Kat Among The Pigeons

by Lazette Gifford

  The others gave tentative agreements. I'd have to monitor them for magic levels, but I thought my fish-treat plan would work.

  I hurried to the car while lightning flashed overhead. David opened the door and I slipped inside, grateful to be out of the storm. The rain felt too cold and I feared there might already be a touch of ice in the cold drops. Tonight might be a rough night for the area. A good thing the strays showed up so I didn't worry about them.

  Before I changed my mind I began the first nudge of a spell to start David thinking about finishing the work here and leaving. I hated to, but I needed to get him away for both our sakes. He was in danger hanging around with me, and I was distracted with him around.

  I didn't intend for him to go away forever, though. So I planned to have a nice dinner and talk about the future.

  "Shall we drive for a while?" David asked. He laughed. "It's a guy thing. I have this fancy car -- much better than my own -- and I wouldn't mind having the feel of the car in this weather."

  "Sounds fine." I leaned back, though relaxing proved to be harder than I thought. I started seeing shapes -- the ghost rider -- in every flash of lightning. A good thing David drove tonight because I would have had an accident. When I clearly saw one right in front of us I even lost hold for a moment. The car coughed and nearly died before I got control

  "Must be the rain," David said. "Seems okay now. Where do you want to go?"

  I directed him away from town, mostly to see if the riders -- yes, more than one -- were elsewhere. He wasn't seeing them, at least. We drove down Highway 66 and left the riders behind. I couldn't name any magical constructs that congregated around technology. And I couldn't reach home to ask about them.

  The storm sent waterfalls cascading down the side of hills wherever we passed, glittering light in the headlights David stopped and stood in the rain while he took pictures of a couple, the camera's flash brightening the area. He leapt into the car and apologized, but I laughed.

  "You should take advantage of this while you're here," I said.

  "That's one of the things I enjoy about being with you. You do understand about stuff like this."

  "I also understand the weather, and I get the bad feeling this is going to change on us real soon. Maybe we should head back and go to dinner before we lose our chance."

  "True enough. I think I saw a couple flakes of snow," he admitted. He even kicked the heat on in the car. "I've enjoyed being in this area. There's a lot more opportunities for pictures than I thought I would find. I want to come back again and do more work here."

  Those words made the night seem better. I smiled and agreed, and we started talking about future projects. I even gave him several ideas for things we might do in the summer. And winter. And any time but right now.

  We drove through town and I again noted the lack of birds -- and of cats as well tonight, though they probably took refuge from the rain like Pawford and the others. Even the peripix seemed to have disappeared, no doubt nesting in someplace warm, dry, and where they shouldn't be. The deluge hadn't stopped yet, and water rushed down some side streets, making them nearly impassable. If the weather turned cold enough to ice, I might have trouble getting home, even with magic. Nature has a way of working against fae powers sometimes and usually when it's most inconvenient for the fae.

  We drove through areas of town without power, and I wondered if this was a result of the storm or the peripix. I directed David to downtown and soon we parked at the Don Marco Restaurant. I made a quick sweep of the area and found peripix in the trees nearby . . . and in the trashcans and under cars. I made sure they wouldn't nest in our car. I was going to have to enlist far more cats, and quickly if I wanted to get this in hand. Peripix can have four or five litters a year. The thought won another shiver from me.

  A feel toward The Edge settled my nerves, though, since I found only a slight disturbance, probably due to the storm. I hadn't seen the riders since we returned to town. Maybe they'd give me a little peace tonight and by the time I got home, father would have found a way to contact me and say what to do.

  I let myself believe everything would work, because I really had no clue what else to do.

  We hurried into the alcove, shaking water from our clothing. A waitress met us at the door, holding it open as we came in.

  "We have a power outage," she warned with a wave towards the candle lit room. "We can still provide most of the items on our menu, but I'm afraid with the power out we cannot accept credit cards."

  "I have cash," we chorused.

  The woman laughed and showed us to a table by the window. The moment I stepped inside, I knew I wasn't leaving without something to eat; and yes, I would have used magic to coerce the food from them. The scents of a dozen Italian dishes were heavenly.

  We shared a lovely meal of manicotti and veal parmesan. Over a decadent chocolate dessert, as we discussed projects for the future and things we'd done in the past.

  Others came in, many of them from houses without power. I tried to get some idea of where the worst trouble might be. I might need to send cats tonight or tomorrow to try and get the peripix out of the worst areas. We would face a major job, but for some reason I didn't fear getting it done. Maybe that came from the company tonight. David made me feel competent.

  Sometimes it's good to get away from fae troubles. Magic can't cure everything, and stepping away tonight proved to be better help to settle my thoughts.

  I remembered I hadn't blocked Aletta from interfering with tonight's meal. I went to the Ladies Room -- lit with candles -- and set a spell blocking us from view. Subtly, though, so the spell didn't have a 'black hole, that's where they are' effect. I found her in town, and I still wanted to know what brought her here -- but not tonight.

  I didn't want anything to ruin this meal with David. I planted my seeds and I knew he'd be leaving soon. I hoped he had established enough of a natural tug -- to this area and to me -- to draw him back again.

  "Are there many magazines interested in work from around here?" he asked, worried.

  "Some." I named a few and he grabbed a napkin to jot them down since he'd left his bag and the PDA in the car. We talked about business again. I enjoyed staying right there, nestled in the quiet corner of the world with the storm raging outside and good company at the table.

  The rain let up finally, but neither of us suggested leaving yet. We talked for a long while about many important and inconsequential things. We discussed our other interests in life. Neither of us watched much television, but he spent a lot of time with music. My musical tastes ran to court musicians on the fae side -- people he absolutely never heard about, so I only nodded now and then until we moved on to another subject.

  On books we hit some common ground, though. He enjoyed reading fantasy, as oddly, so did I.

  "Tolkien, of course." I nodded agreement. "But Pratchett, at the other end of the spectrum."

  "Yeah. I love to read Pratchett," I agreed. We compared a few books.

  I sipped my coffee and glanced out the window.

  And then realized I was living in a comic book.

  There, standing by the car, was Cato. And I mean standing -- on his hind legs and frantically waving his front paws back and forth in an attempt to draw my attention.

  I choked and sputtered. I also sent a whisper of a 'time to go' spell to David, almost making it too strong in my panic. Whatever sent Cato hunting me down in this weather had to be serious.

  "I guess we better leave before the weather turns any worse." David couldn't see Cato from his position, at least, though I nearly yelped when he turned to the window.

  He got up and paid the bill, and I walked outside into the alcove. Cato darted in beside me, shaking water out of his fur. The poor guy looked drenched and I quickly used a spell to dry most of his fur.

  "T-trouble." He still shivered from the cold. "Something is trying to break into the house. Something -- doesn't feel right at all."

  "Damn. We'll be there
in a couple minutes --"

  Cato barely darted away in time before David stepped up to the doorway. I wished I could slip him into the car with us, but I didn't get a chance to do any kind of magic that would make it possible. As we drove away I watched him huddling beside the restaurant, looking miserable.

  This was going to be another tuna night.

  "Yeah, it's starting to ice," David said as we took one turn and the tires didn't quite catch. We slid a little but he expertly drew the car back. "Do you think we'll snow?"

  "We might," I answered, trying to focus the conversation. I couldn't use magic while I sat in the car, and I desperately wanted to learn what was going on at the house. Lightning flashed too often and even damped down I thought I could feel some tendrils of magic from the direction of my home.

  I forced myself to turn to David and smile. "I had a wonderful evening."

  "I hope we get a chance to have dinner again soon."

  "Me, too." After everything else is settled. I even reinforced my spell with the tiniest bit of magic and the car lights dimmed for a moment.

  "Must be getting some water in the engine block. Not a surprise, all the puddles we've splashed through. You all right?"

  "Yes." I tried to bury worries I couldn't tell him about. "Just tired, I guess. This has been a very long, and wonderful, day."

  "I agree. I'm going to hate to leave, you know. And there are things. . . . Well, I'll get them straightened out later. I don't think this is going to matter, not in the long run. There's this problem I haven't told you --"

  "You're married," I said, and then clamped my mouth shut over what had to have been the most stupid thing I had ever said in my entire life.

  He gave me a quick startled look and laughed, stopping at what appeared to be one of the few working lights in town. Water rushed down the windshield, hardly deterred by the wipers. I stared at the storm feeling my face go red. I couldn't remember a time when I felt so embarrassed.

  "Sorry, shouldn't have laughed." David eased the car into the street, very slowly, which was lucky. A pickup went charging through the red light and cut in front of us, barely a foot away. At another time I would have cursed them. Really. Those people need to stop driving for a while, and I could make certain the car didn't work. "But I'm not married, no. The problem has more to do with who I am, what I'm doing." He glanced my way, frowning this time. "I don't want to lie to you."

  I didn't know where this conversation was going, but I didn't much like the tone of his words. This wasn't a good time for something serious, either. I felt trouble ahead, even before we reached Mrs. Hale's house. The rain eased, but the lightning got worse, and a strong wind whipped down the hillside. David concentrated on driving. I stared ahead straining to see my house through the curve of the road, the towering pines and the boulders blocking the view.

  As we came around the last curve of the road I thought I could see . . . things moving off into the trees; white and filmy and the sight made me shiver watching them drift away.

  The door to the house stood open which meant something had battered through my wards and gotten inside. I leapt from the car and headed toward the door, but even from here I felt nothing out of place inside.

  But outside. . . .

  "What the hell," David whispered as we started to the house where Pawford lay on the steps, his neck crooked to the right at a bad angle. Dead. So was Abbie, who lay just outside my door.

  "Oh hell." Tears came to my eyes, lost in the rain. I saw two more dead cats in the yard, all of them with their necks broken.

  "What did this?" David asked softly.

  "Something from the --" I stopped what I almost said. "Probably a bear or one of the big cats. Sometimes they get crazy, especially this time of year. Hell. Poor guys."

  But I knew something normal wasn't what killed them. I sensed the taint of darker magic everywhere, and when I looked toward the woods I knew at least one rider still lingered there, hidden among the trees.

  David stood by me in the rain, shaking his head with sorrow for creatures he didn't even know. But I knew them. Some, like Pawford and Abbie, had names. I stopped at the step and touched old Pawford, hoping he found a place with all the tuna he could eat. And the same for Abbie. I started toward the house when David caught my arm.

  "Something might be in there," he warned. "Let me get the tranquilizer gun, at least."

  He dashed away, trusting me to stay outside. And I did, but only because I didn't have the will to go on. I had left the little guys here and they'd faced a danger while I was having a nice dinner. This wasn't right.

  Part of me knew I hadn't been to blame. Part of me began gearing up for a rage that would take someone -- or something by surprise. I let the sorrow hold me and waited for David to return. I didn't want to be alone.

  And I wasn't. The rider still hovered there, at the edge of my sight. I intended to get the bastard.

  David put a hand on my arm and led me gently up the steps, past Pawford and Abbie, and to the house. I saw no sign of Shakespeare except for a few feathers scattered by his perch. No blood, which made me think he had flown away.

  "You can stay here," David said, but when I shook my head, he didn't argue. We stepped into the house, him looking for anything out of place, and me feeling for magic.

  Something wild and magical had entered the house, but there came with it -- with one of the riders, I thought -- someone solid. The specters could not have broken the necks of the cats, nor knocked down the books on the shelves. Shakespeare was not on his perch, though feathers littered the area. Oddly, there didn't seem to be anything else wrong. We walked through the house, checking each room, and started up the stairs to the loft. There I found Shakespeare and very much alive. He had wedged himself into the corner by the window and the bookcase, hidden down near the floor.

  "Poor guy," David whispered softy. He put the gun aside and knelt beside me. "Can I help?"

  "I think I can get him." I held out my hand, gently urging the bird to come to me. He bobbed his head and squirmed a bit. I used some magic to help and he popped out and fell into my hands, quivering with fear.

  I wish I knew what he'd seen. I almost thought about using magic to slip into his mind, but I would probably have driven him to madness, if not death. I didn't want any more dead friends tonight.

  I took the poor bird to the futon on the loft and the three of us sat there in sorrowful silence. David let me lean my head on his shoulder while I held the bird. Both of us needed the comfort.

  Shakespeare leaned his head against my chest, the closest he had come to showing affection. He'd been uncommonly quiet, too. I thought he might be whispering things, but they sounded like the usual quotes. I brushed my hand over his feathered head, settling him down.

  I took Shakespeare down to his perch, brushing away the lost feathers and getting him a cracker. He took hold with one set of talons, but didn't eat. I looked into his face again. My own rage started to gain momentum. I wanted the feeling to come.

  "The rain is easing a bit," David finally said. "Do you have a shovel? I can bury them."

  "I have shovels in the shed." My voice had gone to neutral mode, a good middle ground between the sorrow and rage battling inside me. "I appreciate the help."

  I truly did appreciate his being here, too. Not because I couldn't have buried them, but because this gave me a chance to both do the work and keep an eye on things around me. I couldn't find the specter anywhere near and no other animals lurked in the woods. I kept a feeler there while David and I dug the little graves by the trees. We buried the cats and I wept for them again; at the futility of their deaths, and at my inability to protect them when they needed me. I would have wished them back to life if I could have, but some things are beyond even the strongest magic.

  We found stones and laid them over the graves to protect them from the predators in the area. I stood silently over them and wished them well one more time.

  As we walked to the house I made a
nother magical sweep of the town. Magic still played along the streets. I took a moment and sensed The Edge, far away in the mountains. It had grown restless with the night and the storm, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

  David and I went back to the house in silence.

  "I haven't seen Cato," he said softly, his voice filled with worry. "Do you have a flashlight? I can go look."

  I liked him all the more because he worried over a cat he barely knew.

  "He'll be all right. If he wasn't here on the porch, he probably went down to Mrs. Hale's place. I'm sure he's going to be fine." But I worried. I'd seen Cato in town, but he might not remain safe. I tried to search for him with magic, but with so much power in the air I couldn't locate something as small as a wet cat.

  But he would come home soon. I knew he would.

  I glanced at David and took hold of his hand. His fingers felt warm and strong, curling around my own. "Thank you for being here tonight. I'm sorry the evening ended so badly."

  "I wish I could do more. I hate to see this. And I hate to see you upset. I knew they were more than just strays, you know. You treated them as though you knew them."

  I blinked back tears once more and took a deeper breath. "Thank you. You should go to your hotel. I'll be fine for the rest of the night."

  He stared into my face, and for a moment I thought he might offer to stay here tonight. I don't know what I would have said. But maybe he had more wisdom than me, because he finally gave a loud sigh.

  "You'll be all right?" he asked, his fingers curling around mine.

  I nodded.

  He pulled me closer and we hugged, there in the chill of the night by my door. His arms felt strong, warm, and safe. Pretend safety. I knew David was no match for my troubles. I had taken care of the trolls. I could do this.

  I just didn't want to do it alone.

  But I couldn't take David with me.

  I turned my head and gently kissed him on the lips.

  Only the kiss lasted longer. Warmth spread through my body in the kind of magic you don't find anywhere else. His breath caught, and his lips parted . . . And the kiss became far more intense than the chaste 'thank you and goodnight' I first intended.