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pigeon!"
    Carrier pigeons often delivered notes to us when we were at home, but it had been quite some time since we'd seen one and we'd certainly never seen one when we weren't at home.
    Usually when carrier pigeons visited us at home, they went straight to Durinda. Well, perhaps it was because she was almost always the one to open the window and let them inside. But not this time. This time, the carrier pigeon went to Zinnia, landing on her shoulder.
    Zinnia turned her head a bit so that she and the carrier pigeon were eye to eye.
    "Hello," Zinnia said out loud.
    This was odd; usually when Zinnia pretended she could talk to one of our cats, she did so in a whisper.
    The carrier pigeon made some sort of noise.
    "That's funny," Marcia said. "I didn't think carrier pigeons could talk."
    "That's because they can't," Georgia said.

 
    "Better watch it," Rebecca warned Marcia, "or Georgia will start calling you 'you little idiot' too."
    "Do you have a name?" Zinnia asked the pigeon.
    The pigeon made another sound.
    "Did it say Caw?" Annie asked.
    "Or was that Kaw?" Jackie suggested.
    "Call," Zinnia said. "I see. C'mon, Call, let's go in the cottage."
    "Are you going to let her keep that?" Rebecca asked Pete.
    "I don't see why not." Pete shrugged. "Besides, we have bigger things to worry about right now, like unpacking all our gear from the car and then getting settled in our new surroundings."
    " New surroundings," Georgia scoffed softly as we followed Zinnia over the threshold. "More like old and shabby surroundings."
    Georgia was right for once. The cottage was old and shabby, with dust and cobwebs everywhere, musty sheets covering the furniture.
    "Aren't you worried the cats will eat your new pet?" Rebecca asked Zinnia.
    "Call's not a pet, it's a friend," Zinnia corrected. "And no. The cats have promised they will not."
    We rolled our eyes.
    "I knew Annie should have let me buy that birdcage at the store that time," Petal said. "I don't think it's safe to have a pigeon just flying loose indoors willy-nilly."
    "C'mon, Call," Zinnia said. "Let's go see the rest of the place."
    "I suppose we should be grateful Zinnia didn't name it C'mon," Georgia said. "That would get so annoying."
    "Confusing too," Petal added, "because we'd never know who she was talking to any time she said 'C'mon, C'mon'—one of us or the bird."
    "No," Rebecca said. "It would just be annoying."
    "Hey," Zinnia said to the pigeon as we investigated the room we guessed was supposed to be the living room given its view of the ocean through grimy windows, "did you bring that note for me?"
    What a silly question. What did Zinnia think, that the pigeon had come equipped with tape in order to tape her note to the door?
    And why was she still talking aloud to it? Was she trying to demonstrate for us her power—you know, the power we all knew she didn't possess?
    "Who sent you?" Zinnia asked the pigeon.
    The pigeon made a sound. Whatever Zinnia thought that sound meant, it caused her to look confused and then glance around at us.
    "That's odd," she said. "Call answered my question by saying 'Zinn.' But that makes no sense. Zinn is the first syllable in my name, and I know I didn't send the pigeon to me."
    "Maybe Call is just confused," Jackie said kindly. "When the carrier pigeons visit us at home, sometimes they strike their bodies against a window to get attention. Maybe Call accidentally struck its head."
    Oh, Jackie, we thought. It's one thing to be kind, but did she really need to go to such great lengths to humor the loony?
    "Why don't we go to the kitchen, Call," Zinnia suggested, "and get you a nice cool drink of water?"
    "Oh no!" Durinda cried. "Does this place have a... kitchen? "
    "Well," Pete said, looking embarrassed, "you know, it is a cottage, not a hotel, and the man back at the Little Hotel did say something about—"
    "Why don't you see if there are any supplies in the kitchen," Rebecca told Durinda. "I'm feeling a bit peckish." She cracked her