One of the best things about being back at work was lunch with Tori. Aside from feeling starving, since Summer had just the bagel for breakfast, it was the ultimate sign of normalcy for her. She and Tori had been having at least one meal together every day for just about all their lives, so these last couple of weeks without the normal banter from her BFF—well, let’s just say it had been sorely missed.
“You know, Tori, I have to tell you…I had my doubts about your graveyard movie night, but it was really fun. You did a fabulous job,” Summer said then took a bite of her sandwich. Sully lay beside her, singeing the grass with his stuffy nose.
“Why are you so surprised?”
“Well, I guess I thought sitting on some ancient guy’s grave would be more disturbing than it actually was,” Summer admitted.
Tori shook her head, smirking as she finished chewing, and then said, “You crack me up. The way I look at it is those poor old souls haven’t had any entertainment in God knows how long. They deserve a movie once in a while and in doing so, they’re willing to share their plot with the one providing that entertainment.”
“I love how you think, Tori.”
“Thanks,” she said, taking a sip of soda. “So Sully really set your table on fire?”
“Yeah! Poor thing. Then outside he caught grass on fire.”
“I wish I could throw flames with my mouth,” Tori said with a mischievous smile.
“Really? Wouldn’t that be like having the ultimate bad breath?” Summer joked.
Tori laughed, “Yeah, but that nasty Sister Eunice from 10th grade certainly would have thought twice before scolding me for dying my eyebrows purple, if I could throw a few flames her way.”
Summer laughed and nearly blew soda through her nose.
“I wouldn’t hurt her, but it sure would have been nice to scare her a bit,” Tori admitted.
“You’re terrible,” Summer said.
“That’s why you love me so much,” Tori said proudly.
“You’re probably right,” Summer admitted.
“So what was up with the voices and the owl last night?” Tori asked.
“Funny you should ask—it seems I hear animals speaking.”
“No way. Really?”
“Yeah. In fact Sully and I talked about it last night. Once I got over the initial shock and disbelief of having a conversation with my dog, it was pretty cool.”
“No kidding.”
“I know…how bizarre, right?”
“Definitely. So did slobber-puss have anything important to say?”
“Not really, unless you consider his plea for playing ball important. But then again, he wasn’t really feeling very well.”
“So just out of the blue, all of sudden you’re talking to animals,” Tori said, trying to wrap her head around the thought.
“Yeah. I mean, I had been hearing things for a day or so, but I was just brushing them off as my mind playing tricks.”
“You sure that’s still not the case?” Tori jabbed.
“Ha! Ha! Yes, I’m sure.” Summer gave her a faux punch in the shoulder. “Hey, I was wondering if you might come with me to the neighbor’s tonight?”
“You finally met your neighbor? The one that tortures cats?” Tori said with a little too much excitement.
“I don’t know that he tortures cats,” Summer corrected.
“This is the neighbor that had that cat in the window that you said looked like the boogie-man was after him,” Tori stated.
“I don’t think I said that, but yes, that neighbor and no, I haven’t met him or her yet.”
“Then why are you going over there?”
“Sully found this,” Summer said as she took the collar off her wrist and handed it to Tori.
“Morti?”
“Yeah.”
“So you think…what? That the cat you saw might be Morti? And he might have gotten out of the house?” Tori surmised, handing the collar back.
“Yeah. I mean, I don’t know, but without a number or an address, I felt I should check to see if the only cat I’ve seen so far in the neighborhood has been lost.”
“You live backed up to the woods; there could be a billion cats around and in that neighborhood. For all you know, Old Lady Midnight might have a cat—maybe named Morti Rat,” Tori concluded.
“That would kill two birds with one stone, wouldn’t it? I think if Ms. Midnight had a cat, I would certainly have seen it by now and Sully most definitely would have sniffed it out. He certainly liked barking at the one in the house next door.”
“The chances of this Morti being the cat you saw in the window are one in a billion. You know that, right?”
“I do, but it also gives me an excuse to check out the neighbor to see if the cat I saw is okay,” Summer said.
“So what you’re really saying is that you want to snoop around. See what’s up with this neighbor.”
“Kind of.”
“You know me, I’m all for snooping,” Tori said.
“So you’ll come with me?”
“Sure, but why me? Why not take a sexy blond vampire with you?” Tori suggested with a wink.
“What do I need a vampire for when I’ve got my ninja friend to protect me? Isn’t that why you’ve been taking Tae kwon-do for all these years? To protect me?” she said, making karate chop movements in the air in front of her. “Besides, I’m a little confused about Jackson,” she admitted.
“No, I did not take twelve years of martial arts to protect you, but to make myself nimble and strong LIKE a vampire,” Tori giggled. “What are you confused about? I thought it all went rather well…even ended with a kiss if I’m not mistaken.”
“Yeah…it did, and the kiss was amazing, but…” Summer paused.
“But what?”
“I don’t know, I can’t help but think he’s keeping something from me.”
“Like what?”
“I’m not sure. It’s just that certain subjects seem to send him into ‘duck and cover’ mode. We’ll be having a perfectly innocent and interesting conversation and the next thing I know, he won’t say a word,” Summer explained.
“He’s just shy, girlfriend. You’re making too much of it,” Tori said.
“Maybe…but it’s weird. He seems to know an awful lot about dragons and puzzle boxes,” Summer told her.
“Puzzle boxes? How did you get on that topic?”
“He saw the box that Sister Mary Louise gave me the day of graduation—the envelope from whomever dropped me off at the orphanage? You know the one.”
“Oh, right. The crazy box that has no way inside,” Tori recalled.
“Right. According to Jackson, it’s a Japanese puzzle box.”
“Cool. So it does open?”
“Supposedly.”
“I take it by that comment that he didn’t open it for you,” Tori said, tossing a chip into her mouth.
“No. He said something very Confucius-like…I think it was something like, ‘solving the puzzle is part of the path to the secret within.’”
“I can only point the way, Grasshopper. You must walk the path yourself,” Tori said in her best ‘Kung Fu’ blind Master Po imitation.
“I know, right?!” Summer said, laughing. “But he did show me the first move.”
“So he knew a lot about puzzle boxes, there’s nothing creepy about that.”
“No, but when I pointed it out, he clammed up. Same with the dragon scale—you were there. Didn’t it seem a little strange how he reacted to my asking him how he knew all this stuff about dragons?”
“He said he read about them.”
“Yeah! But he seemed really uncomfortable when I asked him.”
“Maybe. It could be nothing too. Or maybe he had some bad experience with revealing too much about himself too soon. I don’t know, but I certainly wouldn’t worry about it,” Tori said.
“You’re probably right. It was a great kiss,” Summer said and flushed.
“Yeah?”
“Definitely. Oh, and I spoke to Daniel last night.”
“Oooohhhh! The dreamy fallen angel? What did he want?”
“He wanted me to stop seeing Jackson,” Summer said.
“Really? Why?” Tori licked her spoon of its last remnants of chocolate pudding.
“Not sure. He just said I shouldn’t be consorting with vampires,”
“Wait a minute. Wasn’t he the one who said he couldn’t interfere with which direction your life took?”
“Yes, but apparently dating a vampire is ‘endangering’ my life,” Summer retorted.
“Sounds pretty bogus to me,” Tori said. “Seems like he gets to pick what he deems to be important, and you don’t get any say in the matter. It almost sounds like something a jealous boyfriend might say.”
“Exactly,” Summer said, stamping out a flame that had ignited near Sully’s nose.
“Did you tell him that?”
“Not in those exact words, but I pretty much told him I thought it seemed to go against what he told me last time we spoke.”
“How did he react?” Tori said, gathering up her litter from lunch.
“He was tripping over his words and then just up and disappeared.”
“Yup. Sounds like he’s got a crush on our new town vet,” Tori said.
Summer followed her to the trash can with Sully right behind her. “I’m not a vet yet. I’m an intern.”
“Whatever,” Tori said as they walked back to the office.
*****
Armed with antibiotics, a fresh fire extinguisher and a very tired Sully, Summer headed home with Tori. She didn’t really have a plan per se, aside from knocking on the door and seeing what happened.
It wasn’t exactly what you might consider a creepy house, but it was certainly in worse shape than the mansion. At least the mansion was sound with its damage mostly cosmetic—nothing a good power wash, a coat of paint, taming of some overgrown shrubs and vines and some minor repairs to the porch couldn’t fix. This house, on the other hand, needed real work. The porch seemed to lean to one side and there was no hint noticeable as to what color the house might have been at one time, only that it had white trim once.
Maybe it was the sight of the large-bellied cat in the window that day not so long ago that burned in her mind, but Summer didn’t like it here. She couldn’t explain what it was that disturbed her—it was just a feeling.
It was apparent, though, that Tori wasn’t liking the feel of the place either as the two of them crept slowly up the walk to the disintegrating porch. Tori looked at Summer; Summer looked at Tori, and both seemed to be asking the other the same unspoken question—should we be doing this?
Summer nodded and took a deep breath as if somehow it would fill her with some much needed courage. Tori did the same and took the first step toward climbing the unstable-looking stairs. Slowly they crept up step by step, cautiously noting the stability of each board they stepped on. All the drapes and blinds were pulled and no light showed from within, but then Summer had never seen any lights on in the place at all, which is why she had been so surprised when Dr. Stuart said the owner had rented the place. She’d never seen a car or any means of transportation. Quite frankly, the appearance of the cat in the window had been the only indication there were ever any tenants at all.
Finding what courage she could muster, Summer knocked on the door. Silence was the only answer they received. Again, Summer knocked. They both listened for any movement from within, but neither heard a thing, not even a meow.
Tori went into a familiar Tae kwon-do stance for what Summer was pretty sure would be for a sidekick. “Shall I kick it in?” she joked.
“NO,” Summer rebutted. “How in the world would we explain that?”
“Nobody is here, we take a quick look inside, maybe rescue a cat, then run like the wind,” Tori said.
“That’s your plan? Run like the wind?” she said, scowling.
“Works for me.”
“Didn’t you learn anything from living with the nuns all your life?” Summer scolded.
“Sure. I do the deed, I go to confession, I do my penance of the rosary nine times with a couple extra Hail Mary’s and everything is cool again,” Tori said.
Summer shook her head in disbelief. “How about we DON’T break in and we just leave a note?”
Tori thought and said, “That works too. However, my plan sounds more exciting.”
“Your plans usually are AND usually often against the law to boot,” Summer admitted as she wrote a small note on the back of an envelope from her pocket which said.
Dear Neighbor,
I found a small red collar in our yard with MORTI on the name tag. Just wondered if it might be your pet’s collar.
Your neighbor (in the cottage)
Summer
She slipped the note into the mailbox. Tori had taken up peeping in the window, her hands cupped around her eyes, her nose pressed to the dirty glass. Summer grabbed her by the arm and headed to the cottage.
*****
Waving goodbye to Tori, a warm summer breeze kissed Summer’s skin, giving life to the skirt of her sundress. The scent of jasmine and pine rolled from foothills and lingered for a moment—she closed her eyes and enjoyed it, and then it continued on its way.
She climbed the familiar steps up to the mansion’s massive door and rang the doorbell. As she waited for an answer, she hoped Ms. Midnight would be in an agreeable mood.
The door creaked open and the usual scowl greeted her with a “What is it?” but before Summer could respond, Ms. Midnight’s eyes spied Sully at her side. He sneezed and ignited a small pile of leaves on the porch. Summer jumped into action, stomping the tiny blaze out with her shoe. Ms. Midnight seemed to be completely oblivious to the flames and cradled Sully’s head in her hands and rubbed his jowls and chin.
“My sweet, you’ve gone and caught yourself a cold, haven’t you?” she said to Sully.
He responded with a stuffy, “Yup.”
“Well, I know how to fix you up. I used to make it for your mother when she was just a little older than you. You know, I found her orphaned when she was young, just like you,” she told him.
“You did?” Summer asked.
“I did. Didn’t I tell you that?” Ms. Midnight replied sweetly to Summer.
“No. Ms. Midnight, would you like to sit with us in the garden? Maybe we could talk a bit?”
“I’d love that, child,” she said.
They made their way to the weathered bench near the thriving medicinal garden, and all the while, Ms. Midnight chit chatted with Sully, her slow but steady steps crunching with each footfall on the finely crushed rock of the path.
Before they sat, Ms. Midnight put her hands on her hips and took a long look at the garden before her. The breeze swept past them, making the herbs large and small, young and old, bow and sway as if to some unheard melody. Pungent and delicate scents mixed together as they made their way to the onlookers and Summer named them to herself as each made themselves known to her. Roses, sage, um, lavender, rosemary, lilac, and…
“Lemon thyme,” Ms. Midnight said.
Summer’s head turned to the woman as she seated herself on the bench.
“But how did—?”
“How did I know what you were thinking? It’s a bad habit of mine. Been doing it since I was a child—drove my sister crazy. I’m quite sure you have the gift too; you just haven’t accessed it yet.”
“Oh, I don’t think so. I’ve never been able to read anyone’s mind—ever.”
“Not yet,” Ms. Midnight said, petting Sully and gazing at the garden as if somehow it was feeding her. She drew in deep breaths and closed her eyes. Summer didn’t know how to respond to Ms. Midnight and watched as the woman enjoyed the sweet smells of summer.
Ms. Midnight finally broke the peaceful silence of nature. “The dragon scale around your neck has awakened the magic within you.”
Summer’s tongue felt as if it had grown as big as a shoe and her mouth was so dry she could barely swallow. She couldn’t have responded even if she could have found the words.
“Haven’t you heard nature calling you?”
“Nature calling me?” Summer asked, confused.
“Yes, the animals of the forest around you, your pup—these are just the stirrings of your magic.”
“I don’t have any magic,” Summer said assuredly.
“Oh, but you do, child. You most certainly do,” she said, patting Summer’s thigh lovingly.
“But I don’t understand.”
“Don’t you fret. When your magic is ready it will make itself known, but for now, just enjoy getting to know the nature around you.”
Summer was more confused than ever. Was Ms. Midnight of her right mind? The last time she had been this way, she had seemed completely sane and made sense until the end when she had mentioned the rat and the hat, or was it a broom—she couldn’t remember.
Ms. Midnight stood and said, “Now let’s get a little something to help your pup get rid of this cold.” She set her sights on a nearby plant. Though her skin seemed almost translucent and loose over nonexistent muscles, she plucked here and nipped there with great strength and expertise.
“Hold out your hands, child,” she said, placing stems, leaves, roots and flowers within the bowl shape Summer made with her two hands. With each item she gave explanation and instruction.
“Oolang black tea contains powerful expectorant compounds that help clear mucus from deep within the chest and the caffeine is a great bronchodilator.
“Chamomile takes the edge off the caffeine and is known for its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, antiseptic and antispasmodic properties.
“Thyme has antiseptic properties that help heal the infections.
“Eucalyptus cools inflamed tissues and eases congested lungs.
“Rose hips are high in vitamin C and make it taste better.
“Lastly, marshmallow and licorice roots help calm the fire and soreness in his throat.
“You can administer this one of two ways: seep all the ingredients in hot water, making a strong tea and then pouring it over his food, or burning it all into ash form and sprinkling it atop his food. Both will work, but Ms. Ash preferred the sprinkling of ashes,” she said, cupping her fragile-looking hands around Summer’s and smiling. As she did so, she noticed for the first time the pet collar still around Summer’s wrist.
“What is this?” she said, rotating the collar until the tag was showing; but before Summer could answer her, Ms. Midnight said with excitement, “You’ve found him? Why haven’t you said something earlier?”
“Found him?” Summer repeated, puzzled by the exclamation.
“The RAT.”
“Morti…is the rat?”
“Of course he is, didn’t I say that?”
“Well, yes, but no…I mean you just said it, yes, but you didn’t mention it before,” Summer stammered.
“Either I mentioned it or I didn’t—which is it, child?”
“No. You didn’t mention it before,” Summer clarified.
“I sometimes forget things, though I absolutely hate to admit it. I just…” She paused for a long moment and Summer thought she was losing her again as she had the last time she started talking about the rat and the other thing.
*****
Summer spoke tentatively, worried that she was about to be confronted by the sour version of the strange but sometimes lovable Ms. Midnight. “Morti must be a very large rat to fit in this collar. Maybe I should get a larger cage,” Summer said, speaking out loud but more to herself than anyone else.
“A rat? Why would you think Morti is a rat?”
Though kindness still showed on Ms. Midnight’s face, Summer was quite sure now that Ms. Midnight had gone back over to the crazy side where she frequented her time. “Because you keep referring to him as a rat,” Summer explained.
“No, child. Not a rat, the RAT,” Ms. Midnight said.
“What?” Summer said, completely confused by the conversation.
“Didn’t I explain this?”
“No,” Summer said plainly.
“You poor thing. No wonder you’ve been running around catching rats and looking at me like I’m crazy.” She chortled.
“The RAT is the Reliquary of All Thaumaturgy.”
“Thawma…what?” Summer asked.
“Thaumaturgy—Magic.”
“And a reliquary is a—” Summer tried to untangle the knot of words tossed at her.
“A reliquary is a vessel,” Ms. Midnight explained.
“So Morti is a vessel…”
“Yes.”
“Of all magic…” Summer said, trying to understand.
“That’s right,” Ms. Midnight confirmed.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Midnight. I just don’t understand. Is Morti a living thing?”
“Of course he is,” she laughed as if it were ridiculous to think otherwise.
“But he’s not a rat, he’s ‘the’ rat—a relick—”
“A reliquary of all thaumaturgy. That’s right,” Ms. Midnight said.
Summer wasn’t sure if she was any less confused than when they first started this conversation. “Ooookaaaaay,” she said with a great deal of doubt. “Can you…describe the RAT to me?”
“Of course I can. He’s incredibly annoying, arrogant, deceitful, and narcissistic,” Ms. Midnight exclaimed.
“Um…that’s very descriptive, Ms. Midnight, but I was hoping for something a little more…physical,” Summer said.
“Of course, how silly of me. He is large, shaggy, and rather chubby. He has green eyes, mostly black hair, and did I mention—he’s a cat?”
“The RAT is a cat,” Summer said in disbelief.
“Yes. A very disagreeable cat. Indeed. Didn’t I mention that?” Ms. Midnight said, flustered.
“No. No, you didn’t,” Summer said incredulously.
“I’m sure I mentioned that. Why would I not tell you what you were supposed to find?” Ms. Midnight started to ramble as she got up from the bench. Summer could tell she was slipping into her less amiable persona and with that, the conversation was over. The scowl was back and her arms were flailing as she complained about all the questioning to no one but the shrubs and trees on the way to the mansion door.
*****
With a handful of herbs and her mind whirling with puzzling details of the conversation with Ms. Midnight, Summer went to her cottage to make the brew for Sully and maybe chamomile tea for herself. Her head was starting to ache.
In desperate need of someone to help her sort out all that was on her mind, she called Tori and relayed what she learned. Tori was always good at calming her and making her see the other side of the coin, so to speak, or interpreting things she could not comprehend. She relied on Tori’s keen sense of understanding, as Tori relied on Summer to keep her grounded and remind her there were good sides to almost everything.
Tori didn’t seem too surprised when Summer told her Ms. Midnight had she had magic. Maybe it had been the recent events of talking to animals or how Summer had always had a special talent and connection to plants and animals, but whatever the reason, Tori rolled with it without even a hiccup. The story about how the RAT was actually a cat and somehow a vessel of magic too—that didn’t go as well.
“So you’re telling me the old bat had you hunting all over God’s green earth looking for a rat when in fact it was a cat you were searching for?” Tori said, enraged.
“Apparently.”
“She’s crazy I tell you—off her creaky little rocker,” Tori said.
“I know it seems that way, but I think it’s just that she doesn’t remember what she has and hasn’t said.”
“Right…in my book, that’s crazy.”
“I was thinking maybe more like dementia,” Summer stated.
“Whatever. Does that mean you believe her? You think a cat is some kind of vessel?”
“I don’t know what I think, but at least I know I’m looking for a cat now and not a rat,” Summer said.
“You are a better person than I am then. I would have written her off as a looney toon,” Tori told her.
“Aw…you say that, but I know you better. You act all tough but if you had seen the sweet side of Ms. Midnight like I have, you’d be doing everything you could to help her,” Summer insisted.
“Nope…wouldn’t happen. I’m hard as steel,” Tori said.
“Liar,” Summer retorted and they both had a little chuckle.
“Any word from the cat torturer in the creepy house? Oooooh…you don’t think…could the cat you saw in the window be this ‘Morti’?” Tori speculated.
“NO. No, that isn’t…that’s ridiculous. Why would anyone in their right mind steal a cat from an old woman? That’s just crazy talk,” Summer said.
“Crazy talk for a crazy lady. Maybe he’s a good Samaritan and was saving the cat from the crabby old bat,” Tori said, then she paused and Summer imagined the wheels turning in Tori’s mind when she continued, “Or maybe it’s like Men in Black where this vessel she’s talking about is actually a universe and is on the cat’s collar—oh shoot, that can’t be, you have the collar.”
“Okay, now who’s talking crazy? There’s nothing that says this collar is from the cat I saw in the window. You said it yourself, there are probably hundreds of cats in the neighborhood or the forest, any one of which could be the owner of the collar,” Summer explained.
“Then why was the cat so scared? You said he looked terrified. Why would a cat be afraid of its owner?”
“I don’t know. There could be tons of reasons.”
“Like?”
“Okay, well, maybe the renter found the cat and brought it in the house until he could see if anyone had any lost pet flyers up. The cat doesn’t know this guy so he’s scared,” Summer brainstormed.
“That’s pretty weak, but even if it were true it could still be this Morti,” Tori rationalized.
“Maybe. Maybe not. Or maybe the renter just had his pet delivered from wherever he lived before and he’s still freaked out about his new accommodations,” Summer guessed.
“That’s even lamer than the first one,” Tori insisted.
“Well, I’m not going to theorize on why the cat was scared. It’s highly unlikely it’s the cat I’m looking for. I’ll just focus on combing the forest and neighborhood. I’ll check for posted found notes. I’ll check the board at work and at Homer’s Market,” Summer said.
“But you don’t even know what the cat looks like,” Tori declared.
“I know he has green eyes. He’s chubby and he’s mostly black,” Summer said.
“Right. That’s helpful. That description describes half the cats in town. Is he long haired or short haired, black and grey, black and brown, black and orange? I mean, come on, Summer. That’s not a lot to go on,” Tori complained.
“No, but it’s more than I had when I thought he was a rat. If I find a lost cat, I’ll take a picture on my phone and show it to Ms. Midnight until we find the right one.”
“IF you find the right one. For all you know the cat could have been killed in the woods by a coyote, or a mountain lion. Even a raccoon can kill a cat,” Tori told her.
“I know. Everything you said is true. Morti may be dead. He might be a figment of Ms. Midnight’s imagination. He might even be the cat next door, but wherever he is, I’m going to try and find him. If you had seen how important this was to her when she had asked me to find him, you wouldn’t give up either,” Summer said.
“I’m sorry, Summer. I may not agree with you on the old lady’s sanity, but it’s obviously important to you to do this, so whatever you want me to do to help, just say it,” Tori relented.
“Thanks, Tori. I really appreciate it,” Summer said.
“Sure. No problem.” Tori sighed. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yep. Hey, thanks for helping sort things out. You’re the best friend a girl could ask for.”
“Ditto, Summer. Ditto.”
*****
The following day was work as usual. Sully seemed to be feeling better. Usually antibiotics took a full day or two to kick in, so she was hopeful it was the prescribed tea she put over his food. Dr. Stuart concurred that even if it wasn’t the reason for Sully feeling better, it certainly wouldn’t hurt him. All the things Ms. Midnight suggested for the tea would be beneficial to him and probably would help the antibiotics get their work done.
It was a huge relief to see him feeling better. One more day and she might not have had to carry the fire extinguisher around with her wherever they went.
Hunter had shown up for deliveries that day, but seemed to be avoiding Summer at all costs, which seemed odd to her since Tori had told her when she had been on vacation he had been curious about her whereabouts.
On her way home from work, she hit Homer’s Market for some items and also to check on the Community Board for any lost animals. She started a list of numbers from the board at work and there were a few here at the market that looked promising.
While looking for something interesting for dinner, she thought she saw Hunter leaving an aisle she had just turned down. She called out, but there was no response. She kept an eye out for him at the checkout line, but never did cross paths with him. She assumed she had been mistaken and it might have been someone who looked like him.
When they got home she put Sully in the yard and headed to the crumbling house next door and knocked. Still no response. She checked the mailbox to see if her note was still inside, but there was nothing except dust and a tiny scared spider within. He must have received the note then, she thought, puzzling on why the renter hadn’t made contact. Maybe I should leave my number and that way if we miss one another again, he can call.
She pulled a prescription pad out of her pocket and scribbled down another note, this time with her cellphone number. She deposited it in the mailbox, panicking the tiny spider into retreat through a tiny hole where the box had rusted through.
With Sully snoozing on the floor and finally breathing freely, she took out her list of numbers and started calling. Twenty minutes later with a very short list of two possibilities, she set out to take pictures of the lost cats.
The first stop was at a dry cleaner’s. An ancient Asian man was behind the counter who did not speak a word of English but yelled commands at the headphone-clad teen boy in front of a nearby computer playing some kind of ‘shoot ’em up’ game. The boy was clearly annoyed by this but turned to Summer and asked, “Can I help you?” without a trace of accent.
“Yes. I called about a cat that someone found?”
“Oh, yeah. He’s back in the back. Follow me,” he said and then yelled at the ancient man something in their native tongue. The old man responded unsmiling to the boy then turned again to Summer with a wide grin and a bow of his head.
“Here he is,” the boy said, opening the door to what looked like a small break room and directing her attention to the tattered, mewing cat making its way towards them. The cat was clearly a tomcat and almost as ancient as the smiling, nodding man behind her. Tufts of hair were missing here and there and the tip of one of his ears was missing. He was mostly black and had green eyes, but he was definitely not what anyone would call chubby. Summer felt the poor thing probably had never seen a vet in its entire life.
Summer explained she was not the owner of the lost cat, only a friend helping to look for the missing cat. She took a picture and handed the young man her business card, telling him if the cat needed any medical attention she’d be willing to waive the fee for a checkup. He thanked her and showed her to the front of the store all the while yelling Chinese at the nodding, smiling old man who followed them.
The second place was a residence where a young child answered the door. Behind her were at least five other children of various ages running around screaming. A moment later, a tired-looking woman with an infant in her arms took the place of the small greeter.
“Yes?” the woman said while the baby pulled at her lips.
“Hi. I called earlier. You said you had found a cat?”
“Yes,” the woman responded in exhaustion. “He’s in the shed out back. Could you just let yourself in the yard, I’ve got dinner on the stove and I don’t want to burn it.
“No problem. I’m doing this for a friend, so if it’s all right, I’ll take a picture of the cat and call you if it’s hers?”
“Sure, whatever. Just make sure to secure the gate. It’s hard enough to keep track of all these rugrats without them getting out of the yard.”
“I understand. No problem. Thank you,” Summer said, but the door was already being shut before she finished the words and she heard the woman scolding the little girl who had opened the door about the dangers of strangers and how she shouldn’t ever open the door without mommy.
Summer made her way around the house to the gate and into the yard. It was big and strewn with anything that might entertain a child at play. There was a swing set with a slide, a pint-sized basketball hoop, and several bikes in different colors and ranging in size. There were yellow tractors, red fire engines, a pink Barbie corvette and a small soft-sided pool with bright colored toys floating on the water.
She spied a small blue storage shed, made to look like a small house with windows and a shake roof. The windows were open to let in a breeze and peering out of the screened window was a very young cat, probably only four to six months old. He had long soft grey and black striped fur. He also had pretty green eyes and was well fed but not fat. He still had his kitten fur that stuck out in all directions, giving the illusion of his being chubby. When Summer petted the cat she saw his fur made him look a lot bigger than he actually was. She took a picture of the cat, gave him a couple of much-appreciated pets and secured the gate behind her and made her way home.
When she pulled into the driveway she caught a glimpse of someone going into the house next door. It was not enough to make out any features of the person, not even whether that person was a man or a woman, but it was more than she had seen in the past.
She went to the door and knocked. Nothing. She knocked again. Still no answer. Obviously, talking with the neighbor was going to be a lot harder than she expected. She headed home to revise her list and printed out the pictures from her phone to show Ms. Midnight next time she saw her.
*****
As one might imagine of life with a growing puppy (and most especially a hellhound growing three times faster than a dog), Summer was quickly in need of dog food and a trip to the feed store for one of those huge bags of kibble. She also needed a bigger collar, a heavy duty leash and some grooming supplies, so on the way into work she swung by Junebug Feed and Farm Supply.
It was a little out of the way, just out of town, but she could get a large bag of food (maybe delivered) and they would definitely have something big enough for a growing hellhound.
When they got out of the car, Sully was enjoying smelling all the new and strange smells. Pickup trucks lined the parking lot and Sully wanted to sniff each and every one. Summer thought this was cute. He’d probably never smelled a cow, pig or any other farm animals that the different farm trucks provided him.
“Come on, boy, let’s go get you some chow.” He would have preferred to sniff some more trucks, but willingly obeyed Summer and trotted behind her. The shop bell jingled as the door opened and a waft of more new scents occupied Sully’s attention. One of the farmer’s dogs came over to investigate Sully. He smelled Sully’s butt and Sully smelled his in the usual dog greeting etiquette. The dog was intrigued by Sully and wagged his tail playfully as did Sully, but when the farmer saw the hellhound, that was the end of the pleasantries. The farmer whistled which drew the attention of the intended dog and the dog obediently came to the farmer when he gestured with his hand a ‘heel’ command. Sully was going to him too, but Summer caught him with a tug of the tiny leash when she saw the scowl on the farmer and three other wary customers.
“Sully, come here,” she said.
“But I want to play,” he said, which only she could hear.
“I know, sweetie, but some people are…well, they’re a little scared of you,” she whispered to him as she led him away from the farmer and toward the back of the store where there were horse leads she thought might make a better leash.
“Why are they scared?”
“Because they’ve never seen anything like you before. You’re very big and getting bigger every minute. People are often scared of what they don’t know or understand,” she explained.
“Why haven’t they seen anything like me before?” he said.
“Because you’re a hellhound,” a man’s voice said from behind.
Summer turned to find Hunter standing there, looking very handsome indeed.
“Hunter. What are you doing here?”
He suddenly went a little pale, as if he hadn’t really thought this coming over and talking to her through. “I, uh,” he said, looking down at the bag of cat food in the crook of his arm and on the stitches she’d sewn on him a few weeks ago. “I’m grabbing some cat food…uh…for a friend,” he said anxiously.
“Oh. I thought maybe you got yourself a pet,” she said.
“Me? Heck no. I don’t like to be tied down—too much responsibility for me. I like to go where I want, when I want,” he said arrogantly.
“Right,” she said, shaking her head. “How are the stitches?”
He moved the bag to the other side and said, touching the area she was referring to, “Oh, fine. All healed,” as if it was totally normal.
“I forgot,” she said, whispering and leaning into him, “you heal really fast.”
He nodded, looking around to see that no one heard her whispering. Though there were a few farmers around craning their necks to get a look at the strange dog with the woman, they were all out of earshot. “I see you still haven’t taken my advice about raising a hellhound.”
“No, and how many times are you going to ask me that? I told you, I’m taking care of him because he doesn’t have anyone else,” she said defensively.
“Fine. I’m sorry. But how do you know he doesn’t have any family? Where’s his father?”
Summer hadn’t really thought of that. Maybe the father was looking for his pup, but wouldn’t Ms. Midnight have mentioned that? But then, she did forget to tell her some very important facts about the RAT being a cat, and so on.
“I don’t know. It’s possible. If he shows up, well, we’ll deal with that when that happens, but for now, I’m taking care of him,” she said.
“You’re very stubborn, aren’t you?” Hunter said.
She took offense. “What do you mean? I am not. Why would you say that?”
“Take it easy there. I just meant that when you set your mind to something you, well, you really mean it,” he said.
“Of course I mean it,” she said defiantly and a bit confused.
“I guess what I’m trying to say, very badly, is that you’re true to your word.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, not everyone is. In fact, many are not. After all, you’ve kept my secret, as far as I know.”
“Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”
“See, that’s what I mean. Not everyone would do such a thing—help a complete stranger, not to mention a…” He whispered, “demon stranger. And then to take on a beast of hell,” he said, pointing to Sully.
Sully responded with a low growl of discontent. Summer yanked his leash a smidgen just to let him know she didn’t approve.
“Look. I don’t know what kind of people you hang out with, but you were hurt; what else was I supposed to do, just leave you there to die with Sully’s mother? That didn’t seem right. I’d like to think if you had found me in the same predicament that you might have helped me.”
“See, that’s the thing. I’m not sure I would have,” Hunter said.
She was taken aback.
“There was a time I might have…” he said thoughtfully, obviously thinking back on a better part of his life. “But I’ve seen a lot in my life and the larger percentage of that was not of the good kind.”
“So you’ve given up on humanity? Is that part of being a demon?”
“No. Well, yeah! I guess. I mean just because I’m…what I am…doesn’t mean that I’m bad. I don’t really fit in too well as far as ‘demons’ go,” he said, whispering the word demon and again looking around to see if anyone was listening. “But after a while when people expect you to be bad, you kind of feel like hey, if you’re going to accuse me of being bad, maybe I should be.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” she said. She could see he wasn’t pleased. “Just because you’ve had a bad time of it doesn’t give you a license to go out and do bad things. In fact, if anything, it should make you buckle down and stand your ground—defy what they say and prove those who think you’re bad are wrong.”
“See, that’s just not that easy,” he said, shifting his weight.
“Sometimes it’s not—in all truthfulness, most times it’s not, but then who told you it was going to be all giggles and happy times? If you don’t have the bad, how can you appreciate the good?”
He smiled. It was more of a smirk at first but a full out smile appeared after a moment.
“What?” she said, embarrassed suddenly by his expression.
“You really are quite amazing. I wish I had met you in another time and place,” he said.
“Why? Is meeting now a bad thing?” she asked.
“Um, well…” he stammered, “no, but…” He didn’t finish his sentence.
“Whatever,” she said disappointedly. “I have to get to work.”
“Right. Me too,” he said, reaching down to pet Sully on the head. “You’re one heck of a lucky pup.”
“Yup,” Sully responded as Hunter turned and headed for the cashier.
Surprised by his abrupt departure, Summer led Sully to the dog food aisle to finish her shopping and head to work herself.