Journeyman Cat

by Virginia Ripple

  “Be of good cheer, friend. I’m sure a blessed winged one will visit you soon and supply you with what you need.”

  The man turned a confused look on the large tom. He’d never taken the black beast as a Follower. The cat’s whiskers widened in a grin as his eyes narrowed. Gillespie felt his throat close as comprehension dawned. He glanced at his wife’s portrait, then turned to stare at the councilman. The rotund man patted his sweaty forehead with the handkerchief and returned the man’s stare with a bland expression.

  “What do you want?” Gillespie whispered.

  “You have any idea what this is about?” asked Lorn, following Toby down the hall toward their supervisor’s office.

  “Yeah, but I’d rather not say.”

  The cat’s steps slowed as they reached the door. It was more than an idea. He was sure he knew why Gillespie had summoned them to his office, though he’d never have guessed Father Hanif had connections in the Office of Kingdom Guardianship.

  Lorn knocked on the door. A muffled voice came through, telling them to enter. Toby glanced up at his partner as the man turned the knob and pushed opened the door.

  “Come in, boys. Please, sit down.”

  Their supervisor was being unusually polite. Toby’s neck fur bristled, but he stayed quiet as he hopped onto Lorn’s lap, putting his nose even with the edge of Gillespie’s desk. His whiskers clamped together as he saw their supervisor’s toothy smile.

  “Boys, now I know you’ve been doing the best job you can do, given the assignments you’ve been given. The One knows, it can be tedious at times, but it’s important work. We need all the information we can get, even from the outlying provinces,” Gillespie said, loosely gesturing toward a map on the wall. Toby glanced at it. He’d lost count of the number of villages in the outlying provinces they’d been to. He did, however, know how many journeyman partners were sent to those provinces and he could count them on one paw with toes left over.

  “I understand that you’d like some excitement once in awhile. Maybe that’s why you’ve dreamed up this new investigation. But, boys, you’re almost adults now. It’s time to put aside those childish fancies of being some kind of hero uncovering a conspiracy no one else knows about.”

  Toby felt Lorn’s legs stiffen beneath him. Alarm bells were cascading through the tom’s head, too. They hadn’t said anything in their report about a possible conspiracy.

  “Sir, what conspiracy do you think we’re trying to uncover?” asked Lorn, his voice level despite the smell of predator he was giving off. Toby was thankful humans didn’t have as sensitive noses or their plans would be spoiled right then.

  “Why don’t you tell me? Seems you’ve been stirring up a dragon’s nest in the hill country and I have members of the High Council coming down here to tell me about it.”

  Gillespie leaned across his desk, his face a mask of sympathy that didn’t reach his eyes. Toby glanced up at his partner, who raised an eyebrow. Looking back at Gillespie, Toby decided to chance it.

  “Actually, I was contacting a head temple cat in regards to something someone said during an interview in a nearby village. I wanted to verify some information.”

  Their supervisor slowly sat back in his chair, casting a surreptitious glance at a portrait of a woman on the wall opposite the map. He frowned and reached a hand up to massage his neck. Toby caught the faint scent of fear as the man let his hand fall back to his desk. It made his nose twitch. Gillespie pursed his lips and squinted at them.

  “So Lorn wasn’t involved in this?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Not until later, sir,” Lorn added, giving Toby’s paw a firm squeeze. The young cat’s ears flattened to half mast.

  “Ah, well. Doesn’t matter anyway. Truth is, boys, that the High Council looks rather unkindly on journeyman — anyone for that matter — who thinks its best to head out on his own. There are rules and if you want to stay on this team you gotta be a team player. Do you understand what I’m getting at?”

  Toby nodded. “Yes, sir. You’re saying we need to stop fact checking and follow orders.”

  Gillespie smiled and spread his arms wide. “That’s it exactly.”

  The man stood, indicating they should follow him to the door. Toby noticed him wipe a hand on his knee-length robe before placing it on the door handle. As Gillespie opened it for them, he turned and smiled.

  “And if you, uh, ever feel the need to fact check again, please see me first. I usually know what’s going on around here.”

  The orange tom blinked once in agreement and left, Lorn following in his paw steps.

  Back in their room, Lorn slammed the door and flopped onto a nearby chair. He glared at Toby, who glared back.

  “What were you trying to do back there?”

  “You mean why was I trying to save your skin? Look, this is my problem and there’s no need for both of us to take the heat.”

  “Didn’t you think maybe I want to be a part of this? If you get booted from this program so do I, but, you know what, it’d be worth it if it meant helping you find your father. We’re friends, remember?”

  Toby licked his ruff in agitation, then looked out the window. The fact was he had considered what would happen to Lorn if he were dismissed from the OKG, he just hadn’t considered that Lorn might welcome it.

  “I know we’re friends. That’s why I was trying to protect you. I thought, maybe, if they thought you weren’t involved you wouldn’t get in trouble.”

  Lorn snorted and tossed a dirty shirt at the orange tom. Toby backed out from under the offending garment and scowled at the human.

  “Wither thou goest, I goest. Isn’t that in one of those Books of the One? You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

  Toby’s whiskers splayed and he narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t know you were a Follower of the One.”

  Lorn chuckled and tossed another piece of dirty laundry at the tom, who ducked. The sock sailed over his head and landed harmlessly onto the floor. Toby snagged it and started kneading it into a ball.

  “I’ll become a Follower when you stop taking your duties so seriously,” Lorn said, leaning over to snatch a tunic from the floor. He threw it at the tom who backed away, batting his sock ball along with him.

  “You know, it’s rather interesting reading. Lots of wars and assassinations, even some romance.” Toby batted his sock ball back and forth between his paws, sighting over it at his partner.

  “You’re joking, right? Romance? Why would that interest me?” Lorn reached as far to the side as he could, his fingertips brushing a pair of pants.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s the looks I’ve seen you give the female journeymen around here.” He steadied his ball and drew back a paw, whispering a levitation incantation at the same time.

  “Just admiring what the One put here. That’s all.”

  Lorn snagged the pants just as Toby batted the sock ball across the room. It whizzed past the man’s ear. The orange tom leaped for cover on the bed as the pants flew over his head. Dirty laundry missiles flew back and forth between the partners. In moments they were laughing so hard they couldn’t aim at all. Lorn clutched his sides and gasped for air.

  “You’re not giving up are you?” he asked between gasps.

  Toby grinned, peering at the human over the side of the bed.

  “I’m giving you a chance to catch up before I launch this pair of under breeches.”

  Lorn smiled and shook his head, holding a hand up. “That’s not what I mean.”

  Toby cocked his head to the side, his smile vanishing. “You mean my investigation?”

  Lorn nodded.

  “I’m not giving up,” answered the tom, “I may not be able to ask any more questions right now, but I’m not giving up. I’m just waiting for a better opportunity.”
r />   “Good.”

  Toby inched forward on the bed, narrowing his eyes and wriggling his hindquarters.

  “Now, prepare for battle weak human, for I am—”

  His battle speech was lost under the launch of a filthy shirt.

  “I assure you, Adele, there is no reason for you to be here. The interim grand master mage has given me his word that we will not be voting on the high temple priest’s suggestion until later this month. Second Day’s session is merely to hear the reading of the partners’ report, nothing more.”

  The black queen sneezed and groaned. Blast my weakened body.

  “Get some rest, sweetling. If something important comes up I will stall until you can arrive.”

  “Pwamise?” she asked, her stuffed up nose making it hard to breath.

  “Promise. Now, please, go to bed.”

  “Caw me fiwst ting in da mo’ning.”

  “I wouldn’t think of doing anything less,” the mage said with a smile.

  He blew her a kiss and let the connection between mirrors drop. Adele rocked forward and pulled herself around to head for the family nest down the hall. Just then there was a scratch at the door. She looked at the new contraption Clarence had brought home to replace the clock. She shook her head, remembering what a headache she had gotten trying to understand how the thing-a-ma-jig worked. She had given up and focused on simply learning how it told time. It read two marks before middle night. Who in the world would be here at this time of night? Her partner had given over his healing practice to a younger mage in the neighborhood, though there were a few older clients he still saw. It could be one of them, I suppose.

  The black queen wheeled herself toward the door and pulled the lanyard they had installed. Since her illness, she was no longer able to use her tail to cast spells. Clarence had made it his new ambition to find other ways of giving her some semblance of her old life, from her wheeled contraption to the door pulley system. Although it made her feel a little embarrassed at having to need so many little extra helps, she was still grateful for them. She’d also taken it upon herself to learn alternative ways to cast spells.

  “I sawwy,” Adele said as the door swung open. “Mawsteh O’do’n isn’ heeya.”

  A sleek silver form paced forward, pushing herself past the black queen into the receiving room.

  “That’s really too bad,” she said, looking around the room. The tabby she-cat turned and sat, curling her tail around her toes. Adele blinked. Mentally shaking herself, she reached a paw over and pulled the lanyard again to close the door.

  “Mawsteh Na’sumi, wha’ c’n I do fo’ you?”

  “My, my. It sounds as if you’re not feeling well. Isn’t there anyone who can help you take care of that nasty ailment with your master gone?”

  Adele stared coldly at the silver cat, wishing she could lash her tail.

  “No one?”

  The black queen’s fur bristled. She didn’t need to be coddled. “Wha do you wan’?”

  “I’m here as a favor to someone else. He needs you to do something.”

  “I lis’ening.”

  “Your son has been causing problems and it must stop.”

  “I canno’ contwol my son. He is a gwown cat with a mahnd of ‘is own.”

  Natsumi’s tail twitched and her whiskers splayed. Adele didn’t like the gleam in the she-cat’s eyes.

  “We never thought you could.”

  “Then wha’ did you expec’ fwom me?”

  The she-cat bared her teeth and hunched low.

  “Play dead,” she hissed. “Flah MAHB ull!”

  Adele flattened her front half to the floor, ducking the fireball that sizzled over her head.

  “Levah TAH teh throh BAHK,” she growled, twitching her whiskers and jerking her head to the side. The she-cat yowled as an invisible force yanked her into the air and threw her against the wall. A loud crash followed, but the queen didn’t look to see where the tabby landed. She whirled around and pulled her wheeled contraption as fast as she could down the hall toward the family nest.

  “You can’t hide! I can hear your wheels squeaking!” Master Natsumi called, then laughed.

  The black queen wished her squeaky wheels to the furthest hell. She’d meant to oil them a week ago, but it hadn’t seemed important then. At least this illness hadn’t affected her incantation. She hadn’t needed to practice fighting spells while ill before. Thankfully she had other means of fighting to rely on. Clarence’s obsession with contraptions suddenly didn’t seem so crazy now.

  She hurried into her room and pulled the lanyard to shut the door. If only it had a bar she could pull down. Not that it would stop the tabby, but it might give Adele a few more moments to prepare. She stared frantically around the room. Where was it? She’d laughed at the thing-a-ma-jig when Clarence had brought it to her. If Toby hadn’t begged her to keep it nearby in their family nest, she would have sent it to be stored with all the other crazy contraptions her friend brought home.

  There. Jammed between the wall and an old dresser she could just see the pull string. She hurried over to it and clamped the string between her teeth. She pushed herself backward, her front paws skidding on the stone floor, and pulled the contraption as hard as she could. The tabby cat scratched at the door.

  “Little cat, little cat, let me in,” the she-cat mocked.

  Adele pulled harder, her neck muscles straining. The contraption pulled free with a tremendous screech. The black queen backpedaled fast, keeping clear of the sharpened arrow sitting on the cat-sized crossbow. She wheeled herself around behind it and took aim at the door.

  “Make me,” she called back.

  The door flew back and banged against the wall, shivering with the impact and busting a hinge loose. Adele had one satisfying instant of seeing the surprise on the she-cat’s face before she loosed her cross bolt. The silver cat ducked and rolled through the open door. The black queen wheeled herself across the room toward the fireplace.

  “Lie TEN t’WOO dah.”

  Flames leaped from the logs. She could hear the scratch of the she-cat’s claws on the stone floor as she barreled across the room. Without looking toward the sound, Adele twitched her whiskers and jerked her head to the side, shouting an incantation. A flaming log leaped from the fireplace and hurtled across the room. The black queen heard the she-cat hiss, then the sound of the log shattering against the far wall before she was bowled over. The tabby cat leaped away, crouching for another attack.

  “Su PRESS da TING,” the silver she-cat growled. “Neh GATE tu VO cheh.”

  Adele heard the metal rods in her contraption creak as an invisible force pushed down on it. She rocked back and forth as hard as she could, but the wheeled contraption was too heavy to rock back onto its wheels. The black queen opened her mouth to shout another spell, but nothing happened. Master Natsumi rose from her crouch. She limped toward the overturned queen, nosing the contraption. She took another step and stared into the black cat’s eyes. Adele bared her teeth and snarled. When the silver cat turned and left the room, she tried again to right herself, but to no avail. The sound of wheels caught her attention.

  “I like your toy,” said the silver tabby. “Shall we see what it can do when you take proper aim?”

  Chapter 4

  Clarence paced down the hall toward his friend’s office in the Office of Kingdom Guardianship, eyes focused elsewhere as he mulled over the partners’ report. Several journeymen scurried out of his way, used to having to look out for wandering mages. He needed someone to bounce his thoughts off of. Clarence knew he should call Adele and let her know what was in the report, but she needed her rest. He was determined she get it, even if it meant breaking a promise to do it. The mage knocked when he got to the door and it swung open.

  “I was wondering when you’d show
up,” David said, rising from his desk. Clarence smiled, reaching across to shake his hand. He glanced up at the enormous bookshelves behind the guardian’s desk, seeing an empty shelf where he expected the large striped body of the guardian’s companion. David shrugged.

  “He’s on another investigation.”

  The mage quirked an eyebrow at his friend, who gave him a lopsided smile. “Some of us are more welcome on cases than others.”

  David gestured to a chair, then circled a finger in the air, making the office door close. Clarence sat down in the offered seat as the man took his behind the desk.

  “I heard the report from the partners sent to the temple school would be read today.”

  Clarence nodded his head.

  “What did you think of it?” David asked, folding his hands in front of him.

  “There was something odd about it, something I can’t quite put a finger on.”

  David nodded and tapped a fore finger on the desk.

  “That’s what I thought. I tried to speak to the interim grand master mage about it before it got read to the council, but he wouldn’t listen.”

  “Unfortunately, he is overwhelmed with the number of tasks his job demands and doesn’t have time to indulge in gut feelings.”

  “Yeah, that’s pretty much what he said. He said we needed something concrete to go on before he could make any recommendations other than going forward with a vote.”

  “At least we’re being allowed time to think on the report before being forced to vote on the proposal. I just wish I knew why it doesn’t sit right with me.”

  “I’ve been thinking on that ever since it crossed my desk. The whole thing just didn’t sound like Therese. In every communique she has sent us she’s been straight forward, all business. This report was almost like reading sunshine over roses by comparison. It just didn’t sound like her at all.”

  “Could it have been written by someone else?”

  “Not likely. The handwriting is identical —,” he held up a hand to forestall Clarence’s next question, “and we ran it through a series of spells to check for blood magic and fraud.”