“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.
“Hello, 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 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, 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 peacock trilling musical harmonies as it passed.
Many children were now sitting on the grass, 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 grass. 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 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, 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 grass. 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 peacock 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 glasses.
When all of the students had taken their oaths, Nolan and his assistants 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 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!”