciously. They each had the hind legs of a slender goat, but the torsos and faces of a young boy and girl. They appeared to be twins: Kellen and Kyra. They spoke in French.

"Il n'est pas pour moi," sniffed Kellen. sniffed Kellen.

"Moi non plus, mon frere. Je prefere Connor," replied Kyra, peering back down the line. replied Kyra, peering back down the line.

Max felt insulted without knowing why, when a shiny red bullfrog bigger than a toaster landed on his shoe. Clammy, padded fingers gripped Max's leg as its throat inflated like a balloon. Max sought out its nametag.

"Hey, Kettlemouth. I'm Max."

The frog blinked several times before leaping away onto Jesse Chu's head. Jesse shrieked and nearly toppled over as he tried to pry off the sleepy-looking frog that now clung to his collar. Max saw David sitting nearby, cradling the head of a silver gazelle on his lap. David whispered to it and raised its head to look at Max.

"Max, this is Maya. She's an ulu and she's chosen me!"

Max grinned and waved, privately annoyed he had yet to be chosen. A small hare hopped before him. Standing on its hind legs, it fixed Max with a brilliant orange eye. Max spoke to it slowly.

"h.e.l.lo, Tweedy," Max intoned. "My name is Max."

"Why are you talking to me like I'm an imbecile?" the hare asked, its whiskers trembling with indignation. "Are you you reading Dante in the original Italian?" reading Dante in the original Italian?"

Max clapped a hand to his mouth.

"Uh, no."

"This whole business is ridiculous! I should be taking care of you, you, not the other way around. Oh, you're totally unsuitable!" not the other way around. Oh, you're totally unsuitable!"

The Highlands hare turned up its tail and hopped away, frightening a tiny brown being who ducked quickly out of the way.

Max's eyes met Orion's once more as the shedu clopped past again. It stepped nimbly over a stunning three-legged peac.o.c.k trilling musical harmonies as it pa.s.sed.

Many children were now sitting on the gra.s.s, their charges settled beside them or, in some cases, clinging to an arm or leg. With a flash of jealousy, Max saw Orion had chosen Rolf. Cynthia was apologizing profusely to a bawling imp no taller than a footstool. The imp was inconsolable. Cynthia was imploring YaYa for help when Max yelled and jumped.

Something sharp had punctured his foot.

Frightened, Max looked down and stared at a strange creature. It resembled a small otter, but its fur was a shimmering red-gold. Lethal-looking metallic quills ran along its neck and back toward a thick, foxlike tail. It had curling black claws like a grizzly bear, and it was one of these that had pierced Max's shoe. Max yelped as the creature gathered itself and leapt at him with astonishing force, knocking him back onto the gra.s.s. Opening his eyes, he saw the heavy animal lying on his chest. Its face was inches from his. The creature nipped his nose and began to vibrate its tail like a rattlesnake. Max held his breath as the animal's murderous claws stretched and squeezed for a better grip.

"I see you've met Nick, but I haven't met you."

Nolan's grinning face was upside down.

"Hi, Mr. Nolan. I'm Max McDaniels. Er, Mr. Nolan?"

"Just Nolan is fine," the man said. "What's up, Max?"

"Okay," said Max, trying to gently pry a large claw away from his throat. "Nolan, what exactly is is Nick? I didn't get a chance to read his nametag." Nick? I didn't get a chance to read his nametag."

"Nick's a Black Forest lymrill, and we're darn lucky to have him. We thought his kind was extinct until one of our Agents stumbled on him in Germany."

"Uh, Nolan? I think his claws are cutting me."

"Oh, he's just excited, excited, son!" laughed Nolan, smacking his knee. "You can tell by his tail flutter. Fascinating creatures, lymrills-never thought I'd get a chance to see one. I think Nick's chosen you, Max. Congratulations!" son!" laughed Nolan, smacking his knee. "You can tell by his tail flutter. Fascinating creatures, lymrills-never thought I'd get a chance to see one. I think Nick's chosen you, Max. Congratulations!"

Max looked at Nick, who had flattened his quills and retracted his claws. His surprising weight eased off Max's chest, and he settled onto the gra.s.s. Max rubbed his chest. There were holes in his T-shirt and several small drops of blood. He glared at Nick, who was now dozing.

Far in the distance, they heard Old Tom's chimes sound ten o'clock. With a low-throated growl, YaYa stood and addressed them.

"When I call your name, please come forward with your charge.... Sarah Amankwe."

Max watched as the pretty black girl he'd noticed in the kitchen glided forward with the strange three-legged peac.o.c.k beside her. They stood for several minutes before YaYa and Ms. Richter, and then it looked as though Sarah took a pen and signed her name before the two went back to their place.

Students were called forward, in turn, and stood before YaYa to sign their names. Max felt like dozing along with Nick by the time he heard his name called.

"Max McDaniels."

Max tried to shake Nick awake, but the animal did not budge. When his name was called again, Max slid his hands under the lymrill, hoisting it up like a toddler. As he hurried forward, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Nick was perfectly awake and utterly content.

A choice phrase for Nick was forming in Max's mind when he arrived before YaYa. The ki-rin towered above Ms. Richter; Max did not even stand to her shoulder. Her eyes gazed down at him, like great saucers swimming with milk. Max clutched Nick closer.

"Max McDaniels, Nick has chosen you to be his Guardian Keeper. Do you contest this choice?"

His voice sounded very small in answer.

"No."

"By signing your name in the Sanctuary Tome," continued YaYa, "you hereby pledge to care for Nick and to look after him to the best of your ability. Understand that faithful service will be recognized in kind; inconstancy will result in abandonment and shame. Do you accept this charge?"

Max looked down at Nick; he felt the lymrill's strong heartbeat beneath his hand as the animal's small, eager eyes studied his face.

"Do you accept this charge?" asked YaYa patiently.

"Yes," said Max. "I'll look after Nick."

Ms. Richter presented him with a very old book to sign. Looking down at the frayed parchment, he saw that the pledge had already been inscribed in black script. At the bottom was a blank line, next to the Rowan seal. He signed his name, startled to see the date appear underneath. Ms. Richter smiled and motioned for him to rejoin the others.

The rest of the oaths went smoothly except for Omar's. He had the misfortune to be chosen by Tweedy, the Highlands hare, who noisily protested any sort of contract with a minor. The hare wasn't satisfied until he was permitted to ink his paw and sign the book as well. Omar looked mortified throughout and meticulously cleaned his gla.s.ses.

When all of the students had taken their oaths, Nolan and his a.s.sistants gave each of them a navy booklet. Max read the words stamped in silver on his booklet's cover: THE LYMRILL: KNOWN HISTORY, HABITS, AND CARE. He was about to flip it open, when Nolan dismissed the students to explore the Sanctuary for the rest of the morning. The students scattered in different directions with their charges. Max saw Connor chasing after Kyra, the female faun, who now sprinted for a pine forest. David and Maya had not moved; she merely lay on his lap, her eyes thin slits of gold. Lucia took Kettlemouth toward the lagoon, where the red bullfrog promptly splashed into the water. Orion had permitted Rolf to climb up on his back, and the two plodded out toward the dunes.

Nick's tail fluttered and he bolted in the direction of the trees near the Sanctuary gate. His claws churned clumps of dirt as he went.

By the time Max arrived at the hedge, the lymrill had disappeared. Max rubbed his arms as raindrops began falling and thunder rumbled from the hills. He stepped under a large, bent tree near the canopied tunnel. For ten minutes he paced back and forth, peering deep within the surrounding hedge for any hint of red or gold, listening for the telltale sound of Nick's tail. The rain fell harder and Max kicked a nearby tree.

"I can't believe believe I lost my charge on the first day!" I lost my charge on the first day!"

A voice nearby startled him.

"If you're looking for the lymrill, he's right above you."

Max jumped back and looked straight up to see Nick crouching on a knotty bough. When Max spied him, his tail began to flutter, its rattle faint in the breeze.

Max whirled to find the source of the voice.

"Who said that?"

"I did."

A plump goose waddled out from the tunnel, followed by a dozen goslings that began to honk inquisitively. As they ambled by, the goose turned and dipped her bill.

"I'm Hannah. Would love to chat, but it's feeding time and they're terrors when they're hungry. Mind you teach the lymrill to watch his claws!"

"Uh, okay. Thanks!"

The goose raised a white-feathered wing in farewell as she herded her goslings toward the lagoon.

Sc.r.a.ps of bark began to fall on Max. He looked up to see Nick sharpening his claws and peering down at him. Yawning dramatically, the lymrill suddenly leapt up to a higher branch and began to send more bark at Max.

"Oh, all right, I'm coming!" Max sighed, grabbing a limb and hoisting himself up. A few minutes later, Max was at eye level with Nick, who fluttered his tail with pleasure.

"Hey there," panted Max, finding a perch at the base of a thick branch. Nick circled Max's lap and curled into a ball, nibbling on the end of his tail. His quills smoothed to a metallic taper. Within seconds, he was fast asleep, his broad black nose whistling as he breathed slow and steady. Max eased a stray claw off his leg and looked out over the Sanctuary. Being in the tree reminded him of his fort back in Chicago. He watched raindrops patter on the outer leaves, thinking how his mother would laugh if she could see him.

Since Nick showed no sign of stirring, Max leaned back and flipped open his booklet:

Lymrill (also known as: Kingmaker and Roland's Folly) Mystic tree-dwelling mammal found in Central and Western Europe. Identified by its compact size, sharp claws, thick fur, and metallic quills, which possess valuable properties. Mystic tree-dwelling mammal found in Central and Western Europe. Identified by its compact size, sharp claws, thick fur, and metallic quills, which possess valuable properties. Prized for its pelt, the lymrill was hunted to near extinction by knights and kings who believed its skin could be used to forge armor and weapons of unsurpa.s.sed hardness. Legends suggest that the lymrill must surrender its quills willingly, lest the animal die and its pelt lose its reputed properties. Last known specimen was captured on the Iberian Peninsula by the famed warrior Roland who coveted its magic but inadvertently slew the animal in his impatience for its quills. Prized for its pelt, the lymrill was hunted to near extinction by knights and kings who believed its skin could be used to forge armor and weapons of unsurpa.s.sed hardness. Legends suggest that the lymrill must surrender its quills willingly, lest the animal die and its pelt lose its reputed properties. Last known specimen was captured on the Iberian Peninsula by the famed warrior Roland who coveted its magic but inadvertently slew the animal in his impatience for its quills. Lymrills are considered intelligent, displaying an ability to communicate with- Lymrills are considered intelligent, displaying an ability to communicate with-

Max stopped reading as he heard voices below. He looked down and saw Ms. Richter arrive from the clearing to meet Miss Awolowo, Nigel, and two other adults at the tunnel entrance. Ms. Richter sounded agitated.

"What's the latest news on Lees?"

"We know he made it to the airport," muttered Nigel, sweeping wet hair off his brow. "It appears he simply never landed. Isabella insists he never got off the plane at Logan."

"What of the others?"

"All signs say that they're gone, Director." Max squinted to make out a young woman in a gray raincoat and gla.s.ses. "Disappeared shortly after they triggered their letters. They've all been reported missing within their communities."

Ms. Richter's tone was sharp and brisk.

"Exactly how many children are missing, Ndidi?"

"Mickey Lees, who pa.s.sed the tests two weeks ago, and seventeen Potentials who haven't yet taken them," said Miss Awolowo. "The last Potential disappeared three days ago in Lima."

"And how many paintings have been stolen, Hazel?"

"Fifty-two," said the woman in the raincoat. "But the thefts seem to be somewhat random. We can't conclusively say that the Enemy is involved."

"Joseph, do we have any reason to suspect internal treachery? How was Isabella's last performance review?"

"Hmmm, always possible, always possible," answered an elderly man in a burgundy sweater. "But I don't think so, Gabrielle. Isabella's never been our best, but you know as well as I do that she's trustworthy."

"Nigel," said Ms. Richter, turning suddenly.

"Yes, Director?"

"You believe McDaniels has shared everything with you? Everything about that woman at the house? And everything about Varga?"