Then, when she was about to give up, she heard a loud clang of a glass breaking onto the floor.
She ran into the kitchen.
Her jaw fell slack at the mess. What was left of her wine was now all over the floor. The door of the fridge had been opened, and all its contents lay now all over the kitchen floor. Most of the chicken legs she had bought earlier that day had disappeared.
Avalon was happily cleaning up the little what was left of the chicken. He didn't move from his spot; he didn't even lift his head, only following Jess with his eyes while he crunched away at the meat with the wet smacking of his chops.
“Avalon!” she said with as much authority as she could, waving a hand to shoo him off. “Goddammit.”
Eleonore arrived in the kitchen. “Don't yell at him!”
Jess ignored her. “Stupid cat,” she muttered to herself.
Avalon now looked at her with guilty eyes, his head low. He scuttled off towards the open window and jumped outside. He knew he had done something he shouldn't. Their cat was obedient whenever they were around, but it was impossible to leave food on the table if they were gone for even a second. Did Avalon really think they would never have found out the chicken legs were gone?
Jess stared at the mess Avalon had left on the floor. “What's wrong with that cat?” Jess whispered to herself.
Eleonore approached her. “Mom, there's food all over the kitchen floor.”
“I know, darling.”
“Are you sure? Because you don't seem to give a damn,” she said with complete innocence.
Jess looked at her daughter open-mouthed. “Watch your words, Eleonore. That was very rude what you just said.”
“I heard it from daddy.”
“You shouldn't repeat him.”
“Why not?”
“Because it's an ugly thing to say,” Jess explained, her mind drifting off. All she could hear was that scratching noise again. It surprised her how easily she became stressed here, not like in America.
“Why would daddy say ugly words?” Eleonore remarked.
“Adults can be foolish sometimes. What they do or say doesn't always reflect their feelings.” She snatched the plate of the floor and dropped to her knees, scooping up the last bits of mess.
“I never want to grow up,” Eleonore said, pouting. “Adults are complicated.”
Her daughter had no idea how perplexing life could be at times. It was only her first official day in Europe and Jess already felt homesick. She needed to get herself together if she wanted to make this work.
***
It was a long first day at work. Aidan could already tell he didn't like his boss, Simon. Though Aidan was generally overly confident, this man had a way of making him feel inferior. Simon carried himself with a natural air of arrogance. The kind of polished guy that preferred opera and fine art to watching a football game. At 47 years old, he was tall and lean, with piercing blue eyes, thick salt and pepper hair, and a moonstone gray beard. He looked like somebody who was always, always, always in control.
On the other hand, David, the veterinary assistant and receptionist, was the light of the clinic. He was the exact double of Seth Rogen, with the same round face, black-rimmed rectangular glasses, stubble, and light-brown hair. David was a bit of an underdog, the kindhearted guy, who didn't like conflict and constantly tried to make everybody happy, which also resulted in him being a hard worker. Each day, he supposedly wore a different funny cat T-shirt. It never failed to bring smiles to people's faces. Today, he was dressed in a black T-shirt with the text CRAZY CAT LADY AND PROUD OF IT.
For the last ten minutes, Aidan had been chatting with him at the reception desk whilst waiting for the next patient to come in. According to David, it was rare to see an empty waiting-room. Though Clervaux was tiny, there were so many cats there was always something going on with at least one of them at each time of the day.
A man in his forties holding a cat carrier stormed in. He had fair ginger hair and green-gray, seemingly soulless eyes.
“Oh, hello, Mr. Debaillie,” David said to the man. “Everything all right with Mixor?”
“He doesn't eat or drink anymore. He just lies there.”
“I'm so sorry to hear that,” David said. “Our new colleague, Dr. Burns, will be happy to help you out.”
Aidan stepped forward and shook the man's hand. “Nice to meet you,” he said, and gestured for him to follow.
While Mr. Debaillie opened the carrier and took the cat out, Aidan prepared a stethoscope and thermometer. He immediately noticed that the cat - who was wearing diapers - was unable to move. “How long has he been like this?” Aidan asked Mr. Debaillie.
“Since yesterday,” he said. His voice trembled a little.
“What's your cat's name again?”
“Mixor,” Mr. Debaillie said.
Aidan opened the cat's medical records on his computer and looked at past test results. The cat had been afflicted with degenerative myelopathy, a spinal disease that caused a gradually worsening paralysis. The little tuxedo cat had slowly been reduced to shuffling and then stumbling and was now unable to walk at all. Apparently, his owner had bought him a feline “wheelchair” and pushed him about in his little cart for several years, until the cat grew too weak to bear it. He'd dealt with his worsening incontinence as patiently as he could, though he hadn't expected to have a cat in diapers.
Fortunately, the disease caused no pain, but now that the cat had become too weak to even drink or eat, he'd soon die a horrible death of starvation and dehydration. He could recommend giving the cat oral administration of calories and fluid, but he would never be able to eat by himself again.
Though he already knew the only possible outcome, Aidan still went on with the routine examination, hoping to find something that would bring a little hope to the situation. He lifted the cat's tail and inserted the thermometer slowly below the base of the tail. Its temperature was only slightly below average, but its heartbeat was irregular and its breathing shallow. Not a good sign. He smelled the cat's breath. A foul odor emerged, which meant the animal wasn't properly eliminating toxins anymore. Its organs were shutting down.
Aidan couldn't bear the increasing look of stoic misery in the cat's eyes, and when he noticed the large sores on the inside of the legs that would not heal, he knew it was time to make a decision. Mixor's poor, frail body was rotting away, and his eyes, though still bright, were perennially anxious. He was ready to go.
Aidan explained his findings to the owner, putting as much understanding and compassion into his voice as possible. He knew how hard it was to let go of a furry family member.
“Mixor has been with me so long, taken me through so much; he's my partner. I can't picture my life without him,” Mr. Debaillie objected. “And he still enjoys being petted.” The cat licked his owner's hands affectionately whenever he came within reach.
“It's your decision, of course,” Aidan said, “but I think it's best if we put him to sleep as there's nothing else we can do anymore.”
The man's expression changed from compassion to utter shock. “Put him to sleep? You're kidding me, right?”
“If you love your cat – and I'm sure you do – you --”
The man cut him off. “If you touch Mixor with one finger, I guarantee I'll kill you.”
“Excuse me?” Aidan couldn't believe what he heard. “I'm trying to--”
Before Aidan could even finish his sentence, Mr. Debaillie punched him in the face. “Help! Help!” the man screamed, as though he was the one being attacked.
“Please, stop, or I'll be obliged to call the police,” Aidan said.
“I am the police, you idiot.”
David was the first to arrive on the scene. “What's going on here?”
“The new guy is trying to kill my cat,” Mr. Debaillie screamed.
“I think it's better we do what Mr. Debaillie wants,” David tried cautiously.
“Where's Simon? I'd like to speak to him,�
�� Mr. Debaillie ordered. Of course, Simon's wish would be a command.
“I'll get him.” Aidan went to the adjacent room where Simon was attending another feline patient. “Sorry to bother you, Simon. I have a situation here, and the man asks to see you.”
Simon came in immediately. “What's going on here?”
“The new guy wants to kill my Mixor.”
“This cat is in the last stages of degenerative myelopathy,” Aidan explained. “It's suffering.”
“It's his first day here,” Simon said apologetically, but firm. “I don't think he already knows the rules of this town.”
“The rules?” Aidan asked.
“We never put cats to sleep here in Clervaux,” Simon said with equanimity. “They have to die a natural death.”
“But this animal is suffering,” Aidan replied. His anger was mounting. “He can't even move or eat by himself. It's horrible to let him live on like this.”
“These are the rules of the town, and everyone has to obey them.”
Aidan looked at David who nodded in agreement.
“What if I don't want to?” Aidan asked.
“Then we might put you to sleep before you touch that cat,” Simon said with a straight face.
Did he mean what he said? It couldn't be, but it definitely sounded like it.
“He's only kidding,” David said, though Aidan had the impression he didn't mean it.
Simon turned toward Mr. Debaillie. “Go home and enjoy what time you have left with Mixor. We enjoyed having him as a patient.”
“Thank you so, so much,” Mr. Debaillie said. He looked eternally grateful.
***
Aidan loved to come home after a long day at work. Jess had this way to make things cozy and comfortable for him. It wasn't any different now that they lived in Europe. Though their apartment was still mostly empty and impersonal, Jess had done her best with what she had. She had put some candles on the kitchen table and fresh flowers in the living room. It immediately made the place feel more like home. When Aidan saw the turkey in the oven, he knew he was in for a treat. Jess always put lots of butter under the skin of the turkey breast and then sprinkled it with dry rub and aromatics. Even his mom had never made a turkey this good. But even though he appreciated the effort Jess had put into their evening, he had a hard time switching off from the incident at work.
“I don't get it,” Aidan said when the three of them sat down around the table. “How can they be so cruel with the cats they so clearly adore?”
“Maybe it's religious,” Jess filled in while she poured two glasses of Bordeaux wine for them.
Aidan covered his face with his hands. “Maybe,” he said. “It's driving me crazy. Apart from this incident, this town is great with cats. This must be the only place in the world where the municipality reimburses the majority of all veterinary costs.”
“Do you think they have a law against euthanasia, whether it's human or animal?” Jess asked.
“Possible.” The glow of the candle on his wife's face made her even more gorgeous. Despite them being almost 12 years together, he was still caught off guard by the softness of her features and the intense color of her long, auburn hair. It made him forget about the incident at work.
“You seem distracted,” Jess said.
“I realized that I shouldn't be complaining about these small things. We're here. We're happy. That's all that matters.”
***
After dinner, Aidan tucked Eleonore into bed while Jess cleared the dishes and put away the remaining food. As always, Aidan sat by his daughter's bedside and read her a fairy-tale. Her favorites were the ones about princes, princesses, unicorns, and witches. With each new book he read to her, he was amazed at how skillful Eleonore was at putting every story arc into question: “The prince isn't very smart, because the witch wouldn't have seen him if he would have hidden behind a tree,” or “If I were the princess, I would have hit the witch to kill her.” It only proved how smart Eleonore was for her age. But she was even smarter at delaying the time she had to go to sleep by stretching out the story for as long as she could by pelting her father with as many “what if” questions as she could think of: “What if the princess didn't eat the apple? What if the prince had arrived too late at the scene? What if the witch weren't evil?”
When he was about to finish the story, a sudden metallic jingle could be heard in the room. Avalon jumped onto the bed, causing the bell on his pink collar to rattle musically. The cat positioned himself next to Eleonore's head, and she immediately put her arms around his white, fluffy body.
Aidan saw her daughter relax almost instantly, and he knew that it wouldn't take long before she would fall asleep.
“One day I will marry Avalon. Like the prince and the princess,” Eleonore said with a sleepy voice, the sound muffled because her mouth clung to her cat's fur.
“A human girl can't marry a cat,” Aidan explained.
“They told me at school that you're supposed to marry the one you love the most on the entire planet. For me, that's Avalon.”
Aidan smiled at his daughter's remark.
Avalon had been Jess' cat before they were dating. As soon as Eleonore had come home after she was born, Avalon had slept with her in her crib, and the two of them had been inseparable ever since. They always had to be in the same room together, and they slept in the same bed, too.
“Is mommy the person you love the most?” Eleonore asked. He recognized from her voice that she was already falling asleep. That was the soothing effect Avalon had on her. That cat was the only one able to put Eleonore's mind off of all the existential questions the fairy-tales impelled.
“She is,” Aidan said. “And you. You are both my favorites.” He gave her a kiss on the forehead and got up. “Goodnight, E.”
She had already fallen asleep. Avalon licked Eleonore's left hand, while he quietly purred away.
CHAPTER 3
Jess opened the window of Eleonore's bedroom and looked out over the surrounding forests, which bathed in the early morning sunshine. All kinds of delicious scents came in from outside, moist pine trees and fresh rosemary mainly. They were distinct from those in America, where it smelled so bad at times she preferred to hold her breath. The sounds, too, were different from those at home where you regularly heard the roar of traffic from the highway. In Clervaux, you hardly heard a car pass. Three hunters brought in their catch of the day, which, in this region, meant wild boars, does, and hares. A cool morning breeze briefly touched her face. The temperature was still amazingly soft for late September, especially for this part of Europe. It would probably be one of the last times they would sleep with the window open this year. Somewhere underneath the window, a cat yowled.
Jess put her attention back on Eleonore and softly stroked her face. “Time to wake up, sweetheart.”
Eleonore uttered a harsh, “No! I don't want to get up. I'm too tired.”
Usually, she would only say: “Mmmmmmm... I'm tired,” and then wake up nevertheless, so Jess immediately knew something was wrong.
Jess sat down next to her on the bed. Her daughter looked more fatigued this morning than she had last night. “Are you okay?” Jess asked.
Eleonore shrugged uncertainly.
Jess reached out to lay a hand on her daughter's forehead. There was no temperature; if anything, Eleonore's skin felt slightly cold. “Do you feel sick?”
Eleonore uttered a loud grumble. “I'm too tired!”
“How come?”
Eleonore shook her head. “I didn't sleep very well.”
Jess' brow furrowed, but before she could say anything, her daughter spoke. “I didn't sleep at all. I hate this place.”
“What's going on?” Jess asked. “What kept you awake?”
Eleonore's expression clouded. “There were these weird noises outside my room all night,” Eleonore said. “I think it was an animal.”
Jess wasn't surprised. She, too, could hear rustling and animal sounds from
within the forest, which started almost right behind their bedroom window. “It's okay to hear unusual sounds when you move somewhere new. You'll get used to it.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Eleonore said.
Eleonore shifted restlessly, and Avalon, who had been curled comfortably in the curve of her body, got up, stretched, and licked her face.
“All right, Avalon. All right,” she said.
The cat continued. A few seconds later, Eleonore sat upright and got out of bed.
When they arrived in the kitchen, Aidan had already set the table, and he was now at the stove preparing breakfast. He had woken up earlier and had gone to the local grocery store and bakery to surprise them with many local specialties: freshly-baked baguette and croissants, eggs, Berdorfer and Hëpperdanger cheese, and some locally-made charcuterie.
“Good morning,” Aidan said. “Breakfast in paradise.”
Jess took place at the kitchen table. Eleonore plumped down on her chair, her face somber.
Aidan turned away from the stove and brought steaming scrambled eggs to the table. “What's wrong, E?”
“She couldn't sleep last night because she heard an animal outside her room,” Jess said.
Aidan took place at the table, too. “Not surprising with these forests around. Or maybe it was a cat trying to get inside.”
“I'm sure Avalon would have howled at a feline intruder, considering how savage he was when a neighbor's cat approached back home.” Jess turned to Eleonore. “Here. Take one of these croissants with scrambled eggs. You'll feel more awake in no time.”
Jess turned back to Aidan. “Did you hear something, too?”
“Nothing.”
“I don't like this place,” Eleonore insisted. “I want to go home.”
“You are home,” Aidan told her. “Try one of the croissants – that'll make you forget all about last night.”
Eleonore took a bite out of her croissant, and her face lit up. “So good,” she murmured as if she had tasted the best ice cream in the world. Another enthusiastic bite followed. All worries were instantly forgotten. She was a happy girl again.
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