Black Cat Crossing

by Fitz Molly

  Chapter Fourteen -Midnight

  Freedom! I stepped out of the carrier and immediately regretted it. I’d forgotten how yucky the slime and muck felt on my paws. I shivered, then took another step, enjoying the feeling of the air around me and being able to stretch and move freely, even it was gross on my feet.

  I looked around and my heart started racing. Yes! This was the right spot. Adam was under all of those branches. I ran forward and started pushing through the debris. I yowled and meowed and howled at the top of my lungs. I’m coming, Adam! I’m here and I’ve brought help! I dug with my paws, frantic to get to my boy and nearly jumped out of my skin when Pixie, Henry, Stella and Chester joined me, pulling the dead tree and branches off and tossing them out of the way, helping me get to my boy.

  I heard a moan from inside the tree and it invigorated me. I dug harder, using my claws and my teeth to move branches and anything else that got in my way. We were so close! Just a little further! A growl from Henry didn’t register at first. I kept digging. But when Chester stood up and let out a hiss, I realized we had a problem. I turned, and at first I didn’t see it, but when the cloud covering the moon shifted, the light reflected off of a set of yellow-gold eyes. The wolf was back.

  “Stay calm, everyone. Henry and I have got this. You keep digging and get to the boy.” Chester’s voice was soft and low, but I felt a shiver of fear run down my spine. I was torn between getting to Adam and helping the vampire and cat take on the wolf. If the situation weren’t so dire, I’d have laughed out loud. That sounded like the beginning of a bad joke: a wolf, a talking cat and a vampire walked into a bar . . .”

  “Let’s listen to him, ladies,” Pixie whispered. “Just keep digging, but don’t make any sudden moves.”

  Stella make a choking noise and I wasn’t sure if she was stifling a chuckle or a scream. Either way, you didn’t have to tell me twice. I returned to my digging and clearing away of debris. Stella joined me, but Pixie positioned herself so she could keep her eyes on what was going on behind us while we worked.

  I tried to block out the sounds behind me, but it was hard. I heard the wolf yelp first, and I was glad. But when there was a thud and a groan from Henry, I saw red. I dug harder, knowing there wasn’t anything I could do against the wolf, so the best thing to do was get to Adam.

  Chester called out, “Don’t look at me, Pixie. I don’t want you to see this.” There was a strangled sound behind me, then hissing and the sound of a struggle. I looked over at Pixie who hadn’t heeded the vampire’s warning and her eyes were wide with shock. Whatever she was seeing must have been horrifying, but she couldn’t seem to look away.

  The wolf howled and something slammed against a tree trunk, emitting a sickening crunch. Then there was only the sound of Pixie’s ragged breathing, and Henry’s moans of pain.

  “I see him!” Stella cried out, triumphantly. She pushed aside a few more branches and I could see him, too. There was my boy, curled up in a ball, sound asleep. I fought to push my way through the last of the branches until I stood, inches away from his precious little face.

  I yelped, I meowed, and I yowled, until finally, he opened his sleepy eyes. “Midnight. You came back!” he mumbled. He sat up, wiping sleep from his eyes, and held out his arms. I jumped into them and curled up against his chest, purring for all I was worth.

  “Hi, Adam, I’m Stella,” the witch called from behind me. “Your little kitten helped us find you.”

  “I knew you could do it, Midnight. You’re the best-est kitty in the whole world.” As he hugged me to his chest, I looked up and I could swear I saw tears in Stella’s eyes. But that didn’t matter. All I cared about was being with Adam again.

  Chapter Fifteen -Stella

  Stella scooted backwards out of the hollowed-out tree and swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand; the part that had the least mud and muck. She looked up to see Pixie watching her, a grin on her face. “What? I got some dirt in my eyes or something,” she muttered.

  Pixie didn’t say a word; she just walked over, squatted down and hugged her cousin. “I love you, Stella. We did it! We found him!” She hugged her again then stepped back, her grin changing to a look of concern. “But now we need to get him out of here and back to his mom and we need to get help for Henry. That wolf took a bite out of his side and when he tossed him against the tree, I think it broke some of his ribs.”

  Stella followed her gaze to find Chester seated next to the cat, carefully running his hands over the cat’s sides. She turned back to the tree to find Adam and Midnight looking out at her. “Come on out, Adam. We’re friends of Midnight. We’re going to get you home.”

  When the little boy burst into tears, she turned to Pixie, unsure what to do. But her cousin was already crawling towards him, and she placed her arms around the child. “There, there, now. It’s going to be okay.” She pulled him onto her lap and patted him on the back while Midnight made her way over to Stella.

  “Meow! Meow, meow!” she said, raising her paw into the air.

  “I’m sorry,” Stella told her. “I don’t know what you’re saying.” She reached out and ran her hand down the kitten’s back. Midnight purred and climbed into Stella’s lap.

  Adam had stopped crying and Pixie was trying to find out what was wrong. “Are you hurt? Is that why you’re crying?” she asked. He nodded, then shook his head, then nodded again. Pixie laughed. “Well, that wasn’t very clear. Can you tell me what hurts?”

  He nodded and pointed at his ankle. Stella set Midnight down and crawled over. “I’m going to lift up your pant leg so we can take a look, okay?” she asked. At his nod, she gently lifted the fabric. His ankle was very swollen and bruised and she exchanged a worried glance with Pixie. “Ouch. That looks painful, but I’m sure the doctors can make it feel better.”

  “Is there anything else that hurts?” Pixie asked. He nodded, then placed his hand over his heart. “Your chest?” she asked. He shook his head, no, confusing her. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

  “It’s my heart,” he told her. She looked up at Stella, a scared look on her face.

  “Why does your heart hurt,” Stella asked, gently.

  “Because I runned away and I don’t think my mommy loves me anymore.” Both women instantly had tears in their eyes and Stella wasn’t surprised when Midnight jumped out of her lap and ran to snuggle into Adam’s arms.

  “Oh honey, I’m sure that your momma still loves you. She might be upset with you for running away, but I’m sure she hasn’t stopped loving you.” Pixie’s words were accompanied by sobs and hiccups and Stella grinned through her own tears. Pixie would make a wonderful mother one day.

  The sound of static startled them both and Stella turned to find Chester changing channels on the walkie talkie. “I’m changing this to an emergency channel. I’m going to try to call for help.”

  “Do you have any idea where we are?” she asked. “To help them find us.”

  “I do. When I was flying around, I made sure to fly in a grid pattern. I think I can give them a pretty good idea of where we are.”

  “You were flying around?” Adam’s voice startled Chester, and he swallowed hard, buying time before he answered.

  “Well, I had a drone that I was using, to try to find you, you know. That’s what I meant.”

  “Where is it now? Can I fly it?”

  “Sorry, son, but it crashed,” he shrugged. “But it lasted long enough to find you.”

  “And that’s the most important part,” Pixie told the boy, drawing his attention away from the vampire. Stella grinned at Chester, who made a face, then turned away, talking into the device.

  “Mayday, mayday. Can anyone hear me? We need help. Mayday, mayday.” He let go of the button and was greeted by static, but nothing else. He tried again, repeating the message.

  This time he got a response, “Roger that, good buddy, this is Elroy here. What’s your 20?”

  “I don’t know what that means, but we need an a
mbulance. We have a child who’s been in the woods for several hours with an injured ankle and cat who was attacked by a wolf. He’s bleeding and I think he has some broken bones. There are two women, a kitten and me, besides the cat and the child. The rest of us are okay, but we need help getting out of here and back to our car.”

  “Roger that. I’ll call the police and the ambulance. But what’s your 20? I mean, where are you?” Chester gave the man the information. “I know the hollowed-out tree you’re talking about. We’ll be there in a jiffy. Stay on this channel and call me if anything changes. I need to put my pants on and make some calls, then I’ll check in on you again. You all hang tight now. Over and out.”

  “Over and out,” Chester repeated. He grinned and let out a whoop of joy, but Henry’s moan cut the celebration short. He squatted down next to the cat and took his paw in his hand.

  Stella turned to find a strange expression on Pixie’s face, as she watched the vampire interact with the cat. “Are you okay?”

  Pixie shook her head no, and hugged Adam tighter against her chest. “I saw some things tonight that I can’t unsee. I’m not quite sure how I feel about it.” She looked down at the boy, who’d fallen asleep again. “He saved us, and that’s all that should matter. But I definitely have some thinking to do.”

  Stella nodded. “Just remember when you’re doing all that thinking that he didn’t even hesitate when you asked for his help. And he did most of the heavy lifting. Without him, we might never have found Adam. Other than the fly by, he was amazing,” she grinned. “And we certainly wouldn’t have been able to survive a wolf attack without his help.”

  “I know all that, believe me. But I need to understand more about vampires before this goes any further.”

  “Before what goes any further,” Stella asked, grinning madly.

  Pixie’s cheeks turned pink and she sputtered for a moment. “His job as my accountant, of course.”

  “Mmhmm. If you say so.”

  The walkie crackled and Elroy’s voice came through the speaker. “Breaker 1-9, do you copy?”

  Chester pressed the button and replied, “If you’re talking to us, we hear you.”

  Elroy’s chuckle was loud and clear. “10-4 good buddy. The cavalry is on its way.”

  This time they all cheered, except for Adam, who was still asleep, and Midnight, who was pacing back and forth between the boy and Henry.

  Chapter Sixteen -Midnight

  This is all my fault. I never should have let Adam go out into the forest. And then I shouldn’t have run into the road. I should’ve just stayed with Adam until morning. But no, I had to go look for help. Now my new friend is injured and it’s all my fault!

  I walked back over to Pixie and Adam. He was sleeping, his mouth hanging open, with the witch’s arms wrapped tightly around him. I walked past Stella who was talking to Pixie and grinning like a loon, over to Henry.

  He looked awful. There was a big gash in his side and blood everywhere. The vampire had taken off his shirt and wrapped it around the cat’s middle. It was keeping the wound from bleeding too much, so that was good. But had he done enough?

  Henry’s moan startled me, and I ran over to his side. “You okay?” I asked.

  “Not really,” he replied. “The wolf bit me and then he shook me like a rag doll and tossed me into this tree. It feels like all my insides have been shattered.”

  “He bit me, too,” I reminded him.

  He chuckled, which elicited another moan of pain. “Don’t make me laugh, kitten.”

  “I’m sorry,” I replied, trying to sound reasonably contrite. “Thank you for helping me find and save my boy.” That part was sincere.

  “You’re welcome,” he said. “I’m glad he’s okay.” He coughed and I watched, helplessly as the vampire’s shirt became soaked in blood.

  “Don’t worry about me. Just take care of your boy.”

  “I can’t help it. I am worried about you. Tell the vampire that he needs to tighten that shirt. You’re leaking all over the place.”

  He ignored my request, instead asking a question. “See? He’s not so bad. He helped us find Adam and he saved us all from being eaten by a wolf. Should I tell him you’re grateful for his help?”

  “Sure. But first, tell him to fix the shirt. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.”

  “Aww, kitten. I’m tough. It’ll be okay. Just go back to your boy and let me rest.” I started to argue, but realized he probably shouldn’t be talking, so I turned to leave. “And Midnight?”

  “Yes, Henry?”

  “None of this is your fault.”

  I walked away with my tail between my legs. Please keep Adam and Henry safe, I prayed.

  The sound of sirens filled the air and a helicopter flew overhead, shining down a bright, glorious light. I raced back over to Adam. The noise and lights had woken him, and he was a little confused. I snuggled into him and he relaxed, petting my fur and kissing my face.

  For the first time, I believed Henry--it was all going to be okay.

  Chapter Seventeen -Stella

  Stella sat at a table in the hospital cafeteria, still wrapped in the blanket the paramedic had provided. She sighed. It had been a long day and she was ready to go home. She finished her coffee and checked her watch. 3 A.M. No wonder she was exhausted. She looked up and saw Pixie’s equally tired eyes scanning the room.

  “I’m over here,” she called, waving her hand in the air. Pixie waved back and made her way over to her cousin. She plopped down heavily in the chair and sighed.

  “Henry’s going to be okay.”

  Stella felt tears of joy fill her eyes. She’d been so worried. He hadn’t looked well when the ambulance took him away. Chester had gone with him so Pixie could stay with Adam. When the paramedics and police arrived, the poor boy had clung to the witch, refusing to let go.

  Stella had put Midnight into the carrier and the kitten had promptly fallen asleep, unbothered by the hustle and noise around her. It had been a really long day for her. She’d placed the carrier into the back of the deputy’s sedan and managed to pry Adam off of Pixie just long enough for her to get buckled in. Then she handed the boy in and helped get his seatbelt on while he wrapped his arms around Pixie.

  Once the vampire had left with Henry, and Pixie had left with Adam, she caught a ride with another deputy who took her to Pixie’s van. She dropped it off at the bakery and switched to her car, then headed for the hospital where they’d taken Adam.

  “I’m so glad. He’s a very special cat. And brave, too!”

  Pixie nodded slowly. “I don’t know what I’d do without him. He’s my pet, my best friend, and my confidant.” A tear rolled down her cheek and she absent-mindedly wiped at it with the back of her hand.

  “How’s Adam?” Stella asked.

  “His mom just arrived. I figured he was okay, now that she’s here.”

  Stella heard the melancholy in her cousin’s voice and was tempted to let it go, but she wanted Pixie to know what she’d learned. “The way you handled Midnight, and then Adam, I just have to tell you, it was impressive. You’re going to make a wonderful mom someday.” She reached across the table and took her hand.

  “Thanks, Stella, but I’m not sure that’s in the cards for me.”

  She was about to ask why when Chester sat down in the chair next to Pixie with a huge sigh. “Henry had to stay at the vet for observation. He wasn’t very happy about it, but when he saw the x-ray of his chest, he realized how close he’d come to having one of his broken ribs pierce his heart. That settled him down.”

  “Thank you for going with him,” Pixie said.

  He smiled and ran his hand along her cheek. “You know I’d do anything for you and Henry.”

  Stella cleared her throat and tried not to notice the chemistry going on across the table. “I’m going to say goodbye to Adam and head home. I’m exhausted.” She paused and looked at them. “Thank you so much for being willing to jump into my crazy situ
ation. If you two, and Henry, hadn’t helped, that poor little boy might still be out there.”

  “You were the one who stopped to help a little kitten. If you’d just kept driving, well . . .” Chester’s voice trailed off and Pixie shuddered.

  Pixie stood up and hugged her tightly. “I love you, Stella. We’ll see you tomorrow at the Halloween party.”

  “I think you mean today,” she grinned. “Get some sleep!”

  She took the elevator up to the third floor and made her way to Adam’s room. A thin, short woman with black hair was sitting on the bed holding his hand. He was gazing up at her with such adoration, it took her breath away. He looked her way and grinned.

  “Hi, Stella! This is my mom. And Pixie was right, she still loves me even if I runned away.”

  The woman giggled and waved at Stella. “You ‘ran’ away, not runned away, silly. But I don’t care, you can say it however you want. Just as long as you never do it again. Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  Stella couldn’t keep the silly smile off her face. She was so glad that things had turned out well for Adam and his mom. “How’s the ankle? Everything okay?” she asked.

  The woman nodded. “The doctors say he’s lucky, it’s just a bad sprain. He has to stay overnight so they can rehydrate him and make sure there aren’t any other issues, but they think he can go home in the morning.”

  “Yay. I can’t wait to get home to my own bed. And I miss Midnight.”

  Stella started. She’d forgotten about the kitten. “Where is she, by the way?”

  “One of the deputies dropped her off at our home when he picked me up. Before we left, I gave her some food and fresh water, but all she wanted to do was climb up onto Adam’s bed and sleep.”