at Cassandra, who was knitting again, and who could only shrug.
Katherine had enough. “Okay Gargoth, what’s going on?” she asked. “What’s this ‘beacon’ for?”
He propped himself up on one elbow and sighed. “We have to be patient, Katherine. It may take a long while, but my beacon may bring the one I wish to summon.”
“Which one? Who do you wish to summon? What are you talking about?” Katherine was demanding again, which was never good with Gargoth. If you got too snoopy, or too direct, he’d stop talking altogether, which was very annoying, since it usually only happened when you were excited. And you were probably excited because something interesting was about to happen, which hardly seemed fair.
Gargoth blew out a long stream of smoke. “You’re overexcited, Katherine,” he said quietly. “Be calm, child.”
Katherine frowned and turned to Cassandra. “He’s teasing me. He says his ‘beacon’ may bring the one he wishes to summon, whatever that means…” She stopped in mid-sentence.
Then she knew. The other gargoyle. The one who had flown away from Cassandra’s shop just days before she and Gargoth had entered it last spring.
“Do you mean the lost gargoyle?” she asked quietly.
“Yes,” he said simply. “It is a beacon for my greatest friend, the only one who can help me, the gargoyle Ambergine.”
Chapter Seven
Ambergine:
Among Angels
The little gargoyle was perched up high, looking over the dark water…
The moon was setting and reflected off the surface of the lake in shiny splashes. She could see waves and boats at anchor in the harbour nearby. Her search in the backyards, churches and parks near the giant hot dog eater had failed. She’d spent the last few days sleeping hidden in the wings of an angel over a great arched gate. Many busy roads met at the angel’s feet far below. She’d overheard someone call this place “The Prince’s Gates”. It opened onto a wide open space with a long building and horses inside.
Below her, the city streets were still—it was five a.m., after all. There was no one around except an old beggar with a baggy brown jacket and a white straw hat, a pair of thick glasses on the ground beside him, sleeping under a tree. Even a big city is still sometimes. She knew that soon the great red locomotion machines would start rolling by her, then she would have to hide for the day once again.
“Perhaps tonight…” she whispered as she dozed against the great angel. “If you grant me one wish, sweet angel, please let me find him tonight…”
With that simple prayer, Ambergine fell fast asleep.
Chapter Eight
Mark of the Stonemason
A few nights later, Katherine was standing at the bottom of the stairs to Cassandra’s rooftop once again. Without saying it out loud, Katherine and Gargoth had reached an agreement about the stairs: Katherine now carried Gargoth up in the backpack. He didn’t get out or even let on that they had arrived at the store until they reached the rooftop.
Cassandra greeted them happily at the top of the stairs, standing amid a blaze of one hundred and forty-eight flaming orange-scented pumpkin candles.
“Hi, Katherine! Hi, Gargoth!” she said. “I lit your beacon.” She exchanged a glance with Katherine.
“Thanks, Cassandra,” Katherine breathed, very relieved that she and Cassandra would be spared any more exposure to the delights of scorched gargoyle flesh.
Gargoth climbed out of the backpack, waddled across the rooftop, and flopped onto the soft cushion. He looked dejected.
“What’s the matter?” Katherine stood over him with her arms crossed. She was so used to his moods, she barely even noticed them any more.
He was silent for a while. As usual, he wasn’t going to be rushed into anything. He pulled out his pipe and lit it, then slowly wriggled himself into a comfortable position on the cushion, blowing puffs of smoke up into the night. A streetcar rumbled loudly as it passed by far below them. A police siren wailed somewhere nearby.
Katherine sighed and went to sit beside Cassandra, who was knitting something that looked kind of like a giant green scarf. Being a giantess (or something pretty close), Cassandra had huge hands, and knitting wasn’t all that easy for her. But she never gave up, even if she maybe should have.
Katherine was about to say something when Gargoth cleared his throat. “I would tell you the beginning of a long story tonight, I think. But I fear it will be difficult for our friend Cassandra to follow along,” he said.
“I’ll translate for her, don’t worry,” Katherine answered. “It’s okay. Are you finally going to tell us what the candles are for?”
“Yes, Katherine. That and more. But first I must tell you that I fear the beacon will fail. It has taken me a long time to regain any hope…” He paused, struggling for the right words, then continued. “I think she has gone. I think Ambergine has abandoned me and will never see the beacon, and I will be forsaken here forever.”
Katherine felt a jab of sadness, hearing the longing in Gargoth’s voice. It was very rare for him to be so open with her. “Maybe if you tell us the story you want to tell, it will make waiting easier,” she said. “I really want to hear whatever it is you have to tell us.”
It was true. She really did want to hear. Gargoth was nothing if not interesting. His stories were always worth the wait.
“But first, please tell us one thing right now: what is the beacon? How is it a beacon?” she said, sounding a little desperate.
Gargoth sighed again. “Humans are so impatient!” he said, shaking his head. “Okay, Katherine. Go and climb up the chimney at the edge of the roof and look down upon the lit candles. I think you will see then.”
Obediently, she got up and tiptoed through the lit candles across the roof. As she laid her hand on the short ladder attached to the chimney, Cassandra looked up in alarm.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“He wants me to look at the pattern of the beacon.”
“Be careful! Your parents won’t be happy with me if you get hurt.”
“I’ll just be a second,” Katherine answered.
She climbed the rungs of the ladder and leaned against the old chimney, looking down over the rooftop of brightly lit candles. There was a pattern, but it didn’t mean much to her.
“What do you see?” Gargoth asked from his cushion.
“Well, I see two diamonds on top of each other, inside a giant circle, I think. It’s kind of hard to tell for sure…” she finished.
“Excellent, Katherine,” Gargoth said.
She climbed down from the chimney ladder and brushed red chimney brick dust
