Journeyman Cat

by Virginia Ripple

  Now he wasn’t so sure they’d made the right decision. It had been four days since they had interviewed Lars. He couldn’t get the image of a black tom in a cage being taken to the school out of his mind. This morning he decided to put in a call to the head temple cat at the school, so he waited until Lorn was occupied elsewhere. He had an hour before his partner was likely to return.

  His skin shivered as he looked at his reflection in their calling mirror. Looking back at him was a large orange tom with eyes the color of spring green. He tried to imagine how he would appear next to his father. Toby remembered the black tom as massive compared to his own tiny kitten body. Victor had been sturdily built, with hard muscles gained through physical training beyond what partnered cats had to do. His father had been a loner trusted by the High Council to go on missions most would consider suicidal. Yet he had always come back. Except he didn’t last time, Toby thought. In over six years the single clue the young tom had of his father’s whereabouts had come from Chivato when he’d been arrested. Even that information was useless. For all Toby knew his father had been tortured to death.

  But Lars’s information about a black cat in a cage at the temple school had piqued his curiosity. Was it possible that he finally had a genuine beginning place for his search? He took a deep breath and blinked at his reflection. Better get to it.

  Thankful that all public calling mirrors looked identical, Toby began sending out tendrils of willpower through the mirror he faced. He held a picture in his mind of a map of the area he wanted to contact, willing his mirror to find a magical echo. He felt his tendrils catch on the frame he wanted to use as an anchor. His mirror rippled. He concentrated, sending more will toward the other mirror.

  The image cleared, revealing a small round room with little more than a straight back chair stationed in front of the mirror he was looking out from. He heard a bell clanging in the distance, then the sound of pounding footsteps. A moment later a young boy skidded into view. He bowed, but didn’t rise as he spoke.

  “How may I be of service, Exalted One?” he asked in a tremulous voice.

  Toby’s eyes widened. “Ummm… May I speak with the head of the school, please?”

  “Yes, my lord. I shall fetch His Excellency with due haste.”

  The boy darted beyond the mirror, presumably out a door and down a hall based on the scurrying footsteps fading away. What was that about? A moment later, a brown tabby tom rushed into the room and leaped onto the chair. He made a deep bow, then looked up. His eyes widened.

  “Who are you?” he snapped.

  Toby straightened himself and did his best to appear official. “I am Toby, Journeyman to the Office of Kingdom Guardianship. Am I speaking with the head of this school?”

  The tabby glanced toward the OKG banner hanging on the wall behind the orange tom, making Toby grateful he had taken the time to rearrange their quarters and hang the banner. The brown cat’s manner stiffened further. He lifted his head to stare down his nose at the young tom.

  “We are Father Hanif, Head Temple Cat and Headmaster of the New Life Temple School.”

  “It is a pleasure, Hanif. I —”

  “You may address Us as Your Excellency.”

  Toby’s neck fur bristled. He took a deep breath and exhaled it quietly. This would be tricky enough without letting his fur be rubbed backwards.

  “I apologize.”

  Hanif sat silently on the chair, giving the orange tom a cold stare.

  “If you have a moment, Your Excellency, I would like to ask you a few questions.”

  “We were under the impression We had answered all the High Council’s questions.”

  Toby’s breath caught. Had the council already begun an investigation based on their report? If that were the case, then he was in serious breach of duties. Getting in the way of someone else’s investigation was grounds for dismissal from the OKG journeyman program. He couldn’t afford to be dismissed now. Not when he was closer than he’d ever been to finding his father. Should he say good day now and follow up with the lead partners on the case later? That would mean tracking down the partners, which might be several days, if he were lucky, then trying to weasel the information from them. Again, luck would have to play a major role in that.

  If he asked his questions now, he might be dismissed, but at least he would have his answers sooner. And who knew if what they asked would be helpful to him.

  “This will take just a moment. I’m following up on some leads from interviews my partner and I did in a town not far from your school. It’s strictly routine stuff.”

  The tom sat like a stone statue. His tail twitched once and he sighed.

  “Very well. Ask.”

  The young tom wanted to jump for joy. He stilled his mind, putting his questions in some semblance of order.

  “Some of our interviewees mentioned odd happenings at the temple school.”

  The brown tabby narrowed his eyes. “What kind of odd happenings?”

  “One interviewee said he saw bruising on a student. Could you possible shed some light on what would have caused it?”

  The tom rolled his eyes. “Journeyman — what did you say your name was again?”

  “Toby.”

  “Journeyman Toby, Our school is in a remote location, which necessitates growing our own supplies. Most likely, if the child were bruised, it occurred while carrying out his farming duties.”

  “Ah, yes. That would explain it. Just one more question, then. There was mention of a caged animal. Would you happen to know anything about that?”

  The tabby’s ears swiveled backward. “What sort of caged animal?”

  “A black cat, to be precise.”

  Hanif’s tail lashed once, then stilled. “That, young sir, is malicious gossip. We are a place of enlightenment, not barbarians. What reason would this temple have for caging one of Our brethren? Surely the High Council isn’t interested in rumors spread by malcontents.”

  “Malcontents, Your Excellency?”

  “You know of whom We speak. Those who look on the light and disparage it because their hearts are hardened toward the truth.”

  “What truth might that be?”

  Hanif lashed his tail and flattened his ears. “Are We to understand you are not a follower seeking the New Life?”

  Toby’s paws felt like they were frozen into a block of ice. He didn’t need this conversation to get back to his superiors, but he couldn’t lie. He’d been studying the Books of the One ever since Brother Yannis had suggested it, but he had yet to make any commitment. The truth — or something similar.

  “I seek the truth, Your Excellency. If it leads to a new life....” Toby shrugged.

  The brown tom’s eyes softened. “My son, you are wise to seek the New Life. His will changes lives and the world is better for it.”

  The orange tom’s skin shivered. It was similar to what Brother Yannis had said long ago, but there was something about it that set the young cat’s whiskers twitching. Brother Yannis had told him to study the Books of the One because the One wanted his love and not just his duty. He’d said nothing about a new life or changing the world. Then again, perhaps that was what he meant for Toby to discover. The young tom blinked, coming back to the conversation.

  “Thank you for answering my questions, Your Excellency. I’ll be sure to note them in our report.”

  The tabby nodded and flowed to the floor, leaving without a backward glance. The orange tom allowed the mirror spell to collapse, returning his reflection to him.

  He ran through everything the head temple cat had said. He considered every muscle movement and facial expression. The tom was on edge, defensive, but that may have been a reaction to answering a second set of questions. Also, he’d mentioned the High Council, not the Office of Kingdom Guardianship.

&n
bsp; If it had been the OKG who had questioned him already, wouldn’t he have said so? Perhaps he had confused the two or thought they were one and the same. There were enough council offices to confuse even him sometimes. Of course, he might have been defensive because he’s dealt with other rumormongers.

  The young cat sighed. Whatever the case, the whole thing had been a dead end. He looked around their room, thinking about putting it back the way it had been, but decided not to bother. Deflated, Toby unlocked the door and went to find out what uninteresting new mission he and Lorn had been assigned to next.

  The orange tom had thought about doing more digging into the goings on of the temple school, but three days later he found himself making a call to his mother instead. Toby wanted to know if Adele knew whether Victor’s mission had taken him anywhere near the school or not. He wished he didn’t have to ask her to find out. Taking a deep breath, he reached out to his mirror and focused it on the one near his family’s nest in Master O’dorn’s cottage. He felt the magical echo and hesitated, remembering another time he had called his mother to ask her about Victor. Hopefully this call would end better than that one.

  He shook his head, then set the magic free. It snapped into place, showing a quiet hallway on the other side of the mirror.

  “Hello,” he called. The squeak of wheels grew louder. A stab of remorse coursed through Toby’s mind as the black queen pulled herself into view. She deftly turned to face the mirror and pushed her body back so that her paralyzed back legs were awkwardly resting on the stone floor. She sighed.

  “When are you going to stop beating yourself up over this? I get so tired of those long whiskered looks when you think I’m not looking.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You can stop saying you’re sorry. You weren’t the one who poisoned me.”

  “I know. It’s just that —”

  “Toby, you did your best. If it hadn’t been for that magical allergy you inherited from your father I wouldn’t be paralyzed. I’d be dead. Let it go.”

  The young tom hung his head. He wanted to believe what she said, but he felt as if he should have gotten to her sooner, warned her somehow. However, she was right. His allergy to blood magic had saved her life. It was hard to believe sneezing your fool head off could be a good thing. It was difficult to imagine his imposing father being reduced to a sneezing fit any time he caught the scent of marigolds and wet metal, the signature smell of the evil magic. Adele had given him just the opening he needed.

  “Sometimes I wonder what father was like. All I have are the stories you told me growing up.”

  “Your father was the most honest, brave cat I’ve ever known. In a lot of ways, you remind me of him.”

  “A working stiff with the least exciting life a cat could wish for?” Toby asked, splaying his whiskers. Adele frowned.

  “Your work is important, young kit.”

  Toby rolled his eyes. “I get sent to the furthest backwoods in the kingdom to listen to farmers and townsfolk complain about their neighbors.”

  The black queen narrowed her yellow eyes and flattened her ears.

  “You gather data that might one day save this country. Your father never talked badly about any of his missions.”

  “That’s because his missions were exciting. I don’t remember a single story where he had to sit through endless, mind-numbing interviews.”

  “You might be surprised at the things your father had to do.”

  Adele looked away, her facial expression softening as she gazed at a picture of Victor the young tom remembered hanging beside the mirror. Toby’s whiskers twitched. He stilled his tail as she turned her attention back to him.

  “So to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

  The orange tom wanted to groan. So close. He’d been sure this time he wouldn’t have to ask what he knew would send his mother into a rage. He summoned up his courage and decided to lay what he wanted in the open.

  “I need to know if father was ever in the hill country, especially sometime around when he disappeared.”

  The queen sat as still as an onyx statue. “Why?”

  “In one of our interviews someone mentioned seeing a large black tom in a cage headed toward a temple school up in the hill country. I want to know if it could be father.”

  For several moments the cats faced each other silently. Toby listened to his mother’s controlled breathing.

  “Your father is dead, Toby. That’s all you need to know.”

  “What if he’s not? Mother, what if I can save him?”

  Adele shook her head, yellow eyes shining as if she refused to shed any tears.

  “You’re just like him, you know,” she said softly. “If he thought he could save even one, be he human or cat, he would rush into the flames of hell itself. He died for his troubles.”

  Toby wanted to leap through the mirror and nuzzle her ears. Unfortunately the spell didn’t allow for that. Adele rocked forward onto her forelegs and turned toward the hallway to leave.

  “I can’t stop you from searching, but I won’t help you run into the jaws of the monster who killed your father.”

  Without a backward glance, the black queen pulled herself away, leaving Toby staring at nothing but an empty hallway.

  It was getting harder to evade Lorn’s questions. It had been almost two weeks since their interview with Lars. They were supposed be going over stacks of OKG reports and filing them on the proper shelves, but Toby couldn’t keep his mind on the work at hand.

  One moment he was going over Lars’s interview, the next he was scrutinizing every nuance of his conversation with Father Hanif. If he weren’t thinking about either of those, he was wondering what his mother knew about his father’s disappearance. He refused to believe what she said. Victor couldn’t be dead. He’d been too tough for that. Hadn’t he?

  “Hey, buddy, you just filed a cat fight complaint under dog bewitchments,” said Lorn.

  Toby looked at the file in the human’s hand and blinked. “What?”

  The tom looked around himself at the shelves marching down the long narrow room, trying to remember why they were there. He turned to stare up into the bearded face of his partner. The man frowned and stooped down, laying a gentle hand on the orange cat’s shoulder.

  “What’s up?”

  Toby sighed. There was no way to hide it anymore. He had to talk to someone.

  “You remember that interview with Lars?”

  Lorn nodded, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah. What about it?”

  “Well I’ve been looking into something he said.”

  “I thought you were against investigating the temple school until the OKG decided it was necessary.”

  “I was. I am. I—” The young tom shook himself and looked down an aisle of shelves full of boxed files.

  “It’s your father, isn’t it? You’re wondering if the black tom could be him.”

  He looked back into the human’s eyes. There was no hint of scorn. If anything, the slight smile on his partner’s face had the opposite meaning.

  “Wanna tell me about it?”

  “Actually, yeah.”

  They put the papers they’d been filing on a nearby desk and sauntered toward a lounge area near the front of the office. Lorn seated himself on one side of the couch while Toby leaped to the other side, curling himself into a comfortable position. The orange tom stared down the aisle they had come from.

  “I couldn’t stop thinking about what Lars said, so I contacted the head temple cat of the school up in the hills.”

  Toby gave a sidelong glance at Lorn, who nodded for him to continue.

  “I didn’t get much information out of him. He was rather defensive.”

  “Not surprising. Aren’t many people who like the OKG asking them ques
tions.”

  Toby’s ears swiveled outward. “That’s true, but I’m not sure if that was the issue. He said something about thinking he’d already answered our questions.”

  “Did he say who he’d talked to?”

  “No. He mentioned something about answering the High Council’s questions, but nothing about an investigation. I’m not sure if he meant us or if he really meant the High Council.”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s not us. When I filed our report with Gillespie he seemed more interested in getting back to his meal than ordering another investigation.”

  “That’s what I figured. So who was he talking about?”

  “Beats me. I don’t suppose Master O’dorn would tell you if there’s anything going on in the High Council. Or your mother?”

  Toby’s ears flattened to half mast as he glared at his partner. “She’s as obstinate as ever.”

  “Tried already, huh?”

  “She swears father is dead and refused to tell me anything helpful. I didn’t even get to ask about the High Council sending anyone to the temple.”

  Lorn rubbed a finger over his beard, staring at Toby. He slung his arm over the back of the couch and cocked his head to the side.

  “How did she react, exactly?”

  “Same as always.”

  “She yelled and hissed?”

  Toby blinked. His ears swiveled forward and his eyes widened.

  “Actually, I thought she was going to cry. She said she couldn’t stop me, but she wouldn’t help me either.”

  “Sounds to me like she knows more than she’s going to say and it scares her. Maybe you should cut her some slack.”

  “But why won’t she talk to me? He was my father. Don’t I deserve to know what happened?”

  “Sure, but obviously your mother isn’t going to be the one to tell you.”

  “So that leaves who?”

  The young man glanced toward the shelves of boxed files.

  “Have we ever looked through the files to see if there’s anything there?”