Caterwaul felt the cold water rush over him, and he shot to attention.
“Get up!” a voice shouted at him. It was the queen, and she was fuming. “You’ve been lying there for more than two days, cat. I’ve been screaming at you, shaking you, and this is the third time my guards have thrown water on you. Yet you just lie there. You were gone more than a week. What news do you have for me? Were you able to locate the all-white female cat as I instructed?”
Druciah paced frantically around the room, and she rubbed her face. “I found three more awful hairs this morning,” she shouted, “and what on earth has happened to that oaf Warwick Vane Bezel III? He’s been gone for days now, too, with no word. That’s not like him at all. I have work for him. I need him.” She was gravely distressed.
Caterwaul could only interpret her hostility as a reaction to his “sleeping off period.” Performing any powerful spell, such as the one which teleported him from near the old windmill to here, required a certain amount of recovery time. Still, for him to have slept for nearly two days had to be because of his injuries.
“Well . . . tell me. Did you find her?” Druciah demanded.
“As a matter of fact, I did,” he said. “Her name is Muse, and she is the most incredible cat I have ever seen in my life. She is smart and beautiful and just perfect in every way.” Caterwaul tingled when he talked about her. “She will be arriving in . . . let’s see, you said I was asleep for two days . . .” he quickly did the math, “in three days time.”
All of a sudden Druciah’s outward personality changed completely. A huge smile came across her face as she lifted Caterwaul up and grabbed him in a big hug. She was squeezing a little too tightly, and Caterwaul attempted to squirm free.
“My wonderful, amazing cat,” she gushed. “I knew I could count on you. Three days . . . I don’t know how I will last that long without meeting her.”
Caterwaul was no fool. He had a suspicion that something was up from the way her emotions flipped so easily from foul to fair.
“I’ve invited her to dinner at the castle,” he said. “I told her that Orris is the finest chef in all the land.”
“Well, of course he is, my dear,” she said with a smirk. “He works for me doesn’t he? You don’t think I would employ anyone but the best to cook for me, do you?” She was elated. Finally she was going to have her youth back.
“You go ahead and rest, my friend. You have made your queen very happy, and you have a big day coming up. In the meantime, I will meet with Orris to discuss the menu for our upcoming feast. We will pull out all the stops and spare no expense. After all, we must make sure it’s a night your lovely Muse will never forget.”
As she slipped away, Caterwaul shook his head. Something was just not right at Castle Cathoon. The queen was acting strangely. In fact, ever since she returned from the Red Moon Forest, she had not been the same. He loved her very much and wanted to trust her, but the queen was not the same woman he had befriended and with whom he shared a home. Caterwaul decided he should keep a close eye on his “beloved queen.”
Pudding ran up to Muse excitedly. There were only two more days until her cousin would be reunited with her heroic Caterwaul. Neither of the females had ever been invited to a royal function before, and they really had no inkling how to prepare. Muse wanted to make the best impression possible so that the queen would like her.
Because Pudding had been a dressmaker, she knew something of fashion. In the home in which they lived, there were all manner of bangles, bows, and strips of colored ribbon. The chocolate-colored kitty wanted to make sure her cousin was the fairest cat in all the land when she showed up at the castle for the feast.
You see, Pudding knew her cousin was in love. She had never seen Muse so happy. It was more than just the fact that he had saved her life, although that would usually be enough to encourage devotion. There was something special about Caterwaul. He was one in a million, the kind of cat who really stood for something, and both she and her cousin knew it.
Since they both had once been human, they’d retained the human fascination for dressing up. They spent hours trying on different variations of ribbons and collars and costume jewels. After all, they had been teenagers just a few short weeks before.
“I think that’s just perfect,” said Pudding, admiring her handiwork. Muse looked absolutely amazing. She was wearing a beautiful ribbon of cerulean blue, which looped in a bow at her breast. Her collar was covered in jewels they had scavenged from one of the homes of another transformee. Her hair was styled perfectly, and her face beamed with the joy of new love.
“Do you think the queen will like me, cousin?” asked Muse.
“How could she not?” replied Pudding reassuringly. “You are the most beautiful cat I have ever seen, and you are twice as lovely inside as out. If she doesn’t adore you as Caterwaul does, it will be because she has no heart. But your Caterwaul would never stay with someone with no heart, so it follows she will love you.”
The smile on Muse’s face was electric. She hopped up on a chair to see herself in the mirror. It was the same mirror that had changed her weeks ago. That was the best day of my life, she thought. She would never go back, even if she could.
Druciah was humming to herself as she moved along the corridors of her huge and empty castle. She was overjoyed and full of herself. The queen was so happy she was practically dancing as she glided down the passageway toward the kitchen, where she knew Orris, her chef, was waiting.
“Orris, my dear, the day is nigh upon us,” she shouted down the hall. “We will at long last be having company. The day after tomorrow, my loyal servant Caterwaul is introducing us to the most perfect specimen of a pure-white female cat in all the land.”
Under her breath, she added, “And I will have my beauty once again.”
She was puffed up with confidence that her plan was bearing fruit as she strode into the kitchen, where her chef was hard at work preparing for the feast to come.
“Is everything ready?” she asked.
“Yes, your majesty. I have done everything you asked.”
His head was down. He had been around Druciah enough in Caterwaul’s absence to know she was planning something, and he was not at all happy about being a part of what he felt soon would be the betrayal of a friend.
Over the time they spent together, Orris had grown to respect and care about the black feline. Caterwaul had brought a sense of fun back into this tedious castle existence. He wasn’t sure exactly what was in the queen’s mind, but he knew her well enough to be suspicious.
“Good,” she said, “show me what you’ve done.”
“Your majesty, I have prepared the sauce to your specifications, and now I am working on the crust. I must admit I was worried about some of the ingredients. As you might have imagined, I’ve never worked with salamanders or the toes of rats before, so you will excuse me if I had my doubts. But I assure you the end result . . . c’est magnifique.” He brought his thumb and index finger together in a loop and kissed them as he said these final words.
“As far as the crust goes, I have dispatched one of your best men to procure the honey necessary to sweeten the dough, because I know that you are not fond of caramel.”
“Excellent,” she said expectantly. “Then things are almost ready. All we need now is the main ingredient, and it will be delivered soon.”
“But what is the main ingredient, your majesty?” he asked her respectfully. “After all these years I have worked for you, is it too much to ask to know the main ingredient featured in this pie?”
“Why, Orris, it is the tail of a pure-white female cat,” she answered him excitedly. “And she will be arriving very soon.” She giggled insanely with her own cleverness, while across from her, Orris bowed his head in shame.
From his position safely hidden on the shelf behind the spice jars, Caterwaul witnessed this entire exchange. He thought he was going to be sick. Everything he thought and felt about this queen was a lie. She was clearly out of her mind. Her aging and vain obsession had completely put her psyche out of balance.
While he thought he was bringing a guest to his home to enjoy the hospitality of the castle, he was actually leading his darling Muse into a trap. Druciah had used him the entire time. And now it was clear that Orris was also involved. This puzzled him and caused him to choke. He wondered how Orris could be any part of such a plan. While he sat there in hiding, sickened, the queen turned giddily toward the entrance to the room and left.
Well, Caterwaul had news for the queen. Things were not going to go the way she’d planned. Not if he had anything to say about it.