“Hello, Antoinette,” he greeted as he turned and walked towards her.
”‘allo, Tracker,” she said in surprise. “How did you know I was here?”
”I heard you come in and recognized your scent.”
She stood up. “That is very good! I thought I had made no noise.”
He shrugged in self-deprecation. “I have good ears,” he replied, flicking them expressively.
She smiled and reached up to caress his head and ears. “Oui, you do. I like them very much.”
He pulled away uneasily. “Why aren’t you at the Mentalists?”
She let her hands slide down his arms. “Doctor Carter was called away. He let me go early. What will you do now?”
”Normally, I work out on the bars.” He gestured towards the ceiling.
”May I watch?”
”If you wish.”
”Bon.” She smiled and hugged him, then returned to her corner. With a sudden spring, he grabbed a bar and pulled himself up into the maze. He wove his way through it, leaping from bar to bar with the confidence of excellent coordination and long practice. As he wound through the maze of bars, he pulled the valtan from its scabbard again and began using thrusts and swings, slicing and stabbing at imaginary foes while using the bars as shield and anchor. When he finally dropped down to the mat again, she sprang to her feet, clapping her hands.
”Tres magnifique! Can you teach me to do it? It is like dancing in the air!” Her mobile hands underscored her excitement.
He nodded.
She stripped off her clothes, then watched him as he sprang up into the maze again and moved slowly through the lower level. With a short sprint, she leaped and caught one of the bars. She hung at full extension for a moment, then swung her body and jackknifed, to end up belly down across the bar. She held the upright as she stood, then began to follow him through the maze.
Her confidence grew as she walked along the bars fairly easily, though she felt it would take years to equal Tracker’s easy balance. Even so, it amazed her all over again that he walked and maintained his balance on the bars on his dog-like paws, so much smaller than her own feet, though broader. Leaping from bar to bar as he did was altogether different. Even small jumps required so much effort that keeping her balance seemed nearly impossible while Tracker would land, flick his tail and stand almost as though on the floor below. The first time she fell, Tracker dropped from his perch to her side, but by rolling through the fall, she was back on her feet and springing again for the overhead bars even before he landed.
Several minutes later, Antoinette dropped to the mats and gathered her clothes while Tracker collected a towel from the cabinet by the door. “That was so much fun, Tracker,” she said, panting, as she toweled down. “And hard! You make it look so easy but it is very hard.”
”Practice,” he said, tossing her towel into the laundry chute. “I’m stronger than you are, and my tail helps me keep my balance.”
When they left the gym, she said, “Tracker, is there a church, or a chapel, in here?”
”Uh, yes,” he replied.
”Would you show me where it is?” He nodded and led the way.
The chapel was a fair-sized but simple room on the same level, marked with several different religious icons. A small altar stood in one corner with a kneeling rail in front of it and a number of folding chairs set up facing the altar and the cross behind it. Other corners held their own icons and seating, including one that faced just off from the corner and presented kneeling mats rather than chairs. While Tracker sat near the door, she went up to the altar and knelt at the railing.
Thank you, mon Dieu, for my new friends and my new home, she prayed silently, and for Tracker. He is so sweet, mon Dieu. Help me to get to know him better. Thank you. She crossed herself, then rose and went back to Tracker to take his arm.
”Tracker, could we go to the place with the other light sculptures?”
”Sure.”
The Gallery, a large room broken by short walls laid out in an almost maze-like pattern, was filled with statues, figurines, light sculptures like the reef and fish she’d seen earlier and paintings of several styles. “Look, there is Scott,” she exclaimed, pointing at a glowing statue made of light. The figure caught him in the act of throwing his stun ball, the ball itself floated independently, seemingly stretched with the impression of speed as it flew from his fingers.
”And there is Red, flying. And you, Tracker! It is beautiful!” Tracker was frozen in a blur of twisting speed, cutting the air with his sword. “It is like your swordplay in the gym,” she said.
He nodded. “She watched me in a variety of exercises, and chose that one.”
A woman came towards them from the other end of the Gallery. She stood medium tall with mousy brown hair and walked with a quiet, determined step. “Here’s the artist now,” Tracker said to Antoinette. “This is Lisa.”
Antoinette watched as Lisa approached. Although plain of face, Lisa’s grey eyes bespoke an unusual intelligence while her body rivaled that of a professional model. She wore utilitarian clothing of a neutral brown while she kept her hair swept back in a loose bun.
”Hello, Tracker,” Lisa said.
”Hello, Lisa. This is Antoinette Duval, our newest resident.”
”I know.” She looked at Antoinette. “I have been watching you. You’re a dancer, aren’t you?”
Antoinette nodded. “How can you tell?”
”By the way you walk. Precise and deliberate. You walk like you’re on a tightrope, one foot in front of the other. When most people walk, their footsteps make two separate lines, side by side. You’d make just one.
”What else do you do?” Lisa asked.
”I shapechange into a large tigresse” she answered absently, gazing around. “I love your work!”
”I’m glad. May I do one of you for the Gallery?”
”I would be too honored. What would you need?”
”I just need to watch you in action. What time do you work out in the Training Room?” Lisa asked.
”From three to five every afternoon,” Antoinette replied. “How long do your sculptures last?”
”I’m not sure.” Lisa shook her head. “Maybe forever. I’ve been doing them for years and, once I freeze the light sculpture into its base, they’ve never yet deteriorated.
”I’ll come watch you in the Training Room and work on some ideas. When I’m ready to build it, I’ll let you know so you can be there. While I’m still working on it, the sculpture is fluid and I’m able to make changes. Once I freeze it, I can’t alter it.”
”Thank you very much. I will come. I want to see what you will do with the tigress, and I want to watch you work,” Antoinette replied.
Lisa smiled and bobbed her head. “All right. I’ll see you in a couple of days.” She turned and left the Gallery, leaving them alone.
