Hope

Chapter Four: Trouble In Town

After weeks on the road, we finally entered the first large town since the town where I had met Tasha and the others. It was a noisy town, full of people coming and going. Tasha was joined by Stan in the driver's seat, as the soldiers would find a single woman driving the wagon highly suspicious for some reason. I will never understand humans.

Apparently we took the proper precautions, for the guards just waved us through tiredly. Tasha then took the wagon down the main street until she found an appropriate alleyway to park in. She then jumped down off the bench and poked her head into the wagon.

"Stan and I are going to the market to see what we can do for supplies," she said. "Jing, Rebecca, you're welcome to come if you want."

"Hey, what about me?" I asked as Jing and Rebecca hopped out of the wagon and went to join Stan. I then glanced at Zack and added, "What about him?"

Tasha sighed. "He never comes with us. We don't know why those townsfolk were throwing stones at him, so it's better to be safe than sorry. As for you... well, you look like trouble. At least I'm wearing a dress. You'll get sent to the clink for wearing leggings in more formal towns."

I briefly wondered what a 'clink' was, but I put it out of my mind. I glanced down at my black leather pants and glared back up again. "Well, that's not fair! Why do they allow men to wear pants, then?"

Tasha shrugged. "Maybe they want us women to be more helpless. All I know is that it's hard trying to run from a large crowd in a skirt. Also, the braid and the dirty face makes you look like you're up to no good."

I glared. "I'm still coming. You're forgetting that I can shift to cat form."

Tasha gave me a look. "We need someone to keep an eye on Zack. To make sure he doesn't pass out from hunger or cold or something."

"I promise I won't go far. I'll hop on the roof of that building and watch everything. I'll make sure nothing bad happens to any of you."

Tasha considered this and nodded. "Good idea. I haven't run into trouble yet in this town, but my reputation could catch up to me any minute. I could use a sentry. If anything bad happens, you can try to rescue us if you want, but I suggest that you get out of here. Take Zack with you while you're at it. I spent too much effort on rescuing him to have him die because I got arrested."

"Gotcha." With that, I concentrated hard on my cat form. I then felt the sensation of shrinking and when I opened my eyes, I saw that everything seemed much bigger than normal. I then took a few experimental steps, marveling at my white paws and how the fur melded perfectly with my black legs. I flicked my white-tipped tail and looked up at Tasha with my big green eyes, enormously pleased with myself.

Tasha eyed me. "You're big for a housecat, Leaf. But I think that you won't attract too much attention. You look like a normal cat except for your size. You're really pretty, by the way. I like your eyes."

/That's why I'm named Leaf/ I informed her in mindspeak. When her eyes widened, I added, /I use mindspeak to talk when I'm in cat form, by the way. I forget that humans don't know about that./

Tasha nodded and relaxed. "I see. Well, I'll be on my way. Good luck." She gave me a nervous grin, which looked weird with her scar. Then, she was off down the street, following Stan and the others.

With that, I climbed up the wagon with my claws. When I reached the top, I leaped onto the roof with a well-aimed spring. I dug my claws into the shingles to keep from falling off and I climbed up until I reached the pinnacle. From there, I walked towards the edge and stared down at the town stretched out before me. I could see Tasha's blonde head navigate the market and Rebecca's distinctive red hair next to a stall that sold vegetables. Jing and Stan were harder to make out, but I found Stan next to Tasha and Jing on the other side of the market looking at herbs.