“Think, Clara, think.”
I spoke the words slowly and out loud because it was important. There was absolutely no point in walking without knowing where I was going. My knee hurt like crazy and I didn’t know how many steps I could take on it before it would refuse to carry me any further.
At home – I mean, back home in the normal world where I’d lived until a couple of weeks ago – Mum and I had agreed that if anything happened that I couldn’t handle, all I had to do was call her and she would come and get me. But I had no mobile here and no way of contacting Mum.
What was here apart from fog?
There was silence. All I could hear was a faint whooshing sound that could easily have been the blood in my ears. There were no smells now except my own smell of sweat and fear. It was neither hot nor cold, dry nor damp. There was nothing.
It reminded me of something.
I remembered how Aunt Isa had made me close my eyes and pinch my nose while she covered my ears. How she had taken away all my senses, one by one, until only my wildsense remained.
It was all I had now.
I probably didn’t need to close my eyes, but I did it anyway. I stood very still in the wildfog and tried to listen. Something must live in this wasteland – apart from Chimera, that was.
I strained as hard as I could to hear, I extended my wildsense into the fog, exploring and searching. If I’d had any other option, I probably wouldn’t even have tried. But there was no plan B, so I carried on even though I was so tired I was swaying with exhaustion and hot tears were streaming down my face. I kept trying. And at last…
Here.
Very, very faintly. A little warmth, a little distant voice. Here I am.
Was that Aunt Isa looking for me? I didn’t recognize the sound or whatever you would call it, but at least it wasn’t Chimera and, as long as it wasn’t her, it could be anyone else, for all I cared.
I started walking while continuing to listen out for the faint calling. My knee hurt and there was still no trail or path to follow, only fog. But my sense of the calling voice grew stronger and stronger.
It was soon after that my knee refused to carry on. It buckled under me and I collapsed, unable, because of the chain, to brace my fall with my hands. The fall itself didn’t really hurt because there was neither grass nor stone nor soil under my feet; all I landed on was a kind of firmer fog. But I couldn’t get back up again.
Find me, I prayed in silence. Please find me. I can’t go on.
Out of the fog a creature appeared. I could see that it wasn’t human, but it wasn’t until it got very close that I recognized it.
It was the cat.
I wanted to shout GOAWAY at it, too, but I couldn’t. I was spent. I just lay there with my hands chained behind my back and a knee that refused to obey me. The cat could do whatever it wanted, I was helpless.
It was just as big as I remembered. As big as a dog or a small panther. Black as night and bushy with wet pearls of dew in its fur. It no longer smelled strongly of seaweed, there was just a faint hint of salt water. But its eyes were still as yellow. It opened its mouth in a pink yawn that revealed glistening teeth and stretched out lazily. It strolled towards me, languid and relaxed, as if it knew that I couldn’t do anything, couldn’t fight back, couldn’t escape.
Mine, it said, sounding contented, just like in my nightmares. Mine.
Then it lay down next to me, very close.
And began to purr.
At first I didn’t understand what it was doing. For several minutes I expected it to sink its claws into me or bite my neck.
It didn’t. It lay purring against my stomach, and its body heat spread to me as if someone had lit a campfire. And slowly I realized that it didn’t want to hurt me. At least, not now. I had no idea why it was suddenly helping me rather than hunting me, nor was I sure I could trust that things would stay that way. But right here and right now it looked after me as if I were a kitten and it my mum.
But it made no reply. It merely purred a little louder.
And this was how Aunt Isa found us at last.
