LITMIR.BIZ

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her friend seemed to be staring into the distance with glazed eyes. So Nicks filled in the silence. “And this is my best friend Coral.”

      Coral suddenly lurched upright and grinned. “Call me Amor!”

      Zephyr seemed to like this. “Amor – meaning ‘love’ in many languages. Oh, how simply divine!”

      Coral, or Amor, grinned. Of course she knew what it meant – love was her specialist subject, after all. And as a true champion of love, it really was the perfect name.

      Nicks’s nose wrinkled as she contemplated Amor, the girl who meant ‘love’ in many languages. It wasn’t that she disliked the name, because – just like her best friend – she also loved ‘love’ very much. In fact, it really was top of her list of favourite things in the world. But Coral’s name was Coral, not Amor. And if everyone just went about changing their name when the mood took them, well – the world would be a chaotic place (and Nicks was more of an ordered sort of girl).

      She continued to watch her friend, who was now very busy telling Zephyr all about the Cupid Company and the work they did for love. She also listened as her friend slotted her new name into her chit-chat at every available opportunity. Coral, now-known-as Amor, also seemed to have developed a sudden fancy for words like ‘darling’ and ‘divine’. Nicks breathed deep and narrowed her gaze. Just when they really had so many other things to concentrate on...

      Chapter 5

       On the Case

      Zephyr was just like her name. She really did float around the world. She had already lived in more than thirty different places and still planned to live in quite a few more, if she could. She sold her art to pay for the things she needed. Animals were her favourite subject to paint, and they were her favourite subject to talk about too.

      Romeo and Miss Honey had joined them at the red beach hut and already seemed right at home with Zephyr, who was stroking their fur with her bare toes while sipping kumquat tea and sharing stories of her life. She’d been to the Brazilian rainforests to see the red-eyed tree frog. She’d travelled all the way to the desert for the spotted hyena. She’d even visited the plains of Africa to glimpse the Big Five (and had seen at least one elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo and leopard). Animals really were her thing.

      “So what brings you to Sunday Harbour?” wondered Nicks out loud.

      Zephyr exhaled, making a sound like a light wind. “When you reach my age you find yourself tiring quicker.” She sighed again. “I’ve spent most of my life travelling and seeing the animals, but it’s starting to prove a rather solitary existence. I suppose I do get a bit lonely. Perhaps it’s time to settle down somewhere and make some human friends. But I would miss the animals...”

      “We have an aquarium in Sunday Harbour,” offered Coral hopefully. “It’s a really good one, and Nicks’s stepdad is the manager too.”

      Nicks turned an instant crimson. “Ben is my mum’s boyfriend!” she hissed.

      Coral turned her nose up like she didn’t think that was relevant. After all, Ben and Nicks’s mum were clearly mad about each other. It was definitely love, so of course they’d get married one day. She turned to face their exotic and very interesting animal-loving neighbour.

      “I speak for my best friend Nicks and myself – Amor – when I say that this is a darling seaside town and that it would be divine if you stayed here.”

      Zephyr chuckled and abandoned her mug on the table. “I don’t know that I’m quite ready for that yet, girls. For now this is just a little seaside holiday. But I’d love to paint a portrait of your pups.”

      “That would be gorgeous!” yelled Coral excitedly.

      Nicks turned to her friend with a weary look. “Yes, a portrait of the pups would be nice. And you and I have urgent Cupid Company business to see to,” she hissed.

      “Oh my,” cooed Zephyr. “Are you on a case? Can you tell me about it?”

      “We’re on two cases actually,” replied Nicks politely (although they’d never called it a ‘case’ before).

      “I’d love to hear more,” pleaded Zephyr.

      While Nicks felt that confidentiality was key to the Cupid Company, Coral clearly couldn’t wait to tell their new neighbour all about the trouble created by the flirtatious Cecily amongst the Spikers. She also ended up revealing how they hoped to help Cecily find true love, just as soon as they came up with a plan.

      Zephyr listened with obvious interest. And then she froze, held her breath and spoke out loud in a hurried sort of way. “I could help you to help Cecily find her lovebird!” she cried out. “I am, after all, a bit of an animal expert, and humans are nothing more than smart, civilised animals – or some of them are at least. Did you know that, just like humans, many animal species also use impressive courtship rituals to attract a partner? Take the male bowerbird, for example – he fills his nest with bright things like shells, coins and pebbles to attract the female’s attention. That’s his animal bling. Animals also like to dance, make special sounds, get touchy-feely and put on displays of beauty or fighting prowess to catch the fancy of a mate.”

      The girls thought about this for a few moments. And then they both leaned forward, interested enough to hear more.

      Zephyr leaned forward eagerly too. “It’s all about helping Cecily to connect with her animal instincts. I believe that right now she’s simply a confused young lady.”

      Nicks nodded in agreement. “Cecily really is nice enough.”

      Zephyr continued wisely. “You’ll need to find out more about Cecily before you can help her to find her lovebird.”

      Coral grinned. “We’re one step ahead of you. We already have a Cupid Company question naire which we hand out to all our new clients so that we can get to know them better.”

      Nicks reached for her butterfly clipboard, which just happened to have a questionnaire pinned to its front. She passed it to Zephyr, pleased that they were such an efficient, organised matchmaking company. Zephyr’s eyes zigzagged across the sheet.

      “Mmm, right,” she murmured as she read. “It’s not bad, but it needs some rewriting.” She slipped the clipboard’s pen from its holder and started scribbling, reading out loud as she wrote. “What is your favourite smell? What animal best describes you and why?”

      Coral nodded. She was usually open to new ideas, and she thought the revised questions could be useful. But Nicks did not look convinced.

      “Trust me,” said Zephyr with a wink. “The prairie vole, black vulture, wolf, barn owl, condor, bald eagle, gibbon ape… these are just some of the animals that mate for life. They have a lot to teach us.” Zephyr waved the revised questionnaire in the air. “Now all you have to do is ask Cecily to complete the questionnaire.”

      Nicks squinted into the sunlight and Coral scratched an itch.

      “Yes, about that…” she murmured.

      “Cecily hasn’t actually signed up to the Cupid Company yet,” explained Nicks.

      Zephyr bit her lip thoughtfully. “So Cecily might be quite happy dating all the Spikers?”

      “It’s just the boys she wants to date,” replied Coral optimistically. “And I don’t think she even knows all the trouble she’s causing.”

      Zephyr leaned back in her chair and took a long sip of kumquat tea. “There’s only one thing for it, girls. We’re going to have to sit that Cecily down and tell her all about the prairie voles, black vultures, wolves, barn owls, condors, bald eagles and gibbon apes.”

      Zephyr had said ‘we’, like she was a member of the Cupid Company too. Nicks’s eyes narrowed. She had a sudden and very strong suspicion. Something told her that they would be getting a lot more advice from their new neighbour in the future – whether they asked for it or not.

      Chapter

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