Cindy was trying to interest Sally in a can of tuna when there was a knock at the door. Cindy hoped it was Adam as she hurried to the door. But when she opened it, she froze solid. Jessie, her green eyes blazing, stood on the burned porch.
“You seem surprised to see me,” Jessie said. “May I come in?”
Cindy glanced over her shoulder. The cat—Sally—had come into the living room and was standing behind her now.
“N-now is not a good time,” Cindy stuttered. “I have company.”
Jessie peered around. “I see you do. But that’s all right. I didn’t want to come into your lousy house yesterday and I don’t want to come into it this evening.” She paused and her face darkened. “I was just wondering if you wanted me to take you to Adam.”
“Where is he?”
“Come with me and I’ll show you. Bring your cat, I don’t mind.”
Cindy was worried. “What have you done to him?”
Jessie shrugged. “Nothing. He’s perfectly well. I was just on my way back to him. But then I got to thinking about you, and how much you like him. How you would like to spend more time with him. And I thought I should invite you along.”
Cindy knew Jessie was up to no good but she felt she had no choice but to follow her. Of course she suspected Jessie had somehow trapped Adam, and that Jessie intended to capture her along with him. Jessie clearly hated her, and obviously knew that Cindy knew about her little black cat secret.
Cindy bent down and picked up Sally.
“All right, Jessie,” she said. “We’ll go with you.”
“That’s good.” Jessie grinned. “You can help me carry the cement.”
As it grew dark outside, it became almost pitch-black in the cave. Still Adam could make out some shapes. Not that there was much to see. His aching arms and hands were already beginning to occupy most of his attention. Jessie had pinned them above his head, and his heart was having trouble pumping the blood to his fingertips. The cramping in his muscles was extraordinary. He wondered how long he could last before he would begin to cry out in pain. Of course he knew no one would hear him, with or without the brick wall. He wondered if Jessie really was coming back, or if she would wait until he was dead to wall him in. Neither alternative sounded pleasant.
Adam glanced around.
“I hate this place,” he muttered.
“You get used to it,” a soft voice replied.
Adam would have jumped out of his skin if he hadn’t been chained.
“Who’s there?” he gasped.
“Just me,” the voice replied.
Adam had to take a breath. “Who is me?”
“Jack. I’m right here.”
Adam blinked and stared at the skeleton on his right. He thought he noticed a faint movement.
“Jack,” he whispered. “Are you Jack the skeleton?”
There was definite movement on his right. A bony hand raised up.
Adam did scream.
“Shh,” Jack said. “Don’t get excited. I know I’ve lost weight, but I’m not that bad looking.”
Adam bit his lip and tried to catch his breath.
“You’re alive?” Adam whispered.
“Sure. But I only wake up at night. What’s your name?”
“Adam.”
A bony hand brushed Adam’s side and Adam screamed again.
“I just wanted to shake,” Jack said, quickly withdrawing his bony fingers.
Adam was still trying to get a handle on the situation. A talking skeleton in a black cave was not his idea of fun company. He closed his eyes for a moment and took several long, deep breaths. When he opened his eyes again, Jack was still there, still staring at him with his empty eye sockets.
“Jack,” Adam said carefully, “do you know you’re a skeleton?”
Jack sounded offended. “Well, you’d be a skeleton, too, if you’d hung here as long as I have with nothing to eat.”
Adam nodded, his heart still pounding in his chest.
“I understand that,” he said. “But because you are a skeleton, you’re not supposed to be alive.”
Now Jack was definitely insulted. “Are you saying I should be dead? Is that what you mean?”
“Yes. Most skeletons are dead. All the ones I know about have been.”
Jack sighed. “You don’t like me. Here we’re chained together in the same cave and you don’t even want to be friends. You know it gets lonely in here without anyone to talk to.”
“Jack,” Adam said patiently. “My reaction to you has nothing to do with whether I like you or not. I’m just stunned that you can talk at all.”
“Well, get over it then and we can talk about something. I haven’t had anyone to talk to in a long time.”
“What about her?”
“Hasn’t she been coming to talk to you over the years?”
“No. She was a cat. Cats can’t talk. You should know that.”
“I suppose I should,” Adam said dryly.
Jack continued. “Besides, she only knocked down the wall this morning. That was the first time I saw her as a human in I don’t know how long. I did hear her purring outside the wall, if she happened by at night, which didn’t happen too often. Usually she would come in the day when I couldn’t move or talk.”
“Why do you sleep during the day?”
“I don’t know. I just got on a late schedule and found it hard to break.”
“So what you’re saying is that Jessie doesn’t even know you’re alive?”
“That’s right. As a cat she couldn’t break in here. I’m looking forward to talking to her.” He paused. “I hope she doesn’t mind that I’m not as handsome as I used to be. Do you think I’ll have a problem there?”
Adam nodded reluctantly. “I’m afraid so, Jack. The girls I know are not really into dead people.”
“But I’m not dead,” Jack said briskly. “I thought I made that clear. I’m just malnourished. No offense, but you won’t look much better if you hang around here long enough.”
Adam sighed. “I guess. But I would like to get out of here. When Jessie returns can you talk her into letting me go?”
“I hope so. She used to be my friend. But I don’t know how she’s changed over the last two hundred years.”
“I hate to say this, Jack, but she’s not the nicest girl in the world. She stole my friend’s body and turned her into a cat. She was the one who chained me here.”
“Oh my,” Jack said, shocked. “That doesn’t sound like the Jessie I knew. I wonder why she changed so much?”
“Maybe it was being a cat so long.”
“That’s no excuse,” Jack said. “I’ve been stuck in here all this time and I haven’t lost my manners.”
Adam frowned. “How did you pass the time?”
“I whistle to myself mainly. Would you like to hear me whistle? The more flesh you lose the better you can whistle. The air seems to blow through my whole body these days.”
Adam heard a sound at the mouth of the cave.
“You can whistle for me later,” Adam said. “I think someone’s coming.”