LITMIR.BIZ

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turned and gazed up at the flying gargoyle. Up close, Katherine could see that she was sweet looking, her face wasn’t wrinkled and crumpled like the others. She had a small pouch at her side, just like Gargoth’s.

      “Who is that one?” asked Katherine, pointing at the flying gargoyle.

      Gargoth looked at her steadily. He sighed. “Her name is Ambergine. But she is no one.”

      Katherine and Gargoth looked at each other for a moment, and she knew he was lying. This was a sculpture of the gargoyle he was hoping to find, the only real gargoyle in the entire group of imaginary friends. She was the gargoyle that they would soon be searching for in every candle and comic book store in Toronto.

      She tactfully changed the subject. “Um, Mom! What do you have for Gargoth?”

      “Oh! Right!” her mother said. “Look Gargoth, these are Cellini apples shipped from a hillside in southern Italy—they are an ancient variety once cultivated by the Greeks and Romans. They are difficult to grow, but they are exquisite. I had to sample one for myself! I hope you like them!” She placed a huge basket overflowing with the most beautiful, glowing apples Katherine had ever seen.

      They smelled like heaven. Gargoth picked one up gently in his claw and took a long sniff of its rich, sweet scent. “Oh, they will be delicious. Thank you, Mother Newberry.”

      It was Katherine’s turn. She brought her gift out from behind her back and held out a new, oversized cocoa cup for Gargoth. “This is so we can enjoy long chats over hot chocolate together, and you don’t run out first!” she said. Gargoth seemed really touched and turned the cocoa cup around in his hands, holding it up close to his face. It had a checkered pattern and wavy lines on it, which seemed to intrigue him. He looked at it for a long time, finally thanking Katherine in a hushed voice.

      Then Katherine’s father stepped forward, not understanding a word, but seeing it was his turn. He dropped a large pouch into Gargoth’s claw. On opening it, Gargoth made a strange noise, which sounded like a gargoyle being taken by surprise (an odd sound to be sure, but not an unpleasant one).

      “Ah, Father Newberry, you honour me with fine English tobacco, my favourite,” he said, clearly touched once again.

      Gargoth surprised Katherine’s father with a genuine smile and a handshake. (Shaking Gargoth’s claw was actually a little dangerous, it was sharp!)

      The Newberrys were very happy. If anyone were looking into their little backyard, they would have seen a very loving family gathered around a gargoyle, who looked just like he loved them back.

      And a very smart cat watching everything from the warmth of indoors.

      Chapter Seventeen

      The Promise

      Katherine enjoyed the family ski trip more than she had imagined she would. They stayed in a ski chalet, right on the mountain, and kept their skis outside the front door in a snow bank. When they wanted to ski, they just walked outside and stepped into them.

      There were pine trees growing right outside her bedroom window, and they smelled so heavenly that every evening she opened her window so she could enjoy them all night long.

      Her room had its own fireplace and a huge window looking out onto the forest. Her parents’ room was even bigger than hers and had a jacuzzi big enough for a football team.

      It was very luxurious. It was perfect, in fact. Only once did Katherine think of Gargoth. On their last day, she was skiing into the main chalet, when she happened to look up. There on top of the old building was a gargoyle. She was so surprised, she almost fell face first into the snow. When she righted herself, she stood and watched the gargoyle for a few moments. But she quickly realized it was simply a stone gargoyle, just a statue on the roof, not a real living creature like Gargoth.

      She felt a pang and suddenly realized how much she had come to consider him part of the family. Just then her mother skied up. They looked at the gargoyle together for a while.

      “I wonder what Gargoth would look like on skis?” her mother said.

      The image was so hysterical that Katherine laughed herself into a fit of hiccoughing. Once she caught her breath, she challenged her mother to a race down the big hill.

      The next day the family returned home. Gargoth seemed genuinely pleased to see them. It had been warmer in Toronto than on the ski slopes, and many of the statues Gargoth had created on Christmas Eve were starting to melt. They looked ghoulish and spooky, melting slowly away, with sadly drooping wings and drooling fangs. Gargoth didn’t seem to notice.

      School started the next day, and this was the first week of Katherine’s piano lessons for the second term. If she had forgotten their agreement, Gargoth hadn’t. At the first opportunity, he reminded her of her promise from a few weeks before. After dinner on Sunday night, Katherine took out a mug of hot chocolate in the new huge, checkered mug she had given him for Christmas.

      “We will start looking for her this week, then?” he reminded her, as soon as they were alone in the backyard.

      “Yes, Gargoth,” she said. “I promised. But I have to say I’m not really happy about it. It’s a lot of sneaking around, and I don’t like to do that behind my parents’ backs. I really feel like I should tell them.” She sat in the bench beside his pedestal and brushed some snow off the back of the unicorn’s mane.

      “No, Katherine. Please, I promise all will be well.”

      He was so earnest that she sighed and said, “Fine. But if there are any problems, if I’m late for piano even once, we’ll have to tell them and find another way.”

      “Don’t worry, Katherine. It will be fine.” Gargoth delicately tipped up his mug to get his final sip of hot chocolate (despite what you might think, gargoyles are actually very tidy eaters) and grinned at her.

      She went inside a few moments later, still not feeling great about the adventure she was about to undertake, traipsing through Toronto’s subway with a supposed-to-be-inanimate creature talking to her from her backpack. But she felt she might just be able to help him find the gargoyle he was searching for, and if he did find her, Katherine felt certain he would be able to leave her family, leave her backyard, and carry on with his own life.

      And that’s what they all wanted, wasn’t it, Katherine thought? For him to get unstuck from their lives, and get on with his own? She also knew her parents had grown fond of him, but she knew they were saddened by the changes in their lives. No parties. No friends to visit. No beautiful flowers. She missed having her own friends over for sleepovers. And it was getting harder and harder to come up with reasons not to invite people over.

      No matter how she looked at it, Katherine had to admit it was difficult having a gargoyle living in her backyard.

      Monday morning dawned. The family quickly returned to their pre-Christmas routines. It always surprised Katherine how fast the events of the holidays became a dream-like memory.

      She was happy to see her friends at school again. They all talked about what they had been doing over the holidays. She had a lot of fun telling everyone what the ski trip had been like.

      All too soon, Wednesday morning arrived, and with a faint sense of dread, Katherine realized that today was the day. Her mother waved out the back door to Gargoth, then she and Katherine got into the car, and off they drove to school.

      From the back seat, Katherine said as casually as she could, “So, piano starts again tonight, Mom.”

      “Oh, yes! I forgot! Do you remember how to get to Elaine’s?” her mother asked absentmindedly.

      “Uh-huh. Take the bus down Christie to the subway, then go east to Castle Frank, then north one street to her house. I remember. You’ll pick me up at six o’clock outside her house, right?”

      “Yes. I’ll be there. And please remember to call me when you get there. Promise?”

      “Yeah,

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