Emma's sister is missing. Her parents have spent all their savings on the search. And now the family has no choice but to live in a ramshackle trailer park on the edge of the forst, next door to down-and-out harpies, hags, and trolls. Emma wonders if she'll ever see Helena, and if she'll ever feel happy, again.
Then she makes a friend.
A smooth-talking, dirty-furred cat named Jack. He's got a razor-sharp plan to rescue Emma's sister. He just wants one small favor in return...
Mike Grinti
Mike and Rachel Grinti live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mike was born in Russia, and moved to the United States with his family when he was a child. THE HOBBIT, borrowed from the library, got him hooked on reading. Rachel grew up in Pittsburgh, where she now works as a children's librarian. CLAWS is their first book.
---
- Emma looked around the dusty trailer. She wasn't sure whether to trust anything
the cat said -- for all she knew, he was friends with the hag and the snake-man
-- but who would live here if they didn't have to?
"Couldn't you turn yourself
into something so they couldn't find you? Cats do that sort of thing, don't they?"
she asked.
"Other cats do, sometimes. But unfortunately I'm one of the rare
cats without a pride. I had one once, years ago, far from here. No pride, no magic.
My attempts to correct this have only caused me trouble, though..." He eyed Emma
and began to lazily tear at the curtains with one claw. "Though I think an opportunity
might present itself soon enough."
Emma sat back down on the box. "I'm sorry
you lost your pride and your magic and stuff. I lost someone too. My sister."
"Oh,
please. We're talking about cat magic, the most powerful magic in the world. What
good is a sister?"
