Doreen and Jessica finished their dinner. Their totems shadowboxed in the cafeteria,

Tapper waving his hands as he used Jaw as a platform. Woody waited under the table,

head down, eyes closed. His ears swivelled as he absorbed the sounds around him.

He wanted to go back to his pond. Maybe there were fish he could look at under the

starlight.

“We have curfew in an hour,” said Doreen. “I’m going for a walk, and then I have to

do some reading before I go to bed.”

“Jaw and I have to practice the course some more,” said Jessica. “We’re still not

setting the time we need to show we’re mobile.”

“Do you want Woody to coach?,” said Doreen. “He has been helping Tapper to

improve.”

“I don’t think he will want to help us,” said Jessica. “We’ll be fighting Tapper at one

point. Why teach us the tricks he is teaching your squirrel?”

“Would you, Woody?,” said Doreen. “Jessica has been a big friend here. I would like

to give her a better chance because of that.”

The familiar turned his eyes on the rock cat. He barked a little song. Jaw frowned at

him, trying to roar but not quite getting the sound right.

“Woody can teach him how to roar,” said Doreen. She smiled at her friend.

Jessica smiled. She rubbed the head of her totem as it rubbed against her leg.

“Would you like to help us with the obstacle course?,” said Jessica. “I can walk you

around the Academy when we’re done.”

“Don’t try to steal him,” said Doreen. “Errant is a little erratic. He might blow

something up by mistake.”

Woody chuffed as he turned wide eyes on Doreen.

“Maybe he would do it on purpose,” said Doreen. “I think he crafts that persona so

people won’t know what he will do next.”

“The next time he comes around, can you introduce us,” said Jessica. “I would love

to see this man.”

“You are really not taking this as serious as you should be,” said Doreen. “He

deflected a fire lance with his hand. I don’t think he follows our rules.”

“With his bare hand?,” said Jessica.

“Yes,” said Doreen. “He is very dangerous, and so is Woody. I don’t think the

instructors should know because Woody is trying to take it easy, but don’t let him

fool you. He can talk with other totems and show them how to do things. I think he

can do real magic too.”

“I really would like to meet this mystery man,” said Jessica.

“When he comes to pick Woody up, I’ll ask him to wait so you can,” said Doreen. “I

have to get back to work. Tapper and I aren’t as good as you and Jaw. I need to work

on the applications for water totems, and how to improve Tapper’s range.”

“All right,” said Jessica. “I will have to go to the course and practice with Jaw until

we can ring the bell in an acceptable time.”

Woody stood up. He made a chuffing noise and headed for the door.

“Where are you going, Woody?,” asked Doreen.

The dog howled something and then pushed on the door. He vanished into the

gathering night.

“I think he wants to be alone,” said Jessica.

“I think he is going to enter the tournament even though his partner told him not to

do that,” said Doreen. “I have to make sure.”

“Do you think you can stop him?,” asked Jessica.

“I hope I can make him see reason,” said Doreen. She stood up. “I have no way

to really stop him if he wants to take part. I just don’t want him hurt and having

to explain how I let him sign up for a battle scenario when he’s not supposed to be

fighting anyone.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” said Jessica. She stood up too, grabbing a piece of meat from

her plate so she could follow her friend.

“How hard is it to sign your own name?,” asked Doreen. “I already know he can

write.”

The girls rushed from the dining hall. Their partners followed. Tapper turned and

veered toward the administration hall at full speed.

Doreen ran after her squirrel, frowning at the surroundings. Woody must have loped

off as soon as he was out of sight. She hoped he had not ran into some of the

bullies that attended the school with her.

She didn’t know what he could do, and she was afraid to find out.

She paused when she reached the administration building. She looked around. She

didn’t see Tapper. Had he gone inside already?

He shouldn’t have done that. If he got caught, they would both be in big trouble.

Jessica caught up, chewing on the remains of her dinner. She looked at the

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administration building, noting the absence of lights.

“It’s closed for the night,” she said, rubbing the smooth skull of her cat as it sat beside

her.

“I think Tapper followed him inside,” said Doreen. “I just know he is signing up for

the tournament. Errant is not going to like that.”

“There’s not much you can do about it from out here,” said Jessica. She tried the door.

It refused to budge. “Locked. I doubt Woody could get through that. He’s made of

solid wood.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Doreen. “Tapper went in through the crack under the door.

I need him to come back before we’re caught loitering out here.”

“See if you can call him,” said Jessica. “If he is caught inside, everyone will say

you’re cheating.”

“I should have refused to have Woody,” said Doreen. “I should have stood up for

myself.”

“You are a pushover,” said Jessica. She smiled. “Call for Tapper. Then we can look

around for your dog.”

“I know,” said Doreen. She leaned in to the door. “Tapper! Tapper! Come here!”

The squirrel appeared moments later. He danced around, waving his arms. He pointed

at the door.

“Woody is still in there?,” asked Doreen.

Tapper jumped up in the affirmative.

“How did he do that?,” asked Jessica. “The doors are locked for the night.”

“I told you he was strange,” said Doreen. “I have to get him out of there before there’s

problems.”

“All right,” said Jessica. “I’ll have Jaw roar if I see someone coming to the door to

go inside.”

“Thanks,” said Doreen. “Don’t get into trouble. It will be bad enough if I get into

trouble. I don’t want you to miss your chance on top of everything else.”

“I’ll be careful,” said Jessica. “Get Woody and get out of there.”

“Tapper,” said Doreen. “I need you to open the door so I can do what I need to do.”

The squirrel danced up and down before sliding under the door again. A moment later

and the lock clicked back and the door opened on its own. He waved a wet arm for

her to hurry up and come inside before someone caught them.

Doreen jumped across the threshold and pushed the door shut. She squinted in

the dark, looking for Woody. Where would he go? She decided that he would try

to sign up on the board. She had to stop him from putting his name on paper.

Once he did that, he was as good as in the tournament since there was no way she

could replace the sign up paper with the names intact. She could only take the sign

up page down and put up a new one. Everyone would have to sign up again.

That would get her into as much trouble as being caught in the administrative

building with no reason to be in the administrative building. She would be punished

for this.

Tapper led the way along the stone floor, heading right for the sign up sheet. He

stopped when it came into view on the wall in its case. He pointed at the block letters

at the bottom of the sheet in a language she couldn’t read.

Doreen groaned out loud. He had signed up for the tournament despite what she had

said, and what Errant had wanted. She was going to be in for a lot of trouble.

Then she asked herself how he had put his name on the bottom of the list through a

sheet of glass with no hands.

Errant had said that Woody was magical. Had he done this somehow? Had one of the

other students helped him before the building was locked up for the night? How did

she get out of the trouble she could see coming on without getting kicked out and

losing Tapper in one shot.

She had to let it ride. There was nothing else she could do. She would talk to Woody

later and explain the pressure he had put her under, but then she would have to ask

him not to come by the academy and stay off the grounds until after the tournament

was over.

Tapper said some things in his chattering. Then he held up his hands to be picked up.

She did so, placing him on her shoulder. She had to get out of the administrative

building before she was caught.

She would deal with Woody in the morning.

She made her way back to the door and peeked out. She didn’t see anyone standing

around. Then she stepped out of the building and closed the door after her.

“Tapper, please lock the door back,” said Doreen. “Then we have to find Woody so

we can ask him why he did this.”

Tapper slid under the door and worked the bar back into place. He slid out and made

a ta da gesture with his arms wide.

Doreen stepped away from the doors and looked around for Jessica. She saw the girl

standing nearby. They waved at each other as Tapper led the way across the space

between the two girls.

“We didn’t see him,” said Doreen. “But he signed up for the tournament. His name

is at the bottom of the sheet in another language.”

“Then you can deny he is actually a participant,” said Jessica.

“Only if he goes along with that,” said Doreen. “He might start talking and tell the

judges they can’t get rid of him now that his name is on the paper.”

“Do you really think he can talk?,” asked Jessica.

“I would be surprised if he doesn’t learn how,” said Doreen. “His name was added

through the glass shield over the paper.”

“You’re joking,” said Jessica.

“I didn’t see him, but his name is there with the paper in the glass,” said Doreen. She

started walking. There was one place she thought Woody would be.

“How did he do that?,” asked Jessica. She followed along.

“Magic,” said Doreen. “I knew this was trouble. I should have said no. I can’t allow

someone’s magic dog to stay on the grounds. I should have told Errant to take his

cheating familiar with him.”

“So what if he signed up for the tournament,” said Jessica. “He won’t be the

only outsider here during that time.”

“He’ll be the only one fighting without a partner,” said Doreen. “I can’t do it because

I was signed up with Tapper at the beginning of the year. You can’t for the same

reason. Who would fight with Woody other than Errant who isn’t around?”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” said Jessica. “I don’t think I have ever seen you this

angry.”

“This is nothing but trouble,” said Doreen. “And it puts Tapper in danger. I want

my totem to win but not if his enemy just hands him the victory.”

“I can see the judges being angry at some sort of collusion,” said Jessica. “Where are

we going?”

“Where I first met those two,” said Doreen. “The lake.”

The girls and their familiars scrambled over the wall around the Academy and headed

into the surrounding forest. Tapper led the way, his liquid body allowing him to

get through places where no one else could go. He paused every now and then to

wave his arms at them.

“There’s the lake,” said Jessica. She nodded at the glittering expanse under the setting

sun.

“There’s Woody,” said Doreen. She marched toward the lying dog. She saw his ear

shift and knew he was listening to her come up without glancing at her angry face.

“Woody,” said Doreen. She hunkered down in front of him. He tried to look away

because he knew she was angry about his misdeed. “Look at me. You signed up

for the tournament. You know you weren’t supposed to do that. I could get into

trouble. I have to worry about both you and Tapper now. That was not something

you should have done. The judges will come down on all three of us.”

Tapper joined in with his own harangue with arms and tail waving in the air. He

punched Woody in the nose with his tiny watery paw.

“They are both saying you were a jerk,” said Jessica. She put on a serious face

because it could be too easy to start laughing at the three of them when the two were

so mad. “I think you should apologize.”

Woody howled sorrowfully as the night finally came on. He kept it up until Doreen

grabbed his neck in a hug and asked him to be quiet.

“We’ll talk to someone in the morning about this,” said Doreen. “Let’s go. It’s almost

curfew.”