Journeyman Cat

by Virginia Ripple

  “He fell and broke his arm today.”

  The tom hunkered down as if someone was about to hit him. “That had to hurt.”

  “I don’t think he noticed.”

  “How could you not notice a broken arm?”

  “He just laid there. He didn’t cry or scream or anything. When I touched it to check, he just moaned a bit. That was it.”

  Tobias thought about the girl in the mirror room. He knew the sounds humans made when he scratched one. He shuddered as he remembered her silence. If she hadn’t felt his claws, then it made sense that the boy hadn’t felt his broken arm either.

  “You don’t believe me, do you?” said Lowrance.

  The gray tom looked back into the human’s haunted gaze. He could tell from his partner’s thinned lips and deepened frown lines between his eyes that there was more to the story. However, they’d been partners long enough to know interrogating him wouldn’t yield any answers. Lowrance would tell him when he was ready.

  “I believe you. I’m just trying to think of anything that would keep a person from feeling pain. I know in the far countries there are some herbs used to deaden pain, but I don’t know enough about them to know if something like that is being used here.”

  “Whatever it is, it’s potent.”

  “Did anyone come help you?”

  “No one. The whole crew just went on working as if nothing had happened. I think if I hadn’t yelled at the guards to come check on Adam he’d still be there.”

  “So how did they respond?”

  “They made him get up and walk to the hospital wing,” he said, his jaw tightening as he narrowed his eyes, “alone.”

  “What? That’s inhumane.”

  “They’re cats.”

  Tobias flattened his ears and glared at the human. “And what am I, then.”

  The human rolled his eyes and shoved himself into a standing position.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “No. I don’t. Why don’t you tell me.”

  Lowrance crossed his arms and paced the length of the room. He stopped at the door and put his hands over his face, then ran his fingers through his hair. He spun around to face the gray tom, throwing his arms wide and letting them fall to his sides.

  “Look, I’m exhausted and I’m worried,” he said, kneeling to be at the cat’s eye level. “These kids are in trouble here and I don’t know how to fix it.”

  Tobias let out a short purr and patted the boy’s freckled face.

  “You’re not here to fix it alone. We’re in this together, right?”

  “Right. I just wish I knew if Adam were okay.”

  “Tell you what. I’ve been reassigned to the remedy mixing room. Maybe I can arrange to carry one of the satchels up to the hospital wing and check on this boy.”

  “That would make me feel better. I just want to know, you know?” Lowrance said through a yawn.

  “It’s a plan, then. Okay?”

  The boy closed his eyes and nodded, letting out a long sigh. He stood up, wobbled a bit, then shuffled to his cot. As he watched the human roll into his bed, he remembered his little adventure to the mirror room.

  “I tried to call Terence today, but I had to leave a message.”

  “A message,” mumbled the boy.

  “Don’t fall asleep yet,” Tobias said, jumping onto his partner’s chest and smacking his face with soft paws. Lowrance opened his eyes a crack.

  “Make it quick.”

  “I left a message with a Brother to have Terence give us any information he has on the angel’s trumpets,” the cat said.

  Turning to look at the closed door as if he might be overheard, he continued, “The Anointed Ones are using them for something special, but I don’t know what yet. They’re taking them into a separate room to prepare them. I’m not sure if I can sneak into that room somehow, but I’m going to try. What do you think?”

  A long, loud snore was his answer. Tobias heaved a sigh and dropped to the floor. Kneading his nest into something a bit more comfortable, he considered how he would talk his way into being a carrier tomorrow instead of dismantling flowers.

  Tobias sat watching the cats taking the satchels out as he continued to dismantle the angel’s trumpet flowers. He’d made a large dent in the number of flowers from yesterday, but a new basket of fresh flowers had arrived this morning. At the rate he was going it would take the rest of the day just to get started on the next basket doing it all by paw. It would have been a lot faster if he could’ve used magic, but he wasn’t about to take the risk.

  The problem was he’d promised Lowrance he would check on Adam and he still had no idea how he was going to switch jobs with one of the satchel cats. Was it even allowed? He glanced at the patched tabby overseer. Did he dare ask? What was the worst that could happen? He made up his mind, leaped down from his stool and padded over to the supervisor.

  “Excuse me.”

  The older tom turned and raised his eye whiskers in question. Tobias nodded toward a cat just leaving the room with a satchel.

  “I was wondering where these cats are going.”

  “It doesn’t concern you.”

  “I know, sir, it’s just that I want to take full advantage of being a part of this ministry. How am I to know I am fulfilling my life journey if I do not take part in everything the master has to offer?”

  The patched tabby cocked his head and narrowed his eyes at the gray tom.

  “And what does your spirit tell you?”

  Tobias looked toward the ceiling and closed his eyes. He cast a quick prayer to the One, wondering once again if the One would listen to a prayer from a non-Follower. The gray cat felt the whisper of fur through his mind once more, followed by a feeling of rightness. He opened his eyes and looked at the tom.

  “It tells me that I could be an asset to this ministry if I’m allowed to see all the various parts. By seeing the many tasks the master has set us to, the spirit can lead me to the one I am best suited to. Perhaps it is what I am doing, but I can never know without allowing the spirit to move within me.”

  The patched tabby nodded. “Wise words from one so young. Perhaps you are right. To fully understand the length and breadth of what New Eden is to be like, you may well need to see both the highs and lows of this world in all its minute details.”

  The tom looked up as a courier walked by. He motioned the she-cat over with a flick of his tail.

  “Give your satchel to Tobias and begin dismantling the yellow flowers over there.”

  The she-cat bowed, placed her burden at the tom’s feet and walked away. The older tom looked at the gray cat.

  “Take this to the hospital wing. See if there is anything you can help the nurses with while you’re there, then bring back a list of their needs.”

  Tobias nodded, then bent down and picked up the satchel. He trotted behind the overseer, noting the scant flick of his tail just before the door opened. The gray feline blinked at the older tom and trotted out the door toward the hospital wing. He would have purred if he hadn’t been worried someone would notice as he passed by.

  Once he got to the hospital wing, he scratched at the closed door. Tobias swallowed his surprise when Mother Hazel opened it. He’d thought the old she-cat was one of the garden overseers. She squinted at him.

  “You’re new.”

  Tobias nodded. The old she-cat growled.

  “Blowhard’s always sending some new kit up here. Usually dumb as a bag of rocks and twice as useless,” she grumbled as she turned away. “Well, come on. Don’t just stand there. Those herbs aren’t going to prepare themselves.”

  The young cat followed the old she-cat as she stalked toward a table at the back of a large white room. Off to the right were rows of cots, some holding patients. Most we
re empty, though the gray tom couldn’t see who the patients were from his position on the floor.

  “Stop your gaping and come up here,” snapped the old cat.

  Tobias looked up to see her squinting down at him from a stool. She motioned to the stool beside her. The young tom leaped to the stool and placed the satchel on the table. The hairless cat stared at him.

  “Well, go on. Prep the remedy.”

  “I’m sorry, Mother Hazel, but he didn’t tell me what I was bringing.”

  The old cat growled again, her tail lashing back and forth as she gave Tobias a narrowed gaze. She lifted her lip as if she scented something filthy.

  “Just as I thought. Dumber than dirt,” she snarled. “Try opening the bag and looking at the ingredients.”

  The gray tom obeyed, nipping at the strings tying the satchel closed. His ears flicked back as he heard a child’s cough. The strings loosened and the bag fell open, releasing a puff of crushed willow, licorice and peppermint. Tobias almost laughed. He looked the old she-cat in the eyes.

  “Is your patient willing to eat the paste or will he need some convincing?”

  “So you do know something.”

  The gray tom couldn’t help smiling.

  “Given the time of year and sound of that patient’s cough,” he said, nodding in the child’s direction, “and the scent of willow and licorice from this mixture, you’re dealing with the beginnings of a cold outbreak. I would assume that this patient is unwilling to take his remedy without some coaxing based on the peppermint and –.”

  He looked over the various implements and jars on the table. He spotted a small yellow jar that seemed to have a sticky residue down its sides.

  “I believe there’s honey in that jar to add to this mixture. Am I correct?”

  “I suppose you’ll do, then. Get to work. Let me know when it’s ready. I’ll aid you in giving the remedy to the little urchin.”

  The old she-cat jumped down and walked away toward the line of cots. Tobias turned to study the various jars and implements on the table again. Beside the yellow jar was a small wooden spindle shaped like a bee hive. Next to that was a small stack of plates so thin they were almost see-through. He picked up a plate in his teeth and placed it beside the satchel. In a moment he had the herbs on the plate and was dripping enough honey onto them to make a sweetened paste.

  After he replaced the spindle on its little plate he stared at the mixture, wondering how to mix it without getting it on his paws or having his hair stick in it. He looked around again. A pair of cat-sized mittens attached to what looked like two small wooden spatulas hung from the wall. He blinked and smiled. He pulled them down and put his front paws in the mittens. In another moment he had the remedy mixed and the mitten-spatulas back on the wall. Tobias took a critical look at the mixture from above and the side. He might not be here to mix remedies, but there was no reason to be sloppy about it when he was able to do the job.

  Satisfied, he called to Mother Hazel. She trotted past the cots and leaped awkwardly onto the stool. She gave the mixture her own critical assessment, nodding her approval.

  “Bring it over here.”

  She dropped back to the floor and trotted away. Tobias picked up the plate and followed, careful to keep his whiskers back.

  “Hilda, come here,” the she-cat called to a girl about the same age as Lowrance.

  The girl drifted over to them. She stood with her hands folded in front of her starched white apron, her eyes dull and unfocused. Tobias tried not to shudder. It seemed all the humans, no matter their age, all suffered from the same marionette qualities. The she-cat motioned to the plate the tom was holding with a flick of her tail.

  “Put this in the boy’s mouth, then tie it shut with the strap and hold his nose,” she directed.

  The young girl complied, her actions as wooden as a puppet. Tobias gritted his teeth against his desire to slap the girl’s hands away from the boy’s nose as he watched the child shake with the need to breath. The hairless cat stalked over the boy’s covers.

  “Swallow,” she growled, her nose a whisker length away from his ear.

  The boy continued to shake, not obeying the she-cat’s order. The gray tom wondered why the boy didn’t obey the old she-cat the same way the girl did. He stared at the old feline, willing his fur to lie flat as he listened to her growl. Mother Hazel hissed and swatted the child’s temple with an armored paw. Blood oozed from five long scratches. The boy gulped, sending the paste down his throat. The girl continued to hold his nose. The lad’s skin began to turn pale. Tobias looked with alarm at the older girl, then at the hairless she-cat who was staring coldly into the boy’s eyes.

  “She can let go now, can’t she?” he asked.

  The she-cat turned her cold stare on him. For a moment he thought she was about to attack him. He couldn’t keep his fur from rising in fear. She blinked and turned back to the boy, then looked up at the girl.

  “You may let go.”

  The older child let go of the boy’s nose and he took a deep breath. Color began to return to his cheeks. The she-cat nodded and dropped from the cot. The gray tom watched her walk away, leaving the boy’s mouth strapped closed.

  “You may untie him,” he whispered.

  The girl obeyed, then went back to standing and staring into space. He blinked at her, wondering what else he should tell her to do, then decided to leave her be. Tobias jumped down and trotted after Mother Hazel.

  “May I ask a question?”

  “Can’t stop you.”

  “Your helper is so obedient and yet the boy wasn’t. Why is that?”

  The old cat lashed her tail and turned a sour expression on him. “The boy’s been here a short time. I suppose, if he shows promise later, His Excellency will see to it he gets advanced into student status. Hilda’s one of the older ones who’ll never be more than a worker. She’s born to obey.”

  “So workers, unless they’ve just begun here, always obey?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why is that?”

  “The Anointed Ones make sure of it,” she said, her eyes narrowing, “Why do you want to know?”

  Tobias widened his eyes, trying to look innocent. “I’m on a journey to find my purpose. If I don’t ask questions, how am I to know when I’ve found it?”

  Mother Hazel stared at him with narrowed eyes for several moments, her tail swishing back and forth, before turning to continue toward the back of the room. Tobias breathed a silent sigh of relief, then turned and surveyed the rest of the cots. There were a few other boys, but none with a broken arm. He trotted up beside the old she-cat, hoping one more question wouldn’t make her send him flying out of the hospital with his tail between her teeth.

  “I’d heard there was a boy sent here yesterday with a broken arm. I was curious to find out how you treated the break.”

  The she-cat turned to stare at him again. “No one came in with a broken arm yesterday.”

  “I was sure I was told a boy named Adam was sent here with a broken arm.”

  Mother Hazel’s eyes narrowed and she lifted her lips over her sharp teeth. In an eye blink her expression became disinterested.

  “Yes, Adam did come here yesterday, but his arm wasn’t broken. It was merely strained. He was reassigned to a lighter task crew.”

  The gray tom’s eyes widened as she turned toward the large cabinets beyond the line of cots.

  “Now, then, come with me,” she said. “I need to check our supplies. I trust your memory is as good as your diagnosis abilities.”

  Tobias paced the room, waiting for Lowrance to return from working in the gardens. He’d spent the rest of the day alternately helping Mother Hazel beat her patients into submission and carrying lists of necessities to the herb room. His paws ached from all the walking and his gut cl
enched at the memories of watching the old she-cat leave oozing scratches and bite marks on several of the patients. The worst part was keeping his tongue secure behind his teeth. Perhaps the workers hadn’t felt her harsh ministrations, but it still didn’t seem right to him.

  As the day had worn on, he began to see the difference between workers and students that Mother Hazel had alluded to. The students may not have fought taking their medicines, but they hadn’t woodenly obeyed either. Nor were they glassy-eyed marionettes drifting in the door and back out again. He wondered what caused the difference between the students and the workers.

  He heard the click of the door latch and saw Lowrance shuffle in. The door slammed behind, the bolt sliding into place. The boy flopped onto his cot, throwing an arm over his eyes. A moment later there were snores. Tobias’s eyes widened in surprise. Not only had the human fallen asleep instantly, but he hadn’t even noticed he was standing a foot away. He sat in stunned silence. Shaking his head until his ears popped, he brought his thoughts back to the problem at hand: finding out about the missing boy.

  The gray tom leaped onto the human’s chest and pushed at his arm. Lowrance pushed back, rolling over at the same time and making Tobias need to leap away before the boy’s weight crushed him. The cat glared at Lowrance’s dangling arm, flattening his ears and baring his teeth. He slashed his claws across the offending appendage.

  Lowrance sat up with a scream, clapping his hand across the bleeding wounds on his arm. Tobias jumped back, eyes widening. He glanced at the door, perking his ears to listen for the sound of paw steps. The hall was quiet. The gray tom looked back at the boy sitting across from him. His partner studied his bloody arm, ripping a strip of cloth from his frayed shirt. He glared at the gray cat.

  “What was that about?”

  “I-I’m sorry,” the tom stuttered. “I don’t know what came over me. I wanted you to wake up.”

  “Well I’m awake now,” the boy growled.

  Tobias lowered his head, blinking. What had just happened? One minute he was in a rage, determined to make his human do as he wanted. The next he’s back to himself. He looked back at his partner who was scrunching his face up as he re-examined his wounds.