"She's getting too big to keep, son," his mother said again.

Sandy nodded, but he pulled the big kitten closer. She was bigger than the biggest domestic cat already, and her saber tooth fangs gave her a fierce look, but she cuddled next to him.

"Not only will she be too big to stay here, it's not fair to her. This isn't her home, and you told me she has a mother and probably one sibling still alive. And if anyone ever sees her, people would want to take her away, and that is a scary thought." His mother paused thoughtfully. "Also, I think the hallway wants her back. This morning the door was ajar, and you know I've never been able to open it. So, I closed it; and it opened again. I shoved it shut, and it sighed and stayed closed."

He blinked and hugged Tawny closer. "I know. I do know, Mom. I just keep putting it off. I'm the happiest I've been since we moved here. And she's happy. If she weren't happy, she'd be whining and scratching at the door." He didn't mention the scratching he'd heard that first day after he'd escaped from the long dark hall with Tawny.

His mother shivered. Her son had told her about the doors. Not to different times, they'd decided, but to different worlds. She couldn't not believe her son when he came home with a saber tooth tiger. "Do you have a plan? Do you want me to come with you? I don't like letting you go alone, but I might not be allowed in."

"This weekend. Saturday morning early. I think she should go back and learn about her world—how to communicate. I wouldn't want her to be considered backward. She's smart. You know that, Mom. She's not like regular cats, or we couldn't have kept her hidden this long. She knows what we want."

His mother smiled. "I'll never forget the time she was on the counter sniffing the chicken and dumplings. Get off, I told her. She looked at me and sniffed the pot again. You're going to look very funny without your whiskers, I said, and shook my head. She reared back and leaped down and sauntered into the living room." His mother laughed at the memory. Her son laughed too; he knew that head shake.

"You will be careful. I thought about giving you a gun, but that scares me too." She sat down on the floor on the other side of Tawny. "If I didn't think it was necessary, I'd want her to stay, son."

"I know, Mom. And a gun would only weigh me down. Her door is not real far down the hall. I'll be back pretty quick; but don't wait for me. Go shopping or something. I may take a little time to say good-bye." He swallowed and rested his hand on Tawny's neck. He'd been scratching her ears.

Saturday morning came quickly. His mother had to deliver some paperwork she'd completed, and they were both relieved. He did his chores, dragging them out as long as he could, but finally he knew he'd feel better getting started. This was a case where he wouldn't be happy getting it over with.

He went upstairs with Tawny and packed and slipped on his backpack. He'd put in candles, matches, snacks, a Swiss army knife, water, and he carried a big flashlight. Then he watched the door open as they approached it. He'd come to the conclusion that the corridor had its own security features. He'd peeked in twice very carefully; all had been dark, quiet, and it felt empty.

"We're going home, Tawny." She looked at him, shook her massive head, and moved into the hallway. He was disappointed that she didn't seem to care. The next thing he knew, he was flat on his back, and she was licking his face. Curious am I, came a fuzzy thought. I will see maybe if I stay there. I will not stay forever. Wide world, and you will be part of it.

He got up, hugged her, and they moved down the hall. Now it felt like an adventure. Maybe he'd look around before coming back. He did know which doors not to open. He counted the doors and looked at the doorknob of the one he thought was Tawny's--the fourth door. It looked shiny and used. Before he'd only been able to feel the smoothness.

He opened the door; it smelled of forest and damp. There were only ferny trees to be seen. "We could explore a little and come back," he said tentatively.

Yesss.

He passed three doors after looking at the doorknobs—too rough, too sharp, too knobby. He touched one of the doors; it felt unwelcoming. He'd check the doors on the other side on the way back, he decided. The fifth door felt warm; the knob was shiny and smooth, and the light that spilled out when he opened the door was blinding. He slammed it shut. "We'd need sunglasses and lots of lotion for that one," he told Tawny.

He saw the membrane slide back from her eyes when he looked at her. Not so hot for me, she thought, as for you. You judged the knob to be used by one of your kind, she added. Communication was getting easier, and missing her now would be worse.

You worry so much, she told him, and looked onward. He wondered how quickly her kind matured. He was feeling young. She smiled her big happy grin and frisked forward. On the other hand, he'd better try to keep her safe.

Three doors later they ran into a barrier. It was a door at the end of the hall. "I thought it would go on forever," he complained to Tawny.

Too soon to end, she agreed.

"Hmm. Maybe it's like an airlock. You know, for beings who breathe differently than us. Well, let's try the doors on the other side now." He turned back, and Tawny hissed aggrievedly before following.

They decided against four doors; the first three doorknobs were too big. "Oh, oh," he said. Tawny didn't like the smell of the fourth. The fifth door had color—a grassy green, and he realized that the other doors were all black, at least that's how he remembered them.

The door opened easily; there was a wooded vista to the left and a path to the right. They moved along the path--both of one mind. Then suddenly... Danger! shrieked Tawny and lunged at the figure that had knocked Sandy down. The scaled attacker sprawled, and as Sandy looked desperately for a weapon, someone bashed the attacker's head in with a rock clutched tightly in two shackled hands.

Tawny and he saw a slight feathered figure turn quickly to face them. He stared in amazement, but he felt Tawny thinking Prey! "No, Tawny! Not prey!" The feathery creature bent over the body and searched it. From a pouch on a belt decorated with feathers, he pulled a packet and a rod. He used the rod to burn his bonds. Then he chittered a few sentences or song snatches or … and moved down the path.

"Wait," he said. " Can we help you?" The creature stared and then motioned them away towards the door. "He knows about the door," said Sandy, "but he doesn't see it as an escape."

"Perhaps for him it is not. Possibly taboo, but he has family to rescue. We'd better go. Danger here." She led the way to the door.

They continued heading down the hall; neither looked at the doors anymore. "It is time to go home for me," Tawny's thoughts felt more and more like words. "I feel hunger and the need for family too."

"Of course. It was selfish of me to drag you along just to adventure. You should have said so." He knew she'd been as eager as he had to explore.
"It's silly to think so. I will go home, and you will visit, and I will visit."

"Do you think you can? There must be some sort of security here or the hall would be full of all kinds of things."

"You will come. I will go." She sounded certain. She was very like a cat in many ways.

They stopped at her door, and he opened it. "Good-bye, Tawny. Say Hi to your mother for me, and tell her I'm sorry if she worried."

"No need." The big tiger stepped out of the giant ferns inside the doorway, and he remembered the tiger acts at the circus. Stupid to put your head in its mouth, he thought. He felt amusement, and the mother tiger nudged him so that he was moved backwards where Tawny stood and braced herself.

"Welcome to be back," she said to him. She turned her gaze to her cub.

"Come along now," and she disappeared into the ferns. Tawny gave him a quick slurp. "Welcome to be back," she repeated and left him

He hadn't felt this alone the first time, he thought, and moved quickly homeward down the corridor. His mother waited. He shouldn't keep her worrying. He'd tell her that Tawny was safely home.

The End

Joy V. Smith writes fiction and non-fiction. Her fiction includes SF and fantasy, which has been published in print and web zines; in anthologies, including The Ghost in the Gazebo, Kings of the Night 2, and Magistria: Realm of the Sorcerer; and in two audiobooks, including Sugar Time from Hadrosaur Productions. Her interview with Lyn McConchie was in the July issue of Expressions. She lives in Lakeland, Florida with Xena, the warrior puppy. Blog:http://journals.aol.com/pagadan/JoysJournal

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