In other words, I thought it was awesome. One minute I couldn't see anything. I

could only feel Mrs.

 

O'Leary's fur and my fingers wrapped around the bronze links of her dog collar.

 

The next minute the shadows melted into a new scene. We were on a cliff in the

woods of Connecticut. At least, it looked like Connecticut from the few times

I'd been there: lots of trees, low stone walls, big houses. Down one side of the

cliff, a highway cut through a ravine. Down the other side was someone's

backyard. The property was huge — more wilderness than lawn. The house was a

two-story white Colonial. Despite the fact that it was right on the other side

of the hill from a highway, it felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. I

could see a light glowing m the kitchen window. A rusty old swing set stood

under an apple tree.

 

I couldn't imagine living in a house like this, with an actual yard and

everything. I'd lived in a tiny apartment or a school dorm my whole life. If

this was Luke's home, I wondered why he'd ever wanted to leave.

 

Mrs. O'Leary staggered. I remembered what Nico had said about shadow travel

draining her, so I slipped off her back. She let out a huge toothy yawn that

would've scared a T. rex, then turned in a circle and flopped down so hard the

ground shook.