Chapter 3

I could hear Michaelsen sighing, but unless he was going to help me, his struggle with his conscience wasn’t going to do me any good.

“We’re here,” he says as he stops the car in front of a tall, iron gate. Letting me out, he unlocks the cuffs and looks me straight in the eye. “I’m not sure what to make of you, Sophie, but there are things in this place that are older than human history. They deserve your respect.”

“Guess I’ll have to remember that, thanks.” I feel like I should say something more to him, to thank him and Hansen for rescuing me or to offer my condolences on the temporary? disappearance of my grandmother–but the words just won’t come. I keep getting stuck on the idea that I’m some kind of prisoner and my apology means nothing until my debt is paid. I guess the only way to know that is to find out what I’ve done.

As I step into the entrance for the Milwaukee Zoo, I still wonder what’s next for me. Hard to feel guilty when you don’t know what you did. Thunk stretches up out of my pocket to take a look around and must not have liked what he saw; he scurries back down with a tiny *thunk.*

“That’s all right, buddy,” I reassure him. “I may not know what you are or where you came from, but you’ll be safe with me.”

After all, he’s the only friend I’ve got.

Please continue reading here to Chapter Three: The Third Piece