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are you?”
    “Why, you know who I am! And no need to wait until so long after Nimsy night. You’ll be ready much sooner, darling…”
    The jolt coursed through her again. And then her eyes blinked open. The soft lavender of twilight had seeped into the hollow. She looked over to Primrose’s corner. The Pygmy Owl was already up and out of the hollow, but Ginger was still sleeping. The dream Eglantine had just experienced was more real than ever. Her mum had said that she would be ready soon! Ready to go soon after Nimsy night. This was so exciting. Oh, she just had to tell someone. She looked over at Ginger again. She was beginningto stir. What would Ginger say if she told her about the dream? Would she think that she was just plain yoicks? Ginger’s eyes blinked open now and Eglantine hopped over to where she slept.
    “Ginger, I have to tell you something.” The Barn Owl was instantly alert. “Promise you won’t think I’ve gone yoicks.”
    “Why would I ever think that? You are one of the most sensible owls I have ever met,” Ginger replied.
    “Promise on your gizzard not to tell?”
    Ginger touched the feathers on her belly and said, “On my gizzard. Now, what is it?”
    “All right.” Eglantine took a deep breath. “Well, I have been having these dreams, you know.”
    Ginger nodded.
    “And well, I think they are actually more than just dreams. They are very real in a way. They are telling me something.”
    “What are they telling you, Eglantine?” Ginger said in a very soft voice.
    “My mum is alive, and I think my da is, too. And I think I know where they are.” She paused. “The Beaks.”
    “I believe you, Eglantine. Why wouldn’t I believe you? They say that your brother Soren has starsight. Whyshouldn’t you, too, dream about things before they happen?”
    “You’re right! Ginger, I never thought of that. It must run in the family. Oh, my goodness. I am so glad I told you. And you know what else?”
    “No, what?” Ginger said eagerly.
    “Well, I just know I can find that hollow in The Beaks and my mum wants me to come. I had already decided to go maybe a month or so after Nimsy night because the darkness will hold longer then, and I would have more time to get there. But Mum, I mean my dream mum, says that I’ll be ready before that. She says I’ll soon be strong enough for the flight.”
    “Oh, that’s wonderful and, of course, who knows you better than your own mum? Mums know best.”
    Eglantine blinked. How does Ginger always know exactly the right thing to say? Eglantine thought. Ginger was the most wonderful hollowmate.

CHAPTER EIGHT
Mum Waits for Me
    N imsy night had come and gone and as the day’s light dissolved minute by minute earlier and earlier, and the nights grew longer, the owls of the Great Ga’Hoole Tree grew happier because night was indeed their element. The long hot days pressed thickly upon them as they slept, the time passing so slowly, creeping by at the pace of a sluggish caterpillar until the cool of the evening descended and the sky turned faintly lavender, then deep purple, and finally black. For Eglantine, each extra minute of the black was a cause for celebration. She flew now with great enthusiasm and growing strength in each class—whether it was her own chaw practice for search-and-rescue with the lovely Burrowing Owl Sylvanaryb, or navigation class, now under the leadership of a Barred Owl named Woody, who had succeeded the late Strix Struma as the navigation ryb.
    Soren was pleased to see Eglantine acting like her old self and free of the summer flux or whatever the strange sleeping sickness was that had afflicted her earlier. Indeed,everyone except Primrose seemed pleased with Eglantine’s recovery. But Primrose was not sure. Yes, Eglantine seemed better, but she knew that she still twitched while she dreamed. Often she would awake sleepily to see Ginger bent over her. And yes, it was true that now the three of them, Ginger, Primrose, and