Apprentice Cat: Toby's Tale Book 1 (Master Cat Series)

by Virginia Ripple

  “Clever. Care to enjoy your leftovers back in the classroom?”

  “It would be a pleasure.” Terence gave a mock bow.

  As the duo turned to retrace their steps, Toby caught sight of a tortoiseshell cat rounding the corner, heading in the direction of the Administration Building. He thought it might have been Master Meredith. Whoever it was, Toby was sure the cat had been witness to the entire scene with Reginald.

  Master Meredith entered the classroom just as the tower bell chimed the hour. She glanced in Toby’s direction, but said nothing. The orange tom was left wondering if she had indeed seen his altercation with the white cat. Lost in his confused thoughts, Toby almost missed what the master cat was saying.

  “For this half of the class you will be paired with another of my choosing to perform a spell you most likely have never seen before. After you have succeeded -- or failed,” she said, pausing to look closely at each of them, “We will go over your performance. I will be watching closely for cooperation and skill.” The master cat quickly paired the hopefuls and placed a sheet of paper with the spell they were to perform in front of them.

  “There’s no title,” said the black and white she-cat Toby had been paired with. “How are we supposed to know what we’re doing?”

  “Master O’dorn has a few spells like this in his really old books. Mother says that when you look at the ingredients and read through the incantation you can usually get a good idea what’s supposed to happen.”

  “Have you ever done anything like this?”

  “Mmm... not exactly, but...”

  Toby read through the incantation. Nothing stuck out as odd or particularly difficult. The she-cat pushed in close, making it difficult to see the writing past her whiskers. He glanced toward the group of cats walking toward the shelves of ingredients, then back down at the page. The she-cat shook her head and turned toward Toby.

  “Perhaps we should gather the ingredients first.”

  The young tom looked back at his partner and blinked.

  “Why not?”

  They trotted to the shelf lined wall where a large number of magical ingredients were stored. Several other cats had decided to do the same thing, so it was difficult to find anything without having to push someone else out of the way. Toby waited patiently for another cat to move while the black and white she-cat danced from foot to foot beside him.

  “Why don’t you just push in front?” she hissed.

  “Because that would be rude. Besides we’re not in a race to see who can finish the spell first.”

  “Yeah, but —”

  Toby shook his head. He was not going to let impatience get the best of him. He’d had plenty of experience with doing unfamiliar magic before he was completely ready and was not in any hurry to singe his fur again. The last time it had taken several weeks for his whiskers to grow back.

  “No. We’ll wait our turn.”

  The she-cat growled in protest, but settled in beside him to wait. She could have gone ahead and tried to butt in except that there were too many bottles with unknown ingredients for one cat to look through alone. Quicker than Toby expected, there was room for both he and his partner to maneuver. They wasted no more time locating the ingredients they needed. As they proceeded back to their table, Toby glanced around the room.

  “Take a look at the others,” Toby whispered. “I think we don’t need to worry about competing with anyone else on the same spell.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Well, unless the teachers have intentionally put the same magical items in a number of different shaped bottles, it seems to me that we’re all working on a different spell.”

  “You’re right,” exclaimed the she-cat in a hushed voice. The pair began putting the bottles in order of use. Toby read over the incantation again.

  “You know,” murmured the she-cat as Toby picked up the first bottle in his mouth. “I don’t agree with what Reginald’s cronies say about you. I think you have more brains than a mouse.”

  “Fanksh,” said Toby, his answer muffled by the bottle as he tried to pry the cork loose.

  “Here. Let me do that.”

  Toby put the bottle back on the table and stepped aside. With a flick of her tail, the she-cat popped the cork out. It sailed across the room, bounced off the closed window, ricocheted off the cauldron of another pair and landed on the floor at Master Meredith’s feet. The master cat blinked. She bent down and gave the cork a delicate nudge in their direction, which sent it floating back to their table.

  “Please try to be more careful next time,” she said and went back to observing the others in the class.

  “Whew,” Toby’s partner said. “I just knew we’d had it.”

  Toby nodded in agreement. He glanced at the pair whose cauldron they had accidentally pinged, hoping the errant cork hadn’t caused problems with their spell. The pair had their heads bent over the spell sheet, seemingly unaware that anything had happened. Next to them, though, Reginald glared down at them. Toby felt his stomach tighten. He sent a quick prayer to whatever cat god would be listening that no one would be able to claim foul if their spell didn’t work for some reason. He turned back to his partner.

  “Let’s get back to work.”

  Toby glanced at the white tom from the corner of his eye. Reginald bared his fangs, then went back to working with his partner. The orange tom sighed. They added their ingredients to their cauldron, taking care to add the exact amounts called for. The brew began to turn milky white just as they neared the part calling for the incantation to be said over it.

  “Do you think it’s supposed to look like that?” asked the she-cat.

  “I don’t know. There’s nothing here saying what it’s supposed to do,” said Toby, putting a paw on the bottom of the spell sheet.

  “Do you want to say the incantation or should I?”

  “You can do it if you want to.”

  “Okay. Here goes nothing. CayMO flahg.”

  A tiny puff of pink smoke drifted from the liquid, but nothing else happened. The pair looked at each other. The orange tom scratched at an itch in his ear. According to the spell sheet, one of them was supposed to drink some of it. Toby saw his own hesitancy in the she-cat’s face.

  “Well, since you said the incantation, maybe I should drink it?”

  “Are you sure? I-I could do it,” stammered the she-cat.

  “No,” Toby said, feigning confidence and scratching his itching ear again. “I’ll do it. It’s only fair.”

  Toby leaned over the cauldron. The milky substance bubbled. It smelled faintly of spun sugar, the kind Master O’dorn had brought back from a fair he’d visited while away for a Council Session. Toby sneezed and scratched his ear again. Well, it’s now or never. I hope it tastes as good as it smells. Closing his eyes tight, he quickly lapped up some of the liquid. It tasted nothing like spun sugar. In fact, if Toby had to describe the taste, he would have said it tasted like something one would scrape from the bottom of a shoe. He tried not to gag.

  “Anything?” asked the she-cat.

  “Other than craving something to get the taste out of my mouth, nothing,” gasped Toby, scratching his ear with more vigor. The itch seemed to have worked its way in deeper. I hope I’m not coming down with ear mites. What a wonderful impression that would make.

  The black and white cat sat down, wrapping her tail around her toes. Her whiskers drooped and her ears flattened.

  “Hey,” Toby said, “Let’s take a second look–”

  Suddenly Toby felt like an army of fire-breathing ants were crawling through his fur. He nipped at his right flank. Spun. Nipped his left shoulder. He tried shaking furiously to rid himself of the sensation, but only succeeded in making himself dizzy. Within moments, the sensations disappeared. The o
nly thing remaining was the itch in his ears. Toby sighed in relief. He could live with the itch, irritating as it was, but the other would have driven him mad. As his partner came back into focus, he noticed she was staring at him, mouth open wide.

  “That has some kick,” Toby said. He shifted from foot to foot, forcing his whiskers to splay.

  The she-cat continued to stare at him. Toby realized the room was very quiet. He looked around. Everyone had stopped their work and were staring at him. Reginald’s whiskers were splayed wide as he leaned over to whisper to his partner. They both shook with silent laughter. Toby looked back at his partner.

  “Why is everyone staring at me?” he whispered.

  “You’re pink,” answered the black and white she-cat.

  “And glowing,” said a voice at his side.

  Toby turned to see Master Meredith sitting calmly beside him. He barely caught the slight whisker twitch that betrayed the master cat’s desire to laugh. Looking down at his paws, he discovered they weren’t exaggerating. If anything, they had understated his appearance. He had become a furry pink star in the middle of the classroom. A furry pink star with a gawd-awful itch. He wanted to claw at his ear, but, given the circumstances, decided it would make everything look worse.

  “This isn’t what’s supposed to happen, is it?” he asked.

  “Not exactly,” answered the master cat. “Do you know where you went wrong?”

  Toby looked over the spell again. They had put in exactly the amounts of each ingredient called for. They had stirred the correct number of times. The itch grew more insistent. Toby gave his ear a quick swipe, glancing at the master cat. She seemed to dismiss the action. Toby sighed inwardly and returned to reading the spell. As he re-read the incantation he realized what had gone wrong.

  “We did everything exactly as the spell dictates, except I think we had the inflection wrong for the words,” he said.

  “You think? When working magic,” said Master Meredith, “you’d best be certain.”

  “I’m certain that’s what went wrong,” Toby corrected. “Could we try again?”

  The master cat measured the pair through a slitted gaze. Toby fought the need to claw his ear to ribbons. He could hear his partner’s rapid breath. It was becoming difficult to think. It felt like the itch was alive and digging deeper into his ear with every passing moment.

  “Since you’re certain it was the incantation that was done wrong...” The master cat paused to give each of them a stern look. “I will reverse the spell to that point and allow you to try again. As for the rest of you please continue your work.”

  “Thank you, Master Meredith,” breathed the pair.

  “Don’t thank me yet. You may find that your spell is still incorrect. Rev EARsay tuGIV enPOIN.”

  The master cat walked away to another set of students. Toby looked down at his paws. They were orange again. With relief, he noticed that the terrible itch was gone as well.

  “Okay. I think it’s fair to say that unidentified incantations are not my strong suit,” said the she-cat.

  “That’s okay. I had a hard taskmaster that made sure I would never forget how to decipher the proper inflection in any incantation.” Toby thought back to those lessons. His mother had drilled him in incantations until he had the words chasing him in his nightmares. At the time he had thought she was being unreasonable.

  “In that case,” said the she-cat, “I think you should say the incantation and I’ll drink the potion. Seems only fair.”

  “It’s a deal. CAYmo FLAHG.”

  The black and white she-cat took a deep breath. Quickly she lapped up some of the potion. She looked up at Toby. He watched carefully, waiting to see if she reacted as he had. Nothing. He looked back at the spell sheet. He was sure he’d said it correctly this time. He looked back at his partner – or more precisely where she had been. He gasped.

  “What?” said the empty space where his partner had been.

  “You’ve disappeared,” he exclaimed.

  “Really?”

  “No. Wait. You’re still there.”

  “Obviously,” said the she-cat. “I can still see myself.” The air shimmered for a moment. Toby thought she had turned in a circle to get a better look at herself.

  “Yeah, but I can’t.”

  “You can’t?”

  “I can sort of see you when you move. It’s like looking at the heat coming off a rock in summer. But when you stand still you completely disappear.”

  “Oh that’s too rich.”

  “It would seem, young Toby, that you were correct,” said Master Meredith as she walked past them. “And, seeing as you have passed this exam, you and your partner are free to go.”

  “Excuse me, Master Meredith,” called the invisible she-cat to the master cat’s retreating back.

  “Yes?” She turned to look back at the pair.

  “Um... Would it be possible to... it’s just that...”

  Toby could feel the embarrassed heat coming from his invisible partner. It dawned on him what she was trying to ask.

  “Master Meredith, the spell doesn’t include a reversal incantation,” he said.

  “Ah, yes. Rev EARsay t’SPIL.”

  In an instant the black and white she-cat was visible again. She looked at Toby, her eyes wide in question. When he nodded, tension drained from the she-cat’s posture and they turned their attention back to the master cat. Master Meredith flicked her tail toward the door in dismissal. As the pair trotted toward the door, the orange tom glanced over his shoulder at Reginald. His eyes were narrow slits and his whiskers were clamped tight. The white tom’s tail lashed. Toby’s fur rose along his spine as he considered what the tom might do.

  “Thanks for covering for me,” whispered the she-cat when they entered the hallway. The orange cat looked back at his partner.

  “No problem. That’s what partners are for.”

  “Yeah. Right.” The pair walked down the hall in silence.

  “Toby,” the she-cat said as they exited the building. She stared at him for a long moment. The orange tom began to wonder if Master Meredith had missed something when she reversed the spell the first time.

  “Good luck,” said the she-cat. She blinked once and walked away.

  Chapter 3

  The next morning saw them all plodding to the Lesser Hall after breakfast.

  “This is it, then. The last day,” said Terence.

  “The last day,” repeated Toby. The words hung between them. It felt as if a thunderstorm should have been brewing overhead. Instead a pale fall sun was doing its best to warm the cloudless blue sky. At least its chilly. I don’t think I could stand it if it was a perfect day.

  “What are you gonna do if...”

  “I’m trying not to think about it.”

  “Yeah. Sure. But what if... you know...” The little tom stopped in the middle of the packed dirt path. Toby sighed.

  “I suppose I’ll apply to become a loner like my father,” he answered. “After I glue my fur back on where Mother is sure to claw it off.”

  “You can do that?”

  “Do what? Glue my fur back on?”

  “No,” said Terence. Toby heard the soft scrape of the little cat’s claws on the packed earth. The young tom’s pupils widened as he stared at the orange tom.

  “Apply to become a loner. I thought loners were just cats whose mage had died.”

  “That’s usually the case, but Father said that’s only because being a loner is a lot harder.”

  “How?”

  “Well, for one thing, there’s no one to balance your magic, so if something goes wrong it goes really wrong.”

  “I never thought about that.”

  The friends rejoined the line of cats heading
toward the Lesser Hall. Toby gave the little tom a sidelong glance.

  “Then there’s if you run into trouble. There’s no one to back you up.”

  Toby could still hear his mother arguing with his father the night before he left for his last mission. They’d been just outside the closed bedroom door, thinking he was fast asleep. He didn’t think either one of them ever knew he was listening. It was one of the rare nights his mother had snuggled close to him as they slept. The young tom wondered what trouble had caught his father.

  “Now that I understand,” said Terence, breaking into Toby’s memories. “I saw a cat face down a whole gang once. Got away, but lost a good chunk of tail doin’ it.”

  “That’s more or less how Father put it. You can win, or at least get away, but you’ll probably lose something in the process. He also said there’s a lot more to learn, special classes you have to take.”

  “Sounds like a lot of work.”

  “Yeah, but what’s the alternative?”

  “You gotta point. It’s not like either one of us has a rich family to crawl back to. The only way I know to survive if you’re not a master cat is to run a fortune-telling scam or join a gang as its protectorate cat. I don’t think I could hustle strangers or curse someone just to make them pay the gang to make the curse end.”

  “I thought cats who could use magic, but didn’t become master cats or loners, could find work with local apothecaries,” said Toby.

  Terence stopped. Toby looked back at his young friend. The tom’s eyes were wide. His tail whipped back and forth. The orange tom was bewildered at the sudden change. Shaking his head, Terence continued walking toward the Lesser Hall.

  “Someday you need to visit the city. The apothecaries are scam artists. They don’t want cats who can do magic unless they’re willin’ to work an angle that puts money in their pockets. Those cats are nothin’ more than slaves.”