Kristin Wolden Nitz with illustrations by Yoshiko Jaeggi
for Kurt
Chapter 1 What was that Michael pointed at the laurel hedge with his yellow plastic bat Kate squinted into the shadows under the large shiny evergreen leaves I don’t see any thing she told her younger brother Maybe it was a cat Do cats have wings Okay maybe it was a bird Kate said Do birds have fur Michael asked And ears Kate grinned Nope It must be one of those shy Italian monsters then she teased There’s a warning about them in Mom’s guidebook Really Michael asked If it has fur and feathers it’s probably a grif fin Kate continued We saw a carving of one in Florence remember Griffins have the head and
