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THE Akeley living room was as crazily cluttered as when Phil last saw it No one had done ht In addition, there were a large nulasses abandoned in odd places Judging by the remnants of food and drink in theht, not counting snacks

The black velvet curtains at the far end of the roo the altar Sacheverell had prepared for Lucky in what had been the dining rooainst the far wall and covered with reddish-brown velvet that trailed to the floor in graceful folds Fastened to the wall above it was an ancient ankh or crux ansata, the Egyptian cross with looped top, sy procreation and life On lower tables to either side were large unlit candles and statuettes ofOsiris, jackal-jawed Anubis and cat-headed Bast herself

And there was the saer peaceful as they&039;d been when Lucky was in the house They stalked about with ears drawn back and fur fluffed fearsomely; they ambushed each other from behind and under furniture; they snarled and ju the bits of food left on plates would lift their heads every few seconds to hiss warnings The only one asleep was impiously curled on Lucky&039;s altar

The dark low table inlaid with a silver pentacle had been righted and placed in the center of the roolasses and a bottle of brandy Beside it sat Juno Jones, still in her dowdy dress with the ripped sleeves hanging from her meaty arms, but with her flower covered hat once more jammed down over her cropped blonde hair She looked sullen and on the defensive

Across the table fro forward in their chairs, sat Dion da Silva and Morton Opperly Both of them stood up as Sacheverell triu "Our council of war - or perhaps I should say muscular peace - is co completely at hos; perhaps a rubby bohemian atmosphere

Dion da Silva on the other hand, as soon as he spotted Dytie, put down the big glass of whiskey he was holding and whooped out three or four words in a foreign language, then caught hi! Great see &039;Allo, &039;allo, &039;allo"

By this tiriness that struck Phil as distinctly unbrotherly She wasn&039;t being any too sisterly about it herself But finally she pushed hih," she told him "Great see too, dumbhead &039;bout ti as it took hi?" he asked his sister excitedly

"Yes, get drunk," she told him and whispered to Phil, "Knohat Dion short for? God wine Pick good nanity Then his exciteain and he burst out with, "We finding pussycat!"

There was a giggle that Phil recognized Looking around, he saw Mary Akeley sitting in her alcove backed by her shelves of wax dolls and busy at work sewing clothes for another under a largewife had shifted to an alreen bow around her coarse dark hair

"That man, he cuts led, without pausing in her work "He&039;s so cute"

"Thanks sweetheart," Dion replied, gayly waving his glass at her, "I cute all over All full s&039;prises Show souffaw and whispered to Phil, "&039;Meh he judged that Dion&039;s interest in Mary didn&039;t nearly come up to his thirsty adoration of Dora Pannes The satyr (Phil felt shocked at how glibly the word ca his hand in

Sacheverell ignored the flirtatious interchange His sunburned features glea lady is Dytie da Silva, Dion&039;s sister," he told Opperly and Juno Then he turned to Phil "I suppose you&039;re wondering why Dr Opperly and Senor da Silva are here Well, I brought theenuinely interested inhiood chance of deliveringhim from his enemies"

"What he mean, him?" Dytie asked Phil "He means pussycat?"

Phil nodded

"I ly "I er of Love and Concord"

Dytie didn&039;t bother with that, but went on to whisper to Phil, "He say Op&039;ly Op&039;ly nice slietting set for a speech and he gave Phil a faintly pained look when the latter perforallantly kissing Dytie&039;s hand and then not letting go of it He didn&039;t behave at all like a scientist of eighty-plus years should And Dytie turned on a loton hi happy but probably highly intelligent nothings to each other, Phil felt a jealous impulse to call out to Opperly, "Wait until you see her real legs," but he somehow suspected that Opperly wouldn&039;t be shocked at Dytie&039;s real legs or anything about her He had noted a look of surprise come into Opperly&039;s face as the latter took Dytie&039;s hand, and from his own experience he&039;d knohy, but Opperly&039;s surprise had turned not to revulsion, but to eager interest

Opperly&039;s voice suddenly becahted to, Miss da Silva"

Dytie turned to the others with a self-satisfied sot much talk &039;bout," she announced "&039;Scuse please Dion you take care pussycat businessroo happily

Sacheverell looked after thereat regard for the importance of the situation, Iplans to rescue the Green One Mr Gish, what have you to contribute?"

In a few sentences Phil sketched how he&039;d found Lucky at Fun Incorporated, lost hiht up with hirabbed him

As soon as Phil finished, Mary Akeley cut in She was through sewing clothes and had begun to put thenized as the portrait of Moe Briht To his a underwear on the doll and slipping almost microscopically tiny objects into its pants pockets with a tiny tweezer

She said, "Did you happen to find out, Phil, why little old Dr Romadka kidnapped those three cats of ours?"

Phil explained, as briefly and unsickeningly as he could, what had happened to theot the doll that was the ie of Dr Romadka She fixed on it her witchiest stare

"Slow, slow acid dripped on your forehead," she incanted with a sincerity that sent gooseflesh coursing under Phil&039;s shirt "And I hope it&039;s days before it gets in your eye That&039;s the first and mildest of your tor and inforets in the first eye, we deviate to other parts of your body To begin with"

A sudden cat fight prevented Phil froination could get Sacheverell separated the five squalling coic kicks Then he hitched up his turquoise slacks and said, looking at his wife severely, "Now perhaps we can forget all hates and other dark vibrations and get down to business Here&039;s the situation, Mr Gish Earlier today, Juno overheard her husband Jackie tell Cookie where Billig and Mr Bri"

"Just Moe Bri," Sacheverell went on "Now Jackie and Cookie are safely asleep upstairs"

"Yes," Juno butted in again, "but they&039;re not going to stay that way too er"

"Not after what you put in their whiskey?" Sacheverell asked her with a thin suys have had ot wrote down in books jerks like you read They&039;re tough, the little punks"

"Well, if they do wake up, I&039;m sure you can take care of the two of them So there&039;s the situation, Mr Gish, and the only trouble is that Mrs Jones won&039;t tell us where Mr Brimstine is She started to, but then she shut up like an air lock We&039;ve pleaded with her, we&039;ve is I&039;ve done my best to explain to her just how cosmically important it is that the Green One be served and worshipped properly so that he will be able to change the world Senor da Silva flattered and jollied her, and Dr Opperly was friendly as anything But she just won&039;t talk"

"I sure won&039;t talk to nuts like you," the female wrestler told hi so squirrely, I&039;d have probably spilled it straight off But I&039; else -"

"&039;Scuse please," Dion interrupted "No jolly, reallywoman"

"And I don&039;t enjoy nut talk," Juno said to Sacheverell, ignoring da Silva "Every crazy reason you gavemade me that much surer I wouldn&039;t" She took a drink and turned toward Phil, her elbows on her correspondingly large knees "Noith you it&039;s different," she said "You got a nut&039;s idea of food, but outside of that you&039;re pretty huuy, because I saw you go up against Brimstine and from what I hear you did so is that you own this crazy cat, or at least you was looking for it when I first met you And I don&039;t believe you had any nut ideas about it, though I thought so at the ti cosmic with that cat?"