Page 61 of Office of the Lost

“Thank you, Crispin.”Thea’s voice was as clear and strong as he remembered it.“I was wondering when you’d figure out how to fix me.I was running out of songs that you knew.”

“Oh thank the seven gods.”Relief flooded through him, at least until he noticed the tiny bit of Chaos hovering forlornly in the air over Thea’s screen.“But what do we do with you?”

He reached toward the puff of cloud, but Minkis was faster.The squirrel leapt at it, consuming it in one bite as if it were a particularly scrumptious acorn.

“Mink!”That little bit of Chaos had been the only piece of Leo he had left.And what would it do to the insides of the little creature?

Minkis belched, then patted his stomach, looking quite pleased with himself and so far seeming none the worse for wear.

“Are you all right?”Crispin peered at his friend.“Nothing… feels weird?”

It was Thea who piped up.“He says he feels fine, and could he have some of those acorns in your pocket?”

Crispin blinked.“You cantalkto him?”

Thea whirred a bit before responding.“I can hear him.I think it’s something to do with the Chaos he consumed that used to be inside of me, maybe?Wait, no.He says he’s always been able to talk.”

Crispin blinked three times.“So why has he never spoken with me?”The idea was as believable as the zoucberry bush outside the tree house wanting to pop in for a spot of tea.

Minkis shrugged.“Never the right time.Acorns?”His voice was adorable, just how you’d imagine a squirrel would talk.

“Oh yes, of course.”He’d forgotten about the nuts he’d scooped up from his desk at OotL.“Here you go.”He dumped them unceremoniously on the table.“Wait… you’re talking to me now, too?”

“Sure, Acorn Man.”Minkis picked one up and began to nibble contentedly.

Crispin had always had a bond with the squirrel, ever since he’d found Minkis on the forest floor with a broken leg.Mrs.Dollywip fixed him right up—she was an herbal witch in addition to a house mother—and he and Minkis had been thick as thieves ever since.Not that Crispin would ever condone thievery.

He’d known that Minkis was special but not that he could talk.How that would have eased his loneliness, all those nights alone in the tree house after work.“You and I are going to have words about this, my friend.”He couldn’t help but suppress a smile.

“Minkis has a lot of words.”

Was it his imagination, or was the squirrel grinning at him?He was starting to get used to Minkis’s voice, which made him worry just a bit for his sanity.He turned his attention back to the matter at hand.“Thea, are you now… fully operational?”

“I believe so.You have an excellent memory for circuitry.”

Crispin blushed.He’d always been able to remember things.Maybe it’s a part of my gift.“Why did you want me to go and see my mother again?”

“Did I?”Her screen flashed again, a bewildering combination of colored lights.“Oh, I did.I think that was the Chaos talking.”

Leo.Did Leo want me to go home?Crispin thought back on their conversations.They’d talked about repairing the damage they’d caused, and Juzir had dropped a hint that his mother’s Estate was in poor shape.And hedidneed someone’s help to find and rescue Leo.Not that useless brother of his, but his mother knew more than she was telling about Crispin’s gifts.“Thea, can you get us to the Estate?”

“Yes.Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Not even a little bit.”His old self-doubt resurfaced.Can I do this?

Leo needed him.If he didn’t do something, and soon, his love would be sealed away in one of the countless rooms at OotL—or might meet a worse fate—and Crispin would never find him.

“All right, take me to the Queen.”

“Take us too.”Minkis got up on his hind legs, his bushy tail waving back and forth in an agitated fashion.

“What?”

“Go with you, find Chaos Man.”

“It’s better if you stay here.I don’t want to see you get hurt.”Again.

“Know where he is.Little cloud talks to me.”

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