#anywhere

"I will have to explain to my friends later, but now we drive."

"Yes! My turn to drive!" He grins, but hops in the side car. "Maybe on the way back, right?"

"Maybe." Gentle humor.

Onward they drive. Soon enough, the Silverwolf Mansion draws close. Connor sits up in his seat, sniffing the air eagerly. This is exciting.

They are greeted at the approaching roadway... by no one.

As they pull in front of the manor? Nothing. The grounds are quiet, no one in sight.

A quiet frown.

As the rumble of the motorcycle cuts off, there is the sound of a distant baying, a hound dog giving cry - but from elsewhere.

"C'mon, kiddo. Stay close."

He takes off his helmet and tucks it carefully into the sidecar, and then trots at her side. "Where's the Hellos?"

"Well, we'll see." She offers out her hand to him.

He takes it and walks with her!

And so the pair head to the hold, hand in hand.

The front door is closed, and locked. Knocks go unanswered...

Connor looks up at Dagmar after his polite rapping is ignored.

FROWN.

"Maybe the handle is stuck..."

She twists and pushes on the door.

A crack, and ... well, the door is open now. What's a few splinters between friends?

"Hello?" She calls as they enter.

An imperative bird call! Klee-klee-klee!

Dagmar recognizes this tiny hawk! Nadeen brought the wee thing, scarcely bigger than a jaybird, with her when she last visited. There must be a window cracked nearby, as it's perched on a bust, and is trailing a leather jess, or restraining leash, that has one end very neatly snapped through.

Vespa the kestrel glares at the two with bright, intelligent eyes.

"Vespa." She approaches carefully.

The bird cries again, and flies down a hallway. It's very quiet within.

Dagmar follows the falcon.

They follow, and the kestrel leads them down past the staircase, through the hallway to the right.

They follow a walkway. Past a Grecian looking urn, and a Medieval tapestry.

A left turn, and past a Grecian looking urn, and a Medieval tapestry.

A right turn, and past a rather familiar looking Grecian looking urn, and a Medieval tapestry.

Frown.

The kestrel puffs up, and hisses a bit.

"Vespa, I aim to help your mistress."

"Nadeen is my friend."

Beak snaps, and she goes through the hallway again. Grecian Urn. Medieval Tapestry.

Vespa looks ANGRY, but not at Dagmar.

Connor is sniffing the air curiously.

"Some magic veil?"

She examines the urn and tapestry.

They look perfectly normal. Expensive, too. But every time they try to proceed down this hallway, they keep finding themselves back at the same point.

Connor has his eyes closed now, and inhales the air.

"Yeah, magic."

She looks behind the tapestry.

There IS a small mark there. She might recognize it from somewhere... wasn't there a similar emblem on that puzzle box Gerd has?

Bannerhouse Combecatte!

It's a small silver cat.

Connor peers at it, and sneezes. "Cats are TRICKY." He agrees. "But my nose says that there's a lie here."

"Hm."

She pokes at the mark.

The cat yawns mightily, closing it's eyes, and then returns to the still mark.

She "pets" the cat with a fingertip.

A golden thread has worked it's way loose from the tapestry, and it dangles from where Dagmar holds the heavy fabric working out of the way. The cat bats at it.

"Hm."

Strangely enough, the thread moves out of the way, despite the cat being a very 2-dimensional mark on the wall.

A tug on the thread.

The thread curls around her finger! Glamour glows in it.

Tug?

The cat turns, and sits with it's back to the way out. Facing away from the doorway - and there it sits, silent and still once more.

The thread comes loose, and pulls in that direction!