Journeyman Cat

by Virginia Ripple

  “They can stay at the school until we get help from the OKG.”

  “So you got enough food in storage to last until spring, ‘cause that’s when they’re likely to get there.”

  “But once they find out what’s happened they’ll move heaven and earth to get there,” Lorn said.

  “You said yourself that you don’t have time to let this filter through the protocols. What makes you think they’d be any faster if there are starvin’ children out there?”

  The human jumped to his feet. “Why don’t you want to help us?”

  Toby felt anger radiating from him in waves of heat. Terence sat serenely, his tail tapping a gentle rhythm on the floor. His friend’s composure impressed him. Lorn slammed his palms against the window frame and stared out at the garden.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just… if you could see those kids….”

  He turned and slumped against the wall. A shiver ran the length of Toby’s body as he recalled little Audrey’s silent screams in the isolation chamber. He turned to his old friend.

  “So what can we do?”

  “You can’t free them all, not right away.”

  “Which ones can we free?” asked Lorn, sliding to the floor and staring at the ceiling.

  “The ones who are mostly free already.”

  Toby cocked his head at the little patched tabby. The gray and white tom leaned forward a whisker length.

  “You said there are some who are no better than marionettes, right?”

  The orange tom nodded and the little tom sat back again.

  “Leave those ones alone. They’re being used to keep the bubble in place. Until the OKG can find a way to get them somewhere safe or bring food up to feed them, those kids will need to stay just like they are to keep everyone fed.”

  Lorn grimaced, opening his mouth to say something.

  “Don’t worry about them,” interrupted Terence. “They probably have no idea what’s going on anyway. The ones you need to focus on are the ones that have been in the classrooms. They’ve been given back some of their freedom already. Take away the angel’s trumpets and they may come back to themselves. Given what you said about Gravin Arturo, the older ones may be the best choice. Them and the ones just entering the classes.”

  “So how do we target them?”

  “Ya gotta get into the kitchen and switch out the trumpets for something else.”

  “Like what?”

  “They got buttercups and clover?”

  Lorn smiled. “I saw a batch of buttercups on the edge of the bubble and there’s a hay loft full of clover in the stable.”

  Terence nodded and smiled.

  “So here’s what you do….”

  Toby walked the quiet halls of the Yonderkin temple, his thoughts tangled. He followed one thread and found it knotted up with another. Each time he tried to concentrate on one problem he found himself worrying about something else as well. He growled and shook his head until his ears popped.

  “I hear I’m ill,” said a raspy voice to his right. Brother Yannis padded out of one of the meditation rooms, his whiskers splayed in a cat smile.

  “I knew I was getting older, but I had no idea I was so close to death’s embrace. Good of you to visit me in my twilight hours.”

  The old tom’s laugh sounded like rusty hinges, making Toby smile. He’d missed the old Brother and his human companion, Brother Jason.

  “How have you been?”

  “Other than taking suddenly ill?” the old cat asked, a twinkle in his eyes. “The One has blessed me beyond what I deserve. I guess you know about the temples being closed.”

  The orange tom’s eyes widened. “Why?”

  Brother Yannis shook his head. “So many of our order died during the plague that we couldn’t afford to keep our temples open.”

  “I thought you lived on alms and offerings. Didn’t the people give enough?”

  “They tried, bless them, but the villagers are having enough trouble making ends meet without us adding to their burdens. After the plague, a lot of villages dried up and blew away. People moved closer to the cities to find work. Without lambs to tend, what need is there of a shepherd in the wilderness?”

  “That’s terrible.”

  “No, what’s terrible is that we have no way to tend to the orphans or the widows anymore.”

  “That must feel like a disaster to Brother Jason. How’s he holding up?”

  The old tom looked down at his paws. “I’m afraid Brother Jason passed away not long after the mass funerals. One of the last plague victims.”

  Toby mewled and wrapped his tail around his paws, turning to stare down the deserted hall. He remembered the large, round-bellied Brother helping them solve Master Ribaldy’s predictive apocalyptic poetry and setting them on the road to ending the plague and capturing Chivato. The cold hours spent listening to the good Brother saying words over the dead that late winter had been comforting in an odd way. Somehow Brother Jason had shown more compassion for both the victims and the perpetrator than Toby could understand even now. He looked back at his old friend.

  “I’d heard there were a few deaths afterward, but no one told me. I’m so sorry.”

  The old tom’s whiskers drooped and he nodded. “We mourned his loss to us, but praise the One that he is in a place of no pain now.”

  “What about the monster who started all this? He’s still out there, causing the rest of us pain.”

  “Terence told us of your suspicions. We pray for this cat’s salvation every day.”

  The young cat blinked. “You can’t be serious. You pray for his soul? He’s a monster. He doesn’t deserve your prayers.”

  Brother Yannis cocked his head to the side and stared at the orange tom. Once again, Toby had the vague feeling the old cat was listening to something in the silence.

  “And who created the monster? Shall we continue laying blame upon the ones before us until we reach the beginning of time? And if we kill this monster, how does that make us better? Shall we play god, picking and choosing who deserves forgiveness and who deserves death?”

  Toby turned away, his body shivering with suppressed anger. He heard the soft pad of paw steps as the old Brother drew closer.

  “What does it profit our souls to continue poisoning ourselves with hatred for another?”

  The orange tom’s eyes burned as he turned to stare at the old cat.

  “You’re suggesting I forgive the cat who murdered my mother and tortured my father.”

  The Brother shook his head. “I’m suggesting you take your anger to the One.”

  Brother Yannis touched the young cat gently with his tail, then limped away.

  Two days later, Toby, back in his gray fur, and the guard cat were on their way back to the New Life Temple. Thanks to the angel’s trumpet, it had been easy to make the guard cat believe that the stick-thin boy in the opposite seat was a beggar they’d picked up on their way back to the village, though the cat wasn’t thrilled about the extra company. At least, he wasn’t until the boy offered to let them ride on his shoulders through the deep snow between the village and the temple.

  Once they arrived, Toby wasted no time in finding a way to install the new boy amongst the short-handed kitchen staff. All it took was a few accidents amongst the staff to make sure they welcomed the extra help. As soon as he was sure Lorn was working with the food in the kitchen, Toby set out to alter the isolation chambers.

  He altered his disguise to the charcoal colored fur, then marched past the morning guards, blatantly floating a tray of tools behind himself. His heart beat loudly in his ears as he approached the two cats sitting on either side of the hallway opening. He had to get past them. He had a cover story if they stopped him, but it was rather flimsy. He breathed a silent sigh of relief when
neither cat looked at him as he passed by.

  One by one he entered the chambers. He twitched his tail to lift the wooden boxes and expose the contraption beneath, then set to work changing the scenes to reflect the truth. He then added images at various intervals depicting humans and cats working together peaceably. As an after thought, he included images of Brother Jason working with plague victims, remembering the overweight Brother’s adamant belief in treating everyone as he would want to be treated even though it had led to his death.

  He was thankful that there were no students in isolation at the time. He didn’t know how he’d manage the alterations while the contraption was in use and coming back would have been impossible. Finished, he trotted past the guards and around the corner. Once he reached a broom closet at the end of that hall, he deposited his tools and changed back into his gray furred disguise. Now all they could do was wait and pray.

  Toby smiled as he trotted toward the hospital wing. If things went as they planned, they’d see a big difference in the children’s behavior in less than a week. He was imagining how they would react to their new freedom when the stench of decay slapped him across the nose. He skidded to a halt, raising his nose to sniff the air. It was gone. He turned in a slow circle, his nose working, trying to find the smell again. He took a step back in the direction he’d come from.

  Finding it again, he traced it to a blank wall. He stepped back to scrutinize the wall from the floor to the ceiling. It looked normal. He stepped closer, his nose a whisker width away from the plaster, and scissor walked down its length. Midway down he found a hairline crack running perpendicular to the floor.

  He placed his ear to that section. He heard the distinct moan again. A sly smile crept over his whiskers. He could find out who was responsible for Adam’s death. He just needed to figure out how to open this passage. He stood back and looked at it with his mage sight. It was an ordinary door like all the others in the school, just masked by plaster to disappear into the wall. It wasn’t even locked.

  With a twitch of his tail, the gray tom opened the secret door and hurried in, closing it behind himself. He followed the stairs down, stopping every few steps to listen. All was quiet behind him, though there were faint voices below. As he approached the light and voices at the bottom of the stairs he hugged the wall. Carefully, he peaked around the corner into a brightly lit room.

  He saw two cats at the far side in low conversation. In the middle stood what looked like a large seesaw with an older human child strapped to it. The room’s configuration was similar to the cell he’d investigated earlier except for the seesaw table. His fur stood on end when he saw the tray of blood magic implements. Terence had been right. They were using some of the humans to fuel the bubble. The gray tom swiveled his ears toward the cats, trying to understand what they were saying.

  “...cut open just under ... slide the contraption in ... then tie it off.”

  “...masterpiece ... tested the timing device yet?”

  “Yes. It was ... should see success ...”

  They began turning around. Toby ducked back behind the wall, swiveling his ears backward to continue listening. Their voices grew clearer as they drew closer. He glanced up the stairs, wondering how fast he could scramble up them before they saw him. The voices continued from a little distance away, but didn’t come any closer. He tuned back in to what they were saying.

  “K’da—”

  “Hush.”

  There was silence, as if the cats were listening for intruders. Toby held his breath.

  “Do not speak his name if you value your life. He has ears everywhere.”

  The orange tom exhaled softly. He heard the soft pad of paws, then the whir of a large contraption.

  “As you can see, this subject has been prepped for this procedure.”

  “What are these other scars. They aren’t in the normal places for punishments.”

  “Those are from previous procedures. This subject has been a favorite in the past, very pliable.”

  “If he’s a favorite, then why use him for this one?”

  “Because even favorites outlive their usefulness. Now pay attention. It’s very important to get the incision just right or the entire procedure has to be scrapped and we lose a valuable test subject.”

  Toby swallowed the bile creeping into his throat as he listened to the cats discuss what they were doing to the human. He’d hunted mice since he was a kitten, but he’d never have done to one of them what the cats were describing. He hurried up the stairs and out the secret door, knowing he wouldn’t be able to hold his stomach in check much longer. He ran down the hall, wanting to outdistance the voices echoing in his mind, knowing he would never be able to forget what he’d learned.

  Toby paced back and forth in the tiny broom closet. He’d told Lorn they needed to talk, that he had information on Adam’s death, but now he was reconsidering telling him what he’d discovered. They’d already put their plan into action, what good would it do to tell his partner that the boy had been used in an experiment and died? Then again, what if he didn’t tell him and one of the experiments became an obstacle. He wasn’t sure, but it sounded like the cats had been working on placing timed explosives inside some of the children. What if they succeeded? Lorn needed to know there was the possibility that one of the kids could detonate in his arms.

  The door opened behind him and the tom turned to see who it was. His partner squeezed in and shut the door.

  “What’s the problem?”

  The tom licked his ruff, trying to compose an answer. He listened to the human shifting from foot to foot. Taking a deep breath, he decided to just plunge in.

  “I found out how Adam died.”

  “How?”

  Surprise registered in the boy’s voice. It was a double edged question: how did the child die and how did Toby find out? He decided to attack the less volatile one first.

  “I was on my way to the hospital wing when I found a secret entrance to one of the tunnels. I followed it down into a lab and overheard a couple cats talking.”

  He felt the movement in the air as Lorn knelt closer.

  “What did they say?”

  He paused. He didn’t want to go on. His tongue felt frozen to the roof of his mouth. He felt the heat from his partner, curiosity making him lean closer.

  “Well?”

  “They’ve been doing experiments on the children,” he blurted. He shuddered as he remembered the overheard conversation. “Adam was one of their latest victims.”

  “What kind of experiments,” growled Lorn.

  “I don’t know for sure, but the one I overheard them talking about sounded like they were trying to find a way to place timed explosives inside their bodies.”

  “By the One, that’s — that’s —”

  “Horrible.”

  “It’s an abomination, that’s what it is. We have to stop them.”

  “That’s what we’re doing, remember? We free their minds and take over the school, a quiet coup. Then we alert the OKG and they send someone to take over the clean-up. If we go busting into their labs now they’ll slaughter every one of those children and move on.”

  “We can’t just leave those kids to become explosives that could go off at any time. It’s wrong.”

  “I agree. It is wrong, but how do we stop them without alerting the master cat behind everything? We can’t. We have to stick to the plan.”

  Lorn’s breathing was harsh in the tiny, dark broom closet.

  “The kids at least deserve to know what’s going on. They deserve to know how they’re friends are dying.”

  “What good will it do them to know? They’ll have enough to deal with when they see how their minds have been scrambled for someone else’s gain.”

  “So we just ignore this. Pretend we don’t kno
w that they’ve been used for experiments.”

  Toby licked his ruff again, his fur feeling too hot.

  “I told you because you need to know what we’re facing. Any one of those kids might explode — literally — the moment we start taking over the school. We won’t be doing them any favors by telling them what some of them have been through if they don’t already remember it.”

  The room was silent for a long while.

  “We’ll do it your way,” Lorn said. He stood and turned toward the door. “But if it were me being experimented on, I’d hope you’d have the guts to tell me.”

  The boy squeezed out the door and closed it behind himself, leaving the gray tom alone in the dark.

  Chapter 14

  Lorn tossed and turned in bed. It had been four days since Toby had told him the awful truth and he was still having trouble believing they were making the right decision. Nightmares of children turning into helpless animals running wild eyed from enormous felines with razor claws filled his nights. The terrified animal children raced toward him, turning to him for rescue only to explode before he reached them. He woke up sweating and shivering, thinking again that they’d made a horrible mistake keeping it all a secret.

  He couldn’t lay wrapped in his sweat soaked blanket anymore. The sun was creeping up to spill through the window anyway, so he knew they’d be coming to fetch him for kitchen duty any time. Today he was going to find a way to speak to some of the older children to judge how much longer it would take before their minds were free of the angel’s trumpet.

  When he heard the lock slide open, he shuffled to the door and followed the small troupe of humans heading for the kitchen to prepare breakfast. The work wasn’t as physically strenuous as hauling water to the harvest gardens, but it was just as mind-numbing. There were a set number of dishes prepared ahead of time. The students ordered their meals. The kitchen staff plopped the food on the plate. The plate was delivered and the food eaten. A worker collected the empty plates and washed them, then it began all over again. Every day without exception. After a week, Lorn wanted to run screaming from the cafeteria.