She saw she was right when she stepped up. There were two dolls, older women that she didn't know, putting up notices and talking to each other. When Twister looked closely, she saw they were putting up missing doll notices. She started to catch some of their conversation.

"I haven't seen her for three days," said the closest one. She had a long scarf that wrapped her neck, body and arms.

"A full week since Hopper disappeared. Her person wanders around the house like a zombie." This doll seemed a bit older, but it may have been the strange knitted hat she wore.

Twister wondered if these two had met at a knitting circle.

The two dolls turned to her. "You missing someone, too?" asked Scarf.

"No," Twister said. "Just looking for Squat. Do you know him?"

They both nodded. "I think he's at Pins and Needles, getting some work done," Strange Hat said.

Scarf shook her head. "No, no. He's at Rada, with those girls."

"Those girls like Petro. Very inappropriate," Strange Hat said.

Twister saw a long conversation brewing and stepped back to leave, but Scarf waved her back in with a hand. "You're Twister, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, I thought so." Scarf's voice started to go syrupy. "My human is Eun Kyung's mother. I think we heard Eun Kyung mention your human, Janey, once. Do you know her doll, Root?"

Twister hated listening to doll introductions, especially from old folks. They would blather on about who was related and their whole genealogy for hours if they could. She thought about turning herself to fast forward to get through it all.

"Wait," Scarf said. "Eun Kyung said Janey looked upset after school today. Did Squat's boy James do something to her?"

Twister shrugged. "Maybe."

Scarf and Strange Hat traded a look. "You taking him to the ring?"

"Why does everyone think that?" Twister asked.

The older dolls didn't answer.

"Okay. Yeah, I might have to challenge him." She stepped back again. She kept up the talk as she tried to escape. Old folks loved the talk. "Just have to find him first. Thanks for the help. Love your knitting."

"Wait," Strange Hat said and Twister felt her stuffing sink. "I have a spotter charm."

That made Twister stop. A spotter would make it easy to find Squat, but she didn't want to trade away any energy she might need later. "How much?"

Strange Hat held out the little brass charm. "To see that fight, no charge. We'll go get in the front row right now."

Twister stared at the two older dolls for a moment, then held out her hand for the charm. She took it and gripped it tightly in one hand, opened it. Inside, the eye-shaped needle twitched beneath the bullseye that was painted under the cover. "Squat," she said.

Immediately, the needle locked in one direction and she felt the charm's pull. It spun her around, yanked her arm out straight and led her down the street toward the center of town. As she ran to keep up with the charm, and her arm, she heard one of the old dolls. "She was very nice. Not at all like everyone says."

There was no time to set the two old dolls straight. Twister ran, dragged forward by the charm in her hand as it oriented on Squat. It pulled her past the ring, where two dolls were fighting, pins in hand, then past the other challenge areas. In most of those, the fighting dolls threw hexes at each other. As she ran by, she saw one doll get hit with a glowing green bubble and break out in so many warts that he could no longer move.

Then she was past the center of town, still running. She looked around, noticed the charm was dragging her to the strip where the most popular hang-outs and clubs were located that night. She passed Rada, saw the hip, fashionably dressed crowd of dolls there, and she slowed as she approached Petro. The old folks had been right. The doorman's buttons grew a little wider when he saw her coming for the entrance.

"Whoa! Twister?" he asked as she got nearer.

"Hey!" She ran in and he jumped straight up, stuck to the ceiling as she passed under him.

"We don't want any trouble in here!" His voice followed her inside and she glared back over her shoulder.

The charm slowed again once she was inside the club and she got a quick chance to look around. It hadn't changed much in the six or seven months since she'd been here last. She didn't go to shops or places like this when she came to town. She mostly went to the ring to watch the fights, or, if she listened to everyone else, to get in the ring herself.

The bar to her right stretched the length of the room. Dolls in every type of dress and costume stood there, talked and sampled whatever potion they had ordered. Behind the bar was a wall of bottles filled with everything from dirt to seawater to human fingernails. Petro had whatever was needed to brew up the newest potions and the oldest hexes. Petro's clients weren't always looking for a good time. Twister could attest to that herself.

She followed the spotter as it wound her into a row of booths. She saw him as she neared. Squat sat with two other dolls. He was shaped like all the other dolls in the room, like all the dolls she'd ever met in Voodoo Town, but he somehow looked more powerful. Maybe it was the bulky letter jacket he wore with the V on the left lapel. She rolled her button eyes at the sight. Squat's person, James, wore the same style jacket all the time as well.

Of the two dolls in the booth with him, she really only knew one, Ju Ju. They had spent some time together in the past and Twister was both cautious and respectful of the other doll. Ju Ju was dressed even darker than she was, but without the fraying edges and worn down knees. Around the doll's neck was a smaller voodoo doll. Twister had an inkling of what Ju Ju could do with it, and didn't want to be on the receiving end. If they ever had a reason to fight, Twister just hoped she'd be fast enough.

She knew the other doll's name, Sticks. That doll had the blond hair and cheerleader outfit that her human, Bambi, had. At Sticks' sides were two holsters, each with a pompon topped pin. Twister sized them up while she approached. For Sticks to carry something so ridiculous looking, there had to be something special about those pins, or about how Sticks could use them. It was worth finding out more about them, but later.

The charm slowed as she came up behind Squat. His two companions watched Twister silently, but Squat did nothing until her hand touched the messy pile of blonde hair on his head. Its job done and energy spent, the charm evaporated into nothing. All three seated figures stared up at her.

Finally, Squat turned to the other two. When they didn't say anything, he looked back. "Hey, Twisted."

Twister didn't reply. She stood, waited.

"Twister," he said. "Okay? Twister. What is it?"

"You have anything to say?" she asked.

Sticks held up her glass of potion. "You want some astronaut?" Her voice was chirpy and too friendly.

"No. Thanks," Twister said.

Sticks shrugged and splashed her face with a swig of the potion.

Janey talked with Bambi sometimes, but Twister had helped her human keep a little distance from the girl. She saw why the intuition was right when Sticks floated up into the air. The potion had taken away the effects of gravity and Sticks pushed up into the air, one hand staying close to a pompon pin. She had moved to get a higher position on Twister.

Ju Ju reached up, grabbed Sticks by the foot and hauled her back down into the booth. "Don't do that."

After Sticks was settled back in her seat, both hands visible on the table, Twister turned back to Squat. She pulled the note from under her arm, dropped it in front of him. "Do you have anything to say?"

He smiled up at her. "Maybe that your wallflower human should figure out that James is a bit out of her league."

Twister gave it a moment, gave him the chance to apologize. He didn't.

Ju Ju tilted a drink of her potion back against her thread mouth, put the glass down and held onto the edge of the table. Twister watched closely. If Ju Ju went for the doll around her neck, things that night might get a lot harder, a lot worse. But then Ju Ju leaned back and looked at Squat. "You should apologize. I didn't see any good endings for you."

Twister watched his smug grin turn into a frown. She thought she'd give him a moment to think about it, so she turned to Ju Ju. "What are you drinking?"

"Options. Extra strength. I can see a hundred different outcomes to an event."

"Never tried it," Twister said. "Taste good?"

"Kinda bland. Needs a little salt or something."

Twister grunted, turned back to Squat. "Last chance."

"Last chance for you to run back to your little human and get her to crawl into a hole."

Twister frowned. "I guess everyone was right," she said.

Squat only faltered for a second before pulling his bravado back on. "Right about what?"

"About the fight happening. Challenge," she said. "The ring." She didn't stay to listen to his reply, whatever it might be.

On her way out the door, she waved at the doorman, who was still clinging to the ceiling. "No trouble here," she said as she left.