That night, as usual, Dorothy stayed over at Shade's house. Having heard that Luvia would finish up matters in Randall River Valley next week and would likely return soon, Miss Writer cherished their time together.
After the adults' time that evening had passed, she even let Mia out of the wardrobe so the cat could sleep beside Shade's pillow.
At half past one in the morning on sunday, the bedroom at 6 Saint Derain Square was completely dark, its tightly drawn curtains blocking out the moonlight and the glow of the gas street lamps.
Shade, asleep, held the young lady in his arms when the cat by his pillow suddenly opened her amber eyes. Alert, she stood up, leaped onto Shade, and began patting at his blanket with her paws.
As the lightly sleeping Shade began to regain some awareness, "she" beside him softly said:
"Earthquake."
"What?"
Only after Shade asked did he feel the bed begin to shake slightly. Without time to think, he instinctively wrapped one arm around Dorothy and grabbed the cat with the other, then rolled directly off the bed. He rolled hard again, taking Dorothy and the cat beneath the bed with him.
Only then did the deeply sleeping Dorothy come to her senses:
"Oh, Shade, if you want to try it under the bed, could you tell me beforehand?"
"It's an earthquake!"
Shade emphasized, though the shaking was already beginning to subside.
"What does an earthquake have to do with it? If your haunted house could collapse in an earthquake, then it wouldn't be a haunted house."
The sleepy blonde young lady muttered as she hugged Shade tightly, then rolled out from under the bed with him. Fortunately, the maid who came to clean every week diligently swept every corner, so beneath the bed