He was working feverishly on his pile of unlit pumpkin candles, moving them around the roof, placing a single one here, then there. He would put one down, lean his head to one side, then move the candle again a few centimetres in a different direction. Sometimes he would lie down flat on the roof to line up the candles, or sometimes climb up the small chimney ladder (which made Katherine very nervous) to see his creation, all the while with his lit pipe clamped tightly in his leathery lips. He was concentrating very hard, not paying any attention to Katherine and Cassandra at all. It was almost like they weren’t there.
Although they knew better than to ask, Katherine and Cassandra were very curious about what he was doing. Was it a piece of art? Was it some ancient game? By now the candles were covering the entire roof in some sort of sequence, but it didn’t make any sense to them. Since Cassandra had provided the candles, Gargoth hadn’t said another word. He just went about his mysterious business, so until he decided to tell them what he was doing, they would just have to wait to find out.
Instead they were talking about soccer camp. “They play soccer all day, then swim all afternoon at the university pool. It sounds hard, but it’s really fun. Two professional soccer players are running the camp this year, and we get to play an exhibition game on their field. A professional field, Cassandra!”
Cassandra smiled. Katherine sighed. “I might not be able to go, though. Mom and Dad have to go to my mom’s cousin’s daughter’s wedding in Saskatoon or something. I’ve been begging them to let me stay home, but they won’t let me stay alone. Also, we aren’t sure what to do with…” she hesitated and glanced over at Gargoth.
Since he was a good way across the roof, she dropped her voice to a whisper and said, “We aren’t sure what to do with Gargoth for an entire week, though. He knows we’re leaving, and I don’t think he’s all that happy about it...”
The week before, her mother had told him they were leaving for a holiday. He’d stormed into the bushes at the back of their little yard and wouldn’t come out for hours. He’d sulked and pouted and wouldn’t even stroke their calico cat Milly (and they were great friends). And he hadn’t talked to her mother since.
It was a little awkward. They couldn’t take him away for a whole week. He was a gargoyle, not a pet, after all. Even if they were used to him walking and talking and being very much alive in their backyard, Katherine doubted that the nice people at the wedding would be all that okay with it. Besides, Gargoth was terrible in the car. They’d only tried that once, and it hadn’t gone at all well. She couldn’t begin to imagine what he would be like in an airplane.
“So, I’m going to miss the best soccer camp ever, and we’re kind of stuck about Gargoth…” Katherine finished.
They looked over at the gargoyle, who was deep in thought, struggling with an armload of smiling pump-kins. The crate was half empty, he had used so many.
Cassandra put down her knitting. “You know, you could both stay here for the week. Gargoth could stay up here on the roof, doing whatever it is he’s doing with the candles. And I have an extra bedroom in my apartment downstairs for you.”
Katherine gasped. “Do you think so, Cassandra? That would be so great. We’d have to ask Mom and Dad…it might not be so easy to convince them…”
Just at that moment, Gargoth waddled over and stood before them with a single smiling pumpkin candle in his claw. He turned it over and lit it with the coals in the stump of his pipe.
“I’m finished,” he said. “Could you help me set my beacon ablaze?”
Chapter Six
Gargoth's Beacon
Katherine had a confused look on her face. “Beacon? What do you mean? Do you want us to help you light the candles, Gargoth?”
“Yes, Katherine. Here,” he handed her the candle. He offered Cassandra another lit candle.
“The three of us can light them quickly together,” he said. Katherine nodded and began lighting candles. “He wants us to help him light them all,” she translated for Cassandra, who followed along, a little confused but happy to help out.
For the next several minutes, the three of them went from candle to candle, lighting smiling pumpkins. With his clumsy, leathery claws, Gargoth found it hard to light the candles easily and kept scorching himself.
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: try to avoid the scent of scorched gargoyle, if you ever happen across it. It’s a little like overcooked cabbage and cat-box, with a dash of moldering dead rat thrown in for good measure. Pretty much the exact opposite of anything nice you’ve ever smelled in your life. Both Cassandra and Katherine tried to hide the fact that they were holding their noses, which made lighting the candles very difficult. Gargoth didn’t seem to notice.
It took them ages, but despite the horrible stench of burnt gargoyle and the fact that the candles were hard to light, they did finally get them all lit.
Eventually Cassandra’s rooftop was alight with one hundred and forty-eight shimmering orange-scented pumpkin candles (which strangely did little to mask the stink of burned gargoyle flesh). They looked very pretty glowing softly in the dark night, but the reason for their arrangement was still a mystery to Katherine and Cassandra.
Gargoth climbed back up the ladder on the chimney to see the candles better. He climbed down and waddled to a few candles, moving them slightly. He returned to the chimney to look again. Eventually he flopped onto his small cushion beside the lemonade pitcher.
He poured himself a long drink, refilled his pipe, then wiggled comfortably on his cushion, blowing smoke rings toward the stars.
Eventually Katherine couldn’t stand it any longer. She looked over at Cassandra, who was knitting again, and who could only shrug.
Katherine had enough. “Okay Gargoth, what’s going on?” she asked. “What’s this ‘beacon’ for?”
He propped himself up on one elbow and sighed. “We have to be patient, Katherine. It may take a long while, but my beacon may bring the one I wish to summon.”
“Which one? Who do you wish to summon? What are you talking about?” Katherine was demanding again, which was never good with Gargoth. If you got too snoopy, or too direct, he’d stop talking altogether, which was very annoying, since it usually only happened when you were excited. And you were probably excited because something interesting was about to happen, which hardly seemed fair.
Gargoth blew out a long stream of smoke. “You’re overexcited, Katherine,” he said quietly. “Be calm, child.”
Katherine frowned and turned to Cassandra. “He’s teasing me. He says his ‘beacon’ may bring the one he wishes to summon, whatever that means…” She stopped in mid-sentence.
Then she knew. The other gargoyle. The one who had flown away from Cassandra’s shop just days before she and Gargoth had entered it last spring.
“Do you mean the lost gargoyle?” she asked quietly.
“Yes,” he said simply. “It is a beacon for my greatest friend, the only one who can help me, the gargoyle Ambergine.”
Chapter Seven
Ambergine:
Among Angels
The little gargoyle was perched up high, looking over the dark water…
The moon was setting and reflected off the surface of the lake in shiny splashes. She could see waves and boats at anchor in the harbour nearby. Her search in the backyards, churches and parks near the giant hot dog eater had failed. She’d spent the last few days sleeping hidden in the wings of an angel over a great arched gate. Many busy roads met at the angel’s feet far below. She’d overheard someone call this place “The Prince’s Gates”. It opened onto a wide open